Thursday, July 9, 2015

Curvy-shurvy: Happy girls are the prettiest

Curvy-shurvy: Happy girls are the prettiest:                                 Audrey Hepburn once said " happy girls are the prettiest". And yes , it is true in every sense...

Happy girls are the prettiest


                                Audrey Hepburn once said " happy girls are the prettiest".

And yes , it is true in every sense.....you may be wondering why I am being so philosophical today. Well , I keep getting mails and messages as to how come I am so confident even after being voluptuous and curvy . Day before , a message came on my blogpost , which said I should follow a certain blog if I was worried about my increasing weight. Hmmm, all i would like to say - thanks a lot for being concerned .

 My confidence comes from the fact that I am content with my body and am in a happy space. I embrace it with all my love . No, I am not supporting unhealthy living .....I am a firm believer in being fit and leading a healthy life. I , do not drink or smoke , am a vegetarian , practice yoga , exercise and eat healthy ( most of the times). I love my body unconditionally , inspite of the flaws , as it is responsible for letting me bring two beautiful babies in this world. Being a mother transforms your body , mind and soul...

         Let me tell you something , a person who is a few pounds extra is generally the first one to notice it and has even tried losing it ( and failed) . You don't have to remind him/ her every time and every where. This weight tamasha is gaining so much momentum these days. You enter a party and there is alway a 'someone' to tell you , how much weight you have gained / lost.

    A couple of years back, I went to a party wearing a pink organdy ( cotton which is heavily starched to keep the fabric stiff ) saree , my cousin complemented me and then said " mom never allows me wear cotton Sarees, if you can look so good in it , even i can carry it well ". I retorted back " what's stopping you and why isn't aunty allowing you"? I was dumbstruck when I heard what she had to say,......"no one is going to marry you , if you look like a pig in a cotton tent" her mom would always say, pointing to her weight which was just a couple of kilos on the higher side. Of course ! In our country , a girl has to be "fair and lovely " (read - tall ,thin etc) to get married.

There are so many other attributes which are important other than vanity....being sensitive , respectful, compassionate.....

When I started this blog , I very well knew I may have to deal with such topics.....then too I went ahead . The first step is acknowledgement and  next is acceptance . Yes ! I have embraced my body with all it's flaws....it's imperfections . It's mine and I love it .Don't  feel the need to be like 'someone' or to 'belong' somewhere . We all are different and that's the beauty of it .

 Yes ! I want to be fit and healthy but not because " I have to" but "I want to ".






















   
                   Happy girls are the prettiest

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Curvy-shurvy: Pastel punch!!!!

Curvy-shurvy: Pastel punch!!!!

Making that perfect black forest cake!!!


Heya! I love cakes and bakes(anything baked)and always wanted to master the "art of perfect baking",but just could not somehow. I am not very sure for the reason,whether lack of time or motivation or a combination of both. But as you are aware, I was pretty much relaxing at mom's place(my haven)for last couple of weeks and there I randomly told mom that I would like to bake a cake.My li'l niece, all of 5 years, was so excited by the thought of 'bhua' making the cake that I had to "do it" for her. And there was no going back now. Baking was nothing new to me and I was once an 'avid baker' or so,I would like to believe. So,apprehensively I started...... ........and when after half an hour of working(preparation + baking),I very nervously(more nervous than giving viva or awaiting results as the 'judges' here were the little kids, who look upto you) took the tin out. And , voila! Came a perfectly baked chocolate cake. Khushi( my adorable little niece) looked at the cake and then at me, with the most brightly lit eyes, jumped in happiness. I had finally 'passed'. As for the few pictures( I had no time to present it properly as the li'l monsters were dying to take the plunge).

Monday, June 29, 2015

Recipes that make you drool

When I think of my favourite foods , no single dish comes to my mind . In fact I think , I kind of liked different dishes by different people and lots of childhood memories attached to it. My favorite dishes are by three most important  women in my life my mom, my grandmother (dadi),and my maternal grandmother (nani). Incidentally , these dishes were once staples of Hindi heartland.



