Smell of burnt sugar ...Awesome!! And the taste ? No words- I always make an extra effort to finish off the last syrupy delight from the dripping sides or the puddle around/below of my caramel pudding …The slightly crackling sound of the burnt crust on the top of a perfectly made crème brulee makes me so happy !!Doesn’t it signify that something which is good by itself, becomes even better, luxurious and luscious…aftergoing through a trying spell ..and proves to reach a state of overall refinement ?!
Is food,water and oxygen more important than Hope for survival ? When the fittest wants to survive, what does he look for more?
Isn’tHope all we can ever do- hope for the good, hope for the best, hope for the better. Hope that things won’t fall apart, hope that us will always be “ us “ and not “I & you“. Hope for a sunny day after periods of rain, hope for rain after periods of scorching sun….
But what happens when there’s no room to hope- when it’s inconceivable? When a person knows his inescapable future…and there is no desiring for otherwise !!
Can a person,who has been denied of the lightof this world,hope that someday he’ll know what the different colors look like? How does he survive each day or does he still hold on to futile hope, only to survive?
What was the significance of the word “ HOPE” for Anne Frank and other innocent victims of the Holocaust ? Did they hope of a better tomorrow when they will no longer be branded as sub-humans? Or did they run out of it ?
Enjoy the present…seize the day….That’s what these pictures convey to me. Like the transient bliss that a twilight brings, like the ephemeral beauty of wild flowers in bloom which lasts only for a season….life is short as well - So, why not make it sweet !! Embrace life- life doesn’t need to be long, it needs to be full….
Take a road trip down those rolling valleys today, to visualize the blazing yellow fields of wild mustard in full bloom- who knows, there might be a storm tonight and the plump flowers may slump off tomorrow!! 'Cause if it’s spring today, it’s summer tomorrow….
Being a gourmet and a passionate home-cook, I came across this sensual picture while browsing through the dining section of one my favorite newspapers !! The picture itself made me hungry with passion, urging me to explore the depths of the culinary world even more, to make myself better with each passing day, to extend my boundaries, breaking all the limitations which might have been set upon me, or created by me through various convictions !! A simple snapshot of an elegant creation, freezes me so….plies me with the food for a million thoughts, not only to cook better, but also to delve deeper into the romanticism, associated with the creation of anything, which is beautiful to all the senses.
If I let you disintegrate myself, could I still keep my pride and self-esteem ? Is rejuvenation possible after such complete decay, with the old, failing parts being removed and restored with something better ? Or is it like the shattering of a glass into a thousand pieces, losing all integrity ???
We have no time to stand and stare….as W.H.Davies had once said. My latest realization- why is it that we are always in so much of rush and the brain is almost overdriven all the times, even if we are not doing anything important ?
Why is it we don’t have time to just stare at things, anything at all !! Why can’t we just spend afew of our wasted hours each day, just staring at the sky, the trees, the birds, the still waters, the clouds….without thinking, judging or analyzing anything– instead of typing away on the keyboard, staring blankly at the laptop or the T.V. .
I have figured lately that I’m always doing something and just staring blankly at the tree outside my balcony seems a wastage of time- Ohh, what sad times have arrived for me !! It’s a shame that I’ve lost all hopes of ever being a poet ( since you need to spend atleast some time staring at some tree or bird to become a poet ). Either I’m doing routine household stuff, indulging myself with a book or just gaping at the monitor (T.V./Laptop)…….
So, it seems the time has come for a change, an addition to the daily to-dos, an easy way to relieve your stress- to just stand/sit and stare …and let thesense of repose permeate thru’out your senses…
I love to wear white- there is a placidness to the color, there is a certain sense of purity in it. I love black too- like white, it bears a certain respect and dignity, it speaks for itself, it’s bold and powerful. But would paintings be fun, if we had only these two colors to express ourselves; Would Holi still have it’s individuality and significance, if there were no colors except black and white; Will nature still be so beautiful with everything painted in black or white ? The answer for most of us perhaps will be the same. Today, just 3 days away from Holi ( 1st March ) and 2 days from Doljatra ( 28th Feb ) - I started pondering about the meaning and relation which colors have for us, in our day to day life.Colors not onlyare an important ingredient to the sensation of sight, but they render us memories pertaining to various aspects and phases of our life. It is indispensable for stimulating our different senses and hence making our life constantly full of diversity, as well as festal from time to time…..
