Raksha bandhan special (questions!!)..

I have a few questions here people!

The pooja thali for reference
image - google

First how I arrived at them. Today while the rakhi tying ceremony, I remembered a lot of things Aai used to tell me as a kid. Don't slouch, bend neatly, rotate the supari (areca nut says wiki..how fancy) and gold ring properly, etc etc. She calls doing things half heartedly बिगार भरणा  (bigaar bharna  - means doing a mediocre job). So as I was following her instructions in my mind, I suddenly thought out aloud and asked everyone around 'Why do we use the supari and gold ring for the pooja ?' 


My aunt went into the ummmm mode and said the gold signifies wishing a prosperous future (golden and all).
I was not entirely convinced. So I passed on the dilemma to Aai who said basically the thali consists of things which every sister can afford - poor or rich. So supari here symbolizes the lord Ganesha who is prayed to before beginning any task/endeavor. Also that's why supari is commonly used as a Ganpati replacement in lots of poojas.
But then I said, how can everyone afford gold (To think of it not everyone can really afford gold). So after my contradictory response, Aai also went in the ummm mode :D


So the burden of not having my questions answered is passed on to anyone who reads this blog.
Kindly elucidate me the significance of these things or at least the stories behind them!!
Also if you guys use other things in the thali then would like to know :) For my own knowledge!


Oh and happy Raksha Bandhan to everyone :)


~nightflier


P.S. I have always secretly believed we need the best Raksha from the devils within :D

Being a 7 year old..

KT and I are childhood friends. We studied in the same primary school, in same class, also belonged to the same 'group of friends'. After that despite living in the same city and chance meetings, we landed together at engineering college. We are radically different (?) personalities and when we had gotten over all these years of un-attachment, we grew really close. This is a childhood kissa (incident) she told me few years back. The girl has weird memory skills, cos I somehow don't remember anything related.


So as normal kids, we were having a discussion about what we would ask our parents if secured first ranks. Someone said the new Barbie doll, someone said the kitchen collection (called bhatukli in Marathi), someone said a trip to somewhere. Ta da comes my turn and I very simply (I hope) said, I will ask Aai (mom) to make Pav bhaji.
I think she somehow thinks that was being really sorted out of me at such an early age.
On the other hand, I think I was a damn fool, because to think of it I did get a first rank that year. I should have wished/asked for anything I desired. :-/


Anywho, I think I wished/asked for Pav bhaji cos it would have been a respite in the summers, when the vegetable options were so few and so boring. (dudhi, beans, chavli etc)
But I would like to believe what I think she thought. Sorted out. Sounds peaceful to me :)


~nightflier

change

So on this rather dull day, I would rather be off on a boat/yacht sailing somewhere preferably in chilly weather sipping coffee, bundled up in my comforter, reading book, cooking when I felt hungry and moving on.

Alas.. I am in office breaking rules. (One is not supposed to access personal sites from work).

So anywho, thbpth (that's :P in Calvin lore) to sys admin people. I will live my rather warm day-dream through a blog template change :)

~nightflier

P.S. Krishna here (a grad school friend) used to change his website template almost everyday. I am not exaggerating!! There used to be at least one template change every 2 days. We would always tease him saying he is going insane :D
Now on this rather bore of a day I seem to appreciate his need for change. Every day.

the pre-birthday wish list

Since I can remember I have accepted it to accept birthday gifts graciously. Whatever they may be. But as Upasna mentioned, its time to be vain. Specially since stuff-one-can-afford limit has gone up and hence feel that my friends would oblige to gift anything from the below list. I am not including family, as I get them to gift me what I want every damn time :D 
(like for rakhi shamelessly asked brother to pay for this -> https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=267729449907816&set=a.260763833937711.84759.147971171883645&type=1 )

image - google

1. NestRest. Warm, cozy, the best place to get all my reading/writing/thinking done :) 
From here.


2. A box of crayons and colored pencils. The last one got over. So need new stock to doodle with. Also colored hand made papers to doodle on :D


3. A ruled moleskine. HERE! (Normally I prefer doing my own stationary shopping, but this one is an online buy (only outlet I could find is in Mumbai!!))


4. Hog on the streets of Paris. (I am watching Amelie right now!!!! Did you know Amelie Poulain is an INFJ too ? Also, guess who else is ;))


5. A trip to Morocco (Marrakech). Like a stay for a week. Not a group trip or something. Just exploring the cuisine and culture.


6. Drive on the lake shore drive in Chicago. I somehow could not do this the 2 years I lived there as I did not have a driving license :( 
After the drive a really long walk across the Lake Michigan trail would work just fine :D


7. Bunch of white lilies or gladiolus. 


8. A really elaborate home cooked meal consisting of wine, chicken biryani, pita bread, hummus and greek salad. Weird combination I know. But I am really hungry right now and in a mood to eat these all, in no particular order!!

image - google

9. Star gazing with a telescope!! (First I have to persuade any of my friends to buy a telescope!!)
<- Until then, this would work too!


