Cooking was never my cup of tea. Eating was a different thing. I enjoy tingling my taste buds with different foods; desserts are my weak spot. Being a true Indian, I can never say no to spices! Be it the tangy tamarind or the blazing chillies, Indian food has that orgasmic outburst of flavours which no one can resist.

Coming back to me, I was never really into cooking. My culinary skills were pretty much limited to cooking Maggi and tea bags wala chai. My attitude was like, “Come on...who cooks? I am not going to be a housewife?”  Well, this attitude did last longer than I had expected!

Now, with a Master’s degree in my kitty and almost a hazy future before me, I am having a vacation of a lifetime.  However, this gave me the opportunity to explore myself though with a little bit help from the Internet Explorer. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Online window-shopping etc, became a great source of entertainment for me.  This is the 3G generation, what more can you expect?  

It was one such fine day, when I religiously sat down with my laptop and began my daily ritual of Google search. While randomly surfing the internet, I came across a recipe for chocolate fudge. The picture was tempting enough to make me drool. The recipe also looked quite easy and realistic for a ‘kitchen dummy’ like me.  So, I got all the necessary ingredients and got ready to do some real cooking. I almost memorized the recipe a zillion times to avoid any blunder.  

After much hard work and the constant grumbling of our cook for dirtying the whole kitchen, my chocolate fudge was ready. It will be too modest of me if I said that the fudge tasted okay, because it was simply perfect---just like I wanted it to be!

Don’t be surprised if you find me in the kitchen with my laptop the next time I feel like experimenting some more. As you can see, I am pretty much into cooking these days!

There are a number of hair colouring techniques you can use when it comes to colouring your hair. While some of these options can be easily done at home, there are some others which require professional help. Each of the different techniques add colour dimensions to the hair and makes some colours stand out from the rest.

* Veiling /Glaze colouring: This helps in brightening and enhancing up the coloured hair as there is a tendency for coloured hair to appear dull after some time. With veiling, a semi-permanent glaze in a richer tone is applied over a permanent shade which will add brightness to your old hair colour.

* Cap method/ Streaking: It is another way of highlighting your hair. This is ideal for short or medium length hair and for sensitive scalp. Cover the hair with the cap you get with the colouring pack or you can purchase it from any drug store or beauty supply store these days.

* Hair painting or Freehand painting (Balayage): This is used for long hair. In this technique, colour is applied on the surface of the hair to create subtle to dramatic highlight or low light colour effects.

* Colour all: This is one of the most popular method applied by many when colouring at home. This method helps in changing the colour of your hair into something more desirable or fashionable. Many people apply this method to cover the grey hair and to restore the natural hair colour.  

Permanent hair colouring

Permanent hair colours have become one of the most popular colour products used in salons. It can add tone, darken, lighten and cover the grey hair in a single process.

* Basic foiling highlights/lowlights: Highlighting is one of the most popular techniques used to make warmer shades of hair colour go blonde. The highlights are often added to warmer tones, especially warm brown and red.

* Foil highlighting/lowlighting: This refers to the process of changing ones hair colour using a lightener or by placing and sealing the foil on the selected strand of hair by weaving or slicing out a section. Highlights brighten up tone and texture of the hair and lowlights soften and add dimension to the hair colour.

What hair colour is in fashion for highlighting?

* Go for the latest trend of combining warm and cool tones

* For light brown hair colour, you can opt for gorgeous highlights of blonde or ash blonde

* For subtle look on dark brown hair, go for caramel highlights not much lighter than natural colour

* Chocolate brown or caramel highlight will give soft effect on black hair

* For light to medium blonde hair, you can wear lowlights of classic blonde or any shade

 Tips for long lasting hair colour

1. To retain hair colour, use a good shampoo and conditioner

2. Cold water is ideal for hair as it helps to give shine and colour by blocking the cuticles

3. Use professional colours only

4. Use a moisturizer rich conditioner as it helps to control dryness of the hair after colouring

5. It is advisable to go for deep conditioning once in a week or every fortnight to keep the hair healthy enough  

6. Avoid using harsh shampoos that are meant to clear hair loss and dandruff treatments; they will strip off the colour quickly

7. Sunlight also works as natural bleach if exposed for extended period of time in case of vibrant and unnatural hair colours like red, blue and purple

8. Exposure to chlorinated water can turn blonde highlights into green tone and can also fade off the hair colour of brunette and red hues. Use a shower cap before getting into the chlorinated pool as it will soak less chlorine  

9. Use flat iron on freshly coloured hair after it is dried as it helps in locking the colour into the hair shaft

10. Excess use of alcohol based styling products can strip hair colour. Always look for alcohol free products

11. Glaze colours come in both colour boosting and clear formula. They give instant shine and depth to the hair. They prevent red colours from fading and give a rich look to brunette or blonde shades

12. It is mandatory to not wash hair for at least 48 hours after colouring  

10 tips for colouring hair

1. No matter what method you choose to colour your hair, you need the following stuff before colouring: hair colour, gloves, a plastic or glass bowl, a towel, conditioner and a wide-toothed comb

2. When you go to buy your colour supplies, stick with major brands

3. Don’t wash your hair for a day or so before you colour as a little natural oil on the hair protects the hair from chemical damage

4. As a beginner, one should stick to more subtle colours, one or two shades lighter than the natural hair to minimize the risk of lightening or darkening your natural hair colour

5. Brush your hair carefully before colouring your hair to have the best results

6. Before colour, it is best to test one strand and see the result

7. Smooth Vaseline along your hairline, ears and on the back of your neck to avoid your skin from colour staining

8. Wear old clothes with long sleeves to protect your skin from chemical damage.

9. Take time to read the directions on the colour kit entirely.

10. The colour should not stay on the hair beyond a prescribed time

11. If the colour is not mixed properly and in the right proportion, there are great chances of it fading out faster than its normal time.

