Nigella Feasts!! (....or the other way 'round?!?)

Nigella Lawson, the domestic goddess ….who’s heating up the kitchen with more than just her hot stove and steaming oven!! Renowned for her smouldering sensuality and glorious curves, this smart chef manages to keep the audiences hooked (a sizeable portion of which comprises the slavering wolves who follow her every word and pout with ardent devotion!!!).

I had only heard about the lovely lady, catching her recipes occasionally on the net. But then I heard two of my cousins having a heated debate over the merits of hand-kneaded dough and mashed peas and other such epicurean fundas. To say that I was puzzled was an understatement. Two reasons…..

One, because they are predominantly “manly” men, who still believe that their mother was put on this earth for the sole purpose of feeding their bottomless pits and two, because they hadn’t yet advanced to the state of being termed as truly-uplifted metro- sexual males who knew their way around the kitchen effortlessly.

With clock-work regularity, popped up the statement…."but Nigella says". And whenever the name was mentioned they smiled dreamily and exchanged knowing looks.

To top it off, I read a normally acerbic scribe waxing lyrical about her show in his hard-hitting column. With almost loving detail, he had dedicated a sizeable portion of his space to the merits and wonders of luscious Lawson!.......and this was just the tip of the fast-melting iceberg!!

Who was this enchantress who had turned a majority of the male population into blithering babies?? I was intrigued and had to see the woman in action.

Luckily(?) for me, the show aired some days later. With almost indecent haste, my cousins had grabbed their seats in front of the tube. I managed to squeeze in between Twerp#1 and #2.

.......And there she was, in full “peaches and cream” grandeur…..all curves and no hollows! She smiled coyly, licked her lips suggestively and managed to convert the innocent art of rolling out cookie-dough into something definitely X-Rated!!

She sauntered around the kitchen, flirted with the camera and cast steamy looks at all her devoted viewers. I understood the appeal……a talented career woman-who can cook -and - who looks like all male-fantasies rolled into one delectable package!!!

I was with her through the entire chocolate fiesta; she made it sound quite sinfully tempting and mouth-watering. But then came the episode where she got to the part of the kidney beans (our humble l’il rajma) and rolled her RRRsss over how it was a lovely ric-hhhhh terracotta shade!! Chocolate, I get……but Rajma!! Even raw sensuality has it’s limits!! I’ll never be able to look at a kidney bean again without blushing furiously!!


I had had enough of cooking for the hormonally-supercharged.

Quietly (not that they would even notice an over-weight bull elephant rampaging through the room!!), I left my besotted cousins to their guilty pleasure and retired to my room.

Hell, one good thing out of the whole episode could be that the family could look forward to fledgling chefs who’ll whip up some tasty morsels, every now and then. I have no complaints, so long as they don’t start oozing a lot of unwanted sensuality all over the kitchen floor!!!!

2007 Nobel Prize in literature

The 2007 Nobel Prize in literature goes to Doris Lessing, 88.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071011/ap_on_en_ot/nobel_literature

The Sisterhood of The Traveling Pants

A sparkling breath of fresh air, this book captures the spirit of friendship in the most charming and sauciest manner possible!

The book is a far cry from the regular breed of YA novels which seem to dwell on the fixed notion that young girls basically fall into two main groups: One, the hatefully pretty, perpetually scheming Prom Queens with their nastier than “week-ol’ milk” cliques! And at the other end of the rainbow, the brave under-dog…..not much to look at, the general do-gooder, the faithful confidante and to nicely round it off....more often than not, armed with an IQ formidable enough to gain entry into MENSA!!!

Breaking the age-old mould with insouciance, Ann Brashares creates a world where it is possible for four friends, as different as chalk and cheese to form a deeply satisfying friendship. They care for each other, love each other, put aside fights and misunderstandings with a careless shrug and offer unstinted, non-judgmental support any time, everytime.

Lena, the reluctant beauty; feisty, big-tushied Carmen; the anti-everything, mad-at-the-world Tibby and the over-achieving, statuesque athlete Bridget are friends; literally since birth (their mums shared a preggers-aerobics class).

Having grown up in each other’s pockets, along comes a summer when the four are parted for the first time. Lena is off to Greece to meet her grandparents; Carmen to spend some quality time with her divorced dad in South Carolina; Bridget to Baja, California for summer camp and Tibby, the impotent rebel is stuck at home, cutting a minimum wage at Wallman’s.

