"Tumhe pata hai, bahut saalon se ab main har January sameer ke liye uske pasandeeda mewe ke laddoo banati hoon, aur banne ke baad usse bilkul control nahi hota hai. Raat ko bhi chori chipe khata hai kitni baar." Gathering soft dough of mixed flours blended with desi ghee and uncountable dry fruits. Savitri told her daughter-in-law whose beautiful eyes shone in acknowledgment.
"Mujhe bataya nahi kabhi usne is bare me," Naina said with a cute pout.
"Yaad nahi aaya hoga, par use mere haath se bane hue laddoo bahut pasand hai. Bahar ka bolti hoon kitni baar mangwane ke, par use kisi halwai ke pasand nahi aate." Savitri beamed, making a round shape of the healthy dessert.
"Main banau?" Naina insisted, eager to help her mother-in-law.
"Tumhe aata hai?" Savitri stared at her with a quizzical expression.
"Nahi, par try kar sakti hoon." She said innocently, gaining a slight nod from MIL.
Naina came ahead and sat down, crossed-legged, trying to grasp the ghee dripping mixture in her soft palm but it slipped down, falling inside the large steel vessel. Savitri could see melancholy encompassing her daughter-in-law's face when she failed to make a Laddoo.
"Lao main sikhati hoon." Savitri helped Naina in shaping the extremely smooth but crispy mixture into a round ball, and Naina intently and happily learned to make laddoo for her hubby-chubby.
She grinned like a lighthouse when her Laddoo turned out to look pretty good with her palm drenching in pure clarified butter, and Savitri felt delighted at her daughter-in-law's pleasant facial expression. Naina put her first self-made dessert inside a bowl and diligently assisted her mother-in-law with the remaining work. Together they made as much laddoo as they could in one hour. Though it tortured Naina at times when she struggled to shape the moist crushed flour. Savitri insisted on the upset girl to go and do her work as tonight Haldi Kumkum was held at their place, but Naina didn't budge, sitting there like a glued mosquito.
"What's happening here, pretty women?" Sameer's enthusiastic voice alerted them about his presence, and as soon as he entered the cooking area, his eyes glittered as he found Ghar Ke Laddoo placed inside the vessel.
"Wow." He ran and inclined down to grab the delicious Indian dessert, but his mother was quick enough to slap his wrist and inform him in a firm voice - "Nako, pehle bhagwan ko chadaya jayega yeh bhog uske baad tujhe milega."
"Toh lao, abhi chadha kar aata hoon." Sameer requested, only to get a negative nod from his strict mother.
"Shaam ko jab Naina pooja karegi uske baad yeh bhog unke saamne chadhaya jayega, phir khana tu jitna khana hai," Savitri said or rather warned her restless son in a stern voice while keeping away another piece of appetizing laddoo.
Naina couldn't help but giggle at her husband's growing frown, his face mirroring the temptation to gobble down back-to-back laddoos.
"Doon?" When Savitri was engrossed in her work. Naina intentionally picked up a laddoo, inducing her husband by bringing it closer to him. Sameer zealously bobbed his head for yes, opening his mouth to taste the heavenly dessert, but just then he heard his wife complaining to his mother - "Aai dekho na, sameer kabhi se zid kiye jaa raha hai laddoo khane ke liye. Maine kitna mana kiya par nahi suna."
Sameer widened his eyes out of terror, muttering "Dusht" with an infuriated expression as he reckoned that his wife was teasing him. Savitri threw a murderous glare at her desperate son, all ready to launch missiles of taunts and accusing looks at him.
