Things We Ought to Know & Ask the Indian Radio Industry

I was tuning into Delhi FM radio stations in the morning, on the way to work, when the same question popped into my mind - are these radio stations declining in terms of their overall health and engagement? I have been repeatedly irritated by radio stations where RJs seem to scream, use weirdly artificial accents, and ad time turns into the finer print of obscure policy options being read out. I seriously doubt that people tune into FM stations to discover the latest health insurance policy or how some RJ had a supposedly difficult childhood experience, especially when the same story from the same RJ has a slightly different, cooked-up angle every few days! Using some AI and some research, I came up with this discussion: 

What Is Glycation and Why Is It Being Called “The Skin Sugar Disease”?

I came across this title idea when ruminating about a simple fact - lately, due to my generalized anxiety, I am becoming even more dependent on eating and snacking on sweet foods to feel alive and function in the present. Now, the discussion: There’s a new villain in the world of skin health, and it isn’t pollution, sunscreen laziness, or the sun itself — it’s sugar. Not the sugar you sprinkle on dessert, but the invisible sugar that binds itself stubbornly to proteins in your bloodstream, stiffening them, aging them, and quietly sabotaging your skin from beneath the surface. Glycation is the name of this process, and dermatologists are calling it “the skin sugar disease” because it behaves exactly like a metabolic condition — chronic, sneaky, and self-inflicted through lifestyle. You don’t feel it happening, but one day you look in the mirror and realise your skin has turned into a timeline you never approved.

Reviewing CBD Gummies [India] For First Time Users | Cannabidiols Can Be Good

• Product: Zero CBD Broad Spectrum Gummies, Grand Daddy Purple, (4 pcs)
• The option: CBD content 30 mg
• Just one pack
• Retail price: INR 800 plus 50 for shipping anywhere
• Platform for purchase: https://itshemp.in/
• Brand: Zero CBD
• CBD type: broad spectrum, gummy infused with CBD 

I hope this unpaid, organic review helps those who are on the edge of making a decision but are still contemplating CBD gummies, still waiting for an authentic review that is totally unbiased and does not hold back from sharing the truth.

If you are not clear about the concept of ‘maal’ versus Cannabinoids, where the latter is associated with a lot of health benefits, you need to read up on the information that is easily available online. At the end of this CBD review, I have also shared some links that help to understand the utility of this herbal product and highlight it as a safe option - safe enough to be tried by the time-starved, always-rushed professional who is trying to maintain the work-life balance in the face of deadlines, a young family, and ailing parents.

For those who have IBS in the times of Corona Pandemic

If you have a history of IBS, it is most likely that no one, and I mean not even the most qualified physician out there, would have been able to fully understand your set of symptoms -  that is the problem with IBS, it is highly symptomatic and very unpredictable. That is how complicated IBS can be, but strangely, despite all the medicinal and guidance-based support, nobody really understands what the sufferer is put through. At this time, when the coronavirus scare is at its worst, you need to double-up your layers of protection to ensure a flare-up is prevented. For starters, the Corona global pandemic is about a lot of cynical views around you - don't let this get you into that space where you start believing that the world is coming to an end. It looks like it, but in reality, we will bounce back - everyday folks like you and me and the governments that are responsible for protecting us. Don't read too much into how much worse it can get. The idea is to control your anxiety levels daily, since right now, when the more normal Joe seems to be slightly frantic.

Work-from-Home Demands Better, Life-at-Home Behaviors [metabolism] Part 1

It would be stupid to start this discussion by complaining about what the pandemic has done to our lives. This problem is not going anywhere, not for some time at least. Instead of focusing on the obvious and sounding cynical, I am trying to talk about what can be done in a way that is both practical and effective. The emphasis is not on the usual, like what are the top easy ways to boost your metabolism, simply because these are not easy times. Neither does this discussion put the premium on the top 10 ways to rev up your metabolism because here, the goal is to ensure that, with the limited means available and the limitations of a life-at-home ecosystem, you can speed up your metabolism, or at least prevent it from slowing down considerably. Read ahead for some easy tips:

The big change I am talking about? Kick the tendency to stay still!

