Category Archives: General Thoughts

Irritating ads on my computer screen- Boom off Dhoom 3

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog

I really did not want to comment on this movie before it was released. Firstly I have got bored of sequels, unless this turns to surprise me.

And strangely even one of my favourite actors to be seen in the movie is not making me wait in great anticipation for its release.  I am talking of Aamir Khan and Dhoom 3.

But something that is bothering me highly are the pop-up ads of the movie that are appearing way too frequently on the media sites and search engines that I visit (everyday).

I am kind of tired trying to click on ‘hide’ every time the online ad comes up. Neither Katirna’s pose nor Aamir’s stern looks are making me wait for the movie’s release. It might be another effective strategy considering Aamir Khan really knows how to market his films. But this one’s irritating me to the core.

Aamir… if this one reaches out to you please note- I really hope you get lots of good reviews for your act and the story is good…..but for the moment,  for me to change my mind and make me watch your December release, please try and mention to someone not to bother people on their computer screens

thanks

 

Divining elusive elements of life

Deccan Herald, General Thoughts, Published Articles, Reshma's Blog

 

Life’s goals make it an elusive journey. We long for something, and feel elated when we get it. But a little later, it may not seem that great anymore. Does it mean we are not happy anymore? No, it simply means our source of happiness keeps changing, observes Reshma Krishnamurthy Sharma.

A homemaker always dreamt of being in a full-time senior level job position. Once she actually started being in a hectic full-time professional responsibility, she admits she was craving to finish a year at work and go back to her old stress-free life and relish her quiet moments.

Doesn’t it sound familiar? If you analyze your reactions to life’s events, you will find that most of us are not sure as to what really makes us happy. It may be termed as “impact bias.” What does it mean? It refers to the errors we make in estimating the event that will make us happy and the duration for which we will be happy.

 Is happiness an elusive state? Is this something that you attain after a long wait? Or do shorter, but treasured, experiences that need to be found in everyday life contribute largely in feeling good? There are many who wonder if larger goals in professional and personal lives will help in attaining more happiness… Or is it the small tangible and a few experience-rich ones that are will be ever-lasting with us?

Psychology professor at Harvard University and author of Stumbling on Happiness, Daniel Gilbert says the problem is when we think about what will make us happy. It is our expectations that actually throws us off. He says we make mistakes in predicting how we will feel about something in the future.

What Gilbert and others with him have found is that we overestimate the intensity and the duration of our emotional reactions to future events. The future is still an unknown phase and we conveniently forget that the future will always contain several other events we can’t predict, some positive and some negative.

Suppose you have always longed to own a Mercedes. You work hard for two years and finally buy your dream car. Your excitement is at its peak as you park your car on your driveway for the first time. A month later, the Mercedes becomes a part of your life. And now you look for something else that will make you happy. You thought owning a Mercedes was the happiest thing in your life and that the happiness would last for long. You were wrong.

This is the impact bias. It’s not hard to see the impact bias happening around you.  How many people have you met that mistakenly thought their career paths or new relationships would bring them happiness?

Lot of blogs have been written on some of the most common desires about people to be happy. Like winning a huge sum of money – maybe a lottery. Most people only think about the positives of winning and don’t consider everything else that might happen as a result of all that money. Avid spend thrifts may reason out saying every purchase adds to the bucket of happiness. Conversely, reducing your consumption, living more simply, and focusing on experiences can have a higher hand in making you happier.

The initial excitement may be too profound, but do remember that eventually that excitement is going to wear off. You’re left with a lot of money you can use to buy all new pleasures, but it decreases some pleasures you had before. Psychologists call this “hedonic adaptation”.

It is a phenomenon in which people quickly become used to changes, great or terrible, in order to maintain a stable level of happiness. Over time, the excitement is pushed towards the emotional norm and we stop getting any pleasure from it.

Despite what you might expect, events don’t really increase or decrease the amount of pleasure you receive in life. All they do is shift where your pleasure comes from. Once that shift has taken full effect, you go back to your previous level of happiness and start from where you left off. So the good thing about it is that even a negative event in life may not really affect our life as much as we initially thought it would.

While we are living in the present, how can we make ourselves happier? It’s not that you should not plan for long term goals or perceived happiness. It is certainly wise to plan for tomorrow. But it is wiser not to ignore the present and immediate future. After all life is about choices.

