Dhokha: A faux fish dish from Bihar
Kya aap dhokha khaana chahte hain? Surprised? Well, I am not asking if you want to be cheated. Dhokha is a vegetarian dish from Bihar. Why is it called Dhokha (literally meaning ‘deception’)? Because it fools you…
My pehli Diwali
We were still in that awkward phase, where we weighed our words before we spoke to each other. You never knew what the reaction to them might be, and you tread gently, still discovering each other. Arranged…
Death is real
Sometimes words simply dry up. When life hands you one disaster after another. It is like being battered so badly that you don’t even bother with tears. You turn numb. The mind freezes. Logic flies out of…
My Saree Stories: Part 9 (Navratri Special)
The ninth edition of my saree stories celebrates the nine colours of Navratri. These stories have been written one day at a time for Navratri on another forum and this is a compilation. Navratri celebrates the victory…
The amazing Great Barrier Reef: Our first scuba diving experience
As a child, I would look forward to Sunday mornings when Jacques Costeau, the French oceanographer and explorer would present “The Secrets of the Sea” on Doordarshan. I would be glued to our newly acquired colour television,…
My Saree Stories: Part 8
It is festival time in India, and every week you have one celebration after the other. This is a good time for sarees to be aired. And no one minds if you choose to wear something over…
Sujani: Embroidery from Bihar
One of the many diverse art forms that lie relatively undiscovered in Bihar is the Sujini or Sujani embroidery. The earliest known examples of Sujani embroidery date back to the mid 1920s. Women hand embroidered these masterpieces…
Pola: The bullock festival
Pola is a two-day traditional festival celebrated in Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Telangana at the end of the Shravan month, which is usually in the last week of August or in the early part…
My Saree Stories: Part 7
Part seven of the series contains some trivia about saree motifs from Kanchipuram, some more trivia about the weaving of mulmul, and an invaluable lesson from my Dad when I went saree shopping. Saree #61: A Kanchi…
The Sa-Sha-Sh Conundrum
I often wonder what makes parents decide the names of their children. Our parents named the three of us- Anshu, Manish and Ashish. Now there is nothing wrong with that. In fact when you say the names…
