Mothers Day is every day!

 

The celebration of Mother’s day on the 2nd Sunday in the month of May, is a relatively new concept in India but celebrating our mothers is not. Just one day to celebrate our beloved maa just seems very unfair for those of us who owe everything we have to our moms. It is indeed a time to reflect and rejoice the presence of a mother in our lives and to honor mothers, motherhood and the influence they have on our society and we must do that with great gusto!

A woman can endure pain and hardships – both mental and physical far more than men can and a mother even more. A mother is someone who will have more good wishes, love, aspirations and hope for you, than even you have for yourself. Only mothers can have that rare combination of being extremely loving and yet strict whenever needed. There is so much that they get done in a short time of 24 hours and so multitasking comes naturally to them. Being a mother is a full time job with the salary being smiles on the faces of her children.

My mother is my world. I have been extremely close to her since I was a child. She has always been the problem solver in my life. Every time I find myself in a scrape I go to my mother for reassurance. She doesn’t always have a solution to the problem, but just talking to her makes things better. She is the guiding force in my life and I can be sure of her love and support through thick and thin. Not only has she raised me and my siblings with a lot of love and affection but also taught us morals and values that we proudly follow to date. My mother is a great cook and I must give her plenty of credit for my cooking prowess. Watching her prepare various delicacies right from my childhood is probably what instilled the love for cooking and food in me. I may have carved a name for myself in the world but I will always be proud to say that I am Mrs Urmil Kapoor’s son.

In India, we put our mothers on the same pedestal as God. You touch your mother’s feet before every important occasion. According to the Hindu mythology, there are 8 incarnations of a mother in the form of goddesses. Each of them signifies different virtues that we must imbibe in our lives.

Parvati: Power to detach and withdraw
Parvati is life giving and sacred. She teaches us that you can only live a full filling life once you learn how to detach yourself from the negatives and people around you and the things that are pulling you down. Once you rise above that it becomes easy to be joyful and in turn keep others content. Her symbol is a cow, which is considered sacred and life giving.

Durga: Power to let go
Let go off all the negativity and vices in your life. Letting go of things isn’t easy and it does require a lot of strength. Durga maa is also known as shakti and she sits on a lion. Let go off your old habits and forgive those who may have wronged you.

Jagdamba: Power to Tolerate
Jadgamba means mother to all, she considers everyone her child. Tolerance is natural and not negative. You don’t get hurt when you tolerate. She gives out a message of unconditional love and purity. It is important to love and mother your own self first, only then will it be possible to mother others. Nurture and heal yourself.

Santoshi: Power to Accept
Acceptance has always been difficult for mankind. Santoshi maa teaches us the power to accept. Like in a bowl of rice, every person is different from the other, yet we must accept them as they are and treat everyone as equals without putting forth any conditions.

Gayatri: Power to Discern
She teaches us to differentiate between good and bad, right and wrong and to discriminate. The spinning chakra behind her head symbolizes self realization. The conch shell that she has teaches us that the right words must be spoken at the right time. The swan she sits on symbolizes love.

Saraswati: Power to Decide
Saraswati maa is the goddess of knowledge and music. The sitar in her hand tells you to create your own music, the scriptures she holds depict accurate decisions and the rosary or the jaap mala tells us that decisions are independent, but should be made keeping others in mind.

Kali: Power to face
She is fearless and teaches us that once we overcome our fears, including the fear of death, we can perform our actions with more conviction. We don’t need to face people but overcome our own weakness instead. Don’t accept weakness, kill that demon.

Laxmi: Power to Cooperate
She teaches us to co operate with others instead of competing with them. The lotus that she sits on symbolizes how it’s possible to be pure even amidst muck. The gold coins that she drops from her hands signify detachment. The more you give the more you get. She teaches us to give without any expectations.