You cannot change yesterday’s events and really cannot predict future or even predict how happy you will be after a year. So hold on to your present.
We’ve heard this so many times before that it sounds cliche, but it really is a classic: life is a journey. Indeed.

We might have a certain goal to reach, but when that is reach, we find yet another one to pursue. That is the whole purpose in life.

Being happy, the balanced way:

* Spend on others, especially people you are close to.
*  Be time-aware, but don’t think of time in terms of money.
*  Be passionate, but don’t obsess.
*  Set goals that are reasonably challenging and reasonably achievable.
*  Go for variety and surprise. Don’t keep doing the same thing.
*  Prefer experiential purchases; avoid materialistic goals.
*  Associate with happy people.
*  The best way to predict how much we will enjoy an experience is to see how much someone else enjoyed it.
*  Savour anticipation. Delay consumption.
*  Treat your body like it deserves to be happy. Eat right and enjoy your sleep. Every single hour of sleep adds in making a person feel happy.
*  Find happiness in the job you have now. Many people expect the right job or career to dramatically change their level of happiness. This is not to say you shouldn’t aspire to get a job that will make you happier. Just don’t overestimate your happiness.
*  Think and implement easy, quick, and effective ways that you can make your community a better place by being compassionate.
*  Recycle happiness by reminiscing good experiences.
*  Have deep, meaningful conversations with different people.
*  Take a conscious decision to forgive people who have hurt you and smile more often.
*  Pray or practice meditation. It helps in elevating well-being attitude.

This article was published as the lead article in the Living supplement of Deccan Herald on November 23rd 2013.

The link to the article is –

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/370438/divining-elusive-elements-life.html

Part-time jobs and being a mom

General Thoughts, My Bangalore-A view from a woman's perspective, Pregnancy and Parenting, Reshma's Blog

Moms vs careers- Choose one option

 It’s been almost a year since I gave up a regular part-time job opportunity though it was five days a week (a job that I loved doing but things changed). Never mind, let’s not get into the reasons, I quit but the last eleven months has been a roller-coaster ride emotionally and financially. Yes in literal sense. Having all the time to spend as much as I can with my child is a huge bonus that was lost in the last official job, but the joy of seeing a fixed remuneration entering your bank account every month is lost now.

I would be lying if I say that sometimes I do not get depressed. But the only thing that has kept me sane is my family around me and truly some editors who have encouraged me to write some of my ideas and some new topics as suggested by them.

Some websites suggest freelance writing is a great option to be in, to look after family and have a professional tag. But darlings, if you want to be a freelance writer; be prepared to be extremely patient in seeing your story appear -lucky if it appears soon or wait for months.

Of course be also ready to  face innumerable rejections – before a new editor feels this something worthy.

Sometimes the story has already been done or you don’t know if the editor liked the topic or the copy –there comes no reply and you would be embarrassed to send more than two mails asking if they received the copy or not.

Over the last one year past colleagues at media and other organizations have chosen to ignore me, while others sympathize with me thinking I have lost out on everything, even when I say that I am doing fine. There are others who are so stressed juggling work, home, children, bills that they do not have any time for themselves and every time I am on phone with them –they say they envy me.. Don’t know what I should call this state-happy but in a dilemma of course.

I came across this article on the web yesterday. I could relate to it regarding lack of good part-time opportunities for women …should I say mothers who want to look after families and work.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098550/Is-real-price-motherhood-Women-good-time-jobs-return-work.html#comments

It is not an uncommon topic for many moms that I see in front of the school gate where they discuss if the education and earlier work experience was meant to look after children and educate them. Many didn’t want to go in for full-time work roles and leave out children at least in early ages with assisted nannies or day care centers. So what’s the solution? I would say not sure at the moment, better to go with what makes you happy and what keeps peace at home.

While I have been scouting for part-time work hours, I am given this look at the interviewer’s desk as though I have asked a priceless and impossible commodity. I had written some days ago too when a particular school didn’t want moms (parent) to be working ones but most definitely wanted them to be stay-at-home educated women.

When surfing on the net on similar topics, I was surprised to see the above article that women in other parts of the developed world too have similar dilemmas.

I have just submitted an article of being happy. Until that gets published and later too, let’s hope I find a balance of being positive of finding a job I want in the hours that I want.

Would also like to mention two more articles that I read in recent times that got me thinking:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/careers/job-trends/Get-ready-to-see-women-CEOs-HP-India-MD/articleshow/25262750.cms

The woman leader in the above mentioned article says “do not say things like family will be first”….

