From a mother to her Daughters

It was hilarious when during our conversations I told my daughter "You will only get one gift from me at your wedding... and that will be my favourite book of recipes by Annabell Langbein". She looked at me and then burst out laughing especially when she is aware that being born in a hindu Indian family, she will be bestowed with gifts on her D day.
Not that she is going to get married or that she knows whom she would marry... but cooking good palatable food is an art and a skill that every child should be taught.

These holidays I have been teaching my girls how to cook. This became a necessity when my younger daughter's hostel closed down their kitchen at the end of last year. Some of the basic needs of every served meal are -

Food must be cooked with love, care, empathy and positive vibes for those who will have it. Such food is bound to taste good and will greatly benefit the health of all who consume it. Food is the essence of life.

It should have a balance of spices. The aroma from the food when being cooked should arouse the appetite to have it.

The different dishes cooked should have a balance of cooked food and salads. So try and have as many colours as possible in your dishes. The rainbow of colours should be appetising to the eye before the tongue tastes it.

Food served should give a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction after finishing. To achieve this completeness, the cook needs to make sure that all 6 tastes, sweet, sour, bitter, astringent, salty and pungent are delivered. The taste determines how we experience our food. The flavours in our foods are very therapeutic and so ultimately effects the overall flavours of our existence.

Food served should be freshly cooked as much as possible.

It has been a great experience of bonding with my children especially after a very busy year at work. Though they keep saying that it is tedious and they are not going to cook all the things that I have taught them, but I know they have seen me cook and so will definitely have an idea if they decide to do it later in life.

Holiday Reading

Just finished reading "Me before you" by Jojo Moyes. It is a good romantic novel with a message.Will Traynor who leads a big life suddenly gets tied down to a wheelchair after a nasty accident. I loved the character of Will more than the main character Louisa Clark. Despite of him being a handicap, Will leaves no stone unturned to improve the quality of Louisa's life. He encourages her to take risks and gives her the confidence to achieve and do better in life. The book certainly left me in tears.

Instant benefits of meditation in a classroom

One of the most simple ways to meditate is to close eyes and concentrate on the breath. The simple intake of air through the nostrils, feeling it travelling through the windpipe into the lungs and then release of carbon dioxide back from the body. This is s a very calming exercise for students especially after they have come back form their lunch hour.
Though I have always encouraged meditation in my class but it was not a very regular feature last year. In 2017 I will make sure that I keep ten minutes  aside for meditation. Usually I would play a soft meditation music from you tube and ask students to listen to the music and concentrate on the breath. Music helps them to settle down quickly and once their eyes are closed and and they start taking deep breaths, they become more relaxed and ready to learn.

Some of the instant benefits of meditation are -

1. It improves the mental health of a person and so helps in improving concentration.
2. It reduces anxiety levels and so helps in having a class of more calmer students.
3. Helps in improved blood circulation, so energises the body.

I am determined to create tiny buddhas in my class in the coming year. I would love to hear any feedback and would also love to know if teachers out there do meditation in their classes to get some more ideas if they do it differently.