MellowDrama

In our country the winter season generally lasts from October to March. The days begin to get shorter and there is often just so much more to do, in terms of cooking and eating. A reason behind this is the ample amount of a variety of produce that becomes available in winter. When I close my eyes and think of the colours that correspond with winter I see lovely hues of greens, reds and oranges. Why don’t you try it? Close your eyes and think of the vegetables as well as various fruit that you associate with winter. Let us try and get to know the goodness that lies hidden in the wonderfully colourful world of winter vegetables and fruit: Spinach I took to spinach as a fan of Popeye the sailor man who in testing times grabs a tin full of spinach and wins against his rival. I shred palak leaves to use in soup or steam them to pair up with a healthy dose of cottage cheese to make an irresistible palak paneer or knead it into my dough to reap its goodness in the form of the reg...

Winter is here. The thought of getting under layers and layers of woollens does not really make me happy. Also, winter brings with it bouts of cold and sneezing fits which leave me with a persistent headache. But what can make winter bearable is the food — the kind and the quantity — that one can eat during this season. A mere mention of rounds of hot ginger tea accompanied by delicious pakoras is enough to set my heart racing. Add a dollop of pudina or mint chutney and I could survive on pakoras alone for days and days together. Too much pakoras in my system now and I crave for something sweet, besides the tea, to restore the balance. A godsend answer to this craving is the Indian sweet called halwa. The wonderful Suji ka halwa When I was a kid, Mithun Chakraborty in the guise of a certain halwa-wallah brought joy to children in a Bollywood film. I did not get a chance to know him or the type of halwa but I have had my share of a variety of halwas that are sumptuo...

The gravitational pull has been known to put many things into an aligned perspective. Remember the fame it brought to Newton? Similarly to straighten hair I would use the same- yes you guessed it right the magical pull, the GRAVITATIONAL PULL. The first step is to apply the right amount of weight to your hair to align them. In case of wavy hair, you can use coins to straighten them first. Using Rs 5 coins is highly recommended as the weight of this denomination has been found to be ample for slightly wavy hair. In case of more problematic hair aka dense curls, you will need to take help from a brother or a boyfriend keen on body building. Raid their body building equipment for dumbbells. The principle 'the weightier the better it is'can be applied while choosing the right degree of weight for your curliness. Moving on to the next step. After you have applied the appropriate weight to your curls/ waves, you have to lie down on a bed and let down your ...

Have you seen a tandoor? It is a clay oven that is used to cook and bake food by generating fire within it. The food cooks in its own fat and juices as it is exposed to high temperatures inside the tandoor. This method of cooking, called the tandoori method, is often associated with Mughlai food or the food from the Mughal era. This also refers to dry foods especially meats cooked in a clay oven over a high heat. The chicken tikka, mutton tikka, kebab, tandoori murg, paneer tikka are some of the grilled delights that come out of a tandoor. The earliest tandoors were discovered alongside the remains of the Indus Valley civilisation. It is now a strongly held belief that the tandoor travelled with the migrating Aryan race. The Aryans, who originally belonged to India, would travel often in search of grazing lands. Some of their travels took them to the Caucasus Mountains and also brought them back after a couple of centuries and so the tandoor travelled from India around Asia and ...

Continuing on our food journey, let us today explore a destination that has given the taste of India to the world to sample. You must be familiar with the name of this city which is also an important place of pilgrimage for the Sikhs. It has held great significance in the annals of history owing to a massacre. Amritsar is known throughout the world for its rich culture and cuisine. Harmandir Sahib or the Golden Temple is the most prominent religious place for Sikhs and in 1919 the holy city saw many lose their lives at the Jallianwala Bagh. Today let us venture into the gullies of Amritsar and explore the foodie delights they have to offer. Amritsar lends its name to a fish preparation that is not only exquisite but also has had a big hand in putting the city’s name on the food map of the world. We are talking about the Amritsari fish. A simple dish of fish that is fried in a mix of very basic ingredients like besan and yoghurt has caught the imagination of chefs around the world...

Bengali sweets have often found a major following everywhere they go. K C Das canned rosogollas and finding a confectioner who doesn’t sell them even today will be a tough task. The tradition of exchanging sweets during the festival season is indeed a sweet tradition. It serves to remind us that not only is there an unfathomable joy in sharing but also that all that is actually worthwhile in our lives are the sweet moments of togetherness. For children, these times are made even more memorable by the uninhibited supply of sweets along with an unrestricted access to them. Diwali, to my mind, is one festival that the whole country celebrates with the spirit of unity. The various elements of Diwali — sweets (of course!), bursting crackers, donning your best clothes, rangoli — are much the same from the top of the country to the bottom. So let us look at the five sweets that add that extra special flavour and sweetness to this festival of lights. Gajar ka halwa: Doesn’t just the mere...