10. A silk scarf. Peacock blue to be specific.


11. How could I forget! Hand made greeting cards :)


Wow this was so much fun!! Plus a feel good :) Specially after a sleep deprived regular night. 
Please do share your list too! Would love to read and make additions to my already getting-longer-in-my-head list ;)


~nightflier


P.S. In other news finished Rabindranath Tagore's short stories collection last week. Totally mesmerized by his writing all over again.
And the Woody Allen film festival successfully kicked off last week. Since I still have not got hold of a decent copy of Midnight in Paris, watched Annie Hall last sunday. Totally LURVE!! KT if you are reading this, then this is in tow of the guru dutt festival we did 3 years back. Feeling nostalgic already :)

comedy of errors

Everything has a first. Even a working weekend. I had never ever worked on a saturday (at least on a payroll) before today. So was pretty excited to be in office sans anyone else and be myself. ;-)
I kept my cabin door open, played music without the earphones i.e. loud enough to be heard outside, ordered food at the desk (the cafeteria was closed you see!) and worked peacefully and productively. Self observation number n, though I think I work well with teams, the individual productivity leaps many folds when working alone!


anywho, post isnt about my self obsession.
So as I sat at the security office waiting for the cab and 3 more girls who were going to be sharing the cab with me, I started chit-chatting with the security guards. The 3 girls joined in. And a really really amusing discussion followed. One of them lets call her miss know it all, started criticizing how non-engineers don't have that 'cool factor' going on for them. She also proudly declared that the mechanical, electrical and civil one's are particularly different from the *others*. I just kept on smiling and added to her much disapproval, but don't we all work at the same place at similar levels, doing similar brain functions at the end ? But no sir, that was not the point. The point was to prove that *some people have it going for them the moment they decide to study engineering*.
And dreading any further provocations from my end to take part in the silly, and pretty pointless (judge me!) discussion, I frantically prayed to god (yes you heard err read it right!) to take me home that very moment. Man proposes and god disposes (too literally here) and the cab arrived. Phew!!!!!


But no sir! Things had to worsen. Miss know it all and smarty tongue then blabbered about some other stuff and forgot to give proper directions to the driver. Jana tha Japan pahoch gaye Cheen (had to go to Japan but instead reached China) happened. And this after all the *smart talk* about how *some* people fare better in life because of their mere qualifications. If that was not enough, she made the driver drop her till the door step not considering the fact that it was 9.30 PM and 3 other people needed to reach respective homes.


Now as I sit trying to make sense of it, I think we humans create a sort of defense mechanism to mentally tackle issues. Some people consider themselves superior to be ridden of the guilt of their ordinary-ness (which I think is the perfectly wonderful thing to be, for anyone). People like me on the other hand always keep themselves busy or try so.


Who would have thunk ? 


~nightflier


P.S. One might wonder why the title and contents don't match..because, while navigating, to make sure we don't get lost on the way again and again, this is what came to my mind (as a distraction of course to propagate away from the temptation of blurting out something extremely mean and rude ;))

Yuvanashva's tale - of the flesh and soul

I have just finished Devdutt Pattanaik's The Pregnant King. Should have finished it on Sunday, but pending tasks, then work happened and I finally finished the last 50 pages today. And though its past bedtime according to the new schedule, I can not keep these thoughts inside me. So What the heck. Here I go.


The book felt challenging, first I had a tough time getting the pronunciation of Yuvanashva correct. Otherwise the way it presented warped realities, skewed thoughts, it really was a challenge to keep up with the questions raised and the answers sought. Though I don't think the book was about answers of any kind. It was of flesh and the soul. Of matter and spirituality. Of conflicting ideas and constant change. 


And it was fascinating to see how the story runs parallel to the war of Kuru-kshetra. Blending the flavors of Mahabharata with the pained lives of Yuvanashva, Somvati, Sumedha, Simantini (loved the name!!), Mandhata, Jayanta, Shilavati (It must have been tough being a female ruler no?). I am still in their world, enchanted by their quests and lives. Oh, why do books get over so soon ? :)


I highly highly recommend it if one doesn't mind mythological tales.


Btw whose story was it ? Yuvanashva, Ila, Somvati or Shilavati ? I am still wondering.


~nightflier


P.S. Story behind how I picked this book. Had seen Devdutt Pattanaik's TED talk last year. Was quite intrigued by his concepts. And then a friend generously praised the book on fb. So while browsing through Flipkart for this month's 2 books, my eyes fell on the book and pronto it was ordered :)

one of those days..

When you wake up all groggy eyed at 10 am despite wanting to wake up at 7 for an hour long yoga session. You wonder about your self control when it comes to sleep and all that blah. But you also remind yourself of the late party hours of earlier night when you pseudo partied with a bunch of really funny people and vicariously got drunk with the kids around (amusing story - a bunch of college goers (around 20 max) were having the time of their life, in their drunken revelry. sad story - I have not felt so ohhhld in the longest time, the way I felt looking at them. Such situations and instances seem to belong to a different era of my life. Altogether. Anywho..)

google image

So we planned for a quick brunch at home itself and made a grocery list with fellow roomies (here and here). But as we excel at planning, destroying, re-planning our own plans, we decided to go for a session of badminton.  Like the old days!!! It also gave me a chance to flaunt my new buy --> 


I was waiting to buy them for so long now!! Finally got them on sale with flat 40% off. So no wishful shopping this! 
I feel so paisa-wise ;)


So, amazing session of badminton happened. Then as such activities normally take me in the super woman mode, asked everyone to join us for lunch and gate crash the brunch. Cooked masala eggs. Had a very happy and hearty meal. Strewn with jokes involving how to spot friends' family who were watching the test match live at Lords. We literally jumped at every Indian shown on camera during that one hour. Sheesh.


and on the reading front have almost finished Hero with a thousand faces and Pregnant king. So can finally start the newest book in R R Martin's series!!!


Unplanned wonders did happen thus giving me a very satisfying day in terms of activity and fun!!
I don't suffer any weekend blues now. (of course I lie.)


~nightflier