Kshema's 7 Quick Takes Friday (Volume 2)

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This week has been a busy one. Looking forward to a busier week ahead :) The mercury has risen beyond 47C. Praying the rain Gods to shower mercy!

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Our journey from denial to accomplishment.

This picture defines my journey of blogging, I suppose :)

Ever since I discovered the blogging activity, the different tools and techniques available to make the blog posts interesting, I have climbed each of these steps. Don't they appear to be relevant to most of our life activities where we encounter difficulty? Be it doing a project, undertaking a job, clearing an examination, specially when we are not willing to do something but are compelled to do........ or ........ sometimes even overcoming our fears!

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Came across an interesting post on one of the food blogs (Dr. Saila's) I follow. The blogger, Dr. Saila, describes the benefits of using a "Stone Pot" for cooking. Here I borrowed the picture she posted.

Stone pot for cooking (courtesy: Dr. Saila)

Using earthen pots for cooking is a usual practice in rural India. What interested me more with this stone pot is the no-oil or very-less-oil cooking possibility. Dr. Saila mentions that these pots are available in Asian grocery stores. Internet resources tell that such cookware are also known as "dolsot" bowls and are used in Korean cooking. These bowls appear to be available in natural stone and also fine clay i.e., ceramic ware. I haven't yet had the luck of discovering it in India except on one online store (zansaar.com). But I am not sure whether this one is the same as the one that Dr. Saila mentions.
Please let me know if you come across one in India.

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Talking of hot summer and cooking, I am reminded of Dassana's novel and wonderful summer cooler from her blog "Veg Recipes of India ". She calls it "Paan Gulkand Drink". "Paan" leaves are the betel leaves that are used to prepare the after-meal mouth freshener, and it is popular all over in the rural and urban India. The paan is infamous for its health damaging effects as the paan leaves are combined with areca nut, slaked lime paste and sometimes cured tobacco. Other taste enhancing ingredients like gulkand, raisins, fennel seeds (sometimes sugar coated), poppy seeds and grated fresh coconut are also added to it in some places. Surprisingly, the same leaves when used with healthier ingredients like gulkand, sabja or sweet basil seeds or takmaria, appear to cause cooling effect on our body. Paan leaves are known to aid digestion; and gulkand is ofcourse a wonderful coolant with its rosy taste and aroma, while the sweet basil seeds are said to have amazing nutritive and medicinal value. I am yet to try my hands at this intriguing recipe.

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Auditions for the Indian Idol Junior have started, and so also the KBC Season 7!

I have always been a fan of the music reality shows, especially when innocent young talents are rocking the stage. Sometimes we are simply awestruck when such small girls and boys sing extremely difficult classical notes. I am sure the Indian Idol Junior, like SaReGaMaPa Li'l Champs or Star Voice of India Chote Ustad will keep us glued to the TV set for some months.

Ofcourse, who would not love the charismatic personality of Mr. Amitabh Bacchan and his crystal clear diction! As a child I grew up watching various quiz programmes starting with Mr. Siddarth Basu hosting Quiz Time, Mr. Derek O'Brien hosting the Bournvita Quiz Contest etc. Ah! our own sweet old Doordarshan...... nostalgia :)

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Sufi songs have been on my mind this entire week. "Sanoon ik pal chain na aave......" by the Late Ustad, Sh. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; "Khawaja Mere Khawaja......." and "Kun Faya Kun......." by Mr. A.R. Rahman, I have been humming throughout. What beautiful compositions from the maestros! Kudos to the lyricists...... for the way these lyrical pearls have been stringed in such perfectly lovable fashion and for the way they describe a devotee's condition and his Lord's glory! Late Ustadji and Mr. Rahman are the two names that quickly flash in my mind when it comes to Sufi genre of music. There's a kind of spiritual madness in their compositions. Ofcourse, there are many more accomplished great artistes who undoubtedly deserve great respect and recognition.

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Started reading an interesting book "The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the power of consciousness, matter & miracles" by Dr. Bruce Lipton. The book says "....it is a groundbreaking work in the field of New Biology". No wonder the book has been included for course reading in a university's Holistic Health course! For me, most of the stuff is medically technical and I may not decipher much at my level. Yet, I am looking forward to reading Chapter 7 "Conscious Parenting: Parents as genetic engineers" and the epilogue that talks about "Spirit and Science". I was told in past that whatever we do, as individuals, as parents, the result of our deeds i.e., "karma"s affect our children and their life. One of my acquaintances chose this topic for her doctoral research in the field of biochemistry involving a study of biochemical properties of human genes and their relation with the human deeds or "karma"s affecting their offspring. I must ask her, the next time I meet, what were her significant findings. It must be scientific stuff, but as parents, I think, we must try to know something about such developments or findings as well.

Before I sign off, here's wishing be positive, think good and do good! See you next Friday with some more interesting takes. Until then enjoy your weekend and your work week ahead!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!