Expert advice from a pro

For best results, get your hair professionally coloured by a professional colourist. If you prefer doing it at home yourself, read the directions on the label carefully and keep it for the prescribed time. Always use professional colours to add depth, dimension and shine to the hair and to avoid flat shoe polished look that an ordinary hair dye gives.

When it comes to start colouring hair at home or in a salon, always take your skin tone and eye colour into consideration while selecting your hair colour. If you choose to colour your hair at home, you should stick to more subtle colours, one or two shades lighter than the natural hair to minimize the risk of lightening or darkening your natural hair colour.

It always helps to give an idea of your desired look to your stylist, so that the stylist can find the perfect shade according to your look.

Q-My motor insurance is due for renewal. My car is now almost eight years old and I am planning to sell it. Will there be any problem while selling a car if there is no insurance?

-Tikendrajit Deka, Guwahati

It is illegal to bring out a car on any public road without third-party insurance. Hence, you will have to take at least third-party insurance. If your car is eight years old and if you did not claim from the insurer in the last three-four years, your policy will be enjoying considerable no-claim bonus. If you do not renew your insurance, you will lose that benefit. I recommend that you should renew your comprehensive insurance. When you sell the car you can transfer your current policy to the new car. This way you will save money on your new car’s insurance.

What is Cash Flow?

Cash flow refers to the inflow and outflow of money. It is a record of your income and expenses. Though this sounds simple, very few of us actually take the time out to find out what comes in and what goes out of their hands each month.

Cash flow planning refers to the process of identifying the major expenditures in future (both short-term and long-term) and making planned investments so that the required amount is accumulated within the required time frame.

Cash flow planning is the first thing that should be done prior to starting an investment exercise, because only then will you be in a position to know how your finances look like, and what is it that you can invest without causing a strain on yourself. It will also enable you to understand if a particular investment matches with your flow requirement.

So does it involve looking at future cash flows only? Not really. You should always do a cash flow for yourself as on date, and you will realize that you could have a potential savings amount within each month of your working life. This is the amount that you should look at saving for meeting your financial goals. The best way of doing this is to have a personal budget.

Why is it important?

There has never been a bigger need than today for families and individuals to work out cash flow plans. Without proper cash flow planning one could easily get caught in the debt trap. Of course, it goes without saying that creating a plan is not enough. One also needs to implement the plan, besides bringing about a change in the spending habits.

Cash flow plan brings you face-to-face with what you should ideally be saving, and investing in a systematic and regular manner, and what would it mean to you to withdraw from your portfolio after a couple of years. It brings down in numbers what your financial future has in store for you, and gives a crystal clear view.

The writer is the Principal Financial Planner at EconPenny. Readers may send their queries to dipankar.jakharia@gmail.com Ph: 09854089580

(Continued from last issue) On the other hand, she is also remorseful for her inability to find a way out of the present situation of worry and anxiety overtaking her young daughter. Moreover, she starts feeling that in her own life, she has no planned action and clear cut attitude as a result of which she also happens to be suffering. Yet inspite of all these, she realizes that she need to give a positive direction to her daughter’s life. Moreover, she feels that their present social status is not so despicable. Phulmoni recalls the story of her house maid, who after the death of her husband had suffered from poverty and deprivation. And to make her

condition worse, her own son and daughter-in-law had discovered her in that condition. And unable to stand extreme poverty and social insecurity, her maid had to handover her young daughter under the pretext of a fake marriage to a money lender of Afghanistan in return for some money. Her condition is now much better. She has now enough food to eat, a comfortable house to live in and a respectable position in the society. And reciprocating her mother’s views, Marry expresses that her father Collins is really an affectionate person whose company she always cherished. Thus, expressing identical feelings, both mother and daughter decided to give up the sense of disappointment and despondency and look ahead for a life of hope and happiness.

Dr Kalicharan Guha was a close friend and a well wisher of Rajib’s family. During his student life, Rajib had stayed at the Kolkatta residence of Dr Guha, which was situated in the elite Balliganj area of the city. Rajib’s entire expenses were born by Mr Collins as he was the son of a garden employee. At the request of Mr Collins, the doctor used to look after Rajib with special care considering him to be a member of his own family. Meanwhile, Rajib had learnt to speak the Bangla language at ease. (to be continued) (This is an English translation of the Assamese novel Cheneh Juri by Dulal Chandra Das)