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Tea – what we Indians call Chai ! The calmness amidst the chaos... The empathizer to all the stress... The dose of energizer to the inert mind...

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About

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Her Homecoming

Her Homecoming ❤️

Indian Festivals are a true representation of colors, rituals, traditions, culture and heritage of the country. With Durga Puja round the corner, it is the biggest festival for the people of East India. The festivities begin with ‘Mahalaya’ – the embarkment of Goddess Durga on Earth in her ‘Mahishasurmardini’ (the Demon Slayer) form ! This marks the beginning of 10 days of…

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The 'GREY' Matter

The ‘GREY’ Matter

Colors are loud and harsh;

Grey is bold and sensual !

To me the ultimate essence of photography lies in capturing the Grey !!

Because Grey is the new Black !!

Stay Raw, Stay Naive with all your flaws and imperfections !!

© From my Pen to your Soul

Love & Peace,

Nabanita

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Pearls of Nature !

Pearls of Nature !

With the late night showers, the best early morning view would definitely be :

These beautiful priceless pearls clinging to the green leaves of Nature !!

Candid shots from my early morning jogging session today – A rare view of ‘Virgin Nature’ kissed by Sunshine and untouched by Smut is a pure treat forever !!

© From my Pen to your Soul

Love & Peace

Nabanita

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Topper of her class – honed and polished;

Yet humble and simple with enormous desires in life.

She dreamt of having her own house, driving her own car and earning a huge amount every month.

First interview of her life;

She knew cracking it would be a cake-walk.

Waiting impatiently outside the interview hall for results;

With ambitions in her eyes,

Little did she know that all her hopes would perish to dust at the nip in the bud !

When the job offer was given to the most mediocre student of the class,

She failed to figure out what went wrong;

Until she discovered the role of her cruel luck !

It was then she realized, how tough is the real world.

Somewhere in between discovering her luck and vision;

She figured out what true struggle was !

© From my Pen to your Soul

Love & Peace

Nabanita

  Between Dreams and Realty… Topper of her class - honed and polished; Yet humble and simple with enormous desires in life.

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Be You

Year ago Self-Respect was hurt,

Compromise won;

And Self-Respect was chocked to near-death !

Today when Compromised suffered,

Self-Respect helplessly whispered;

“You should have let me won years ago !!!”

– From my Pen to your Soul

Never compromise on self-respect

Compromise brings only temporary solutions

In the long-run, Self-Respect is what keeps you going…

Love & Peace,

Nabanita

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Hello my Readers,

We are already in the mid of January and with it begins the festive season of the calendar 2017. My entire nation (well by nation here I am referring India) is pumped up with the glory of celebrating the winter harvest festivals. Whether it is Lohri in the North, or Sankranti in the West, East and Central, or Magh Bihu in the North-East or Pongal / Bhogi down the South;  whatever be the name, it’s indeed the season of joy and feasting across the country. I find a common bond in all these winter festivals – and that is – ‘Food’ !! With food I remember all those yummy Ladoos, Barfis, Kheer/Payasam, Chikkis, Rabri, Malpowas, Pithas, Halwas, Jamuns ….. (I can go on and on !!!)

To my readers, as you all know I hail from the north-eastern part of India called Assam, I have been celebrating Magh Bihu since my early childhood. This festival used to give me an aura of joyfulness and jubilation along with the sense of satisfying my hunger and taste buds with scrumptious eateries thereby giving me a gourmet meal !! Sounds delicious right ?

Let me first introduce you to the much under-rated winter harvest festival of India – Bihu. Why I quote this under-rated ? You might have not heard much about this festival but trust me it is as colorful and joyous as any other harvest festival of India. Bihu is the regional festival of Assam. It is generally celebrated 3 times in a year – One in January along with Lohri and Pongal, another in April along with Vishu and Easter and the third one in November. The one celebrated in January is called Magh Bihu, the one in April is called Bohag Bihu and the one in November is known as Kati Bihu. This classification is primarily based on the crop cycle or the cycle of harvest.

