Taking selfie has become a fever, isn’t it? No matter where one is, if he or she loves to pose for a selfie, there is no chance of missing the opportunity of capture the self-portrait. Selfie is actually a slang used for a self-portrait. This is a photograph that you take to capture yourself. And selfie became more popular due to the arrivals of digital cameras, smartphones and ubiquitous presence of internet. Social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook have given people the fair shot to express themselves in different moods, styles, andappearances through selfies. 

The very word "selfie" was chosen the "Word of the Year" by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2013. The description of the word is"a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website." Initially, I hated selfies as I found people making strange faces while clicking them and they even don’t mind the danger involved in th…

Dear Kid,

First of all let me tell you that I am eagerly waiting to meet you. You might still be in diapers somewhere. Or, you would be enjoying the diaper free days (just like my boy) and would be finding reasons to hit the flush button in the bathroom. But soon we'll meet and I'll get the pleasure of having a daughter-in-law. So, welcome to the family dear! You are going to get a new mother, may not be as perfect as yours, but definitely a caring one! This may be too early to talk to you but darling time passes in blinks and I want to be prepared for your wedding with my son.
I promise that I would give you the best man of your life. For this, I'll put my best efforts to help my son in finding you. I'll make sure that he understands the meaning of "being a Husband" which is one of the two most important titles a man carries in his life. Other is of course "Father". He will surely know that he has to carry two biggest responsibilities of his life, …

I DID IT..

Well, this is my enthusiasm for completing #BlogchatterA2Z. this year. The feeling of a success is already there!

If you don't know what this hashtag represents then, please let me tell you in brief.

#BlogchatterA2Z was a daily blogging campaign that happened during the whole month of April. In this campaign, bloggers were supposed to write 26 posts that represent posts from A to Z. 26 alphabets and 26 posts. The community that organizes this A to Z blogging challenge every year is a well-known name, Blogchatter. Blogchatter as a community promotes bloggers in achieving success through their blogs. For this, they keep organizing such blogging activities. This year's A to Z challenges was given the hashtag #BlogchatterA2Z. I could not take part last year in Blogchatter's A to Z blogging campaign. But this year, I did, and after completing this year's A to Z blogging challenge, I am feeling so thankful to Blogchatter for organizing such eventful and winning ca…

When you say "Don't touch this" indicating something to your children, what happens? Their curiosity bones keep tickling them to touch that thing which is supposed to not touch.

Children these days are very curious about their surroundings. They want to touch and feel every new thing around them. Their continuous exploration of the world mostly happens with touching objects that pull their attraction. And they are unstoppable when they are being told to stay away from them. Stray dogs, dirty swings of the park, dust-covered vehicles, as you said "No, don't touch it", the first thing children do is to touch it to find out why not to touch!

For kids, touching is learning. They understand new things mostly by touching and playing with it. And in this process, they get their hands dirty and come in contact with a lot of germs. This is the thing that we mother fear. We want to keep kids safe from germs and any kind of bacterial infection. That's why we keep …

The more I meet with new age parents, the more I feel that in their houses, the kids are in charge, not the parents. Parents are living as per their children's routines. They worry so much about their children's self-esteem, their health, and their choices. They even worry whether or not their children like them. And the reason is clearly today's parenting prescriptions. If you are a parent who also belongs to the good old days when parents were the bosses and child rearing was not a democracy, you can understand why I feel today's parenting is making parents paralyzed.

My mother always was a tough parent and she is still, even when I am also a mother.  Denying my new stationary demands, denying half an hour extra while playing outside, denying my request for a piece of a pickle when she cooked Lauki in the dinner and even punishing me for not obeying her house rules. Clearly, she was the boss of the house. In my childhood, I always thought that she had been doing tha…

Once happened when my parents decided to make Chywanprash at home. Yes, it can be made even at home. The recipe was given by my father's maternal grandfather. He was a famous Vaidya of his time. There were close to 50 ingredients needed for Chywanprash and when my father brought them from the market, I was mouth opened. I had never seen any preparation with 50 ingredients. Opening each of the packets, I asked my mother about it. Those were mostly spices and dry fruits. Then there was a cute small box that pulled my attention. I took it in my hands and saw the price tag. 1000 rupees!! I was stunned and astonished. How come such small quantity cost this much? My mother explained that it was the costliest and the most precious spice, Kesar. For the first time, I heard about something which looks like threads but is pricey like anything.

Z For Zafaran  Kesar is called Saffron in English. However, I have decided to mention it with name Zafraan as the Persian word zarparān, which means &…

It is mango season again. The fruit market is getting decorated with a variety of mangoes here in Delhi. And in the vegetable market, raw mango is in biggest demand. These initial days of summer bring a flood of raw mangoes in my hometown's market. And most of the ladies get busy into making mango pickles. Yes, that finger licking pickle which makes our food tastier. Pickle making is not a process, it is rather a tradition in many of the Indian families. But while mangoes might reign supreme, the truth is there is no Indian fruit, vegetable or berry that you will not find in a pickle.

The most common ingredients of any North Indian pickle are fennel, asafoetida (Heeng), chili and of course the very important Mustard. In every pickle, either mustard powder or mustard oil is used as a base which when used with salt, acts as the preservative. For many of us, mustard is a black round shaped spice that is commonly used in tempering. However, there are many types of mustard seeds avail…