Friday, December 23, 2016

Book Review : Subcontinental Drift

Title : Subcontinental Drift
Author : Murray Laurence
Publisher : Aleph
ISBN : 978-93-83064-25-0

A book on India by a foreigner. Actually so many books have been written by awestruck foreigners on India that it has almost become a genre of books in itself.
An Australian travel writer found his life changed post his first overseas trip to Indonesia where his tryst with Asia began.
He first travelled through the country in 1970s but the 'weird' land strangely and mysteriously hypnotised him into returning to India over and over again as his fascination for the strange land never left him.

The book 'Subcontinental Drift' is actually a collection of his travel stories which are almost like his adventures in a wonderland where nothing is unexpected. He has segregated his stories on the basic of timeline under three categories - a) Young and At Large in India (The 1970s) b) Drifting (The 1980s to the end of the 20th century) c) Condemned to India (The 21st Century). As he travelled extensively through India, he could fathom deep to appreciate the uniqueness and the basis of the age old beliefs which are reflected in his writings. The fluidity with which he narrates his experiences is a pleasurable experience in itself. His wonderful play with words keep the readers engaged till the last page.


Having read many such similar books, I just want to comment that what these authors present is still just what appears on the surface because as our religious scriptures describe the supreme power by - (Neti, neti) this is not it, this is not it!, so is true about India too. It is no exaggeration to say that  if there is any possible adjective for a place, it may very well be true for India.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Mouthpiece #42

Parenting perils...
A father and daughter duo waiting for the school bus early in the morning, daughter sporting a smile on her face looking attentively at the small screen of the smartphone almost oblivious of the surroundings. Father is carrying the school bag (obviously of the daughter and a big cup in his hand, which I assumed to have his morning tea until the daughter asked for it, took a sip from the cup and shoved it back in the father’s direction).
continue here...

The Greatest Devotee
In one of the interviews Sudha Murthy mentioned about a book - Conversation between God of Death and Nachiketa. Since then I have been looking for that book but as she did not mention the author name, I was not sure which particular book was that. Still I ordered one and came across this anecdote which I found worth sharing here.
continue here...
Hurdles, are they real?
Title : Anywhere but Home
Author : Anu Vaidyanathan
A Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from US Canterbury and founder of PatNMarks - an intellectual property consulting firm, Anu Vaidyanathan is the first Asian woman to have completed the Ultraman Canada and Ironman Canada (for the uninitiated, Ultraman entails 10 km swim, 425.6 km Bike and 84.4 km Run and Ironman includes 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike 26.2 mile run).
continue here...

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Mouthpiece #41

Walking without...
While the human world is clearly and visibly divided based on gender, possession of resources and similar such criteria, there is another factor which very subtly divides humans...
continue here...

Shabari's Devotion
It is said that the devotion of Shabari was absolute and complete. What is it that makes any devotion complete? 
continue here...
What's new in the kitchen? Gud Seviyan
Wheat flour seviyan (available in Khaadi ashrams) : 1 cup
In case it is hard to find these seviyan, use roasted bambino : 1 cup
Jaggery/gud : 1 cup
Cloves : 3
Cinnamon : 2 cm long
Black cardamom : 1 (crushed)
Ghee : 1 tbsp
Water : 2 cups (if using seviyan) or 1-½ cups (for roasted bambino)
Almonds/Cashews : ½ cup (crushed)
recipe here...

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Mouthpiece #40

The ultimate quest...
Recently I happened to be a part of the conversation, rather I should say, I was listening to the exchange of ideas that was going on at home. The topic was on the quest for what is next from here. Are we doing enough, if we consider progress of soul as the aim of our birth? Do we have sufficient time to work towards that goal? How do we know if what we think we should do is actually what should be done? Don't the mundane things sap our time and energy leaving not enough to think about what is required for the subsequent journey? While the discussion swayed from mere guesses, observations, experiences to complete obscurity (not in that order though), it came up that perhaps there is nothing beyond this life.
continue here...

