RK Saranya

  Delhi is a fun place to visit. It is full of a variety of old trees and plants. There are many monuments and museums in New Delhi. It is situated in Northern part of India and renown as our country ‘s capital city. It is unique as it is a union territory as well as a state. Being one of the oldest cities in the world, this heart of India is famous for rich diverse culture and heritage. Centuries ago, Indraprastha, now known as Delhi, was built by Pandava Kings on the bank of river Yamuna. Since then, many have ruled bringing their own flavors and arts. It is ever growing with a huge population of roughly 15 million people. All these monuments, political buildings, lush gardens, science centers, temples, mix of cuisines and diversity attract millions of visitors every year. I am in awe and love with Delhi. It is one of the best cities in India. Everybody should visit Delhi.

 The Hair-loom My grandpa Ramakrishnan had a floor mill. The mill had a Shikakai (seeka) grinder as well. Dried Shikakai, Amla, Ritha, hibiscus etc. were ground together for washing our hair.   Those days people seldom used shampoos. This powder was part of every household in the KGF town. Every Sunday morning was a hair bath day. Panjamani Atthai* or Panjattey worked in our floor mill and washed our hair every Sunday with seeka. Being the youngest, I was the first in queue followed by Rohini akka* (Chittappa’s daughter), Madhangi akka (Gowri Atthai’s daughter) and Selvi akka (Mathi Atthai’s daughter). After a long hair wash with sneezes and burning eyes, the hair was rolled up in bun with thin towel. Next, it got fumed with Sambrani smoke. Then, I drank kashayam* as shikakai cools the body and I caught cold easily. All of us sat in a row to get a small plait on our head crown leaving the rest of the hair free called as thenneer jada*. It resembled the flow of a water s...

Duped on the name of Patanjali Once Shubha’s father was diagnosed with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), she had plans to get her father Ayurvedic treatment. She didn’t want him to go through tedious dialysis process for life. Shubha left an enquiry on https://patanjaliwellness.com for her father’s treatment in Dec’23. In no time, she got a call from 6261568491 .  It's a mystery, how someone could get her number if she has dropped an online enquiry in Patanjali's website. The person identified himself as Dr. Vijay Pratap Singh. As directed, she submitted her father’s medical reports to him. He discussed the case pretending to be a real doctor. He confirmed that the treatment is possible and mentioned that the yoga center has dialysis facility as well. He kept on following her on the phone. In Truecaller App, the number appears to be Patanjali's. See the picture below, it shows as Patanjali Ayurved Pvt. Ltd. or Patanjali Haridwar booking center These fraudsters have saved all...

Sneaky Snake Somewhere in the lap of mountains, in the rural village of Vellari, there lived closely knit families in huts with thatched roofs. In one of these huts, Swami and Shreya lived with their farmer parents – Asha and Nagraj. To have additional income, sometimes their father drove trucks. The family dearly missed him whenever he went for driving truck for weeks together. As their hut was surrounded by Uncles-Aunts and grandparents, they helped each other in daily life. One night, when Nagraj went out on driving expeditions, a slimy Indian king cobra sneaked in their hut. Asha was quick to spot it. She screamed aloud with all her might and hurried the kids outside the hut. Two of Nagraj’s brothers – Krishna and Mani, ran to their rescue. Both Krishna and Mani were opposite each other. One wanted to kill the cobra and the other feared it to be God send. He believed that if we show lit camphor to it and pray, it will go. Krishna didn’t agree, he opined what if it hid nearby ...

  Mini Gobhi (Cauliflower) paranthas   Ingredients: 1)        For Dough Wheat flour - 2 Cups Carrom seeds – 1 Teaspoon Turmeric - 1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder - 1 Teaspoon Salt - 1 Teaspoon Kasuri Methi    (Dried Fenugreek leaves) – 1 Tablespoon Oil – 1 Tablespoon Water - 1 Cup 2)        For Stuffing Cauliflower – 100 g finely grated. Turmeric - 1 Teaspoon Chilli Powder - 1 Teaspoon Salt - 1 Teaspoon Cumin - 1 Teaspoon Corriander Powder - 1 Teaspoon Optional – Add any other grated or finely chopped vegetable, coriander, chat masala, ginger-garlic paste, soya sauce, any masala, tomato sauce, Ajinomoto etc. Method: 1)        Knead a soft dough by mixing all the ingredients. Cover it and keep it aside. 2)        In a pan, heat oil. Let the cumin seeds crackle. Add all the rest of the stuffing ingredients. Roast them well for 5-10 minutes until the vegetabl...

  The Irony! 1) If a woman is earning and taking care of household work as well as office, people say " What is there? She is getting maid's help and can spend happily as per her whims and fancies ". If someone is illiterate and does only household work depending on husband's income for expenses, people say " Poor lady. How hard she works to bring up her children. What will she do whole day? ". Though in both the cases, women are trying their best.  2) If someone doesn't know cooking and is from a village, people pity and say that poor lady she has all the life worked in fields, how she will know cooking. If an educated women tries to cook as good as possible, people say " What is there? She must have eaten good food all her life and learnt from so many TV shows or Youtube" 3) If a man doesn't know cooking, people pity that how he will manage. If a woman doesn't, people taunt " look she doesn't even know cooking, all she knows ...

 The Highs & Lows... All of us have highs and lows in life. All of us might have heard that sharing pain halves it and sharing happiness doubles. Sharing happiness indeed doubles when both the sides have positive outlook. If the happy one shares the news to show off or the listening party is full of sorrows or is simply jealous, it might not double.  The same thing happens when a person is trying to catch a breath from rock bottom. If someone is very sad within, the other person's similar sad story or success story might not motivate or inspire. Rather, it will irritate and pinch more. Neither everyone's pain is same nor the happiness.  All of us have a different magnitude of tolerance and stamina to endure the pain and celebrate happiness. No matter how better the other person proves in a difficult situation, it might not make the other to buck up or be happy if he/she is not in a mindset to do so.  Happiness might be a simple smile and at the same time, a perso...