Not Just Curry!

Motherhood changes u and how....suddenly u just cannot plan your life for your life begins to get governed by the little life u have brought in the world.....I was working on this post  since ages...thankfully today i completed this at last!!!! As a young kid agra meant home,my father was posted there for 8 years and all that i can recollect of this city is our frequent visits to taj whenever there was a relative arriving :) Yet after all these years Agra now seems much more than taj.......a  slice of history and heritage which was witness to magnificence,opulence and grandeur of mughal era....... there are many more interesting places of historical & architectural importance which make Agra the trip worth making!! One of the many such places is Agra fort. It is a unique amalgamation of Mughal, Rajputana and Gujarati architecture. For instance, the Jahangiri Palace built by Akbar is a good blend of Islamic (Persian) and different local Hindu styles. Ot...

It took me a bit of time before I got to write on this one……perhaps the most incredible moment in my life when my little one came into this world…..i had been reading a lot of stuff about birth stories contemplating how wud my own story turn out n how wud I be able to bear the whole thing since me and my husband were both not in favor of c –section …..as someone close to me remarked when I was I was pregnant “ nobody can prepare you for that time till u experience that time urself”……….this is so true…every birth story is unique with its fair share of highs and lows, tears and happiness culminating into one hell of a satisfying experience!!!! So here I sit back and try to recall those 26 incredible hours of pain, despair, anxiety, happiness & contentment all rolled into one!! It started on  8 th at approximately 12.30….was talking to mom over the phone when this excruciating pain hit me and I blanked out for a full five minutes…..tears started rolling my eyes,and then it...

Its everywhere….in the media, in the press….its much better & juicier than Svayambar season 3(yeah I know tht was soooo boring!!)& all those hindi soap operas put together…….n the media is happy roasting it!!!!!aah darlings its all about the TRP’s in the end……we never had journalistic standards or rather television industry reporting standards to boast of anyways………. A successful actress ……impeccable beauty...god almost turned her into a plastic one….:)plastic makes women perfect!!!!!,Hollywood presence(if attending cannes ,oprah n Oscars forms a part of it besides delivering duds like “Pink Panther”,bride & predijuce & mistress of spices)……..no offence to the actress in question but one thing she really is good at is P.R. & Image building!!!!n the latest trump card she played in the media to hog the limelight was her “Pa in law”..awww isn’t that so sweet my munchkins…..pa in law coming all guns blazing to destroy whosoever raises a suspicious finger on bholi b...

Bright pink hues of phulkari on a white kurta luks absolutely fab & perfect for d festive occasion!!!!!!(pic courtesy......... Sushmita) Bold geometric patterns define Phulkari!!! Twist in the tale.....a subtle phulkari saree with a contemporary blouse!!!!! An Absolute gorgeous piece of phulkari duppata adorns every Punjabi bride's trousseau(pic coutersy....Raman & Goldy) Intricate embroidery & colourful silk threads form a part of centuries old folk tradition.......... Traditional phulkari bagh used in auspicious occasions such as weddings:) Phulkari loosely translated means "floral embriodery" has been a part and parcel of indian & punjabi cultures since the bygone times....its first recorded mention finds in the Guru nanak Dev's work but the art gained prominence only in the 19th century........ Phulkari is synonomous with bright colours......golden yellow,red,crimson,orange,p...

Turbans have been a part and parcel of Sikh identity ….the way rest of the world percieves this of a sardar or a surd (in the modern lingo) is a bearded guy with a headgear…probably colourful (coz bollywood movies really mess it up with surds indulging in buffoonery at best & totally cartoonish outfits including colourful turbans…….which is not true if one is familiar with the Punjabi culture as such… Talking of turbans & turban tying one man who single handedly defined the style of turban tying and gave it a distinctive look was Maharaja Bhupinder Singh….a man best known for his extravagant & highly colourful life…..it is said he had 88 children from his close to hundred maharanis ,ranis and concubiles………he spent almost 60% of his state expenditure on family expenses alone!!!!!!:) Anyways moving on to the real topic,it was during his reign that the turban gained much prominence & a different style….it is said it ...

I am reminded of an old film song “it happens only in India….by anand raj anand ” when I see the current political pandemonium & the key players enacting the evil and the good part. Isn ’t the prime issue being put on the back burner with petty internal politics & jealousies taking over……. India was once known as the land of snake charmers & sadhus ,then economic reforms & liberalization attained the centre stage…suddenly India was emerging as a third world superpower with a human capital ,a booming economy ,huge commercial market yet explored and intelligence quotient as good as the so called developed nations .yes the issue of corruption still plagued us Indians all this while and as concerned citizens we wanted this issue to be tackled strongly and cleansed out of the prevailing political & economic system yet the current scenario of events unfolding dangerously are putting India as an economic power waiting to be taken over by eccentric babas ……. ...