Happy Diwali!

If you've been on MindBlogging long enough, you will know that I am about to direct you to a post that was written 4 years ago. And unsurprisingly though life has changed in many ways, my sentiments about this huge Indian festival of Diwali remain absolutely unchanged.

Somehow Diwali is the one f'estival that we simply have to be back home. Nothing makes up for the atmosphere there... the food, the fun, the crackers... I guess I've put all this across more eloquently in the post above.

Anyhoo, here's wishing one and all a very Happy Diwali and a fantastic New Year ahead to follow! Enjoy!

Love me for ONE day

If you guessed that this post was about Valentine's Day, you're dead on. It's one of those things that you probably frowned upon when you were single. Or if you were anything like us, went out with all your other single friends and had a blast yourselves... or it's one of those things with astronomical proportions, now that you are hitched. What gift to buy your significant other? Is it really required? What if you don't buy him anything as you both had agreed and he surprises you with something? And all those other dimensions in the whole game of sexual politics.

But I find it extremely odd that someone chooses ONE day off 365 to feel loved. As in, every other special day probably directly relates to you (think birthdays, anniversaries) or to your culture/religion (Diwali, Christmas). But this whole Mother's Day, Father's Day, Brother's Day and Valentine's Day business is just that - business. Apparently even in this economic crash, the United States is expected to spend close to $14.7 million (Google News) over gifts/chocolates/candy and what not. And this is what has brought what is predominantly a Western culture thing eastwards to India and other countries. Not that I think you should go boycotting it and massacring people the way Ram Sene is doing in Karnataka. It's people's own decision to celebrate what they want and any political party cannot assume the rights to tell them what they can/cannot celebrate. Many people keep it simple and make reservations for dinner and go out just as a couple. That's fine, considering if you were to dine out on any other day, why not strategically on a world-wide romance day? But the whole "Be my Valentine" thing is overrated, especially if you are in a long-term relationship, like marriage. Wouldn't it make sense to celebrate a more personally special day such as your anniversary, for instance rather than jump the bandwagon with a bunch of romance-crazed teenagers? Small gestures by either of you would normally be considered sweet on any other day... but the reputation of the day somehow demands something bigger. Like, you are hardly likely to consider it a gesture worthy of Valentine's Day if your husband did the laundry/picked up the groceries/washed the car/put in 100€ into your savings account, etc. on this day. On any other day this would've probably meant a lot more. And somehow the expectations of this day are far more personal. And they illogically do not fall into the 'you-love-me' category unless it's especially for you. Be it a card, flowers, candy, jewelry, lingerie or whatever else that it is that people buy these days.

Personally, I think people should opt for the watered-down version. Keep it simple. Do something together that gives you joy, if you feel the need to celebrate the day, that is... Maybe go for a hike, a riverside picnic or maybe just reserve the specialties for your own personal milestone days. Makes it far more special, don't you think, when you are celebrating something that is known just to the two of you, rather than the entire universe... Something to think about.. On that note, advance Happy Valentine's Day :)

Happy Karthikai

Karthikai is a second festival of lights type thing celebrated in South India. Without going into too much detail, I can just say that is is common to light lamps through the entire month of Karthikai (in Tamil) which is usually from mid-Nov to mid-Dec of the English calendar, culminating on the full-moon day of the month. And then as with all festivals, there's a whole lot of goodies and decorations, prayers and even crackers left-over from Diwali usually. You can read all about it here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karthikai_Deepam. This was my thalai-Karthikai and hence a bigger deal than usual. As the new daughter-in-law, I had to bring in the light into the home by lighting many a lamp and praying for the health and happiness of all. I donned a sari and all and lit all sorts of lamps and burst a cracker or two. Here's one of our clicks from many showing the lamps all set to be set down to light various places around the house in tasteful decoration. Happy Karthikai!

Happy Diwali!

Back we are at the festive helm of things as far as being Indian is considered anyways... The biggest festival is here - Diwali. And yet again I am not where I should be - India doing what I love the most - bursting crackers etc. This time is even more special because it is my Thalai Diwali. For the uninitiated, it is the first Diwali after the wedding. Everyone creates a big fuss over us, gets us all these new clothes and feeds us these array of sweets that would put the sweet shops to shame. Of course we are not in India to enjoy any of these spectacles. Hmph. But the husbad and I did go out and get new clothes a small fraction of the whole package at least to keep up some of the spirit. And unbelievably for the third year in a row, my sentiments remain unchanged from here.

So here's wishing you all a very very Happy and safe Diwali and a fantastic New Year ahead.

And specially, for allll my close friends who also got married this past year, wish you all a very special Thalai Diwali. Enjoy!

And finally, a very Happy Birthday to my husband :)

The Varalakshmi Nombu

Before I get to the post, Happy Independence Day everyone. :)

Today was the first of many things... It was the first Varalakshmi Nombu for me post-wedding. For those unfamiliar with the rituals, here's a synopsis - http://www.hindu-blog.com/2008/07/varalakshmi-nombu.html. But this meant I had to shoulder the responsibility of being the 'woman-of-the-house', and cook the yummy treats that I took for granted all the years till now, wake up at 6:00 am to cook everything post a head-shower (I was allowed the luxury of sleeping-in in those premarital days), prepare everything for the pooja, etc etc etc.

Amongst this is what I consider supremely challenging - making the vadais and the kozhakattais (a.k.a modak). And I took down the recipe from Patti and followed it to the P. Who said victory isn't sweet? It certainly is when it's a sweet rice dumpling like the kozhakattai.

Or the crispy vadais (though I didn't shape them too well... hehehehe. There's always room for improvement!)