One festive season has just gone by. I am sure you brought out your brightest and nicest clothes. Some new ones must have been purchased for an important puja or your favourite day of festivity. It is awe inspiring how various festivals celebrated by people belonging to different religions and communities follow one another so closely, and we spend so much time in gaiety and revelry. One thing common to festivals, be they of any religion, is the tradition of exchanging sweets. Durga Puja, which just concluded, brought me closer to the wonderful world of Bengali sweets and that is what we are going to delve into today. Rosogollas, sandesh and mishti doi rule the roost, yet there is much more to the Bengali sweet. The lovely chom-chom, the aromatic kalakand, the shapely langcha… you name your preference and the Bengalis will present you with something that is apt for your sweet tooth. A wonderful thing about most Bengali sweets is that they make for a healthy choice. The main c...

A little obscure village on the left bank of river Hooghly, now known as Kolkata, became the city of Calcutta under the influence of its many rulers. The Portugese landed in the village Kalikatta in 1517. In 1580, Akbar, gave them a charter to settle here. Basically traders by profession, the Portugese would buy things like muslin, spices, cotton, rice, and other agricultural products here and then sell them off at high prices at various ports in the East. Initially the Portugese would stay in Kalikatta during the rainy season, trade and then head back to Goa where rains would be over . With time this practice gave way to permanent settlements and records say that by 1670s ‘there were at least 20,000 Portuguese and their descendants in Bengal’. Though the political influence of the Portugese diminished after the arrival of Dutch and finally the East India Trading Company yet even today it pervades the life in Bengal in many other ways. One of the ways in which the Portugese influence ...

In another month’s time I will complete one year of being in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal. Many dishes typical to Kolkata are identified as the main stay of the Bengali cuisine. Bengal of yesteryears included the present day state of West Bengal and Bangladesh, often referred to as East Bengal. This undivided Bengal had been ruled by Mughals who made Dhaka their central seat. Kolkata rose to prominence under the British raj. Besides being a major trade centre, Kolkata was also a major centre of education, science, culture and politics. Your History books will tell you how Lord Curzon partitioned the state of Bengal in the name of administrative reforms in the year 1905. The creation of East Bengal and West Bengal was a highly unfavourable move and Bengal had to be reunited in 1911. A second partition took place in 1947 when Pakistan was formed. East Bengal came to be known as East Pakistan and in 1971 was declared as an independent state of Bangladesh. Till date the Benga...

It was here just now. This idea that I wanted to write out. This story I wanted to tell the world. It was here just when The door bell rang And a bunch of chirpy girls Tumbled in Bringing laughter and demanding snacks It was here just When the cooker called from the kitchen When the doodh-wala came to ask for his dues When the neighbour rang to ask for spare potatoes When the guard called a wrong number to announce guests When the friend pinged on gmail It was here, in my head Then for a while It swam in front of my eyes Getting hazier with every passing moment And I chased it as I read the newspaper as I sipped my tea as I watered my three potted plants as I sat in the loo trying to recall it as I watched a serial, about the best surgeons in the US I failed to grasp it Simply could not clasp it Now it won't return Says has another concern About others in the fraternity For them it worries and asks me 'Whether they will find a voice Or will ...

Dear Netra You are about to turn 5 and I have started to plan a party for your birthday. The first one probably in the actual meaning of the word. We will have a theme- purple- the colour you are obsessed with. Asked anytime about anything that you would like to have on any occasion, you dole out a list and then add “in puddple”. It doesn’t matter to you that Disney intended Cinderella to wear a pink gown, you want her on your cake in, yes, puddple. You even have the birthday song ready for the theme- Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday Netra Sood, Purple Flower. May God Bless you, purple flower Netra Sood. I once asked you what you wanted to become when you grew up and your answer was a purple butterfly. Both your father and I have asked you many times the reason behind this fondness for colour puddple and in your reply you have pointed out the simple fact of life, which I have just gripped. To answer our question, you always say- because I like it. There are no further explanatio...

