Writing Contest

Our Mustard Seeds member, Srijata, had her own jingle about plastics published in the brochure for BAL VIVIDHA, a festival celebrating alternate approaches to learning. Congratulations on such a well-written rhyme! It sure has a good message for us all to think about and learn from:

Plastic bags - Plastic Bags
Thrown everywhere --
Why not say, "No thanks to plastic,"
And show how much you care?

Banning plastic is just one step
But it's really up to you and me --
Start to imagine our Kolkata
Being clean and litter free!

If you must take a bag
Re-use it again and again --
Keep it from getting scattered,
Or going down the drain!
Mother Earth is asking
each and everyone
To change our bad habits --
So that she can have some fun!

- by S.R.

We don't know if Srijata won a prize or not but we are certainly proud that her jingle was picked to be published in the beautiful brochure that was put out for this festival. It was a great success.

An interview with our cooking instructor, Noriko-san

By Momo

Today at Mustard Seeds Library, we were blessed with a visit from Noriko Takemura who is visiting from Kyoto, Japan for about one month. We, the members of Mustard Seeds Library got the first-hand chance to learn how to prepare 'Soumen,' or Japanese noodles eaten in the summer with a Japanese person. We also learned how to use chopsticks, the traditional Japanese tableware...some of us were more successful than others on this front!

Q: So, how do we prepare Soumen, Noriko-san?
A: For the soup, boil the water, add the konbu powder (konbu is a thick seaweed that is used to extract flavor), soy sauce, sugar and salt to taste and let cool down. We make the soup quite strong because the noodles are a bit watery when we dip them in.
For the soumen noodles, first boil the water and put in the soumen bunches til they become soft. Drain off the hot water and let it cool down. You can also serve the noodles over ice but we didn't do that today.
We garnish the noodles with cucumber cut into very thin slices, omelette that has been rolled up and cut into thin strips (this was flavored with a bit of the clear soup and sugar), and 'nori,' which is another kind of seaweed that comes in sheets and sort of resembles thin film. The seaweed is cut up into small paper strips. 'Wasabi,' a horseradish-like root that is grated and served on the side of many Japanese dishes can also be eaten with the soumen.

Q: Where does one find these Japanese ingredients?
A: I don't think things like soumen noodles, nori, wasabi and dashi for the soup are readily available in India so Maura Aunty and I brought them back with us for today from Japan.

Q: Any particular reason to visit India?
A: Yes, I wanted to learn about the culture and also learn the languages and to learn cooking Indian dishes.

Q: How do you like India so far?
A: I like the friendly people, the clothes, the weather!

And now, let's ask some of the Mustard Seeds members to comment on their experience making and more importantly, eating SOUMEN WITH NORIKO??

Prerona: "It was super duper and I liked it very much."

Srijata: "Bettern than I thought!"

Takai: "Oishikatta!" (That means 'it was delicious' in Japanese, by the way)

Mauraunty: "Hey! Let's eat soumen every day!"

Bapi: "It was delicious."

Momo: "Soup-er and good for the first time!"

Bapu: "I love putting the nori seaweed in -- I put in too much!"

Thanks so much to Noriko-san for doing this presentation. Everyone who attended got to try something uniqu

A BOOK REVIEW ON "THE INDISPENSABLE CALVIN AND HOBBES" BY TIPU.

WHEN THE COVER OF THIS BOOK SAYS " INDISPENSABLE "-IT REALLY MEANS IT.THE COMPILATION,"THE INDISPENSIBLE CALVIN CALVIN AND HOBBES"CONTAINS SOME OF THE BEST CALVIN AND HOBBES COMICS ONE HAS EVER BEEN THROUGH.

WITTILY WRITTEN AND INTELLIGENTLY ARRANGED,THIS BOOK IS A MUST READ FOR ALL COMIC LOVERS.

CALVIN IS THE HIGHILY IMAGINATIVE KID NEXT DOOR,WHO HATES SCHOOL,LOATHES GIRLS AND DISLIKES DOING HOMEWORKS . HE LIVES IN A WORLD OF CREATIVITY AS SOMETIMES HE IMAGINES BEING A "CALVINOSAURUS" OR"STUPENDOUS MAN"OR"SPACEMAN SPIFF".HE ALSO GETS INTO TROUBLE ALMOST EVERY DAY SOME WAY OR THE OTHER.

CALVIN'S BEST BUDDY IS THE CUDLY STUFFED TIGER, HOBBES,WHO COMES TO LIFE WHEN NO ONE IS AROUND , EXCEPT CALVIN.HE PLAYS GAMES WITH CALVIN,SLEDS WITH HIM AND SLEEPS WITH HIM AT NIGHT.HOBBES HAS A HABIT OF POUNCING ON CALVIN WHEN HE RETURNS HOME FROM SCHOOL.THEY QUARREL FREQUENTLY BUT TOGETHER THEY HAVE A BLAST EVERY DAY.

CALVIN'S MOM & DAD HAS A PROBLEM ,EACH DAY,WITH THEIR "BRAT"KID.BUT THEY LOVE HIM A LOT. CALVIN'S NEIGHBOUR,SUSIE DERKINS IS A FRIEND WHOM HE HATES TO CALL HER SO.MISS WORMWOOD IS THE STRICT TEACHER &CALVIN IS TERRIFIED OF THE TEENAGED BABY-SITTER,ROSALYN.

THE COMICS IN THIS BOOK ARE ADVENTEROUS & REALLY FUNNY. THE ILLUSTRATIONS ARE EXCELLENT.ON THE WHOLE,HATS OFF TO BILL WATTERSON FOR COMING UPWITH SUCH A UNIQUE CONCEPT .

THIS IS A BOOK YOU ALL WILL ENJOY READING,I'M SURE & I WON'T BE SURPRISED ,IF THE NEXT DAY YOUR MOM SEES YOU TALKING TO YOUR STUFFED TOY!

T I P U

NO SMOKING

By MoBo

It is no joke

You will kill me
with your smoke

Please don't smoke

Or one day, you will surely choke

Never, ever try to smoke
But you can always take a coke*!

So take my advice
Or within years
Your lungs will get sliced
You'll be hated by your dears

Don't go smoking on
Or one day you will
be



gone!

* Tho these days also dangerous indeed!!

Welcome to Mango Smiles

We are speaking from the newly organized editor's desk here in Kolkata, India. This site is going to be all about how to make a mango smile!! No, but actually it's about that same feeling you get when you bite into the first mango of the summer season -- happy all over!

We promise to issue a copy of Mango Smiles in paper form at least once a year (we've had a long holiday...). This issue is supposed to be printed during the pujas and we aim to keep our environment clean and green as people tend to come and litter their wastes during this time of year.

We are urging all the members at our library to contribute their creativity in the forms of jokes, poems, stanzas, stories, interviews, paintings and artwork, reports, craft ideas, and much more! We also have a group called Earthinkers, that tries to learn about problems happening all over the planet and that tries to educate people on how to change things.


By (Your faithful editors and manager)
Momo, Jojo, Tokai
and Manager Maude