The Beautiful Creations

You would have probably guessed what I am going to write about. The title would have given you some indication and more over we are going to celebrate the Children’s day on November14 th. Our late Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was fond of children. His birthday is celebrated in India as Children’s Day.He is fondly addressed by the young ones by the name of Chacha Nehru.

The little angels in everybody’s life brings so much happiness and all parents would know how much pleasure they derive when they look at the innocent face of their cute little ones. I think it’s really a God’s blessing to have the little bundles in one’s hands and I believe God entrusts the bundle to us to handle them with care. Hence we must devote good quality time to these little ones in our life as we are responsible for their physical and mental growth.The environment provided must be conducive to their growth and what has been sowed would be reaped.

When young itself good habits like cleanliness,reading habits, organizing and systematic way of doing things can be inculcated in children. Instead of giving sermons, it would be better to set an example so the child learns through watching elders. Good values also must be instilled when young itself.. Some parents feel that the children would learn all the things when they grow up or feel the school will take care of.

Recently my neighbour came with a wad of printed sheets which contained articles about positive thinking and personality development and asked me to teach her young son the same. Is it that easy like popping a pill. I told the young mother these things cannot be taught only by book and needs active participation and the practice of parents with positive attitude and exemplary character during their day to day life cycle.

I have come across many trainers of personality development doling out exercises from books but speak to them for 5 minutes one would get the real picture. What I am trying to say is, setting positive attitudes and developing personalty do not happen through only reading or training. One thing that happens through training is motivation and may be the person can develop certain skills that are required today in this challenging environment. External resource persons can help to some extent provided they get to interact with them for a reasonable period of time.

I would like to mention here, very often we come across parents punishing the wards with out the wards understanding why they are being punished. Unless the child is made to be aware of the reason for punishment there is a possibility the child could repeat the same mistake again . Hence I would suggest that everyone should pause to think before doling out the punishment whether the child understands why it is being punished . If yes, the punishment need not be severe at all because the child has already learnt what it should not do or why it should not do.

There are many in the children in the world who are waiting for little love and affection. They are also like our own children, so when opportunity arises let’s give some meaning to their life also.

Happy Children’s day for the wonderful creations of God ; the Little Angels.

Fifty and Going Strong- Asterix and Obelix

Asterix and his friend Obelix have turned 50. These Gauls had become our family favourities a few years ago. I came to know about these through my cousin and we borrowed the same from the lending library in Kochi. My father and brother too got interested in the same. I used to go to the library to hunt for books along with my sister. This was in early 80’s. As these were not simple comic strip but a slightly sophisticated one it needed a special orientation to enjoy one. First I was not interested in reading them like I enjoyed Jughead and Archie comics. The Mansion of the Gods was the first book I read. I think there were only 7-8 books in that library. We finished that with in no time. Then we borrowed the same again and again and I fell in love with that comic series.

After my wedding when I was in Calcutta my husband too shared similar interest and we could find Asterix in lending libraries of Gariahat pavements, in South Calcutta. These libraries worked on a simple mechanism, they take the cost of the book as deposit and when the borrower returned them after reading they collected a nominal reading fee adjusting the deposit. As these libraries were close to our house we found these libraries easy to take a book and forgo the deposit to own it. This also helped us in some ways as, if the book was not a new one the deposit was only a percentage of the price of the book. Pretty soon our collection increased to 10-12 volumes which is still in my collection.

Even before my son was born I had my nephew who was 4 1/2 years staying with us as his mother was into taking up some special studies. He had this habit of asking for stories from Asterix. I used to get into a fix wondering how I could explain this young kid who was only into his LKG this complicated humour and ended up concocting my own big yarns of the Obelix and Dogmatix which if Goscinny had heard probably would have hired me as his understudy and every night I imagined Goscinny turning in his grave when I wove a new yarn for my nephew. But I did fancy my nephew enjoyed my yarns as much as I enjoyed Asterix and Obelix. By the time my son was inquisitive enough to enquire into Asterix and Obelix I had become an expert and my son was soon an addict even before he got into school.