Lying or sitting in one position is becoming a chronic problem as we spend more time indoors, more time within the living room, or the bed, procrastinating the smallest tasks. Just run a Google search on the dangers of sitting. There is a well-researched piece at the top, by some Australian government organization, and at one glance, you will understand that the mere act of sitting for too long is highly detrimental. Now, these research articles were published during the pre-COVID era! This means researchers were warning us against the downside of sitting for too long at the workplace, and when we got just about 12 hours away from the workplace. If sitting for longer hours was already so harmful to our health, the work-from-home lifestyle has only worsened it, multiplying the risks. The easiest way to avoid this is:

TEAM-UP TO KICK IT

Set up a collaboration with someone at home, someone who constantly reminds you that you have been seated for too long in a spot. Reciprocate the gesture, and this partnership should ensure that neither of you remains seated for too long on the couch or desk. At first, the reminders will irritate you. It will seem like the other person is interfering in your personal space. Give it at least 10 days before this prompting starts to shape up and look like a mutually beneficial relationship. This dynamic is easier said than done. For couples, cooped up inside, this can lead to arguments too. But honestly, this is rather important as self-discipline can take a beating as we try to stick to better living habits and inculcate small changes in our everyday lifestyle.   

ACCEPT, YOU ARE NO LONGER ROYALTY

Move around for things that can be done without being seated properly. This includes attending phone calls, especially the ones that don't need the laptop data to be examined, and the smaller, odd tasks like whisking the coffee grounds. For ages, I have been the person for whom things are easily fetched. From the morning cup of tea to unceremonious demands at the oddest times, I have taken too many liberties. Right now, I am understanding that there was nothing so royal about it. My new rule for myself - stop calling out for assistance. The smallest things that we often demand from someone moving around, from fetching the remote and passing the pillow to getting a bottle refill, contribute to slowing down the metabolism. Ditch the habit of always asking. This is like a humbling experience, and now, I have started to like it. Sweeping the plant-heavy balconies and taking the onus to assemble, clean up, or get things is helping me stay more mobile during the course of the day. Yes, lazy pangs do hit hard at times, but largely, the earlier version of me, half lying down at most times and demanding things to be handed over, is fading away...rather quickly.

EXPERIENCE STANDING - IT WORKS

Set up a standing workstation. This is a lot easier than it sounds. Even checking the workplace mails and answering office conversations on Skype can be done while standing. Take out the luxury of having a chair all the time. Use a chair only when you really need to sit down and do some serious work. I now have two workstations. One is the proper desk and chair arrangement. The other one is the standing type with no stool or chair near it. I use the latter for repeatedly checking emails and sending out small messages. All the things you read about bad posture when working on your laptop? It does not apply when you do it for a maximum of 5 minutes at a stretch. Please don't try this if you already have a history of spondylosis or some medical condition.

ENJOYED THAT MEAL? DON'T SIT BACK AND ROMANCE IT 

Don't stay seated post-meals. This is not a revolutionary bit of advice. Health bloggers have been advocating this for ages. You have to avoid lying down at any cost after you have wrapped up a meal. During the pandemic era, mealtime leisure is getting reckless. The tendency to laze around after a good lunch or supper is at an all-time high. Swap this with making that crucial call that could affect your KPI for the month. Even better, take on a regular task that you do only after lunch or dinner, like taking down dried clothing from the balcony, collecting the litter kids leave behind in the living room, or even better...doing the dishes. Personally, I am cutting down on taking the time to savor the special things Moha cooks, along with a piece of post-meal chocolate.