Today being in a “ Holi “ state of mind , a myriad collection of colors are afloat in my mind's eyes…Spring is almost here and those Palash (Dhak) trees along the winding village roads must be abloom ..and if I had been there, I would have asked baba to stop the car, and like always, would have gotten off to gather as many Palash as I could, strewn along those roadsides……..
Let’s go to the farmer’s market this weekend….Ohh !! How I light up at this suggestion and not solely because of my absolute love for shopping, be it for dresses, accessories or groceries..The mere sight of fresh vegetables and spices make me happy, maybe because I love to cook and eat.. But why is it, that farmer’s market has a special appeal for me, and maybe to many of us Indians , who are live outside of India..Is it more related to the certain idea of refinement and sophistication, which is so bound to the whole notion of farmer’s market- given that the products are definitely priced higher than any supermarket price and everything is home-grown, organic and largely fresh !!
In most of the big cities , you would find those people flocking to the afternoon or weekend outdoor market, who can afford, who have a sense of refinement- wanting to make a pot of luscious soup with the freshest fennel, and who all are clingy to the idea of going organic and going green at every possible way ( which I clearly don’t have a problem with as long as we save the earth and don’t just talk about it )... So, what is it ? Is it only a desire to be different or does it move your senses with something other than that ? For me, it’s a concoction of both and all of them..
When I first became acquainted with the idea of such outdoor market, it was an altogether different adventure to me- suddenly you have something else to do on the weekends other than partying, it’s outdoors, it’s fresh & clean, it’s different in so many ways than your average grocery store trips and then it might remind in some subtle ways of those “ haat “ or “ bajar “ from your hometown.Yes, it was all that !!
Firstly, when I talk of the “ haat “ from any town of India- produces, fish and everything else is actually cheaper than the average daily market price…The commodities are fresh off the fields, they still have the dirt clinging to them, and then there is a whole different visual shock- rotting produces lying here and there, cows and goats munching on them to their heart’s desire and then the unavoidable stink. The sellers calling out the prices at the top of their lungs – trying to prove who’s is the best and the cheapest, the buyers all excited and sweaty , trying to locate their favorite seller, whom they trust for taking home the best products and boasting off their grocery shopping skills.
Although not very often, but I can remember of a few occasions , where I might have accompanied baba to his market trips, mostly when we were kids . Then, as we grew older, several restrictions came into effect, some self-induced to avoid the sweat, the crowd, the filth ..and some put into action by our parents due to increasing burden of homework or more so because the markets were the hotspots for local ruffians and I being a blossoming teenager and such !! And the excursions became lesser to none after some time. But all those occasions when I did go to the market, certain smell, sound, calls defining the survival of the fittest (as in who sells the most and makes the most profit), certain sights did leave behind some haunting , lingering memories, indelible marks …And all those memories work in sync for me, whenever I hear the sound “ farmer’s market “ .
It’s just not the freshness and refinement that pulls me, although this clean, outdoor market , which has a wide heterogeneity (just like our hometown markets ) - fruits,vegetables, jams, ready-to-eat food, home-made dry pastas, shittake powder ….. is a world separated from our quaint “ haat “ in so many ways ..there’s absolutely no filth, no pungent smell of rotting vegetables or fish market, no hustle-bustle, no sights of members from the bovine family- yet I absolutely have to link it to our “ Tuesday haat “ or “ robibar r bajar ( sunday market) “ , everytime I visit one. The only valid reason I could come up with is this – Perhaps, I miss the alfresco " haat ", sweaty marketing trips, although I almost disliked it . Perhaps, it is connected to my heart so intricately, that everytime I go to visit my parents, I try to make it to those smell, sound and sight – just to refresh my memories once more….
The Fall …the first thing which comes to your mind is typically of the season “ Autumn “,without any sort of disambiguation ..But does your mind travel like mine, when you hear the word “ Fall “ ? Last night, I pondered at length, overcome by sleeplessness and let my mind be a vagabond…
The fall of man as in the story of Adam and Eve…The gradual “ falling “ into you, since the time I first met you ..She’s going back to school this fall …as in the school semester ..
Humpty-Dumpty had a great fall …a waterfall …the fall of physics which pertains to free fall of gravity…
So many ways to fall and the fear of falling, of losing something, losing your position, your treasures-material and emotional …falling of a kingdom, of a nation , of a government, fear of falling out over something with someone…..Or on a happier note, the leaves falling in autumn – “ The Fall “ – the majestic beauty of the deciduous trees, turning vibrant red,orange,yellow …and then shedding ..People traveling for miles, to get a glimpse of the autumn foliage colors during that time, from places where nature is missing such whimsical paintings by God.
