Happy Diwali!

I asked a good friend of mine, who is from Meerut, 'I heard that North Indians give one another gifts for Diwali.'

He thought for some time and replied, 'We believe in receiving gifts, not giving.' That reply brought a smile on my face.

In the South, we feed one another gifts. We eat lot of sweets, of different flavors and colors, which make our tummies wider. We decorate the house with diyas (lamps) and burst crackers, in the evening. The crackers sizzle, pop, rumble and a few of them explode with thunderous sounds. (Any questions about environment are not encouraged) 

Diwali is an Indian festival, also known as the festival of lights. The diya (lamp) is the symbol for this festival. The light signifies victory of knowledge over ignorance and good over evil. There are different mythological roots to this festival. The North part of India, celebrates return of Lord Rama and Sita Devi to Ayodhya. In the South, the victory of Lord Krishna and his wife Satyabhama over the demon Narakasura is celebrated as Diwali. Diwali is mired by an age old controversy between male chauvinists and feminists.   

Narakasura is a demon, who gave no peace to the Gods and troubled them. On top of his bad attitude, he got a wish from Brahma, that he can be killed only by his Mother, Bhoodevi (Goddess Earth). Now, you must be thinking that he is undefeatable. But the Gods are smarter. Bhoodevi reincarnated on Earth as Satyabhama, wife of Lord Krishna. Krishna goes to war with Narakasura, with Satyabhama by his side. Narakasura injures Krishna with his trident in the battle. Krishna becomes unconscious. Satyabhama comes to defense of Krishna, shoots Narakasura with an arrow and kills him. 

The male chauvinists say that Krishna knows that Narakasura can be killed only by Satyabhama, which is why he pretends to become unconscious. The feminists like me argue that Satyabhama protected Krishna from Narakasura. Whatever the interpretation, I wish you all a 'Happy Diwali'. May the festival bring lot of light and happiness in your life. 

For all the folks, who don't want to put on weight. Devour these e-sweets.

For all the environment friendly folks. Celebrate this e-Diwali.

Bhoochakra, Vishnu Chakra

Chichubuddi, flower pot

Sparkler

Pencil Sparkler

Rocket

The Land of Endless Possibilites

This is a short story, which can be part of an unfinished novel.  This story is one of my early morning musings.

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Adam was in a huge room. The white walls extended on four sides. He paced up and down and wondered, ‘Where am I?’ The walls were so bright, that it hurt his eyes. His hands twitched. He thought, ‘How can I escape?’ He looked up and saw a small black door on the roof of the room. He thought, ‘It could be the escape door. How can I reach up there?’

Adam sat on the pristine white floor. He remembered the conversation with his sister, Malina. It was a fresh spring morning. Adam and Malina were walking together on the soft grass. Malina wore a long white dress, woven with intricate and delicate laces. She carried a white umbrella. Adam smiled and asked Malina, ‘Why do you need the umbrella? It is a beautiful sunny morning.’

Malina smiled as she stroked a red rose, and felt its smooth skin. She plucked a rose petal and replied, ‘You never know. This is a place of endless possibilities. Never forget that.’ She put the petal in her mouth. Adam thought she was childish. Malina looked up at the sky. The clouds gathered together, as though they are going to have a grand party. It grew dark and the clouds opened their bellies, bringing down big fat rain drops.

Adam wondered, ‘Is this truly a place of endless possibilities?’

Adam imagined himself to be a lizard, capable of climbing the walls and slipping past the black door on the roof. He went close to the white wall. He climbed on to it and on all fours, made his way to the top. He was not in a hurry to get out. He enjoyed climbing like a lizard. He saw the floor slipping away. He reached the black door and jerked the door open.

A gust of air touched Adam’s skin. He climbed out. He saw the green plains on one side. He stood on top of a tall rectangular white box. He thought, ‘How can I get down?’ Adam imagined himself to be a bird. He opened his arms and they were covered by translucent wings. He stepped down from the box into the air. As he fell down, he flapped his wings and soared across the sky. He flew across the blue skies until he saw Malina.

Malina sat in the garden on a white bench and sipped her tea. Adam landed close to Malina. She looked at him and smiled.

Adam said,’I made it.’

Malina replied, ‘Yes, I can see that.’

‘There are endless possibilities.’

Malina replied,’Yes, I told you so’, and winked.

                                              The End.

You Go Girl! - A Poem by Taslima Nasreen

Vogue India Magazine is celebrating it's Seventh Anniversary this October. The October Issue is dedicated to women's empowerment. They have a 62-page gallery which features over 150 prominent people (mostly women), with snippets of wisdom related to gender-bias and women empowerment issues. 