I had a colleague in one of my earlier organizations, who seemed very aggressive on her career goals and was ready to allocate long hours for the company. She is smart, intelligent, shrewd and also had grown up children. But when I got to know her little more, she said she had never really quit her full-time work even when her babies were infants.

It would be impossible for me to do it right now(guess do not have the aggressive heart),  though I send my child to day-care.  And I have seen the difference in myself (emotionally) of spending little longer hours than earlier (of course various other factors have added to this situation).

I am less stressed (most parts of the day); do more outdoor picnics with him, cook more for him (if at all that sounds like an added incentives for being a stay-at-home mother). But have to admit that I do get conscious of savings and think of getting in a full-time work responsibility once in a while.

I also read one more article where Bangalore moms are turning into entrepreneurs as they are finding lesser and lesser opportunities that match their experience and earlier pay scales. It is not just talent but long committed work hours that organizations are looking for and until this issue gets resolved where women (moms) can take up jobs that are emotionally satisfying and well-paying, more and more moms will choose to be stay-at-home moms for a long time or choose less paying jobs (something better than nothing-to keep them busy mentally and get some paypack than nothing at all)  .

There are also moms who feel the meagre work responsibilities do not match their talent and experience.

Again it makes me think when moms  discuss this with me say they are no longer in an age and stage where people may really employ them and they might as well start something of their own. That’s nice until it really comes true.

I discovered that I loved writing and share my thoughts through the written word almost a decade ago. The world of writing has made me more open-minded, know what is good for me, understand myself as a person, know my strong likes and dislikes in people and situations and most importantly given a professional status. It didn’t matter if I can or not churn out the most brilliant piece anyone has read, many have said I am touching untouched topics and I really can connect with women –I know that for a fact.

Thank you -the written world for me to share this with you.

At least it has given me a space to share what most urban Indian moms are facing (talking of those who want to do work and take care of children –not of them who are choosing to be solely stay @ home moms and have no desire to go back to work ever again).

Who knows I might soon do something in the future, that will make me work closely with working moms or stay-at-home moms or children ( they are a very important part of most mothers  life).

Thanks for reading. Let’s see if I have different take on this topic by the end of 2014. Share your comments too when you read it.

Sharing one more link that I found it very interesting-

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-08/bangalore/29522536_1_activity-centre-mothers-options

A Saturday mid morning at Gambolla

General Thoughts, My Bangalore-A view from a woman's perspective, Pregnancy and Parenting, Reshma's Blog

DSC00574

After frantic search on the net- to take my child to an interesting place and a new one in Bangalore, I discovered about Gambolla on Madras Bank Road( parallel road to Museum road and opposite St. Joseph’s Boys School).

It took little time and patience to search for this quiet place tucked away in the bustling neighborhood of M.G road and alike. I

I was not sure what to expect at Gambolla and I just wanted D -my child to try being there.

I was informed by the lady over there on the charges and I decided to try spending an hour over there.

D really liked I guess the centre as there were puzzles, story books and building blocks. In an hour he spent the time there with the child-minder(if I can call the lady who was attending to D), he didn’t really bother what I was doing.

Not sure how many times he would enjoy more being there, but yes will go back on some other weekend.

It was of course a happy experience for me …to see him happy.

Tagging a pic too of him taken there.

Yes since the last one month, have been noticing quite a few articles on activity centres for kids. Guess moms want places other than public parks and kid zones in malls, where their child will be attended, gets to engage meaningfully and not get bored.

Suddenly I also observe many such activity centres in Bangalore. Probably part of necessity and convenience.

Spending a weekend in Bangalore with a kid

General Thoughts, My Bangalore-A view from a woman's perspective, Pregnancy and Parenting, Reshma's Blog

Engaging children right through holidays is not an easy task  for a urban mom in Bangalore.

I know for sure that many want to skip the television box in their homes from getting glued by children and find alternate time -consuming and meaningful activities ; but are lost on what to do.

I have been browsing since morning on what to do this weekend with a child and not really spend too much time (money and time) at the malls.

I thought of listing a few to remind me once in a while to do them and hopefully they will be of use to some other mom too.

1) Leave home early and plan to stick to  half-a-day trip at  Cubbon Park or Lalbagh

2) Travel by select option of public transport (Volvo bus ) to other part of the city just for a long bus journey. I have found this fun sometimes and engaging enough to keep my little one quiet for quite some time during the journey.

3) Go to a book store and try to accumulate a few things to be done activity sheets beforehand and use them in holidays.

