Aarav’s FIRST Birthday celebration

WOW! Almost 6 months since I have posted anything on my blog. I had been very busy in the first quarter of this year. We had planned a visit to India to celebrate my son’s first birthday with his grandparents. Last year, we had left India abruptly and came here to Nashville. We hardly have any friends here.

It was my thought from the beginning that we should celebrate Aarav’s first birthday with both his grandparents. I mean first birthday is the special one…the next birthdays will happen.

"Super why" blueberry cake

I wonder if I mentioned earlier, but he is a fan of this educational cartoon program “SUPE WHY”. So we decided to have a super why themed party; for which I pretty much bought all the decorations here in the US. His birthday banner, balloons almost 100, the super why character cut outs, plates and cups and spoons and fork – all with super why cartoons on them.

I had my brother-in-law in India to help and co-ordinate the party. I stayed there for 6 weeks; 3 weeks each at my in-laws and my parents in Baroda and Pune respectively! It was a trip to remember. Both his grandparents waited eagerly to meet him, play with him. 6 weeks flew by so fast! Well his entire first year has gone by so fast! He got used to seeing so many new faces all the time. He used to get scared and feel shy…by the end of my trip he learnt not to cry seeing new faces; yet didn’t go instantly to any new person. That is probably common to most kids.

"Super Why" theme party

We bought a Samsung tablet only to keep him busy on the plane with Super why episodes. Well actually I was travelling back alone with him, since my husband had only a 10-day vacation planned for himself. But my son as before too, did not trouble me at all. He pretty much slept though both ways.

By the time we started to India on March 18^th, he had picked up walking. He would walk 5-6 steps and then put his hands down instead of crashing badly. And by the time I returned he was a perfect walker! He got enough space and opportunity and people to take him out walking in India.

"Super why" coloring activity for kids

He played a lot with his grandparents, especially his grandfathers. He bonded with them easily. May be because they would let him play freely, as against grandmothers who like to cuddle more often; with his age of being a rebellious walker! J

My grandmother was there to spend time with him tooJ. She of course could not dare to pick him up, but she enjoyed playing with him at a distance.

As per Indian traditions, we successfully displayed his skills where he showed where the fan, light, moon, airplane, birds. Now it’s a coincidence that all his answers are the same – up, towards the sky! But he knows them correctlyJ. He got to see lots of birds in India, he pretty much screamed with joy every time he saw them. I thoughtfully taught him actions to “how do birds fly” and “how does fan work” – some new entertainment for the grandparents and more stories to brag aboutJ.

Color imaginations

Nowadays he has learnt to say few words – choose (shoes), train, truck, tar (car), dog. He can show A to D on the picture chart, Apple, Ball, Car and Dog. And off the sequence Onion, because he played with it often in my mom’s kitchen.

Those are the important updates from recent months. All in all, beautiful start to the year. 

One of the best things about Aarav’s birthday was this idea I implemented – a diary with hand-written best wishes from all near and dear ones on the occasion of his FIRST birthday. Something he will have to read when he grows up. I hope he will enjoy it as much as all the well-wishers did!

Double standard

Facebook is full of Sachin’s retirement.

“Sachin retired...people cried, disappointed blah blah. I know it’s such a loss to watching cricket now...I am a great fan too. I have enjoyed tons of matches watching him play. But somewhere it crosses my mind, as to how much we Indians are attached to public personalities! Everybody retires, OUR PARENTS retire, but don't ever see posts of the same! Nobody mentions how their parents felt when they retired. I spoke to my Father 3 months ago when he retired and how empty he felt that day. That he choked thrice at work while saying goodbye to the 'other' family he had for 30+ years! Cricketers, actors, politicians - they play such important roles in our life! We forget they are doing a job! Jai Hind!”

I posted this today on my Facebook. Very few had the same views and liked it; as most of them as still in the agony of the GREAT RETRIREMENT! Why do we have such double standards? Why don’t we see jobs as jobs! Actors are doing a job, politicians, sportsmen…all the same!

A couple years ago when YSR…Andra Pradesh politician died in a helicopter accident, I read about how one or more people committed ‘suicide’ because of the loss of a great politician! REALLY??? So for these people, their parents come later..beyond these money raking public personalities? We never read a news that a son committed suicide after his parent’s death! Why are we so obsessed with public figures? At the end of the day, Sachin did his job of playing cricket for the country, yes we are proud of his achievements as an individual and as a country, and yes he had to retire some day, so another Sachin has a chance…that Sachin could be one of our sons!