MAKE LAZYBOY YOUR OTT-time ENEMY

COVID lifestyle is teaching us that staying healthy is perhaps going to become the biggest global challenge, more serious than world peace. Until 18 months back, it was common practice to watch marathon OTT series on Netflix or Amazon. Now, you have to rethink how this is affecting your waistline and your overall health. You have to develop a strategy - I suggest not being seated at all times when catching up with the next episode of Kingdom or Marianne. You have to develop the habit of mixing it up. Stand up for a few minutes. Volunteer to pause for a few minutes and make tea for yourself and for someone else. Essentially, you have to fight off the natural behavior of staying glued to a lying-down or seated position that usually happens when watching your favorite TV shows, irrespective of the genre or how Ryan Gosling is looking these days.

THINK ON YOUR FEET - NOT THE METAPHOR, THE PHYSICALITY OF IT

I have been hearing how my friends and colleagues have started rediscovering the luxury of time that they haven't had for more than a decade. Enter the tendency to spend time with your thoughts, often dubbed as ideating or conceptualizing, with a cup of tea or coffee, lazing during the late afternoon hours. Until recently, this 'thinking time' was relegated to a few days in a year, or it was entirely absent. There is nothing wrong with it. I support the cause of reconnecting with what you want in life and taking the time to process the moments, even getting a bit poetic about it. But many times, the thinking hours are simply about planning the day, a quick visit to the mall for supplies, or organizing a week that is going to witness meeting the parents, or hosting a house party. Here, sitting back and hacking out the plan is a luxury we really don't need. I have started planning the workweek during the 30-minute exercise session and when I have some idling time, tending to the balcony garden. 

The idea is not to challenge conventional wisdom...

There is plenty of advice on how to stay active at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the usual advice is about how to plan your workouts and do more household chores. This discussion is aimed at what can be done besides these tips. Not that they are not helpful - some of the advice online is absolutely great. But even if you do work it out daily and then spend considerable time seated or lying down, on your favorite couch or the bedside corner, chances are that your health will suffer. This is because the bump-up in metabolism that comes around with physical tasks also gets flat-lined when we are idling. I will follow up on this discussion with other lifestyle-related countermeasures for the challenges COVID lifestyle is unleashing...

Revisiting Workout Tips for People with Arthritis and Similar Conditions

It would be foolish to interpret arthritis as a condition that affects only the aged population. People as young as 35 years are developing arthritic symptoms - at least in the cities, at least among people who are always doing the balancing act, trying their best to be a good son, husband, father, and office colleague. Arthritis can show up with the most silent symptoms, in the form of that slight backache that tends to send a slight shiver along the spine when you are getting out of the car after reaching the office. It can be more pronounced in one limb of the body. For instance, if you are a banker and do a lot of document signing throughout the day, your fingers and wrist can be unusually sore due to an underlying arthritic condition, and not just the volume of physical work. If you have arthritis, it's important to exercise regularly to maintain joint mobility, reduce pain, and improve overall health. Here are some workout tips that may help:

Consult your doctor or a physical therapist: Before starting any exercise program, it's essential to consult your doctor or a physical therapist to determine the best exercises for your specific type of arthritis and its severity. You might realize that the usual family physician may not understand the severity of the problem. If you repeatedly feel cramped in the mornings and if getting up from a seated position, at home or the office, seems increasingly painful, just vitamin D supplementation is not good enough. Just consider consulting an orthopedic and not just a general physician. A specialist here will also be able to guide you about the small things to manage arthritis when exercising, such as using hot and cold presses alternatively or perhaps not using one of them based on the symptoms you share during the consultation. GET HELP, BUT THE RIGHT TYPE OF HELP!

Start slow: anybody suffering from arthritis or a medical condition that interferes with physical activity will know that there is nothing out there that can take away the pain immediately. Exercising with arthritis presents the same predicament - you know there will be very bad days, some ugly days, but there will be many occasions too when exceeding your expectations in terms of the weighted military press will leave you with a sense of triumph. There is only one way to increase the density of good days and avoid instances of overtly exerting your body. You need to know more about low-impact exercises such as walking, swimming, or cycling, and buy the gear that might be necessary to manage no-gym days when you need to listen to your body and go slow. Being slow is perhaps the big summary of managing physically demanding exercises despite having arthritis. Whether you are just starting your journey in the gym or you have bought an expensive spin cycle for home, gradually increase the intensity and duration of your workouts as your joints become stronger. You have to admit that your body needs a bit more care than others at the gym. So adding some lighter, walking days when exercising is just about adding miles on foot, is a great idea to mix it up and to ensure that you don't trigger more arthritic symptoms.

