Happy Vijayadasami!

Happy Dussera or Vijayadasami to you all! And the main reason I am reviving the blog today is the belief amongst South Indians at least, that whatever you do on this day.. you will continue to do the rest of the year. Vijayadasami falls on the day after Saraswati Pooja (the day we are supposed to pray Saraswati- the Goddess of knowledge) and hence honor her by not studying anything. However the day after, i.e. today signifies the day that the Hindu God Ram triuphed over his nemesis, Ravan and returned to his hometown of Ayodhya. But as it happens, over the years, in addition to the golu and the yummy food on this day, it is typical for one to do “everything” they wish to do the whole year. So people study a bit, classes for arts (singing, dancing etc commence on this day as the first day of the year), they do whatever else that they enjoy in the hope that it’ll last.

However, it being Paris and it being Sunday, the festivities stand reduced a bit. Yes, we did poojai yesterday and today. We kept our books in prayer yesterday and “studied” a bit today (thanks to me doing PhD, it makes a lot more sense than otherwise), I sang a bit and then… settled for a cookathon. I’ve only just exited the kitchen after 2 long hours where I cooked away to glory. With Friends playing ont he mini-DVD player installed atop one of the counters, it barely felt like “work” at all. And here are the results -

 Bottom-up: 50+ theplas, Kadai Subji and Dal tadka.

And here’s a closer look at the dishes. Should you need any recipes, drop me a line; The theplas of course are an old favourite and you can find the recipe here.

                                Theplas. Serve with dal or any subji, pickles or good old chai!

                   Kadai subji or Subji Mughalai – Tomato based- gravy stewed with mixed vegetables. 

Dal Tadka. Cooked yellow dal (moong) garnished with split green chillies, curry leaves and tempered with mustard seeds and jeera. 

 

So, Bon Appetit and Happy Vijayadasami!

PS: I owe a huge bunch of posts on Barcelona and my recent trip there. Postcards and anecdotes to follow.

e- Saraswati poojai

Happy Saraswati Poojai to all of you. For the uninitiated, this is the second-last day of Navarathri (Dussera) on which the Goddess of knowledge, Saraswati is honoured by a festive celebratory prayer/poojai. It is typical for people to place their study books, work-related material, musical instruments, bank documents and anything else that they need prosperity in, in front of a picture/idol of the Goddess and pray for prosperity. Other than that, pooja is performed for all vehicles and utility devices to pray for their running smoothly. This is part of the ‘Ayudha Pooja’. That apart, this is a very important day for kids too. Guess why? It’s the official break from study! Yes indeed… one is not ‘supposed’ to study on this day while giving the Goddess a break for one day a year while otherwise constantly seeking Her blessings to study well and perform well at school/work. As kids, this was a great day to celebrate. The parents gave us a voluntary break from the whole – ‘Go to your room and study for the semester exams’ sermon. In fact we were encouraged to see TV, catch up on the phone, play games and what not, while being served yummy feast including payasam, vadai, sundal and what not. Ah bliss… of course everyone knew that the break was for exactly one day. because the day after Saraswati Poojai is Vijayadasami; And that’s the most auspicious day of the year to start something anew. It is traditional to do a bit of everything you want to/have to do on this day because there is a traditional belief that you will continue doing whatever it is that you do on Vijayadasami for the rest of the year. Typically in south India, classes (music/dance/cultural) are begun on this day for it’s auspicious nature. And hence, we had to study, paint/sing/dance/blah etc on this day and it was just as full as activity as Saraswati poojai was void.

While back home in Chennai the celebrations remain traditional, living in Paris means having to improvise. So that means that the shlokas are crooning off Youtube. The only photo of Saraswati we have is the current desktop wallpaper (only just downloaded from the Internet). So the velakku (diya) is lit in front of the laptop which currently serves as a photo frame, the incense sticks shown to it (and also thus performing the poojai for the laptop as an ayudham (utility) – orey kallula rendu maanga (multipurpose single move), hehe). The prasadams (Pal payasam and vadai) are placed in front of this, so are the books, cheque books, housing lease and whatever other papers that could be found along with contraptions such as the cell phone, PS3, etc. This is the age of the e-poojai.

Happy Saraswati Poojai and Vijayadasami everyone!