These are all the qualities that we find in a mother. A cow is called “gaay mata” because they are nourishing and loving and peaceful and provide us with everything that we need. We call our country “Bharat maa” for the same reason. Anything associated with the word maa is automatically special and sacred. Remember your mom’s was the 1st finger you held, she helped you take your 1st step, she sent you to school, bought you new clothes for each birthday, chased you around the house so you could drink that one glass of milk, she was the person who stayed awake with you during your exams, Maybe scolded you for your mistakes but always forgave you for them, she is there by you even when adversity takes over prosperity. Let’s just sum it all up by saying that – God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers.

Love her, Cherish her and Respect her!

Here are a few recipes from my book called “Cooking with love”. This book is a compilation of recipes from my mothers’ kitchen. Try these out and I am sure you will love them for more you can log on to sanjeevkapoor.com

Imli Chawal 

Lauki Kofta

Mango Icecream

Till I write again.
Sanjeev Kapoor

Why is it so hot today…?

Discussing the weather has always been the best way to fill up an awkward silence, but these days discussions about the heat does not fill up awkward silences in conversations anymore, they are the topic of conversation! Everyone seems to be complaining about how hot it is! Arre bhai, jab garmi ka mausam hain, toh garmi hi hogi na! Summers have always been hot. Even ten years back and they will continue to be hot even 10 years later. Why do we crib so much about the heat now?  Is it because we travel in air conditioned cars, sleep in air conditioned bedrooms and work in air conditioned offices – is that why it is so annoying for us when we have to spend even a few minutes without the icy cool breeze of the AC? Have we conditioned our bodies and mind to be accustomed to an air conditioner?  I agree it is really hot this time around, but there are always ways to beat the heat and also make the most of it!

As kids, summer was our most favorite season of the year! Summer brought along with it so many other happy things – mangoes, ice creams, days devoted to playing and fooling around with other kids in the locality. We used to play outdoors the entire day, unperturbed by the harsh Dilli ki kadakti dhoop aur garmi. After coming back home, my mother would always give us a piece of jaggery mixed in water to drink as it helps to maintain the balance in blood sugar and also provides instant energy. Back then we would just be happy to eat the jaggery and not worry about the therapeutics involved. Summer vacations would be like food paradise for our family. My mother would start preparing a hundred different things. Instead of cribbing about how hot it was, we would make the best of it! There are certain things that are best done in summer. Families in the neighborhood would come together and make papads and pickles of different types and then put them out to dry on the terrace. Aam ka panna and gajar ki kanji were my favourites since childhood. Everything was made in bulk and stored in large jars from which my brother and I would steal a taste every now and then. Mangoes would be a regular feature on the menu along with watermelons, muskmelons and lychees. Playing the entire day would be tiring and we would keep hydrated by having something to drink all day long. My favourites were and continue to be shikanji and sugarcane juice and not to forget the cold milk, flavoured with rose syrup that I used to have after the siesta in the afternoon.

We should be happy that we Indians are blessed with plenty of sunshine during summers, while people from other parts of the world wait for some sunshine so they can get tanned! This is also the best time to incorporate fresh veggies and fruits in our diet. It is best to buy fresh produce from your local sabzi market. Avoid heavy meals and stick to fresh juices and frozen fruit sorbets, summer salads, cold soups, etc. as the summer heat does tend to make us feel less hungry. This is also good for people who want to lose some weight. The heat makes you sweat more which helps you detoxify your body in a very natural way, it is like a very natural sauna! Going out in the sun and soaking in the Vitamin D is a great way to regulate blood sugar levels and also to help bones absorb the calcium for our body. But, make sure that you do this in the early morning hours as the sunlight then is the best for our body. It is possible to benefit from this heat. Natural sunlight increases the oxygen content in human body and also has a great effect on fitness, muscular development and stamina. Besides this, for the rest of the day, rub on a little sun tan lotion if you don’t want to get tanned, wear your head gears (caps, hats) or take an umbrella that would protect you from the sunrays and keep sipping on the essential fluids – water, coconut water, fresh juices are what I would suggest. Most of the North and South India and places like Rajasthan and Gujarat have very high temperatures between March and June, but thankfully for me, my current home Mumbai is not that bad when it comes to the heat. The humidity and the sea breeze keep it pleasant as compared to other places that are affected by the hot dry winds also called loo.