The hypocrisy behind loving him and hating…until last year people were fed up of him…openly saying why doesn’t he retire already? And when he finally does, people want to cry and miss him and tweet and compose a song! Truly, I wonder what Sachin thinks of all this!

My father-in-law retired in 2011 and we (my husband, me and my brother-in-law) has flown in to town to surprise him on his last day of work! I feel sorry that my father did not have this moment of joy, as I and my brother both are here in the US. But I did make it a point to talk to my father and enquire on his last day. He did seem very down, like a lost battle. But it ain’t that bad as he got an extension and started his work the next following day. Point is my father and mother are idols to me, and yes their retirement bothers me much than Sachin’s!

Some of the over dramatic posts on Facebook were –

Life se ek question khatam ho gaya ................."Tendulkar ne kitne banaye?"

There is nothing left in Cricket now, time to start following other sports.

Can FB/ twitter release stats? How much posts were there for Sachin's retirement? I bet more than Obama winning the polls

The Brits we miss!!!

Last week on the occasion of Ganesh Chathurthi, I was visiting my grandparents at my uncle’s place. My grandma had specially called me as she was planning to prepare some old delicacies especially for me. I have missed so many dishes that my mom used to make before I got married. Now I really don’t have the time and energy to make those.I finished my decoration, celebrations and prayers quickly.

Rangoli outside my house for Ganesha :)

Frankly Ganesh Chathurthi is such a grand celebration in Pune. I would start to decorate the Pooja room the previous night, with glittering party streamers, lightings, rangoli’s at each entrance…etc. I miss the loud celebration of Ganpati festival from Pune. Bringing the Ganesha idol in grand style from the store to your home, with the face covered, chanting Ganesha prayers. I am not a very religious person, but the only prayer I know is the Ganesh Aarti. I love it, the Sanskrit words and the tune of it! Miss all this now in Bangalore.

I reached my uncle’s place and they were close to finishing the entire menu for the day. My grandparents were making Kadabu, it’s a spicy item. Kinda like rice dumpling with spicy filling inside. For my husband it was new item. He has always eaten only the sweet version of it we call Modak  J.

After a delicious meal of varied items, we sat down just talking. Suddenly for some reason, I asked my grandma how old was she….82 she said…and grandpa was 84. So we eagerly asked “You were there when the Britishers ruled us. How was it then? Did they really harass you like we read in history books and see in the movies? ”Grandma said, “It was good then! They were very systematic, they had their rules. If you break the rules they would punish, else it was just a normal life style; it really wasn’t that bothersome. OR may only in big cities where there was struggle on, may be those people faced harassment. But we pretty much had a good time. And definitely better than the times today! These politicians who are running the country now are looting us. At least it wasn’t this bad during the British time. The Britishers are better any day compared to what is happening now in our country”.

Through my childhood, my dad used to always say that the Britishers shouldn’t have left our country; for we would have been a much better developed country. It was a mistake to fight for freedom and then take our country to dooms. The leaders who fought for freedom never came up with a proper plan of how to run the country. We know, all the technology that came into India was because of the Britishers. Railways, post office, schools and hospitals, eradication of so many blind belief and bad social practices. They brought these facilities for their easy of life in India… and it stayed after they left. So imagine if they stayed a bit longer we’d be a much developed forward country. True eh!

Now when we look at our country we are in such a bad shape. There is no equality in society; we have extremes of everything – rich poor, educated-illiterate etc. We studied how the freedom fighters sacrificed their lives for this country. Name one politician now who wants to do that? The congress govt. is a deaf govt. who is not listening to any needs of the common man. My civics book taught the govt. is “of the people by the people for the people”. So if the people don’t want this govt. anymore, shouldn’t there be simple way to remove them? How can the ruling govt. overpower the people? So where is the democracy in this democratic country?

Chicken tales

Fragile Chicken

My weekend was hectic travel one. I travelled from Bangalore to Salem to Mysore back to Bangalore. We went to visit my husband’s grandfather who is ill. My aunt-in-law who is taking care of him lives in a more village-like part of the Salem town. Like they actually have a well to draw water and have baskets of chickens.




