After The Funeral – Agatha Christie
After the master of Enderby Hall dies, his sister, Cora suspects the generous patriarch met with foul play. But when Cora cries murder! she too is banished from the family tree – with eight blows of a hatchet. Detective Hercule Poirot fears she won’t be the last to go.
This story is about the time when Chiki was a little boy. He is 8 years old now, so what happened in this story would not happen now!
When Chiki was a little boy, he used to go with his mama and sister to the library pretty much every week as mama was very particular that both Chica and Chiki learn to love reading. They would visit the library closest to their home and so Chiki thought he knew the drill very well.
One day, when Chiki was about 3 years old, they went to the library as usual, this time dad was also with them. Chiki as usual didn’t want to hold mama or dad’s hand while walking since he was sure he was a big boy and knew what was going to happen. Only this time, instead of going straight to the elevator as usual, mama decided to do some window-shopping before they went to the library. So instead of going straight to the elevator, mama and dad turned right to get to the shops.
But since Chiki was walking alone, he didn’t realise this and walked straight into the elevator. As soon as he entered the elevator, the doors shut and it started moving. It was at this point, Chiki realised that he was in fact all alone!
“Mama, mama, where are you?” Chiki cried and wanted to get off and go look for his mama, but since he was short, he couldn’t reach the buttons. However, a kindly man saw that Chiki was alone in the elevator and asked him “Boy, are you lost”. Chiki stopped crying for a moment, thought it over and nodded. The kindly man didn’t know where Chiki’s parents were, so thought of taking him to the information counter so that they could page for them.
In the meantime, mama had discovered that Chiki was lost! She was frantic and started looking for her baby everywhere. But they could not find Chiki at all. Mama was almost in tears and decided to go to the information counter to see if they could help them.
Once there, while they were explaining to the lady at the counter, what did they see? They saw Chiki being led to the counter by a kind man.
“Mama” cried Chiki when he saw his mama. “Chiki” cried mama when she saw Chiki and hugged him tight, never wanting to let go of him. “You naughty boy! You wandered all by yourself” she scolded Chiki.
“Thank you very much” mama thanked the kind man who brought Chiki back. “If it wasn’t for you, I would have lost my son” she sobbed.
That night, while tucking Chica and Chiki back to bed, mama said an extra special prayer for the kind man who brought her son back to her.
Since today America celebrates Thanksgiving and there are loads of thanksgiving themed posts on WordPress, I thought of doing something similar.
I am thankful for….
A life which is full of love, laughter and joy.
What are you thankful about?
The Courtesan and the Samurai – Lesley Downer
1868. In Japan’s exotic pleasure quarters, sex is for sale and the only forbidden fruit is love…
Hana is just seventeen when her husband goes to war, leaving her alone and vulnerable. When enemy soldiers attack her house she flees across the shattered city of Tokyo and takes refuge in the Yoshiwara, its famous pleasure quarters. There she is forced to become a courtesan.
Yozo, brave, loyal and a brilliant swordsman, is pledged to the embattled shogun. He sails to the frozen north to join his rebel comrades for a desperate final stand. Defeated, he makes his way south to the only place where a man is beyond the reach of the law – the Yoshiwara.
There in the Nightless City where three thousand courtesans mingle with geishas and jesters, the battered fugitive meets the beautiful courtesan. But each has a secret so terrible that once revealed it will threaten their very lives…
This super easy and yummy rice recipe was lying in my drafts for a longest time. I think I made it around 2 months back and took photos with the intention of blogging about it! Anyways, here it is, better late than never…
Mint Rice
Ingredients:
Method:
In a blender blend together all the following: mint leaves, coriander leaves, garlic, ginger, onion and make it a soft, smooth paste with no lumps.
Next, heat ghee and fry the cashews and keep aside. Leave the leftover ghee in the pan and using that, put the following in the this order: cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinammon, cardamom and saute for around 30 seconds. Then add the mint paste and saute for a minute. Now add the drained rice, add salt to taste and saute till all the grains of rice get coated with the mint paste.
Now transfer this to a rice cooker and add approximately 1.75 cups of water, switch it on and let it cook till done. When the rice is cooked, open and check and add some more water if needed. Leave it closed for a while and then fluff it with a fork.
Sprinkle the cashewnuts just before serving. Serve with a serving of raita.
Minty Benefits