Homo Deus
Recently started reading a book, every word of which is like fresh air gushing in through mind's windows and the credit goes to Yuval Noah Harari's second book Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow. While his first book Homo Sapiens was a brief History of Human beings, this one is projecting the future of human race.
continue reading here...
What's cooking? Some winter delight...
I have always preferred closed cozy interiors during winters than fiery summers. After having spent fourteen years away from the extreme climate of North, it took me a while to get readjusted to this variation once we came back to Chandigarh. But I can say that a chilly day still attracts all my votes over heat blazing days of summer. It somehow gives a feeling that I am hibernating in the cosy confines of the home.
continue reading here...

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Mouthpiece #39


On your 75th Birthday, with love...

झुक गईं हैं थोड़ी और वे बूढ़ी अम्मा गली की
ज़िक्र तुम्हारा आते ही चमक उठती हैं आँखें उनकी
दिख जाता है तैरता पानी उनकी आँखों में कहीं
जैसे सैलाब छुपाये बैठी हैं मन में अपने कोई
साथ था तुम्हारा उन्हें जो खो गया है अब कहीं
अपने अतीत में झाँक कर टटोलती हैं जैसे यूँही |

continue here...


What's cooking?
Since I am celebrating my mother's 75th birthday here, the special occasion calls for some sweets. Last week on Diwali, I tried making peanut burfi at home and it came out really well. 
So here sharing its recipe:
Raw peanuts : 1 cup
Powdered sugar : 1 cup 2 tbsp (I used icing sugar for the fine powdery texture of the final product)
Cardamom powder : 1/4 tsp
Milk : 4 tbsp
Oil : to grease the tray
Melon seeds : 2 tbsp (for garnishing)  

recipe here...

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Mouthpiece #38

Festivities in the air...
It is that time of the year again. If any other period comes close to my most favoured monsoon, then it has to be this transitioning time when short piercing rays of the sun lose their edge and morph into slanting beams, when tree tops bask in that faint golden radiance a little longer, when slight nip in the early morning air makes one fall in love with that hot cup of tea over again, when a whiff of roasted peanuts fills one with nostalgia of carefree bygone times, when streaming light through thin fog appears like divine guiding illumination and when everything in nature turns to wear a mysterious misty cloak. Palpable festivities and religious fervour adorn the days and nights further. Faint chants of Ramayana verses, street enactments of Ramlila, recitals of Durga Stuti, dhak (dhol beats) emanating from Puja pandaals and the temple bells add to the charm of the revelry.
continue here...

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Mouthpiece #37

In the world of written words...
I have mentioned earlier that the world to general reading or reading for fun opened its gates for me quite unhurriedly when I was already in my late teens. Until then, for me, books meant - course books, supplementary books, reference books and similar such which primarily taught and tested (and not subtly at all). Written words could work as relaxing pursuit or a strong medium to unwind was completely unknown to me. I am happy that the journey in the literary world began from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I enjoyed everything about it so much that one after another, I read all her works in quick succession. Once I had my fill (not exactly) of Austen, I moved on to Thomas Hardy picking Tess of the d'urbervilles first and the pattern that I followed for Austen continued with Hardy too. I literally devoured his complete works. Reading quickly escalated from being a hobby to a passion and I was reading almost with vengeance as if to make up for all the time I lost during early years.
continue here...

Saturday, September 24, 2016

Mouthpiece #36

Skill of doing nothing...
Recently I was advised to do nothing for sometime to give complete rest to my elbows which quite surprisingly got inflicted with tennis elbow, in spite of not having played this sport ever in my life. As I tried desperately to do nothing, I seriously wondered how hard it is to practice, more so, when it comes as an instruction. While I forced myself into this complete rest regimen for a few days, I appreciated the idea behind training oneself to doing nothing from time to time.
continue here...

