Making mouthwatering Besan Ladoos

In India cooking sweets at home is a more like a daily chore and eating is a ritual. During my childhood days and even after that eating Besan ladoos cooked by my mom was one of my fav sweets. Although been a doctor, my mom was always up and busy with her work but whenever she could take out time, it was cooking these delicious sugar recipes for me and my brother. 

After shifting from India, I tried my hand at cooking Besan Ladoos and came out very well. There are numerous videos and recipes available on internet but if anybody is looking for a 4 step recipe for making these awesome Ladoos, you have reached your destination.

The total prep time for cooking Besan Ladoos is exact 40 minutes.. So here we go.

Ingredients:

4 cups Besan(gram flour), 2 cup powdered sugar, 1 cup Desi ghee (keep same cup for exact measurements), 12-15 cashew nuts and 12-14 almonds(dry fruits).

Recipe:

11)  Grind all cashew nuts and almonds in a mixer/blender and place them aside

22)  In a non stick pan, add ghee and once it is warm (not very hot), add besan (gram flour) and cook it at medium flame for about 45 mins. This need to be exact 45 mins so that Besan is cooked uniformly. The aroma of cooked Besan will tell you that it is done.

33) Add powdered sugar and grinded dry fruits to cooked Besan

44)  Let it cool for 10 mins and not more than that cause forming Laddos will be tough once this mix is too cool. Now begin the fun game of making balls. Go nuts and make any shape.

Enjoy these Ladoos anytime of the day just like me.. I am eating one while writing this blog. Cheers!!!!

How Christmas came along

So it is “Christ mass” season!!! We have Rudolph - the Red-nosed Reindeer, holly wreaths, decorated trees, mistletoe, season’s greetings, seasonal music, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire”, receiving and giving gifts everywhere and of course Santa Claus is coming to town. Engaged in all these activities, the importance of sharing the origin of Christmas has been lost. So here it goes, this is my Christmas gift to all the readers…

Once upon a time, a long long long time ago, an angel was born in Bethlehem. He was Jesus, son of God, born in the world to fight against the wrong doings and bring a message of goodwill to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels all shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of His coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child. And this marked the start of Chritmas…

However if you wish to know the real history behind this festival, please continue reading….

There is no mention of this festival in Bible. Per The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, the Christian church used to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth. It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring “Christ.”

On the contrary, the pagan world has celebrated this festival for thousands of years before the birth of Christ. Nearly all aspects of this festival have their roots in Roman culture and religion.  It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia (December 17-25^th), a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. In ancient Rome, December 25th was the shortest day of the year. So actually the Romans were celebrating the pagan festival of Saturnalia and not Christmas. It occurred each year around the beginning of winter, or the winter solstice. This was the time when the sun had taken its lowest path across the sky and the days were beginning to lengthen, thus assuring another season of growth and warmth so that plantation can occur. Shocking isn’t it!!!!

As per ancient Greek writer, poet and historian Lucian (in his dialogue Saturnalia), this festival was a long period of lawlessness. There was a widespread of human sacrifice, Roman pagans used to sing and run naked from home to home consuming human shaped biscuits (which all Christmas celebrating people buy now from bakeries).  So in the 4th century CE, Christian leaders persuaded pagan masses to convert in Christianity promising they can continue to celebrate Saturnalia as Christians. However the concern was there was no relation between Saturnalia and Christian. To eradicate this issue, Christian leaders named Saturnalia’s concluding day, December 25th, to be Jesus’ birthday. Here you go. That’s how Christmas came along as “Christ mass”.

No reading is complete without talking about Christmas tree. The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the Babylonians and the Egyptians. Actually the tree is an interpretation of these non Christian cultures wherein Evergreens were thought to represent the ever-burning fire of life, green affirms nature and ongoing life, red is a symbol of fire of spirits. All the decorative balls represent the planets. The bright star on the top of the tree points towards heaven, all the gods and symbolizes that spirit unites with nature.

The Christmas tress came in fashion by 1846 when popular royals, Queen Victoria and German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the Illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. However the credit of starting the Christmas tree tradition goes to Germans where trees were decorated at homes.

Now comes the turn of our sweet Santa Claus. Some of this elf’s characteristics date back many centuries. The belief that Santa enters the house through the chimney developed from an Old Norse legend. The Norse believed that the goddess Hertha appeared in the fireplace and brought good luck to the home.

