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Love a well-written, feel good, heart-warming love story, and love good food, too? Andaleeb Wajid’s More Than Just Biryani is the perfect book to read.
More than just Biryani, Andaleeb Wajid
Once in a rare while, comes along a book that affects you viscerally, leaving you a seething mass of emotions. Where one can empathize with the characters and their lives – one almost wonders if the writer possessed some kind of magic whereby one’s innermost thoughts have somehow been laid bare, reflected in the words put down in black-and-white.
Sonia, a journalist, stumbles across a youtube demo for making biryani, at a time when ennui in her work has set in. Following her gut instinct about the woman in the video, she lands up at her doorstep, wanting to find out more, not yet sure about the direction she wants this lead to take. Zubi, the woman cooking the biryani in the video, proves to be a surprise in many ways. An uneasy friendship develops between the two women, and slowly, the layers to Zubi’s story begin peeling away, going back three generations, dazzling Sonia (and the reader) with the rich enmeshing of traditions, food, emotions, aspirations, tragedy, and hope.
Zubi, Zubi’s mother Tahera, and her mother Ruqayya, are personalities that seem to dovetail into each other, yet are discrete. Ruqayya, with her utter lack of interest in all things domestic, is compelled to help in the kitchen by her mother-in-law and the sundry women of the joint family, and discovers an unforeseen talent for cooking mouth-watering desserts. Tahera, whose life revolves around her kitchen and her husband Bilal (not necessarily in that order), finds out that her cooking will find a life of its own without always needing to be validated by someone. And of course, Zubi, a reluctant kitchen apprentice, who learns her cooking skills almost as if by osmosis, despite a mother indifferent to her needs, surprises herself by what she can accomplish, and learns in the process that destinies – from the mundane to the profound – need not necessarily be cloned. And Sonia? How does she fit in with all this? Read the book to find out.
While the stories of these three women could be called romances in essence, the braiding together of their stories and the food they make, take the narrative to a completely different, and delectable level. A plain vanilla love story, even if tender, becomes infused with the fragrance of mouth-wateringly prepared and described food – one could almost taste it. It made me itch to stop reading, search for the recipes, and cook them for myself – I have certainly become enamoured of the lauz she describes. Andaleeb Wajid’s More Than Just Biryani blog promises these recipes, and much more, for the interested reader.
Publishers: Amaryllis
(For readers in India) If you’d like to pick up More Than Just Biryani, you can do it through our affiliate links at Flipkart, Infibeam or Amazon India;
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In her role as the Senior Editor & Community Manager at Women's Web, Sandhya Renukamba is fortunate to associate every day with a whole lot of smart and fabulous writers and readers. A doctor read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Menopause is a reality in women's lives, so Indian workplaces need to gear up and address women's menopausal needs.
Picture this: A seasoned executive at the peak of her career suddenly grapples with hot flashes and sleep disturbances during important meetings. She also battles mood swings and cognitive changes, affecting her productivity and confidence. Eventually, she resigns from her job.
Fiction? Not really. The scenario above is a reality many women face as they navigate menopause while meeting their work responsibilities.
Menopause is the time when a woman stops menstruating. This natural condition marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years. The transition brings unique physical, emotional, and psychological changes for women.
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