4) Again travel using another select public transport -Metro Train to and fro -again just for fun.

5) If you are game, go to Mysore or Ranganthittu bird sanctuary on a day-trip( the first one can be done with a bus or train -the latter one -it’s advisable  to have your own transport).

6) Likewise if you have a car then drive down to Nandi Hills

7) If you are a single mother then go for more home bound options like trying to get your kid to a activity centre that particular weekend . There are enough activity centres in Bangalore and indoor play areas in many locations in Bangalore that are conducting activities to engage children. If you are lucky you may find something age appropriate the weekend you are in a dilemma.

8) Spend time with your child in a bookstore in the kid’s section. In the age of mobiles, ipads and more it is even now valuable to teach kids the value of reading from a hand held paper story book. Buy something that suits your budget and your kid’s interest.

9) This one was my favourite as a kid- My dad would take me often to see the lit Vidhana Soudha in the night but now it stays as a concrete structure and away from people. Maybe just to show where the Vidhana Soudha is and the High Court is, kids can be taken as a single trip.

 

Working through the baby bump

Deccan Herald, General Thoughts, Pregnancy and Parenting, Published Articles, Reshma's Blog
Reshma Krishnamurthy Sharma, Nov 2, 2013:

It is often a dilemma when working women become aware that they are pregnant and they wonder ‘what next’? The dilemma of what would happen if they informed at their work place haunts them. They fear that a pregnancy might hamper their career, promotion, treatment by colleagues, and the likes… True. It’s not very simple being a pregnant working colleague. But it isn’t too complicated either. 

Initial stages

It would not be possible to expect all pregnant women to perform with the same zeal and energy as prior to pregnancy. If possible talk to your boss on a ‘role change’. It is recommended that you go for a lesser demanding role at your office, if it is a possibility. Talk to your seniors and find out what best can be done considering that you want to be committed to the work and also want to take care of yourself in every possible manner, in this situation.

 The announcement

It is easier perhaps not to inform others on pregnancy but not after the third month when colleagues can figure out the growing belly. It is advised you inform your boss first on your new change and slowly to other colleagues. This will also make them win your trust in sharing an important announcement of your life and will enable them to show some extra care (hopefully) towards you. If you have colleagues who carry an indifferent attitude, then it is better to be poised and carry on with work as you normally would.

Promotion and opportunity?

It could be that you are worried about the promotion that you were due to get from the company and you find out you have gotten pregnant. If you decide to go ahead with the pregnancy then be confident and announce your pregnancy to your colleagues. Be prepared to answer questions on what you intend to do post pregnancy. Chart out a plan on your career path before you talk to your seniors about your pregnancy. If you want to take a few months off, then be assertive and confident about your choice. There are career experts who say ‘Opportunities are enormous and you can always come back when you feel confident to come back and sure that your baby is under trusted care’.

Eating at work

If you are continuing to be working full-time until your second trimester or until the end of pregnancy there is a lot of attention required to be paid for what diet you will be having during the nine months. It is easy to binge on several foods but the choice you need to make is to be healthy for yourself and the baby. Be sure to have regular meal times, and adequate amount of water intake. Avoid unnecessary cups of beverages that contain caffeine and try to keep off binging on sweets and crisps.  Have a good healthy breakfast with a mid-morning snack of a fruit and dry fruits for munchies. Ensure your lunch is well-balanced before having to work again for a few hours in a day.

Posture at work

It is very essential that you have adequate back support with a pillow or a very comfortable chair that takes care of your back. You may want to have a small side stool to be able to stretch your legs and keep them on, especially during the second trimester. Move around every hour to avoid swollen feet and leg cramps. Do not hesitate from taking the support of walls or railings while walking. Swallow your pride, mommy! Health and safety first.

Maternity leave benefits

Organizations differ in the maternity leave extended to the women employees. Due to increased awareness on retaining their women employees, companies now are offering various benefits with understanding attitude, leaves and better recovery time post child-birth before women can come back to work. Discuss regarding this with your employer and see what benefits you are entitled to. You don’t have to feel weird; it’s your right as an employee!

Understand your body 

Do not go overboard. It is possible that you have heard of others who have worked until the last week of the pregnancy and delivered a healthy baby. But you need not prove it to anyone! The most important concern for you is to take care of yourself and your baby without exerting yourself too much. You may have monetary issues, due to which, you cannot avoid taking a sabbatical or request for an early break from work.

