What is Easter Egg? & the recipe to make one!!!! Happy Easter :)

Think of Easter and the first thing that comes to mind is the Easter egg. The exchange of the colourful and decorative egg is a Western concept and tradition, which is found to be practised on a small scale in Bangalore because of the British influence.

In the past, eggs were forbidden to Catholics during the fast of Lent, which was the reason for the abundance of eggs at Easter time. The precise origin of the ancient custom of colouring eggs is not known, although evidently the blooming of many flowers in spring coincides with the use of the fertility symbol of eggs — and eggs boiled with some flowers change their colour, bringing spring into homes.

 The Easter eggs which you find in some Bangalore bakeries are oval-shaped hollow shells of sugar icing and can be as large as ostrich eggs. The hollow portion is filled with chocolates, edible gems and other goodies. Children are told that the Easter Bunny hides the eggs for them to find and enjoy! Children then hunt for the eggs in the house and in the garden. Easter Bunny is to Easter what Santa Claus is to Christmas.

Legend has it that the Easter Bunny brings baskets filled with colourful eggs, candy and sometimes toys to the homes of children on the night before Easter. The Easter Bunny either puts the baskets in a designated place or hides them somewhere in the house or garden for the children to find when they wake up in the morning.

The Easter Bunny has its origins in Germany. The first edible Easter bunnies, like the gingerbread man, were made out of pastry and sugar in Germany during the early 1800s.

Recipe of  Easter eggs (for children):

Ingredients: 1 cup icing sugar; 2 egg whites whipped; food colour of your choice.
Method: Take a bowl, put icing sugar in it and stir it, while adding the egg whites little by little until it becomes a soft dough. Add colour to the dough. Apply a thin layer of the dough on both the halves of an egg mould. Fill the hollow portion with chocolates and gems. Close the two halves of the mould and allow it to dry and harden. Gently open the mould to get your Easter egg. Decorate the egg with traditional motifs.

Once again wishing “HAPPY EASTER” to every one.

Source :  Michael Patrao  & www.deccanherald.com

Photo courtesy: www.funripper.com

Music, Mysore And Microbiology: That is Raghu Dixit for you !!!!!

Dixit is a shining example of a rapidly growing new breed of independent musicians in India that are taking the youth population by storm. It’s an odd, hybridized renaissance of sorts. These hip and young artists are referencing back to traditional folk and classical music and literature, re-fashioning them with modern music and sensibilities. Some thing similar to what CafeIdly has been trying to do ie trying to amalgamate traditional South Indian fast food with a Classic Rock touch.

Hailing from Mysore and living in Bangalore, Dixit found music on sheer impulse.  In his own words  “I was in my second year in BSc doing molecular biology,” he reminisces, and I also used to be a classical dancer for seventeen years. So I had just finished a performance of bharatnatyam, I was removing my makeup. And there was this classmate of mine who used to have long hair, play guitar and sing songs in English and impress girls. “And he came up to me and made fun of me saying you know, ‘this makeup and all make you look so effeminate. Holding a guitar is what makes one a man!’ So, doing what any self-respecting man would do when a longhaired Anglophone wannabe rock star challenges his masculinity, Dixit took up the challenge. Out of sheer spite, he started learning to play the guitar and showed him in two months that he could do it too.

Dixit’s self-titled debut album released in 2008, with eight eclectic tracks sung in three different languages – Hindi, English and Kannada. But it took about a year for Indians to really take notice. In 2009 the album became the highest earning non-Bollywood album in India, sparking performances worldwide. He became young India’s latest rock idol.

When his songs are already quite colorful, watching him perform with his band becomes an even more engrossing experience. His biggest hits have been Mysore Se Aayee (homage to his hometown, Mysore) and Gudugudiya Sedi Nodo (where smoking a hookah is an allegory to living a good life), while his personal favorite remains the soulful Ambar. His musical influences come from culture and heritage, rather than iconic musicians.

Looking ahead, Dixit wants to bring Indian music out of the shadows of the world music niche and into the mainstream. According to him “The western audiences know Indian music as only sitar, tabla, Bollywood and Bhangra. They don’t know India is a lot of rock and roll too”. Let’s wish him success in all of his future projects in India & Abroad.

After all, it seems like a juvenile college dare can really change your life.

Pls follow this Youtube link to listen to one of his songs & post in u r comments : 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzjjUZDsPFY&feature=related

You can also chk his official website @ http://raghudixit.com/

“Songs of Protest” is an Indian Music Album with a difference.

“Songs of Protest”  is an Indian Music Album with a difference , very relevant in current times especially after the recent episode of the Gandhian Leader Anna Hazare’s  hunger strike against corruption.

The album tells the stories of unsung heroes, little-known traditions and lost melodies.  Songs of Protest  is a music album with a difference. It is really an artistic expression of anti-establishment, of a time when artists and singers raised their voices against injustice. It resulted from the coming together of an academician and powerful singer and an internationally-acclaimed guitarist, Sumangala Damodaran, the grand daughter of former Communist leader EMS Nambooridipad and Susmit Sen, founding member of Indian Ocean, respectively.

Songs of Protest is Sumangala's endeavour, has been managed and produced by Susmit Sen and been supported by the National School of Drama, Delhi.  For Sumangala the journey of compiling the undocumented music tradition of the 1940s and 1950s Indian People's Theatre Tradition Association (IPTA) was a labour of love.

Sumangala Damodaran has been associated with protest songs for nearly 25 years. She has sung for Parcham (a well-known protest song group) and worked closely with Safdar Hashmi. It was after she sang Jaane Wale Sipahi Se Poochon, a powerful and beautiful composition by Mekhdoom Mohiuddin, in 1984 that she decided to pursue the Songs of Protest project,” says the professor of economics.

Take a listen to the song: “Jaane Wale Sipahi Se Poochon”.

 Do post in u r feedback & comments.

Courtesy : thehindu.com & Youtube.

Bob Dylan’s "Blowin' in the Wind" in Bengali "Kotota Path".

As you know "Blowin' in the Wind" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan in 1963. Although it has been described as a protest song, it poses a series of questions about peace, war and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind".

 In 1999, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. In 2004, it was ranked #14 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

Many would know that due to its amazing lyrics & powerful message the song "Blowin' in the Wind" has been covered by hundreds of artists including the likes of Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley , Stevie Wonder & many others. 

It was a nice revelation to find that there has been a Bengali translation of the song recorded by popular Bengali blues singer Suman Chatterjee. It goes "Kotota Path" ("How Many Roads") in Bengali.

Take a listen & post in your comments & feedback.    

  

Source: Wikipedia & Youtube.

Photo courtesy: wallpapers.pixxp.com