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Review: Anex Monkey Smart Watch

Hello Readers,  Welcome back. While browsing through a weekly flyer by Canadian Tire, my eyes got hold of a smart watch, primarily for its name - Monkey Smart Watch. It's original price was $89.99. On account of Father's Day, the price was slashed 70% and offered for just $24.99 (from June 9th to June 16th).  As it was listed on Canadian Tire website, I thought the product should be genuine and googled to know more about the product. But there weren't sufficient reviews online. So I decided to try it myself and booked it online. This smart watch was launched in the last quarter of 2021 as Anex Monkey Smart Watch. Last year, it had been sold for just $19.99 as part of Black Friday deal. Even after 5 days of waiting, Canadian Tire didn't process my order. On the other hand, the stock was vanishing real quick and only 80 watches were available in our near by store. When checked with their customer service executive, I was told to cancel my online order or wait until they p...

12 Months, 12 Books: My 2024 Reading Journey

In 2024, I made a conscious decision to read regularly. Instead of treating reading as a past time activity, I adopted it into my daily routine - aiming to read 10 pages each day. There were days where I couldn't read due to various reasons - sickness, time constraints, fatigue or other commitments. However, I managed to meet the target of 10 pages a day (on an average), over the year. This approach helped me overcome the reading slump and voila I could finish one book each month, totaling 12 books in 2024. In this post I would like to share all the titles I read last year. The Art of Happiness: My quest to learn more about Buddhism led me to this book by His Holiness Dalai lama in collaboration with Howard C Cutler. The content of this book is deep and highly relevant to everybody's life irrespective of one's region, religion and culture. The authors put forth "How to be happy" in very simple terms, while implicitly explaining the essence of Buddhism and Buddhist...

Recipe: Mor kuzhambu

Today, I am sharing a recipe of Mor kuzhambu, a curry made out of buttermilk - Mor (buttermilk) + kuzhambu (curry), which is an authentic recipe from Tamil Nadu. There are many variations of curry prepared using curd/ buttermilk across India like majjiga pulusu (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana), pulissery (Kerala), majjige huli (Karnataka), kadhi (Punjab) etc.  I am a big fan of Saravana Bhavan mor kuzhambu, made with ground spices and sour buttermilk. The Saravana Bhavan at our office cafeteria used to serve delicious mor kuzhambu every Thursday as part of its South Indian Thali menu. Whenever I could, I used to skip bringing lunch from home, to savor Saravana Bhavan's mor kuzhambu with hot steamed rice.  Ground spices and sour curd/ buttermilk are the heart of this curry.  I tried my hands at different proportions of spices and finally arrived at the best version, which I am posting today. Do give it a try and share your feedback in comments section. You can add vegetables li...

Fictional Mothers, Real Emotions: Two Wonderful Books On Motherhood

I usually don't choose the books I read - more often it feels like they choose me. Though it sounds philosophical, its no exaggeration when it comes to the two books that I am about to share in this article. Both found their way into my hands at just the right moment, offering reflections on motherhood that were as timely as they were touching. The School For Good Mothers and Sandwich are both poignant narratives told through the voice of mothers; sharing deeply their personal journey through motherhood interwoven with love, guilt, resilience and strength to hold it together. The School For Good Mothers I often jokingly say that "How lovely it would be if motherhood comes with a guide book!" - better if there is a school that teaches us how to be good mothers! By looks of the title "The School For Good Mothers" seems to align with my thoughts, but it isn't really. Though this is a fictional story authored by Jessamine Chan, every mother could relate, especia...

Keep Rutabaga Fresh! Storage Tips & 2 Indian Recipes You'll Love

Stepping beyond our usual choices in kitchen can open up a world of exciting flavors and nutrients. All it takes is to try a new vegetable or a cooking style to add novelty to our daily meals. Rutabaga, a vegetable I haven't explored before turned out to be a delightful discovery. If you haven't read my previous article on rutabaga, be sure to check it out here . It gives you a wholistic look at this underrated super vegetable along with a lip smacking Indian-style Rutabaga fry recipe you won't want to miss.  Apart from the fry, I prepared a flavorful Andhra-style karam pulusu and a comforting Tamil-style kootu using rutabaga. Surprisingly, both dishes turned out even more delicious than the fry! If I had to rank all the three recipes, the rutabaga pulusu would easily take the top spot—it was simply irresistible! How to store rutabaga for weeks? Rutabagas come in all sizes, but the smaller ones can be more bitter and the bigger ones could be woody and tough to cut. So go fo...