 

Light colored babies



Water drawing from the well



Feisty Mommy!



It’s always been a small wish to hold chickens in my hand…and I did so this week..cute little black chickens…gosh! They are so adorable…and they are pretty loud when the squeak..and their tiny little wings! Very cute! When they were let out to roam..the view was beautiful; one black beauty – the mommy and 14 little baby chickens! All running and following their mom at all times. The mom would scratch the soil and dig out while the chickens would probably eat ants or something.

Artistically Dented

There was a moment when a dog came around…and man! The way the mom chased away the dog ….like in flash of a second…was a total Animal Planet scene. I always knew dogs are scared of cats, but this one was a shocker! A hen attacking a preying dog with open arms, literally! Poor dog..haha! Great motherly instincts!

 Life is quite simple in small town. I got to eat curry made from banana flowers; flowers that would eventually grow to become bananas! It tastes really good. The neighbors baby was laid on a simple cradle made of a long cloth..with a simple wooden seperator that also hold the twirling toy to keep the toddler busy! Super simple design!



Banana flowers for curry

 



 

And the well, I tried a few times to pull out water. Yes its fun J. But frankly these women using wells must have really good muscles! I mean really easy workout if you want to have toned arms! The little girl pulling our water performed a whole gymnastic activity with all her might pulling out a full vessel of water & picking and re-filling a pot. The vessel to dunk in was surely a piece of art! Still life art! The number of dents on it speaks of its journey! Totally funny to look though!

 Salem was hot as always, but not that bad. What’s surprising is how the temperatures across the border of Karnataka & Tamil Nadu change drastically! Like you suddenly have air conditioning the moment to leave Tamil Nadu and step into Karnataka. Bus ride to Mysore is beautiful. Mysore genuinely is beautiful with the green paddy fields, coconut trees, red Gulmohar trees, cool weather, less traffic and people (compared to Bangalore).  Visited the Nanjangud temple again with grandparents and uncle.  

Baby in the home made cradle

Life is quite simple in small town. I got to eat curry made from banana flowers; flowers that would eventually grow to become bananas! It tastes really good. The neighbors baby was laid on a simple cradle made of a long cloth..with a simple wooden seperator that also hold the twirling toy to keep the toddler busy! Super simple design!



Mysore Police....still living the Royal times!!!

Nanjanagud Temple

I think family get-togethers or short group trips are a good change for our routine life. It was a fun-filled weekend of travel, food, jokes and laughter. I wish travelling would be so easy w.r.t work days, leaves, transport availability, good company and good places. I wish we had a bus or train pass for lifetime and could travel anytime anywhere! What a fun life eh!

Facebook in India

Facebook is used in different ways in different places. When I lived in Seattle, I had colleagues who would be surprised when their bosses or team mates added them on FB. For Americans, Facebook is very private and personal. In fact at each new release of the social network, I see my American friends post about some particular privacy setting that will prohibit certain information on your profile to unknown or unwanted visitors! I mean they take the website so seriously! They take their PRIVACY so seriously!

Well we Indians!!! We love to brag and tell and update every small bit in our life to the whole world. It could be the smallest purchase to the biggest party or trip. And we have to have the largest number of friends on FB, gotta keep that friends count running up like the stock market! Even if you just met someone the first time at work, you are added to FB right away! Everyone is curious to see your pictures, your Info, your wall, your posts and then your replies!

And if someone adds me and I don’t respond then it’s perceived in the wrong way..like I am snotty! It’s the simplest thing that "I want to keep my privacy!" Why is it mandatory that I MUST accept a friend invite? And sometimes, I might be nice and add ONE colleague, but that then starts a chain of add request of his/her friends! So I add a colleague X and now I have to add X’s 5-10 friends too because we are all colleagues! Baaah!

It’s good to share news and info but how many of us think who is using the info we share. I see people displaying their Aadhar card snapshot on FB! Are you crazy! Aadhar card is the equivalent of SSN in USA. Everything is tracked through your SSN and it’s the most important number that you don’t share with anybody everrrrr! I know we are not sure how good Aadhar card is going to be..but at least until we know how it works, we should not be sharing it in public so carelessly!