I want to end this post by sharing an incident I heard from a friend of mine. So, this friend has had the pleasure of working with Mr Amitabh Bachchan. They were shooting in Chennai during the month of May and this was before the times of air conditioned vanity vans. Mr Bachchan was waiting for a shot, sitting on a chair and reading a book – seeming oblivious to the heat! My friend who had just shouted at the producer for not providing him with an AC room, walked up to Mr Bachchan and asked him how he was so unperturbed by the heat. “Are you not feeling hot?” he asked. Mr Bachchan replied by saying “If you put the thought in my mind then yes, if not then no.” Since that day I haven’t heard my friend crib about any kind of discomfort. He says – if Mr Bachchan can do it why can’t we!

So, get out of the house and enjoy the sun while it is still bright and shining. The monsoons are going to start in a few months and then we will find ourselves cribbing about how rains make our lives so inconvenient! Till then enjoy the summers in the right spirit, and I’m sure these recipes will help you do so!

Chilled Melon Ball Salad

Masala Soda

Tender Coconut Kulfi

 

Happy Summer season to all! 

 

 

Till I write again.

Sanjeev Kapoor

Here’s to the precious one!

You see your favourite food and exclaim – waah, mooh mein pani aa gaya! Ever wondered about this pani – what exactly it is and where does it come from? This very modest but extremely precious pani is nothing but the saliva inside the mouth, a thick, colourless liquid secreted by the salivary glands.

Before I jump onto the scientific information, let me share some basic facts about saliva, and what is the reason that actually makes it a wonder thing. Saliva is made up of 98% of water and the other 2% consists of components like electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds, other enzymes, proteins, salts and buffering agents that help keep apt pH levels. The water that forms a major part of saliva comes from the blood and it is due to the mucus that the saliva attains its glossy appearance and thick texture. It will be difficult to believe, but the truth is unless our food is mixed with saliva, it cannot be digested!

Some other useful and protective aspects of saliva are :

•Saliva, and not just the taste buds, helps us to taste and enjoy our food, and this is proved by scientists and researchers. It is said that if you keep a strong tasting substance like salt on a dry tongue, the taste buds alone will not be able to taste it. However, when a drop of saliva is added to it, salt gets dissolved and results in a taste sensation!
•It is due to the enzyme ‘ptyalin’, also called salivary amylase in the saliva, that the digestion of the starch into a sugar called maltose takes place. The maltose gets further broken into glucose molecules in the small intestine.
•Saliva keeps a check on the correct amount of water in our bodies. Drying of mouth when we are dehydrated happens due to less production of saliva, which is an automatic indication for us to drink more water!
•Chemicals like lysozyme, lactoferrin, peroxidase and immunoglobulin A are found in saliva which help fight bacteria.
•Saliva has sodium bicarbonate that helps to neutralize acids in foods and drinks, which are otherwise harmful to the tooth enamel.
•Saliva washes away food particles, dead cells and bacteria in the mouth and thus reduces tooth infections and decays.
•Keeping the mouth moist, to help the tongue and lips make speech sounds and lubricating the food, so it is easy to swallow, are also some of the things that fall in the everyday to-do list of saliva! In addition to this, preventing the swallowed food from damaging the wall of oesophagus, is also done by saliva.

Now, coming to the more scientific terms – ‘submandibular glands (submaxillary glands)’, ‘parotid glands’ and ‘sublingual glands’ are the three main pairs of salivary glands which help in the production of saliva. Out of these three, parotid glands are the largest. Besides these, there are also about 600-1000 minor salivary glands that are placed in the mouth, throat and lips alongwith tubes called the ‘salivary ducts’ that help the saliva to leave the glands.

Submandibular glands – two in number and are located under the floor of the mouth. Responsible for producing a liquid mixture that consists of water and mucus.

Parotid glands – one each located in each cheek, front of the ear. Responsible for producing a watery liquid containing proteins.

