80 Years Around Chettiar’s Dining Table
The dining table that sits in my family home was crafted in 1942. The table’s original owner, and the man who commissioned it, was my maternal great grandfather –– M. S. Ramaswamy Chettiar.
The Majnu Khes
This Majnu Khes, was brought over to East Punjab by my grandfather, Devinder Singh and his family, while they migrated from West Punjab, during Partition.
Leela Chander’s Biryani Pot
This brass cooking pot belonged to my maternal great-grandmother, Leela Chander. Referred to as a dekchi, It is a wide-mouthed pot, that sits obediently in my grandmother’s drawing room. But years ago it was used to cook biryani to serve up to 30 people.
The Uruli and my Patti: A story that never was
The Uruli as a vessel was popularly used for cooking over wood-burning stoves in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Nearly 100 years old today, this Uruli was used to make payasam, vadaam maavu, sweets, kozhakattais, murukku and fried snacks. Patti recalls the way the flames from the wood burning stove would envelope this grand vessel as her mother deftly prepared the food and kindled the fire all at once.
The Memoirs of Rangalal Ghosh
He writes this memoir on simple hardbound exercise books in pure Bangla using a ball point pen. In the foreword, he writes, “The life story and memoirs of a senior freedom fighter who was a trusted associate of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose,
and an active member of the Azad Hind Government.”