Ultimate celebration

I was off for 3 days involved in the wedding of my sister-in-law. Weddings are the ultimate celebrations in India. It’s the ultimate showdown of everything you’ve got to put up a great show of everything to everyone coming for the wedding. The wedding card, the hall, the preparations, the food, the whole ceremony and the varied tension of getting things done the right way at the right time…the whole thing ends so quickly..it’s like a movie!

When we dropped in, all the cousins had reached..the big fat Indian wedding was on track…all aunts and uncles under one roof. No space is enough to accommodate all. All hands are cooking or cleaning or arranging something…things happen faster…food is ready and younger group sits for dinner first. Loving moms are busy feeding all the adult-children! There is one aunt sitting in the center of the hall and we all sit around her..while she distributes food to each plantain leaf! Couple of cousins share food in the same leaf..another couple too follows the same…brotherhood and sisterhood and spousehood…all in the same room! Suddenly one cousin wails..Amma….some rice…Ammaa…and all follow the lead…in chorus…Ammma….some rice ammmaa… (imitating the beggars when they beg for alms). Different moms react differently..while some moms can’t bear the joke of their kids begging another cool moms joins in our laughter!

So many girls…so many hands to fill with Henna. Not to forget moms and aunts! And the amount of work that will be blocked with henna hands. Night time is even crazy with so many people finding space to sleep. Talks and giggles seem endless after the lights are put off! Moms warning to go to sleep soon because we have to get up early next day! In my head I think and ask my husband, “I woke up early in my wedding…almost had sleepless nights! Then why be sleepless in other’s wedding. I mean why do Indian weddings events have to be so early in the morning…4am…5am???”

It is always fun to be the bride’s team. After all it’s the bride, people look at. Wedding day is the only day the bride looks so flawless, so decorated. Most girls realize that make-up indeed looks good on them. Even the most tomboyish girl loves getting dressed and made up! It is really so much fun to be a girl..the saree, matching jewelry, the kinds of jewelry, the hairdos makeup and the bright smile that lights up everyone!

South Indian wedding have their own glow of the rich, heavy, gold thread woven silk sarees, that display mutilple colors at different angles. The Indian obsession of gold jewelry is justified when they are worn on the beautiful silk sarees. The typical long plait of hair, with studded jewelry is perfectly traditional! The flowers in the hairdo, the colored glass bangles, the silver anklets all make the wedding so worth it!

The wedding day is emotional for all the women in the hall; when the groom ties the wedding knot the bride’s mom can’t hold it in…and almost of us (women) weep silently in our places. Young girls remember their wedding day..moving away from parents…moms remember giving away their daughters…it’s a mutual moment all women share and men miserably fail to understand to the extent of asking us “why are YOU crying now!!!” Duh!

It’s a sweet bitter moment for the bride’s parents..the joy of getting the daughter married but the pain of giving away the daughter you raised so dearly… <sigh>!!!!!

Wayanad – piece of heaven on earth



Steam coming off the streets after rain



Work has been very hectic, especially for my husband. After working on Diwali day, we decided to go away for couple of days. We initially planned for Ooty but on our way, we got to know that Ooty has heavy rainfall now..so on the go we changed to Wayanad. Stopped over in Mysore; met my grandparents, took my grandpa too with us. The drive from Mysore to Wayanad is a small drive of about 3 hours. By the way, Wayanad is a hilly small town in Kerala. Only in recent years it has been a tourist space because of Mysorians I guess! Mind you, there is a forest in between Mysore and Wayanad which has to be crossed before 6pm after which the forest department closes the entry gate until 6am. This is to not disturb the wildlife that crosses around. We made it well before 6 into Wayanad. So we drove to a Karapuzha Dam. The speciality of this Dam is that it is the biggest MUD dam in Asia. The whole dam, except the spill way is built in soil. It was very serene.

We halted in Sulthan Bathery as it is kind of the heart of the town. Next morning, we started off with a list of places to see from the pamphlet we bought. We started with the GanapathivattomTemple – Lord Ganesha Temple in Sulthan Bathery. Ganapathivattom was the original name of this place after which it got the current name Sulthan Bathery, when Tipu Sultan conquered this place! Then we drove to Edakkal Caves. These caves depict the pre-historic heritage of Wayanad. The cave was formed in the crevice of a broken rock and another massive rock. The carvings on its walls display the cultural practices of the Neolithic age.

