Category: soul curry

WHERE TO STOP?

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Yesterday my blogger friend told me that in her country one cannot construct where one wants to and today I am reminded of her statement as soon as I saw today’s prompt.

These were her words, “Where we live there are certain areas that must be left to agriculture. You cannot build where you want to. So much space must be left for farmers. Switzerland is a small country and you must be careful what you do with the land you have.,”

I wish that was possible in our country too. Not that we don’t have rules and laws but implementation is a kind of  hypothetical term when you have abnormal population growth. Over 1.21 billion people need house and government has it’s own constraints therefore corruption rise and people tend to construct illegal colonies. The problem cannot be dealt effectively in absence of will and a strong mechanism to fight against it.dsc_4170

Illegal housing in India consists of huts or shanties built on land not owned by the residents (i.e., squatting) and illegal buildings constructed on land not owned by the builders or developers. Although illegal buildings may afford some basic services, such as electricity, in general illegal housing does not provide services that afford for healthy, safe environments. dsc_4171

The pictures above is a common sight of any big or small city. I wish there would have been sustainable development. It hurts when you see these cramped houses build without any blue print or proper planning where once used to be fertile fields full of yield. Even the hills did not remain untouched and they are bleeding due to reckless deforestation in the name of tourism and employment generation. Recently I went to one of the most beautiful hill station and was shocked to see the rapid construction going on there. It was no more that lush green valley of flowers, surrounded with tall pine and Deodar trees and waterfalls. This is what the landscape looked like.img_2706

Wish what my friend told me the other day is possible here too. For that we have to first control the population explosion. I would love to see long agricultural belts and evergreen forests in future too to maintain the ecological balance on the earth.img_2655

CULTURALLY RICH

  • Who can beat the Indians when it comes to culture and traditions. It is deeply rooted in us right from our childhood. Children grow up watching their mothers and grandmothers doing all rituals dedicately. Though the joint family culture is declining fast and working parents are finding it difficult to preserve the values, they still try to pass it on to their generation next. 
  • Presenting you a collage of pictures where you can see me sharing and preserving our culture. Recently we shifted to a new house. As luck would have been we entered the house on the most auspicious day of Hindu calendar…. it was Diwali festival on that day. You can see the rangoli, diyas and my temple   where I made my idols sit so that they can bless us. My house looked so good in blue lights and what a beginning in the new city! My boys enjoyed and are ready to learn their culture and traditions. Looking forward to culture all around the world. Right now I am going to watch ‘Dr. Strange’ in a mall. See you all after the show. Have a good day. 

I moved again to a new city……

If you don’t like where you are

Move, you are not a tree

That was not the reason I moved

I moved because I ought to

Not because I was deprived of anything 

Rather it was time to detach myself 

My husband had completed his tenure 

Two years gone and it was time to pack

Time to leave my work place, 

beautiful house, lush green lawns, 

Wonderful friends, the fields, the plateaus 

Everything related to that place 

Moved to a new land, finding my roots

Searching for the new world, my world, our world……

It’s easier said than done

The experience makes me stronger 

At the same time I want to stay longer

Adapting to every situation

Leaving behind all that you achieved 

In terms of profession and personal 

My son is again a new kid on the block 

And I am a new member in the ladies meet

The scene looks too chaotic in the beginning 

Slowly it becomes manageable 

That’s why was away for last few months 

Juggling with boxes and cartons 

Altering curtains and filing rations 

Wandering, what would have happening 

in the lives of my blogger friends 

But used to snore like pig after day’s slog. 

Now that the house is functional 

I look forward to have more interaction 

Life is a big roller coaster…. Moving faster

Enjoy Folk Song of Rajasthan

Rajasthan, a colorful state of India has a diverse collection of musician castes, including langas, sapera, bhopa and jogi. The region’s music shares similarities both with nearby areas of India and the other side of the border, in the Pakistani province of Sindh.

