A blue 12

For his 12th birthday, Gautam wanted a blue cake. A blue cake with yellow icing!

Dad and brother Sid had a lot of fun baking the cake. Yes, they did everything from beating the eggs to taking it out of the oven! And after, Mom put a quick layer of icing on it. It turned out quite well…

The proof of the pudding is in the eating!

To bake this yourself, check out the recipe here.

 

LPG subsidy- take it or leave it?

A few days ago I got an sms that said:
Over 2500 citizens have joined Nation building by giving up LPG subsidy. Come join them. Visit www.ebharatgas.com or distributor for details.

When we moved to Bangalore from Singapore in 2007, we were ineligible for a government LPG connection because we did not have a ration card, which was mandatory at that time. We used private gas. We were used to paying the market rate for our LPG. We got a government LPG connection only after shifting to Mumbai in 2012. And this because the rules allowed us to use our rental agreement as address proof.

The Kid who was ‘Extreme’ – The Wizard of Fire

One cold Chandigarh morning in 2012, my little son Gautam, then about 9 years old, was sitting atop his bunk bed and seriously writing away. Nothing could disturb him. After a couple of hours he jumped down. “I’ve finished the story!” Soon my elder son Siddharth started reviewing the manuscript with him. Neat cursive writing spread over several left over pages of a previous year’s school red-and-blue lined notebook. Together they made a few changes here and there, and then they were satisfied. The story was made into a “book” and copies were distributed to the boys’ classmates before we moved from Chandigarh a month later.

The Kid who was ‘Extreme’ – The Wizard of Fire    

One day a watch mysteriously falls into Ron’s backyard. Was he chosen by someone to save the world? Was it just a watch that fell from the sky? Will he use it for good or bad?

Read the story to find out.