My son was fascinated to see the duo Asterix and his inseparable friend Obelix finishing off the wild boars and Obelix running for more and more. Later we bought few more Asterix comics. I think we have about 20 in our possession. I feel these books make me relax and I do not mind going through them over and over again. My son too became a fan of the same series and now a days he has switched over to e- reading.

The story is woven around the Gauls in a village who have not surrendered to the Romans. They have funny names and expressions and they are innocent people who indulge in eating, fighting and making merry. The way they bash up the Romans after taking up the magic potion and collecting their helmets as souvenir and having a banquet at the end of each adventure with Cacophonix tied up to a tree is sufficient to make the mind light and brings out giggles very often.

The contribution made by Mr.Goscinny and Mr. Uderzo is quite great and the translators also need equal praise .

Mr. Goscinny is no more and Mr.Uderzo is in charge of the cartoons and the script now. He has taken care that this comic series will continue in the future after him. Now there are about 34 books on Asterix and his adventure. People who are not into reading these comics can very well give a try as each book is hilarious. If at all there is one book which you never find it boring after repeated reads it is Asterix, as you can always find something to feel cheer and funny about in each section of the page.

In fact my son would have read each of our possession may be hundred times over. Quite often we have woken up in the middle of the nights hearing giggles from my son’s bed room only to find him tucked in the bed with an Asterix in hand and profusely enjoying with bouts of laughter. He has become an incorrigible Asterix addict.

Long live Asterix and his Friends!

Hands of Love (Anbu Karangal)

Diwali Celebrations went off smoothly. As usual we got up early, lighted few diyas and my son performed the traditional aarthi. By that time my nephew and niece arrived, they stay next door a twin house arrangement which is mutually beneficial. They handed over some neatly folded packets and I was surprised to see a new shimmering blue sari inside. She touched my feet and I was overwhelmed, I blessed her. We had planned the lunch together so I told her I would get some dishes ready.

Next item on our agenda was spending sometime with kids of anbu karangal, an orphanage near my house. I got 2 packets of sweets and we decided to sponsor their breakfast for a day, as I felt that it will reduce the burden of the organizers by a little.

As we reached the building, the gate was opened and soon I could see lot of kids in the age group of 5-10 greeting us. They surrounded us and started greeting us ‘Happy Diwali’ .I think they were trained in doing that. Then we met the administrator and completed the formalities. The lady then wanted to know if there was any particular reason for sponsoring. For us there was no reason other than providing food for a few kids. She informed me that usually they say prayers in the name of the sponsors before the meal. I asked her to pray in the name of the kids themselves as the little ones need all the blessings from the Almighty. Again the kids came towards us and started shaking hands, which they wouldn’t leave. Were they looking for their mother in me? They did the same with my hubby and son and we were standing inside a circle trapped by those little ones which we enjoyed a lot. I forgot the whole world and could see only innocent little children yearning for little love and affection. One child in particular kept shaking hands with us calling his friends to show how well he’s doing the act. My eyes were flooded with tears; I didn’t know what was happening to me. Only relief was that they get food, shelter and education from this anbu karangal. God bless those little children. I would say these kinds of experiences really bring us down to earth. Human greed never gets satiated; I think we should spend some time with this hapless lot to see what God has really bestowed us with. As we came out my hubby also told me his eyes are blurred because of tears, I told my son he must also continue contributing to the little children as and when he could.

My Diwali I feel became sweeter than my besan ladoos and nankattais I made as I could spend a little time with those kids bringing some light in their life. Let god help me to help them more and more. When I move over to Chennai I have plans to spend more time with those children teaching them something which would be worth while for them.

Adieu!

Diwali Ahoy….

Diwali is at the door step, people are gearing up for the festival of lights as it brings joy and merriment for everyone. People become very enthusiastic during this festival as it involves buying new clothes, cleaning and painting the house, making sweets etc. The whole atmosphere gets charged and the dazzle of diyas wipes out the darkness away and spreads light and warmth everywhere and cheers everybody.

