Happy Teej!

P.S. This is the mehendi design that I drew myself on my left hand.

Diwali@Jaipur!

We always celebrate Diwali at Jaipur with Hubby's parents. Hubby's brother and his family also travel down from Bangalore for Diwali. So its an occasion for family reunion too! :)

The buildings at Jaipur are decorated beautifully with various styles and kinds of lights. Although this year Vidhan sabha was not decorated at all. Last year it had looked beautiful! Birla Mandir was decorated in the same style that I've seen for the past 7 years.

We made some rangoli at the house like we do every year using rice powder and holi colours (gulal). Here are some pictures of them:

Although Anirudh was enjoying looking at the crackers being burst but he was hesitant to hold the phuljhari's himself. But once I held it with him, he started to enjoy it and then he didn't want to stop. So all the teachings from his school teacher that he had been saying over and over again since the past few days of "No crackers!" went down the drain! :)

Ganesh Chaturthi ... the sad end!

I've always heard or seen people talking in excitement about Ganesh Chaturthi and what all they do to celebrate it. However I never felt any special feelings arising inside me for this festival. Not that I'm an atheist. I very much believe in God despite the fact I don't pray everyday.

And to be truthful, its not about feeling anything special but about the fact that I somehow feel aversion for two festivals one of them being Ganesh Chaturthi and the the other Durga Puja. The aversion is not towards the prayers or the celebrations. Its the end which bothers me. Makes me feel sad not for Ganeshji or for Durgaji but for the people who do not see how they are totally disrespecting them in the end. And it seems like a total sham to me.

I know there are tons of people who will scorn at me for writing such words but this is the truth..the truth about how I feel.

And why do I feel so? Look at these pictures and they will say it all without any further explanation required from me.





Do you feel happy to see such treatment meted out to the God who was being celebrated few hours ago? I certainly don't.

Do you think our Gods deserve this kind of treatment towards the end after days of celebrating them? Definitely not!

Do you think Ganeshji would be happy to see himself lying amidst the filth on the beach? Never!!

So why are we doing this? What for? Few days we keep them on the pedestal and then they end up lying on the beach with broken arms, covered in filth being trampled upon by the cleaning machines. And this is the time when it makes me feel its all a sham!

And its not just about Ganesh Chaturthi. I feel the same for Durga Puja and the visarjan at the end of it too.

This is the same reason why I refuse to take wall or pocket calendars with any of the Gods pictures on it because I get concerned that once the year is over, how do I dispose the calendar off? I just do not like throwing it in the dustbin. For Gods sake it has the picture of the god whom we respect and look up to.

I can go on and on about it but I guess I've got my point conveyed. And when I read Rarely There, I was glad I'm not alone in how I feel.

I always wonder, why do we need to do the visarjan? Why can't we keep the god with us, in our homes after the celebrations? Do we need to follow a ritual which was made eons ago? But I also know for the fact that earlier there were not such small small groups celebrating separately. Maybe its become more of a status symbol to be sponsoring such celebrations! Why can't the whole city unite and celebrate together?

I hope soon the people realise what they are doing and how its ending. I really hope so..