I have known Prerna Uppal since my days at ANI. So that tells you that she has been there and done that as far as TV news is concerned. Add to that the fact that she has also worked with CNN-IBN as well. Not just that. She has worked in every sphere of print - be it writing for a newswire, a magazine or a newspaper earning bylines and winning friends wherever she has gone. Her stories have been featured in Chicken Soup series and having read them I must say, they do warm up your heart and make you feel light as only chicken soup can. She wields a mighty pen and has during her stint with various media houses has done many stories on a wide range of topics. Now a days, she is busy combining her love for cooking, writing and exploring the world at her blog besides holding a full-time job (Phew!). When an opportunity at ChilliBreeze arose to write in an aptly titled column- Interviews that matter- I did not have to think hard about whom to interview. Ladies and Gentlemen, here i...

It was a fine evening when a green package arrived at my door step. I was super excited as I tore it open and found a treasure inside. The treasure- the books – were sent by the Bangalore based publishers Pratham Books who were encouraging people to conduct a story telling programme on the World Literacy Day. And with just that much I became a Pratham Books’ Champions . The book reading was to be conducted on September 8 which fell on a Saturday. I had decided to conduct the story telling session at my house and had duly called up all the mommies around me, who I knew would be and should be excited by the prospect of a story session. Though the day had dawned bright and gay, by the time evening arrived, the rain gods seemed a wee bit unhappy. That, however, did not dampen the enthusiasm that had built inside the Sood household with the husband helping with shifting the furniture to make ample room for jumpy kids and Netra donning her brand new lehenga to essay the role of Sushee...

The cast and characters of the following tale and true, alive and kicking ass somewhere. *********************** The year was 2003. I had finished a Masters degree quite painfully and boarded a bus to Delhi. Delhi has had an impact on my life which remains unparalleled in every sphere. I attribute it to the age factor. I was young, a dreamer, an idealist and contrary to when I came to Delhi, when I joined the YWCA, I was a happier soul, having shed the presents from the past to an extent. When I came to Delhi I brought with myself a grumpy-ness and heaps of frustration, both of which my eldest massi and her family bore out with an impeccable smile. The things that I picked up while staying with them bore fruit later in life when I sat down to contemplate my life. As I sit down to write this, I am amazed at my naive-ness or should it be called foolishness, I known not.I did not come to Delhi with any dreams. I came because I wanted to get away from Chandigarh and because I was...

It's your time to visit Melbourne NOW But let me tell you about the holiday I dreamt of and how Deserve a holiday, yes I do. Melbourne I am getting a call Why else would I be dreaming of Little penguins tapping their happy feet, after all? If it ain't for the Great Ocean Road that beckons Why would I dream of clear water, Nature's wonder the Twelve Apostles And some heritage All at once? I am the one for some quiet time But hey! I would not mind Being on my feet, to taste, toast and soak the Fed square May I also offer a tribute to the moving pictures in sight? Oh! hark now I hear the exhibition space calling to me Gallery Gabrielle Pizzi here I come. Get me a ticket, put me on the tram Or a shuttle if you please The city lanes call and I must obey I have to see the architectural wonders on my way Next fly me in a big bright colourful balloon as over the Murray, awaits another dream Fly me high and higher still so that I may learn to l...

Did a post on the Importance of being organised for the website edunjobs.in some time back. This post was inspired by the success of a certain person I have known for years. This person firmly believes that patterns replicate in the different spheres of life. He firmly believes that his organisational skills have played an important role in upping his career as a manager besides A class training at an A class management school. I found an interesting infographic, part of the post, resourced from the website greatist.com Hope you enjoy!

I wrote a few articles for a website a few months back. Unfortunately that project had to be stalled but I hope it picks up pace. In the meantime I got busy with The New Indian Express column on food and am thoroughly enjoying it. In between there have been prizes from twitter, a few books, which have been highly entertaining. Getting back to the writing for the website edunjobs.in , I really liked what I was doing there. Some of the articles had been created curating stuff from the Internet. So here is one sampling of such work which is a personal favourite of sorts. Hope you enjoy!

That I am a happy person with a cheerful disposition That listening to music always uplifts my spirit That sky gazing and deciphering the shapes of clouds is a favourite activity That I love waking up early and enjoy solitude and the house That I consider kindness as the biggest quality and honesty follows soon after That I can cry at the mere mention of certain things but that is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about That I believe in life, resilience, hard work and laughter. Ah! also hugs. That I may need to have some more self confidence in my abilities from time to time but I often know better than what I give myself credit for. That I believe that no relationship is a waste of time and utna hi upkaar samajh, koi jitna saath nibha de. That going the extra mile is fun because it is not crowded and you get some time to be on your own. That I believe in holding my head and standards high. That I believe in the power of prayer. That I also believe tha...