In My Hands Today…

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Thinner Than Skin – Uzma Aslam Khan

Clockroot CoverIn the wilds of Northern Pakistan, where glaciers are born of mating ice, two young lovers shatter the tenuous peace of a nomadic community

Thinner than Skin is a riveting novel about identity and belonging. It’s also a love story: between a young Pakistani man trying to make his way as a photographer in America, and the daughter of a Pakistani father and German mother brought up in the US, who wants to return to a country she’s never seen. Together they make the trip to Pakistan, where a chance meeting with a young nomad changes their lives, and the lives of those around them, forever. The novel is also a love letter to the wilds of Northern Pakistan, to glaciers, to the old Silk Road, and to the nomadic life of the indigenous people in the Northern territories, where China encroaches and Pakistanis, Uzbeks, Russians, Chinese, and Afghans all come together to trade.

Happy Birthday GG & BB: A Letter to you on your 14th Birthday!

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Happy Birthday, BB & GG! You turn 14 tomorrow and the years between the first time I held you both in my arms to today seems to have gone by in a flash. Tomorrow is also your Hindi year-end exam and I wish you all the best for the exams (though I know you wish the exams didn’t happen today!).

GG, you are my first born (by two minutes) and as I watch you grow into a warm and confident young lady, I am always surprised you were born from my womb. You are beautiful, both from the inside and the outside, but I am glad, at this point in life, you are more concerned on the inside than the outside, maybe unlike your peers.

BB, my baby boy, who is now a whole head taller than me, you are still the sweet and lovely little boy I watched grow up. I still love the random hugs you give me now and then and the cuddles you ask me sometimes and hope you never change this aspect of your personality.

Both of you are no longer children and completely dependent on me anymore. You are already young adults who show promise of the adults you will soon become.

For both of you, the exams that begin around the end of the month are defining exams. How you in this exam will determine to a large extent your future path in life as the subjects you take will eventually determine the subjects you can take post school.

There are very few children who are your age and who know what they want to do in life, you both are quite fortunate you have been able to pin down your passions early on and to a large extent, you both have decided what you want to do in life. All I say that grow your passion and let that determine your path in life. As someone wise once said,

“When you love what you do and work in something that you are passionate about, you never ever go to work a single day in your life!”

The teens are brutal years, take this from someone who has been through it. I have always believed that teenagers are more lethal than even adults and what you learn while navigating these years will be the foundation which you can use to base your adult interactions.

The teen years are brutal, take this from someone who has been through it. I have always believed that teenagers are more lethal than even adults and what you learn while navigating these years will be the foundation which you can use to base your adult interactions.

One thing I would like you both to learn during the holidays is to learn to cook! Cooking is no longer restricted to girls and with both learning to make simple meals in school, we can take this further and learn simple meals you can make for yourself. This will make you more independent and cooking is an important life skill. You will never starve or even spend too much money on meals when you stay away from home!

Speaking of which, I am quite dreading the time when you both fly the coop – BB will start first when he starts his National Service, but I would love for both to stay and study overseas so you gain valuable experience – both academically as well as in life!

My hopes and aspirations for you both are quite simple, I want you to enjoy what you do and in the process be happy doing it. Live life to the fullest and make use of every opportunity that comes your way, be it tiny, little or big. Keep learning, it never stops and try to learn something new every day! Love each other immensely as you now do and never stop being in each other’s lives. You both share a special and unique bond, keep that flame always alive!

Happy Birthday, GG & BB! Remember I love you to the moon and back (definitely more!)

In My Hands Today…

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Raj – Gita Mehta

1627615Jaya Singh is the intelligent, beautiful, and compassionate daughter of the Maharajah and Maharani of Balmer. Raised in the thousand-year-old tradition of purdah, a strict regime of seclusion, silence, and submission, Jaya is ill-prepared to assume the role of Regent Maharani of Sirpur upon the death of her decadent, Westernized husband. But Jaya bravely fulfills her duty and soon finds herself thrust into the center of a roiling political battle in which the future of the kingdom is at stake… and her own future as well.

Recipe: Milagu Kozambu

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This is another typical tambram recipe which is probably made in every tambram household at some point or the other. I love this recipe and always used to ask my mum to make it. It is said this is good when you have an upset stomach, as this recipe will clear your stomach.

Both BB & GG also love this recipe and it is usually made plain with no vegetables and is really useful when there’s nothing to cook at home. This time around, I added some vegetables and it was super delicious!

Milagu Kozambu

Ingredients:

  • 2 onions, chopped into big pieces
  • 10 ladies fingers, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 4-5 pieces of drumstick, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 1 tsp Peppercorns
  • 5 Red Chillies
  • 1 tsp Urad Dal
  • 2 tsps Chana Dal
  • ½ tsp Cumin Seeds
  • 2 tsps Coriander Seeds
  • 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
  • Tamarind piece as big as a piece of lime (make sure you remove all fibre from the tamarind as well as any seeds which may be there)
  • Salt to taste
  • A handful of curry leaves
  • 1/8 tsp of Asafoetida
  • 2 tsps Oil

Method:

  • In a bowl, put the tamarind and pour boiling water over it to release the water and flavour and keep aside for 30 minutes. When cool, mash it well to remove the juice and keep aside. There’s no need to remove the flesh for this recipe.
  • Heat oil in a kadhai and when warm, fry the peppercorns, red chillies, urad dal, chana dal, cumin seeds and coriander seeds.
  • When the dals turn red, add the curry leaves and fry till the curry leaves are crisp.
  • At this point, add the asafoetida and let it cool down.
  • When cool, grind to a smooth paste with the tamarind and a little water into a smooth paste.
  • Heat oil and fry the mustard seeds. Now add the onions and fry them so it starts becoming translucent. Then add the drumstick and ladies finger and let them fry for a  couple of minutes.
  • Mix the blended paste with enough water to make 1.5 cups of the paste and add this to the vegetables cooking and let it cook.
  • Add salt to taste as well as some jaggery if you find it spicy and let it cook till the vegetables are fully cooked and the mixture becomes thick and reduces.
  • Check for seasoning and switch off the gas.

This kozambu will keep for about 2 days outside and about a week in the fridge. Eat with hot rice and some papad. So soul satisfying on a cold or rainy day!

In My Hands Today…

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The Towers of Silence – Paul Scott

1000724India, 1943: In a regimental hill station, the ladies of Pankot struggle to preserve the genteel façade of British society amid the debris of a vanishing empire and World War II. A retired missionary, Barbara Batchelor, bears witness to the connections between many human dramas; the love between Daphne Manner and Hari Kumar; the desperate grief an old teacher feels for an India she cannot rescue; and the cruelty of Captain Ronald Merrick.