“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” Marcus Aurelius.

“Ah…excuse me, I didn’t get your name.”

“Sanjeeta”

I turned around and looked at the representative from client’s office standing behind me. We would have spoken at length on topics ranging from food to Indian culture on the sets for last two days, but forgot to exchange our names.

“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.” ~ Frederick Keonig

Sitting around the bonfire, sipping creamy and delicious Makki ki Raab in small sakora or earthenware pot, is one of the sweetest memories from my occasional winter visits to our family home in Bhilwara, Rajasthan.

Granny  would light the ‘chulha’ or hearth made from a mixture of cow dung and clay as early as 4 am in the morning. The indigenous chulha provided much needed warmth during the chilly winter days.

“Secure your dreams for they are the wings of your soul” Bianca Bower.

What do you do when you are caught in the hectic happenings of the week?

The never-ending household grind, grocery shopping, dropping and picking children from school, driving daughter from one corner of the city to other for sports & music classes in evening, dropping son for his evening extra classes, organizing for shoots and then squeezing time in between to manage this blog.

Well, in reality there’s not much I can do about it but to vent my feelings and anger in every other blogpost…or..errr…just hope for one another Sunday to put a break on my fast-paced lifestyle 🙂

But then, I am also enjoying the various phases and changes that life brings every single day as time marches on.

I was delighted to find a new organic store opened close to my house loaded with many unusual food products I would love to cook with. I bought a few packets of red Sorghum (jowar) and sweet smelling pure cane sugar or as they call it sucanat (sugar cane natural).

The red Sorghum has harder skin and more nutty taste than the white grain and takes a little longer to cook.

“Ehh..not this oil…wait a minute” mom said and moved away hurriedly only to be back with another bottle of oil in her hand.

She lovingly tilted the bottle and poured a thin stream of that dark coloured oil on my steaming hot savory Baafla baatis (steamed savory buns).

“Baafla Baatis must be eaten only with ‘Kachchi Ghani til ka Tel’ (cold pressed sesame oil)” she told as a matter-of-fact and sat down on the chair next to me.

Back then, I never questioned her food choices….not that I knew much about it either 🙂

“Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments”~ Rose Kennedy.
Well, well…it took almost 25 years and an article in New paper for my mom to get convinced that I am doing well in life.
I left Udaipur in 1990 for higher studies and worked for a few years before getting married & settling in Chennai for good. But then, my mom was always concerned about me leaving my job, until I got myself involved in activities related to my blog Lite Bite.
Later, whenever I called her to tell about my …