Queen

We drove to the location which is very steep. We decided to walk up the 1km distance instead of the jeeps that go to and fro. I must say the way up to the caves is very very steep to climb and to get down. We stopped every few meters and continued. There is a small cave at the base above which the large cave rests and holds the stone-age carvings. There are at least some 50 or more steps that we have to climb up to finally reach the cave. We stopped mid way to look around and it was just gorgeous…thick dense forest till the horizon. It was like a scene from the Jurassic park! Finally when we reached at the entrance of the cave, we had to get down another 15 steps. All these steps are made now with strong metal pipes & stone steps. The cave has light coming in from the top…and at the start you see the carvings. There are numerous carvings of the King, a child, a Queen, wheels etc..showing life in those times. There is a rock with scripting that reads as “we killed tigers here to live in this cave”

The King, a child face

They are very detailed and clear carvings. And totally worth all that hiking up to the cave. From this height, we could also see the famous Phantom rock – A human shaped rock. Wayanad has lots of waterfalls, one of the famous ones is the Meenmutty Falls. We did drive to this place and walk down the fields of coffee and tea plantations..but half-way through we learnt that the falls are another 1km down the hill and we had our grandpa walking with us with great difficulty. So after almost a km of walk we decided to go back. But our mood got all adventurous when we accidentally saw one large spider and we got the bug of photography. We were clicking this once spider and we noticed there was another larger one next to it..and the awe and excitement went adding as we found 4-5 large spider, all very beautiful but still scary. I tested one of the web strings and it was really strong like a nylon string; pretty strong spiders and moved on before it gets scary like the Hollywood movies and once of us turns into a Spiderman! I would like to be called Spiderwoman if I did! But yeah we got gorgeous pictures – good enough for those Animal Plant geeks!

View from the Eddakal Caves

Next  we decided to see is the Banasura Sagar Dam. The drive to this dam was just scenic..with beautiful dense Tea plantation, low lying clouds..just showered wet roads. The place is just full of plantations estates of coffee, tea, black pepper and Bettel nut! The betel nut palms are so tall and straight..wow! Unbelievable and beautiful! The roads in the whole city are pretty good with some potholes sometimes, should be from this year’s monsoon.

Spider 1

Spider 2

Spider 3

Tea Plantations

Banasura Sagar Dam is India’s largest earth Dam. It is quite commercialized now since my husband visited it almost 6 years ago when there were no boating services then!

Beautiful landscape of Tea estate

I have to mention the people of Kerala was very nice..if not to generalize for Kerala, people of Wayanad. They are very warm and welcoming; very helpful in directing places. Unlike my experiences in Tamilnadu, here people speak Hindi very well; English - almost everybody does. I could sense my geography lessons from school all through my trip – Kerala is the state with highest literacy rate! Very well proved! Moreover they seem very hard working people. Typically I have seen Kannadiga men in Mysore and Bangalore who gather up in groups or 5-20 and gossip, which I find very weird. But Wayanad people always look busy, working, doing an activity. Another peculiarity of the place is that they always serve hot water in all the restaurants. Wayanad has a cold weather and hence they always drink warm water. The water also is rose pink in color. What I thought was potassium, turned out to be some Ayurvedic  wooden bark that is boiled with the water giving it that color and the strength to people to fight cold weather illness. And you can’t miss the traditional attire of the men here. They all wear the white pancha or colored lungi…these are kinda wrap-around skirt things that men wear. Men in my family also wear these but not on the streets. Wayanad people wear lungi’s as their official attire...The elegent ones are those white ones, let down all the way to the feet; the weird looking ones are those folded up to the waist & really crazy colors.

Gorgeous

The last spot we visited was Pookkode Lake. Beautifully set lake between mountains. It’s like a scene from the movies. We did boating for some 20mins..I am sure they’ve shot numerous bollywood movies here…if they haven’t it is an option for Ooty.

