Earth laughs in flowers*...

Look what I found growing in abundance in our back garden! It is what in Bangla we call togor phool. Google calls it the Crepe Jasmine. I love this flower and the mild sweet smell it gives out.


Since this flower grows in abundance where ever it gets a little space, even a city child like me was familiar with it. In my mamarbari (maternal grandparents house) there was a togor gaach/ tree which grew in one part of their uthan/back yard. How I loved the tree and to pick these flowers, since they were within my easy reach and playing with them on lazy summer afternoons when everyone else was taking a siesta. 


Holding a handful of the flowers in our London garden, I smell them and  it takes me right back to my childhood days. My grandmother used this flower to decorate her prayer room. She, my grandmother has moved several houses since then, but that quaint prayer room with its shutters drawn to keep out the scorching sun rays, decorated with flowers and alpona (motifs drawn with rice powder), smelling of flowers and incense floats in my mind's eye. It is as if my mind has opened an old album and memories, old yet vivid in their intensity, tumble out. It feels just like yesterday and not two decades ago that I was a kid who played in that room. The smell, the sound of laughter, indulgent smiles on my grandparents' faces, small feet pattering on the cement floor all come rushing back. I feel cocooned in love and warmth.


A train whooshes by in a gust of wind, rattling the fences, a small bird flies away in fright and my reverie is broken. Memories of childhood fade borne away by the hurrying train and I am left standing in the garden in bright sunlight. The memories linger, leaving a smile on my face.


The tree in our back garden does not belong to us. It is actually our neighbour's tree, but it has made our garden its own by climbing over the fence. Finding the flowers in bloom in our back garden is actually like finding a fragment of my childhood back :-) 


Ever since my brother and cousin sister went back to India, I have been in the grip of a strange lethargy. I function normally, but my heart is not in it. I started at least three blog posts, but finished none. Stumbling upon these flowers made me sit up and smile!

* A quote from "Hamatreya",  Ralph Waldo Emerson

The Garden Cafe, Tottenham...

We keep passing this cafe on our way to the Seven Sisters Tube Station. Kept seeing parts of the book shelves from the bus, so one day decided to check this place out. It is a lovely cafe, right next to the bus stop on the main road. They have both garden and inside seating. Since the couple of days we went there, it was pretty cold, we generally have sat inside. But must check it out their lovely garden, now that the sun is out and shinning (oh well at times!).

The best thing about this cafe is its ambiance. They have a wall full of books and also space for musicians to play. The space is pretty big and you can spread out and not feel cramped. I would happily go back there any day just for the space. It feels more like sitting someone's home, than eating in a cafe. This is an ideal space to go with a big group of friends just to chill out.

The menu has a mix of all day breakfast and Turkish fare. The food is wee bit over priced compared to other Turkish joints in and around North London.

For starters, we had our staple--humus, olives and Turkish bread. I love this bread, it is so soft and fluffy and we can literally finish a whole basket of bread just with humus. The humus was fresh and tasty, much less dripping in olive oil than other places, but no less flavourful.

For the main I ordered grilled chicken breast which came with rice, salad, grilled veggies and mint sauce. The chicken was good, succulent and juicy, the rice much less greasy than I am used to and the salad lovely but the grilled pepper stole the show.  It was perfect, crunchy yet well done. The tomato went to my husband, who said the tomato was as good.

Of course my husband cannot go to a Turkish place and not order lamb. Forgetting the name, basically it was chunky pieces of lamb meat served with mashed potato and veggies like mushroom and pepper.

Loved the mint. In most of the Turkish restaurants they serve something on the house at the end...we have had Turkish tea, small piece of Baklava and here they serve mint mouth fresheners. If you are wondering around Tottenham, this is a good place to visit.