Travel a Little More with your Little Ones

Orange. Orange; Apple. Orange;Apple;Banana. Orange;Apple;Banana;Pear.

I am sure the above string of words must have transported you back to your childhood days. We all know THE GREAT MEMORY GAME. Then there was ATLAS.

These games hold special importance in my life since they remind me of the trips I made with my family as a child. And it is not just me, my mom too always rejoices when she reminisces about those trips.

It was a wonderful idea because these were not any silly games but great learning experiences.

My dear mother, who must be sneezing as I write this, always makes sure to express how we as kids added a different dimension to the trip. And I agree with her.

The fact is that when a couple goes for a vacation, the nature of activities is very different. It is usually like another honeymoon. They make impromptu plans; some work, some don’t. However, when one has kids in the rear seat they have to be a little cautious, a little more planned and a little more organised. Now that’s not bad news! Believe me; with the little ones the trip takes a whole new shape. 

HOME COOKED BUTTER CHICKEN- need i say more?

Like I promised in my previous post that I will soon be sharing the recipe of butter chicken, here I am with the post revolving around the most popular North-Indian, non-vegetarian main dish. 

In all these years I have still not come across one person who has meat and doesn’t like butter chicken. It usually tops the list when you are ordering something for dinner at a restaurant or setting the menu for an occasion or ordering food in. It was a favourite and it remains to be the same way even now. 

While this recipe fetched me a lot of compliments and made all the efforts worthwhile, I am hoping that you too become the star for the day when you cook this luxurious dish for your loved ones. Why I call it luxurious? You’ll know when you will go through the ingredients.

Achari Paneer Tikka

Unlike other Saturdays when our group of friends generally dine out, this Saturday night was spent a little differently. We decided to sit together at a friend’s place and the bhabis (sis-in-laws/ friend’s wives) of the group were asked to prepare dinner for everyone. 

Both, Bhabi no.1 and Bhabi no. 2 were asked to make a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian dish. The non-vegetarian dish was chosen by the friends so I did not have to think too hard (just to let you know they asked me to cook butter chicken but I will post about it some other day). For a veg starter I zeroed in on making paneer tikka for everyone. However, instead of making the regular paneer tikka I decided to make its pickleeeeyyyy brother and so everyone got to eat Achari Paneer Tikka.

A Glimpse of Goa

A pint of Kingfisher Premium, freshly fried fish and chips and the picturesque beach ahead; if there is one place that comes to our minds after reading this its Goa. I am sure half of you have already started imagining yourselves there. 

There is something about this former Portuguese province that puts one to ease. It is extremely chilled out and for once you feel that you are altogether in a different country. 

This was luckily my second visit to Goa in a year. Ok my husband and I do love Goa but a leisure trip to this easy breezy city was not on our minds till my dear husband announced that he has SERIOUS WORK in Goa (Yes people go to Goa for work also!).  Now a little weekend holiday after work in GOA could not hurt anyone haha. So we jumped at the opportunity and landed in Goa. 

Unlike our last trip, this time we stayed in Panjim (capital of Goa) and explored a different part of the city besides the regular beach madness. We behaved more like travellers than tourists. While my husband was at work I took a stroll to the Dona Paula Jetty in Panjim, took a local bus to Miramar Beach and enjoyed a coffee all by myself. We boarded the ferry with our rented two-wheeler to reach the other side, just like the locals. We dug our fingers in Goan fish curry and rice and binged our way till our tummies yelled. A walk for a few minutes and we were ready for a portion of fish fingers. We visited Old Goa, captured the Holy Places and lifelong memories in our minds.

So here are a few pictures giving you a little glimpse of our Goa trip. Hope you like them and they make you want to visit the city.

One Day FEEL LIGHT Routine

Wow! So as I write this I do realise that it has been QUITE SOMETIME since I last wrote something in my little diary, but you can’t blame me. October was so festive starting with card parties to celebrating the biggest festival in the country. Plus the number of birthdays in my sweet little family all fall together and occupy half of my November too! Infact it has been so happening that for a few nights I found myself repeating the dialogue from the movie Jab We Met “babaji ab is night ko thoda boring banado”.  

Anyway I am not going to crib because it was all too much fun. From playing dress-up for every party to celebrating the birthdays it has all been lovely. BUT, the eating out and eating in loads and eating all fried and eating all sweet that comes complimentary with this time does take a toll. And I am sure post Diwali bickering most of you would agree with me on this.

So in today’s post I will tell you a few simple things that you can follow to feel lighter and better not just after Diwali but after any eating spree. I follow this routine myself after a  heavy day of eating out; you can accommodate the tips as per your own body since you know it better J. You just need to follow it the day after you’ve hogged. My husband has found a silly moniker for this day and he calls it “THE AFSOS DAY” which means the day of regret LOL. But believe me it is not like I will suggest you to not eat and drink. It is a tried and tested one day routine which includes food! And it works beautifully.

Ideas for Diwali Decor

While diwali is just round the corner, I am sure most of you are already at the peak of MISSION “Ghar Ki Safai”. Come diwali and we all get a solid reason to force the men in the house to do their bit of cleaning. Every possible nook and corner is searched for a spider web, every shelf is dusted clean and the glass of all windows and doors are scrubbed till they sparkle to welcome Goddess Lakshmi.

