George Orwell Reviews Mein Kampf: “He Envisages a Horrible Brainless Empire” (1940) | Open Culture

Source: George Orwell Reviews Mein Kampf: “He Envisages a Horrible Brainless Empire” (1940) | Open Culture

Fire to Write + A Writer’s Legacy by Meera Ekkanath Klein – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

At six years old, I woke from a dream so vivid that I forgot about breakfast and dashed to set it on paper. “The Mystery of the Missing People” came to me as an entire book (really a booklet), the title included. The cover featured a silhouette outline, a question mark filling the head. The physical book didn’t stand the test of time, yet my desire to write and publish has only increased. Click here to read about the novels I’m seeking representation for.

This is the sort of artwork I did around those days…Line drawing by da-AL at around age six, depicting to standing people with bunny ears.

Today’s guest, author Meera Ekkanath Klein, started as a journalist. An award-winning author, you can get to know her a little better and find out about her books (that are available on Amazon and Kindle) at her blog. Here’s what inspired her to write them…

Photo of Meera Ekkanath Klein with her grandson

A Writer’s Legacy by Meera Ekkanath Klein

I have always loved writing and have dabbled in this art form since my teenage years. However, my writing journey didn’t really begin until my mother’s death in 2003. 

In 2008, a version of My Mother’s Kitchen was born. It would take another six years for it to be published. The book was written for a mostly female audience. A decade later, I realize there is someone else I want the book to resonate with: my grandson. My books are my legacy to him and the next generation.

Years, perhaps decades, from now he may pick up one of my books and learn a bit about himself (and me). He may want to try making Mother’s Lemon Rice or Tea Stall Potatoes. Or maybe he’ll be curious about one of the South Indian festivals mentioned in My Mother’s Kitchen and want to learn more. Or better yet, he may want to observe Kerala New Year or Kerala Harvest Festival. And when he does, he will keep my memory alive. That’s the way books live forever and that will be my legacy.

Second-generation Southeast Asians who have lost touch with their roots can find their way home through my books.  It’s important to fit in and be part of American society, but it’s also good to know your ancestral traditions and customs. My books are filled with Indian traditions, myths, and, of course, food. I hope the next generation of Indian Americans (and anyone curious about South India) will pick up a copy to learn more about Kerala festivals and celebrations.

Cover of My Mother's Kitchen by Meera Ekkanath Klein

MY MOTHER’S KITCHEN: A Novel With Recipes

This first book is a tribute to my mother, Leela Sadasivam. My younger sister was barely a year old when my mother enrolled in a teaching credential program. The college was just 43 miles away, but in the 1960s, it was not within commuting distance, and my mother visited us only on weekends. We were cared for by her aunt, my great-aunt, whom we called Muthi.

Later, after my father’s retirement from civil service, my mother became our family’s sole breadwinner. Every morning, she would get up, make us breakfast, and pack our lunches before heading to the bus stop. For a few years, she had more than a two-hour bus ride to the school located in a small village in the Nilgiris (Blue Mountains of South India).

Her cooking style reflected her lifestyle. It was no-nonsense, decisive, and delicious. She whipped up gravies, rice dishes, and delicate dosa pancakes quickly and efficiently in our tiny kitchen.

My cooking was deeply influenced by her and later by cooks like Laurel Robertson and Carol Flinders.

I developed the recipes in the book based on my memories of cooking with my mother. The book is fiction but the descriptions of Onam, Vishu, and Deepavali celebrations are based on my childhood. The book will take readers on a sensory journey of South India.

Cover of Seeing Ceremony by Meera Ekkanath Klein 

SEEING CEREMONY: A Novel With Recipes

Seeing Ceremony is a ritual associated with arranged marriages. Decades ago, my mother tried to arrange my marriage. Luckily, I dared to say no and was even more fortunate to have an uncle and aunty who invited me to visit and attend college in northern California. My trip to California in 1982 was the start of the next chapter of my life.

Living in California, especially with my uncle, aunty, and their friends, was an educational experience that profoundly influenced the rest of my life. My uncle was proud of his matrilineal heritage and passed this on to me. My aunty was a lover of Southern literature and decadent chocolate desserts.  Under her guidance, I read William Styron, Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Harper Lee, Russell Baker, and Ann Tyler, to name a few. I also learned to make chocolate mousse cakes, truffles and the best fresh strawberry pie.

Seeing Ceremony is a story about a young woman named Meena finding a way to remain true to herself while respecting her mother’s wishes. It is romantic and perhaps a bit starry-eyed. This book is what I call uplifting literature.

