A Message For Indian Women: Break Those Rules...One At A Time!

Hi there,

My blog is mainly about how I go about my life, doing whatever, taking pictures along the way. I tend to have clear views about society and its absurdities, but I normally keep them to myself. As long as I am the queen of my own home and world, I am at peace, trying to make you see how little things add most value to life while you girls are searching the internet for answers on small issues like 'can girls wash their hair on amavasya?' (because that makes this My most popular post). Nah, do not feel bad. I have been there too! So I know these small issues can really add up to become a huge problem in our lives. 

If you are an Indian woman who is resourceful enough to find a computer with an internet connection, educated enough to type those words in English and smart enough to look for the answer on the internet, please understand that you are very fortunate, a gazillion times more than the average Indian( including all genders) to have all these resources, i.e. money, brains and time. Now the responsibility lies on you girl, to use them to do something worthwhile and productive. 

Yes, of course you can wash your hair on any day if you want to. It is your own hair. Believe me, the sky is not going to fall. God has better things to do than punishing someone for being hygienic, and if He (or She, who knows!)  is ever in a bad mood, the world has no dearth of criminals roaming on the streets. 

If you still have doubts (which you have, i know), here I am. I have done it all. I have experimented with my own hair and washed them on every single day of the week, and bam! nothing happened. I put to risk my own jars of homemade pickles and touched them with my bare hands, during my periods. Those jars are doing just fine. I also touched my plants and they are still green and flourishing.

By the way, I can be almost sure, if you have typed this question to reach here, you are a woman. I have never seen any guy who is ever bothered about this. Getting my point? You cannot go backwards and forwards at the same time. So set your priorities, whether you want to move ahead with everyone else, or let such ridiculous stuff pull you back.

And just chill. Shake off the notion that the gears of the universe run upon the amount of grease in your hair. If you really have to ask, ask correct questions which we all can be proud of. All the best to you.

Cheers!

Happiness is....

1. Having a cup of strong tea in the afternoon, or whenever I feel like.

2. ..receiving gifts of any nature, preferably edible gifts.

3. ...coming across a lovely place on a road trip.

4. ...watching lovely plants grow in my garden.

5. ...buying random stuff for home, with no particular need, bringing them home and looking at them, rather staring at them, again and again.

6. ...feasting my eyes on knick-knacks around the house.

7. ...mmm, eating scoopfulls of orange marmalade, anytime during the day(or night)!...Going to have one right now!!

8. Watching lovely birds (here, white crested laughing Thrush, as National Geographic told me) around the garden, chirruping sweet notes.

9. Spotting Coco's stuff lying around messily, reminding me of his playfulness.

10. ...coming to know that exotic fruits are growing on their own in forgotten corners of my garden!

...and a lot of them!

Being randomly happy is the best thing in the world. Often it comes out of sheer laziness ;)

Gifts from Banaras-I

The last week of the last year saw us in Banaras. And we found out that every year it is the time for flower show and art exhibition in BHU. We have been looking for a picture/poster/painting of the famous Ghats of of the holy city since forever. What could be better than an image of the iconic Ghats to symbolize where we belong to? After a lot of looking, we found out that the lovely frames of Varanasi Ghats carved in metal available in souvenir shops always have a tiny Shivling in a corner. I believe that God should not be displayed in living areas. I only wanted the picture for its aesthetic value, not wanting to get a religious view about it.

So when we found out that the Art Department of BHU is holding a sale of paintings by their students, with our hopes soaring, we visited the venue, The New Vishwanath Temple, which is a place of religious and tourist importance. On the grounds of the grand temple were scattered these colorful artworks by budding artists. Visitors to the temple stopped to look at them out of curiosity or genuine interest, clicking pictures, haggling with the students or just passing some idle time.

I was feeling a little blue that day, but one glance at the scene and my mood did a U-turn instantly. It was my dream-come-true kind of scenario, where not only I could look at so much beauty just lying around on the ground, I could also pick up the coveted Varanasi Ghats' images for my home, so that when somebody comes to my home, I could proudly show them where we are from.

And after some looking around, we did finalize two watercolor works by different students and brought them home. Then, when we came back from Varanasi, I waited till the paintings were framed and replaced the earlier Papyrus paintings which had bored me to death.  Such a change, and great feeling!

Oh, while we are talking about Banaras, let me reveal to you the identity of a true Banarasi babu or babe. While others say 'Ganga', he or she would say 'Ganga Ji'. Always.

Coco's Sankranti Celerations

What?!! Are we looking into a river? An ocean? Where else do you see such bluest blue? Its the sky here!

Yeah, look again! Not a single fluffy white spot in sight, the sky is as clear as it gets. After a single rainy day, which was due to the fact that it snowed in Mussoorie, and we are in the neighborhood, it is all clear again today. All the more glory to our Makar Sankranti celebration here.

While I was mostly overjoyed that my  annual ritual of making 'Til ke Laddoo' saw another booming success, the boys had a unique plant..er.. plan.

My husband found out that Coco loves to 'Gadan' (Garden), he brought home two saplings, a Jamun and a Guava and both of them had a little gardening fest with media cameras (Ahem, me!) clicking away snapshots.

And thus we felt good that someone might enjoy their fruits one day. Coco was mostly feeling good that he could get to hold fistfuls of soil and throw it randomly without mommy frowning.