Now that the houses are clean, we all try doing our best when it comes to Diwali decorations. In this post I will give you a few ideas that you can use to give your house a special touch this festive season. I am sure a lot of you must already be doing these things, but for those who are still confused, take a cue.

Prakash Handicrafts Sisters Bazaar, Landour

Outside Prakash Handicrafts

It is unbelievably bizarre how time flies. The weekend just bid goodbye and somehow I still cannot get over the weekend before the last one I spent in Dehradun with my husband. I have already mentioned in a post earlier how special Dehradun is to my husband. Ever since we got married we have visited Dehradun a number of times however it had always been with the family. So last to last weekend my husband and I made an impromptu plan and reached Dehradun, just the two of us. However this post is not about Dehradun. This post is about a little shop we discovered during this trip that made it all the more worthwhile (I will deviate a little from the shop here and there, please do not mind; the hills and the dun does that to me :p)

After spending a lazy Saturday, on Sunday we started for Landour. Landour is a small cantonment town contiguous with Mussoorie, and is about 35 km from Dehradun in the northern state of Uttarakhand. The twin towns of Mussoorie and Landour, together are a reflection of British Raj-era hill station in northern India. While we were exploring the town we walked up to the nearby Sisters bazaar also known as the nurses’ dormitory.

The stroll to Sisters bazaar was a beautiful experience. The surroundings, the cute little houses and the whole feel of the place reminded me of my road trip to Lake District in the UK. It was postcard perfect, so pretty and so romantic! *lovestruck*

now who wouldn't fall in love with this place?

My adorable darling

Once we reached Sisters bazaar it was hard for us to fathom the fact that it was a market for it had shops less than the number of fingers in one hand. We had to confirm from the locals if that was it and they were affirmative. We were just about to take a U-Turn when we noticed this dainty handicrafts shop on the main road. I saw a board outside it that read “Prakash Handicrafts”.

With a slight chill in the air we were glad to have found some cosiness in that little shop which offered a LOT! From silver jewelry to Tibetan wind chimes the range was diverse.  There were bed covers for the house to stoles, warm jackets and kurtas to update the wardrobe for the winters.  The jackets and the kurtas are the shop’s forte. They are hand woven in yak wool and pure wool.

now this looks warm

The shop was promoting all things natural. There was this adorable little tortoise made out of pine needles which one can decorate at home or use for the coming Diwali celebrations. However one thing that caught our eye was the range of natural cosmetics this little shop was selling.

These personal care products are manufactured by a foundation called SOS Organics. Parul, the beautiful owner of the shop threw some light on the products and the foundation.  She informed us that the foundation manufactures a wide range of products from food to herbal infusions and cosmetics at a village industry based in Almora, Uttarakhand. The range reminded me of “Fab India” products.  The SOS Organics’s products are all organic, grown in the Himalayas and free of pesticides. The specific environmental conditions of the Himalaya, its unique weather, rich and diverse mineral content of the soil and cosmic radiation are such that the indigenous crop packs a multitude of medicinal properties. I was simply fascinated listening to her.

Her face lightened up while she was telling us about the authenticity of those products which mirrored how she believed in them. She asked us to give the products a try since there aren’t any side effects, so my dear husband asked me to buy a few. Let me tell you they are brilliant.

SOS Organics' Products and the cute little tortoise i mentioned (pic courtesy: my dear husband)

I enquired if these products are available online and a smiling yes came as an answer. The products have the Foundation’s website link on them so one can easily visit the site and read more about their vision and other products (I did and it is quite interesting). Here is a link to their website https://www.sosorganics.com/.

Parul was very honest when she asked us to buy the herbal infusion. She agreed that it will not score too high on taste however it will do wonders for our body. I chose to buy the Tulsi Rhododendron Herbal Infusion (I still have to try it though, maybe post navratras). The packaging of the Cometic gift box that I bought was ripped apart right when I reached home. I absolutely love the Geranium face cream that I am using at night these days. Its fragrance is absolutely refreshing and it keeps my skin so supple without making it oily.

We were a bunch of garrulous people so we did not realise that we had spent almost an hour and a half in the shop talking about nature, organic food, politics and ofcourse Mr. Modi! I took a few pictures of the shop to share my experience with you all. Parul was too shy to get clicked hence she remains the mysterious pretty woman from the hills until you visit her (haha!). She was sweet to offer us a cup of tea/coffee but it was getting late so we settled with chocolates.

It was wonderful to meet a lovely lady like her amidst the utmost serene surroundings. Afterall very few people take the onus of spreading awareness about a good cause and going organic is definitely one of them. Not just for the nature but for your own body too (I mention the latter because we humans are selfish beings and if being a little selfish can indirectly do good to Mother Earth then I say why not?).

Do visit this cute little shop on your next trip to the “Queen of Hills” to buy something handmade crafted with love. The idea of this tiny place is to give back a lot to the society and underpriviledged in its own little ways. I will definitely make another trip.

While the west is already embracing the idea of organic products and the awareness is slowly increasing in the east too, it is time for us to give them atleast a try. Little efforts and small changes in your own simple ways can make a big difference.

P.S.: If you have visited Prakash Handicrafts at Sisters Bazaar in Landour earlie or have used SOS Organics’ products, do share your experience. Also if you buy something in the future and like it, do leave a comment for the readers. Your feedback means a lot to "my little diary".