अनोखा समन्वय
कल-कल बहता पानी आज का संगीत गुनगुनाए
सन-सन बहती हवा चाल मद्धम कर जाए
डाल से टूटी पाती नवजीवन का संकेत बन जाए
चुरमुराते सूखे पत्ते शांत भाव जगाएँ
शीतल बूँदें मन में गर्माहट भर जाएँ 
अटल खड़े परबत क्षणभुंगरता को दर्शाएँ
सागर की गहराइयाँ ऊंचाई का बोध कराए

यह है विरोधाभास या एक समन्वय
एक के रहते दूसरा दूर कहाँ रह पाए ?
Kitchen tales ... in anticipation of winters
I have always preferred closed cozy interiors during winters than fiery summers. After having spent fourteen years away from the extreme climate of North, it took me a while to get readjusted to this variation once we came back to Chandigarh. But I can say that a chilly day still attracts all my votes over heat blazing days of summer. It somehow gives a feeling that I am hibernating in the cosy confines of the home. 
I used to look forward to winters for many things. One of Gulzar’s songs just keeps coming to my mind when I picture a perfect winter day - जाड़ों की सर्द धुप और आँगन में लेट कर… (jaadon ki sard dhoop aur aangan mein late kar…)
continue here...

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Mouthpiece #35


मैं और बादलों की दुनिया...

बादलों में बसती है एक अनोखी दुनिया दूर आसमान में,
खुलता है एक झरोखा कभी, कहीं, किसी एक बादल में! 

कभी कहीं पहुँचने की जल्दी में गतिमान लगते हैं,
मालूम होता है कहते हों- अभी लौट कर मिलते हैं|
और कभी समय की गति को जैसे भुला ही देते हैं,
इत्मिनान कैसा होता है जैसे अभिनय कर के बताते हैं|
continue here...


Shhhhhhh....

It is quite an interesting observation that when we wake up in the morning, we feel like sitting quietly for some time and if possible in an open place, closer to nature. While I read it somewhere, it made me introspect, why does it happen? Perhaps, this is what our natural instinct is - to remain calm and to be at peace. But as the day’s activities take us in their fold, the noise around us keeps increasing, so does the din inside us and they work mysteriously together to drown our innate peaceful self which doesn’t get to make its presence felt any time soon after that. 
continue here...

What's baking in the kitchen? 
Banana Bread
All purpose flour (maida) : 1 ½ cups
Cinnamon powder : 1 tsp
Baking Soda : ½ tsp
Salt : ½ tsp
Nutmeg : ½ tsp
Baking powder : ¼ tsp
Powdered sugar : 1 cup
Ripe Banana : 1 cup (mashed with a fork)
Egg : 1
Oil : ¼ cup
Walnuts : 1/ cup (chopped)

recipe here...

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Mouthpiece #34

Possessiveness
Possessions beget possessiveness. We tend to get possessive about the things that we believe we possess or have control over or the things that we feel are ours. From inanimate things to our near and dear ones, nothing escapes the tightening grip of our possessiveness.
continue here...

What's Brewing?
Chocolate-Chips Cake

Ingredients
All purpose flour (maida) : 1 cup
Sugar (ground) : 1-¼ cups
Cocoa powder : ½ cup
Choco chips : ½ cup
Baking soda : ½ tsp
Butter : 5 tbsp
Oil : 3 tbsp
Eggs : 2 
Vanilla essence : ¼ tsp
Salt : a pinch
Water : ½ cup
recipe here...

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Mouthpiece #33


Non-working professional?

My professional life has not seen much of daylight, it has been in fits and starts and the stints have been so short that no effort is required to miss them when compared to the non-working periods. Going back in time, just a couple of years short of two decades, I was a regular computer graduate with twinkling stars in her eyes ready to begin my corporate journey, so much so, that when I wasn’t shortlisted for the first campus placement, I was devastated. 
continue here...


