Thursday, 30 November 2017

Hindi Poems

Paromita Pramanick

Paromita Pramanick
ए गुल -
क्यों है इतनी खूबसूरत तु?
चमकती है सूरज के रोशनी से तु,
खिलती है कलियों से चमन में तु ।
तुझे नज़रों में क़ैद कर लू,
या मेरे हुस्न पे सजा लू?
यूँ ही ज़मीन पर बहार बनी रहे तु,
होकर रंग बिरंगी मुस्काये तु !!
Ae Gul; kyon hai itni khoobsurat tu?
Chamakti hai suraj ki roshni se tu,
Khilti hai kaliyon se chaman mein tu!
Tujhe nazro mein qaid karlu,
ya phir mere husn pe sajaa lu???
Yuhi zameen par baahar bani rahe tu,
Hokar rangbirangi muskaaye tu!!!


Paromita Pramanick
लाखों मिलेंगे तुझे मर मिटने वाले,
पर इस ज़िन्दगी में तुझको किसका सहारा रे ।
हम रखते हैं तुझपर ही नज़र,
क्योंकि इस दिल को है तुझसे ही प्यार रे ।
आग लगी है इस दिल पर भी,
आकर इसको बुझा जा रे ।
प्यार से ऊपर और कुछ ना लागे,
आ इस प्यार को निभाएँ रे ।
ना जाने हम कल जियें या ना जियें,
एक बार प्यार में जी ले रे ।
Laakhon milenge tujhe mar mitne wale,
Par is zindagi mein tujhko kiska sahara re.
Hum rakhte hai tujhpar hi nazar,
Kyuki is dil ko hain tujhse hi pyar re. 
Aag lagi hai is dil par bhi,
Aakar isko bujha jaa re.
Pyar se upar aur kuch na lage,
Aa is pyar ko nibhaye re.
Na jaane hum kal jiye ya na jiye,
Ek baar pyar mein jee le re.


Paromita Pramanick
ए धरती.... मैं यूहीं तुझसे जुड़ी रहूँ;
ए पर्वत..... मैं यूहीं तुझे थामे चलूँ;
ए आसमान.... तु यूहीं मेरे सर पर रहें;
ए घटा.... तु यूहीं मुझपे छाए रहें;
ए नज़ारे.... मैं यूहीं तुझे देखती रहूँ;
ए पवन.... तु यूहीं मुझसे गले मिले ।।
Ae dharti...main yuhi tujhse judi rahu;
Ae parwat...main yuhi tujhe thaame chalu;
Ae aasman...tu yuhi mere sarpe rahe;
Ae ghata...tu yuhi mujhpe chhaye rahe;
Ae nazaare...main yuhi tujhe dekhti rahu;
Ae pawan...tu yuhi mujhse gale mile!!


Paromita Pramanick
ना आया वो यार मेरा,
दिल को था जिसका आरज़ू ।
मेरे सब्र का इम्तिहान हो गया,
यार ने ही ज़िन्दगी तबाह कर दिया ।
तेरे बेवफाई का सुबूत मिल गया,
प्यार को ही तुने झूठा बना दिया ।
Naa aaya woh yar mera,
Dil ko thi jiski aarzoo;
Meri sabr ki intehaan ho gayi,
Yaar ne hi zindagi tabaah kar di 
Tere bewafaai ki suboot mil gayi,
Pyar ko hi tune jhootha bana di.