Although there comes another European theory wherein the original Santa Claus, was a bishop by the name of St. Nicholas of Asia Minor of the fourth century, who used to give gifts to the needy under an evergreen tree.

And here is another factual intake for you. In 1931, the Coca Cola Corporation contracted the Swedish commercial artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke-drinking Santa.  Sundblom modeled his Santa on his friend Lou Prentice, chosen for his cheerful, chubby face.  The corporation insisted that Santa’s fur-trimmed suit be bright, Coca Cola red.  And Santa was born – a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.

What so ever is said or written about Christmas’s origin, the fact remains the same in all cultures. Christmas is the season of happiness, goodwill and helping the needy. God is one and He says the same. Merry Christmas to all!!!!

Why Greenland named so....

The naming of Greenland is pretty contrary to its climatic appearances. Do you ever wonder that with a total ice cap of 80% of the island, how come the naming went all haywire? It is pretty interesting to know that there are many theories behind the naming of this country. One of the most exciting and traditional is the saga of Erik the Red Viking.

The Vikings were a race of Scandinavians (settlers of Northern Europe mainly Denmark, Norway and Sweden) commonly known as blood thirsty warriors who paved their way through Europe marking many well settled trade colonies. Before I start to narrate this theory, here is a small historic tale of Greenland.

Greenland was first inhabited about 4500 years ago. Due to extreme weather conditions, these inhabitants either died or left leaving their signs of presence near Maniitsoq (a town in western Greenland).  The next migration came from East, following southern coast exploration by Erik the Red Viking. It is believed that after being sent to exile from Iceland, he landed up discovering Greenland. This was a punishment rendered for committing a murder. Surviving for several years in Greenland, he ended up liking the island and wanted to settle more fully. Erik the Red is believed to have lived from circa 950 to 1003CE. However since he needed to convince others to come and live with him, after going back he painted the island as a wonderful place to settle in. So the naming has nothing to do with the arctic conditions however purely a marketing strategy by this Viking was. Interesting, isn’t it?

One theory is that the “green” in Greenland is actually a translation error. The word “grunt” actually means ground and it could be that Greenland was meant to be named Gruntland (or ground land).

Another theory follows as Scientists have estimated that the ice sheet that covers Greenland is between 400,000-800,000 years old! It covers approximately 80% of the island, and is about 3 kilometers thick in places… so the ancient settlers to the island probably didn’t see much difference in appearance or terrain from what we see today.

Here are few fun facts I came across while reading about Greenland:

v  Much of the island is covered by a sheet of ice. The only area that is not covered in ice is only clear because the air is so dry that ice cannot form and was used as a hunting ground by native inhabitants and several nations have used the island as a strategic launching point or a base during various conflicts and wars

v  Geographically Greenland is part of North America however nationally is part of Denmark. In 1946, US offered to buy Greenland however Denmark refused.

v  Capital of Greenland is Nuuk

v  Approximately 10-15,000 glaciers break off Greenland’s glaciers each year.

v  The ice cap of Greenland was first crossed in 1888 – on skis!

v  The sun never sets from May 25th to July 25th.

v  The Northern Lights can be seen on clear nights all throughout the year.

v  July is the only month when the temperature gets above the freezing point.

v  June 21, the longest day of the year, is a national holiday.

v  All of Greenland's cities are built along the coast because it is the only area in the country that is ice-free. Most of these cities are also along Greenland's west coast because the northeastern side is comprised of the Northeast Greenland National Park

v  The official languages of Greenland are Greenlandic and Danish, but English is also widely understood

v  Currency is Danish Krone

v  Fishing and fish exporting is a major part of the Greenlandic economy, with shrimp fishing industry being by far the biggest income generator

v  Transport between cities in Greenland is by air and boat as there are no connecting roads due to the many fjords

v  Football (soccer) is the national sport of Greenland. However, the Football Association of Greenland is not yet a member of world governing body FIFA because it cannot grow grass for regulation grass pitches

v  Greenland is the 12th largest country in the world, with a size of 2,166,086 square kilometers, making it the world’s largest island that is not a continent

One of my fav quotes from Khahil Gibran

This time it is Uber...

What conspired in New Delhi on 5^th Dec 2014 was yet another shameful act. A driver of an international renowned cab service provider, Uber, allegedly raped a 25 year old MNC executive. 

Utter negligence of this San Francisco, California based company in hiring the drivers with sound background and right attitude.