What's new in the kitchen?
Mushroom do-pyaaza
Mushroom - 2 packets
Capsicum - 2 (cut in big pieces)
Onions (medium)- 2 (chopped)
Bulb onions - 4
Tomatoes(big) - 2 (chopped)
Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp
Green chillies - 2
Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
Red chilli powder - ¼ tsp
Coriander powder - ½ tsp
Garam masala - 1/3 tsp
Coriander leaves - ¼ cup (finely chopped)
Oil : 2 tbsp
Salt : to taste

recipe here...

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Mouthpiece #32


Food and I

Food and I - the relationship that we share, has undergone tremendous change over my life of four decades. 
Food during childhood was quite an insignificant and inconsequential part of the routine. I don’t remember having registered much during that time. A big reason for that was my lack of interest in eating. I would not call myself a picky eater because that was absolutely not allowed at home, but we all (siblings) never picked any sweet to put in our mouths. None of us had even an iota of what is normally called a sweet tooth, even to the extent that we hardly had any biscuits either. Sweets did enter our home but that was more as a ritual and we kids almost had to endure partaking a bite which could be as tiny as a pea. Overall snacking was almost absent in our home.
continue here...

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Mouthpiece #31


एक श्रद्धांजलि (a tribute…)

बैठी हूँ चिंतन में एक और समय के पड़ाव पर,
देख रही हूँ उम्र के एक और सावन को बीतते हुए |
अब की बार तपते मन को शीतल नहीं कर पाया है ये
सूने मन को अपनेपन से सराबोर नहीं कर पाया है ये |

continue here...

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Mouthpiece #30

Being an Indian
There is an online magazine to which I have contributed my book reviews some 2-3 times. I keep getting their mail inviting contributions on the next month’s theme and sharing the link of the published issue. In the recent mail, they are inviting writings on the theme ‘My India’. Though I did not send them my entry but it made me think what does India mean to me actually? 
What does being an Indian mean to me? What is Indian-ness? Never gave a thought to it. Is it hard to describe because it is an abstract noun or is it an emotion which is actually unknown to me? I cannot really answer this myself. Sometimes when we are in a certain place all our lives and that is the only sample space that we have seen, it is hard to think of anything beyond that. Moreover, we do not spare much thought to what is already ours, perhaps this is what permanence does to our mind. Our being and identity get ingrained and integrated with the thing, here, it is the country.
continue here...

Nothing new in Kitchen but still very special...
To celebrate the 30th mouthpiece, here is a special recipe that, I can say, got refined with every single iteration(preparation)of it. Rajmah is supposed to be a part of Sunday ritual in many of the Punjabi homes, but I think it comes out a little different in every kitchen. There is not much difference in the style of cooking in my parental and my marital home yet some changes are inevitable and as I started cooking independently, how my recipe of rajmah evolved, it feels as if it is an assimilation of the taste of those two kitchens.
continue here...

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Book Review : The World Outside My Window

Title : The World Outside My Window
Author : Ruskin Bond
Publisher : Rupa
ISBN : 978-81-291-4179-8

No one does it better than Ruskin Bond - yes, here I am talking about the way he discusses and writes about nature. His knowledge about insects, birds, trees and flowers is not acquired through any biology book rather this is what he has garnered over the years by being an inseparable component of nature. 'The World Outside My Window' is yet another of his creations which actually opens a small window for the readers into the world that he enjoys to be a part of.

Through different sections on small insects, winged creatures and flora, he delightfully explains their unique characteristics and his personal interaction with some of them. One can find some lifecycles, adaptations, singing notes, viciousness, tenderness and much more in this book. A great book for students as a convenient guide for easily noticeable living creatures. A wonderful gift to those who love to understand the language that nature converses in.
The essence of his writing is beautifully conveyed through the concluding verse 'All is Life'.