Tender Tea leaves - Remember the Lipton Tea commercial

Chembra Peak

Pookkode Lake

We started at 5 pm from the lake for Mysore and my husband forgot about the 6pm limit of the forest gates. We reached the Gate at 6.15 and the officials had already closed the gates. We had another car behind us. We went to the forest officials. The guy was kind and quick enough to let us go on a condition that when we reach the other end, we tell the officials that we’d crossed the gates before 6pm J. We had already thought we had to go back to Sulthan Bathery and spend another night. So we quickly made a move after giving our information to the officer. It was getting dark so quickly. We started off and in 10 mins it was pitch dark. We were quite scared especially my husband who was driving. In his head he was thinking what would happen if we have an elephant charging at us from the front. I have to admit the drive was scary…in the dark we could see twinkling eyes…and the first I saw a bunch of those yellow sparkling eyes..my mind thought of all animals like tigers, lions, hyena, foxes blah blah…to our relief those were a pack of spotted deers that we’d seen just few minutes ago before we entered the jungle. And then we drove past a Bison who was busy eating grub and not disturbed by our car lights. We had a little fox run across and then what seemed like an Owl that flew right above our hood. I guess it wasn’t very happy with the car lights. Pack of deers every few meters was always scary. It took us exactly 30 mins to reach the other end. All through the route we did see villagers walking in groups which made me wonder how cool are they about wildlife crossing! The dark ride still scares us a lot and we were glad we reached the other end without any wild event! You have to respect the nature.

Banasura Sagar Dam

Except for this one major mistake, we had a great trip to Wayanad and next time we go there we’d cover the waterfalls and make sure we have no oldies with us. J Enjoy the pictures of beautiful serene Wayanad.

Indian good vs Foreign goods

I got a mail forward speaking of how the Indian economy is in danger.

Before 12 months 1USD = INR 39

After 12 months, now 1USD = INR 50

It talks about how the Indian market is losing to western products; profits of the western products being sent abroad. And then a list of Indian products that we should use daily to beat the western ones. As I started to read the examples…I was feeling bad that yeah, we don’t use more Indian products or the fact that we don’t even know which products are Indian. But when I started thinking of the quality of the Indian products listed, I thought that the Indian products are nowhere close to their competitor and hence they can’t keep up. Simplest example said,

MILK POWDER:-

USE  INDIANA, AMUL, AMULYA

INSTEAD OF  ANIKSPRAY, MILKANA, EVERYDAY MILK, MILKMAID.

From my very recent experience, Amulya milk powder sucks. It was a waste of money coz it never made good consistent milk. I would be left with chunks of milk power which I had to filter out, they just wouldn’t dissolve. Try Everyday milk – no complains!

MOBILE CONNECTIONS:-

USE BSNL, AIRTEL

INSTEAD OF HUTCH

Don’t even get me started on BSNL. Last time I relocated within 2 streets in Mysore, the BSNL guys were beyond reluctant to even relocate our phone connection. With a full-fledged residential crowd around us, they made excuses of saying “we’ll have to see if we’ve got coverage in your area”. I was like “Dude, I see the BSNL phone box from the previous tenant in this house!!” For the laziness of the govt. organizations, we can’t complain of private/foreign competitors. In fact I think it is another scam where govt. offices make some commission letting the Private companies to flourish.

And there were a bunch of other comparisons like no western cold drinks, toothpastes, toothbrush, soaps, food like KFC, McD, Pizza Hut. Frankly, how is the govt. trying to develop pure Indian products that meet the need and quality of the common man? There is REASON why the western products do well. Indian market has never known the concept of ‘Customer is god’ or ‘Customer Satisfaction’ or ‘Customer Delight’ or ‘Quality product’!

Everyone wants to be patriotic; but to save the economy, asking citizens to use products that don’t meet the needs and quality is meaningless, in my opinion.

Relativity....

I have moved into Bangalore for a while now. Working and managing the house is difficult. In the US, vacuuming the house once in 2 weeks was more than enough. In India, sweeping & wiping the floor is required on a daily basis due to the amount of dust! I hired a new maid for utensils & cleaning the floor. I have a washing machine ….phew! What a relief!

A muslim woman, Salma was to join but she got her sister-in-law Reshma instead. Each of them has 3 kids; this I got to know on different occasions of casual chat. I was put to think. These women obviously don’t come from well to do families. The govt. has been encouraging 1 child since a decade now to control the exploding Indian population.

And here we have a community that multiplies even today like olden times. Of course we can’t point it out. It could be seen as a religious difference. Population control should come within to every Indian considering how will their child have a better future.