The ladies of the house show off their culinary expertise by doling out various sweets and savouries and distributing the same among the neighbours, relatives and friends. Hot discussions would be on about the preparation of items, exchanging recipes and teaching the not so experienced with the same. Many families now a days opt to buy sweets from outside as it is convenient and helps them to save time. Sweet meat shops vie with each other and display, advertise as the competition is high and offer freebies like devotional books and extra 50 Gms. or so of sweets free with each packet of sweets purchased.

The tormenting time would be for the sweety pies, the diabetic patients as they would be mute spectators when others gorge on the goodies. There is some relief now for them as zero sugar sweets have flooded the market. Children make huge lists for ‘pattasu’ (fire crackers) and discuss with friends what budget their family is going to spend, without knowing that it is going to burn a hole in the family budget. But they enjoy the Diwali to the fullest. It is really nice to see the young children lighting crackers early in the morning of Diwali in their new clothes. All this makes me nostalgic again.

I think a little bit of nostalgia is always good and here it goes………

During diwali we all got new dresses. My father had a textile shop and we got the best dress when fresh stocks used to arrive from Bombay for the same. My mom being a good dress designer would stitch dress for all of us. She would cut and stitch, add lace or add a piece of zari or frill here and there and she made beautiful clothes. In between she would be making the sweet meats for Diwali. Mysore pak being the favorite for all, she made it every year. We would be eager to help her as we could taste them as soon as it was made. It was nice to see the fluffy bubbling mixture she used to transfer in a greased tray and she would cut them immediately into square pieces as it would set very fast. The corner pieces would be for eats so we would huddle around watching the whole process. When she made ladoos we too joined in rolling them into goose berry sized balls. In between the ladoo mixture will find its way in our mouth. When we indulged too much she would shoo us away. My mom liked to try new recipes and that fancy she still carries even though she is old now.

Preparations start at least 10 days before deepavali and evenings I would spend my time in my father’s shop, running errands and helping my father when there was a huge crowd in the shop. I remember spreading out the cloth materials for the customers or finding matching blouse for a saree or writing bills and collecting cash. I did all that. I enjoyed being in the shop. I enjoyed tea breaks more as my father saw that we were fed well.

Bang opposite my father’s shop was Chandra’s sweet shop; he was a Gujarathi and was very close to us. When Diwali approached he would make all the goodies ready and it would be on display. There would be so much rush in his shop; in fact one had to reserve sweet packets for Diwali. There would be savouries like Ghatiya, sev, spicy puris and kachoris. The sweets were saata, big and small variety (badhu shah) Mysore pak, jilebis, bundhi laddoos, etc. My God… the thought itself is making me drool.

When I got a break from my shop I would run to Chandra’s shop, his whole family would be there and I would play with his children. Adjacent to that shop was my uncle’s shop; the whole street was like another home for us, each person knowing the other.

There is also a custom during Diwali where uncles bring sweets to their nephews and nieces along with fire crackers so every year we got our due from our dear uncle. We had a bonus every year as my mother’s uncle brought in the same for his niece and children whom we used to call as Aboo (grandfather) as he was the one who took care of my mother when she lost her father. A big box would be delivered to our house. There would be lot of fire crackers, sweets and dry fruits. It was really a celebration for all, I don’t think any child would dislike fire crackers and we were very happy when loads of crackers descended in our house. Next step would be to dry those crackers to remove dampness and we would make frequent visits to the terrace for inspection as curiosity would be riding high. A part of the crackers would be kept away immediately as same had to be lighted on the 10 th day of Diwali, we celebrated it as Uthan ekadasi. On that day we believe that the god meditating in the Tulasi Madom leaves for heaven. As soon as the Navarathri festivities are over it is believed that God meditates in the tulasi madom and every morning and evening there would be aarthi for the tulasi in the temple and in some houses where they conduct poojas regularly. We do conduct the aarthi at home and for a month we make pattern of Krishna’s feet with rice flour pointing towards the tulasi and on uthan ekadasi day when the god leaves the tulasi madom the feet is drawn pointing outwards.