You need to know your limits very well in such cases. Request a small cut in the number of work hours you put in. If your employer is understanding enough, (s)he will certainly make that small allowance for you.

This article was published in the She page of Living supplement of Deccan Herald on November 2nd 2013

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/366587/working-through-baby-bump.html

When your eyes spark up green flames

Deccan Herald, General Thoughts, Published Articles, Reshma's Blog
Oct 5, 2013 :

 It doesn’t matter how the other person is better than you, but that you’ve been a better person today from what you were yesterday, writes Reshma Krishnamurthy Sharma.

Remember a decade old popular tag line of a television brand – ‘Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride’?

Jealousy is a strong emotion that can get very negative for self and others. If it goes out of control, it can rip your life and tear relationships apart. But being jealous and envious are different. Very often, the two are confused with each other and sometimes one can lead to the other. These emotions are provocative enough to lead to unhappiness, emotional turmoil, rage, resentment and low self-esteem.

 Envy is when you want what someone else has. But jealousy is when you feel bad about someone having taken what is yours. Jealousy is something that can affect siblings, break relationships, or even pull down one’s career. It is said that the fear of losing our importance, relationships or a cherished situation can cause jealousy. It happens all the time in many life scenarios. You feel a bout of envy when you find that your neighbour has bought a plush apartment while you are still holed up in a tiny rented home.


It could also be that you get jealous of your cousin who has just announced to you that his daughter is going abroad for studies while your daughter does not think of the world more than mindless hours of surfing and is least academically concerned.

In work environments we find the cloud of jealousy and anger overcoming some of us when a colleague who hardly deserved to go places is promoted. It may be that an extrovert co-worker who uses all the social skills to talk about his achievements is favoured in new projects when you are left behind as you thought your work will speak for itself. You start feeling jealous of the person as the recognition and status, atleast in your mind, belonged to you.

Jealousy is not confined to adults only. Children begin to feel jealous sooner or later when they start to interact in the social environment.

Feelings of jealousy are almost always negative, since the jealous person may continue to build up resentment towards his or her rival and the situation can turn volatile.
Sometimes it can happen that you are the target of jealousy for another person. Here the other person may constantly try to create turmoil – some minor to a few huge ones to bring you unhappiness.

Experts say it can work out if you tell the person that you too have troubles and difficulties in life. If the person persists, then either move away from him/her or at least build a mental wall so that you don’t get disturbed about it.

It’s hard, but not impossible to overcome the baggage of anger, frustration, and jealousy. Here are a few ways of dealing with jealousy:

*  Learn to accept the situation. Why would you brood over something on which you have no control or cannot do anything about it?

*  Look around. You will find that there are amazing people who happily write books without eyes, dance without real feet, and paint without hands! Do you still feel unfortunate?

*  Do not turn devious and lose your ethics in your desperation to get ahead. Remember that the feeling of jealousy is more about you than the other person.

*  List down what you like about yourself. It is good to make a list in your self-help recovery process on what you want from life and the qualities you admire about yourself. You will feel better and get motivated to achieve, rather than feel jealous and spoil your little world of happiness.

*  Eliminate all negative emotions from yourself. The more you are able to control your emotions; the more you will be able to control your life and steer your life in the direction you want.

*  It is important to love yourself before you can spread the good vibe to others. You will no longer feel the need to criticize everyone you envy or a person in particular. The unwanted feeling of envy and jealousy will soon turn into  something that you just want to throw into the bin.

*  Talk to a friend or a counsellor if you are afraid to open up your feelings to a known person. Being aware of your feelings is crucial in deconstructing them and tackling the problem.

*  You may unintentionally express your jealousy to your colleague or friend. This can make matters worse between you and them. It is better to take it into confidence and find out other ways to curb this unhealthy feeling.

*  Take your mind to something more interesting. Find other distractions. There are lots of things in this world that can keep you occupied.

Don’t wonder how your life would have been different if only… Do something good for yourself where you do not have to bother of others’ progress in life. There will always be someone more intelligent, more lucky, or more wealthy than you. It doesn’t matter as long as you can find happiness with the things in your life.

It’s the way we see the world that can make the difference. Get some perspective. If you are a better person today from what you were yesterday, you are amazing and you are getting ahead in life, and that is all that matters.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/361152/when-your-eyes-spark-up.html

Disgusting lyrics that make me as a woman cringe and hate talented Indian actresses.

