Sachiniti

October 16, 2008

Karva Chauth Tomorrow

Update 6th Oct 09:
Karva Chauth will be celebrated tomorrow i.e. 7th October(for 2009 click) with the women folk getting ready for their fast with ‘Sargi’ in the wee hours.

Inescapably, memories go back to childhood years when this tradition meant getting up at 4.00 in the morning to see my dear mother resplendent in her “gota-kinara’ dupatta with a big red bindi and hands lush with  deep happy mehndi. Never has the memory of that color faded. Never has it been replicated by the million mehndi walis who designed my palms and feet, Some things I guess are inimitable..like the love of your mother.

My mother passed away last year. I miss her so much today. Her blessings , her instructions her joie de vivre especially on this day. There was nothing as important in her life besides my father. Every moment was as  if a prayer in his devotion. This day was so special for her.  Our dining table even at that early morning hour when we awoke for ‘sargi’ was laden with parathas, aloo gobi sabzi, mithai, fruits, namkeen, coconut, paan,curd. We all merrily gobbled away although it was she who was fasting. (more…)

September 30, 2008

Navratris Are Here’

Update 4th October 2008: Ashtami is on 7th Oct. This is the day of “KANJAK” when 1,or 3,5,7,9 little girls are fed with halwa, puri, kaala channa, potato curry and boondi raita, along with either a chunri or cash. Symbolic of the nine av tars of Mata Durga, we worship the girls by washing their feet, tying a mauli around their wrists and they in turn apply tikka to the head of the family and tie a mauli around his wrist.

Cannot control some morbid thoughts that overtake my senses. Its all very well to worship your own daughters or those of others, even a servants child, on a festival such as this all in the pious (?) hope of winning over Mata Lakshmi and invoking her blessings. But the other 364 days of the year are spent either aborting a female child or burning brides or selling ones daughters into prostitution. What a bunch of criminal hypocrites we Indians can be…!!! Okay.. I am done now with my rant.

Its time again..One of my favourite festivals Navratri or nine(nav) nights (ratri) spent in propitiation, music and dance,commences today. “Mother” as Goddess in the form of Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati, is worshipped as the primal source of energy. Colour, revelry and festivity take on a tint unparalleled with any other Indian festival .

“Durga Puja’ in Bengal , corresponds with Navratri elsewhere. Ma Durga is worshipped for nine days, and immersed on the tenth, after having, as legend goes, vanquished the demons or ‘rakshasas’. Perhaps this is meant to subtly advise us to conquer the demons of anger, jealousy, pride, greed and seek Mother Durgas help in doing so.

“Garba” or “raas” as dance forms are pre-dominantly Gujarat centric. However, now that Navratri has grown to become one of the most awaited festivals nationally, garba and raas too have joined the ranks of popular dance forms, as Bhangra.

Just how innovative were our ancestors can be gaged when analysing the origins of ‘garba’.

garbo.jpg

“A “GARBO” is an earthen pot with holes all around and “Light” within which signifies (more…)

September 8, 2008

Competition…Airline Ishtyle

A rare sense of humor displayed on hoardings at Bandra these days..bound to evoke a giggle.

It all began with this

(more…)

September 2, 2008

Indian Women Top Forbes List Of Worlds Wealthiest Inheritors.

Its raining money on three Indian women Vanisha Mittal daughter of Lakshmi Mittal, Isha Ambani daughter of Mukesh Ambani and Pia Singh daughter of K.P.Singh are the top three on the Forbes list of worlds wealthiest inheritors! That they happen to be women is only a happy coincidence..or is it pre ordained? Bravo to the fathers who discarded all bias of sons vs daughters thereby morally, legally, ethically proving a glaring point. On a lighter note..”kudiyon ka hai zamaana”..

An aside.. will this prove to be a deterrent for the female infanticide obsessed India ? Am I jumping the gun here in hoping that perhaps this is a sign from the Almighty to STOP this debauchery or will this have no telling on insouciant mindsets? Such Hypocrisy. While we worship  Mother Goddess Lakshmi as the harbinger of wealth, prosperity, abundance, a female manifeststion as daughter or wife  is reason to be aborted or charred to death. How can they imagine that the Goddess would shower here benevolence on such ignorant minds?

Breathing deeply…pause..Getting back on track.. (more…)

August 18, 2008

Bigg Boss 2 Is On

Never has the incipience of nemesis been proven as potently as with the inclusion of Jade Goody in this BIGG Boss season 2 with Shilpa Shetty now as Boss when not so long ago the latter faced racial attacks of the crassiest level from the former at the Big Brother counterpart where Shilpa was a mere inmate. That it helped catapult Shilpa into a league of a Superstar internationally softens the incident drastically. (more…)

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