HaPpY HoLi

Wish you all a Very Happy Holi

a Festival of colours,

Of vibrance.

May the festival usher joy and colour in your lives

This is my creation.  I love making Rangolis.  Got an opportunity to draw this Rangoli for a grand function last month.  What better time than this to share it here.

Craft Bazar

I live in a heritage city which has a history dating back to a couple of centuries.  Vadodara is also known as Baroda.  The city is full of hundreds of Banyan trees, Vad known in hindi and hence the name `Vadodara'.. The land of Banyan trees.

Recently, there was Vad-fest.  International festival of art and culture.  Yanni performed here at this venue that you see below. Laxmi Vilas Palace.

The Baroda Museum that houses a Mummy and loads of interesting artefacts.  Takes not less than three hours for a visit.
Below is Kirti Mandir, a palace built for a queen

All these pictures from this stall. Not the real structures

There was a loom on display

Wooden furnitures on display and sale.  I liked the blue stand.  Could be made use as a plant pot stand

Can you believe... These are hand painted on canvas

Now comes handicrafts using glass beads.  All hand stitched using myriad colours.  Patience, accuracy and speed are required

The ones you see below are also hand woven.  These adorn the doors of a home

Hand woven necklace

Pottery section

Metal artefacts.

So delicate and dainty

Paintings

Sculptures

Intricately carved wooden door

 

I could not do justice to this.  Couldn't see the whole bazar.  Too huge for a single visit.  Nevertheless it was a pleausre.  I have a few pictures of handicrafts woven out of joot which I will share later.
This is real India, a country with rich heritage.

A good beginning

Happy New Year

Happy Sankranti

A fortnight into the New Year already!!  Time flies!!  

May the year have in store lot of happiness, good health and cheer

for you .

The beginning has been great

Have had so many moments to treasure

Inspiration to create too!

Just as how cakes are baked during Christmas, its Til laddoo for Sankranti.  I have talked about this festival last year here.

Til's nothing but sesame seeds.  How interesting to note that because it has a power to generate heat in the body, this became a tradition to make til laddoos during the winter festival Sankranti.

I have a wonderful blog to run upto whenever I want to make something.  Shilpa of aayisrecipes is a wonderful cook.  Her passion for culinary art is amazing, clearly visible on her site.

So I made

Thanks to Shilpa, they turned out well.

I baked a cake... with orange zest and orange juice

Another learning... Used Ribbet! to create this collage.

There is more. And here's a preview

This journal of mine gives me so much of joy.

Rangoli & Candle making fun

Happy Diwali

&

Happy New Year

Its time of the year again to have fun

making Rangolis, lighting diyas and candles 

and eating goodies.  Not to forget the cleaning and decorating homes

My daughter suggested that we create a different Rangoli this year.

And we created these twin birds

It took us good 3 hours

 A collective effort of  my daughters and me.  Initially, I was doing it with my elder daughter Upasana.  My younger daughter Vandita was just assisting us with colours.  We underestimate our children.  We were apprehensive to allow her also to fill colours.  But we gave in.  And she did all the flowers and leaves.

I also made these diyas and my daughters helped me in painting.  All out of waste.  Had earthen diyas which had been used over the year, black with soot.  Washed them and painted with fabric paints.  I then melted wax that I had stored out of melted candles. Each colour separately and poured into the diyas.  Placed a tooth pick for the wick to stand erect in the wax.

And Ta...dahh..

The balcony's peppered with twinkling lights and the `Kandeel'

It has been a pleasure to making Rangolis over the years.  You can see them here  and here .

Happy Diwali to all

Thread that binds

August 4th was FRIENDSHIP day.  I clicked this picture for posterity.  She was so excited and happy.  My daughter's hand after she returned from school.

A day to remember and tell your friends that you love them and care for them.  We have a festival coming up next week.  Raksha Bandhan.  When a sister ties a `Rakhi',  thread of love around her brother's wrist reminding him to protect her.  A thread that binds them.  The brother inturn gifts her and  vows to look after her.  There is a practice of tying Rakhi to a male cousin, to even an unrelated boy/man who is considered a brother.  Being away, I send them `Rakhi's by post.  To my two brothers and three lovely men to whom I have been tying a `Rakhi' for over two decades.  I thought why not send them handmade Rakhis.  Googled a bit, found a pattern and here's what I created, using  embroidery floss of Madura Coats  

It turned out to be a crafty time with my daughter too.  She too created a few bands using yarn.  I never thought she'd have patience for one!  but she created a few.

Creativity can stem from NOWHERE and become NOW HERE.

Up up and away

14th was Uttarayan.... festival of kite flying.  Celebrated in myriad forms across the country.  Diversity thy name India! Also known as Makara Sankranti, Maghi, Lohri, Pongal etc Infact, Sankranti I believe is celebrated all over South Asia and is known by different names in different countries of South Asia. It has an astrological significance too.  The Sun moves into the Northern hemisphere and Carpicorn Zodiac constellation on that day. In India, different parts of the country follow different traditions and celebrate it in different ways.  

Where we live, it is celebrated for two consecutive days and almost every family is out flying kites :) So were we! We joined three other families and were on the terrace from morn to night. Oh, we had a lovely family time flying kites and hot air balloons.

On the 13th, Upasana was away at her school for an event and we went at 10.30pm to pick her up.  Just to give you a glimpse of how crazy this kite flying business is, here are a few pics that I captured from our moving car along a stretch of almost 2 kms. Roads were choc-a-block with people out to buy kites and strings and hooters and caps for the next day.

The wheel that spins the string to fly kites.  Often coated with glass powder to cut others kite.  This is probably more fun for some people and obviously more business as the demand for kites go up.  Each family gathers not less than 100 kites!

The shops that lined the roads

Its a delight to see helium filled balloons being released.  There were vendors selling such balloons

More shops

Hooters and caps and masks :) All handmade

The turnover of kite business runs into crores of rupees.  And mind you, its all in the unorganised sector.  All handmade kites.light-weight paper and bamboo sticks are used.  The kites are mostly rhombus shaped with central spine and a single bow in vibrant colours and designs.

This was the first day ie 14th.  Can you see people on roof tops?  Almost every house?

Vandita trying her hand at a kite with her cousin all covered up to avoid getting tanned:) Its team work.  One has to handle the spindle of string too as the other tries to fly the kite before getting cut by some others kite.

The kite with a tail was ours. 

There were  such moments too. Here's Vandita shedding a tear that her kite got cut away :)

When did you last see a sun set?  For me, when I was working, it used to be once a year kind of phenomenon.  Now, its quite frequent.  This was the 14th.  I captured this pic while the sun was positioned between two towers far off.  I liked this pic a lot.

It was now time for some hot air balloons.

Here it goes. Up, Up and away....

There were fire crackers ligting the sky 

And thousands of hot air balloons lit by all enjoying this festival of kites.

We lit some more balloons

 At home we made traditional sweets that are made for this festival.

I must say, there were lot of awareness campaigns run by media to take care while on roof tops cause accidents do happen, of not using abrasive strings since they cut wings of flying birds.  Am sure it has helped. What an eventful two day vacation! Leaving you with a pic of the sky dotted with kites.