In the October issue, I read a poem written by Taslima Nasreen. The poem made me get up from my comfy sofa and write this post. The poem is beautiful, radical, inspiring and I bet will end with a chuckle.

They said-take it easy...

Said-calm down...

Said-stop talkin'...

Said-shut up...

They said-sit down...

Said-bow your head...

Said-keep on cryin', let the tears roll...

What should you do in response?

You should stand up now

Should stand right up

Hold your back straight

Hold your head high...

You should speak

Speak your mind

Speak it loudly

Scream!

You should scream so loud that they must run for cover

They will say-'You are shameless!'

When you hear that, just laugh...

They will say-'You have a loose character!'

When you hear that, just laugh louder...

They will say-'You are rotten!'

So just laugh, laugh even louder...

Hearing you laugh, they will shout,

'You are a whore!'

When they say that,

just put your hands on your hips,

stand firm and say

"Yes, yes, I am a whore!"

They will be shocked

They will stare in disbelief

They will wait for you to say more, much more...

The men amongst them will turn red and sweat.

The women amongst them will dream to be a whore like you."

Taslima Nasreen is a writer and a human rights activist

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Image from google images

How to make Bathukamma?

Making Bathukamma is a tedious but entertaining process, if the whole family gets together and helps. It can be made with 5, 7, 9 or 11 kinds of flowers. The flowers used in the preparation are tangedu (cassia), gunugu (celosia), velvet flower, banthi (marigold), chamanthi (chrysanthemum), lotus and pumpkin flower. 

(L to R) Flowers used for making bathukamma, tangedu (cassia), gunugu (celosia), velvet flower, banthi (marigold), chamanthi (chrysanthemum), lotus and pumpkin flower (images collage created from google images)

The cassia and gunugu flowers should be sorted and tied together. Each banthi flower has to be pierced with a short wooden stick so that it will stand without collapsing in the flower arrangement. 

The preparation of the flowers for Bathukamma takes about 5-7 hours based on the size of the Bathukamma. Arrangement of the Bathukamma takes about two to three hours. The waste created after sorting the flowers will be used in the belly of the pyramidal structure. Step by step process is shown in the below video. 

  

Bangari Bathukamma

Bathukamma strikes again! It was celebrated on a grand scale in the new Telangana State. In the struggle for the formation of Telangana State, Bathukamma was celebrated to highlight our distinctiveness from Andhra Pradesh. After formation of Telangana State, the festival was celebrated as a show of victory.

There are different Bathukamma legends. One story is that Goddess Gauri after winning the battle with the demon Mahishasura, gets tired and rests. All the women pray for her revival by making beautiful pyramid shaped flower arrangements and pray Bathuku Amma (Live Mother). The Bathukammas (flower arrangement) will be baded goodbye by placing them carefully in the water to be carried away by the waves.

There is a story behind immersing Bathukammas in the water. A sister comes to brother’s house to visit him. The brother leaves to the town on some work, just before she comes. The sister decides to stay until her brother comes home. She goes to the lake to bathe along with her sister-in-law. Their clothes on the bank of the river get mixed up. The sister ties the saree of her sister-in-law and vice versa. They have a fight and the sister-in-law throws the sister in the river. In the night, the sister comes in the brother's dream and tells him the sordid story of her death. Her brother goes to the river, and on the bank, he sees a tangedu plant. His sister says, ‘I became the tangedu plant after sister-in-law threw me into the water. Make Bathukamma with tangedu poolu and throw it into the river’ and her brother does as he is told and the Bathukammas are immersed in water to this day.

What I love about Bathukamma is the celebration of feminity on a grand scale. All the women are dressed in their traditional attire, in sparkling zari sarees, pattulangas or chudidhars. (My hubby jokes that it is one day of the year, he sees me in a sari). Women bedeck themselves from head to toe. Women wear garlands of jasmine flowers in the hair, gold necklaces, and rows of multi-colored bangles on the wrists, mehendi on hands and anklets on the feet. They carry bathkammas to the nearby temple and dance around the Bathukamma in circles and clap their hands. Later the Bathukammas are placed in a waterbody.    

The velvet flower, also called as Sita jada kucchu

Gunugu flowers, tied into small bunches, and their pointy edges removed

Marigold flowers, pierced with short sticks so that they will withstand without collapsing in the Bathukamma formation

Bangari Bathukamma

Beautiful top view

Women dressed in their best attire and walking towards Padmakshi temple, Hanumakonda

The street was flooded with women of all ages and sizes

The expressions of the women in this photograph have a lot of depth. Needless to say that they are looking at me.

Janasamudram (An ocean of people)

The biggest Bathukamma I have seen

Women dancing around the Bathukammas and clapping their hands

Bathukamma Photographs Courtesy: Pradeep Kumar Gouda