If you’ve had the chance to venture into an authentic South Indian home kitchen, you would’ve noticed that a spice cabinet or rack is nowhere in sight! This is of course, highly unlikely, as spices are synonymous with Indian food. However, you did not see any spices because you were not looking in the right places. Most authentic South Indian kitchens house their little flavouring gems in a special treasure chest called an ‘Anjaraipetti’ (literally translated to mean a five partitioned container). However, there are also anjaraipetttis that can accommodate more than five partitions, usually going on to hold about 7 to 9 different spices.Traditional anjaraipettis were made of wood or metal an
In one of our previous articles, 9 Tips to Better Communicate with your Teenager, we listed a few tips that parents might find useful when attempting to communicate with their teenage children. While your parents make an effort to better understand you and be mindful during conversations, you should also try to be open and communicative, because communication involves two parties and “it takes two hands to clap”. However, most teenagers we interact with quickly dismiss even the possibility of communicating important issues or feelings (e.g. educational choices or BGR issues) with their parents, as they find it awkward. Some claim that they have stopped having interesting conversations with t
Most of us who passed by any Indian supermarket or flower store last month, during the Pongal festival, would’ve definitely eyed rows of full-figured, beautifully sculpted Pongal pots- some in their natural brownish orange colour and others beautifully hand painted in striking hues. Seeing such huge collections of earthenware so close to home, got us a little curious about the art of pottery. While the usage of these pots is not as prevalent as it was in the past, the tradition has managed to survive till today. Tracing back to the Indus Valley civilization, pottery making is one of the oldest skills alive. Pottery making was mainly a utilitarian art as it was used to make practical items s
Parents of teenagers we work with can often be found having a good laugh, discussing the array of interesting words and gestures that their teens have introduced them to. These speech patterns and lingo dubbed as ‘Teenage Talk’ (an outcome of their social and language development- as mentioned in 4 ways to monitor your teenager’s language development), is just one of the noticeable changes that take place during adolescence, causing some confusion for parents. Most parents also bemoan that they are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the super sonic speed at which teenage culture trends change. These issues can easily contribute to a yawning communication gap between teenagers
