Thursday, September 24, 2009

Insha'Allah


This year I decided to blog about 9 colors of Navratri. But I was unable to do justice to the theme because of n number of reasons. I had to work extra in the office and had some domestic duties that needed urgent attention and so on. For whatever reasons, I failed.
Wise people always say, first do, then tell. I think I should have blogged first and then bragged about it. A lesson is learnt.
While I was browsing the Net, an expression caught my attention. “Insha'Allah” is a phrase which is used when we are saying something that we will do in the future. It means “God willing”. This simple expression has a deep meaning. We should never say I will do this, I will do that. We must say Insha'Allah before that. If we boast we will not be able to it. I think the English proverb ‘Man proposes; God disposes’ means a similar thing.
I was unsuccessful this year. But I am not giving up. Insha'Allah I will attempt this project again next year.

Read more about Insha'Allah here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insha

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Navratri ....part 3

Today's color Sky blue .
It is father’s favorite color. I have this old lakhanavi salwar-kurta. It is now too old to wear, still I am so attached to it that I am keeping it. It is associated with many fond memories of good old college days.


Monday, September 21, 2009

Navratri ...part 2

On Sunday the color was Orange

And on Monday it was White


Today it is Red. I bought this dress from kolhapur.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Nine colors of Navratri

Navratri begins today. Navratri is a festival of Goddess celebrated for nine days. Recently I came to know about the color codes observed during these nine days. I got this from a marathi Newspaper Maharashtra Times.
I like the idea of wearing clothes of given color on the given date. Though I am not much religious I find this idea fascinating. So I have decided to follow this calendar. It is just for fun.
I will be taking a picture of a dress or saree of the given color on each day and I am going to blog about it.
Here are the dates and colors:
Saturday -19 September – Green
Sunday - 20 September – Orange
Monday - 21 September – White
Tuesday - 22 September – Red
Wednesday - 23 September – Sky Blue
Thursday 24 - September – Yellow
Friday - 25 September – Peacock Green
Saturday - 26 September – Parrot Green
Sunday - 27 September – Purple

So today it is Green.
When I think of green, I remember meadow, trees, grass. If word nature has to have a color it will be green I guess. Some cultures believe that green is the color of envy. I can’t relate myself to that.
Today I have photographed border of a saree. This is one of my favorite sarees. I wore it on my wedding day.


I know, photo is not that good. I am trying hard to improve my photographing skills. :)

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Contrasting colors of Kanpur

Last week I visited Kanpur, a city in Uttar Pradesh. I got to see very less of the city itself though. I mostly resided in IIT campus.
I was traveling along my toddler aged two and a half. We rarely get to spend so much time together. We enjoyed our peace on the move. I was excited and tensed to begin with then I slowly relaxed and started enjoying my journey. My most occupying task on the tour was to keep my son entertained. We managed fairly well with the help of a puzzle, three story books, a pack of animal shaped biscuits, few crayons and a blank notebook.
A long journey 24 hours took me to Kanpur. I must admit, I was not impressed by the first pictures of the city. It looked clumsy, dirty and crowded. Any railway station in India, for that matter, can be labeled with these three adjectives- clumsy, dirty and crowded. Kanpur was no exception.
In another half an hour, I was inside the campus. It was opposite of the city. It was free from pollution, noise and grime.
Here are some of the photos I took on the Campus. Bicycle is the main mode of transport here.
Or you can hire a cycle-rickshaw.
Or simply walk.

This is the Visitor’s Hostel, where I stayed.
And one more of VH
And this was the view from my room


Like every Indian I was thrilled at the thought of visiting Ganga, the most sacred river of India. My visit to Kanpur gave me this opportunity. We visited Ganga near Bithoor. To the much of my disappointment Ganga was not the Ganga of my dreams. It was imprisoned by the so-called devotees of Ganga. For me, Ganga symbolized Enormity, Purity and Abundance. But it lacked all. A very filthy narrow road took us to one of the Ghats. Road was lined up with small shops selling plastic cans for devotees to take back Ganga-Jal (water from the holy river Ganga). Ghat was beset with Sadhus and Pujaris, who offered us to do Ganga Mayya ki Puja. Ignoring them we moved forward. And finally saw the Ganga.

I was disenchanted by the first Darshan of Gnaga. Photographs are so deceptive!
Then our guide took us to Valmiki Ashram, birthplace of Luv and Kush.

This place was relatively clean. But it lacked the authenticity and old charm. It represented a sort of fabricated history for pilgrims. I disliked it entirely.

We also visited Seeta ki Rasoi (Seeta’s kitchen). This place looked ancient. Pujari was cleaning the temple. He guided us by pointing the broom in his hand towards the temple. Hypocrisy in all its forms was manifested there.

My journey ended well though. I got these beautiful flowers from a roadside vendor.
These flowers were meant for Puja. I just took them away. That was my way of protest.