Today is Bhai Bij – the fifth and final day of the festival of Diwali and it celebrates the special bond between brothers and sisters. Traditionally sisters invite their brothers for a jamvanu (special meal) and blessings and gifts are exchanged. For those who don’t have a brother, like myself, we do a little prayer...Read More

Happy New Year! Or as we say ‘Sal Mubarak’ or ‘Nutan Varshna Abhinandan’ meaning best wishes for the new year. Traditionally we visit family, particularly our elders to pay our respects. We have mithai (my favourites include googra, burfi, biscuits…. Mmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it!) and nastho (delicious savoury snacks such...Read More

Today is Kali Chaudas and I’ve always thought of it a bit like an Indian version of Halloween. We light up the divos to ward off evil and as a reminder that good always triumphs over evil in the same way that light always triumphs over darkness. There’s a lot of superstitions that people follow...Read More

Diwali, known as the festival of lights, is one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar. It’s a happy time of family, fun and feasts and I absolutely love it. Our festival lasts five days and celebrates the story of Rama and Sita which you can read here. Today is the first day of...Read More

I’ve been feeling really under the weather recently, down with a bad cold. I’m staying at my Nanima’s house for a few days and she has some old family remedies that she swears by so I thought that I’d share them with you today. For a common cold: 1 tsp honey – good for soothing...Read More

Hi! Welcome to my blog Nanimas and thanks for stopping by. Nanima means ‘maternal grandma’ in Gujarati and this blog is all about the traditions passed down the generations of my family – from my Nanima to my Mum to me. It’s a record of all the things that I’ll hopefully one day pass on...Read More