Close Encounters

This issue is also a precursor to a very different kind of festival: Diwali. Nothing scary about that.

I had my first tryst with Halloween in Dubai last year, when the doorbell rang one evening (I had forgotten it was 31^st October), I opened it and was face to face with a bunch of kids from my building dressed up in Halloween costumes and masks (quite authentic-looking ones, I have to add). They wanted candy. I happened to have a stash of candy at home, so I obliged. After they left, the doorbell rang at least a dozen times more. "Trick or treat?" each time. I had to order for more candy from the supermarket downstairs halfway through. It was quite something: my first Halloween, in the celebratory sense. Earlier, my Halloween association had been only with movies. I remember my uncle telling me the story of the Jamie Lee Curtis-starrer Halloween when I was very young (of course, he had watered it down considerably, keeping my impressionable frame of mind in mind), and since then, my vague idea about Halloween had been it's that day in the year when all psychos (American ones, especially) turn into killers/slashers/axe murderers. But now I know differently. That doesn't, however, take away the core value of Halloween away: being spooked. What better way to be spooked than by listening to stories (you know, like the ones they would tell around the campfire at night, somewhere deep in the woods, and there would be a shadowy presence lurking in the background.) that actually happened to people we know?
This issue is also a precursor to a very different kind of festival: Diwali. Nothing scary about that. Diwali is all about lights, good food, family time, new clothes, and gifts. The overall nice, positive vibes feel. Enjoy our Diwali offerings. Let there be light in your lives.
I love truffles. They are too expensive to be had in the normal course of things, but, once in a while, it's nice to indulge in a spot of shavings or a few drops of truffle oil in your scrambled eggs. Our Travel piece takes us on the truffles trail along the Italian district of Piedmont. Some fascinating stuff there: like how dogs are trained to sniff out truffles. Enjoy the truffle travel tale.
In an age of live cooking and reality cooking shows, does a chef's screen presence matter more than his cooking skills? Well, maybe. Find out in Pursuits, as it pits Marco Pierre White against Gordan Ramsay. Bollywood checks out the stars who have entered the political fray - with or without success.
All this and much more. Enjoy reading wknd. and have a great weekend!