The Magpie Calls

Just as the warm colours lit up the dawn, up from my catnap I started with a yawn; preening my feathers I primed each wing, eager to be off lest my mates should sing. From perch to perch through tangled bush, with low short calls startled prey to ambush; fat juicy critters, ’hoppers, ’pillars and …

Yours Lovingly…

He was at his routine yet again as he had been for the past month – or more, he couldn’t tell – to him it seemed like an eternity. Ever since he had set his eyes upon her, he knew he wanted nothing else in life – just her to befriend. So there he was, …

For Bread They Fish!

Three fishermen ye three fishermen, set off before the break of dawn, from banks of mire to the river aflow, pushing the boat with all their brawn, dipping the oars in the cool dark swell, guiding the path to the nets they’d cast, wonder what fruits this dawn will fetch, earn some bread or is …

Sun-blessed!

As amber hues light up the dawn and black gives way to clear blue, the paddy fields rise grinning bright though laden fair with sparkling dew, as gilded rays of warmth arrive in reverence the heads of panicles drop, the sun then beams and blesses them for a healthy and abundant crop. – Narendra Nayak …

Easter: Celebrating Rebirth and Rejuvenation!

Easter is a festival celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which according to the New Testament occurred on the third day of his burial following his crucifixion. For many people the world over Easter is also a celebration of the spring season – the beginning of new life all around! In fact, the word Easter …

Hot Cross Buns!

Hot Cross Buns were baked in the medieval period as an offering to the Germanic goddess Eostre, the goddess of spring, as a celebration of Easter. A cross was marked on top of the bun symbolising the four phases of the moon and four seasons of the year. As per Christian tradition, the buns were …

Chips ‘n’ Dips, Fix your Mix!

Though Dips first made their appearance on the world stage with hummus making its debut in the Middle East in the 13th century, and Chips joined much later – in 1953 with invention of the potato chips – it was a marriage made in heaven! And ever since, the love story of chips and dips …

Ugadi: A Celebration of Life!

Be it Gudi Padwa in Maharashtra and Goa, Yugadi in Karnataka, or Ugadi in Telangana and Andhra – all these festivals celebrate the beginning of the new year or the first day of the first month of Chaitra in the Hindu lunar calendar. Mythology has it that it was on this day that Brahma began to …

The Passenger

(Prologue: It was the month of September in the year 1998 that I was at Willingdon Island, Kochi for official business on board a ship bearing an Indian flag. It was here that I met Anbu the auto driver who narrated this incidence to me.) “Cannot go, my dear friend”, Anbu was quite adamant; and …

It’s a Scoop!

For a food stylist and photographer, ice cream is the most demanding of subjects to work with, fussy and almost like a diva; it will start melting under the lights even as you are wondering if you need a touch more shine on that cherry on top! So how then do you style an ice …