So the question arises, how to ensure that the booked cab comes with a driver of sound mind? Who to blame, the driver or the company providing the cab service? Nobody can take guarantee of anyone whether the one will commit a crime or not but these companies can definitely ensure that the drivers hired do not have any criminal background. The driver involved in this crime had a previous history of involvement in another rape case and yet he was hired by this company, now what does this say about the attitude of leader? The leaders have issued a statement that they cannot do a background check of 4000 drivers in India. Can we ask why?

In Thailand and Vietnam, Uber’s operations are reported to be illegal as the company and drivers were not authorized to run cab service.

In Portland, the company is in violation of more than 20 civil and criminal provisions.

Spanish phone companies have ordered to block Uber App following similar actions as around the world.

Now the irony is that in spite of all a black background why did the Indian government allowed this company to operate here? Is there no background check done when a company launches itself in a new country? If not this is high time, government should lay in place few important check points for any company to position itself.

Don’t know how many more crimes are required for these leaders to wake up and stand up!!!

Quick First Aid tips!!!

Giving first aid to someone in need is something everyone should be aware with. Through this post, I would like to share the best practices as to how and what first aid to render.

Since both my parents are doctors, I was fully exposed to cases coming in the hospital for various diseases and concerns. First aid was one thing that my parents felt was vital for me to learn; and I would like to share with you all as well.

This can save a person who is ill in becoming a serious case and thus can save lives. Do not even try to give someone first aid unless you don’t know what to do. The wrong actions can do more harm than good. I have tried my best to jot down almost all important things. You can find many websites with detailed information as well.

Immediate call for help: if someone is hurt, first and foremost call ambulance and if any accident to report, both ambulance and police need to be called so that right action can be taken.

Urgent first aid: at times you cannot wait for help to reach and immediate aid should be delivered. For those cases, here are some important things to know

-          Do not move a person as there might be a broken bone or internal injuries

-          Do not give them any food or liquid as they might need an operation

-          In case you are sure that there are no broken bones, turn the victim to one side just to avoid choking

-          Do not overcrowd the victim so that breathing is easy

-          If victim can move, take them away from sun and under any shade

-          Always be clam and explain to the victim about the situation and say that help is on its way

Bleeding:  This can cause immediate death if the wound is bleeding strongly. In such cases, always press the wound with a sterile handkerchief or a towel for 10-12 minutes till help arrives.

Artificial respiration: In case the victim has stopped breathing, immediately start with artificial respiration. The best way to do this is mouth-to-mouth. Put the victim on their back, get down on your knees, press the nose together and place your mouth on victim’s mouth. You need to blow real hard so that the chest rises up. Repeat the procedure till the victim starts breathing.

Always keep a first aid kit in your car, house, and office so that at these immediate situations, right kit is available.

Be Cinderella

“Dare if you want to. Don’t fear you’ll fall. Take a chance cause its better than never to chance it at all” Cinderella II

Being rescued by a charming and handsome knight and live happily ever after!!! It’s every girl’s dream to have a Cinderella story and indeed they do, just need to zoom in and change the perspective.

Right from birth, a girl is a princess for her father, her brother which changes once she gets married to a gentleman who is her knight in his own way. But I strongly feel that this fairy tale is not only about attaining the happiness of romance however having faith and confidence in you to reach your dreams.

The first and foremost is having confidence in yourself to dream and dream big and high up to the potential you can see and yes sure beyond that as well. This enthusiasm of seeing beyond the horizon itself covers half your path. Today people even fear to dream. Inner happiness scares them as that will make them follow path which their peers, parents, friends and family has abandoned. They will join meditation courses; will take trips for few weeks to ashrams but this all goes in vain once back to their lives. Cinderella was a story of this poor girl who dreamed to voice out that her true love will come no matter what. So this was a thought that you can dream anything and having faith in that will make it come true. This was precisely what happened in the end. There is a beautiful quote by Rumi..

 “If light is in your heart, you will find your way home”

Which means illumination in your heart makes you reach the place you call home…. Beautiful isn’t it. It blows me every time I read this.

By definition word “Cinderella” means ----- a person who reaches success even after having rigorous hardship. If you were unsuccessful once does not mean that you have failed rather it means that you have not won yet. Every chance you receive is an opportunity to do your best and just keep doing that.

We have so many live examples in front of us instead of this fairy tale like Dalia Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela, Benazir Bhutoo, Malala Yousafzai and the list goes on. Although these people gave up their lives for dreams of much bigger cause but we can extract so much of learning’s and faith from these legends.