Use proper technique: Grip it better - that would be my big advice to anybody who is trying to master the kettlebell overhead movement or the deadlift. While gymgoers are preached about keeping their back straight or breathing properly, nobody seems to emphasize the need to grip the rod or a dumbbell better. Proper technique is crucial to avoid joint damage and reduce pain. You don't need an appointment with a physical therapist or trainer to learn the correct form for each exercise - the information is out there on the web. The real effort lies in following what is shown via social media videos and training modules. Someone with arthritis needs to be more careful about the basics of posture when doing weights, such as not going down to a squat position when lifting a weight off the floor, as compared to someone with better mobility who can conventionally bend and lift the object. If you are someone with more grit than precaution, a strong grip will also help you complete the movement through the discomfort - squeezing hard via the fingers helps to perform better when you are already in some pain. You might want to stretch before and after exercising. Stretching helps to warm up the muscles and increase flexibility, reducing the risk of injury. Make sure to stretch after your workout as well to prevent muscle soreness.

Listen to your body: If you experience pain or discomfort during exercise, stop and rest. Pushing through the pain can lead to further joint damage and inflammation. Arthritic pain can have serious seasonal swings. Winters and humid seasons can be more demanding. The typical painkillers might not provide relief. If you are pushing 50, the pain can be excruciating. You need to know that taking a day off from the gym is a good idea, only to come back stronger. This is when even the treadmill might not be a good idea. When your body seems too heavy, when the same pair of dumbbells suddenly seems immovable, and the joints are sore, you know that somewhere deep down, your body is not going to listen to you. Don't force it. A couple of days away from the gym can be calculated as the number of extra time you have to put in over the next 10 days to clear the deficit - this is easy, but you have to keep your patience.

Incorporate strength training: people with arthritis have a typical problem when planning their exercise regimen. They tend to be more vulnerable to developing exercise-related injuries, and to get stronger, they need to train harder, but with arthritis, heavy-duty training exercises aren't always possible. This suggests a change in approach to get the desired result. The solution lies in more core-building exercises and strength training so that overall, they are more adept at lifting weights without suffering from pulls, pains, and tears. Resistance training and kettlebell exercises are good examples of things to do to boost strength without spending infinite hours or risking a serious injury to the joints. Strength training that involves the entire body, like the Hindu push-up, is great to warm up the body too when done without keeping a count - the more you do, the bigger the chance of keeping away gym injuries, even if you have been diagnosed with arthritis.

Honey, I need some more honey – yes, I eat the warm, gooey thing almost every day!

These days, my wife has started a morning ritual of swallowing a bit of aloe vera juice as soon as I get out of bed. She remembers it, pours it, reminds me about it, and then follows up as to whether I consumed the supposed Digestive tract soothing agent or not. Notwithstanding, discussing her affection for me, this adds one more thing to what I consume every day, to a list that is dominated by Honey. For some reason, I have been having that sticky, amber-colored stuff for years now. I love to spread it on hot, toasted slices along with butter. I dip my digestive biscuits in it. It is also the SOS when sugar cravings hit me badly, and I don’t have the good stuff to satiate the cravings. Other inclusions to the daily regimen include honey in hot water, infused with herbal tea extracts that I carry to the office. I might put some on vanilla ice cream served with almonds and cornflakes. What makes it so good?

