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Nipuna: A cooking school for women

Do you relish the prospect of having to cook or do you dread it because your culinary skills are poor? If your answer is the latter then you need not worry any more. After all, you can go to 'Nipuna' and become an expert at cooking in no time.

Dilara Timir, the wife of renowned singer Timir Nandi, established 'Nipuna' in 1997. From her childhood Dilara Timir was very fond of cooking. Her elder sister was extremely talented at cooking, and so in her younger days she used to watch her sister cook. Even during her University life she managed to hold onto her passion for cooking. Her friends and relatives used to regularly praise her culinary skills after she treated them to various delicacies that she had prepared by herself. However, at that stage of her life she never contemplated about becoming a cooking instructor. It was only after she got married that she realised that she did not want to be a simple housewife, but wanted to do something meaningful with her life. After pondering over what she could do, she set up 'Nipuna' at: D-28, Block-E, 1st Floor, Zakir Hossain Road, Mohammadpur.

At 'Nipuna', Dilara Timir primarily offers twelve courses on cooking. They are: special thai, chinese, cakes, mughlai, special pakistani biryani, special snacks, ice cream, confectionery, dessert, special halua, kebab & sweetmeat. For each course she charges her students TK 1000. About 10-14 items are taught in every course. For instance, in the special thai course she teaches how to make: thai hot soup, thai soup, special thai rice, grilled chicken, spicy pomfret, thai fish cake, thai chicken mushroom ginger, thai chowmein, chicken saate, thai mixed vegetable, thai chicken red curry, thai cashew nut salad, thai chicken chilli & thai chicken cashew nut. It is worth mentioning that in addition to her main twelve courses, Dilara Timir also offers supplementary courses on: special juice, lentils, vegetables, parathas, chicken curry, salad preparation and microwave cooking.

Dilara Timir's cooking school has already proved to be immensely popular. This is clearly reflected from the fact that some of her students travel all the way from Kaliganj to learn cooking from her. Another interesting aspect about her school is that although the vast majority of her students are young women, even aged women attend her classes. Presently, her oldest student is 69-years-old!

So, what are you waiting for? Without further delay, get enrolled at 'Nipuna' to add a touch of delight to your dinner table.

By Sayeed Mahmud Nizam

Contact lenses
Many of us are reluctant to wear our spectacles because we feel that we would look like a geek if we do so. However, by not wearing them we end up doing even more damage to our eyesight than had initially been the case. A way out of this Catch-22 situation is to use contact lenses because they enable us to take care of our eyes without marring our radiant looks. There are two types of powered contact lenses. They are: colourless & coloured. Colourless contact lenses cost TK 1400, while coloured ones cost TK 2900. For those of you who are dissatisfied with the colour of your eyes, you can use powerless contact lenses to obtain the eye colour of your choice. Powerless contact lenses cost between TK 900-TK1300. All of these contact lenses are available at the New Market branch of Fashion Optics.

Table lamp
Many students do serious damage to their eyesight by studying in insufficient light. Parents would do a huge favour to their wards if they bought them a table lamp. The light produced by a table lamp is excellent for reading purposes, and it ensures that their wards do not develop eyesight problems. At Aslam Trading Agency (Purana Paltan & Gulshan), both local and foreign table lamps are being sold. Their prices range between TK 200-TK600.

Aquarium
An aquarium full of goldfish is aesthetically pleasing. Also, by gazing at the fish you can kill time when you have nothing better to do. Therefore, you should seriously contemplate about purchasing an aquarium and a few goldfish for your home. At Matshya Mela (Katabon), various sizes of aquariums are sold. For instance: 1.5 feet, 2 feet, 2.5 feet, 3 feet & 3.5 feet. These aquariums are sold in the range of TK 750-TK1800. It is worth mentioning that a pair of goldfish cost about TK 150.

Modems
Although broadband connections are available, the vast majority of us still use a dial-up connection to connect to the Internet. An indispensable accessory to have a dial-up connection is a modem. There are two types of modems. They are: internal & external. One advantage of having an internal modem is that they are inexpensive, while an advantage of an external modem is that if a problem develops with the modem than the whole casing of the CPU does not have to be opened. At Choice Computers (Elephant Road, Phone: 8622861) an internal modem is sold between TK 500-TK850, and an external one is sold between TK 1750-TK4500. Please note that the prices quoted may change due to market conditions.

Dinner set
Delectable food must be served using a dinner set. A good-looking dinner set makes the whole experience of eating even more enjoyable. At Gramsico (Elephant Road) some excellent dinner sets can be purchased. A 32-piece dinner set is being sold between TK 1750-TK4500, while a 52-piece dinner set can be bought between TK 3350-TK8300. Besides purchasing a dinner set for your own home, you can also present one to a friend or relative on their wedding.

Cooling gadgets
In recent days the heat has started to become unbearable. With summer yet to arrive, the mercury level is set to rise even further. To gain respite from the sweltering heat, it is absolutely imperative to have a ceiling fan at home. 'National' is a renowned brand for ceiling fans and it is available at electrical stores all over the country. There are two types of 'National' ceiling fans in the market. A fan made from steel costs about TK 1000, while one made from aluminium costs TK 1200. If you have a bit more cash to spare you might be interested in purchasing an air conditioner. At Samsung Sales & Display Centre (National Stadium Market) a 1-ton AC is sold for TK 28000, a 1.5-ton AC for TK 31500 and a 2-ton AC for TK 38000.

By Sayeed Mahmud Nizam

 

 

Essentials Special

Shahbag fountain
According to a news item published in the Daily Star of April 05, there is a plan to rebuild the Shahbag fountain demolished only a month ago. This activity in the name of beautifying Dhaka and traffic management is becoming more and more confusing. Chaos is reigning in all the places where there were roundabouts. If there are plans to rebuild it all over again, then why in the first place demolish it?

Squeezing out life
In another news (12 April) it was revealed that a perfectly healthy city requires at least 25 percent of open space from the total area. Dhaka City has only 17 percent. Unplanned urbanisation is already squeezing life out of the dwellers. Yet we see more high-rise buildings blocking the tiny bit of sky that was visible. There is no place left where a person can stroll around and enjoy the nature. Residential areas are losing all the open fields that used to be children's playground. They are growing up playing in the rooftop and balconies. This unhygienic state is alarming and something needs to done about it.

Tow truck needed
Dhaka City is full of unfit vehicles. Sometimes these vehicles break down in the middle of the streets. Usually it takes hours to get a tow truck and move the vehicle. Broken down local bus occupying busy thoroughfares creating heavy traffic jam is a very frequent sight. This is because we have only a few tow trucks that do not meet the need. Most of the times the job is done manually meaning labourers pushing from behind to move the object aside or tying it with another vehicle and then pull it. This process is highly inefficient. More tow truck obviously means a field of potential business opportunity.

Did you know…
that 90 percent of Dhaka's vehicles are driven by fake licence holders? (The Daily Star April 12) The figure is horrifying indeed. These drivers pose a great risk to the passengers. The BRTC and the BRTA launched several awareness programmes but it turned to be huge failures. Most of the offenders including the BRTA officials responsible for issuing fake license go unpunished. If awareness programmes do not work then punishment should be introduced for the drivers. Sending them to mandatory training curses could be one of them.

By Shahnaz Parveen