The two flowers

Siya Dulari
AIS Mayur Vihar, X

Hi! I am Shiuli! I was born in Kolkata in the October of 1975. My best friend, Shehroze, well, she was born just one month after me in November. Shehroze was the daughter of our house-help and was born in the servant quarters just outside our home. Her ammi was just twelve when she first came to our house and ever since then, she has been with us, working for and looking after my family day in, day out.
The bond that our families shared is indescribable. And the one we shared, Shehroze and I, was nothing less than that of two siblings, soul sisters to be precise, who happened to have been born in two different households. But as children, we grew under the same Sun and watched the sky turn blue to crimson, lying under the Shiuli tree. Oh! Did I not tell you that we were both named after flowers? Yes, indeed we were. She was the king of roses, my Shehroze; I was her Nyctanthes, her Shiuli.
One day, when we were just seven, she told me how not just my name but my entire being was very much like Shiuli – a flower that’s everywhere, yet somehow goes unnoticed by all. I didn’t quite understand what she meant at first. I asked for the reason. “We are both young, and life is long,” she told me. “You are beautiful and some things are more beautiful when they’re unnoticed.” If you think I understood it then, you are wrong. It was beyond my ability to comprehend and so, I chose to let it go; and giggled a bit in response.
As I went home, surprisingly her words didn’t leave my side. “Beautiful yet unnoticed,” they reverberated in my ears for long. And as I tried to make sense out of them, I finally formulated one. Call it the biggest mistake of my life but I was certain then.
Next day as we went to the lake, her dark eyes, dark hair and her beautiful brown skin glowed under the vibrant Sun. Life felt short then, and I felt older. I could sense a new emotion taking birth in me. No, it had nothing to do with love and warmth. I could see us drifting apart. Nothing said, and nothing done. We were no more the soul sisters we thought we would always be.
Cut to 2020, I’m 45 now. Summer never really came after she went; Shiuli trees were no more a shelter and I was no more the girl I once used to be. Though, I am known to all, but she isn’t one of them. She was long gone. I miss her. I miss being known by her, only her. It took me almost half my life to actually understand what Shehroze meant that day. While I was busy whining over my unpopularity, longing to be preferred more, she was suffering at the hands of the same. While I was protecting my delicate self from little pricks, I did not see Shehroze, my beautiful rose being painfully pricked by thorns that scarred her. But did they weigh upon her spirit? No, they could never have, for she was Shehroze.The lake, the Shiuli trees and the Sun all await you, best friend. I await you! I await us! Till we meet again!

Bird of my dreams

Pritish B, AIS VKC Lko , X B

The bird of my dreams
It won’t see the daylight
It is unfortunate, it seems
It is very hard to believe

That you are not here
Streams are slowly flowing
From eyes through tears
I’ll miss your cries & shrieks

With your soft beak clicks
Why did you take her God?
This has created a big void
In my life and cannot be filled

Check the spell!

Inika Kakar, AIS Saket, VIII

Circle the misspelt word in each group
A 1. Attorney 2. Encyclopedia 3. Innoculate 4. Constituency 5. Recommend
B 1. Privilege 2. Expository 3. Reconciliation 4. Dissipate
5. Occurence
C 1. Spontaniety 2. Dungeon 3. Effervescence 4. Comparative 5. Catastrophe
D 1. Certainty 2. Drunkeness 3. Dichotomy 4. Sacrilegious 5. Conscience

Yummy khandvi

Arnav Srivastava, AIS Gurugram 46, VIII A

What you need?

For the batter

 

• Gram flour 1 cup
• Curd 3/4 cup
  
• Turmeric powder ¼ tsp
  
• Water 2 cups
  
• Salt to taste

For filling and garnish

• Coriander leaves (chopped) 2 tbsp
  
• Desiccated coconut 2 tbsp

For tempering/seasoning

 

• Green chilies (chopped) 2 - 3
• Curry leaves 9-10
  
• Oil 1 tbsp
  
• Mustard seeds 1 tsp

How to go about it?

For the batter
In a bowl, add yoghurt and water, stir well till it is smooth.
Then, add turmeric powder, salt and gram flour.
With the help of a whisk, thoroughly stir and mix all the ingredients well. Make sure no lumps are formed because the batter should have a smooth consistency.
Now, spread oil on a large plate and keep aside.
Also, in a bowl, add desiccated coconut and chopped coriander leaves. Mix them well and keep aside.
Once the batter is ready, transfer it in a sauce pan. Keep the sauce pan on the stove on a low flame.
Start stirring the prepared batter. When it begins to heat up, stir continuously to avoid formation of lumps.
As you keep stirring, the batter thickens gradually. Make sure that the batter doesn’t stick at the bottom of the pan.
When you find that the batter has reached the right thickness, do a plate test.
For plate test, spread a small amount of batter on the greased plate. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Once it settles down, start with the rolling part. If you are unable to roll, then it means that the batter needs to be cooked again to get the correct thickness for the formation of rolls. 
Chef’s tip: Getting the right thickness of batter takes time. You might have to do plate test twice or thrice as it depends on the intensity of flame, thickness and size of the pan. When you’re able to form the rolls, then only your khandvi batter is ready.

 

For the rolls
After completing the plate test and getting the correct thickness, spread the batter on entire greased plate evenly like a thin sheet with spoon.
Chef’s tip: Don’t let the batter cool down, as it causes the formation of small balls and becomes tough to spread.
Let it cool for 15 minutes and sprinkle more than half of the coriander and coconut mix on the plate evenly.
Next, start cutting strips of equal size, roll the strips tightly so that the filling (coriander and coconut) remains intact.
Place the prepared large rolls on a plate and cut them into small equal portions.

For tempering
Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds, curry leaves and green chilies in it.
When mustard seeds start crackling, pour this tempering on the rolls evenly.
Garnish the khandvi rolls with the remaining desiccated coconut and fresh coriander mix.
Your yummy khandvi is ready to eat!