Bappa's in town

Centerpiece for the festival

So the god of joy, remover of obstacles and giver of knowledge is finally here. While people queue up to the pandals for their individual requests/complaints etc. I thought I should put together an executive summary of sorts for quick reference ;)

So here it is:

Dear god,

•         Please let the human race get rid of unemployment
•         Please let there be no violence on planet earth
•         Please let there be happiness, health, love and abundance everywhere
•         Please let common sense prevail such that we do not abuse our own planet.

The above is in no particular priority, they all seem to be important. Please see what you can do about it :)

Rangoli made by yours truly

Ganapati bappa morya…………

Mumbai Govinda 2014

Indians across the globe celebrate Krishna Janamashtimi in various ways. Some observe a fast, some sing bhajans, satsang, some have elaborate puja. And I prefer keeping it simple so “Happy Birthday Krishana”. Yup it’s my favourite god’s happywalla birthday! And am excited.

For some reason the women pray for a child that is natkhat like Krishna. Personally I think such a child is a handful! Besides he was an incarnation and all his mischiefs led to some story and unveiled some mysteries.

In the spirit of celebration it is one thing to emulate Krishna to celebrate his birthday but completely another ballgame to do so for the monies involved by risking one’s life. Forming pyramids is no longer an innocent Krishna play in the confines of someone’s home. It’s now highly commercialised with no concern for the life of the youth of our country. Needless to say the number of people losing lives on this occasion is on the rise. I just hope some sane sense prevails.....

While all the Govindas prepare for the big day tomorrow I wish them good luck for the big bucks! Please be safe!

All pictures taken by yours truly during Govinda 2013

Mumbai Ganesh Utsav

Picture taken by yours truly

I was chatting with a non mumbaite friend on Ganesh Utsav celebrations in Mumbai. We were discussing things like non availability of the eco friendly Ganesh idol, Ganesh Utsav as a festival for socialising and the difference in the practices in Mumbai and back home [Chennai for him]. I appraised him that Lokmanya Tilak was the brain behind Sarvajinik Ganesh Utsav in Maharashtra. This was the strategy used during the freedom struggle and used as a cover and also to pass on cruicial information and educate people.

However now these Ganesh pandals have converted themselves into mini dens that engage in gambling, have drinking sessions, give cover to gundagiri and are far from anything but social [in the true sense of the word]. Sad but true, and whosoever likes to see drunk men doing lewd dance moves to the tune of ‘mungda’ or ‘chamelibai’ during the visarjan procession. I wonder which god gets appeased by this nonsense.

The culture of lezim dhol pasha, dhotar, sadra, safa and navrais are gone! It is heart-breaking to see this disrespect for the GOD!

My friend then told me that in Chennai only mud idols were available. In Tamil Nadu the festival is designed to use mud got from desilting the lakes and canals before monsoon. This helps the farmers to get more water and potters their livelihood. And after visarjan the idol goes back to the lake and canal after monsoon.Though this is not the sole purpose of the festival. What a profound method I thought!

Everyone talks of the rich cultural heritage of our great country. But how many of us really understand the nuances it offers. Each person/community has an occupation/duty to the society and in turn each person is taken care of. Abundance in thought, methods, festivals and a way of life! That’s all I can say.

I just hope we do not blindly follow everything that the ‘west’ does. In Rujuta Divekar’s words “Bharat ko Raj but Ram Ko vanvas kyon?”

Signing off by saying, Vachav re Ganapati bappa!

Painting food containers

Disha from 3D design decor and disha inspired me to paint food containers. She has also shared the painting DIY on her page. 

Below is some of my work.

 I painted this one with simple flowers and used them as planters.

I got a little ambitious with this one and painted it with my favorite warli design [more on warli a little later]. You could click here though. Also click here for some more recycling ideas. Drop a line, I would love to hear from you.

Do drop in a line. I would like to hear from you.

Bookmarks

I love bookmarks. I make them and gift them to friends. I make them in different styles. Some are in warli, some in madhubani, some painted, some from left over wedding invitation etc... Below are pics of some cards I clicked before gifting them.

Do drop in a line I would love to hear from you.

Indoor Mural

I instantly fell in love with the mural the moment I saw it. I had to learn this art. The result is below

It takes about 6 days to make this and each day roughly one hour of work. Tests ones patience because unless the fist step has dried the next step cannot be performed. In this piece I have opted to make a lot of hand crafted objects. Some close ups below

As per the dictionary Murals are huge paintings created outdoor directly on the walls. Hence personally I feel this is incorrectly called Mural. Hence I have named it Indoor Mural. Anyways as someone said "naam mein kya hai"

My Friend Ganesha.....

August, 01, 2014
Yup my friend Ganesha is coming to town!! Both my son and me are super excited. 

Rangoli design created by yourstruly in 2013

However its scary to even think about the abuse the POP idols will cause to the environment. An earnest request please exercise caution and responsibility. Please use eco friendly idols. Even better please buy silver idols, they can be put away after the festival.

Its not just the idol but also the decorations that add to abusing the environment. Yes! the favorite decoration material thermocol apparently creates havoc! Also all the tikli chamki and other plastic bling adds to the caos. Besides this form of decoration is not satvik.

Try using satvik and eco friendly decoration material this increases the spiritual energy during puja. Satvik materials namely flowers, leaves, rangoli, barks of banana tree, bamboo shoots etc.

  

 

You could have a new decoration every day!! Its so much fun imagine. It also gives a divine fragrance to the house. So please go ahead wear your creative caps and do something simpler :)

One last request keep that volume down please. Yes all the loudspeakers and crackers adds to the existing noise pollution. Please do read up on noise and air pollution and do not add to it! Old people, sick people, babies and animals are the worst affected.

All in all enjoy the festival....................

Flower and leaves pictures form internet stock pictures