Sublingual glands – two in number and are located under the tongue, in front of the submandibular glands. Responsible for producing liquid containing more mucus than the secretions of other glands.

In a day, the average saliva production ranges from 500 ml to 1000 ml in which 70% is produced by the submandibular glands followed by parotid glands which produce 25% and the remaining 5% is produced by the sublingual glands. The salivary glands continuously keep on releasing saliva, but the amount can vary during the day. The highest volume of saliva is produced before, during and after meals, reaching a peak at about 12 a.m. The production lowers down when we go to sleep in the night. Also, the reason of bad breath early morning is due to the fact that less saliva is made while we sleep as compared to when we are awake. Various other reasons can also affect the quantity of saliva production like nature of the food (spicy, sour, acidic foods), smell of the food, chewing, drugs, hormonal status, age, hereditary, oral hygiene and physical exercises.

Have you ever thought that why is it advisable to drink water sip-by-sip? Well, it has a very salivacious answer – the reason is – saliva, when mixed with water and had, helps neutralising the acidity in the stomach. Thus, you drink water sip-by-sip, move it in the mouth so that it mixes with the saliva in the mouth and then gulp it down. This is the best way you can keep your digestion process under control – seen animals and birds doing the same, and being much healthier than humans? I am sure we all can learn these nitty-grittys to stay fit from the nature around us!

Also, saliva happens to be the world’s best medicine. Again, take a look at the nature around us – animals, when they are injured, they treat that injury with their saliva itself by licking that injured area. Such is the medicinal quality of saliva! Same is the case with human saliva. Infact, the early morning saliva is the most powerful. To test – spit the early morning saliva on an insect, and watch it die! It is also advised that we should swallow the early morning saliva with lukewarm water so that all its medicinal properties are taken by the human body.

Apart from these highly useful features of the human saliva, the nature has provided some animals with such saliva that act as defence mechanisms for them. For instance, take the venomous reptiles and insects possessing poisonous saliva that is potent to such an extent, that it can not only kill their preys but also become super medicines for humans and treat some deadly diseases! Surprisingly, some bird species have a sticky saliva that help them build their nests. Such a saliva acts like a glue and helps stick materials together. Then there are some species, which make their nests completely of saliva as it hardens when comes in contact with air. These types of nests form the main ingredient of the ‘Bird’s Nest Soup’ which is a popular delicacy in many Asian countries. For obvious reasons, this particular dish is a pretty expensive affair and is made by washing the bird’s nest first and then cooking it in chicken or other broths to give it a taste. The nest forms a gelatinous texture when added to water and is said to have many health benefits. Still haven’t had the opportunity to try one, but I would definitely want to give it a shot if given a chance sometime!

By now, all that I’m trying to zero down on to is to tell you about the helpful nature of our very own dear saliva. There lies a major concern in doing this – whichever corner of India I travel to, I see Indians spitting away to glory and wasting this valuable medicine. To put it in numbers, its totally devastating to know that 125 crore Indians indulge in spitting and they actually don’t know what they are throwing away! And this business of spitting relentlessly occurs more with people who chew on tobacco, guthka and other such products. Doctors also say that they are spitting life’s most precious thing. By spitting, such people are not only spoiling the roads and environment, but also spoiling themselves; and to be honest it is quite a shame! According to doctors, the only condition when one can spit is when one has extreme cough, and in no other circumstance. And while doing so as well, make sure that you do it in the wash basins and not anywhere on the roads or where you wish to! Spitting can also be checked by eating paans minus the kattha and consuming them only with chuna (calcium). This calcium not just saves us from spitting and wasting the worthy saliva but also has its own wonders for the body. I’ve already written at length about the benefits of paan as well as calcium in my previous blogs, you can always refer to them to get a connecting link…

Last but not the least, it is very rightly said that whatever is required by the human body for its survival is supplied free of cost by God! So, why not use it wisely and live a healthier and a happier life.

Let’s all of us together, SOS (Save Our Spits)!