Now these 2 women have 6 kids…these will in turn multiply to 18…that is a lot! And the biggest concern in my mind is what will be the future for the 6 children they have now. The little ones go to school now, but obviously they won’t be able to support their higher education or even high school.

I forgot to mention my maid’s husband is bed-ridden due to an accident, that is why she is working in houses or her husband would have never let her work. L

 I watched the new show TerraNova on Star World yesterday. It’s a Steven Spielberg TV show so I want to really follow from day 1. It’s a futuristic show from 22^nd century set in some 2147 year. I’ll just share the gist of the first show. Our planet earth is unfit to live now. They use a ‘re-breather’ to live a healthy life else the polluted atmospheric air deteriorates their health. The atmosphere is dark and brown & dusty with no sunshine or greenery. The lifestyle in future is too systematic. It’s a world of Steve Jobs really! Everything is electronic and touch & magnetic & totally automatic! The system is run on very strict rules. The show starts with one of the basic rules – A Family can have a maximum of TWO children. Any more than two is a VIOLATION and is strictly punished. The main family in focus breaks this law and has a third child resulting in the husband being jailed. In the meantime the scientists and govt together have build a system that takes us back to the past in the dinosaur age like a time travel thing, where there is lots of sunlight and lots of oxygen. The basic plot is that humans have exhausted Earth to such an extent that it’s not a habitat that supports life or growth and the answer to our future existence is in the past now. And we try to use this second chance to not repeat our mistakes like wars, pollution, etc.

The reference of this show to my above discussion is pretty obvious, the rule per family to multiply. Though it seems unrealistic to make it a law, looking at the Indian population such rules might become a reality in the future, may be even before 2147!

Happy Dasara

Welcome

It’s the 10^th day after Navaratri celebrating Vijayadashmi also called Dasara. Leaving aside the mythological meaning of end of the demon and evil…blah blah… I vividly remember how we celebrated this day in my childhood.

It’s the day you wash your automobile. J Back then, each one of us in the society would have a cycle…a bicycle! We’d wash them like whose cycle is the cleanest…wash and scrub all the corners….the little bell, the handle, spokes and the metal rim of the wheels. Now if I think, there isn’t really much to wash in a cycle. But as a child, it’s your Kawasaki or Harley Davidson or a red sports car!

It would be more like a group event with all the kids washing their cycles! And later around 11am my mom would bring the plate with a oil lamp & incent sticks & the holy colored powders..we’d worship the cycle as a gesture of THANK YOU. And not just bicycles. We’d wash my dad’s scooter too. Every vehicle in the parking lot, on the streets, in the city would have marigold garland. J We’d have a garland of mango leaves at the entrance of the door. Indian traditions!

Worshipped all of them. Thank you Technology :)

We were taught to worship inanimate things like a vehicle! It’s a gesture of gratitude towards things that help you in your life. My mom would keep a book from me & my brother as a gesture of worship to Goddess Saraswati – Goddess of Knowledge & wisdom.

Today, I for almost the first time did all of these activities. I worshipped my Gas stove, TV, washing machine, fridge, Car & our bike. I was thinking as the technology increases we should be thankful to so many appliances say phone, microwave, blender etc. Right?

It’s my inner feeling of success when I worshipped to all these objects. I know it’s all material success and it’s no measure of an individual’s growth as a person. But still it makes us happy and peaceful to see how we’ve managed to grow up decently. When I washed my cycle, I probably didn’t care as much as I do today when I wash my car or clean my TV. There is a sense of responsibility. They represent little milestones in our journey. It’s always a big thing to have your first car or TV or a washing machine! There is certain belongingness….for now!

Happy Dasara to all J.

Bombe Habba – The Doll Festival



Dolls depicting story of Lord Rama

The 9 days festival of Navratri is on. The 10^th day will be the Daseera festival. During these 9 days is a festive season with food, colorful dresses, festive celebrations with musicals, dances shows etc. Mysore has a 10 day festival with public shows, elephant parades on the last day. People visit Mysore just to attend the 10-day festival. Though I am born in Mysore, I have never seen the actual festival. Simply because I never lived there through my childhood; and through the past two years I have been away during this time of the year. Each of the 9 days hold significance in the Indian mythology. During this time, people celebrate Golu or Bombe Habba by arranging various dolls depicting the culture of old India, the people from agricultural background, the kings and queens, dolls of various gods and goddesses.

