Nandita Iyer is the author of two immensely popular books,
Everyday Superfoods and
The Everyday Healthy Vegetarian. A self-taught celebrity chef, she is the popular author of the blog
The Saffron Trail. She has been featured in and has written for the
Vogue, BBC, Femina, and
India Today, among others.
This Handmade Life is all about finding a passion and becoming really good at it. Divided into seven sections-baking, fermenting, self-care, kitchen gardening, soap-making, spices and stitching-this book tells us it is all right to slow down and take up simple projects that bring us unadulterated joy.
Written in Iyer's signature lyrical and friendly style, the book is about hands-on activities that can be meditative and healing for the body, mind and soul. Taking the reader through myriad personal and transformative hobbies, Iyer has managed to serve up a book that is motivational and inspirational at a time when both are in short order.
For most of humanity's history, the ideal of being interdisciplinary and multi-skilled was the default. We are Sapiens not just because of our outsized brains. It's because we use our hands and brains to make everything from beautiful art to rockets that leave the solar system. The trend towards ignoring hobbies and focusing on becoming specialists in a rat race is a relic of the industrial revolution. Nandita's beautiful book is a gentle yet persuasive reminder that mindfully making things with your hands is what we need in a world that is obsessed with short attention span consumption and instant gratificationNandita's book brings to life the golden saying In Tamil, "Kai thozhil o??ai ka??ukko?, kavalai u?akkillai ottrukko?" (Learn a craft and live without worries.) This book is a must read for every one who wants to be atmanirbhar (self-reliant) and improve the quality of their lives significantly and live stress freeSuccinct. Useful. And so very joyful! This Handmade life makes one fall in love with the process of creating from scratch. This is a book you need and not just want.
