I am going to Guptaji's house for nashta!!!

I am not much of a breakfast person. I take coffee and cookies in the morning and take my next food when I get opportunity or hunger, whichever arrives earlier. But I know it is very healthy to start your day with a heavy breakfast. You will be encouraged to know that whatever rich you eat in your breakfast, usually get digested as body is in its best shape in the morning hours. So, when I came to know of “Kellogg's Waale Guptaji ka Nashta” I was not much interested in the beginning. With over a hundred yummy recipes, Guptaji’s family surely knows how to whip up the perfect breakfast for any occasion but as I told you before I am not used to with having breakfast on regular basis. Yet, my inner voice provoked me to visit Guptaji's Facebook page to find why everybody around them are so interested to have breakfast with them. Well, to speak the truth, I got clean bowled as soon as I read couple of their breakfast recipes and today through this blog post I will tell you why I would want to visit their house for Nashta (breakfast).

I have been invited previously in several occasions to neighbors', friends' and relatives' places for food, be it breakfast, lunch, snacks or dinner. Many of those invitations remained memorable since they served mouthwatering food. Tasty food gives unlimited gratification but as soon as you finish it like a hungry monster the first worry that encircles you is the prospect of digestion and the calorie you consumed! What I have observed is, unlike Guptaji's Family, most other hosts only focus on taste, not the nutritional aspect of the food. Spicy foods with potency to cause Delhi belly is the hallmark of our tasty food. But it is to be remembered that those unforgettable yummy foods can't be swallowed on a daily basis if at all you want to remain healthy. Right now, midst those hundred healthy breakfast recipes, Cornflakes Coconut Ladoos of Gupta family caught my maximum attention. Those six globular ladoos, with polygonal mosaic pattern over them, definitely looking crispy, sitting comfortably over a thin layer of crunchy Kellogg's cornflakes, on a fine looking spindle shaped white tray looked simply irresistible! Strikingly I came to know that such awesome preparation can be made in just ten minutes! The ingredients were not only very minimum and easily obtainable but also with high nutritional value. All you need are- two cups of crushed Kellogg's corn flakes, two tablespoon of chopped mixed nut, a quarter cup of condensed mild, a quarter cup of ghee and some desiccated coconut! So, I have my reasons ready to visit Guptaji's house for Nashta. Moreover they are very cultured and hospitable human beings. Who won't like them? You may also check their Facebook page for fantastic recipes and tell me why would you want to visit Guptaji's family for Nashta.

How I started a new Life!!!

Although it may sound boastful but I take ample pride to introduce myself as dynamic and bold person. Words without action are nothing better than a painted ship which never touched the water. But I have acted in my best possible manner, and hence I am narrating my story in this post. This story revolves around the time when I took a bold step and brought about a big change in my own life. I took control of my own life and made my choices instead of making irreversible compromises. I denied to get subdued by conventional mentality of my new found family and other social stigmas. If the story of my life succeeds to inspire other women who are hesitant to take bold steps and make big changes in their lives, I will consider it a real winning for me.

Right now I run my own business and I have a respectable position in society. When I got married, eleven years back, I used to have fascination for local wooden handicrafts. Although I was not an artist myself, I used to get sad by the deprived condition of talented local handicraft artisans. I was also volunteering in a micro financing agency which promoted wooden craftsmen. Meanwhile I planned of opening a wooden handicraft emporium where artists could sell their handmade products at a price of their choice. This was going on after I had completed my masters in economics. Then one fine day, suddenly I got married and it was obviously an arranged marriage. But, after my marriage when I expressed my long due interest before my in-laws, they completely disapproved the idea and said “Daughter in law is supposed to take care of home, her husband and raise kids with high morals”! Honestly I didn't give up but at that moment I ensured not to plunge into argument with my mother and father in-law. I looked for support from my beloved husband but he too seemed to be of the same mentality as his parents! Still I did not give up and waited patiently for the right moment to take a bold leap.

After my son was born, I confronted my in-laws with due respect and equally in-suppressible determination, “Look, now I have given you your grandchild for your family. I have whole heartedly served you like my own mother and father. This time I am asking for a small authorization of setting up a handicraft emporium. Either you give it to me or don't. If you permit I shall be a happy member of this family and strengthen the family economy contributing like your son. If you do not permit, I shall leave and that too with my kid.” What a hard-hitting conversation it had been! Thus I got consent that day and since then there was no looking back for me. Thus a bold step brought a huge change in my life! 


#StartANewLife

A moment that had filled me with optimism and hope!!!

Our world is getting smaller day by day and same goes for our heart. We are losing humanity and becoming brutal as well as chaotic. In such circumstances it is very difficult to keep optimism and hope on human nature or humanity. So, today I'll tell you a story around a moment that filled me with optimism and hope for the future of humanity! It was the semester break in our poly-technique engineering college. We had a small peer group of five friends- three boys, two girls- Rajat, Arghya, Priyadarshini, Mita and me. We hated staying in college campus at Bishnupur in semester breaks. There was no air conditioner either in our hostel rooms, so, tolerating summer of Bishnupur was a big talent which none of us had! So we always made some plans and ventured out on our hero Honda motorcycles. I was the single guy and others were couples. This time we decided to travel a tribal village of Purulia.

Purulia, the land of santhals (a tribe) has rocky and undulating landscape, with bio-diversity rich ciduous forests, red soil and red blooms of Palash flower! This Bengal extension of chotanagpur plateau is the home of different tribes like Sanhals, Kheriyars, Shabas, Kurmis etc to mention a few. They are always in festive mood in spite of harsh lives. They dance as they walk and sing as they speak! Santhali dance, performed by both men and women of the tribe is considered to be one of the best folk dances in India which offers immense vivacity and exuberance. Our program was to reach Baranti by late morning, wander in the tribal landscape to enjoy natural charm, enjoy the stay in eco resort which we had booked earlier and then end the day with tribal dance which resort guys organize for tourists. Everything went well up to the dinner.

Couples were gossiping in their respective cottages. I was on my own. It was a full moon night. I went out in forest with my SLR camera to photograph night beauty of moonlit nature surrounding me. Once as I used the camera flash, I heard a roar that panicked me. My heartbeat almost stopped seeing a big black creature with glowing eyes hardly 10-15 meters away from me. I tried to run away but fell down like a trapped deer. With all my efforts I tried to shout but my voice choked. I was seeing nothing but death before my eyes and it was imminent! Suddenly a woman clad in white saree arrived from nowhere with a spear in her hand. She made out a shrill frightening sound. Her language was Greek to me. In few seconds the black animal, had to be wild bear, walked back into the forest. I kept staring at that unknown tribal goddess. She didn't bother to look back and vanished inside the forest equally fast before I could ask her details.

That day, that santhali woman gave me a new life and didn't care to accept my thanks and gratitude. She was my savior. She filled me that day with optimism and hope for the future of humanity!