Coming back to Diwali celebrations, we would wake up early in the morning for our oil bath which is mandatory, and then we would slip into our diwali dress, then we would be off to the temple. The temple would be crowded, people coming in all new clothes, with a diya in hand made of rice flour with wicks in the centre and it would resemble a small volcano as the flour is mixed with kumkum to give a red tinge to it, then the aarthi in the temple would go for about an hour. The idol in the temple gets an abhishekam of scented oil made with flowers like champa, chameli, roses, jasmine etc. then it is distributed among the devotees. After the visit to the temple we would be home bursting crackers and gorging on the sweets which had come into the house from various quarters. Exchanging sweets were very common as we had Gujarathi settlement in the neighbourhood.

When we lighted the crackers street children would peep in through the grills of the gate and our mother would encourage us to share some crackers with them though we never knew that was what sharing was all about , now I realise how happy those children would have been.

For celebrating Diwali this year I am in Chennai and the whole family would be together this time. After a long time I am going to try my hands at some sweets and planning to decorate my house with diyas and the traditional aarthi (made of rice flour) on the Diwali day.

Many of the customs that we were following is losing its significance among the present generation and very few follow the festival with the real spirit, waking up early in the morning for having oil baths, meeting people and taking blessings from elders are becoming a thing of the past. It is becoming like any other holiday for many.

This year I have one more plan. I have decided to visit the children of an orphanage in my neighbourhood sharing sweets and time with them hoping that such an attempt would bring some light in their life.

Teach children the safe use of crackers.

If possible avoid using the fireworks as it pollutes the air.

Wish You All a Happy and Prosperous Diwali

Wear it Pink

I was fascinated by the title Wear it pink in Hindu magazine dated October 4th, pink being my favourite colour. The read was as interesting and important as the title. I thought it is an important subject and decided to share with all my friends. Wear it Pink is all about creating awareness about breast cancer among the people as October being the Breast Cancer Awareness month. The breast cancer research has decided to hold a Wear It Pink Campaign in UK and Ireland to raise money and they are urging people to participate in this big event scheduled for 30th October. All the money raised through project will be used for research and treating the breast- cancer patients hoping to improve the quality of their life.

This made me search further on this subject as to what is happening in India. Here the Indian Cancer society has organized a mela in the first week of October for this campaign. Walk on Marina in Chennai is another campaign organized by the Cancer care India and Canstop where celebrities, sports men, doctors, and survivors of cancer will walk with one walk one hope to create mass awareness among the public.

A recent study conducted by the Adyar Cancer Institute, Chennai has shown that though the cervical cancer among the educated elite women have come down, the incidence of breast cancer has increased by 200% . It is really alarming.

India accounts for nearly six percent of deaths due to breast cancer globally. A study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) shows that there will be approximately 250000 new cases of breast cancer in India by 2015.

Detection and curing the disease in the early stage will help a patient to lead a normal life. My sister-in law was detected with breast cancer in the early stages when she was in her forties. The timely treatment helped her to lead a healthy life for over two decades. I want to mention here that family, relatives and friends played a huge role in her difficult circumstances to reduce her physical and mental trauma.

Another incident, an acquaintance of mine in her late twenties succumbed to the same dreadful disease as she did not seek medical help out of shyness at the right time and when she sought the same it was too late.

The real causes are not known but some of the factors influencing to breast cancers are family history, genetic and hereditary factors, rapidly changing life styles, menstrual factors i.e. women who started menstruating early and who have menopause late; related to higher life time exposures to the hormone oestrogen and progesterone, and women with no children or who had their babies after the age of 35. Oral contraceptives, post menopausal hormone therapy and obesity after menopause also increases risk of breast cancer. But all this factors are relative and not absolute. All this factors need not create a fear in our minds as we must believe in the adage prevention is better than cure.

Early detection of the cancer is very essential and a monthly self examination is a must and if fibrous growth or lump is felt, with out delay it needs to be examined by a medical practitioner. It may be either benign or malignant but timely intervention will help a person to cure and save the life.

As I felt that this is a breast cancer awareness month I also decided to carry the torch of light spreading valuable information, enlightening my readers about the dangers of this puzzling and painful killer.

We may not wear pink on that day but we can surely spread the good word around.

