Desperate situations call for desperate measures. And if we all agree that the Earth is spiralling south, then there is work to be done to create ripples of change. Here’s how you identify well-intentioned tree-huggers who resort to tactics that can encourage, shame, guilt, scare and coax fellow travellers of this planet to adopt sustainable ways of living.…
…Like my Usha Chitti*. On a recent trip with my family to her home in Pune, my mother’s younger sister brought out the red carpet and how. She did a fantastic job over-feeding us, traded oft-repeated family gossip and ladled customized hot beverages for patrons of the balcony. But where she shone was in her…
This is Munian. He holds an important position in our home besides being an odd-job man. He is our “Chief Compost Assistant” (CCA). He has held this post since 2013 when we first welcomed a kambha* into our home. During the initial months, my husband and I learned to work the kambha. And quickly realized we were…
There is an exception to every rule. And I voluntarily and enthusiastically break my NO-PLASTIC rule with and for just one person in the whole world- My (maternal) Grandmother. My Jaana Paati* is truly unique. At 87, she keeps her mind busy with prayer and her hands – with domestic chores. She has a time-consuming hobby –…
There’s a lot of talk these days about living mindfully. Being fully engaged in whatever it is one is doing at that very moment. A lot of it can be applied to eating, walking, driving (mindfully)… I have been trying some minor experiments in mindful living too. Focussing mostly though, on reducing mindfully. I slip up quite…
One of the words I hear fairly often on Masterchef Australia is “Deconstruct”. Cooks on the show reinterpret the basic elements of a dish after singling them out- and apply some imagination to the process of deconstruction as such. I am trying to experiment with this technique- not in the kitchen but with online shopping.…
I have a cousin 7 years younger to me. That’s usually the magic number for a generation-gap-wedge. But I find that SHE and I get along great in every which way. Conversations are free-flowing, character flaws are similar, laziness-meters and drinking-thresholds are in sync and above all, we are the same size. Out of her many endearing…
Cooking doesn’t like me too much. I’ve tried really hard to cajole her with my full-baked attempts, but she just doesn’t care for any of my stirring and sprinkling. I remember starting out in the kitchen, struggling to get the stove to light up. And I wanted my ambitious first dish to be a pasta…
I was at the Chennai International Airport recently, picking up my parents, who in true-desi style were returning from a 6-month trip to the US. (Apparently, I have to share them with my sister and brother!). At half-past midnight, the jet-lag gave us the perfect chance to open up the 5 packed-to-the-rafters-suitcases they had come…