Paromita Pramanick
सुबह की पहली किरण के साथ,
रोशनी बिखेरी है सूर्य ने आज।
अंधियारे से उजाले की और,
फिर एक कदम बढाया है आज।।
सुरज के किरणे फूलों पर,
इस तरह से छाई है आज।
नज़ारे लगे है मन लूभानी,
सबकुछ खूबसूरत लगे है आज।।
Subah ki pehli kiran ke saath,
Roshni bikheri hai surya ne aaj.
Andhiyare se ujaale ki aur,
Phir ek kadam badhaya hai Aaj।।
Suraj ke kirne phoolon par,
Is tarah se chhayi hai Aaj.
Nazaare lage hai mann lubhani,
Sab khubsurat lage hai Aaj।।


Paromita Pramanick
'आज', आज है, मुझे आज मैं ही जी लेने दो;
'कल', कल है, मुझे कल की फिक्र न होने दो!
आज अगर ग़म है, मुझे ज़रा सा रो लेने दो,
कल खुदा करे हरपल खुशियों की बहारे हो!
आज ये ज़िन्दगी है, मुझे ज़िन्दा रहने तो दो,
कल क्या खबर जब ये ज़िन्दगी भी मौत हो!!
Aaj, aaj hai, mujhe aaj mein jee lene do;
Kal, kal hai, mujhe kal ki fikr na hone do;
Aaj agar gham hai, mujhe zara ro lene do,
Kal Khuda kare khushiyon ki baharein ho!
Aaj ye zindagi hai, mujhe zinda rehne do,
Kal kya khabar jab ye zindagi bhi maut ho!


Paromita Pramanick
तु धूप की फिक्र न कर,
तेरे सर पर है नज़ारों का पहरा ।
तु छांव में ना चल,
छांव पर मिलती हैं केवल अंधेरा ।
तु अंधियारे से न डर,
अंधेर है एक सुन्दर सा काया गहरा।
तु धूप में ही खिलकर,
रोशन कर गुज़रना यह जग सुनहरा ।।
Tu dhoop ki fikr na kar,
Tere sar par hain nazaaro ka pehra.
Tu chaao mein naa chal,
Chaao par milti hain keval andhera.
Tu andhiyare se naa dar,
Andher hai ek sundar sa kaya gehra.
Tu dhoop mein hi khilkar,
Roshan kar guzarna yeh jag sunehra.


Paromita Pramanick
लाल हो या नीला,
प्यार से गहरा है न कोई रंग।
ओंढ लू सारे रंग प्यार के,
तेरे प्यार में है कितने रंग।
रंग जाऊँ मैं सिर्फ तेरे प्यार में,
भरके गुलाल चल दू तेरे संग;
आज बांवरा मन हो जायेंगे,
ओढकर प्यार के रंग ।।
Laal ho ya neeli,
Pyar se gehra hai na koi rang;
Ondhh lu saare rang pyar ke,
Tere pyar mein hain kitne rang;
Rang jaaun main sirf tere pyar mein,
Bharke gulaal chal du tere sang;
Aaj bawra mann ho jaye,
Odhkar pyar ke rang.

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.

The Ant and the Grasshopper

Paromita Pramanick
Once there lived an Ant and a Grasshopper in a field of grass meadows. Both were very good friends. The Grasshopper was hopping about, playing games, chirping, dancing and singing merrily to its heart content all day long. The lazy Grasshopper used to spend every day in this manner. The Ant was very hard working, bustling about in the warm sunshine the entire summer afternoon.
Grasshopper
It was a beautiful summer day. The Grasshopper was as usual playing. Just then, a group of ants walked by, grunting as they struggled to carry plump kernels of corn. The ants were collecting grains of corn from the farmer’s field to their nest. They wanted to store the food for the winter. The ants would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by and toil back with a heavy grain of corn balanced on their head. All day long they would work, without a stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of corn and storing them carefully in their nest.
The Grasshopper called his Ant friend, who was also passing along the group of ants and he was carrying an ear of corn to the nest.
Ant
The Grasshopper asked the Ant, “Where are you going with all the heavy foods on your back? The Ant did not stop and replied, “We are carrying these foods to our anthill”.
The Grasshopper said, “Why not come and chat with me?” The Ant refused and said, “I am helping to lay up food for the winter, this is the third kernel I've delivered today and you should also do the same. What will you eat when the weather gets cold?
The grasshopper said, “Why should I bother about the winters? Winter is far away and it is so glorious day to play. We have got plenty of food at present. Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?” But the ant ignored him and went on his way and continued to gather food. This made the grasshopper laugh. “What a silly little ant you are, come and dance with me, enjoy the summer.” And the grasshopper would hop away across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.
Summer faded into autumn, the ants kept working, the grasshopper kept playing, and the autumn soon turned into winter. When the winter came, the weather turned cold, the sun was hardly seen, and the days were short and grey, the nights were long and dark. It became freezing cold, and snow began to fall. All the food lying in the field was covered with a thick white blanket of snow. The grasshopper could not dig through the snow and find a single grain of food to eat. Soon he was starving, got very tired and found himself dying out of hunger. The grasshopper didn’t feel like singing anymore and wailed in pain “Oh! what shall I do now? Where shall I go?” Suddenly he remembered about his friend - the Ant. “Ah! I shall go to the ant and ask her for food and shelter!”

