Can’t Stop Smiling Today: Thank You, Debbie!

It is a beautiful day outside – sunny and bright, but with a cool breeze gently caressing my face. The kind of day that makes you feel that autumn is just around the corner. But the reason for my happiness is something else…. Whoopee!! I just won the Gallery Days Giveaway contest over at Reflections of Debbie. And ever since I read her post announcing the winner I can’t stop smiling.

The yellow pansy that made it to the top is from my mom’s terrace garden. I clicked it a couple of years back, wanting to make a watercolor of it myself. Never got round to doing that, but today I feel so special that Debbie chose to turn this into a drawing.

Thank you so much, Debbie. You have made me so happy today. Can’t wait to see you start on the drawing. And now that I have a new house (you can read about that here), I promise you that this drawing will hold pride of place in my new abode.

Chaat Cravings: Celebrating Street Food

India has a thriving street food culture. You’ll find it everywhere - in the middle of busy markets, at local street corners, even mobile street food vendors with their push-carts and trolleys laden with yummy goodies, meandering through residential areas.

Street food encompasses a huge range of gastronomic delights, right from mouth-watering snacks that vary with season to sweetmeats and lollies. Any Indian worth his or her salt will tell you about the ‘chaat’ that this country loves.

Chaat is basically a mix of local savouries, and is prepared from locally available ingredients. So the definition of chaat, and the ingredients that go into preparing a plate, can vary from one part of the country to another depending on local flavours.

Here is a picture of the plate of ‘bhel-puri’ that I lapped up last evening after work. Made from puffed rice, it contains a mish-mash of onions, potato cubes, tomatoes, chillies, bhujia (dry savoury), and is generously garnished with coriander and tamarind chutneys.

And don’t miss the display of ingredients at the chaat counter. I love the way the green chillies are made to stand up against the 'sev' and limes.


Notice that small image of Lord Shiva in the bottom left corner? Just a gentle reminder that you surrender yourself to street food only if you have immense faith in God! :)

Go, give in to a lip-smacking treat...

Are My Pictures Perfect?

Blogosphere is so full of interesting people.... like my new artist friend Debbie who is holding a giveaway. Go over to Reflections Of Debbie to check out the details. And then rush off with your cameras....

Debbie, here are my entries for the Gallery Days Giveaway. And at the cost of sounding immodest, I really, really wish one of these becomes the winner. Though I am half-way across the globe from you :) but I would so love to have a picture in my post!

Yellow Pansy

Gorgeous Leaves

Mimosa flower

The competition at Reflections Of Debbie closes on 25August, Monday, so you still have the weekend to take pictures and send across a link.

Keeping my fingers crossed....

For the Love of Lilies

I just had to show you this. Remember when I told you in the warmer month of June how a few drops of monsoon rain does wonders for the white grass lilies in our garden? Well, here they are, in all their glory.

An absolute delight to behold, as a huge cluster sways gently in the morning breeze.

Sometimes the simplest of Nature’s creations have the power to affect us profoundly…. just as these do. Every time we get a large bunch, our happiness quotient goes up a few notches. :)

Monsoon Magic

It has been raining here this weekend.

Sharp showers and overcast skies made me want to share a few glimpses of what the monsoons mean to me…

Pitter-patter raindrops, as they create their own music

Lush, leafy green all around… and toadstools popping up here, there, everywhere

Bhuttas (corn on the cob) roasted over a charcoal fire to a golden yellow, with a dash of lime and masala

Colourful umbrellas on squelchy, waterlogged roads

And of course, everybody’s favourite – chai and pakoras (tea with vegetable fries)

Happy soaking this season!

Of Ganesha and other deities...

It is amazing where the internet takes you!.... Yesterday, while researching something on Lord Ganesha, the pot-bellied, sweet-loving Hindu deity who rides a rat (and happens to be one of my favourites from the divine family), I came across the Lotus Sculpture site.




By its own admission, Lotus Sculpture claims to be one of the finest proponents of “hand made statues of Hindu Gods and the Buddha”, and the visuals on their web pages stand testimony to that. Lotus Sculpture imports sculptures that are brought to life by artisans in south India, Bangladesh and Thailand.
Their warehouse is located in Connecticut and it is owned by the amazing Kyle Tortora. Go here to read more about him and his travels, especially to the parts of Asia from where he sources his statues and sculptures.

The Lotus Sculpture site also has a mine of information for the casual reader, and I admit (a trifle sheepishly, given my Indian roots) that I learnt quite a few mythological tales from here that I would have never known otherwise….

I thought of posting some of my favourites from the fabulous collection at Lotus Sculpture. Happy drooling, everyone!

All pictures in this post are taken from the Lotus Sculptures website.

Summer Roses

Juliet:"What's in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet."
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

Couldn't help but remember these immortal lines from Shakespeare. Comes naturally, I guess, since I majored in English Literature all those ages back! And ShakesP has been a favourite.... One of my retirement wishes includes curling up in a comfy rocker with the Complete Works of the master.

Well, the pictures are from my mom's garden. And they remind me of another favourite - Kiss from a Rose by Seal. You can find the lyrics to this soulful, haunting number right here.

Happy crooning!