References : Hindu Newspaper and internet

My Kodaikanal Trip

Last week on Mahanavami day we decided to visit Kodaikanal as my son and nephew were home and were keen to go for an outing. I decided to conduct my pooja in the evening and by early morning we set off to the hill station which is 90 Kms. from my place. It was a great escape for us from the sweltering heat of Dindigul. My son drove, maneuvering the car through the hilly terrain quite effortlessly though it was his first hill ride. My nephew was at his usual best, cracking jokes and all about his hostel life.

When we reached Kodai we didn’t find any crowd and felt happy and duly completed our boat ride which is one of the must do at Kodai. As we were approaching the lake we saw many on the horse back having a ride around the lake. Obviously our two young men wanted to show their macho image and promptly climbed on to the nearest horse they could lay their hands on as soon as we finished the boat ride.

Next visit was to Bryant park which was adjacent to the lake. We enjoyed the freshness of colorful blooms and plants and lush green lawns as we strolled through inside savouring every moment in a wonderful environment. Both my son and nephew were busy clicking away those wonderful sights.

We had already spent a shade over a couple of hours when we decided that we would have a round of Coaker’s walk, Green valley and Pillar rocks before we break for lunch around two in the afternoon. We reached to our next halt, Coaker’s walk in the next five minutes and we walked through the scenic and famous attraction of Kodai slowly enjoying a bite of fresh carrots. The mist was slowly setting in and by the time we were half way through the walk the visibility was becoming poorer and poorer some where around 100 meters. We were how ever fortunate that we could have a peek of the valley and the far off lake and other living tenements in the hills across by the time the mist had set in.

Our next spot in the itinerary was the Green Valley view or the suicide point as it was previously called which was around 6-7 Kms. from Coaker’s walk. As we drove by we didn’t feel that and we were not expecting any surprise. However as we approached the Green valley there was unusual crowd of vehicles buses , cars and vans and a huge traffic jam and we took nearly half an hour to traverse fifty meters hence we thought we would alight near the entrance of the Green valley point asking our driver who accompanied us to get the car parked at a suitable location towards Pillar rocks and we would return after the visit.There is a walk up for about 200 mts. for this view point and the entire path way on either side is surrounded by shops selling various kinds of eats fruits, home made chocolates souvenirs and trinkets. We armed ourselves with juicy pears and delicious chocolates and hot sweet corn and started walking up towards the site in the jostling crowd. When we reached the summit the valley view visibility was less than a meter and we could see only a few monkeys and the wire meshing erected now to avoid that sad suicides from this wonderful scenic spots. We lingered for a few minutes feeding the monkeys with corn and enjoyed the speed at which they devoured the same.

We got down and started looking for our car and walked towards the Pillar rock hoping to get sight of our car close by. There was no movement of traffic and all vehicles were stuck, the only consolation being there were no blaring of horns but there was music, drum beats and Gana songs from the various holiday crowd of students who were enjoying every moment of wonderful trip of Kodai in spite of the traffic congestion. We slowly walked through looking for our car which was not at all in sight and would have walked nearly a kilometer and little over one hour later when it struck us that we could check with our mobile phones but Lo ! there was no tower signal in spite of having five different service providers none had reach.

We donned the thinking hats immediately and decided to split, the youngsters going down the hill towards the pillar rock which was around 2 Kms. away and we elders going back to where we had started. It took another hour of strenuous walk to get back to Green valley and we were so tired that we decided to stop for a drink of hot hill tea. As we were busy drinking our tea we found to our delight our driver anxiously coming towards us from the opposite direction .We later learnt he had been searching for us for about couple of hours, we all wondered how he managed to take a U turn in that traffic and park our car half a kilometer up. Luckily for us the signals for our mobile revived and we could reach our children who were 2 Kms. down. We had no chance of going back to them because of the traffic jam and had to wait for their trek back consuming yet another hour. May be we had some good stars in our favour as well . Just as our children reached back a set of traffic cops came hurrying and cleared the traffic for movement and we reached Kodai town pretty soon. After a quick lunch we returned to our cozy home by 7 p.m. Though we had some anxieties in between all of us thoroughly enjoyed this great outing .