A well-worn pair of soft jeans bought at a thrift-shop by Carmen but never-tried becomes an unexpected bond to hold the four pals together. Despite their vastly different body proportions, the seemingly-magical pair of jeans fits each of them like a dream……hugging the right curves, resting gracefully on the varying waistlines, making each teen feel sexy and infusing them with much-needed confidence!!!

They make a pact (complete with a set of serious-cum-nonsensical rules) to circulate the pants amongst themselves throughout their vacation, passing it on when the time is right. Thus begins the saga of the Sisterhood…….

As the long, glorious summer unravels, the pants become a source and symbol of the generous support which the sisterhood provides to each of the four buddies as they face unwieldy situations.

Sucker-punched by new emotions, the friends absorb confidence from their ever-reliable ‘magical pants’. For each, the pants seem to be infused with the strength and support of their fellow friends.Brimming with energy and vitality, the book effortlessly hops between the four friends as they deal with life, love and all-things ‘teen-achy’.

One of the best coming-of-age books in a long time, it’s a must read for everyone who is-a-teen, was-a-teen and will soon be-a-quakin’ in your boots-teen!.....It’s a tough world out there, but when you got your SIST –AHS, life’s just a wee bit more bearable!!

For reviews on the other Sisterhood books, please click on the following links:

> The Second Summer of The Sisterhood

> Girls In Pants : The Third Summer of The Sisterhood

> Forever in Blue : The Fourth Summer of The Sisterhood

A touch of cheekiness, a smidgen of impudence and a bunch of letters.....

Daddy Long-Legs by Jean Webster....a book that was long overdue. Have been hearing about it for ages and finally……in my current “youth-revival” wave, managed to read the much appreciated book.

Set in 1912, the story is about an 18 year-old orphan Jerusha ‘Judy’ Abbot…..the general dogsbody of John Grier Home, an orphanage. Judy’s life is a whirl of wearing cast-offs, attending to the younger inmates and generally resigning herself to a life of drudgery and routine.

By a stroke of good luck, an asylum trustee reads one of Judy’s impertinent school essays and makes a remarkable offer. He will pay her way through college coupled with a generous allowance. He believes that Judy has the makings of a writer and his only stipulation is that she write a monthly letter detailing the progress of her studies and her daily life in general.

The identity of this generous soul is unknown to Judy (and the readers). All she has seen of him is his elongated shadow thrown on the wall, reminding her of a huge “Daddy Long-Legs”. And it is with this moniker, than she addresses the requested letters.

Thus begins an epistolary, one-way correspondence…..a sequence of letters, detailing Judy’s social, cultural and emotional growth. She shares her new experiences, ranging from the mundane to the life-changing. What brightens them up is her unwavering impudence and wit...the uninhibited excitement in long-overdue pleasures and her rambling discourses on her spiffy new clothes.

Sometimes frivolous, sometimes serious…..she displays a strong streak of independence as she strives to pursue her writing career. Although her letters remain unanswered by her benefactor, she develops respect, gratitude and fondness for her Dear Daddy…..the only family she has ever known.

Simplistic and generously peppered with Judy’s doodles, the book may lack punch for readers in search of intrigue and drama. It is however, the ideal read to drive away the blues. Judy’s insistent optimism, her mood-swings and guilty bouts of narcissim, the activity-laden college life and her eventual discovery of love are all moments we have savoured sometime in our life. Light and frothy with a surprising, fairy-tale ending….it is a girly book to be enjoyed for it’s old-world charm and irreverent cheekiness!!

Lines that stayed with me…..

It isn't the big troubles in life that require character.
Anybody can rise to a crisis and face a crushing tragedy with courage, but to
meet the petty hazards of the day with a laugh -- I really think that requires
spirit.

I think the most necessary quality for any person to have is imagination. It
makes people able to put themselves in other people's places. It makes them kind
and sympathetic and understanding. It ought to be cultivated in children.

Say Hello to the Human Gola!

My legs are fairly deceptive......a quick glance reveals scrawny ankles, slender calves and knobbly knees. The general perception is…ok, slim girl in the vicinity. It’s only as the unsuspecting eyes travel upwards and they widen in disbelief!!

W-oah!!…stocky lass perched precariously on spindly legs!?! How do my weedy legs bear the weight of my ‘pleasantly-plump’ body? How? How? I have been a passive member of the fitness brigade since time immemorial. I routinely get inspired by the toned bods, the diet-fads, the workout-sessions and all the ‘get-healthy’ paraphernalia that drops out like pigeon-goop from the dailies.