Whether by accident or design,
We are here,
Let's make the most of it, my friend.
Make happiness our pursuit,
Spread a little sunshine here and there.
Enjoy the flowers, the breeze,
Rivers, sea and sky,
Mountains and tall waving trees.
Greet the children passing by,
Talk to the old folk. Be kind, my friend.
Hold on, in times of pain and strife:
Until death comes, all is life.

After reading his books on nature, many things cross one's mind - how most of us lead our lives unaware of so many of the living creatures that co-exist with us in the same domain; how the author is blessed with an eye, a heart and a pen to notice-acknowledge-appreciate-chronicle his connection with flora and fauna; and how his writings work wonderfully in alluring the readers towards natural environs.

Personally I enjoy reading Ruskin Bond is an understatement because his description of nature strums those chords deep inside me which rejoice with the rhythm that the divine musician creates.

Available on Amazon


Monday, July 4, 2016

Mouthpiece #28

24 Gurus of Dattatreya 
(continued from the previous issue)
Snake 
Snake teaches one the great lesson of detachment - one, how a snake easily discards its cloak and gets into another and second, through the way it stays away from gatherings and crowds. Dattatreya observed that familiarity not only creates tangles of attachment but clouds one’s reasoning and awareness. The attachment is not only on the physical plane but on the mental surface too. One needs to learn the art to shake away the clutter and crowd from the mind - of unnecessary and harmful thoughts so that there is space to prepare for the state of consciousness. 
continue here...

What's brewing? 
With temperature soaring high, it becomes a challenge to work in the kitchen. Here is a simple, easy to prepare salad for those muggy evenings. 
Lettuce : 4 (leaves) 
American corn : 1 cup (boiled)
Moog dal sprouts : ½ cup
Cucumber : 1 
Tomato : 1 (medium)
Onion : 1 (medium)
Celery leaves : 5-6 (optional)
Salt : to taste
Black pepper : 1/3 tsp
Olive oil : 1 tsp
Vinegar : ¼ tsp
Mayonnaise : 2 tsp
recipe here...
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Mouthpiece #27

Insightful
I was reading something when I came across the story of Dattatreya, the son of Maharishi Atri and Anasyuya. While there are many stories related to his birth, what fascinated me the most is his conversation with King Yadu in which he says that he is a student of as many as twenty-four gurus and goes on the explain these gurus who happen to be a part of this grand creation. The list includes Earth, Air, Water, Sky, Fire, Moon, Sun, Ocean, Pigeon, Python, Firefly, Bee, Elephant, Honey-gatherer, Fish, Deer, Pingala, Sparrow, Child, Girl, Archer, Snake, Spider and Wasp. I would like to start from some of the most surprising ones here.
continue here...
What's new in the kitchen? 
Although monsoons have not made their ceremonious entry, yet the expectation is in the air. The traditional punjabi dish to celebrate rains happens to be kheer-puda(crepe). 
Kheer
Milk - 1.5 l
Rice - ¼ cup
Condensed milk - ½ tin (milkmaid)
Desiccated coconut - 2 tbsp
Almonds - 20 (soaked, peeled and sliced into thin slivers)
Cardamom powder : 1/4tsp
recipe here...

Sunday, June 19, 2016

Mouthpiece #26

Reflections
When I look back, I feel, the childhood days were much simpler. I guess every individual says that about the years gone by. They often appear to me as either black&white or sepia tinted images surfacing from the past. School days followed a set rhythm which continued for twelve years from the same institute at a stretch without any surprises. Long stretch of summer holidays were usually spent studying too. Since both sets of grandparents had already left for the next world, our holidays were sans any expected visit to meet grandparents. 
continue here...

What's sizzling? Tawa Mushrooms
Mushroom : 1 packet (cleaned and cut in halves)
Onions : 2 medium sized (thickly sliced)
Tomatoes : 2 (chopped in big chunks)
Garlic : 2-4 pods (pound)
Red chilli powder : ¼ tsp
Kitchen King Masala : ½ tsp
Salt : to taste
Oil : 2 tsp
Coriander leaves : 2 tbsp (finely chopped)
recipe here...