Cover of Sunshine Clinic by Meera Ekkanath Klein

SUNSHINE CLINIC: A Novel with Recipes

The final book in the series is about Meena’s younger sister, Sunny. I was once interested in becoming a doctor, and I never lost my love for all things medical. This book is my tribute to the medical profession.

If I had become a doctor, I wanted to live in a rural village, meet quirky characters, and later write about them (like my favorite author, James Herriot). Sunshine Clinic is my fantasy novel.

A doctor’s life is never easy, and Sunny, working in a rural hamlet, faces some difficult situations. The book is peppered with strong women who nurture and feed the young doctor. Like all my books, this is a feel-good novel with a happy ending.

What ignites your fingers to type or pen something?

Source: Fire to Write + A Writer’s Legacy by Meera Ekkanath Klein – Happiness Between Tails by da-AL

Receita de Bombocado: Um Doce Clássico Perfeito para Acompanhar o Café da Tarde : Linkezine

Receita de Bombocado: Um Doce Clássico Perfeito para Acompanhar o Café da Tarde

O bombocado é um doce tradicional brasileiro que traz um equilíbrio perfeito entre a doçura do coco ralado e o sabor salgado do queijo parmesão. Ideal para acompanhar um cafezinho no lanche da tarde, o bombocado é macio por dentro e levemente dourado por fora, garantindo uma experiência deliciosa a cada mordida.

Armazenamento

Depois de pronto, o bombocado pode ser armazenado em temperatura ambiente por até 3 dias. Para conservar por mais tempo, guarde-o na geladeira, onde ele permanecerá fresco por até 5 dias.

Ingredientes

Para preparar o bombocado, você vai precisar dos seguintes ingredientes:

  • 1 lata de leite condensado
  • 2 ovos
  • 1 e ½ xícara de chá de coco seco ralado
  • ⅓ de xícara de chá de queijo parmesão ralado fino
  • 2 colheres de sopa de manteiga derretida
  • Manteiga para untar as forminhas
  • Fubá para polvilhar as forminhas…

Source: Receita de Bombocado: Um Doce Clássico Perfeito para Acompanhar o Café da Tarde : Linkezine

Hungary’s government makes Ukrainian refugees homeless – DW – 08/23/2024 (Me: Clearly Anti-Roma racism move by Orban)

People from one Ukrainian region particularly affected

Hungarian NGOs estimate that over 3,000 Ukrainian refugees will lose access to state-subsidized accommodation as a result.

Most of those affected come from Zakarpattia Oblast (Transcarpathia) in the far west of Ukraine or from other western Ukrainian regions. They have officially been given the status “in need of temporary protection.” Most of them are Hungarian-speaking Roma.

Source: Hungary’s government makes Ukrainian refugees homeless – DW – 08/23/2024

Israeli security chief condemns ‘terrorism’ of militant settlers | Israel | The Guardian

The head of Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet, has warned the country’s leaders that Jewish terrorism in the West Bank is out of control and has become a serious threat to national security.

Ronen Bar issued the warning in a letter to the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the attorney general and members of the Israeli cabinet, some of whom are outspoken backers of the extremist settlers responsible for the escalating violence.

Bar’s letter, sent last week but published by Israel’s Channel 12 News on Thursday night, has highlighted the wide, acrimonious gap between the far-right wing of Netanyahu’s coalition and Israel’s security apparatus.

The national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of those criticised by Bar for inflammatory behaviour, called for the Shin Bet head to be fired, triggering a rebuke on Friday from the defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Bar’s letter focused on Jewish extremists known as the “hilltop youth”, violent militants who have been conducting a campaign of murder, arson and intimidation against Palestinians on the West Bank, aimed at driving them from their land, furthering the far right’s pursuit of complete annexation.

Bar said their actions should not be described as criminality but as terrorism.

“It isn’t crime because it’s the use of violence to create intimidation, to spread fear. That is terror,” he wrote, describing how the campaign had “significantly expanded” in the absence of an adequate police response and with the connivance of some national leaders. The militants had gone from using “cigarette lighters to the weapons of war”, the security chief said, adding that some of those weapons had been provided by the state.

The terror campaign, the letter said, was “a large stain on Judaism and on all of us”.

Bar warned the hilltop youth had gone “from evading the security forces to attacking the security forces, from cutting themselves off from the establishment to receiving legitimacy from certain officials in the establishment”.

Source: Israeli security chief condemns ‘terrorism’ of militant settlers | Israel | The Guardian

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