Here are some pictures for all to enjoy

Manjal Aaru (lake) view from Kodai hills

Rat tail falls

The enchanting Kodai Lake

tourists enjoying boat ride

Bryant Park

Dhalia

Blooms in Bryant Park

Asoka Pillar in Bryant park

The Candy Man

A View of Kodai town

This is my corn

A Church

Silver falls

Bell flowers at Coaker's Walk

A view of mist filled valley from Coaker's Walk.

Church, built by British

Valley view -Coaker's walk

Valley View

Durga Pooja

The beautiful Durga idol

If Navarathri is for Southies, Ram Leela for Northies then for Bengalis it is Durga Pooja. I think I can go on and on about this particular festival.

There is a Durga Mata’s temple in Kochi where I lived when young and it was frequented by the Gujarathis. I had many Gujarathi friends and for them this nine day festival was a grand occasion. The Durga idol was red in colour, seated on her vehicle, the Lion. The deity would be adorned with colourful sari for each day of the festival. There would be Garbha from 5- 7 in the evenings. For this all the women folk would come with all their finery and they would wear similar coloured saris which the Goddess would be wearing on that day. It was fun to watch all women coming in uniform and they would play Garbha, a dance form where the women would go around a center pedestal on which a see through pot would be kept. A lamp would be glowing inside that pot. The hall was in front of the idol and it was circular in shape. The women danced clapping their hands, a slow movement with rhythmic steps and they would be singing some song in praise of the goddess. There was dandiya ras for younger energetic ones and we sometimes went there to see the beautiful rhythmic dance form of Gujarat. We used to sit glued to our seats seeing them go in circles, tapping the dandiyas with one another with out missing any beat or hits. They would be all wearing colorful costumes with heavily laid zari and mirror work, the traditional dress of Gujarat. I used to feel I was in Gujarat during that period. The rhythmic movements will get fast paced and it would reach a crescendo and I felt they were all like Krishna and Gopikas. We were only spectators and we enjoyed every moment of that. Outside the temple all Gujarathi delicacies would be available and we never missed a chance in gorging this too. Navarathri was a time to eat, roam and enjoy. When young itself I had the opportunity to interact with a lot of people of different culture as the place I stayed was a cosmopolitan one.

Navarathri days were also for ringing wedding bells for many as fixing up marriages was easy as people met each other and exchanged information. Cross verification about either family was done as the present telephonic revolution had not taken place; very few had the luxury of having a telephone at home.

After my marriage I moved over to Calcutta and I really loved the Durga pooja celebrations there. It would start with the chanda collection and each house had to contribute their mite to build the Durga Pandal and for the decorations and celebrations. Each colony would have its own Durga in its pandal. Each tried to out do the other in decorating the pandal as a palace, or some even like coco-cola bottles. I liked the beautiful, wide eyed Durga’s statue with long tresses flowing up to her knees. We went from pandal to pandal as the decorations and the idols would look different. The drum beats, part of the Durga pooja alleviated the mood to a frenzy making the people sway to the rhythm.

All traffic would be regulated and people would be moving on foot even during the nights. The puchka wala (Panipuri seller) could be found on every street corner with his madka pot tied with a red cloth. Boys and girls, men women could be seen around the puchkawala eating this famous fast food. In fact there is a specific style for eating this puchka. You have to stand with legs slightly apart and your body inclined to the front by 5 degrees. With your left palm held parallel to the earth. The puchka wala would give a leaf plate in your left hand. The puchka fellow with his right thumb will press the top of the puri gently to open the top to fill it with some aloo mixture and top with some tamarind water, spiced with herbs from the madka pot and put it on the leaf. One had to use the right hand delicately holding the stuffed puri at its rims and shove it into the mouth in one go and enjoy devouring the khatta meetha puchka ahhh….. By the time you had finished one the puchka wala would have already served the next one in your left hand and you can very easily lose count on the numbers you have gulped because so attractive would be the whole process particularly when you are surrounded by young attractive Bongs. (Ensure you have a strip of Lomotil before you indulge in this).

Durga pooja time is also the time when Bengalis buy all their clothes for the year and the market would be flooded with ‘Sales’ and all the ladies happy and radiant with their shopping binge. I have lived in almost all parts of India but yet to come across a better bargain I ever had than in Calcutta and such lovely people!

