Thoughts of a Kiwi-Indian Woman

My question to you......... Which holiday can we honestly celebrate as being our own? A good old 'Kiwi Day?' A day to be proud of - perhaps even celebrate and have some NZ honours........... fly kites of peace, eat food specific to our nation - roast lamb or a BBQ, pavlovas, ANZAC biscuits (and recently Chelsea sugar published a recipe for ANZAC tart), close the shops for good - for the day so no-one misses a day off - and more importantly we celebrate the brotherhood of our unique country and all its cultures. With so much animosity surrounding Waitangi Day - who wants to celebrate that? Waitangi Day was so long ago - in my opinion I feel we have paid 'some' of our dues perhaps not all - BUT how much more do 'we' keep paying out? And who's fault was it back then? The English for their mis-information? Or the Maoris for signing it and taking the easy option of guns, clothes and tobacco? Whoever's fault - It is a 'was' or a 'has...

For those of you who know me - you will know that cooking is an integral part of my life. I am Food! Food is me - wherever there is food - not too far away will you find ME!! I eat food, I cherish food, I cook food, I love food and I have a deep respect for foods of the world!! Food is the life source that gives us our energy - it is also a necessity - it is our fuel. To me 'Food' is a measuring stick for 'how much a mother loves her children,' or 'how much you love the man in your life'..... it is the gift you give someone sick in hospital, or the gift you give to friends who are having a BBQ, it may be the gift of a surprise birthday cake or as my son's girlfriend made for me - cupcakes - little morsels of heaven, asking to be eaten - the gift of belonging! Food is designed to give pleasure to our senses and fill the empty bellies after a hard day's work. Cooking is my passion and often we have all our five children (plus partners)...

Well here I am sitting at school - supposedly marking work, BUT if I look at what I'm REALLY doing - it's NOT marking!! I've just taken the ultimate step and created a blog for myself!!  WHY? - you may well ask. What have you got to offer........  I got the idea off the movie 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' where Judi Dench's character Evelyn writes a blog every day about her experiences, thoughts and feelings.  I had an epiphany - and decided that since ONE DAY I am actually going to write a book about my own existence as a New Zealand Indian (of three generations) this was the perfect way to document what happens in my life on a day to day basis - this would be the 'note form' of my book. ......and as for what have I got to offer? I am a teacher - an ESOL teacher in a secondary school in Auckland: have been a teacher for rather a long time now........ So I think I have A LOT to offer: advice, wisdom, life's lessons, daily teachings, sharing ...