On our visit to Colorado, a couple of years back, we didn’t actually get to see the fall colors, because we went during the wrong time of the year, but I got myself something, which is quite a treasure- early fall leaves of Aspen trees-framed and preserved in wax..The sheer thought of such beauty, gives me such a thrill…almost as if, I can see rows of Aspen trees in their full glory, during the fall season , with sun hitting them at the right angles, making them ever so beautiful to look at..No wonder John Denver fell in love with Aspen...We have always lived in such parts of the states where the fall season rarely visits and hence there’s no distinct color, although while we were in Texas, we came across some oaks which changed into red during that time of the year …
The thoughts of camping in a state park , during Fall …or gathering fall leaves and putting them in my scrapbook, which I did, with whatever meager supply I could gather in poorly fall of Texas …
And so on and so forth, with my mind adrift ….until I finally caught some Z’s…….
Today, I imagined myself in the valleys of Kashmir, surrounded by rows of croci- specifically Saffron crocus...what a grandeur sight it was. The weather was nippy, and I watched in awe and intent how the beautiful women in bright dresses collected saffron. A spice with fragrance – an apt topic for my writing …..It has a lot of essence to it , beautiful to look at , frail orange-red threads, so exotic to touch and smell and a little goes a long way-almost like love. ..The name “ saffron “ itself sounds so out of the world-taken from the arabic word zafaran which means ‘yellow’. It is rated by flavor intensity and depth of color.
It is the most expensive spice in the world …The main reason being that it takes about 75,000 blossoms or 225,000 hand-picked dried stigmas of the saffron crocus ( flowers in Fall, member of the Iris family ), to make a single pound i.e. 454 gms ( There are only 3 stigmas, referred to as saffron threads per flower ).This is the equivalent of a football field's area of cultivation (110,000-170,000 flowers ). Some forty hours of labour are needed to pick 150,000 flowers. Whew !! Do I ever think of that when I open that petite box holding this golden spice, ever ?
Human cultivation and use dates back to more than 3500 years now.It is used in a lot of Asian ( Persian, Arabian, Turkish, Indian ) and Mediterranean cuisines ( Spain, Italy, Greece, France and other parts of Europe ). It is also used in perfumery and in dyeing. Medicinally, saffron has a long history as part of traditional healing; modern medicine has also discovered saffron as having anti carcinogenic, anti-mutagenic, immunomodulating, and antioxidant-like properties. Most saffron is grown in a belt of land ranging from the Mediterranean in the west to KashmirIran, Spain, India, Greece, Azerbaijan, Morocco, and Italy, in decreasing order of production, are the major producers of saffron. Iran with its cultivation of different varieties, is the largest producer of saffron with 93.7% of the world's total production, although previously around 70% of the world’s saffron used to come from Spain, in particular the high plateau between Madrid and Andalucia known as La Mancha. in the east. Annually, around 300 tonnes of saffron are produced worldwide-
There are three basic types of saffron , two of which being the top-grade ones :-
Kashmir “ Mogra Cream “ which is the world’s finest and difficult to obtain .
Spanish “ Coupe “ which is also top threads with 100% pure red saffron threads like the above variety.
Spanish “ Superior “ which is widely available and has 90% red and10% yellow threads .
Apart from these, each cultivating region has it’s own several varieties…like Iran , which has a number of varieties depending on the shape like Negin Sargol, Pushal Negin, Daste, Sargol, Style .
So, is Saffron myfavorite spice ? It might be, given that I love everything exotic and classy – and saffron has been the spice of the kings and nawabs, even used as an aphrodisiac by the Pharaohs. Although that doesn’t mean I try to use it in every possible dish or that I keep on eternally searching for dishes that has saffron in it . But I do use it once in a while, in mughlai dishes and desserts – one of the frequent ones being “ shrikhand “ - although I don’t know if you can technically call it dessert or “ something to end the meal with “ sort of dish.
So, this research of mine online led me to a lot of invaluable information and a very crucial conclusion- Just thinking of the back-breaking labor and sweat that went into cultivating and harvesting this exquisite spice, we could just pause for a moment, to thank while we take a whiff of this elegant spice, everytime we feel like impressing a guest with some lavish dish.
Note- The picture in this post is of Women in a Saffron field in Kashmir. Is there anything more beautiful than the mere sight of this ?
_flowers_.jpg)
