About Nasrul

Nasrul has been setting new standards as an author, photographer, editor, educator, and art director for more than a decade. Currently Editor-in-Chief at Light & Composition, Head of Department of Art and Photography, and Language and Linguistics at Light & Composition University, Nasrul started his professional career in 2000. A couple of years later, Nasrul made his debut into advertising and joined Grey World Wide, where he worked with well-known organizations such as Nokia, Coca-Cola, Bata, and Telecom Malaysia. In 2006, he joined Paper Rhyme, as Head of Interactive, and at the same time helped in establishing the advertising and event management firms like Spell Bound and Final Avenue. From 2000 to 2007, he also made 4 documentaries, 35 animated commercials, and more than one hundred high-end corporate websites. However, everything changed while he went on the Annapurna Circuit trek, in Nepal, Nasrul left advertising and became a full time writer and photographer.

He wrote books such as The Quintessence of Photography: Understanding Composition, for developing artistic vision, and The Essence of Close-up Photography, for developing the basics of photographic vocabulary and exploring close-up photography with an artistic touch. His other books are Illuminating Nature: Moments in Reflection, with vivid examples of nature and wildlife photography, and The Happy Children of the Third World, which touches on the meaning of life, to its core. Nasrul has published over 100 articles on various aspects of art, photography, language, linguistics, religion, and science.

A Network Management graduate, Nasrul spent his first two and half years in the Department of Computer Science. Once he became Cisco Certified Network Associate, followed by Cisco Certified Network Professional and Cisco Certified Security Professional, he chose to complete his graduation in networking rather than computer science.

After leaving advertising in 2007, Nasrul was craving to learn more about the science of language, and thus, completed his MSc in Applied Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition. Spending most of his time studying, photographing, researching, and traveling through different cultures, which drew Nasrul closer to people, life, and nature. He also researches and studies different religious’ scriptures in their original language using today’s established science, in order to understand the meaning of life. Nasrul’s research on science and religion helped him accept Islam.

Entries by Nasrul

Indian Bay Leaf

Commonly known as Tej Patta, tejpat, or Tamalpatra in Indian subcontinent, is used to flavor various Indian curries and rice. The leaves have slightly aromatic flavor like cinnamon. However, this is not that bay leaf commonly used in western cooking. Even though they are from one of the group of Cinnamonum trees, within the Lauraceae family, which is native to India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China, but Indian bay leaf gives a different taste than bay leaf, when you use in your recipe.

The style of using Indian bay leaf is different too, when cooking, dried Indian bay leaves first browned in the oil to increase the aroma. It is also known as Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, or malabathrum, and used extensively in the cuisines of India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan, particularly in the Moghul cuisine of North India and Nepal and in tsheringma herbal tea in Bhutan.

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Carom

Commonly known as Ajwain, Ajowan, or Jowan, carom are tiny fruit pods that has very strong flavors that smells and tastes almost similar to Thyme, anise and oregano, because it also contains thymol, but is more aromatic and less subtle in taste, as well as slightly bitter and pungent, even a small amount of fruit pods tend to dominate the flavor of a dish. Usually dry roasted lightly at first, or tempered in hot oil or ghee to season a dish. It has an oval shape, resembling caraway and cumin. In Indian cuisine it is often part of a baghaar, a mixture of spices fried in oil or butter, which is used to flavor lentil dishes. The plant is mainly cultivated in Iran and northern India.[4] Rajasthan. Besides culinary uses, it is used for medicinal purposes to aid in digestion and also as an antiseptic.

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