On Mahanavami no body would sleep as festivities would continue even into the night. In Calcutta the celebrations start on Panchami and culminate on Vijayadashami when the idols would be immersed in the river Hooghly. The idols would be transported by trucks for the immersion and it would move like a caravan one behind the other. I simply loved the festivities. I still miss those days. Every Navarathri is a time for me to remember my child hood Navarathri days and then the Durga pooja days which have left an indelible mark in my mind.

Jai Durgambigai!

Navarathri Celebrations and Kolu

Navarathi festival always brings cheer and lifts my spirits. The festival is celebrated as the mother Goddess’s victory over the evil Mahishasura. I am not going to tell you that story but what the celebration is all about. What significance it has in one’s life, just going beyond the legend and I will start from my house. Yes of course it’s a flash back.

Navathri in my house was celebrated with great pomp and gaiety. All the children would be waiting for this as we used to set the Kolu in our house. My uncle used to oversee all the arrangements. The house would be spruced up for the event, the pooja room used to be decorated with festoons and mango leaves. Dolls of various hues and colours, which originated from various places, would be stacked on a specially fabricated Kolu stand. All the children would wait patiently with bated breath when the dolls and idols were taken out of the cupboard for this function which would be other wise under lock and key. We were not allowed to touch these idols lest they would break as many were made of clay. There were 7 steps for the Kolu stand and the bottom portion would be allotted to us to arrange our dolls. We would make a zoo with small animals as we had a good collection. We used to create a lawn with mustard seeds, a mountain with clay and a tunnel for a train to pass through.

I remember the 3 feet Krishna statue we had with small lolak dangling from his ears and I liked that idol very much. We had statues of Lakshmi, Saraswathi, Durga, Rama’s Pattabhishekam and other colourful wooden statues of Gods and Goddesses. The centre piece in most of the house would be the bald pot bellied Nattukottai chettiar. Probably this Chettiar was playing the role of the present day laughing Buddha. Every child would like to have a feel of either his bald head or pot belly. Final decoration would be with colorful series bulbs which my uncle got especially for this function.

The decoration and arrangements of the Kolu would be completed on the previous day of the Navarathri celebrations. On the First day special lamps would be lit and every evening the house would be reverberating with Bhajans,the sound of the thal and harmonium. All the members in the house would assemble together in the pooja room and sing the songs in praise of the Goddess. Then arthi was performed by the youngest member of the family. It was a privilege for the young one and finally the Prasad would be distributed. This was very interesting as every day one pulse would be used to make Chundal. So for 9 days 9 varieties of chundal would be distributed as Prasad. Large quantities of chundal would be made and once the arthi was over all the children from neighbourhood would assemble and they would all get prasadam in paper plates. They were real paper plates as we cut news paper into square shapes to serve the prasadam readily to who ever came to our house. There was lot of fun as all children would vie with each other to get their share. We were happy to distribute the same. I think those were the little pleasures of life.

During the 9 days we had a stream of visitors in our house. Whenever any body visited the house during kolu it was expected and mandatory for that person to sing a song and get chundal in return as prasadam. Though generally devotional songs are expected to be sung, there would be surprises as some young ones would end up rendering ennadi rakkama……. or some other popular film song.

Though this festival was meant for the women folk men and boys would also eagerly take part, the varieties of chundal being the main incentive. Finally end of the day there would be arguments as to whose chundal was better off for that day. When the ladies visited our house they were given Haldi Kumkum in attractive plastic containers and vettela Pakku and bangles Those who were affluent added a blouse piece to this. All the ladies never missed any opportunity and it was a nice haul at the end of the season for them.

We also visited our friends’ or relatives’ houses and sang songs and carried our chundal and other goodies in small packets as we had to make lot of visits. We hurried for the next visit so that we got the prasadam before it got exhausted. Really fun filled days we had.

Once I was invited to my Hindi teacher’s house and I went there with my little brother who was around 4 yrs. The house was close by so I tugged him along. While leaving the house my elder sister told my brother to bring some thing for her. So when the snacks were served my brother slowly slipped a sliced banana piece in his shirt pocket. After reaching home he tried to take it out. It had become a paste. Even to day we laugh and pull his leg regarding this.