Faith is a very subjective word; it can be on a concept, on a thought, on a person, on a saint or even on a book. Today we are having world wars because a single person’s faith is not being recognized worldwide. Having faith in a dream of someone who wants power creates destruction however on the other hand having faith in someone with a message of peace creates harmony. There is a very fine line difference when it comes to following a person. So whenever you are on that path, open your heart and your eyes to understand the difference.

The whole purpose of this blog is to make you all and me realize that always we know the difference between the right and wrong doings. We need to have faith and confidence in us and follow the path of happiness and peace. We do not need war but we do need love.

Be Cinderella for yourself and people around.

Game of Coffees!!

It is my first love, my soul mate, my lover, who never ever fails to make me blissful every time I take a sip of it. COFFEE!!! Yes I am a coffee lover. Before moving to Calgary after my wedding, I used to date Barista Lavazza atleast once a day. A decaff Americano with one brown sugar sachet and no milk used to make my day. A welcome smile in the café was like topping on the cake.

Personally I was never a fan of black coffee. During my childhood, my mother used to make milk coffee for me thrice a day so that I am up and fresh for my studies. Well then I used to enjoy coffee more than the books. My mother played a pivot role in my habit of reading and writing while sipping my fav coffee brand.

After coming down to Calgary I realized that the taste of coffee is really different then it was back in India. This really amazed me as how is it possible for the same bean, technique and brand to taste so different and I did start my research.

It all comes down to what we call terroir.

Like wine, coffee expresses regional characteristics and exhibits the effects of its terroir, or "taste of place." Differences in soil, altitude, rainfall, processing techniques, and even social conditions affect what's in the cup.  One of the most important conditions is the areas own traditions and for handling and processing coffee. WOW…Isn’t it amazing!!!

Well big coffee brands like Starbucks do manage to keep same coffee taste throughout the world because of their programmed filtration systems to treat the water which spins into same cup of your fav coffee. So the coffee in New York, USA will taste same as in New Delhi, India. However this does not mean that you need to visit Starbucks while you are travelling or shifted to a new place like me. I have found a small solution for this big problem. Always use filtered water. Yes you heard right!!! Filtered or treated water does the trick.

When I shifted to Calgary, I tried Tim Hortons, Starbucks for my coffee treats however going to these cafes every time you crave for coffee is not practical and may soon create a hole in your pocket. You can make a great cup of coffee at your home sweet home which tastes same as the one you had during your childhood.

First and foremost, always used Roasted coffee or in case you can grind the beans at your place in a powder form.. Bingo…!! In case you are buying roasted coffee from a store, please note that it should be fresh and not stale more than 2 weeks. The shelf life of roasted coffee is long however it kills the original taste of coffee. OR you can buy a coffee machine and use a T-Disc since they have all the flavors intact in the disc which your machine reads and pours the exact kind you like. There are many brands available in market like Black & Decker, Tassimo, Keurig, Hamilton and many more. My fav is Tassimo and I have a Tassimo T 65, amazing machine and great coffee.

So for all the coffee lovers, this blog is right from my heart. Grab your coffee, go out, read, write, enjoy and live life to the fullest…

Fabindia

“Bring customers a choice of products – and lifestyle – that offers an alternative to the mass-produced, while creating sustainable livelihoods in the rural sector” ------- the mantra been followed by Fabindia for 50+ years now and is very much installed in all the employees.

Established by John Bissell in 1960 and now under the leadership of William Bissell is the best-known urban middle class brand in India. The leaders strongly believe in empowering weavers so as to bring back the long lost culture to life thus making profits.

Entering into a Fabindia store, gives you an immense happy feeling as the aura and welcome smile on the faces of employees refreshes you for an incoming experience. The layout takes you to a time where handcrafted and weaved work was highly appreciated which badly craves one to go ahead for the purchase. The best part of this brand is that the layout and feel is same in almost all the stores.

The company operates on the model of community based businesses. Herein company works with SRCs(Supplier region companies) which further source products from weavers who are traditionally well versed in the craft but are not formally trained. Designers work directly with artisans teaching much required technical skills and ensuring the product quality.

SRCs provides innovation and design to the artisans who further incorporates same in the hand crafted products. The company made each and every artisans, craftsman, employees a shareholder thus giving the feel of a perfect equal team.

Brand has been successfully attracting revenues of Rs 1000 crore in 2013-2014 however the model fails in two very important aspects where it successfully losses a huge chunk of customers.

