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Finger licking good

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You cannot escape its tantalising aroma as you cross the street and the mere mention of some of these preparations is sure to get your mouth watering. Yes! You guessed it right. I am talking about the rich variety of our yummy street food. Earlier on, no mohalla (neighbourhood), worth its name was complete without these street hawkers who would come to sell their preparation, especially to the women folk during afternoons. Street food today ranges from simple snacks like chaat, paani puri, sev, chuskis, jalebis to full meals like aloo puri, fried rice, chowmein, aloo matar kulcha for the working masses. Every Indian city has a special trademark ‘street food’ where it is a part of everyday life to take a snack break while catching up with the day’s gossip. Let us dig a bit deeper from one end of the country to the other. Delhi, the nation’s capital, could well be called the street food capital of the country. Dilliwallas, I think would like to take credit for the one-of-its

Laddoos and Festivals

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One of the most important festivals in Hindu tradition, Rakhi, has just gone by. This festival symbolising the great love between sister and brother is synonymous with yummy mithais being made in almost every household. We are two sisters but our mother made sure that we did not feel left out of the celebrations and so we were involved ceremoniously in making motichoor laddoos. Oh! What an indescribable pleasure it was. The whole process of making those yellow balls of delight would get us excited days before the actual event. As we grew up we came to love other variants of this versatile sweet. My sister, who is a much better cook than me, has gained proficiency in making modaks. Modaks are a popular form of sweet from western and southeren India. The mention of modaks brings to mind the colourful and vibrant celebrations of Ganesh Chaturthi. The sweet filling is generally made up of freshly grated coconut and jaggery while the outer shell is made of rice or wheat flour mixed

A healthy and versatile treat

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As a child I was totally taken in by the beauty of these small, white pearls called sabudana, which I thought were made of soap. I don’t really remember where I gathered that impression but my interest in sabudana led me to find out more about it. According to an urban legend, a European settler in Kerala once saw a local man sitting and digging under a rather tall and a thin plant. The European gentleman asked him what he was doing. The busy man answered in Malayalam, “Thappiyoka” which means ‘I am searching...’ The poor European thought that he had been told the name of the plant and gradually it came to be known as tapioca. Sabudana or sago is basically starch. It is extracted from the tuberous root of the cassava plant. Tapioca or shakarkandi’s root is processed to gain a white starchy liquid which is then factory-processed into desired shapes. The white pearls are the most popular one though I am sure you must have savoured it as roasted papad, or as fried sticks as well.

Busy

I was so busy That I forgot to look at you And appreciate the strength your muscles have acquired I forgot to smile at you And extend to you the warmth that my heart feels for you I forgot to reach out to plant kisses on the scrapped knee And let you know that I am around I forgot to hold you tight before you left home And convey that I will be waiting for you to come back To see that you were waiting for me to get on with myself So that I could come back to you I was so busy But now I wonder what else I might have missed While I was too busy Did I sign the notes that your teachers sent? Did I get a hug for baking a cake for you? Did I read stories to you and sing songs? Did I win you friends with craft-work? Did I take you for the walks? I now wonder what do I have to show for all that time that I spent being busy I dread if you ever ask me to show something for being busy always I wouldn’t have anything Because I was so busy Doing nothing

Thoughts on your departure

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Dear Sub I googled the distance from New Delhi to Columbus and I am told it is: 7562.9 Miles or 12171.3 Kilometers / 6567.6 Nautical Miles Approximate flight duration time from New Delhi to Columbus is 15 hrs, 42 mins but I know you have a longer flight. You must have been on a plane for more than half the time, as I sit down to write this. Initially I had wanted to write about how I felt about your leaving yesterday night but then thought that maybe I was too overwhelmed to do it straight away. I got up unusually early with the task on my mind but I spent my those early morning hours doing routine stuff. Then when Netra was out of the house in the evening, the usual time, we would have a chat, I again sat down with my laptop and I googled. Yet again something came up and I had to rush away. All in all it is almost exactly a day after you have left that I am putting how I feel about your going away down. First of all, and I should have told you this before you left,