mihir

I cut the packet open, and emptied the contents in a microwaveable container. An orange Tupperware . I heated it for one minute, as the packet instructed me, and then took the first bite. I had contrasting feelings, at a dichotomy with each other. Surprise, & awe, at what one minute could do to uncooked food. Disappointment, & a lack of satisfaction, at what one minute could not do to uncooked food.  It was lunch on the fifteenth of May, two thousand and seventeen, my 20th birthday. It was the third day of my internship in Taiwan, and also the first motivation to learn how to cook Dal Makhani .                                                                                                      ...

it appeared on screen, and in my life, for the first time in April that year. It was the summer of two thousand and fourteen, around twelve months before the entrance examination. Given that I was preparing for the JEE, one might imagine that the most enticing thing for me, in that blockbuster, would be the life (style) of someone, post graduation, from the very institute I was training my mind for. But that was far from what caught my attention. Rather, it was a blue polo t-shirt adorned by Arjun Kapoor in 2-States, the portrayal of the real life hero in Chetan Bhagat. The Sky Blue Polo . I can't recollect what exactly it was about that color, that shade, that drew me to it. All I knew was that I had to get my hands on one of those. That exact shade, neither a tad bit bluer, nor a tad less blue. And get I did.  College during the day, coaching during the evening, and educating the self during the time that remained, meant that outings, let alone celebrations and special occasions ...