Hi- Tech Navaratri

This time around I have received a couple Navaratri E-vites for Vethilai Paaku with RSVP options. I could not help but remember the time when I was a kid ( here I go again with one of my ” Jab mein Chhoti ladki Thi” tales!!) and how Navratri was then. For as long as I remember, I have always had very short hair and back then it was almost a close boyish kind of cut. Of course, my grandmother always insisted on braiding my hair(?!) and decorate it with a Raakodi and lots of mallipoo. She was an expert at making fake pinnal look very real and since I used to get a lot of attention loved to have my hair done and wear pavaadai and lots of jewellery and go to everyone’s home in the neighborhood to invite them for Golu where I would get lot of Sundal and then my parents would take me to other relatives’ homes to get more Sundal and in turn invite them.
My dad had a Bajaj scooter then. Dad rode it and Mom sat behind him. I would always stand in front of Dad. There was this once when on a similar Navaratri evening my parents were taking me to my uncle’s place which was a bit far off. There I was, very proud of my bejewelled fake long hair (my real hair was just about long enough to touch the nape of my neck- a typical “barber shop cut” from Ambuli saloon!!) with jasmine strands and pavaadai and jewellery. I couldn’t wait to show it all off to my cousins. When we were about 10 minutes away from there home, disaster struck!! Nothing major but just that my lovely “hair” in all its glory was swept off by the wind and had fallen somewhere in the dark wooded part on the side of the road. (Back then there were wooded parts near Velacheri, Chennai!) Neither my parents nor I noticed it. We reached my uncle’s place. My cousins came out to greet us and I turned around very haughtily to show of my beautiful braid and my cousins didn’t understand why I did that. Of course, I was a little disappointed in not getting the reaction that I hoped for! I was so embarassed when I came to know that my plan had foiled!

As a result of advancement of technology, people send out E-vites these days for Golu. Sure it is a convienient way to invite and with today’s way of life it is practically impossible ( not very safe) to follow those practices of dolling up the younger girls and send them around to invite people but I still wonder if it was more fun doing all that or is it simply the fact that it is a part of my childhood memories that makes it fun.
Whatever said and done, it is indeed a Hi-Tech Navratri we have today!

Nala Baagam

Experimenting with food has always enticed me. Whenever I went out with family or friends I was always the one that orders the “vaila per nozhaya mudiyaatha” dish (which would turn out to be something mundane with a fancy name!). My mom was very strict with her kitchen and would not really let me try my hand at cooking while I was growing up. So my experiment with cooking started only when I had a kitchen of my own.
My funda was simple: Always try out your new recipes on guests! If it didn’t turn out well, they would still say it was good!! The very first time when one of my husband’s friends came over, I offered to make him Rasna. Now, Rasna comes with a little pouch of concentrate that has to be mixed with about 2 litres of water and then served in glasses. I honestly did not know that! So I went into the kitchen opened the pouch(kalakhatta flavour), added it to a glass of water and gave it to the friend. I think that was the only time when I saw a person taking about 2 hours to drink a glass of juice. He was actually invited for dinner and was probably terrified that if he finished the juice he would be posed with the greater risk of having to try out the food I made! Finally, I suppose he decided that he couldn’t take it any more! He said he had something very important to take care of which he completely forgot about and went away in a rush!! To this day, we have not been able to trace him!! On the brighter side, I learnt to make Rasna!
Today, most of the dishes I try turn out pretty decent but I will never forget the friend we lost in the process of becoming a Culinary expert!!

The maverick in me?!!

As a teenager and a young adult, I was known to be a “Rebel” in the family!(Some people may not believe this but it is true!) I would always be the one starting an arguement about why things need not be done the traditional way. It would be free entertainment for the elders in the family! Since I would get very emotional about a lot of things, they would love to get me started on stuff and sit and watch the fun. A lot of these elders have the same impression of me even today but somehow somewhere along life’s path, I have lost the maverick in me! It is amazing that I didn’t even realize when this happened! Is it a part of growing up? Does growing up mean that you tend to get a complacent attitude towards life? Why don’t those things that used to bother me do so any more?! These are a few questions I often ask myself.(I hope I don’t sound like a philosophical book!!)
I have understood that this is not complacent attitude but it is the fact that the threshold of my tolerance has increased. I have learnt to accept other peoples’ view on /way of life . Also my experiences have altered my priorities. The other thing is that I have come to realize that it takes different kinds of people to make up this world and it is not necessary for you to be a rebel in order to stick to your principles on things that really matter. I have, in short, learnt to look at the bigger picture. It is always a conflict between being happy and making others happy and it has taken me so many years to actually find out that these two are but sides of the same coin! I do hope the maverick in me has made me a strong person who would not be swayed by instant gratification and give up my principles(on things that really matter)!