Each Bihu has its own significance : With the Magh Bihu signifying more of feasting and merry-making, to the Bohag Bihu implying more of dancing, singing and welcoming the Spring to the Kati Bihu indicating lesser merriment and an atmosphere of constrain and solemnity. So you see, with each Bihu is associated the sentiments of the people of Assam. Bihu is not just a festival; to us, it is an association of our emotions and temperaments to the soil of our state.

This Magh Bihu (which is today), I prepared few homemade sweets and delicacies which I love to hog anytime of the day. Literally, I can finish an entire bowl of Kheer in a matter of no time say 5-10 minutes max !! Sounds crazy right ! I am a big fat all-time foodie ! I am never a pro in cooking and so I always like to cook dishes that are simple and can be done within a lesser span of time. Kheer, Malpowa with Rabri, Patishapta and Ladoos are what I can cook with ease – reason being I have been practicing them over years now and eventually I manage to cook them pretty well… I think I can !!!

This Bihu is all about yummy tummy…when the granaries are all stuffed and all the yummy food gets to enter your tummy, it is a sight of gastronomic delight for you ! So, foodies keep an eye on this festive time of the year when you get a chance to indulge yourself with all sorts of Good Food ! Slurrppp :-D

Magh Bihu, in many terms, is similar to Lohri of North India wherein we burn Bonfire and offer prayers to Fire and Sun God. A day before this Bihu, huge Bonfires, called Meji, are made out of hay in open fields or in the front yards of the houses. Let me tell you, people usually here have small houses and not high-raised building because this part of the Himalayan belt is so prone to earthquakes. The following day, people wake up early in the morning before the sunrise, take bath in water soaked with sesame seeds, put on new clothes and gather in open fields to burn the Meji. The bonfires are lit, people circle around the bonfire and throw puffed rice and betel nuts into it, and worship the Sun God and the God of Fire asking for protection and thanking Him for giving a colorful harvest season. I remember running to the paddy fields (near my house) early in the morning only to catch a glimpse of this huge Meji burning down to ashes. This used to give me cheap thrills and excitement to jump start the day on a positive note !!

Pic source : Google

To me, this time of the year would, most importantly, mean eating a lot of sweets and delicacies prepared by my grandma (my maternal grandma who is no longer alive and I terribly miss her quite often; she was so very closely associated with me…! Well emotions apart) and hoping from one house to another in my neighborhood just to fill my pockets with the Ladoos ! I would stuff my tummy to the maximum extend I could…yes, you heard me right… I used to eat as much as I could, those were the days… little was I bothered about my weight ! Anyways, I am now on a strict diet :-D This saga of eating and merry-making used to continue for week long along with many other wild sports like buffalo fights, cock fights, nightingale fights and so on.

Thus, we see India is truly a land of diversity and culture not only in terms of language, customs and traditions but also in festivals, food habits and celebrations. How many of us ever knew that there is a winter harvest festival quietly celebrated in the North-Eastern part of India (Assam) along with Lohri, Sankranti and Pongal ? How many of us ever paid a close attention to the festival Bihu? How many of us have known Assam to be a state of India ? Well, not many ! Let me tell you, Assam not only has the festival Bihu, but also a whole lot of greenery and natural beauty that will make you go ‘WoW’, and I am pretty sure you would be bowled over by its tourism and tranquility — be it the one-horned Rhino of Kaziranga or the aromatic tea leaves of the hills — you ought to visit this place to discover its beauty !!!

Happy Harvesting Week to all my readers. Have a luminous feasting and indulge yourself completely in merry-making !

Love and Peace from me to you on this occasion.

Nabanita

    As India Celebrates Winter Harvest ! Hello my Readers, We are already in the mid of January and with it begins the festive season of the calendar 2017.

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Hello Folks,

Cooking is something I am very bad at and I honestly admit this. And when it comes to baking I am the worst ! Believe me…Baking has never been my cup of tea. I remember I have burnt several cakes and in some cases my cakes turned out to be cookies when out from the oven. So I gave up on this ! Totally gave up on baking !