Few words about DDD - Dil Dhadakne Do

If you are expecting a generous sprinkling of words like "awesome" and "must-watch", you just hit the wrong platform. This is my blog, and I tend not to be that unforgiving for any type of content - visual or textual. DDD or Dil Dhadakne Do was watchable because of one big reason - nobody tried to act beyond the scope of their roles. The supporting cast does not look like trying to grab some highlight, right from below the feet of the main cast that has been chosen smartly. Zoya Akhtar has proven again that she can direct a plot that is attuned well to what the Millennials understand. Dil Dhadakne Do is very relatable because of a simple trick, a game that anybody can understand - it borrows situations and ideas and the aftermath(s) of many events from real lives, from everyday lives of people like you and me.

A Note to My Dear Phus-Phus...[Love Sign!]

You call it a water sprayer. I call it Phus-Phus. You think it is elementary and mechanical. I think it is the smartest invention. While you think spraying the plants is no big deal, I claim it is an art, an acquired taste that evolves with time...

[Image Awaited]

Before you, there was no love in watching the plants grow!

Watering the planters had become dreary, a daily activity that had to be done. With you, I have so many angles to explore. I understand the effects of wind on water stream or spray patterns better. I understand how to control the thumb pressure to control the intensity of spraying. While some people call this misting the plants, it feels like I am nurturing something, and you are the medium through which I express my caring for things that otherwise have nothing to say, nothing to complain about, and will never answer back. You help me connect with the most innocuous things despite being undemanding and unpretentious yourself. In a way, you exude the type of wisdom that must keep monks grounded and humble. 

Until you came around, there were no hand & arm warm-ups!

I use you every day, just before the morning tea. Your loaded spring does wonders for my otherwise genetically weak wrists and arms. You give them tendons and musculature a good stretch. Until you were there, I would rarely know how to warm up my arms that are always bandaged when trying to lift heavy. Nobody knew that you could be my distant gym buddy. Now that I employ you daily, I cannot imagine working out without having spent some minutes with you.

Your Performance is Unconditional, without excuses. You Always Deliver!

In times when I am surrounded by people who are not ready to grind it out, where people exercise their hands to do only the unmentionables and smartphone jerking, you set the example with a dutiful aura about it. I have woken you up from long nights and days of slumber, but you were never lazy like me in the mornings. I have forgotten you on the balcony, but you never complained about the sunburns. You don't need a heads-up for a double round of misting. You don't find reasons to fail. There are so many forms to you, but in design, every bit of you is essentially driven to work hard.

You Don't Fret about Emerging Challenges!

The Phus-Phus knows it has a short life. I tend to trigger in a harsh way, repeatedly misting the plants. No matter for how many weeks, the Phus-Phus will stay true to its promise. It does not choke upon seeing the workflow. IT does not quit. It realizes the replacement is always there in my spare cupboard; younger contenders with stronger springs, better plastics, and improved nozzles will keep arriving. Yet, the Phus-Phus works without any complaints - a perpetual performer, it has the outdoor stamina of worker bees doing their rounds to keep up the beehive alive and humming with activity.

Psychologists should recommend you more than Gardening!

The Phus-Phus has played a role in conditioning my morning hours better, to help me start the day in a more relaxed manner. Almost like a daily ritual, spraying the plants, the young & old, creates a sense of getting the job done, and when you are getting backlash at the workplace for projects not that well-executed, this is almost like a sense of achievement. Yes, doing it/that longer with your wife is more akin to that feeling of victory, but this counts too. Anything is better than medicating yourself and this is like Prozac with an eager, easy-to-personalize trigger action but without the chemical overload.

Reasons for My Cup of Tea vs Normal Folks | Everyday Babbling Thoughts Blended with Handy Lifestyle Management

Anyone who has been at my blog, even twice, would know there is a definite difference between how I perceive thoughts and situations and react and how the more normal world behaves. This includes the pattern in which a cup of tea makes appreciable contributions to my everyday life.