The day of Mahanavami was the happiest for us as we kept all our books for the pooja. It was No Study day for us and we enjoyed it thoroughly. The last day i.e on Vijay dashami we started our studies after praying to Goddess Saraswathi and always had a feeling of emptiness on that day as that was the end of the festivities.

I feel this festival taught me some good values of life like sharing, building relationships, adaptability and unity. I think festivals should not be seen just as rituals, we must learn how to a lead good life with a sense of camaraderie.

Jai Mata Ki!

Salaam, My Dear Teachers

Today September 5th, is Teachers day in India. As every body knows it is dedicated to Dr. Sarvapalli Radha Krishnan who was a staunch believer of education and was one of the greatest scholars and teachers of all times, apart from being the President of India. During his tenure as President he was approached by students to celebrate his birthday, September 5th. He rather told them to celebrate it as Teacher’s Day and since then this day is celebrated as Teacher’s Day.

On this occasion I want to remember and pay my heart felt tributes to my teachers who have influenced and helped me to shape my life. I think what ever I am today I owe a lot to my teachers and in this context the first name that pops to my mind is that of Sri Krishana Rao master, The Head master of T.D High school Kochi. He was tall and had a commanding personality. My hands used get folded automatically in Namaste when ever I met him as I revered him a lot. He was a good disciplinarian and during his tenure as head master, the school achieved an excellent name in the district as the district toppers were always from his school. The teachers under him followed the leader and were dedicated to the core. The sincerity and dedication of the teaching staff helped to instill good values in the students.

Krishna Rao Master, I came to know him closely when he taught English to me. He had simple, fantastic techniques to teach Grammar and I use the same today to teach my students and every time my students excel well and start to speak English I send a silent prayer to him who is no more in this world. He used to make us go through Grammar exercises again and again till every one understood and got it right. When my students do not understand I go to any length to make them understand patiently what my Master taught me. This quality I learned from him. I think all teachers must be like Sri.Krishana Rao. I know I am no where near him as he was a highly knowledgeable person. My Pranams to you, Sir.

I was fortunate to have many teachers who were kind and understanding. Those days people who were passionate about teaching only entered the profession. They were affectionate and loved us like their own children. I also remember my class teacher Smt. Puthali Bai who treated me like her daughter. She treated every student equally but every student felt she was treating them like her children. Puthali in Konkani means money equivalent in gold and her heart was really made of gold. She was very much concerned about my studies , health etc. This is the beautiful quality a teacher should have, that is considering all students as her own children. It makes a whole lot of difference when teacher’s attitude is like that. I am saluting all my teachers on the occasion of Teacher’s Day.

I wonder how many of the present generation students will be able to remember their teachers with the same respect like we had and have for our teachers.

Happy Teacher’s Day.

These Things Matter A lot

When I became a blogger a couple of months back I had doubts how my blogs would be viewed by others. But slowly and steadily my blog is getting a good readership. Recognition is very important for a person and it is coming my way and I know I have a long way to go.This is only a beginning.

First I received the Indus Ladies finest blog award for the month of July followed by Parentree’s grand prize for the summer vacation blog . I also got a 70/100 rank from Indi Blogger. Now it is the the International Bloggers Community Award and the Lemonade Blog award given to me by “Shivya” . I thank her for the same. It’s awards galore for me. I am really honored.

My son is also a blogger and he is the one who encouraged me to write blogs. A great hug for you my dear!. He, the Taste Master is also receiving various rewards for his blogs on Chennai burpp.com and I am adding to it by passing on this Lemonade blog Award and International Bloggers Community Award to “Tastemaster” for his wonderful contribution on food reviews. I am also passing it on to “Petals” for her lovely book reviews and thought provoking blogs.

It is not the material rewards that is attractive but the appreciation , words of praise, the pats on the back, the hugs etc.are more motivating.This however may vary from person to person’s perspective and could also could vary depending on the situation and circumstances one is in.

I thank all my well wishers and those who have encouraged me through their comments and criticisms which helped me look at things from a different angle.

Thanks once again!