Let it Shine

I interpreted this week's theme 'Let it Shine' at Try it on Tuesday in  different ways. Since it is summer in northern hemisphere, it could mean the shining of the sun; it could also mean the bright light of summer and its predominant color, yellow.

The top picture is a watercolor of melted butter in a mason jar. I did it on a coffee filter paper which I first made water resistant with gesso. Here I have tried to capture the transparent quality of both the glass and the liquid and the shine of reflected light on both.

This painting of sunflowers on a river rock is a more metaphoric interpretation of the theme. These large yellow flowers turning their face throughout the day in the direction of the sun light up the garden with their shine.


Finally, the one below is a mixed media art where yellow stands for shine.

Thanks for visiting. Linked to Try it on Tuesday.

Summer and Green: Going, Going....

Do-Something-Everyday, August 21, 2016

Yesterday, I took a walk along the Passaic River Trail before the big thunderstorm hit the area. Everything was summery green. Summer and green go together. Like love and marriage.

The river glistened in the afternoon sunlight.

 Though it was hot and humid, there were glimpses of the cooler season approaching.

Seasons come and go. Sometimes, they seem long and sometimes they are short. Our internal clocks too shift gears in anticipation, especially if your work cycles is tied to seasonal cycles. For me, working in higher education, fall is when new students come and classes start. Even when I am doing the same things I did the previous fall, it is still a season of new beginnings.

Linked to:
Our Beautiful World (Summer)
Image-in-ing
ABC Wednesday where this week's letter is G and I have chosen the word Green.

Thanks for visiting.

Buttermilk Drink for the Thirsty Traveller

There was a time when walking was one of the most prevalent modes of travel in India. When train services were scarce, when cars were only for the super rich, when only a few could afford a bicycle, folks traveled by foot--whether visiting a relative across the town or a village away. Southern summers can be hot with daytime temperatures often as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Leaving an earthenware pot filled with water or better still, with a freshly made buttermilk drink, on the front verandah of the house or the street corner or at the village entrance is an old tradition in Southern India--a way of saying welcome and take a rest to the hot and tired traveler even if he was a stranger.


A lot has changed in India in the last two decades. Single family homes with front porches are increasingly replaced with multistoried gated condo communities. Long distance travel is now done via planes, trains, buses and cars and, public transportation, auto-rickshaws and two-wheel scooters are the modes of local travel. Yet, one thing still remains the same--the hot summer and the need for cold water to quench the thirst and to cool the body. And, the tradition of providing free buttermilk drink continues while adapting to the new realities of travel and condo living.

At the condo community where my sister and mother live, my sister has set up a spot under a large shady tree where a pot filled with fresh buttermilk awaits all who drop in during the day. These are mostly service personnel like the watchman, janitor, pushcart vendors, maids, the guy who comes on the weekend to iron the clothes and others. To these folks who commute by bus or bike to work and then toil in the hot sun, the cool drink offers a refreshing relief. Every morning around 10 o'clock, the buttermilk drink is prepared in our kitchen and then poured into the pot and set up in the yard. By late afternoon, it is usually all finished.

Preparing the drink is extra work for our housekeeper and my sister spends about 45 rupees ($1) per day on the milk for the yogurt (not a small amount for India). Yet, it is a nice way of saying thank you to the men and women servicing her community.

  The pushcart waiting for presswala or isthri, who using hot coal irons the clothes

   Supplying fish to one of the ladies

    A hungry cat hoping to catch a morsel of fish

Recipe for Buttermilk drink

Ingredients

Fresh homemade yogurt (or store bought yogurt) half a cup
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Freshly ground cumin to taste
Salt to taste
Freshly ground red pepper flakes (optional)
Fresh coriander finely chopped

Using a whisk churn the yogurt and dilute it with water. For half a cup of yogurt, add approximately a quarter cup of water. The yogurt should be diluted to a water-like consistency but without losing the taste of yogurt.

Add all the ground spices and salt. The taste of the spices and the salt should not overwhelm the taste of yogurt.

Chill in the refrigerator.

Sprinkle the coriander on top before serving.