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Reviews : Rupa Books

Title : Ganesh
Author : Subhadra Sen Gupta
Illustrated by : Tapas Guha

Publisher : Red Turtle (Rupa)
ISBN : 978-81-291-4029-6

Thanks for beautifully illustrated children's books and movies on Ganesh, the Lord has become the most endearing and much loved friendly God for children. The stories behind his unique physical characteristics like pot-belly, elephant's head and a broken tusk - keep the children engaged to no end. While we all know the most popular stories associated with Ganesh, they are being retold by Subhadra Sen Gupta with a slight twist.

Though acclaimed as the most learned and witty divine being, yet the antics of Ganesh bridge the gap that a devotee feels with the divine. He is the adorable and friendly God for all, and the one who can be made happy by pure innocent love.

The book Ganesh has four stories - How Ganesh Lost his Head, Ganesh Loses a Trunk, Ganesh versus Kartik and Ganesh Curses the Moon. Each of the stories are beautifully accentuated by colourful illustrations by Tapas Guha.  A perfect gift to children of age group 5 to 8 years.

Available on flipkart


Title : The Story of Hanuman
Author : Mala Dayal
Illustrated by : Taposhi Choshal
Publisher : Red Turtle (Rupa)
ISBN : 978-81-291-3717-3

And who is the other God that incites the same feelings as Ganesh, none other than the monkey God Hanuman. Known for his unflinching devoutness towards his deity Sri Ram, the stories associated with Hanuman are equally amusing and awe-inspiring. When he was a child, he thought the shining Sun is some big juicy fruit in the sky and so leapt into the sky to pluck it. This led to a lot of chaos and many Gods had to intervene which made Hanuman's father the Vayu God very angry. The other Gods had to appease the Vayu God by bestowing special blessings and powers to Hanuman. When the time came to seek knowledge, Hanuman approached Surya to be his guru and in return Surya asked Hanuman to look after his son, the monkey prince Sugreev. Hanuman facilitated the bond of friendship between Sri Ram and Sugreev. He was entrusted with the task of searching for Sita in the south direction where Lanka is situated. He crossed the great ocean, met mother Sita, set Lanka on fire, brought the news of Sita to Ram. Soon after, the great battle began between Sri Ram and Ravan. Hanuman remained by the side of his Lord all through.

His devotion to Lord Ram is unparalleled. The whole story from the childhood of Hanuman to Ram-rajya has been retold by Mala Dayal in 'The Story of Hanuman'. While everyone is well versed with these mythological stories from the epic Ramayana, it is always interesting to read the same through the words of different authors. The added bonus that this book offers is extra trivia about names of different trees, and some activities like puzzles, mazes and games.

Available on flipkart


Saturday, June 11, 2016

Mouthpiece #25

A pat on the back
I often used to wonder, if destiny is supposed to have the final say then what is my role in the whole scheme of things and what impact can I make in doing what I choose to do. Gradually I rationalized it by understanding that perhaps the ‘where’, 'how’ and 'when’ part of my situation is determined by the chain of events which are mostly not in my control, yet there is the 'what I do’ part that is surely where I can make the difference. While a big portion of 'what’ is being constituted by our external interface with the world, a bigger fraction of the same is what we are towards ourselves.

continue here...

What's brewing? Cheesecake
1 big packet Marie biscuit (around 20 biscuits)
100 g salted butter
1 tin sweet condensed milk (Amul Mithai Mate 400g)
Curd measured in the condensed milk tin
Topping - Blackcurrent, Strawberry 

continue here...