My mom is an excellent cook so much so that everyone in the family insists on her cooking at least one dish when the whole family gets together . There is nothing in north Indian cuisine that she can't cook but the kadhi she rustles up is totally out of the world. Kadhi is a very famous Indian curry which is made up of besan( gramflour) and yogurt /buttermilk . It is mixed in that perfect proportion and cooked to perfection for around an hour on low flame stirring continuously . She then added small  pakora or gramflour dumpling . The final touches were added by her special "tadka" which included fenugreek seeds , mustard seeds ,asafoetida , onions, red chillies. Oh so yumm . The magic ingredient- lots of love.

My dadi though was never a great cook and rarely cooked. Yes,even in those times she had an official cook "the maharaj" . But there was one special dish which she made to perfection and no one else came even closer. It was the drool worthy "bajre ki khichdi". Bajra or millet was coarsely grounded and soaked for a couple of hours in water. Then , this concoction was cooked on low flame for hours. Generally, everyone had it plain with either milk or curd but my Dadi Maa added a twist to it by seasoning it with ghee, jeera ( cumin seeds) , hing (asafoetida) ,onions ,tomatoes, carrots ,beans ,peas and  chillies and coriander.Magic ingredient - lots of love.



The third most drool worthy dish is by my nani . Every summer holidays were spend at nani' s house and this was our summer special . It is called raabri ...no , it's not rabri. Raabri is another yogurt based recipe. A dalia/porridge  of barley and broken wheat is prepared and is left to cool the whole night. This cooled mixture is added to the buttermilk . Lots of finely chopped onion ,cucumber, tomatoes, coriander is added. It is healthy,filling and nourishing . Magic ingredient - lots of love.

 Leaving  kadhi pakora , the other two are somewhat lost recipes rarely made these days. I continue making these as a reminiscent of the old happier times with these three strong ,fascinating and admirable women.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Traditional Treasures In Contemporary Fashion

Hey! In today's world , when there's an acute shortage of time , all of us have shifted to western wear . It's not confined to casual , gym or work wear any more. Most of us has started opting for the modern silhouette even for weddings , receptions , engagement parties ,to even baby showers. Of course , they are easy to manoeuvre  ( hahaha ). Most of the ethnic wear are heavy , cumbersome and functionally restrict the Wearer. Traditional outfits though look ethereally gorgeous. I , personally love traditional clothes and have a really huge collection of Sarees and lehangas and wear them often. But a lot of my friends are wary of ghaghras and Sarees so I thought of giving a contemporary twist to my ethical wear to create a functional as well as beautiful outfit.
     I am wearing a traditional Bengali Saree over a pair of leggings and a crop top. As it is scorching summers , I choose a muted and subtle shade of off-white with dull gold woven in the fabric. I opted for an off-white leggings over any other hue as it would not ofset the Saree and create evenness. For the blouse , my pick was a bright yellow boxy crop top.I paired it up with mint pumps which brought a lot of freshness along . I added a rainbow necklace and voila! My look was complete. Here are a few pics :





Thursday, June 11, 2015

Curvy-shurvy: Curvy-shurvy: The ombré effect !

Curvy-shurvy: Curvy-shurvy: The ombré effect !

Nautical Natter

Hey ! my beautiful people,
How are the vacations going on for you? Mine are very chilled out and relaxed...no , haven't been to any 'it ' place till now but , just being in your mom's home and she taking care of everything under the sun , is a bliss.
I am wearing a lot of nautical these days. Nautical instantly reminds you of sea , sailors and stripes ( horizontal , to be precise ). Though , for us , curves blessed women wearing horizontal stripes is a wee bit tricky but , if you apply a little logic , you could really kill it.
      Of course , everyone is wearing stripes  as it is a big trend these days and why should your size be a hindrance . Just choose wisely and enjoy being the fashionista among your peers. I have created a few looks , you could take clues from these as well....











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