Merry Christmas!!

To believe in making wishes and have faith that they can come true

To believe that you can find some joy in everything you do

To believe in giving gladly for no reason, just because to believe in LOVE

That's what it means, to believe in Santa Claus.

Ho! Ho! Ho! Folks!!

Christmas has always been special since the past 4 years now.. after our little one was born. There is something magically innocent about Christmas, and I feel it much more than ever, all around me, now that we have moved to a Western continent. London has been all 'Christmassy' ever since Halloween... anywhere you go, you see only red, white and green - decorations, crafts and activities, food ideas, gifting, home decor ( I once even saw toilet paper with the snowman and reindeer print!). Everyone is gearing up for their biggest event in the entire year - the holiday season - to be together as family, to pray for warmth and good health, its the season to be happy together and spread joy!! And add to it the wonderful romance of winter:-)

Now I've been impatiently waiting for some snow here ever since winter set in. No luck as yet, and I'm told that it doesn't snow heavily in London and it could be just be a couple of times that it might happen. This has made me more anxious - what if I were to miss the snow if it ever happens in the middle of the night?? So checking the scene outside the window first thing in the morning and last thing as I wind up at night is something like a ritual for me now. I hope to be rewarded for my wait soon!

My little doll has 3 weeks of holidays for Christmas here and this set me off on a mission to look for creative activities to engage her all day. Turned out - it isn't a very easy thing to do. You see, arts and craft did not mean much to me as a child and though I like to see my child colour her heart out now, I realised that it is not something that would come easily to me. To think of things to do, to organise stuff that is required, the most difficult part being getting her to be involved in the entire activity without losing my patience and... and especially to handle the panic inside me when I see the mess all around.... yes ma'am, that is an important part of trying to promote creativity in a child - the mess!! It is going to happen!

So I finally hatched a plan to blend the two very exciting ideas - preparation for Christmas and craft! I decided to make by hand all the decorations that go on the tree! Hmmmm... mighty plan? You can say so! Yep - my mother would faint with shock (but be happy later on) to know that I shopped for yarn and needles among other stuff from felt to foam, acrylic to water colours and embellishments to fancy paper. And we were ready!

Since I did not want this post to look like a craft activity page, I've created a separate post to write in detail about the labour of our love :-) You can find the link at http://sabkuchrama.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-craft.html  :-)

I am attaching some pictures though of some decorations that we made. We managed to do this with a lot of inspiration from the blogs of super creative moms across the globe! There are so many talented creative beautiful people out there!! :-) Thank you all for getting someone like me involved in making colourful, pretty creations  - I hope to channelise this new found energy and enthusiasm in exploring and opening up a whole new bold, creative world for my pre-schooler!

This is a very cute Xmas tree that we made from tissue rolls. Simple to make, doesn't require too many things and very beautiful!

And we put up all together to make the prettiest Christmas tree!! It made us so so happy!!! :-)

It was completed with a reading every evening of the Nativity story and a reiteration of the wish-list from Santa :-) He even visited us in our dreams!! So, we decided to put up the Nativity set as well that we purchased last year.

And that made a very memorable Christmas! :-) Meeting friends, chilling out totally at home, watching movies, Christmas party at school, Christmas party at daddy's office, my first Boxing day shopping experience and of course- the true spirit of happiness is in giving, isn't it? The playschool gave us the opportunity to do that - all the children were requested to bring what they can to make other children happy - they took the children over to the community centre to make the donations -  all culminating into a magical, beautiful Christmas. Like someone so aptly quoted - "Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas!" 

But for our little one, the one who inspired us to learn something new and truly celebrate the spirit of Christmas - the belief that Santa would come visit her - was the most enchanting of all. She waited for weeks trusting that Santa would visit because she had been a good girl and Santa wouldn't disappoint, however busy he was. I lived that dream with her every single day, smiling happily to myself thinking of the joy that awaited her. She even got up at 4 am on Christmas day because of a dream that Santa had come - ohhhh, there was so much love and longing in that sweet little heart, it would overwhelm us at times. It is so beautiful to be a child at Christmas... I quote again - "There’s nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.” (Erma Bombeck (1927-1996), American author and humorist).  

And let me tell you what else is beautiful. It is beautiful to be a parent who gets to see the delighted face of his/her child, first thing on Christmas day, to want to believe that magic does exist in the world. To be reminded that we can bring so much joy to our little ones with simple acts of giving, sharing and the gift of togetherness and love.

I do not think Santa Claus comes down the chimney - he comes in through the hearts of beautiful innocent children. 

Wish you all a very Merry Christmas! :-) 

My first Navaratri in UK

Its that time of the year again! Navaratri is my favourite festival of all! After I got married, my mother in law and I decided to start the tradition of Golu keeping in our household, which is basically an exhibition of various dolls and figurines, mainly featuring Gods and Goddesses and mythological characters and stories.It is said to represent the presence of Goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati in the household. To me personally, its a big feel-good factor and happy time with family and friends visiting for darshan and prasad and similary, us going along to everyone's places and catching up on the times gone by! :-) I also happen to be a die-hard mythology fan and this gives me the opportunity to show off my knowledge on the subject! Ha!

