A Lone Stranger

5 quick mood boosters Beat the blues and enhance your mood with these simple tricks According to a report by the Mental Health Foundation, a brisk 10-minute walk is said to up your mood as well as your self esteem while reducing anxiety and stress. Buy holiday or movie tickets: Psychologists at the San Francisco State University, discovered experiences that make one happier than objects because the excitement of buying something new fades faster than great memories. Arrange a night-out with friends: Research studies state that the happiest 10 per cent people prioritise relationships with family and friends. Instead of going out for usual meals, try doing something innovative, like going on a long drive or playing chess or poker at home. Decorate your home: One instant way of boosting your mind is by decorating your house. Whether it's buying flowers or decor items, you can do many things to ensure that you prep up your house. Do a good deed: When you do something vol...

Meet the onion family Red onions, shallots, leeks, spring onions, they form the basis of our cooking. Here's all that you need to know about them. They make us cry — all that tearing while chopping onions. Yet we go at it again and again, almost every day, cutting onions for our curries and qormas, biryani, pastas and salads. These tubes and bulbs make for the foundation of most of our cooking, and as garnish for the rest. We ask chefs to tell us their favourite from the onion family. Read on... Red onion Red onion is the basic need of the Indian kitchen, says Chef Bhairav Singh. "They are essential to traditional dishes like Mutton Rogan Josh, Sukka chicken, Pyaaz Tamatar ki Chutney, fish curry, Pyaz Kulcha..." These onions have a strong flavour and are mostly used for meat tenderisation, he says. Buying tips Never buy sprouted red onions, warns Chef Bhairav. "Go for the heavier and undamaged ones," he suggests. And avoid ones that feel spongy in you...

Crazy fitness fads (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images) Just like crazy diet fads that come and go, today we're discussing fitness fads that take gyms by storm for brief moments and then disappear. While it's a good thing to change workouts regularly, most good fitness routines should have a good mix of high intensity cardio, strength and endurance training and should develop flexibility. When fitness fads make you believe that only one particular movement is good for you, that's when you're asking for trouble. Fitness Fad # 1 - Expensive equipment like a treadmill or cross trainer at home. If you buy expensive equipment like an excer-cycle, Nordic track or a treadmill for your home, you are chained to it at least for the next few years. Investing in something like that means your workouts will be limited to that particular machine. Either you're using your machine to dry your clothes or you're cheating yourself by believing you're clocking in quality e...