We are all slave of our habits – whoever said that was an awesome person. He knew exactly what I’ll turn out to be by the time I am 30 – master procrastinator! Like I have been procrastinating everything lately – even this post! But leave that aside, let me tell you about some funny habits of mine. You have some funny habits you want to share? Join our #ThankfulThursday Blog Hop.

Funny Habits #1 – I think Weirdly Fast Sometimes

There are times when you are caught in weird situations and you have no idea what your next step is going to be. In such situations, I have already gone ahead and thought some alternate plans in the fraction of a second. Last month we missed our flight to Kolkata in a hilarious mix-up and by the time the girl at the counter told us that the flight has left and my husband was looking at me bewildered, in my mind I had already thought 3 alternative things – 1. To book next flight out 2. To check in the hotel next to the airport and let my son rest 3. Get the cancellation refund!

I get into this super fast problem-solving mode quite often when faced with a challenge.

Funny Habits #2 – I Talk to myself – ALL THE TIME

Yes, I have a full-time friend – Myself. I talk to myself almost all the time, speak about random things, be in some other world, counsel myself – NO I don’t have multiple personalities BTW.

But I like doing this. It’s not that I speak to myself when I am alone, or in front of the mirror, I can do that even in the most crowded places. It’s good to keep talking and ask questions instead of over thinking why some things are not working out in life!

Funny Habits #3 – I laugh at odd times

I find it difficult to control laughter in the most inappropriate places. I even laugh when I happen to fall down (which happens often), in the middle of the road! I even laughed when half the people in my family were crying during my bidai! And I had an arranged marriage!

I think it’s important to have laughter in life. My blogging buddies Mayuri, Deepa, Amrita, UK, Hiral, Atul Neha are all witnesses to the banter.

Sometimes I even find it difficult to stop the laughter and having ROFL moments! We have enough problems in life already, but if you have the habit and courage of laughing at difficult times too, don’t change that.

#ThankfulThursdays Week 33 Prompt

Do you have some funny habit that helps you, that you are thankful for? Share it with us. We would love to read and spread some love.

How to Participate in #ThankfulThursdays?

1. Follow @twinklingtina  @misra_amrita @Mayuri6 and @Deepagandhi1 on Twitter
2. Prompts will be announced every Wed 20:00 hrs IST
3. Write the post and Link Up with Tina or Amrita or Mayuri or Deepa 
4. Read, comment, share on host and co-hosts posts and at least two more posts linked in the party Pro Tip – Networking and commenting is good for your blog’s health and ranks.
5. Use #ThankfulThursdays in your post and share in social media using the same hashtag.
6. Every week we will have one featured blogger who is the best reflection of this community spirit

Food has been a big part in my growing up years. Being a Bengali is synonymous with being a foodie. And here I have a family of foodies – a bunch of people who wake up and ask – what’s for lunch! Not just weddings and functions we have had family picnics, family barbecue nights every December, umpteen numbers of festivals and eating competitions.  No wonder I wasn’t a foodie initially in my younger days! But I turned a foodie when I shifted base and started missing everything about home! My love for food woke up from the deepest slumber and made me a self-learned cook/baker. Thus, there is every reason I am Thankful to food. And choosing a few from the colossal list of favorite foods is difficult. So I’ll list down the three foods that are top on my mind as I write this post.

#1 Top Favorite Foods – Fuchka or Golgappa

Fuchka is like the ‘national’ snack of Bengalis. Fuchka almost defines a Bengali. I can assure you, you will never (ever) find a Bengali who doesn’t like fuchka! I am of-course in that brigade who loves the road-side phuchka that is served in ‘shaal pata’. There’s nothing as satisfying as a round of crispy phuchka with the tangy tamarind water and spicy potato filling. You can try to recreate that at home but I can guarantee you it will never taste as good as the roadside phuchka. Being settled in a city now, where phuchka is almost non-existent I miss it the most and have made it at home scores of time. But I am thankful that I know the real good taste of authentic Kolkata phuchka and I guess I’ll miss it always wherever I am!

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#2 Top Favorite Foods Roshogolla

I don’t even need to mention it – hot soft Roshogolla is the universal dessert for Bengalis. You find a sweet shop in every nook and corner of Kolkata and by default, they all sell mouth watering velvety-soft roshogolla. Don’t be surprised when you see men in their 40s and 50s standing at the counter and order “ekta rohshogolla de, ekta pantua de, ekta jolbhora de, 100 doi de” (give one roshogolla, give a pantua, give a jolbhora, give 100g of misti doi). ALL OF THESE MEN ARE DIABETIC and they are not allowed sweets at home! But when you have a sweet shop easily available who is going to stop you! But thankfully the roshogolla is easy to make at home if you have some patience. Want the recipe? Check my quick and easy Bengali Roshogolla Recipe.

#3 Top Favorite Foods  Iliish Mach Bhaja

The Bengali side of me coming out in leaps and bounds because right now I am in Kolkata and enjoying all these. However, my stay is coming to an end and I am sure I’ll have to overcome that depression with a tub of ice-cream once I am back! Fish or maach, as we call it, is our staple and Bengalis have it every single day at least twice! Hilsa or the much celebrated Illish Mach is the king of the fish family among Bengalis. The Illish Mach is only available during monsoon and Bengalis go berserk when it is the Illish season. It is getting difficult to get good Illish these days and the ones that we get in Bangalore are exorbitantly priced and stale. The taste of fresh Illish mach bhaja is incomparable and only a Bengali can understand that emotion. But once you have fallen in love with Illish, you will miss a good Illish all your life!

