After almost 5 years of battling indecisiveness (which comes quite naturally to me by the way:), I finally did it. I rebranded my blog. Roz Ka Khana is now The Mindful Veggie.
If I were to explain why I did it after all these years in a few words – it just wasn’t me, anymore.
As I look back over the years that I have been blogging, I know I’ve undergone a transformation of sorts – something I’m sure has rubbed off on the blog’s content.
My original reasons for starting Roz Ka Khana in February of 2008 was to record traditional recipes for posterity, family traditions and keepsake recipes. This part has not and will not change. The issue was that in hindsight this intent didn’t really resonate with the name. I chose Roz Ka Khana then because I thought it was better than calling it wwwmyname.com and to be honest I wanted a domain name I could sell down the road:). It was probably the one name that came to mind as I used to watch a cooking series and the top Indian chef used this name a lot. So there you have it. It wasn’t original and it didn’t have the right intent. Two things that are key to choosing your blog identity:)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not dissing the name after all these years and I don’t regret the fact that it’s taken me so long to change it. I have learnt a lot about myself and the blog’s purpose over the years. I was also starting to get too comfortable with the name and resisted any change. It’s just that the goals and priorities have shifted. While the essence of the blog stays the sameas I mentioned above, there is a much broader appeal to the content that I have been trying to nurture than just Indian cooking and recipes. I’ve realized that however “go with the flow” you want to be and can be, there are certain things you gravitate towards that reflect your niche and passions.
Moving to Singapore 3 years ago has been the best thing that has happened to me in terms of personal growth and (re)discovering my interests. I discovered the world of green smoothies, juicing, healthy eating and living, a mostly plant based diet, consistent exercise, meditation, yoga, Reiki, and the effect of nutrition on the mind, body and soul. These have all been experiments on myself. And the result has been extremely palpable. I’ve learned to be more mindful of what I eat and how it affects my emotional and physical well being. I’ve learned that there is so much to vegetarian food across the world that is waiting to be discovered and savored. And that every morsel has its own energy meant to be channeled. How does all this connect and how do we apply these to our traditional cuisines, Indian food and the recipe secrets handed down from our parents, family and friends?
So, after a lot of contemplation, I introduce to you “The Mindful Veggie”. A blog about healthy eating and living. Mostly Indian. All vegetarian.
I will continue to capture the traditions and recipes of our mothers and grandmothers handed down to us because there is nothing healthier and truer than what our ancestors cooked and fed their families. A majority of Indian, specifically South Indian recipes are gluten free and vegan and they’ve all been there for eons, just not packaged and handed to us in that way.
So join me in this journey of mindful eating, nurturing and self discovery. I hope you find this as relevant and enjoyable as I continue to share my experiments.
Some housekeeping pointers for those following the blog on various channels.
Email subscribers of www.rozkakhana.com will automatically continue to get alerts on new blog posts. WordPress followers may need to manually follow me on themindfulveggie WordPress account as well to continue getting the posts in their newsfeed.
The Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles will change in about 2 weeks time. If you have bookmarked www.rozkakhana.com you will automatically be redirected to the new url www.themindfulveggie.com. This is a slower process than I had expected on the technology front so do bear with me as we make this change across the digital channels. And please do spread the word:).
I have enjoyed your recipes down and the years and loved your blogs, but to be honest, it was the name that drew me in and brought back the memories and nostalgia of my mothers kitchen…
sadly the new name does not do anything in terms of visual or other appeal to me, it sounds like just another site, I understand your need for change, but not the loss of identity.
HI Monica – thanks for your candid feedback. I can assure you that the recipes and the essence of what this stands for does not change. As I mentioned I will continue to write about the traditional recipes and recreate the nostalgia in the write up – its just that while the name may have “aligned” itself to the content over the years that wasn’t the reason it was chosen so didn’t ring true to me. This wasn’t a need for change because I was bored of the name or something it was akin to choosing something in haste and trying to live with it for years which didn’t feel comfortable. I hope you will see that in future posts. There are numerous little kinks to be fixed in the look and feel so I request you to be patient as I try to “settle in” in the new home. Thank you for all your support so far.