Varalakshmi Vratam

Tomorrow is the Varalakshmi Vratam which is a puja observed typically on the second Friday of the Shravan month of the Indian Calendar.

My mother in law particularly loved this one. She always used to decorate the goddess' idol very lovingly with all her artistic skills imbibed and also adorn it with various types of jewellery, both expensive and fancy.

Every year since we moved, we've done this together, once at their place in Hyderabad and the rest of the years in our place here.

Every year, her health declined progressively.

Every year, she used to breathe a sigh of relief after the puja was over and thank the goddess for giving her enough strength to sit through it for yet another year. In 2010 too, she made all the traditional food items like gaarelu and boorelu (this she used to make just for me, since I loved them).

Last year though, she was not able to even start it. In the middle of the cooking, she sort of lost her strength and just had to sit in one place. I finished the rest of the cooking (I still remember the yucky semiya payasam I made - it was my first time) and did the puja while she watched from a chair at the back.

I could see how this broke her from inside. Every year, it was a measure of her strength in her assessment. Last year she failed it. After that puja, she alluded to how this maybe her last one in some vague terms.

And how sadly true it turned out to be :(

Tomorrow also happens to be Subhash's birthday by birthdate. Both my Mom and Dad were born on the puja day so it's both their birthdays too, the son also finishes 34 months tomorrow.

My first try at Mehndi;)

It is "Ashadha Masam" and it is customary for us to apply "Gorintaku" during this month. So on the wise advise of Kaumudi, I went to the store and got a cone. It was my first time at attempting anything with a mehndi cone and the amateur came up with the following;)

I did most of the right hand myself, with the exception of a few expert designs from Subhash on the back of my hand (the butterflies and the circles near the peacock;) ). The whole of my left hand was his piece of art:)

The peacock looks like its draped in a shawl but what the heck! Its my own design;)

Indian Weddings

What do I love most about Indian weddings? The people and the food!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who cares about the couple;) They are just a means of providing this wedding entertainment for us:)

My wedding next month makes me muse about Indian weddings:) So colo"u"rful, so bright, so many people, so much noise, so muct activity, so much frenzy, so lively and so lovely:)

What I like best in weddings is like I said two things: people and food. When I was a kid, I was a pampered one, totally spoilt by my aunts and my cousins, I am much younger than most of them. So whenever I went for a wedding, I was totally smothered with goodies;) Be it food or fun rides or special place in mantaps be it anything, I completely used to feel like some queen straight out of Mysore palace;)

As I grew older I changed but the fun remained the same and so did the pampering:) I so love it, even to date all my cousins pamper me so much! My aunts too, specials are made just for me, everyone else gets so jealous and that makes me feel all the more better;) In weddings that I attended as an adoloscent, it was a different kind of special place. Everyone who came for the wedding, would wonder at who this girl is, because my aunts would deck me up so much, so much admiration and all the aunties talking about who did what, who wore what, what their sons/daughters did latest and greatest and so much more gossip!

Then comes the BEST part of it all, shadi ka khana (wedding feast). Sankethi weddings especially, I love the obbattus and the chaklis and the murmura unde and all that fancy good stuff. And Telugu weddings of course the traditional food and sweets and so much to eat, mirhci bajji, pakodi, gongura wow!!

In my own wedding, I know everyone else is going to have fun while I am sitting in the mantap busy tying the knot(rather getting the knot tied;) ) so I wish so much that I am able to attend at least one first circle wedding everytime I hop to India;) Indian weddings rock!!!