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#ThankfulThursdays Week 33 Prompt

Do you have some favourite food on your mind that you are thankful for? Share it with us. We would love to read and spread some love.

How to Participate in #ThankfulThursdays?

1. Follow @twinklingtina  @misra_amrita @Mayuri6 and @Deepagandhi1 on Twitter
2. Prompts will be announced every Wed 20:00 hrs IST
3. Write the post and Link Up with Tina or Amrita or Mayuri or Deepa 
4. Read, comment, share on host and co-hosts posts and at least two more posts linked in the party Pro Tip – Networking and commenting is good for your blog’s health and ranks.
5. Use #ThankfulThursdays in your post and share in social media using the same hashtag.
6. Every week we will have one featured blogger who is the best reflection of this community spirit

Everything is cute when you are a child. Your dad is your hero, you have scores of best friends, you have an amazing faith in your pet, you are excited with every new day at school.  And some of your childhood memories are so good that it stays etched in your memory forever.  On this Thankful Thursday, we ask you to revisit and share with your childhood memories that you are thankful for.

Childhood memories you are Thankful For – Swimming

Swimming was the only sport I liked as a child. We had gone to one of the recreational clubs ( I don’t remember the name now) on a Sunday when I was tiny – four or five year old. We were having brunch by the poolside and I was dressed in a swimming costume already. All I saw was other kids nicely diving in the pool and swimming across it. I had never swum before this, nor had ventured in a pool yet. In all that excitement I thought it was quite simple and all you need to do was jump in and then you float or swim automatically. On one fine moment, I went to the side of the pool and jumped in! Only to find myself panicking and swallowing up truckloads of the chlorinated pool water, till the trainer fished me out from it! With a screaming mom on the poolside I knew I am going to have a hard time. But that incident has been etched in my memory forever and I almost can visualize it like action replay. But the takeaway from it has been worthy too – I take informed decisions today and very rarely jump into something without thinking.

A few months later my dad enrolled me in a swimming club and for 1 entire week I cried and didn’t want to even get in the pool. But once I learned to swim there was no stopping!

Childhood memories you are Thankful For – Cricket and Sachin Tendulkar

Cricket no doubt, is a religion in India and I am a bhakt of a certain God since 1992 when we played the ICC World Cup in Australia. There isn’t a single person in my family who is not a cricket fan. I was seven years old at that time. One of my aunts was visiting us at that time. She and my grand mom used to wake up early to catch the matches live on television. I was asked by my mom not to wake up early at unearthly times and watch a game that I understand nothing of! But a certain curly mop like hair little boy was making wonders on the field and I was in awe of that boy – his batting, his celebrations after taking a wicket or a run out. Everyone watching the game said he’s a genius and I thought it was no good to see a genius! That prompted me to crawl out from the bedroom and join the people glued to the television. This relation of God and bhakt is alive even today and I have done crazy things including writing a letter to him – I still don’t know if it reached him! There was a time when people called me to wish on 24^th April, God’s birthday! I was somehow defined by him. I have tons of respect for him, his sport, his career, family – in a nutshell, everything about him.

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If you are someone who wants to bad mouth him, don’t do that on my space or in front of me, I can be nasty at times. I have been. You have been warned!

Those days of 1992 turned me into a complete cricket buff, I loved watching the sport, I knew loads of stats and know all fielding positions and shot names! But all that came to an end on 16^th November 2013 (which is my birthday too) when the God hung his boots. I watch much less frequently and frankly if you ask me about the current Indian cricket team I’ll probably be able to name half the team only!

Childhood memories you are Thankful for – Travel

From getting lost, losing the passport, getting down at wrong places, missing a train/flight we have experienced almost everything that avid travelers go through. Travel was a big part of growing up years because my dad made sure he took out time, from his hectic schedule of being a consultant surgeon, at least twice a year. Which I find very difficult for me and my husband now, we hardly get any time! From random strangers wanting to flirt with a 10-year-old girl, to shaking hands with cold Chinese soldiers, sourcing beers during Ramadan in an Arabic country, I have seen quite a lot in my life. But I have also seen how helpful some people are to tourists and travelers when it’s the time of need. To all of them thank you and I remember each of those people.

#ThankfulThursdays Week 31 Prompt

How to Participate in #ThankfulThursdays?

1. Follow @twinklingtina  @misra_amrita @Mayuri6 and @Deepagandhi1 on Twitter
2. Prompts will be announced every Wed 20:00 hrs IST
3. Write the post and Link Up with Tina or Amrita or Mayuri or Deepa 
4. Read, comment, share on host and co-hosts posts and at least two more posts linked in the party Pro Tip – Networking and commenting is good for your blog’s health and ranks.
5. Use #ThankfulThursdays in your post and share in social media using the same hashtag.
6. Every week we will have one featured blogger who is the best reflection of this community spirit