Candles on your birthday cake. Warm light from the diyas (lamps) in your God’s room. Aromatherapy candles in your bathroom. Warm bulbs in the corners of your living room. Twinkling fairy lights on your Christmas tree. Admit it, even reading through this list gave you a sense of warmth, calm & relaxation. Candlelight comes closest to the soothing warm, yellow light of sunrise or sunset – think, Golden Hour! Candlelight for self-care can very well find a place in your daily rituals.
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In our fast-paced world, finding moments of tranquility can feel like searching for a hidden oasis. We’re constantly bombarded with notifications, deadlines, and the relentless hum of modern life. Life is hectic and we hardly get time to savour, sip and be soothed by a warm beverage. Self-care or self-love gets relegated to the background and we end up feeling rushed, exhausted, and with no joy! But what if we could transform an everyday ritual into a sanctuary of self-care? Enter: the art of brewing coffee.
More than just a caffeine fix, the process of brewing coffee can be a meditative experience, a gentle pause in the chaos. It’s about slowing down, engaging your senses, and appreciating the simple pleasures that life has to offer.
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Aromatherapy is the use of fragrant essential oils derived from plants. These oils can be applied on the skin or body via surface application or massages, inhaled but never ingested or consumed. Also called as essential oil therapy, it is believed that aromatherapy can enhance physical, mental and emotional well-being. In a broader sense or to make it more scientific – these plant based aromatic oils are believed to affect the body through the sense of smell (olfactory sense), stimulating the brain and influencing the central nervous system. It can alleviate symptoms, boost your mood, reduce stress, and promote a sense of relaxation.
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For over a month now, I have been ruminating on a theme to base my blog posts on for the A to Z blogging challenge with Blogchatter. From food, to plants, to fiction to food fiction, I had a 100 themes running through my head. Heck, I even experimented with writing a few posts for some of these themes. But, as they say, “feel nahi aa raha tha!”
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We spent our summer holidays in Hong-Kong. And needless to say as is the norm, we planned our trip entirely from Instagram recommendations. About a month before we travelled we searched for and bookmarked a few reels and posts about things to do, places to visit and foods to eat. Following that we received a barrage of posts full of recommendations for Hong-Kong. I guess that is the norm these days. But what stood out and soon became a mission was Egg-Tart in Hong Kong. I had to find the best one.
Hong Kong is a city where food is both an art and a tradition, and no culinary experience is complete without indulging in the iconic egg tart. From buttery shortcrust to flaky puff pastry versions, these golden delights are so irresistible that people willingly queue up for hours to taste the best. Here’s my guide to the top spots for egg tart in Hong Kong that I was able to taste and recommend.
Continue readingWhat is a universal passion that our country shares? First there’s Cricket & then maybe Bollywood. Add to it a dash of suspense and page turning mystery and you have a story that hooks you in from the start. That’s what I felt about this tale spun by the author Madhav Nayak. ‘A Murder is Fixed’ succeeds in conjuring up an evocative narrative that has the edge of seat excitement of a cricket match, the hair raising mystery of a criminal story and the ease of a comforting bunch of characters that soften the riddle of a whodunnit! I enjoyed Nayak’s debut novel and here is my review of it.
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Probiotics, prebiotics seem to be all the rage these days. From food (obviously) to moisturizers, you seem them everywhere. But, I am not here to talk about face cream today. Probiotics as a vital source of nutrition is top of my mind today. For a long time I believed that we were missing out on valuable “friendly bacteria” that came from dairy sources of probiotics. However when I read more, talked to people I realized that probiotics were all around me and some already a part of our diet in the form of fermented foods.
Fermented foods have been a staple in diets across cultures for centuries, prized for their ability to enhance flavor, preserve nutrients, and promote gut health. With the rise in awareness of food intolerances, veganism, and the desire for diverse dietary options, fermented dairy-free foods have gained significant popularity. This blog post will explore the definitions of probiotics and prebiotics, list common fermented foods from around the world, and share a simple recipe for kid-friendly snacks that include fermented foods, with a special nod to Indian cuisine.
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We all get nostalgic about the food our mother and grandmothers cooked for us. Don’t we? It takes us back to simple, innocent & carefree days of our childhood. The simple dal-chawal (rice & dal) we ate on sick days, the tasty school lunch or a special recipe made on our birthday or festive occasions. Mom’s cooking was indeed the best. Never did I imagine that I, with average cooking skills at best, especially when it came to Indian cuisine, could some day qualify for another tiny’s ‘favourite cook’ title. And that too win the title of world’s best egg curry.
I came to the realization that all moms have magic in their hands when my son proclaimed his love for the egg curry I make. He began requesting for the Egg Curry. He even proclaimed that if he ever went to MasterChef (Australia version, of course) he would cook up my egg curry . Complete with a back story on his childhood when I cooked it for him. That’s also when I began reminiscing and truly thinking if it was something special that was added to my mom’s recipes or just the fact that she hand made them. The magic ingredient being love!
So today’s post is dedicated to the ‘world’s best egg curry’
Continue readingHair fall is a widespread problem these days. It affects all people – irrespective of gender or age. It seems to have become an indicator of our stressful, hustle culture lives. Some even say it is something they have seen a spike in after the covid pandemic. Witnessing hair loss every time you brush or wash your hair can be quite alarming. But is there an antidote for this issue and can it come from natural resources? Well, I chanced upon Little Extra Reactivate Hair Growth Serum and here is what I felt about this product.
After my last experience with Little Extra products (you can read the review of the oil & shampoo I have been using here) I did not think twice before looking at their other hair care range. Hair fall has become a nasty problem for me. So much so that I have lost tons of hair volume, and my curly hair game has gone weak. That is when I came to the realization that this is not just the usual hair loss which happens during hair brushing but a call for attention.
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Miss Malini is certainly a name you have heard of before. But I felt even more connected to this lovely lady, as she took me, the reader down memory lane – back to the good old days of ICQ and when asking someone “ASL?” was the norm. This was long before we became Insta-influencers and thought it perfectly sane to share advice about the various shades of baby poop and how to wash diapers. How far have we walked down the digital revolution lane! In her latest book ‘Under the Influence’ Miss Malini talks of the perils we all face when we choose to live digital lives and are faced with our dreaded TROLLS. Not a stranger to this phenomenon, Miss Malini offers practical solutions on ‘How to Survive and Thrive Online.’
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