The ants had prepared for the winter and had just enough food stored in the nest to last through the cold and harsh weather.
He staggered to the ants' hill and saw them enjoying the corn they had collected in the summer.  He begged them for something to eat “Hello ant! Here I am, to sing for you, while I warm myself by your fire, could you get me some food to eat from your larder!” The ant refused and said, “All summer long I worked hard while you made fun of me, sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! You should have worked out in summers rather than just sitting and singing. I can't feed you all winter, or else I'll starve too."
The grasshopper whined, "I didn't have time to store any food, I was so busy playing music that before I knew the summer was gone." The ants shook their heads in disgust, turned their backs on the grasshopper and went on with their work.
But when the starving Grasshopper, fiddled under his arm and humbly begged for a bite to eat, the ant gave him a few crumbs. But the grasshopper was cold, miserable, and hungry all winter.
The next summer, the Grasshopper worked hard to store food for the upcoming winter, so that next winter he would be well fed with enough food to survive the entire winter and live happily. He had learned to think ahead and plan for the future. 

Moral: Prepare today for what you would need tomorrow.
Reference: Various.

More Stories for Children on this blog--
The Peacock and the Crane
Honesty is the best Policy
The Ant and the Dove
The Fox and the Grapes
The Magic of Patience

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, 29 November 2017

Leaf Pasting Activity

Paromita Pramanick

If you are looking for a creative artwork out from nature and the surroundings, then here you have a brilliant way to demonstrate your creativity in a natural way. Do you have the love for plants? If yes then this activity will surely be of great interest to you. Have you noticed how much care you put upon the little plant to grow up beautifully with brightly coloured leaves and colorful fruits on it? But how do you feel when you find those tiny leaves falling from the branches of the little plant? Sometimes you unwillingly need to throw those leaves because they aren’t of any use to you or to the plant.

But how about using those tiny fallen leaves into some creative use? Yes, we can create a beautiful artwork out of those dried leaves and reserve them in our art book or frame them on the wall forever.

Artwork with leaves require not much hard work or skill, but just a little imagination and creativity. You can place the leaves, decorate and paste them on your art book to give it a lively natural look.

How to dry the leaves?
The leaves which are fallen from the plant will not remain stiff, it becomes weak and very soft. So it is important to make the leaves flat and stern so that you can preserve them for future use. Use only those leaves which have been fallen at the immediate note, because the older fallen leaves get very hard and crisp.