Sounds so easy and looks so promising. Could I actually look like that? Could the mini-van tires and not-so-lovely love handles disappear in a month? Could I actually fit into all that gorgeous spandex without looking like a human pig-in-the-blanket??

Being painfully shy to approach the local gym, I settle for the unfettered joys of walking. One more excuse to shop for some delectable joggin’ togs! Walking suits me to a tee. Minimum friction, minimum jiggle, minimum embarrassment and minimum exertion.

So am off, strutting my colourful plumage for all it’s worth…beaming broadly at fellow-walkers. .........My new found happiness vanishes quickly enough when a person of “considerable substance” (am all for being politically correct!!) overtakes me effortlessly. In a feeble attempt at one-upmanship, I buckle up and try to overtake her. After a couple of pants and wheezes, I manage to do just that.

My pea-sized brain marvels at this mini-victory. Hey, I am not so bad after all!! As I continue to strut, basking in my new-found glory……I am rudely overtaken by a bunch of chirpy and bandy-legged senior citizens!....WHAT??....WHERE!?!....HOW!!!.....Not happening…so not happening! I have got to get my act together!! Getting my sorry a** whipped by people twice my size and thrice my age is ripping my already-fragile ego to tiny bits!....ARRRRRRGH!!!

Jinxed, Hexed and Bewitched……..yet again

16-year old Jean Honeychurch has had a life-time of bad-luck……so much so, that she’s been lumped with the unflattering nickname – JINX. To escape yet another unfortunate situation (involving a stalker).....she is parceled off to live with her aunt in Manhattan...at their up-market, East-Side townhouse.

Jinx’s encounters with her über-chic cousin, Tory leave much to be desired. Tory’s antagonism is blatantly obvious and she never fails to make Jinx feel like a klutzy, unwanted country cousin. Jinx, jotting it down as one more addition to her bucketful of bad-luck is willing to go with the flow and deal with things as best as she can. But she soon discovers that there are more sinister depths to Tory than she could ever have imagined!!!

Thanks to a legendary family story, Tory believes that she is a witch.....and a powerful one at that. Moreover, she is convinced that Jinx is one too and persistently tries to make the latter join her coven. But Jinx has had a taste of witch-craft gone awry and it’s nasty repercussions.

Jinx’s constant refusals and her gradual acceptance into the “in-crowd” doesn’t go down well with Tory and pretty soon things turn nasty....with a vengeance! Tory’s desperate attempts for attention, coupled with her mental instability and thirst for Wiccan powers proves to be a dangerous concoction for Jinx.

The only way to deal with a situation gone horribly wrong is for Jinx to rein in her own mysterious powers and accept her “gift” for what it is.

Meg Cabot delights yet again.....with her winning combo of fast-paced dialogue, humour and unexpected twists and turns. Definitely a fun, enjoyable read!!

Every Boy's Got One!!!

A provocative title, if ever there was one!!! But don’t dismiss this book as some sort of sleaze-fest...it is actually a sweet and sassy urban fairy-tale, courtesy the wonderful Meg Cabot!

30-plus cartoonist Jane Harris, the creator of the hugely popular comic strip “Wondercat” is accompanying her good friends Holly and Mark as they plan an elopement in the beautiful Le Marche region of Italy. Putting a spanner in the works is reluctant best man, the world-weary and cynical Cal Langdon.

Jane’s attempts to present a travel journal of the entire “romantic” escapade as a first wedding-anniversary gift soon deviate into a personal rant and rave session. She has to deal with the vagaries of living in an exotic but dubious Italian villa, handling the ancient German housekeeper and her fourteen year old nephew, Peter (who happens to be Wondercat’s biggest fan and is harbouring an equally enormous crush on Jane!)...soothing Holly’s pre-wedding nerves...clearing out the bureaucratic snarls……ALL this while fighting off an unwilling attraction to the charming but pig-headed Cal.

Accompanied by Cal’s sardonic entries in his PDA, the crazy e-mails bouncing between the characters and Peter’s devoted posts to Wondercat fans……the book makes for zippy and enjoyable reading. Coupled with the rustic charms of old Italy (not to mention the bottlenecks), this is one more notch on Meg Cabot’s wonderful repertoire of fantastic reads.

Rest In Peace, Lisa

The curtains were finally drawn on Lisa’s struggle with breast-cancer on Oct 4 2007.




Funky Winkerbean, a long-running comic strip has often delved into contemporary issues…be it gun violence, teen pregnancy or child abuse. Issues which rarely find their way into the funny pages, were handled with tact and tasteful humour.