Mouthpiece #24

Snowball Effect
Though I am still a little far from the stage when I could officially be called senile, I do sense senility knocking at my door already. If not all the time, I am sure it is teasing me through my inconsistent memory these days. While reading a certain passage, sometimes I dare make some mental notes thinking - oh, this is so interesting, I must come back to it later, but how and when those notes disappear from the mental surface, just prove the fragile state of my memory cells. It just doesn’t end here, rather it leaves me frustrated and restless when I want to know what note had I made and my memory just refuses to divulge any cues whatsoever. Anyway, the ruing is perhaps to be left for some other time and for some other place, but why I mentioned the failing faculties here is simply because I read somewhere something about the power of thought and wanted to quote the passage to be shared here, but no reward for guessing why I can’t do it now.
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Book Review : Incarnations - India in 50 Lives
Title : Incarnations - India in 50 Lives
Author : Sunil Khilnani
The book was recommended by a well respected book aficionado. After having read the book, I am quite intrigued by the lives that the author has picked as representatives of Indian voices on diverse fronts. Some of the lives picked are absolutely pride of the nation who within their lifetimes, managed to gift the world a new or different philosophy while there are some which I felt are quite unworthy of this honour.
continue here...

What's Brewing? Chole (Kabuli chane) with kulche
Kabuli Chana (Chole) - 1 cup
Onion - ½ cup (finely chopped)
Tomatoes - ½ cup (finely chopped)
Ginger - 2 inch piece (grated)
Coriander leaves - 1/3 cup (finely chopped)
Green chillies - 2 (finely chopped)
Lemon juice - 3 tsp
Red chilli powder - ¼ tsp
Chana masala - ½ tsp
Tamarind chutney - 1 tsp 
Mint chutney - 1 tsp 
Salt - to taste

continue here...

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Mouthpiece #23

Vyadha-Gita Analysed (continued from previous issue)
After having read about Vyadha Gita, my mind kept hovering over the same anecdote and this is what impressed me the most:
continue here...

Magic of rains...
Rains, though is a natural phenomenon, yet always manage to do wonders to my spirits. This time when it rained, I wanted to write something but while sifting through my writings, I came across this piece which exactly conveyed my current state of mind, hence sharing it here. 
continue here...

Malai Paneer
Cottage cheese - 250 gm
Ginger : 1 inch (grated)
Tomatoes : 3 medium (pureed)
Red chilli powder : ½ tsp
Kasoori methi : 1 tsp (crushed with hands)
Garam masala : ¼ tsp
Fresh cream : 2 tbsp (I use Amul’s)
Coriander leaves : 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Salt : to taste
Oil : 2 tbsp

recipe here...

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Mouthpiece #22


Illumine

Vyadha-Gita
Vyadha Gita - I had heard about it (not sure when and where) but never tried exploring the history behind it. In Swami Vivekanand’s lectures on Karma Yoga, he talks about this Gita which is part of Vana-Parva in the epic Mahabharata. This was told to Yudhishthir by the sage Markandeya.
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An epitaph for the physical bookstores...
I belong to a generation that was born in 70s and general reading beyond the books prescribed in the school curriculum was a rare phenomenon. Literature for kids was practically unheard of. Tintin, Chacha Chaudhary, Champak, Chandamama and some similar such were a few periodicals that represented the kidlit category in bookstores or on newspaper stands. Hardy Boys, Famous Five and Nancy Drew series were a few series which were available to young adults of those times. Written words could be beyond the ‘ABC of Physics’ or Lakhmir Singh and Manjeet Kaur came as a realisation to me when I completed my schooling years.
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What's brewing? Potato curry 
Potatoes : 4-5 (boiled, peeled and cut in small cubes)
Asafoetida : 1/8th of a tsp
Cumin seeds : 1 tsp
Turmeric powder : ½ tsp
Red chilli powder : ¼ tsp
Salt : to taste
Green chillies : 2 (slit)
Kadhi leaves : 8-10
Coriander leaves : 1 tbsp (finely chopped)
Garam masala : ¼ tsp
Oil : 2 tbsp
recipe here...
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