Rangoli Design At Puducherry

On my first day to Puducherry, I passed by the Beach Road and was surprised to see the whole road filled with Rangoli designs. There were more than 200 rangoli designs on the road. I was informed that the Rangoli competition was held during early hours of the morning whereby 200 people had participated in this event. I thought I would walk, later during the day and look closely at each design but by evening they had all disappeared. People had walked all over them.

Rangoli (also known as kolam) is the folk art, normally the geometrical designs made on the floor with colored sand, turmeric, sindoor (vermillion), rice powder and sometimes flowers too. It is normally done at the entrance of the house. It is considered very auspicious and believed to bring good luck and repel the evil from entering the house. It also has a soothing effect on the nerves and when made at the entrance of the house, it creates positive vibrations.

Some of the designs that I was able to capture from my moving car….

I Am Like This Only

During this month of January, I came across many stories of my friends on Facebook. Actually, it was a chain post where friends spoke freely about who they were and what their interest were, they let their hair loose and revealed what they would never discuss on open forum. It was interesting to read about the secret nuggets that were hidden behind their profile pictures. Most of them happily shared some anecdotes of their lives.

They then tagged all the friends who liked or commented on their post and asked their friends to do the same

I got caught up in the chain too when I commented on my friend's  post. I was tagged by my friend Sangeet Bird to share my story of who I am

So here I go, several little nuggets about me

Born normal (and pretty), at the age of six months, I was struck with polio that left me disfigured and physically weak for the rest of my life.

I was shy, reserved and also stupid. Always stood last in class. Teachers at school often told me I had no inclination to study and that I had no brains and therefore no future.

I was so fed up of being lonely and rejected that I decided to wake up 5am everyday in the morning to steal roses from people’s garden so that I could bribe my teachers and friends to love me.

At age 12, my life changed its course, when I found a friend, who took up the challenge to reform me and prove that everybody has brains, and that there was a trick to use it. That year I graduated to the third position in class.

I can’t drive but I have dreamt many times about driving at full speed and crashing…..

My first job was as a head teacher in a special school, which actually was a big room of severely retarded children with multiple handicaps.

When I migrated to Surinam, I was a social butterfly. Organized a big Diwali program, which was such a success that Embassy of Surinam asked me not to plan such important events on my own, instead I was asked to team up with them in organizing Indian cultural events.

Have travelled a lot, (been all over the world) visiting family and friends; have come to a decision that Mumbai is the best place to live (I wouldn’t like to live anywhere else in the world)

So here I am…not just a lone woman but like every other woman with a heart AND feelings

“This post is a part of #UseYourAnd activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette Venus“.

Some Captured moments In Puducherry

The road never looked so long when I was in good spirit. I could walk miles on end, alone, deep in my thoughts, not realizing how much path I had traversed. I had always loved walking, specially on a smooth path or on a muddy track. It gave me the opportunity to be with self, to think clearly. But today, every step was difficult. The pain in my foot protested. "Stop" it said "I cannot go for long" After every small step, I winced in pain. Should I ignore and move on? Was it worth it? I could take my medicines at night but I must go on…how can one stop living?….Pain was no excuse…..time does not wait……This moment would never arrive again….pain always returned but it had never hijacked my life...….."Stop" said the pain..pulling my nerve till I could acknowledge its presence. "Ouch!"…I turned around to look for a bench…..

What I liked best abt our guest house in #Puducherrywas the rock garden with the waterfall n small pond where colorful fishes swam fearlessly.. The food was good so was the comfort. I went with a big yoga group from Mumbai so we were clubbed into dormitory with ten women, it was like Bigg Boss experience with 50 shades of grey.....all other rooms were occupied so we had no choice but sit back n enjoy the live show of entertainment during early morning hours.

While we fussed around looking for a clean table to have our meals, the group of women sat comfortably on the floor enjoying their meals . There was no fuss over non-availabilty of fork n spoon or over a leaf of tissue paper. A simple Satvic food of ragi juice, lentil soup, pilaf and sprout salad was all they cared. Easily, they sat crossed legs, contentment writ on their face. I admired their attitude of enjoying each morsel of food n thanking Lord for this day.....

The Amazing Sea Shell Museum At Mahabalipuram

The trip from Puducherry to Chennai is not very long unless you stop by some interesting places of interest on route. I loved the road trip, because it was very scenic, specially during sunset when the red globe reflected on the calm waters that ran parallel to road. There were many interesting places we saw on route but ‘India seashell Museum’ was the highlight of this trip. 

Seashells museum is located at southern side of Mahabalipuram. A short walking distance from 5 Rathas (just follow the sign) although we did take a longer route by our vehicle.

There was entrance of course, Rs50 for the seashell museum and Rs30 more for the aquarium and an extra Rs100 if we wished to click pictures. But we spend more money in the seashell boutique that had amazing handcrafted thing made of shells like vases, boxes, key chains, fridge magnets, flowers, frames and also wall hanging.

It was sunny afternoon, the beautiful bright white entrance with rock garden and pond on one side and large shell installations displayed in the compound and on roof top of each building was very inviting, the compound itself had tiles in the shape of waves with embossed sea-animals and fishes. All around were the murals and graphics of shells in different shapes and form.

Far end, at the back side was a sea food restaurant, which we didn’t visit cause most of my friends were vegetarians.

The AC salon has amazing shells of different shapes and sizes, all in their natural form.

They were just cleaned and exhibited in large showcases against the wall and the tiny ones in the center showcases. There were display of wide range of sea shells, about 40,000 of them, collected by the founder (K Raja Mohamed) of the museum and their history. 

How beautiful must be that bed of sea where they grow in cluster. The divers are so lucky to be able to go underwater and find them in their natural habitat.

This shell really amazed me. Inside the shell were compartments shaped like a leaf….nature to be admired!!

There were four sections of display and in every section was a large handcrafted piece.

The aquarium was a smaller room with just few fish tanks with rare kind of fishes.

But the most interesting part was the shopping area and fish pedicure corner.

Came back home with few souvenirs from the shell boutiques, that included a shell box too.