Since then my mantra has always been ‘Cook It Simple‘ ! My level of simplicity is literally simple !! So whenever I enter the kitchen, I always cook something which is easy and can be completed at the tip of my fingers. This gives me satisfaction and luckily, my husband, loves to eat simple foods. One such easy of the easiest recipes I recently made was Chili Chicken. This can be prepared on the days you are in a hurry to go to work or are not in a mood to cook (which is often my case ! I am a big lazy bee !!). At the same time, it is healthy too ! Why ? It has proteins coming from Chicken, also we have the Calcium reservoir ‘Capsicum’ and other essential minerals and nutrients coming from onion, ginger and garlic.

Well much said, time for action now…let’s quickly get into the process.

Ingredients :

Chicken thigh – 400 grams / 0.89 Lb

Capsicum green – 1 medium

Onions – 2 small / 1 medium

Dried Red Chili – 2 Nos.

Tomatoes – 2 small / 1 medium

Green Chili / Jalapeños – 2 Nos.

Garlic – 5 cloves chopped

Ginger paste – 1 tsp.

Red Chili Powder – 1 tbsp.

Vinegar – 1 tsp.

Soya Sauce – 2 tbsp.

Tomato Sauce – 1 tbsp.

Cilantro – a handful chopped

Sesame seeds – a handful

Salt

Pepper

Cornstarch – 1 tsp

Vegetable Oil

Note : Quantities may vary depending on the number of person. Mine is an ultra-nuclear family – my husband and me. So I am giving the quantities for 2 person. You may increase as per the requirement.

Method :

Marinate the chicken with ginger-garlic paste, salt, pepper and cornstarch. Add a little vegetable oil to prevent the marinate from turning sticky (due to cornstarch). Set aside for 2 hours.You can also refrigerate it. This will make the chicken softer.I clicked this pic before adding the cornstarch as my hands were messy after adding the cornstarch, so couldn’t get hold of the camera then ! Keep sure your hands are clean !!! (A bad joke)

Deep fry the chicken pieces till they are golden brown to deep brown in color. Make sure not to burn them ! Take them out and place over a tissue paper to soak the excess oil. Frying in process…Don’t get nervous by seeing the oil in the tissue paper. This is the reason I always soak my fries in tissues to drain out the excess oil. Better to drain them than to consume them and add to your belly fat !!

Make a paste of tomato, ginger, garlic and green chili / jalapeños in a blender. (this is my version of Salsa)

Cut the onions bulbs in the shape of small triangles. Try cutting the capsicum and onion of the same size ! Not a mandate though ! But looks good (a generic tip I know, I know !!)

In a non-stick frying pan, heat oil, put the dried red chillies (half slit); once the chillies begin to sputter add the vegetables and saute them (onion and capsicum). Add the chopped ginger and garlic. Add salt and keep stirring. You can add some more pepper if you want to make it hot and spicy.

Now add the Salsa (point 3) paste into it and keep stirring.

Add the fried chicken pieces and give it a nice mix so that the onions bulbs, capsicum, salsa and the chicken mix well.

Add the Red Chili powder and allow the chicken to cook for 5-10 mins. Cover with lid and put the gas on medium flame.

Now slowly add vinegar, soya sauce, tomato sauce and mix it well.

Cover the pan with lid and allow the chicken to cook for another 7 mins. Chicken should now be tender, so also the capsicum and the onion bulbs.

Switch off the flame and garnish with chopped cilantro and sesame seeds. Serve hot with rice, noodles or bread. (Indian breads such as Roti, Paranthe, Naan, Kulchas, Fulkas !!!!)

      So that’s all. Easy isn’t it ? I bet it is !

Note : I have not added water at any stage. Chicken becomes half tender when you fry them, that is the reason to keep them marinated for at least 2 hours !

  The total preparation time is just 20 mins. I often have this with the Indian versions of home-made breads. This also goes well with any Chinese fried rice or noodles.Try preparing this at home. I am sure you will love the crunchiness of the sesame seeds and the flavor of fresh cilantro.