The people of Rajasthan live life to the hilt. After working day and night  in the harsh desert sun and the rocky terrain whenever they finally come home to relax they let themselves go in gay abandon. There is dancing, singing, drama, devotional music and puppet shows and other community festivities which transform the laborious Rajasthani into a fun-loving and carefree individual.DSC_4077.JPG

Each region has its own folk entertainment, the dance styles differ as do the songs. Interestingly enough, even the musical instruments which are simple but quite unusual and handcrafted by the musicians themselves. Some of them are the Morchang, Naad, Sarangi, Kamayacha, Rawanhattha etc. There are dozens of other instruments which are unique and exclusive to Rajasthan only.

The music includes typical folk songs which are being sung by every household. The musicians, dancers and singers are invited to heritage hotels for performances organised for tourists staying there. Indian as well as overseas tourists can be seen dancing and singing along with them at Umaid Bhawan, Taj Palace and other tourist spots.DSC_4428.JPG

I met this family during my recent trip to one of the forts in Jodhpur. The entire family was singing a famous folk on tourist’s demand. I quickly took out my phone to record this melodious song. sharing with you all. Enjoy and sing along if you happen to belong to this amazing land of music and dance.

Sorry my video is not being uploaded. I am not able to compress it. I made 22 seconds video on iPhone 6 and it is of 50 MB and is taking ages to upload. Tried compressing but it was still 48 MB. Andy and other bloggers keep on uploading their personal videos, may be they can help me in this case. I will be sharing it soon.

 

 

 

 

BRICK WALKWAY

I missed the prompt yesterday so I decided to read other responses rather than writing a late response. After reading few of my blogger friends’ responses I realized that how hard it is to spot those old bricks around us. This motivated me to grab my camera and click a picture of bricks. Really it wasn’t that easy to find bricks near or around my home. Then I decided to move further and reached the sport complex. Yes, this was what I wanted and the brick walkway was right in front of me. I frequently come here for gym and other recreational activities. Here is the picture of the place that I frequent every morning which is synonymous with Health, Recreation and Rejuvenation.

VISION OF A DESIGNER

This table was lying in one of the corners of an old building. Two chairs were also placed across to sit face to face. 
From a distance it looked like as if the chess board along chess pieces was kept on the table for an intriguing game. Then a person who designed the table took us to the corner,  suddenly we realised that it was a very different and unique piece. 

The table top was converted in a chess board itself.  The interior designer had a vision and the carpenter did full justice to it. That’s how a normal coffee table became a great decoration piece and a wonderful conversation starter. I appreciated his vision and clicked the pictures for my blog after all I too had a vision  😊😊 

GENERATIONS SURVIVING IN STYLE

For the past week I have been talking about Rajput Kings and Maharajas, sharing their palaces photos in my posts, therefore it would be unfair on my part not to share their family generation portraits with you all. They have survived ….the princely state status, Colonial era dependency and now the independent royal family buisness. 

Meet the real Maharaja Umaid Rao from royal family of Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The above picture shows the entire family. Maharani(wife) in centre towards her left are her husband Maharaja Umaid Singh and daughter, towards her right stand her son and daughter in law. Son, Gaj Singh II is the current king of Rao dynasty and staying in Umaid Bhawan. 


Umaid Singh was born on 8July 1903 and wasMaharaja of Jodhpur from 1918 to his death in 9 June 1947. 
This is what I got to know about him from wilkipedia. “The second son of Maharaja Sir Sardar Singh, he succeeded his elder brother Maharaja Sir Sumair Singh upon his death in 1918; in 1922 he served as the aide-de-camp to the Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII). Ruling under the regency of his granduncle until 1923, he was then formally invested as Maharaja by Lord Reading. During his reign, Sir Umaid Singh reformed and reorganised the Jodhpur State Forces and the judicial department, introduced a scheme for extending primary education, revised the land revenue settlement and established state pensions and a Provident Fund for state employees. Enjoying a distinguished military career, he died at his estate on Mount Abu on 9 June 1947 after a reign of 29 years, aged but 43.”
The portraits are displayed in the museum formed out of six rooms, earlier part of this extraordinary private residences in the world. Umaid Bhawan Palace is one of the finest palace hotels in this planet. No wonder the royal family  still exhibits the old charm, wealth and aristocracy. To experience their hospitality and world class taste one must stay in Umaid Palace  once in lifetime. Generation Survival

The 3D model of the palace