To be or not to be (spiritual)!

These days a lot of people are turning spiritual,some at a considerably young age. While age has nothing to do with being spiritually inclined, I would certainly not want to get spiritual just because it is hip! There are people who make fun of the spiritual ones but with closer interaction with some”spiritualists” , I have come to realize(and this comes as a rude shock!) that these people are no different from the group that jeers at them! I am not talking about the truly spiritual ones who have mastered the difficult art of accepting people for who they are and not judging them. The people I am talking about are the “pseudo” spiritualists who wear it on their shoulders as if it were an ornament that should be publicized and look down upon those who are actually not spiritually inclined.

I think spiritualism is a question of interest just like Politics or Sports. It is not like a part of the life cycle like most people make it out to be. For those who enter spritualism forcefully it is never going to be enjoyable or bring out the true joy it is supposed to. I am a person who believes in the power of the Supreme and am slowly getting interested in spiritualism (hope not to be a “pseudo” spiritualist!). Anything is fun if you were getting into it of your own will.

I am part of this spiritual/religious group where we, as a family participate. We enjoy our sundays and always look forward to them. Some of the peolpe who belong to this, however, have a way of making one feel like he/she is committing a crime if he/she does not participate actively in attending discourses or discussion groups. They tell them that they should attend these sessions instead of wasting their time talking on the phone or working on a laptop while they wait to pick up their children from these classes. Now, aren’t they being presumptuous in thinking that if a person is not in the discussion and is attending a phone call or working on the laptop, the he/she is most definitely wasting his/her time?!! What have they actually learnt from the various discourses that they have apparently been listening to (instead of wasting time!)? How much closer to God has it really brought them? Among the first basic lessons a true spiritualist learns is to let go of bad thoughts and the consciousness of the self and try to find God in themselves and in others. Spiritualism begins with freedom and these people are actually trying to force it on those who are not interested!
According to me, anyone who is true to themsleves and who tries their best not to hurt others is a spirtualist in the true sense. I hope I don’t sound like one of them in writing this post!

It’s never like the good old days!!

Cliched statement! I, for one, never thought that I would be using this one! Telltale symptoms of “old age”?! I hope not! Anyways, coming to the point. I guess there is a time in everybody’s life where they always miss “the good old days”. To me it is my childhood! I have had the fun-est childhood growing up with a lot of cousins. I somehow feel life was a lot simpler back then. To begin with, there weren’t many TV channels to watch. So we were forced to play out a  lot and the times that there was actually something to watch on TV used to be so precious!  Don’t get me wrong. I am definitely not one of those who say that change or growth is bad. On the downside, awareness was less. It was really hard to communicate with family members who lived half way across the world. But one’s got to admit that there were fewer threats and complexities back then. Everything in moderation was probably the reason- my parents would probably have a different take on it if you asked them!!(especially the “moderation” part!)

Looking forward to cousins visiting for summer vacation was exciting. Much later when all my other younger cousins came along, I always felt special as I was the big sister around and they would kind of look upto me! Even today, although we have each gone our different ways, although we may not be “very good” at keeping in touch, when we meet we still feel the special closeness all over again. I would love for my kids to grow up being close to their cousins and experiencing the same special feeling! Not a very easy thing to achieve(hence the title!) but would definitely want to make the most of whatever opportunity is available.

Inspired by Li’l sisters!!

My blog! Feels good to finally have started my blog – inspired by 2 of my little sisters- amazing writers!! The one thing that would come to the minds of people who know me when they think of me is, “the girl who can’t stop talking!” Seriuosly! one of my uncles used to take me along on long road trips just for the entertainment factor(his car did not have a radio in those days)! Anyways, I have had many people suggest to me that I start a blog. I always used to wonder that I may not have as much to say if I started a blog but when 2 of my cousins (did I mention that they were amazing writers?) started their own blog, I thought I might actually want to try my hand at it. So here I am! My blog would essentially contain my random thoughts on this and that. So let’s see how it goes!