Lisa’s story line was one such recurring theme and it covered an entire gamut of emotions…..be it despair, helplessness, hope or even resigned acceptance. Even when things showed a definite downward slide……the creator of the strip infused the last few days with a bundle of poignant moments.

A quiet and dignified end to a memorable character.




Here are a few of the last strips......

The streets of London are paved with gold.....allegedly

Funny, fresh and bursting with bawdy humour……West-End Girls by Jenny Colgan doesn’t veer far from the time-honoured tradition of Chick-Lit fare.

It is a story about twin sisters as different as chalk and cheese. ‘Hook-A-Rich-Guy-In-60-Seconds’, blonde and beautiful Penny is always at loggerheads with her chubby and shy sibling, Lizzie. The only thing that binds them together is their fondest wish to leave behind the dump that is their current life and move on to bigger and better things.

They get this opportunity when they discover that they have a senile grandmother living in Chelsea. When the latter has to go into hospital, she wants the "little-twins" to flat-sit her posh, upmarket apartment. Shocked but nevertheless ecstatic at this unexpected stroke of luck, the twins rush off to their new world.....hoping to finally rise above the poverty and drudgery.

But life in glitzy London isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There are a range of whacky surprises in store for them. Be it fat, hairy restaurant owners, psychotic-IT girls, club-brawls that are the higlights of Page 3 or scandalous OTT parties , they come across a wide-spectrum of zany characters and unrealistic situations.

The book is a gleeful romp through the ups and downs of an over-rated urban lifestyle. It doesn't pretend to be anything more than a light and witty take on all things shallow......and does a bang-up job on it!!!

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone (Harry Potter, #1)

I was expecting my return trip to be something of a dampener. I had finished the series…. and after all, how many more surprises could the first book reveal? The magic must have faded over time and the characters must surely have achieved the status of house-guests who had overstayed their welcome.

Predictably enough, I was proved wrong. It offered me new avenues of thought. It was interesting to see how the complex and brave heroes of the later years started off as grimy, nervous, ickle-firsties!

It was a time for firsts : neglected, ill-treated Harry’s discovery that he is a wizard – an actual-honest-to-goodness-magic wand-wielding-wizard….that he had a family who loved him and lost their lives to save him……..that there exists a fantastic magical world where’s he much, much more than just an unwanted kid who stays under the stairs. It is also the first time he meets his to-be best friends, not knowng that it would be the start of dangerous but memorable adventures for them.

My personal delight lay in the re-introduction to some of the finest characters I could hope to find sandwiched in one series: Dumbledore, McGonagall, Ron, Hermione, Neville Longbottom, Peeves, Filch, Malfoy,Nearly-Headless Nick, Hagrid, Snape, Voldemort, Fred and George, the Dursleys and of course…..a truly well-crafted hero…The Boy Who Lived.

I also liked the fact that Rowling didn’t patronize her young readers. She spoke about death and other sensitive topics that usually don’t find their way into a children’s book. Minimal sugar-coating…..she created realism in a world of improbability. It’s not all fun and games…..at the end of the day, Harry has to face his demons. He gets his first opportunity to prove that he’s more than just the kid with a glorious and mysterious past.

The book sets an adequate pace, unsolved questions and a strong foundation for the rest of the series. It engages, it thrills, it satisfies. Needless to say……the rest is history.

THE BURIED LIFE

100 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE.....that’s the quest undertaken by four quirky young men.

Certain things have to be experienced and achieved, but life has an uncanny way of taking over and wishes and desires often get pushed to the back-burner. Given the penultimate deadline……these four guys have decided to turn their dreams into a reality.

Armed with an RV and a dog-eared list of 100 things to do before they die....Ben, Dave, Jonnie and Duncan are scouring the length and breadth of North America crafting a memorable documentary. Along the way, they ask people one question: "What do you want to do before you die?" and encourage others to go after their own lists too.

The inspiration for the documentary title “The Buried Life” came from a poem of the same name written by Mattew Arnold in 1852.

The lines were:

But often, in the world's most crowded streets,
But often, in the din of strife,
There rises an unspeakable desire
After the knowledge of our buried life;

From the insane to the socially responsible……their list traverses a whole range of unfulfilled wishes and aspirations. Some are easy as hell and others….downright impossible. But the journey has been incredible and inspirational.





Check out their BLOG and doodle out your own list……..goin’ after it with altleast half- the conviction and fun that these guys are having!!!