  I shall see you all soon. Till then stay healthy, stay calm, have patience and enjoy the winters.

Love and Peace from me to you,

Nabanita.

Chilli Chicken Hello Folks, Cooking is something I am very bad at and I honestly admit this. And when it comes to baking I am the worst !

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You are SHE !

You are SHE !

You are beautiful and not ugly.

You are intense and not mild.

You are bold but not provocative.

You are infinite and not compact.

You are the sky !

You are the magic !

You can strike wonders.

You are the womb !

That makes a zygote come to life.

You are the strength !

That can fight any negative force around.

You are the light !

That can be transformed into rays of hope.

You are vast.

You are…

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Highway Connection

500 miles read my Google maps !

As the rim of my speedometer fitfully flapped.

The mountains on both ends stood swelled and high;

As the sparse clouds danced across the cleared blue sky.

The Mojave Desert stretched out it’s long dry arms;

And embraced each traveler by it’s grace and charm.

The gusty winds blew strong with no fear;

As the roads narrowed down to kiss the horizon dear.

The Nature…

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The real good Mexican superfood

The real good Mexican superfood

Hello friends,

Here I am, after a pretty long time again ! This time I shall bring to you some tasty super-food made from a super fruit ‘Avocado’. What does come to your mind when you think of Avocado ? To me it is a dull green fruit lying in every supermarket I visited, but I hardly picked any ! Well it’s a fruit which I never crave for, it’s none of my favorite.. I am not a die-hard fan of…

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SeaWorld San Diego

Hello friends,

I have not been blogging too often these days, just got stuck with my office work and yeah a terrific hectic schedule ! I somehow managed to visit the San Diego SeaWorld towards the end of April this year. I had heard a lot about it from my husband, (he already visited it earlier with his colleagues in 2014 as well, while I was back in India) and thought why not escape from the…

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‘ A NEW FRIEND ‘ – WEEKLY@15

I feel great to be featured ! Thank you Kaushal who blogs for 27writers.wordpress.com for this ! This is indeed a great initiative to feature the bloggers

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The Perceived Projection !

The Perceived Projection !

What is Perception ? – To me it is a way of mental impression, a notion, an idea, a thought, an outlook or a belief. What appears good to you may not appear good for me. The way I see a thing may not be the way you look into it. It’s my perception and, not necessarily, my perception is right or wrong. It is how I want to see things.

I know most of you might have fallen trap into this world of…

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Meera startled up from sleep by the croaking sound of her alarm sharp at 6 in the morning, quickly switched off the light that was turned on for the whole night and briskly stacked up the scattered books on her table. Setting her room right, she went to help her mother in the household chores, packed her bag, had her breakfast and rushed for her classes dot by 8.30. Throughout her life till date, she has learnt one thing from her father – that is to be punctual ! Being a teacher by profession, he always followed strict discipline at home and Meera grew up setting him as her idol.

It was a bright sunny morning after the previous afternoon and night showers. The sky looked clear and the sun set dazzling bright pushing behind the clouds. The dirt roads were partially laden with mud and partially dried. Meera had to put her steps with care so as to avoid the dirt. She always preferred to walk to her college through the short-cut road (which would rather take her only 10 minutes to reach the college) but due to the heavy night showers it was flooded; which made her walk all the way round taking the long route !!

She had to walk past a crowded market place, a huge playground, a rail-road crossing and a few more shops on her left before she could finally reach her college premises. It was an ‘all-girls’ college as Meera’s conventional parents would never allow their daughter to go to a co-education environment. The campus was huge and was spread across large acres of land. She was late by 5 minutes to class (which was otherwise unusual on her part). She quickly grabbed a corner empty sit and started attending the lecture. Meera used to be a very studious girl and always topped her exams. Her teachers and friends had huge expectations out of her – they were pretty sure of Meera grabbing the first position in her 10+2 exam.

