And sorry, I just get so emotional about that. And "Monsoon ," I could have written at any point. But then I reached that stage where I thought that, now is the time to write, because now is the time when I have the ability
So biological also-- it's 18 and16, which is much less than the standard specification. The monsoons hit against that, now it's lashing like anything.
And the most important thing is less is more. And so in "Monsoon ," the first few pages I go through how do you cook with spice, how do you use water. People get that wrong, the use of water when you're cooking.
Everybody wants to eat what everybody else is eating. I hope in "Monsoon " you will find some nostalgia. You'll find memories. Even if you thought you'd forgotten about them, through the whispering tones of what I'm describing to you,
But no one is looking at the person who's cooking. And I think that "Monsoon " really is a story about that person, male or female, but the nourisher in your family and how you need to, now, become someone who's nourishing yourself.
We are still in the Victorian drainage. So every time monsoon -- full, all the areas are flooded. You know, knee level, not even so you can walk around.
There is an ancient tradition in India called Chaturmas. During the monsoon season, we know that the digestion tends to slow down. And so, in this season,
By December this lake is ready. And by this monsoon -- this photo is taken very latest-- this full of capacity lake got filled up this June. So you can also see one small well there.
And I got a chance to be her music intern. She was working on "Monsoon Wedding the Musical," a Broadway show in New York City. And when I was working with her, I realized that passions are supposed to be pursued full-time.
I had, as an 11-year-old boy, seen the work of Brian Brake, who had done this incredible essay on the monsoon . So I had lived through two monsoons . I thought, this is a dramatic moment.
Well, I've always hated being timid. I remember in the monsoon , I tried to avoid getting into the water. Because in the water there are dead animals, and there was all kinds of crap in the water.
And so we tried taking a Jeep on dirt tracks. And the monsoon had just started when most of the rain of the year falls. And we got about 10 miles towards the reserve and we got stuck in a river, had to winch our way out.
So we'd rather burn it to completion than just dump it outside. And during the monsoon season, for instance, in India, or in the evening, that's obviously a challenge.
And I was just astonished at how incredible this country was. I lived through two monsoons . I had, as an 11-year-old boy, seen the work of Brian Brake, who had done this incredible essay
mountain or far away on a different continent and it's also available sometimes the wrong time of year in India all the fresh water comes in one month during their monsoons but not the other 11 months so we spend energy to get it to the right place our homes in the right form fresh water at the right time of year which is whenever we want it so there's energy there to overcome
Shifting precipitation patterns around, a lot of some modeling has shown that putting particles in the stratosphere will have an impact on the rainfall in the Amazon and in some of the monsoons and that you begin to shift rainfall patterns around, you begin to shift agricultural food growing patterns around; could have huge impact on millions of people, obviously. But the key thing to think about with this is that it's not like we're, this is a virgin planet, we're already going to be shifting around precipitation
Always wanted to climb a tree to take a picture. Always liked kind of the elevated perspective. They get monsoonal rains and it's very dry for most of the year but when it rains they get hosed and it doesn't really fit.
The name of the book, "Monsoon ," it really-- I mean, I was born in July. So I was born in monsoon . And the time in Kolkata when, in the '80s when it rained-- and of course, every family is cursing the British.
knowing that people are still going to continue to go to the mountains, but to have the good training and allow people to have better skills. They generally work pre and post monsoon , and then during the summer they're attending their land and their flocks of yaks
CO2 isn't one of them. Minister at a time when the monsoon turned off and have a billion people are starving, would be remiss in not mentioning the option.
over his eyes. He surveys the kitchen, mor--mouth corners dragging lower. It's always depressing to come into these scenes. "Well, they were all inside when we broke down the door." I nod absently as I shake monsoon water from my hat. "Great, thanks." Liquid beads scatter on the floor, joining puddles of wet from the pop squad along with the maggot debris of the spaghetti dinner. I put my hat back on. Water still manages to drip off the brim and slip under my collar, a slick rivulet of discomfort. Someone closes the door to
And I took my camera with me. But I had never experienced the monsoons before.
