MellowDrama

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