The day passed by and it was almost 4 pm by the watch. Amidst the chaos, Meera had totally forgotten about the jacket and that she had to return it. But the question was – How ? She had neither seen the guy nor did she know his name or whereabouts. As the last lecture session of the day got over, she waited for everyone to leave. She hurriedly took out the jacket from her bag, it was partially wet as she did not get an opportunity to dry out in the sun …she didn’t know what to do with it… as she started patting the jacket dry, there fell off a piece of paper from one of the pockets ! It was a small bit of paper folded into two. As she opened it hoping to get some information about the guy, she luckily fold his visiting card with his name, designation, address and phone number on it. Meera looked at her watch. It was 4.30 already in the afternoon and she thought to return the jacket before it got dark outside. She went to a phone booth nearby and dialed the number. After two rings, the same husky voice on the other hand said “Hello” – Meera’s heart pounced up as she heard him over the phone. She could not speak a word; the voice again repeated “Hello. Dev here; who’s this…? Hello ??” The call got disconnected. Her hands were shaking but she gathered much courage to dial the number again. This time she spoke out – spoke out loud with all her guts ! “This is Meera – the girl you had lended your jacket the other day, I have to return it to you… can you come to the same spot at 5 today ?” On hearing this Dev could barely deny.

Keeping the receiver, Meera rushed to the spot as it was already 4.50 pm. She was waiting eagerly under the tree and desperately wanted to meet the mysterious guy. It was 5 in the evening already but he did not arrive. All of a sudden, she could see a motorbike approaching her from a distance. It was a red CBZ sports bike. Meera was much shocked and surprised, as she had never seen such a fancy vehicle in her small village before. The guy was with his head-gear (which we commonly call Helmet in India) on ! She could not see his face, though she wanted to; the bike stopped near her, he parked it by the side, climbed down the vehicle and removed his head-gear. She could now see a tall masculine figure in late twenties (almost approaching thirties), long hair touching the length of the shoulders, sharp features, and yes, of course, the ‘husky’ voice (which Meera can never forget) ! Meera was totally taken aback as she never expected ‘him’ to be so attractive. It was a near love for her at ‘the first sight’ !!

Dev stretched out his arm for a handshake, and said “Hi, I am Dev”. Meera was so nervous that she could not even pronounce her name proper…first because she had never spoken to a complete unknown person of the opposite sex before, second she was too introvert and most importantly third he was so charming and handsome which she never expected… ! The combination of all these three points made her highly-strung ! She purposely avoided his eye-contact because she knew she would certainly fall for him in no time. She quickly gave him back the jacket without much looking at his face. Dev too liked Meera, after all she was beautiful and charming as well; only the fact that she was less-spoken and introvert kept Dev wondering. Meera would never make the first move; Dev could clearly make this out, so he made the first approach. They exchanged their phone numbers and Meera quickly headed to her home. Dev drove back with the jacket !

Meera was excited, nervous and scared at the same time. She had the so-called “mixed feeling” people usually experience when they are in Love. So did this signify something new in her otherwise boring and dull life ? Was it a new chapter that her life was about to unfold ? Can she be bold enough to face it or accept it ? What about her orthodox parents and the conventional society she was a part of ? What about the age-old customs and traditions her family followed? Will her heart rule over her mind? Will she be an exception or fall a prey to the social customs? A lot of thoughts were running across her mind – the guy Dev, his looks, his voice, her parents, her family and the society ! Too many questions she had simultaneously, to which only Time could provide her with answers !

  The first meeting – Part 2 Meera startled up from sleep by the croaking sound of her alarm sharp at 6 in the morning, quickly switched off the light that was turned on for the whole night and briskly stacked up the scattered books on her table.

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The first meeting !

Sheena was a quiet simple girl. Born to a middle-class family and being the eldest of the three siblings (followed by two younger brothers), she always had a sense of responsibility and maturity since early childhood. Being from a remote village in India, she had grown up in an orthodox and conservative environment – a surrounding that encouraged girls to be inferior than boys. A society where…