Ganga's post on thick yogurt got me salivating. I love shrikhand, especially from Parsi Dairy Farm, Mumbai, but I shudder just thinking of the calories it packs. I'd have to run 5 miles just to burn a cup of their nectarine shrikhand! No thank you! Here is my attempt at making a low-calorie, healthy, dessert. There is such a thing!
Recipe and more pics!
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Happy Birthday
Meera!
May you live long and be ever happy!
from amma and pappa
PS. I am a few days late in cross-posting this here on LJ.
Three more Meera pics!
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Wishing you all,
A Wonderful New Year!
Good Health and Peace!
One more pic!
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That gift which is given, knowing it to be a duty, in a fit time and place, to a worthy person, from whom we expect nothing in return, is held to be most pure.
~ Bhagavad Gita, 17:20
Several years ago we started these scholarships to support needy girls at the Shanbhag School in Kumta. This year, more friends and family joined in helping us support 48 students (29 girls and 19 boys). We extended beyond our original charter and 40 of 48 students are from other schools in Kumta. With your support we will keep growing and eventually cover ALL needy students in Kumta!
Read: more pics and list of recipients!
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You are not a Mumbaikar if you haven't tasted the street-side Vada Pav. Not the sterile globs you get in a restaurant. You gotta eat from the street stall. If you haven't, may I ask you to kindly turn in your Mumbaikar card!
More Vada Pav, Sandwich and Bajjiyas!
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| Date: | 2009-11-02 21:02 |
| Subject: | Air Meera |
| Security: | Public |
Meera just loves to be tossed in the air (of course, never leaving my hands). She is all giggles and never wants me to stop.
One more of Meera!
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Each evening when we take Meera for a walk, we stop by the Poornima Juice Center on Colaba Causeway, for their freshly squeezed ganna ras (sugarcane juice) - see video. At 8 rupees (16 cents, US) a glass, it is a steal! Meera greedily gulps the ganna ras too! As a baby, this was the first juice we gave her.
Enjoy the Video!
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| Date: | 2009-10-19 00:27 |
| Subject: | Diwali 2009 |
| Security: | Public |
On this festive occasion of Deepavali,
May the Gods grace you and your loved ones
with
Peace, Good Health and Success!
Happy Deepavali!
Meera, M & A
Happy Diwali!
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When in Mumbai, we attended a puja at my aunt's place in Jogeshwari. There we enjoyed a delicious south india lunch, served on banana leaves. Freshly made, warm puran polis, dribbled with home-made tuup (clarified butter), was one of many desserts. The catering crew were making it in the back. Enjoy the video!
See Video and More!
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A global partnership for children, including the WHO and UNICEF, report that annually, 4 million babies die within the first 30 days of birth. Why are 4 million babies dying? The common causes are infection, birth asphyxia and premature (including low birth weight) births. Premature and low-weight babies are particularly susceptible to hypothermia and need to be kept warm..
Read More!
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Give me a random number between 1 – 10. That’s it!
In this poll, pick the first number you think of. Takes 2 seconds. Do it!
This is part of a small study to see if there is an inherent bias in the selection of numbers. Ideally, with a large number of respondents, we should see that all numbers are equally represented. Is that what the data shows? Find out for your self.
Take the poll here!
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No, he was not trying to hijack the BEST bus in Mumbai; he was terrified about the nasty virus causing swine flu!
But that makeshift mask in a crowded bus surely got me panicky. Should I be around Mumbai using public transportation, where the buses and trains are stuffed tighter than, ... than, ... mumbaikars in buses and trains? And when I had Meera with me?
Many more pics from Swine Flu Panic in Mumbai!
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| Date: | 2009-09-27 15:40 |
| Subject: | Meera Tai |
| Security: | Public |
Ganesh Chaturthi (or Ganapati Chovati as we Konkanis call it) is THE celebration in our extended family home in Mumbai.
During the five days of Ganapati, all pujas are performed as prescribed in the Puranas, including recitations from the Vedas. After a busy five days, the murthy is consigned to the seas (visarjan), leaving us all melancholy. Even Meera was puzzled that beautiful "Ganapati Bappa" was missing. He'll be back next year, Meera! And so will we all.
See an earlier post for a brief background on Ganapati.
The murthy is brought home, the day before. In this first pic, Ganapati has only been kept in place. During the first puja, the murthy is dressed with flowers and with the recitation of chants, sanctified with the divine presence.
Many more pics from Seva Mandal and Wadala Ganapati!
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NB. Just catching up on synching my WordPress and LJ Journals!
When the shadow of swine flu touched Mumbai, we dashed off to Goa and Kumta, and returned just in time for the Ganesh Chaturthi Utsav.
Over the next few days, our extended family home transformed itself into a festive temple. Resident cooks arrived and made traditional Konkani sweets and snacks (chivda, mando, shankar paLLan, masala shaenga, chuklee, etc). Siblings and cousins descended on our home. Professional flower stringers decorated our main hall in elaborate arrangements of plump marigolds. Humongous pots and pans, giant oil lamps and other puja accompaniments were retrieved from storage and polished to a high gleam.
The day before, jackfruit leaves were washed and pinned to make the pocket KhoTo idli. Torans of mango leaves decorated our doors, and officially, Ganesh Chaturthi was underway. While the women folk strung their favorite 'garlands' and traded gossip, we boys went to Nana Chowk to pick up our Ganesh murthys - we keep two in our extended family.
As we waited to collect our murthy, I toured the warehouse and took pics of murthys inside. Here is a sample of Ganapati figurines at: Shubhada Kala Mandir, 311 Javji Dadaji Marg, Nana Chowk, Mumbai 400 007; Ph: 91-22-2385 48 96
A popular innovation incorporated silk in Ganapati's attire; very well done!
Many more pics!
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