Meherbai’s New Year Resolution was to write a book on dieting. Meherwanji was quietly reading Parsi Times on his favourite easy-chair on a peaceful Saturday morning when Meherbai barged on him like a bull in a bullfight and said: “Samjho! Breaking news! Eureka!! I’ve evolved a brand-new way of not getting fatter, but actually slimming day by…
Coomi Kaajwali came to Meherbai’s house to exchange a soiled 500 Rupee note saying, “Meherbai, mari jaaon tamara par thi, please change this meli-gheli note for a nice new crispy one. You see, our entire family of ten members has to attend a lagan this evening and I don’t have a decent note for the 501 rupees pehramni.” Meherwanji: Coomi-mai, this is our house,…
Meherbai was the darling of her in-laws – they loved and pampered her. She was particularly close to Meherwanji’s brother’s son, Homi, who spoke freely with Meherbai of things he could never even with his parents. Homi was a talented child and fond of dancing, cooking, acting, drawing and painting. “All girlie things!” as Homi’s…
Some of us are born smiling, most of us have to work at it, which means learning new techniques and unlearning some old mental habits, but the good news from the frontiers of psychology is that mood is malleable and happiness is yours for the choosing. Everyone wants happiness. We want it, strive for it,…
Can you instantly fascinate strangers? Produce sparkling conversation at will? Make friends with ease? Always talk others into doing what you want? No? Thank God – you would be insufferable! But without aspiring to those heights, most of us could exploit the enormous power of speech to attract, explore, persuade and comfort more effectively than…
Shakespeare recognised the remarkable recuperative, curative and invigorating properties of sleep. To him, sleeplessness was one of the greatest curses of man, it put one out of harmony with nature, ruining both body and mind. Fifteen hundred years before Shakespeare, in ancient Greece, sick people were brought to the temple of Morpheus, the God of dreams, and left there overnight to recuperate. In the tradition of…
Meherbai was very happy that her two favourite film stars were getting married on 14th November, which also happens to be Pandit Nehru’s birthday, Children’s Day and also her Maijee’s Birthday! So much to celebrate, she thought! So many of our Parsi girls end up unmarried and our boys remain confirmed bachelors because all their lives,…
Diwali or the festival of lights is associated with Lord Ram’s life – in fact, the return of Ram to Ayodhya. The whole of Ayodhya was lit up with lamps and mashaals to welcome this divine king and his wife, Sita, after 14 years of Vanvaas (exile in a forest). Ever since, Diwali has been celebrated with gay abandon,…
The legend of Jesal-Toral is famous in most parts of Gujarat, particularly in Saurashtra. It is the story of Toral, the saint-poetess who transformed a dreaded dacoit into a saint. It was a reign of terror in Kutch for several years during the 14th century, thanks to a dacoit called Jesal, who unleashed untold cruelty and violence on all sentient beings. One night,…
Meherbai and Meherwanji went on a long romantic drive all over Mumbai on a wet Sunday morning. It was drizzling and everything looked freshly washed, nice and clean because of the rains a few days ago. Suddenly, Meherwanji saw a horrible, tubular wonky structure in the middle of a park and asked “What’s that?” “It’s a…
According to Hinduism, our Earth passes through various cycles, as per mankind’s mental conditioning and consequent actions (karma). These cycles (Yugas) are, Sat-Yug, Treta-Yug, Dwapar-Yug and Kal-Yug (which we are passing through now). Lord Ram was the seventh incarnation of God Vishnu in the Treta-Yug. Since every Yug is a struggle between the forces of…