Follow these steps to dry the fresh or the immediately fallen leaves:
  1. Take a thick old notebook or diary.
  2. Place the fresh or fallen leaves one after the other in one of the pages in the middle of the diary.
  3. Keep the diary closed for at least 4-5 days.
  4. You can even load some more heavy books upon the diary.
  5. Now, look at this picture where the transformation of the leaves is shown from Day 1 to Day 4.
    Paromita Pramanick
  6. On Day 5 you are ready to use the stiffened leaves for your artwork.
Tips: Do not make the leaves too much crispy and never use much-dried leaves as they will start breaking into pieces.
A Bird in a Nest
Collect different shapes and sizes of leaves from the garden or from the surroundings. Place those leaves in a thick diary or book to make them flat and stiff. Then use those dried leaves to make a beautiful and innovative artwork.
Paromita Pramanick

Materials Required:
  1. White chart paper
  2. Leaves (various sizes and shapes dried leaves of the plant)
  3. Glue
  4. Poster Colors
  5. Paintbrush
  6. Sketch Pens
  7. Pencil
  8. Cellophane/ Cello-tape
Procedure:
  1. Take a white chart paper in rectangular shape.
  2. Draw a nest and a bird with a pencil as shown in the figure.
  3. Now use different paints to color the nest and the bird.
  4. Use a black and a brown color sketch pen to draw the outlines of the figure.
  5. Arrange the leaves accordingly.
  6. Apply glue and stick the leaves on the figure one by one.
  7. Finally, you can put a cellophane or stick cello-tape over the artwork to preserve the leaves for years.
Use these beautiful leaves to make a fun activity with your children. Leaves are usually dried in this manner to make amazing decorations and artwork. Let your child bring up some creative stuff by engaging them with nature.

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, 16 November 2017

Sequins Artwork

Paromita Pramanick

We always strive ourselves to give our artwork very unique and impressive presentation. However, there is a probability of life when things get boring, sometimes even artwork may seem to look boring. So why not put some sparkle in our lives and in the artwork as well. It’s time for some amazingly sparkling artwork. When it comes to creating your own artwork, you may draw and paint with your own beautiful imagination, then you can even add up some shining sequins to give your artwork a dazzling effect. Yes, for this session we are going to make a beautiful artwork using different colored sequins. This particular creativity by using the sequins is something often done on our dresses either by sewing or by using the fabric glue. We also come up with decorative ideas for our house materials such as making a flower vase or a photo frame using designer sequins.

Sequins are surprisingly useful for all sorts of projects, be it a textured or fabric or accessory based materials to give them a very glamorous and stylish look. Well, these are normally done by us at home to give them color and spice up the things. The sequined crafts give brilliant zest to your overall creative stuff.

A Kathak Dancer

Here I have created a beautiful ‘Kathak dancer’ wrapped up in a gorgeous sparkling sequential attire. Kathak is one of the Indian classical dance forms, where the dancers usually wear a colorful sequential dupatta (long scarf), and also dazzlingly bright ghaghra. The dancers dance along with the tune of their ghungroos (musical anklets), that they wear on their feet. They do not wear very heavy ornaments, but their accessories are so well groomed that they shine perfectly matching to the music when they dance. Their expressions match to the glittery suit they wear while dancing.




Materials Required:
  1. White art paper/ A4 sheet paper
  2. Different colored sequins
  3. Pencil
  4. Eraser
  5. Sketch Pens
  6. Crayon
  7. Glue
  8. Forceps (optional)
Procedure:
  1. Take a rectangular white chart paper or A4 sheet paper.
  2. Draw the figure of the Kathak dancer using a pencil as shown in the figure. (you can also make a figure of your own choice)
  3. After making the complete figure, mark the outlines of the figure using a black color sketch pen.
  4. Use a flesh tint to color the face, hands, legs and the neck. Use red color for the lips.
  5. Using a black crayon, color the hair plait. And leave the rest of the places uncolored.
  6. Now apply glue in portions and stick the sequin laying on the glue one after the other.
  7. Choose your own sequin color for the Kathak dancer’s attire. And the ghungroo color with the gorgeous gold sequin.
  8. You can use forceps while sticking the sequin one by one, as it could be possible for the glue to stick in your fingers and make your hands messy.
  9. Finally, after pasting all the sequins according to the colors, where it's required. Leave it to dry for a day. Then you can cover the entire artwork with a cellophane or cello tape over it, so that the sequins remain attached to its place and you can reserve your artwork for years.
The Sequin Artwork is an activity in which you would need a bit of patience while sticking the sequin one by one to give your work a perfect masterpiece. However, there is another way where you can even just spread the sequin on the glue laying one above the other in the particular part of your artwork.
Sequin Artwork gives a great idea to put little bits of glittering colors into a fabulous creativity. The ‘Kathak dancer’ with the sequin makeover looks fantastically sparkled and fancy. Design and make your own beautiful Sequin Artwork using varieties of shapes and colors. This artwork can be framed to the walls of your drawing room and it will definitely attract the observer.