Sunny Side Up

                                     

Hello there! A lot has happened in between my last post and today. The calendar has changed for starters! So wishing you a great year ahead. Stay happy and keep visiting this place. :)

The weather in these parts is awesome. While the rest of Northern Plains are shivering in a foggy winter, we get some respite with the bright sunshine and clear weather. The above picture was taken yesterday, in a moment of wondering how much bluer the sky could get here! Though we got our share of rain showers last week too, it was not too much of an impact.

Meanwhile we are making our hay while the sin shines.. ;) I mean, we enjoy our daily routine of bean bag-tea-knitting-playing-running in the garden, which has also been planted with flower plants and we hope to see some flowers by next month.

This time the project is for myself, and I am really happy with this colour and the feel of this Oswal Moher-lon yarn, which is a blend of Mohair and nylon ( my best guess). Best part is it is quite photogenic :D. Being the follower of a few foreign craft blogs, I often wonder about the sad state of yarns availability in India, and the sadder state of knitting. No information is provided on yarn labels, and the sellers are equally uninformed. In the past month I have visited 3 handicraft/handloom fairs and have seen what they are selling in the hand-knitted sweater shops and am really disappointed. 

Anyways, my last project which was a red sweater and beret for my sister was successfully completed and delivered and liked by the recipient. I just could not get a decent enough picture of it clicked and would hope that she would get one for me.

On that note of great hopes and expectations in this year, I once again wish happy sunny days ahead for everyone.

Of Lemons And Leopards

I live in a place which gives me the feeling of staying in a forest resort, all year long. Trees, birds, flowers...Yesterday, this awesome Hornbill paid a visit to my garden, where I was lounging on my bean bag, paying close attention to the surrounding sounds. In the past week or so, I am enjoying my time in the garden less and paying more attention to the surrounding details. Care to know why? Read on..

 As soon as winters arrived in these parts, it became an integral part of my routine to spend some leisure time in the garden, preferably with a piece of knitting and a cup of tea. Though this place is really cold, with snow capped mountains in view, the sun shines blindingly bright and sharp in the clear azure sky.

 So, my current project-in-the-garden is this bright red sweater for my sister. It has been years since she has been pestering me for one. Finally I gave in and started this project which I hope to finish soon so that she can wear it this winter.

I often sit facing the 'galgal' lemon tree that is in the corner, the one with yellowing leaves. The reason of sitting in this particular direction is that then the sun shines on my back and that is the best way to enjoy the warmth of sun. 

A few days ago, the tree was bearing glorious lemons. I would sometimes go under the tree and try to count the gorgeous fruits. There were almost a dozen of them. Nearly a month ago, when the fruits were still there, I had clicked this picture, standing under the tree.

 I did not know much about the usage of such humongous citrus fruits. Once some friends visited and told me that they can be used in cooking and in cocktails etc. Then we brought one inside and sampled it. 

A few days later, when I found some fruits missing, I got all of the remaining fruits picked and sent a few over to friends. I used the rest of them in place of regular lemons.

This area is surrounded by dense forests and there are wild animals and birds in plenty. The most spotted ones in and around my colony are wild boars and leopards. Attacks on pets and small children are not unheard of. My house is in an extreme corner and the forest touches the garden fence. I am always careful, especially with Coco, and never leave him alone outside the house.

It was a pleasantly sunny morning the next day after I posted about lovely butterflies in my garden. It seems one particular big cat took offense at not even once being mentioned here and butterflies getting all the 'lime'light. Notice the white pole on the right hand side in the picture taken from under the lemon tree. It was there, standing on the wall behind the pole. I was getting ready to go somewhere when my husband's buddy called out 'Memsaab, tiger.' I rushed out and there it was. Finally, I saw it in broad daylight, clearly and very close. I had seen a leopard once during these monsoons, resting on a dry spot, some distance away from the residential area, and the next time when it was caught in a trap in the forest, both the times, vaguely and from far away. This was the real deal. The first word that came to mind was 'beautiful'. By the time I could think of getting my phone to click a photo, it turned and vanished into the forest behind. 

Since that day, I cannot sit quietly in the garden as I am always watchful. Even falling dry leaves get me all worked up as I do not want to share my lounging time with uninvited guests.

The next day, a teenager was attacked by a leopard in the neighboring colony.

The above image was shared on whatsapp a few weeks ago by a friend. The leopard was resting on the wall in front of her house for almost an hour. 

Leopard attacks have become quite frequent these days in and around Dehradun in Uttarakhand. 

Ek Titli..

                                      

Days are really pleasant in the cold foothills of Uttarakhand with sun shining brightly. I try to finish my work as soon as possible to get some time to sit in the sun. Then we come out, Coco, me and my bean bag, with a piece of knitting and a cup of tea usually. On this particular day, I was beautifying my nails for the evening when some colour other than this bright red caught my eye.

                                       

It came closer, then farther, farther away, hovering above plants, its lovely blue flickering in the sunshine. A lot of butterflies flit around in the garden, mostly yellow and white. Once a really large black one entered the hall and sat upside down on the ceiling for three days before being chased out. This one looked really pretty, and charmed me so much that I nearly missed the little brown moth accompanying it. Look closely!

 I could not stop my lazy self from wiggling out of the bean bag and reach the lime tree to get a closer look. And I was amazed again at my own capability of forgetting myself when the tiny little beauties of nature come to meet me. It is little details that make the big picture worth watching.