Supriya (name changed) gave birth to her baby girl at 32 weeks in a small town in Tamil Nadu. Her husband is an electrician while she works as a contract labourer. Her baby was born in a local hospital which couldn’t provide the adequate care required to monitor and safeguard her.  The baby had hypothermia for the first few weeks of her life. The doctors suggested that the couple take the baby to the closest district government hospital for better care and attention. The nearest hospital with a Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) was three hours away, and the baby would have to be transporte ..read more

“Of what use are you?” “This guy will mortgage our home. He will ruin us.” “Disinherit him from the property.” Haryana’s Bhavesh Kumar grew up hearing these comments from family members. Like most youths, the biggest question that was in front of him after he cleared class 12 was “What will you do next?” Like his father who served in the Border Security Force (BSF), Bhavesh was expected to join the defence forces or secure a well-paying government job. Contrarily, he aspired to start his own business. Initially, he tried to crack government exams but failed to do so. At a time when his peers s ..read more

Jayanti Sahoo’s day starts with harvesting guavas, mulberries, chikoos, and pomegranates from her lush green rooftop garden. “These days, people put chemicals to artificially ripen fruits. Fruits are coated with wax and chemicals to make them glossy. We are blessed to eat fruits that are completely chemical-free and organically grown. Our fruits are comparatively sweeter than those available in the market,” she says as I prepare to ask Jayanti all about her journey that led to her turning her very home into a mini jungle. Her 350 sq ft terrace, along with her three-storey house covering a tota ..read more

Summer hasn’t been kind to India this year. In Uttar Pradesh, particularly, the villagers bear the brunt as the scorching sun competes with increasing humidity. On any given day, as the heat peaks towards noon, people can be seen rushing indoors, shielding their faces with a spare cloth and crouching under the shade of trees. But the villagers of Mirzapur’s Bahari Jungle Mahal cannot afford to pause their lives. Irrespective of the rising mercury levels, they must make their way into the forest where a long day of cutting wood and stones awaits. For instance, take Shyambabu. The 70-year-old’s ..read more

A heatwave is sweeping through the country with temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celcius in many cities, forcing us to use air conditioners at all times. As the climate gets more extreme, we all dream of living in a home that could adapt to different weather conditions.  This was the way homes were constructed earlier, before cement became a necessity for construction. Shipra Singhania has built such a dreamy sustainable home in Alwar, Rajasthan.  The architect runs Sketch Design Studio, and built this 2,000 square feet home using natural materials  and revived ancient technique ..read more

One morning last year, while the rest of Puducherry was fast asleep, Sudeep Sen, a Bengali poet, was working on a new piece. The protagonist was an iron safe embedded in a wall of his room at the Gratitude Heritage homestay. “In Room 4, the safe in the wall has not been opened in a 150 years…It has seen history, life changing, aging — but no one knows what lies within. But what is inside? — The first owner’s ashes, her will, wealth, gold; old currencies, lover’s relics?” the first couple of stanzas read. While this does make for a very compelling read, Siddarth Saikia, the owner and manager of ..read more

Raising a sportsperson is no mean feat. My husband’s 14-year-old cousin is a budding badminton player, giving us front row access to what goes into the makings of a champion. For the past few years, her life has revolved around continuous training and tournaments around the country and world.  Other than coaching, rest, mental strength, the most important activity in her daily routine is food. As a growing child and badminton player, she needs refuelling every few hours, with a strong focus on the right nutrition. Her mother packs several dabbas (tiffins) for her to have throughout the da ..read more

If I were to ask you what you ate for dinner last night, I’m sure your response would involve the name of a curry. Of course, the flavour and names would differ across regions — maacher jhol (a fish-style recipe popular in West Bengal), xacuti (a spicy curry prepared in Goa with red chillies, coconut, onions and a meat), kadhi (a gram flour gravy comprising vegetable fritters) and korma (a gravy dish comprising meat braised with vegetables and yoghurt). Curry is central to Indian gastronomy. And, the question begs to be asked, when did India’s love affair with curries begin? According to some ..read more

You should consider reevaluating your purchases and their impact on your health if you rely on pre-packaged spice mixes or masalas in your kitchen. Here’s why! Singapore and Hong Kong have recently banned the sale of MDH and Everest masalas citing the presence of carcinogenic ethylene oxide in its spices. The spice blends under contention are MDH’s ‘Madras Curry Powder’, ‘Sambhar Masala Powder’, ‘Curry Powder’, and Everest’s ‘Fish Curry Masala’. Ethylene oxide is made from fossil fuels such as petroleum or natural gas, and is often used by spice manufacturers to lend a long shelf life to their ..read more

This is a sponsored article. On 14 April, 2024, at 5 am, the coast of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka was a bustling hub of activity. A team was busy checking arrangements and making sure all the documents and safety measures were in place. Amidst this flurry of activity, two men sat calm and composed, as they were about to attempt one of the most difficult challenges of their life — swimming across the Palk Strait. Their swim in the open ocean started shortly after 5 am, and Bharat Sachdeva and Shaaswat Sharma swam across the challenging 32 km stretch near the Ram Setu in 10 hours 30 minutes, non-st ..read more