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Pepper Garlic Soya Nuggets

Paromita Pramanick

Soya Nuggets or Soya Chunks or Soya Bean are often the first choices for most of the nonmeat eaters. And when it comes to making a vegetarian special dish for the regular kitchen timetable, we usually rely upon the soya chunks. These soya chunks are highly recommended for the vegetarians as it contains a higher percentage of proteins and vitamins when compared to egg or meat for the non-vegetarians. Hence soya chunks recipes are an alternative and very delightful option for the vegetarian and as well as non-vegetarian when they want to prepare something beyond the non-veg course. And these are a must and always available grocery item in our kitchen storage part.


Pepper Garlic Soya Nuggets is a thick gravy recipe prepared with just three main ingredients and other spices. Soya chunks are very easy and quick options to prepare when usually you have no other vegetables available in the kitchen and when you are in a hurry. Basically, this recipe is very simple and requires very less time for its preparation as well. Just to keep this in mind that while boiling the soya chunks they must be cooked well or else there could be a chance for them to get a bit hard after frying them. so it is necessary to boil the chunks in hot water before frying to keep them soft and succulent. Pepper Garlic Soya Nuggets can be served with roti, paratha, and hot steamed rice.

Here I have shared my version of the Pepper Garlic Soya Nuggets recipe with step by step instructions. Measurement of the spices I’ve used in this recipe plays a vital role, so just follow the steps to get that perfectly juicy and textured gravy in the recipe. Try this recipe in your kitchen and share your experiences with me.

[Veg]

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

Recipe Type: Gravy
Course: Side
Cuisine: Fusion

Serves: 2
Measuring Items: 1 cup=150 ml, Teaspoon

Ingredients:
  1. Soya chunks- 2 cups
  2. Onion- 2 medium sized
  3. Green Chili- 3
  4. Garlic- 8 big cloves
Spices:
  1. Cornstarch- 4 Tsp
  2. Maida (all purpose flour)- ½ cup
  3. Chili powder- 1 Tsp
  4. Pepper powder- 3 Tsp
  5. Salt (for taste)
  6. Refined oil (for frying)
  7. Tomato ketchup- 3 Tsp
  8. Soya sauce- 1 Tsp
Method:
  1. Take a cooking wok. Add 2 cups of water along with the soya chunks, cover with a lid and boil for 10 minutes.
  2. Once the soya chunks are softened, drain the hot water and keep them in a strainer to remove the excess water.
  3. Now squeeze any excess water from the boiled soya chunks and combine them in a large bowl along with 3 tsp cornstarch, maida, chili powder, salt, and pepper powder. Add 2 tsp water if required.
  4. Heat refined oil in the cooking wok for deep frying the soya chunks.
  5. Once the oil is medium heated, start frying the marinated soya chunks as many as the wok could slide into it. (I was able to fry all the chunks in the wok at one go)
  6. Stir the soya chunks occasionally in a medium heat while frying them. After frying them in about 8 minutes, drain out and keep the fried soya chunks aside.
  7. Now heat 2 tsp oil in a pan. Put finely sliced onions, chopped green chilies, mediumly chopped garlic. Sauté and fry them until golden brown.
  8. Add tomato ketchup, soya sauce, and mix.
  9. Now in a small bowl mix, 1 tsp cornstarch with little water and then pour it into the pan.
  10. Put 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Then add the fried soya chunks in boiling water.
  11. Cover the wok with its lid, simmer for 2 minutes and then it's done. Ready to be served along with some steamed rice for your lunch or dinner. The spicy soya chunks gravy to beat the weekday blues.
Paromita Pramanick

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.