Usual:         To Awaken Yourself
My Take:    To Calm Overactive Senses

Most people I know talk about having tea to awaken their senses, earlier in the day to wake-up from the slumber and during the day to regain their mental acuity. However, with me things are rather different. Think of me as an overworked, almost always engaged mind. I have this habit of digging so deep into the work that often I start blinking too infrequently and, as a result, my eyes get dry and irritated. This is why, for me, taking a few sips of tea is about interrupting my self-righteous habits that tend to exhaust me. This is not therapeutic for me. This is more of lifestyle management. Simple thing like ordering the tea or pouring it in my cup and sitting back to catch a break really helps to disengage the slightly over-stimulated sense, helping me regain that sense of calmness.

Nothing Oceanic Perhaps but this Shade is Calming for Sure…

This shade of blue is trending a bit these days – around me and in my life. I just bought a dumpster-cum-storage sort of home accessory in this color. Why?

There is something very appeasing about it. I specifically found an image where this hue of blue is used in a typically sad background. However, this shade manages to retain its cooling charm but I don’t want to use words like ocean or river-like in my description. Actually this is not about describing the color but just that it seems to be found in the smallest accessories, in the most unnoticeable forms and still it manages to make an impact. This is not about blinging the ambiance. There is nothing oceanic about the color but just that it has an adrenaline-boosting aura to it. You don’t need to choose complimenting or contrasting colors with much care. Nearly every shade, from dark grays to pale pastels make sense with this shade of blue. I recently bought a couple of lanterns for the living room, that can accommodate a tea-light or LED, in the same shade. This color has another thing that stands apart - despite what hue you are looking at, there is a certain amount of texture involved. Don't know the scientific reason for it but must be about how this color reflects light.

Still stuck on green tea? These guys are doing Tea Spirits!

Tea Infographic from www.divinitea.com

I have been dedicatedly exploring green tea and herbal tea combinations that can be very handy in hydrating and boosting immunity. However, this genre seems to be rather big. While I have been rambunctious about my first impressions and emerging trends in this domain, every now & then I find something that seems beyond my horizon of green tea literacy. Now, I was just browsing through when I chanced upon this link on liquor.com that talks about a young distillery that is trying to do spirits in a different way. The approach seems intent on moving away from the hangover of hangover perception associated with consuming liquor. Rather than sticking to the traditional base ingredients, these guys are using fermented tea. The result of some wine-making and liquor-maturing experience, blended with the finest collection of teas from Asia, has gone into creating this unique blend. My first impression says that the idea is unique, rather adorable. For starters, this is not a heavy liquor choice. This is more consumable as an everyday beverage, of course, in moderation. For green tea aficionados who are equally upbeat about hitting the bar, this could be a welcome change. They would be getting the herbal concoction that many tea blends are trying to be these days, along with all the goodness of spirits.

Food Journeys: More Green Tea Explorations

The alcohol percentage, if controlled acutely, could be the key here – the difference in making this a mainstream option or just another tea fad. If you read the column, it talks about borrowing the manufacturing wisdom from non-alcoholic wines. This innovation puts emphasis on safe removal of ethanol to ensure a greater degree of de-alcoholization—this, I believe, will be the big difference!!...read about some of my other Tea Discussions

[Original Discussion: Click Here]
[Loving Cranberry Tea: Click Here]

Read about some of the other Tea & Tea-inspired discussions here:

Tea Snob Checklist

Cranberry Tea Tales

Tea for Irritated Throat Management

Don’t Deny It – Everyone is Guilty of Leave-the-Office Early Pangs

I wasn’t always a manager. I have a long history of working well beyond the stipulated hours. There were phases when work would absolutely consume me, ensuring I never checked the time. However, a decade of work-life seems to have changed something, somewhere. Now, like many other colleagues and all of my fellow team handlers, I have started suffering from monthly bouts of leaving-the-office-early pangs. Please understand that this has very little similarity with hoping the workday gets easier, less demanding, or gets over quickly. Leaving-the-office-early symptoms stem from this sudden urge that makes you plot in the most conniving manner to ensure you can leave the workplace prematurely without getting noticed in any way, without affecting your workload for the day.