First and foremost is Brand Advertising- the company believes in advertising through “word of mouth”. It was with which the company started and seems to still stuck up on the brand for long now. Secondly and most important is Supply chain management. Since stores directly places orders with SRCs, the communities are lacking in understanding the product forecast and thus same product is not available in stores on second visit.

The combination of these two is really lethal. Carrying on with a beautiful mission and a vision, the company lacks on these two pillars due to which they are losing on a big chunk of customer base. The leaders need to re-invent strategies so as to lead the brand in more urban families.

Never the less the brand has successfully made it presence felt. Fabindia’s working model is an inspiration to many startups thus the concept of entrepreneur ship is taking good pace in India.

Gift of Hope!!!

It is everywhere!!! Donate to the needy; Help the underprivileged, Adopt a child, Give shelter to an animal going extinct, stop war, avoid pollution…. This is good work, great work for humanity and should be cultivated in ourselves and our kids.

But the irony is this…. all starts during holidays… Christmas, new years, thanksgiving, Asian holidays. The needy need basics everyday so that they can survive the hot and the freaking cold weather. Due to birth of great saints in Asian continent, people do charity on each and every important day of their lives. According to a population survey done by National Geographic, Asia consist of 60% of population compared to the whole world which means the volume of charity is huge in this part. However the point remains the same, it is done on few days of an year which means out of 365 days, charity is done on birthdays, new years, Christmas, Diwali, a new born kid, passing away of a family member and that’s it.

Our world is at the edge of a third world war, natural disasters occurring in each and every part of the world, killer diseases like Ebola taking so many lives and the list goes on. Relief organizations like Care, AAH, Greenpeace with selected members are working day in day out to save people and world however the goal seems beyond horizon as the destruction done is way too worse.

Does this mean this is the end of human race???? The answer lies within us and we all know that, just need to stand up together and work to achieve the same.

A Long day

Woke up with the phone ringing and it was papa calling from Delhi. It was 6 am in the morning and I was dead sleep. He was visiting Delhi for some conference and was due to be back in 2 days. I picked up the phone reluctantly, his voice was really weak and this washed away all my sleep. Somebody from mamma’s gym had called him saying that she has fainted while on running on treadmill. Ya, mama papa and my brother are regularly gymers and do not miss the workout for anything in the world.  

I had to rush to her gym; it was close by but since I have never visited any gym, took me time to sort out my way there. The call had worried us both; I was dreading all worst things possible, guess human tendency to always imagine the worst first.

Well, there she was, lying on floor, conscious.... “Thank god..bhagwanji she is ok” was my first thought. I woke her up, she struggled to speak and puked all of a sudden. With the help of her trainer, somehow managed to bring her to my car. I had never ever ever ever seen mama so blank, in so much pain that she could not speak up. I called up papa and he said to take her to the hospital. N believe me I am so scared of hospitals........its smell, its view makes me sicker than patients admitted there...

Well, both my parents are doctors, so is my brother, so is everyone in my family. Except for me and my nanaji, we are just not doctor material.

Till the time I reached, every big shot of Chandigarh was at the hospital, so papa had called everybody declaring an emergency. Mama was diagnosed with a heart attack and immediately had to be operated. She got two blockages in her heart and need urgent help. Now this was a blow in my face. Neither papa nor my brother was there, I did not understand alien doctor language, was felling completely uneducated among all these surgeons. Signing papers I did not understand, listening to surgeons explaining me the process and on top of all I was asked to audience her operation. Now how did I end up here?  No clue. But it was my mother, I love her and there was no fear big than the one of losing her. With no known face in the crowd I entered the theatre all dressed up like I was going to cut open someone myself. It was like those filmy moments when you enter a temple and there are drums playing welcoming you. Her operation went successful and I met her after the dressing. She seemed so much better, out of all pain. Phew... I love you mama...

All of a sudden I saw Ashu, my brother, walking towards me (well I called him after I picked mama from gym and he immediately started for Chandigarh) and I just remember him hugging me. That’s when it hit both of us, our parents have gone old!!!! It is a scary feeling, seeing your papa mama unwell in front of you, especially when they themselves are doctors.

Well papa reached by evening and mama was much better then. It took her a week to get discharged and three months to be up and running.

It’s been three years now since that long day visited me and still I get goose bumps if anyone from my family develops pain, fever or even cold.

Guess time is not going to wait for anything to happen, so just get up, hug your loved ones, say now whatever you want to, do now whatever you want to.... may there is no tomorrow. But this should not stop you from pursing your happiness....cause as they said, it is now or never...god bless u all....