Sunday, 12 November 2017

Magic of Patience

Paromita Pramanick
(This is one of the stories from Jataka tales which teach about patience and how to take control of oneself before reacting to any situation or person. Patience is considered as one of the greatest virtues to possess the expression of forbearance, tolerance, serenity, persistence etc. The one who is able to hold on to his patience is often a half winner in the course of life and he is able to maintain his dignity. Also, the fact of what ‘you give to others is what you usually get back’. This is a story about one of the Bodhisattva Jataka tales).

Once, Lord Buddha was born in the form of a Buffalo. He lived in an old dense forest in the ancient times along with many other animals. The buffalo was dark and dirty-looking. But he was a good animal, kindhearted and never troubled anyone. He always believed in righteousness and exerted his best to uphold the value of a good conduct. The buffalo minded his own business all the time and hardly ever disturbed anybody in the forest.

Paromita Pramanick

Just above the tree where the buffalo used to stay and take his shed, there was a very wicked monkey living upon the tree. The monkey was very mischievous among all the other animals in the forest. The monkey loved to play trick and pranks on all the other animals for one or the other reason. Every day, he used to trouble the buffalo either by pulling his tail or throwing nuts on his head. The monkey always caused trouble to the kind buffalo by teasing and bullying him.
Whenever the monkey saw the buffalo was sleeping, he would jump over his back from above the tree, he would leap and keep annoying him.

Sometimes he would catch hold of the buffalo’s tail and swing it in the air or swing down by holding his tail. Sometimes he would climb on the buffalo’s head by holding his horn and also pull his horns. Sometimes he would obstruct the buffalo from grazing the grasses. He would even mount on the buffalo’s back with a brandishing stick to counterfeit him. Every day, the monkey would think of new ways to create the trouble for the other animals too. All the other animals were extremely irritated with the truant behaviour of the monkey.

Paromita Pramanick

The buffalo was fed up with the monkey’s prank, but even though it caused pain to the buffalo, he was very kind and still dealt with patience. He would be silent and never said anything to the monkey. He used to forgive the monkey and would never complain. The buffalo always went about doing his own work. The gentle buffalo bore all the unbecoming behaviour of the monkey patiently.

The other animals of the forest wondered why the buffalo tolerated all the annoyance without scolding the monkey or even losing his patience. All were resented by the monkey’s act of irritability. Unable to hold back his curiosity, one day the elephant asked the buffalo, “Why don’t you punish the bothersome monkey for his mischievous acts? You are so big and strong that you can teach him a good lesson. I never saw you complaining. Why is that? Why are you so quiet?

Paromita Pramanick

The buffalo smiled and said, “Because the monkey’s tricks are teaching me patience. And patience is the purest form of bliss and gives you peace. I am thankful to the monkey for teaching me how to be patient. I don’t want to give pain to anyone, but the day will not be far when there will be punishment for all the bad deeds. One day the monkey would also have his lesson, and then he would be saved from the guilt of inflicting any pain on the other”.

The monkey had been hearing the buffalo speaking to the elephant from the treetop and he felt ashamed of his immature deeds. He climbed down and regretfully asked for forgiveness to the buffalo, “Sorry my dear friend for all the trouble I gave you.” Thereby both the buffalo and the monkey became good friends.
Since that day, the monkey never played tricks on any of the animals in the forest. He practised the virtue of forbearance and he learned to give love, happiness, respect for others.

Moral: Patience can overcome anything.
Reference: Various.

Other Short Stories for Children:
The Hungry Mouse 

Paromita Pramanick ©2017. All Rights Reserved.