Pinku-Enchanted Life

Having an infant in the house means you get used to waking up at odd hours and acting as if nothing is amiss. Today the infant was actually kind and gave me about six hours straight night sleep (a huge rarity these days when the normal is to get up every two hours) so when he wailed at 5:30 and wanted a feed I got up in an instant. Having fed the baby and put him back to sleep I noticed the time was almost six and sleeping now meant being late for work so I decided to bake instead. I had just baked a winter fruit cake (Orange) and now I wanted to try my hands on a winter vegetable; the red juicy carrots. There was only one hitch I had run out of eggs. That is when I remembered the flax seeds which have been lying unused for a while now. Here are the ingredients I gathered: 1 cup white flour (maida) 1.5 cup grated carrots (the red juicy ones) Half cup powdered sugar (take a lil less if the carrots are really sweet) Half cup olive oil 2 tbsp flax seed powder 2 tbsp curd 1 tsp baking powd...

My toddler is hyper active and over intelligent so time and again we are told to keep her occupied with multiple tasks that engage her both mentally and physically. Finding time from all the household chores to spend time with the kid becomes a challenge and the best solution I have found is to get her involved in what I am doing. Baking is one of my much loved activities during winters and so from an early age the girl has helped me bake (she is all of 4.5 years right now). Whisking is her special task and she hates handing over the whisk to anyone. Once when her dad baked me a cake on my birthday, she tasted it and commented that, 'its good, but would have been better if I had done it'. So coming back to the point, winters have set in and the past weekend we got out our baking stuff and got ready to get happy. Oranges are the girl's special love and she has been looking forward to the fruit hitting the market so we chose that as the flavor we wanted to experiment with. We...

When the partner and I got together what brought us together was a shared love for books, films, theater, music, travel and to some extent food but most important of all our ability and yearning to share myriad thoughts. Eight years of marriage, two babies and a dog later we are happy if we can say three lines to each other without intervention or distraction. I call ours a mad household: the only rule that applies here is that there is no rule. Each day brings its own set of challenges and solutions. We are all proud owners of very strong opinions and don't care to follow what others have to say. Add to this the fact that we all have friends and love asking them to drop in which they do and it just adds to the circus. So when we actually get an entire weekend to indulge in one of our first loves it feels like heaven :) This Saturday the entire family including the 13 week baby went to attend Bookaroo a children's literature festival that tries to inculcate readin...

We were two sisters and our parents never made us feel the absence of a son in their lives. However come this time of the year and I would feel the absence of a brother quite acutely. Especially since mom and masis would get busy with the preparations for Bhai phota and our mamas would land up with gifts for that special tikka. While I did have Rakhi brothers at school and amongst family friends Bhai phota somehow seemed too sacred to be frittered away on 'by the way' brothers.  The cousins who could have fitted the bill were never around at this time of the year and the years passed without my being able to dirty my left ring finger with Kajal and tikka and repeat that silly ditty which mom and masi repeated in the most somber tones. This year though finally was different as Aarini excitedly put the first ever tikka on her young brother's forehead and gleefully exchanged gifts. Somehow my wait has been so worth it. I felt I was the giver and taker of that cherished tikka a...

Two years ago we were invited to a 2 year olds birthday party at home. We went with our own totally excited toddler to whom the high point of a birthday was the cake and balloons expecting to share a few words with adults over the head of shouting kids and  generally being happy watching the kids interact.  To our delight the gathering was a small one which meant the din was reasonable and some conversation possible.  Post the cake cutting and settling down of the kids the host said let me treat you to something special and brought out a hunk of roasted pork. It glistened with fat the way only pork can and the aroma was amazing. I had a forkful and I was entrapped in its magic. The dish got over in no time and I didn't get the oppurtunity to linger over it longer. Though the intention was to return to the dish at the earliest possible two years and more passed before I could again taste it. The wait was well worth it cause this time it was cooked in my own home and apart ...

The four year old fancies herself as Suzuka the intelligent girl friend of the ever whining Nobita from the Doraemon series. Amongst the many abilities of Suzuka who is a brave, compassionate and intelligent girl is her ability to bake cookies. So when Aarini decides she wants to do an activity she has to but of course choose cookie making as the ideal activity to indulge in.  I picked a simple recipe I have been meaning to try out for a while now and provided her the ingredients and stayed with her as my lil baker went about with full zeal. Waiting for the cookies to bake 18 minutes is a long time for a 4 year old. Recipe: 1 cup whole wheat (atta) 1/2 cup powdered sugar 2 tsp cardamom powder 1/2 cup ghee and olive oil ( I mixed both as I was short on ghee) Some chopped almonds for garnishing  Sieve the atta and cardamom powder together and keep aside.  In a separate vessel mix the oil-ghee combo with the powdered sugar and whisk till a creamy consistency is achieved....

In a country being governed by the Parivar as the BJP and its allies are called it is obvious that the religion I was born into would be a matter of great importance. Not that it ever is anything but important, being the religion of the majority of people in India. However in the past year or so Hinduism has crept up in news and views far more frequently than before. One or the other leader of the so called parivar and even parliamentarians have been remarking on various aspects from how many childrena Hindu ought to have , to eating habits , to the patriotism quotient of Hindus versus any other faith etc. Incidentally parivar is how the ancient Hindus looked at the entire world enshrined in the phrase Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam i.e. “the world is one family” Nowhere did they say that every member of this gigantic family has to follow the same belief system.   All of this has made me feel amused, harassed, furious and most of all disgusted. These so called guardians of my religi...