Dolls depicting lifestyle, gods, art and culture

We were invited by my husband’s colleague for the Doll festival; quite unusual with a lunch invite. After the festive meal we went into their bungalow. The entire ground floor was filled with numerous doll so many that I think they would have a bedroom just to store these dolls. And what an amazing collection of dolls! They are a join family and have dolls from generations; clay and mud ones, wooden, metal, all kinds! And even to this date they add a set of doll each year to their collection.

Full stage of dolls

Like this year they ordered to make a set of 10 pieces depicting the life of Lord Rama. I had so much fun watching through all the dolls. They were like a museum of dolls! All well preserved and maintained!

And the mood was amazing; what a beautiful festival of inviting friends to come over and see the doll collection. And the whole family celebrates it; a different scene to see a joint family celebrate the festival so collectively and sharing the same hobby.

Medieval Times: Hampi Part 2

Sorry for this delayed post. I have been too busy at work & lack of internet at work also makes it difficult to keep up my blog. And there have been a lot of outings too. So continuing the journey through Hampi, next stop is at the two Ganesha idols called Kadale Ganesha and Savivekalu Ganesha. The names come from the look of the idol. The first Ganesha idol is monolithic. The shape of the ganesha looks like Bengal gram or channa dal. Kadale = Channa in Kannada. The idol is huge and enclosed inside a temple. The stomach of Ganesha has been cut on two sides by the attackers trying to remove it hoping to find gems under the statue. Again as this statue is broken, it is not worshipped.

Kadale Ganapati Temple

King Krishnadev Raya was one of the finest kings to rule Hampi. He loved art and literature. Most of the artifacts, temples were constructed under his rule. The Kadale Ganesha also has a stage with pillars and carvings on them which were constructed by him.

The second ganesha name comes from a mustard seed. Sasive = Mustard in Kannada. It is a smaller ganesha on the outside near the roads.

Kadale Ganapti

The next stop is to the famous Vitthala Temple. The department of archaeology have arranged battery driver carts to take people to the actual location – must be to avoid pollution around theruins. As we reach towards the gopuram of the temple we see two rows of stone stages – mantapa’s. These were the market yards in the medieval times. Merchants from the kingdom and from neighboring kingdoms would setup their markets and trade. Many of the stones have fallen off.

The gopuram of the temple is quite broken at the center..most of the art is also ruined. As we enter the temple it is MAGNIFICIENT! A huge area of stone temples, sanctums and the famous stone chariot. It is treat to the eye and a realization of the fine stone art of the 15^th century! 

Vitthala Temple

Outside the Vitthala Temple - Market stalls

The main temple is a musical temple, Sangeet Mantapa. The temple is made up of hundreds of pillars which when played with finger tips produce sounds of different instruments like flute, table, veena etc. In the royal times, the musicians would wear sandalwood rings on their finger & play the music. Even today in complete silence the music can be heard up to 50kms distance! The temple has numerous carvings, mainly different avatars of Vishnu, depicting the mythological stories. The stone carvings are so fine; the guide showed us multiple pieces 2 in1, 3 in 1, 4 in 1 sculptures in parts from different animals. There was a piece which showed an elephant, a horse, and a monkey all in one at different angles!

Musical Temple

I have a picture of a piece that has a Bull and an elephant when seen from left and right respectively.

Left side is a Bull and right side is an Elephant

On the right of the Sangeet mantapa is the Bhajan mantapa used for recitals. Another magnificent sanctum built out of stone & carvings! On the left is the Bhojan mantapa for serving food for everyone. Behind is the mantapa for royal meetings and gatherings. 

The Stone pillar producing music of different instruments

In the center of the whole area is the stone chariot- one of the total three chariots in India. Other two are in Mahabalipuram and Konark. The stone seems to be monolithic but is not. The carvings are made perfectly to hide the creases of the stone blocks. Originally the chariot had 2 stone horses attached too but they were destroyed hence a pair of elephants is placed in front of them now. But the hoofs of the horses are still seen on the chariot front. In the royal times the stones wheels rotated and were moved around. But now they have been sealed to prevent visitors from damaging it. The chariot holds Garuda bird (mount of Lord Vishnu). 

Stone Chariot