“But Tatha, what about those who are left hander, how can you ask them to perform rituals with right hand?” I heard my son arguing with his grandfather who insisted that he use right hand to offer flowers during a Puja at home.

After the Puja rituals were over their grandmother took a little bit of all the food offered to God and went backdoor. She then placed the food on boundary wall and started calling the crows..Caa..Caa…

“Why do you always offer food to crows granny, why not a sparrow or a parrot?” questioned my daughter.

“Tatha, I read it somewhere that tradition is an explanation for acting without thinking, is it so?”  And the argument between grandparent and grandchildren continued.

“Remember the tiny kiosk where we had kulhar (mud pots) tea near Jhulaghat, that small village we stopped by for breakfast alongside river Kali, and the green house we barged in for lunch….everything is washed away in flood.” She told in one breath.

My heart feels heavy every time I watch the happenings in Uttarakhand, India on television.  The early heavy rains, flash floods and landslides in Uttarakhand or Uttaranchal last month have devastated this beautiful hill station of India.

I called ‘M’ my childhood friend from Uttarakhand the other day to inquire about her family. She could not stop cribbing about the mindless construction of illegal hotels and resorts by outsiders on river beds all around the valley leading to deforestation. “Hazards are inevitable, but such human activities convert hazards into catastrophe…and that’s what we are facing right now” I could feel the despair and vulnerability in her voice.

‘ If you truly love Nature, you will find beauty everywhere‘. ~ Van Gogh.  Early morning walk with my hubby is one activity I eagerly look forward to each day. Its a wonderful time I see some of the miracles of nature unfold as we walk along the narrow lanes and parks nearby.

The dim sky, the fresh morning air, quietness and the gentle pace of life is so enchanting.  The thumping of joggers zipping across, symphony of chirping birds, cling-cling of the milkman and the newspaper boys on cycle break the silence of nearly empty roads.

I have started appreciating these simple and small beauties of nature more and more after my new found love for photography. During one such walks I picked a few colorful leaves dressed in morning dew.

‘Life was much easier when Apple and Blackberry were just fruits‘. Inventions in modern day technology has reached to its pinnacle whereas I am still sitting at the bottom, hoping to catch hold of the tech dragon by its tail some day. But by the time I apprehend a little about how these applications work something new crops up and the former become obsolete. Alas, till date an Apple and a Blueberry continue to remain just plain fruits to this technology challenged mommy.

Festivals to me are to celebrate the happiness that family & friends share together. A perfect time to celebrate just living! In India we have celebrations all round the year. Festival of lights (and sound) – Diwali being one of the major festivals of India everyone look forward to.

Though the festival is same, people all over India follow different rituals to celebrate it. In South India Diwali is celebrated with a sacred bath before dawn followed by prayers, getting blessings from elders and bursting crackers. While in other parts of India it is more of a pompous fun fare with grand Lakshmi Puja during evening hours and buying gold & other metals on Diwali.

I am neither a sweet eater nor a cracker lover and left to myself will not indulge in both on Diwali day. But my hubby makes sure that I make sweets and he buys crackers for children on Diwali, so that they appreciate the importance of festivals & traditions in our culture.

‘Passion surprises. One doesn’t search it. It can happen to you tomorrow.’ ~Adjani.  Today is that tomorrow for me. Sunday morning turned delightful with a mail, congratulating for winning a food photography contest on an online site of a National Daily ‘The Hindu’! And then the happy feet dance begins with baking loads of cinnamon rolls to celebrate the same with family & friends.

The news is a pleasant surprise, more so when I am just beginning to climb, trying to learn the intricacies of food photography & food styling while still standing on the very first step.

I have lost count of the number of times I tried soaking sago for making this popular breakfast recipe and using the same for starching my sarees. Those were the days when I stayed away from mom for higher studies in Delhi and later for job prospects. Bored of my usual sandwich breakfasts I wanted to try my hands on some of the Indian breakfast recipes I used to love eating but would dare not make it.

I simply couldn’t get the correct sago consistency to make the Sabudana Khichdi which is non sticky and fluffy. And most of the times the soaked sticky sago was used to starch my office sarees.

A signature dish of Maharashtra in India, Sabudana Khichdi or Sago breakfast recipe is mainly cooked during fasting period when certain food items such as grain, pulses, onion & garlic are avoided. But then neither do I fast nor do I wait for any occasion to cook what I love 🙂

‘So much chocolate. So little time‘! Yes, that’s what my children say whenever there is a chocolate dessert on their menu. Wish they said the same for studies also. I often take advantage of their chocolate love by sneaking in healthy foods which in its normal form are non acceptable. Oats, peanuts, almonds, dates, prunes and the list is endless. Most of the recipes on Lite Bite revolve around my endeavor to find out ways to make the food kids friendly, more healthy and also taste scrumptious at the same time.

‘If there is no chocolate in heaven, I am not going‘  ~ Jane Seabrook   Oh no I am not jumping in the bandwagon of chocoholics. I enjoy my celibacy with chocolates barring a few occasional indulgences now and then. And given a choice between different flavors it is vanilla for me.

“Anything tastes good if it has chocolate in it” says my little princess as a matter of fact.  No doubt that this luscious, gooey and seductive food is defined as world’s perfect food by many. A tiny bar of chocolate can save many bad days and meals at home.
I used half of the pack by rolling out the chocolate Truffles and made this no-bake nutty chocolate cake with the rest. Thanks to my friend now I shop for more of these ‘once upon a time disdained’ cookies 😉

All good things in life are simple and I feel that it is our expectations and desire to get more from it makes it complex. The junk food addiction, chopping down trees endlessly to make paper marooning animals of their habitats, plastic menace….we are moving from simple ways of living to the more complex world. And to think of it, the idea of wrapping around leaves and eating apples straight from the tree as done by our ancestors could solve many a problems of modern day living 😉

A fresh fruit in its natural form is my kind of dessert any day and given a choice I would love to serve a plate of fresh fruits to my guests as well to end a meal. “This is not a dessert we will expect from the author of a food blog” is the answer to my query from my guests most of the time.