So there are some egg recipes in here because this is very much the monsoon . But for me, "Monsoon " is deeper than just the season. The fact that all of us-- no school.
dynasties collaps at a time coincident with drought that research was just published eight years ago and the way they discovered this they went into caves in the western reaches of where the monsoon gets to in China and found stalactites these mineral deposits accumulating dropping down from the ceiling and the mineral record was a year-over-year record that lasted 1,800 years that let the scientists know how
And he described going down to the river during monsoon season, going down to the river, rolling up their trousers, trying on these leech
And I took my camera with me. And that summer I went out and shot the monsoons out in Arizona and came back with this.
We don't invest in ourselves anymore. And I think that-- I'm hoping that people will cook from "Monsoon ." Oh, wow. That's so powerful. I love thinking about your book as an homage to the matriarch, to all this invisible work that the lineage of all
Can you speak to how you find food plays into nostalgia and memory and how you hope to transport your readers into these moments with these recipes? The name of the book, "Monsoon ," it really-- I mean, I was born in July. So I was born in monsoon .
And then whatever price he asked for the eggs, you bought. So there are some egg recipes in here because this is very much the monsoon . But for me, "Monsoon " is deeper than just the season.
And during this time, I was interviewing Mira Nair, who I'm sure many of you know. She's an Oscar-winning film director known for movies like "Namesake," "Monsoon Wedding," "Salaam Bombay." And I got a chance to be her music intern.
even though they use umbrellas and there are foggy times during the monsoon season, and pollution,
The number six seems to play a big role in your book, where recipes are categorized by the six Ayurvedic flavors-- sour, tangy, spicy, sweet, salty, bitter-- and the six Bengali seasons, as you said-- summer, monsoon , fall, dry season, winter, spring. Can you elaborate how the reader can go through incorporating the Ayurvedic flavors and seasons into their cooking and, specifically,
And speaking of nostalgia that you brought up, that's so woven into cooking, there are so many beautiful essays, throughout your book, remembering specific moments throughout the season, like the relentless downpour of the monsoon , the closing of the bazaars in rainy day lunch. Can you speak to how you find food plays into nostalgia and memory and how you hope to transport your readers into these moments with these recipes?
And we used to have all these battles. But I think, especially now, "Monsoon " is a reminder about how suffering can end and darkness
And we used to have all these battles. So Asma will be making shadha bamdhakopi from her book, "Monsoon ," which is cabbage with nuts.
And then, every year, the monsoon arrives.
It's no joke. So I went to India weeks before the onset of the rain, because I wanted to get the build-up of the heat, the dust, the hot wind, which is the prelude to the monsoon . And so I was driving to the desert going between, I think, Jodhpur and Jaisalmer, and this enormous dust storm came up out
the hot wind, which is the prelude to the monsoon . Well, during the dry season, just before the monsoon , the government has these programs where they employ thousands of villagers
the hot wind, which is the prelude to the monsoon . And they're playing there, having a great time during the monsoon , and not a care in the world.
hospitable because the shorelines were battered by storms, by what geologists call mega monsoons ,
Can we just fix the Gulf Streams, or the monsoons , or something like that?
It might be possible to do some versions of solar geoengineering that target particular areas, like monsoons .
At about 5,000 feet in the very eastern Mojave Desert, you get monsoonal rain, which makes it incredibly lush, and high enough elevation that you
Asma was also included in "TIME 100" as one of the most influential people of 2024. We are so excited to be with her, today, to discuss her new cookbook, "Monsoon , Delicious Indian Recipes For Every Day and Season," a masterclass in the flavors of Indian cookery.
And thank you for everyone who's taken the time out to come. I'm very grateful. So we'd first love to hear-- can you take us through the process of launching your cookbook, "Monsoon "? What was the catalyst for coming out with this cookbook, and what was the inspiration behind it?
And we used to have all these battles. You feel like you're back, with the scents wafting through the air, in the monsoon .
which sounds very hyperbolic. But it is what they were. They were supersized monsoon systems.
Um you see tend to see a lot less rain across, um Brazil and the Amazon. Um you see disruption to the monsoon season in
very accurate. And are there things that you think that we should be preparing now in advance of this looming diagnosis monsoon that
Another magical image-- how did this come about? Well, as I say, I was really inspired by Brian Brake, because the monsoon was such a dramatic weather event. It was either too much rain and you had floods, or not enough and you had drought.