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Fashion Forward (Back Jewellery)

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Jewellery That Graces Your Back! Up your style ante by sprucing up with back jewelley that’s an epitome of the past and the present with a spin of futuristic element. By PRAMITA BOSE Artisans’ labour of love Back jewellery is a clear departure from the traditional notion of garbing one’s skin with sparkling expensive jewellery. It replicates subversive glamour treading the offbeat track . “Reverse bejewelled or stone-studded creations pique inquisitiveness among the larger cross-section of ornament-purchasing public, earning its widespread affection and clinching top ratings on the list of unorthodox, new-age, fusion wearables. It disrupts and redefines the usual concept of donning and boasting valuables from a proud owner’s jewellery box,” claims jewellery designer Kanchan Shah. The styling and presentation of back jewellery is a work of art in itself. Letting a designers’ imagination run riot, an array of carefully-crafted patterns and motifs comes in the form of graduated p...
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Wellness Wows (Makhana)

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Makhana Titbits for Health Find out why makhana is making waves as a solid health food. It is more than just a weight-slashing snack with its nutrient-dense, gluten-free and versatile profile, strongly embedded in conventional Indian diet programmes. By PRAMITA BOSE Cooking styles What’s the most appropriate must-try method for makhana? Should it be eaten dry, roasted, fried or boiled? The best way to eat makhana is dry-roasted or lightly heated with a small amount of pure ghee (clarified butter) or cold-pressed oil. Spices like turmeric, cumin, black pepper, curry leaves or a little bit of rock salt can add taste without making it unfit for health. Deep-fried versions and packaged masala makhana should be taken in limited ounces, especially when they contain refined oils, artificial flavours, maltodextrin (processed white carbohydrate powder derived from plant starches like corn, rice or potato. It is used as a food additive or a thickening agent for edibles. It improves texture an...
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Wellness Wows (Food Supplements Without Coffee)

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Take Supplements Without Tasting Coffee   It’s improper to pop supplements while sipping coffee. But many make this common mistake. Health researches reveal that the chemical compounds in the beverage meddle with the nutrient compositions to leave an adverse impact on health.   By PRAMITA BOSE Perfect intake time Patients are always advised to take iron supplements ideally on an empty stomach. “So if you take iron tablets early morning, then have your breakfast after an hour or so. This maximises iron absorption. Or else, you may take it in the afternoon at least a couple of hours before lunch time. Leave a time gap of minimum one to two hours between your iron intake and a cup of coffee,” dispenses Dr Murtaza S Bagwala, head of emergency medical services at Saifee Hospital in Mumbai. Consuming calcium with a good meal improves its absorption quality. So having the element in the afternoon shows a better outcome. Magnesium intake is normally recommended at night before ...
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Style Check (Denim)

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  Denim Diktat for Your Wardrobe   Discover the benefits of easy-breezy denim to up your fashion quotient this season.   By PRAMITA BOSE Going miles Has denim evolved from the casual category with actors, entertainment hosts or industrial magnates slipping into denim jeans and jackets as officewear even for formal meetings, launches and presentations? “Denim doesn’t just come a long way; it mirrors the times. It is the ultimate fashion chameleon, permanently relevant and entirely reinvented for every season we experience,” enlightens Umashan Naidoo, head customer and beauty at Trent Ltd , a popular Indian retail company that operates major fashion and lifestyle brands like Westside, among others. Fashion designer Jasminum Kaur too nods to this idea saying that “denim has irrefutably crossed the casualwear segment to get introduced to semi-formal and professional fashion arenas and is widely accepted there when styled well.” “Discernibly, denim has br...
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Lifestyle Pick (Hygge)

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Hello Hygge! Farewell Fakeness Are you genuinely happy from inside? Or just faking your smile for those ‘Instagrammable’ selfies and the surrounding society! You only know better if you are hiding your sorrows, difficulties and sore wounds. Discover the secrets of pure happiness with hygge that teaches you the art of well-being by seeking joys in humble funs and amusements of life! By PRAMITA BOSE Hey It’s Hygge! The philosophy represents your happy bubble — a space where you find your calm and emotional contentment. In other words, you are under a hygge effect — pronounced as hoo-gah. Primarily a Danish concept, sociologists suggest that this positive attitude of hygge has been quite instrumental in frequently catapulting the Scandinavian countries and broader Nordic nations (including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, among others) to the top slots of the happiness index. This is proven by the World Happiness Report that publishes the annual ranks on the happiness s...
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Literary Pursuit (Short Story in Bengali)

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দিনলিপি প্রমিতা বসু মই বেয়ে বাসের ছাদে উঠে ভাজা খই খেতে খেতে সক্কাল-সক্কাল গ্রাম থেকে শহর অভিমুখে রওনা হলেন পঞ্চাশোর্ধ কানাই দলুই I পরনে ফিকে হয়ে যাওয়া হলুদ ফতুয়া আর রিপু করা চেক নীল-সবুজ লুঙ্গি I দু পায়ে এক জোড়া সাধারণ মানের সেলাই করা চপ্পল I কেবল এ টুকুই সম্বল করে প্রতি বুধবার এই একই নিয়ম পালন করে চলেন মাঝবয়সী ক্ষুদ্র ব্যবসায়ী — মুন্সিপাড়ার দলুইদা I এর অন্যথা কখনো হয়না I শুকনো মুখ, উস্কোখুস্কো চুল আর  দু গালে ও থুতনিতে কাঁচা-পাকা খোঁচা খোঁচা দাড়ি নিয়ে তার শীর্ণ দেহে দূরপাল্লার এক বিশালাকায় চার চাকার গাড়ির মাথায় চড়ে বসলেন প্রৌঢ় । করজোড়ে কপালে নমস্কার ঠুকে দুগ্গা দুগ্গা বলে যাত্রা করলেন শান্ত মনের নির্লিপ্ত স্বভাবের পরিশ্রমী মানুষটি I উদয়-অস্ত কাজ করে চলেছেন মিতভাষী লোক টি I মুখে কোনো রা নেই I কপালে হালকা বলিরেখা দেখা দিয়েছে I কিন্তু তাতে কি? সময় কি আর কারোর জন্য থেমে থাকে বুঝি! প্রান্তিক সমাজের একজন হয়েও জীবনের প্রতি তার  এতটু কু  আক্ষেপ নেই I তিনি দিব্বি আছেন নিজের চরখায তেল দিয়ে I সাতে পাঁচে না থেকে I আগে পিছে কিছু না ভেবে I এমনকি ভগবানের দরবারেও অনুযোগ পূর্ণ কোনো ন...
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