Common symptoms of leaving-the-office bug:

• Incessant need to leave office premises early without any plans for the day
• Overactive mind starts assuming less time at the office is somehow winning a duel [with LIFE?] 
• Sudden hope that leaving the workplace early will drastically improve the quality of life
• Urge to exit the premises early without any discomfort, pain, or anything upsetting 
• Restless legs that want to get moving express extreme hostility towards being seated
• Sudden realization that your ecosystem still seems like an absolute stranger
• Spurts in visions of grandeur that make you question the objective of the current occupation

Tips to Handle Must-Leave-Work Early Syndrome or Attack:

• Never share it with anyone at work – it makes you look childishly unprofessional
• Try to think of things you would be able to do if you leave early – if this is not a long list, you are overthinking the advantages
• Take the time for a quick stroll – keeps the circulation going and might help dampen this anxiety-sorts
• Give yourself one hour to regain composure – have a coffee, make a call, get some sunlight on your face. Sometimes this works like magic!
• Don’t stick to your seat – you are probably not loving it at this moment. Get-up and move around, socialize a bit with your team. Catch-up on desk management that you had been ignoring
• Don’t overload on a sweet bite – this can heighten the anxiety. Yes, you might want to chew some gum
• Stop bitching about what could have been better – this is a one-day thing. Don’t overdo it and never get melodramatic or melancholy about it
• Don’t compare with your friends whose workplaces allow more flexibility in this regard – THIS IS A THUMB RULE!!

Must Try: Take a few minutes off the daily scheduled tasks and try to test your observation powers. This hardly takes 5 minutes. For instance, I have tried this to disengage the leave-workplace-early mindset by counting the textures in and around a cup of tea!

You are not an un-Chef cook, you just don't fail enough...

This is about experimenting in the kitchen, being vital to improve your gastronomic superiority. I would always wonder why, despite her culinary art being superior to anyone else on the planet, my mom deviates from the standard path so minimally.

I thought it was just the fear of failure. Turns out, I was horribly wrong. My dad would never recommend trying too many things in the kitchen. This subdued the inner chef in her, not allowing her to really spread her cooking wings. This did not make her a good, bad, or better cook, but it did not allow the real potential to express itself. Today, I see my wife able to do a lot more with the most basic supplies because both of us are open to the idea of food experiments that can go horribly wrong! [Will share her latest creation - bread, egg pizza that is better than the crap served at Domino's]. And this is what this discussion is about - you are never going to be an awesome, chef-like kitchen maestro if you don't play around enough. Actually, you have to fool around. Just rethink the days of arts and crafts activities when in school.

Teachers would give us some time to try something that our minds conceived with highly malleable clay, rather than imitating the idea that the curriculum provided. This meant a wider range of colors and designs, some enviably better than my expectations, and some so weird that you seriously reconsidered your friendship with that classmate.

Great food requires sacrificing the perfectness of each meal

The psycho-analysis of this part notwithstanding, you have to agree - more experimentation means more chances of succeeding, even if you are unsure about the ingredients you want to fool around with. Yes, you need to have more-than-average understanding of textures. You can forego the basic rules of the game. You can put mustard droplets on a conventional dish, you can provide unconventional layers to any egg preparation, and you can eat your ice cream with table accessories and chewies that eateries out there would banish at first sight. Something as simple as a biscuit that tastes best when dipped in tea could be your canvas here. You can layer it with different chocolate sauces or even ice cream flavors.

More DIY food journeys to cover

You can try eating rice with the driest, most un-gravied dish to try a meal that is so dry that you need mental and physical stamina to push it down your throat. I have had the pleasure of scooping away the unholiest of gravy leftovers, directly from the pan, using an over-roasted slice, and believe me, the flavor was more exotic than some Domino's type of culinary invention that will be broadcast on every digital medium. Just like all the weird-but-great geniuses who brought in inventions that changed the way we live, the Culinary Pedestal is for those who embrace infinite appetite to change, toss, saute, chop, twist, grind, and maneuver, beyond what seems reasonable...