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog, Reviews

I happened to read a few days ago in the supplement of the daily I get at home that Kareena Kapoor the cine actress will be starring in a song that praises her booty. Repelled by such meaningless writing and journalism, I just moved on to read something else.

Yesterday I happened to watch the video of the song (on the telly) of the upcoming film ’Gori Tere Pyaar Mein’ in which Imraan Khan and Kareena have been featured.

A few years ago I had written a similar article (link mentioned at the end of the article) when I was unhappy seeing one of my admired young actress Deepika Padukone dancing to a disgusting number where she smirks saying ‘kal to mera skirt keechega na? keechega ya nahin?”. Today we have Kareena dancing to this song that refers to the rear side in Punjabi, Gore gore, round -round ,naughty naughty toonh’

Heavens… please give some sense to those working in films. It is complete insensitivity and lack of talent that make writers write these song and women get featured in these. Stop the torture. It doesn’t even have good music or a humming tune for people to feel good.

It is time talented women from the film industry, more importantly sensible women taught their sons, and explain to men in large that women SHOULD NOT BE SEEN AS AN OBJECT.

When you women are already doing great in your careers, I am sure you have a say to where you can agree to dance to a number and where you put your foot down.  You women have sure shown the changing India that there are depth-oriented roles for you and scripts written for you. ( Though I completely was aghast at the Dirty Picture with the so called depth oriented role for Ms. Balan).

It is men in villages, upcountry and of course in cities who need to be made understand that women are absolutely more valuable than their bodies. Only if women themselves stop describing themselves in disgusting manner, hopefully some change would happen. I really do not want this song to be played in future marriages that would occur in the next year and least my child sing even a line of it.

Please so called lyricists and music directors, directors and actors do not make women look degraded. I really hope there is an end to these songs and the damn item songs in hindi films.

Of late I have begun to feel it is the mind which is more sexier than anything else. I don’t know I have found many women who admit to admire men who are intelligent, charismatic, good humored and polished. It is not that we have not liked men who are good-looking but never to the extent that makes a woman or a man feel objectified.

I am sure this song like many other films are looking for promotional value but such numbers are definably going to detest me to avoid these films at any cost.

http://reshmaks.com/?p=127

 

 

 

 

It’s Dasara Habba in Bangalore

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog

I have been thinking on various accounts as to what really defines a person’s culture. Is it language, cuisine, attire or knowledge of the ancient scriptures. If you ask me .. I know lil bit of all this and I speak in more than one language, dress according to my comfort and sometimes the occasion and enjoy many cuisines. That I am not sure makes me very cultured or a mixed personality who gets to her roots once in a while.

I got this sudden urge since the last few days to listen to classical Indian music, attend an ‘arangetram’ of a budding new Bharatnatyam dancer, read something more philosophical, attend a beautiful story telling event at Bimba’s Rasaloka. I managed to all of this and felt happy that I somewhere connect with my culture that I believe for that moment. Enjoyed all of them thoroughly.

Planing to do something that will enhance my knowledge and others who visit Bangalore regarding its vibrant and splendid culture. Hope that will be my goal in 2014.

Happy Dasara. Those who missed going to Mysore for the 9-day event ..don’t worry. Bangalore has got lots to offer in terms of culture. Come and enjoy the spirit of nada habba.

 

 

Cooking snippets from not so great cook

General Thoughts, Reshma's Blog

Cooking saga

  1. Aha! This task in my life has become inevitable. Thanks to a little kid at home who keeps reminding me that cooking is essential for a healthy life.
  2. Eating out is very important for me. Yes it does account for a huge entertainment and leisure factor. But over the years with the greys, I have become more cynical and critical of the food that comes on my plate at restaurants. But of course I hate it when anyone at home complains the dish is not-so-perfect.
  3. It perhaps started with the humble Maggi -instant noodles entering our Indian homes, but today we find many urban women and mommy’s exploring global cuisines. Be it italian, thai, and the vast variety of inter-state cuisines. Though I am quite ignorant of the vegetarian kerala cuisines, I surely like the appams and veg stew. Likewise the cuisines from the North have entered many south indian homes. Parathas are fast to be made and act as wholesome meals.
  4. Go green -go herbal once in while for a variety of cuisine on your breakfast menus with palak, pudina or methi. Try to snip out the leaves when you are in a relaxed mood the previous day for the next day’s breakfast. Use them for chutneys, parathas or curry with rotis.

Hope to write more on cooking
thanks for reading.