CHIKNAAYI
I knew the meaning of ‘chikna’ and ‘chikni’ – the male and female adjectives meaning ‘attractive’ in colloquial Hindi. This lock-down taught me what ‘chiknaayi’ means! Well, the fact that I am seeing extra amounts of ghee and butter and oil in our meals is not a conspiracy, mind you. I love my food enriched by these heavenly lubricants, so no complaints there. The issue starts when the plates and utensils used for preparing and serving this food accumulate in the kitchen sink. Let me make this abundantly clear – the wife has always been quite efficient and is not known to procrastinate. But these days she just lets things be, if you know what I mean. Probably waiting for a miracle – the miracle being yours truly of course! So, from time to time, I take the cue and pull up my sleeves. For your information, the utensils used for boiling milk, heating oil for ‘tadka’, making ghee, chhaas and butter, are the worst kind. If you are not used to holding greasy crockery in on