This year, it was just 4 months since we moved to the UK and I was pretty low about the fact that it is going to be a quiet Navaratri. Though I had brought the entire Golu collection to UK and there was no deliberation on whether to put up the Golu or not, I knew it wouldn't be anything like it was back home. Little did I know it would be so unimaginably beautiful and exciting!

Firstly, as we were putting up the Golu set, which itself is quite a laborious task, with 7 steps, we got news that cousins are visiting us from Dubai! They have 2 beautiful girls and this was particularly happy news as my little doll would have company! Brilliant! I rejoiced at the news that they would be with us for almost a week. Secondly, a very dear friend of ours from Bombay ( I insist, Bombay it is) was on an official visit! Yay! Third, I had invited my old school friends who were settled in London for a traditional Indian lunch over the weekend! All in all, this was turning out to be the best Navaratri ever!!! :-) And boy, it was! 

We freaked out totally with our cousins - hired a car (we haven't bought one yet)  and took the kids out to zoos, museums, restaurants, parks and to friends' homes for lunches and dinners.... day after day. My doll, who is as such a total outdoorsy child, loved to be with company and had a rollicking time! She cried quite a bit when they left, but it was great having them - spruced up my Navaratri totally! The friend from Bombay -  he brought a cartful of stuff for my doll - ranging from her favourite jelly chocolates to hairbands and books and games and toys - advance birthday gifts that they so lovingly put together for her :-) Thank you guys, we love you!!!! :-) And the lunch party was great! We were meeting each other after decades, it felt so good to meet and get together - at a different time, a different country... Different people, almost - now as we are from those days of pigtails and pinafores. Now we are grown women, with responsibilites ranging from the careers to the kitchen, home to children, present to future. And its great, isnt it? To realise that coming out from the same classrooms, we have chosen different lives for ourselves and to come together to discuss those and learn how we are different and/or similar? It indeed is!

So all in all, it was everything I could have asked for. Family, friends, festivities, socialising, vacationing, meeting new people, making yummy sweets for prasad and yes, the haldi-kumkum / vettalai-paaku - the essential segment of Navaratri. I'll give you a little peek into my Golu arrangement, which made me so nostalgic and reminded me sorely of my family and closest friends who I would have met if I were back home.

A few dolls that are ubiquitous to almost all Golus - 

The pot-bellied Chettiyar couple, representing the prosperous business community of South India who traditionally run grocery shops. Fruits, vegetables, and kiddie-kitchenware filled with grains and pulses are kept in front of them to represent the ideal Chettiyar shop. They stand for growth, prosperity and well-being. 

The attractive dancing girl, ideally called the Thanjavur Bommai which is again a mainstay in Golus. They are colourful and vibrant, and since each piece is balanced on top of the other, one touch gives the desired effect of a dancing woman.

This is the Marapaachi bommai (Mara = Wood, Pachi = carved). A very important part of the arrangement, it would be impossible to find a Golu without this husband and wife couple. They represent togetherness between a couple.

The 3 Devis - Saraswati, Durga and Mahalakshmi, who are worshipped throughout the 9 days - The first 3 days Goddess Durga is worshipped, the next 3 days Goddess Lakshmi and the last 3 days, Goddess Saraswati is worshipped. Though traditionally, Navaratri is said to be dedicated to the 9 forms of Devi Durga, culminating into Dussehra, which is celebrated on the 10th day - it is also referred to as Vijayadasami. 

Over a span of 7 years, we have collected these figurines for our Golu. In most households, the Golu bommais are brought down over generations, from mothers-in-law to daughters-in-law and the older dolls command a great deal of respect and pride in the Golu arrangement. Though we are nowhere there, we sincerely hope to carry on this tradition in our household for as long as we can. Collecting the dolls is also very interesting as we look around for souvenirs from places that we visit on vacations.

It's a tad too late to wish, but hey, is there a particular time ever to wish happiness and peace? So here's wishing you all a beautiful Navaratri and a prosperous future!!

Shubh Aarambh - A colourful, makeshift Onam Pookalam and a delightful Sadya!

Hello....

This is my first post and have no idea how to start! We moved to the UK three months back and my husband, my 3 year old doll and I have, well.. As Dr Sheldon Cooper would say it... 'found our spot!'. :-) We've moved into our home-sweet-home, my husband has got busy with work and deadlines and travel and all that blah regarding work, which I'm blissfully out of now,  my girl has started nursery and me.... Well, I've finally found time to doodle!! :-)  (I hope I sound as happy as I feel!) I decided to go all out and have a great time for all of us by planning a nice Onam. Which I kinda did! :-)

A traditional Onam rangoli is done with flowers, flowers and more flowers! I really wasn't sure how cooperative my doll would be with an effort as much as that it would involve and since it would also mean leaving her alone to her devices ( which in my personal interest, I wasn't keen on!!). So, I introduced a variant... Water colours :-)  and what a great idea that was!! It takes as much time, but it's more colourful and more importantly kept my girl happily busy! I did the border colours and madam helped me with the complete colouring! :-)   Here is how it looked:-)

And I also managed to cook up a decent feast... Here is what I managed :-)  The recipes are all traditional and standard, nothing exotic!

That's it for now... I had been itching to post so that I start off! Now I'm gonna be regular! :-)