Slumber Party

I have never ever attended a slumber party in my life, although I have spent many sleepless nights during holiday with friends. It sounded exciting when my friends invited me to meet for a night at friend’s home.

Furniture is moved away from the living room, mattresses and cushions randomly placed across the room. The wall is decorated with fun on the mind, (Hungama scrolled in crazy manner).

The preparations were done,(excitement and planning began fifteen days prior to the event) although the girls (actually women) were to meet only after having their heavy dinner of roasted and spiced finger foods followed by proper dinner at Sasural restaurant.

But still, the home kitchen had to be stocked with late night snacks. There were biscuits, banana wafers, chocolates, sweets and unlimited supply of cold water. The women refused to eat, saying, they were full but still tasted tit bits from every packet that was passed around till they slowly stretched their legs, then their body and soon went under blanket when their eyes began to droop.

Group pictures are must- it is mainly for those who could not make it to the party.(100% attendance would be 50 close friends, many could not attend due to unavoidable circumstances)

At Sasural, women were anxious to finish dinner and go home. The dining table at the restaurant was too long, service was slow, and conversation was not easy, so while the food arrived, there was some time for photo sessions

The ladies were fashionably dressed for the party and all looked gorgeous.

The fun began as soon as the women slipped into their nightdress, saris folded and tucked away neatly into their bags, Some with bad knee quickly rushed to sit on comfortable sofas while other sat on cushions or cross legged on the floor, some rested on their elbows with hands on their chin while others leant lazily against the wall.

The show begins…..

It is Oscar award night, most of us have dreamt of Oscar awards or simple recognition in some field, after all we are the bunch of talented people who are often recognized on Watsapp for our witty messages throughout the day. True friends know our worth and we were to celebrate the grand event in our nightdress (oh, I wish we all could have worn our flowing night gowns instead of pyjamas)

Anyway..Jahnavi, Lata and Nalini entered the stage (on the mattress facing the audience) Nalini held the red Oscar ribbons and envelops, Lata swinging gracefully around her hips, with a smile and blinking eyelids, walked towards Jahnavi who most animatedly welcomed everybody in the room. She was really fabulous with her role as the compere, her voice loud and clear. Since they were meeting Bindu after many years, she was invited as chief guest to do the honor of giving away the prize of recognition.

Awards of different categories were called out one by one, each one for their distinct talent. The names were revealed after opening the envelopes and the recipient honored with the red ribbon with heart shape medal around their neck. They were encouraged to speak few words. The winners expressed their appreciation with raised eyebrows, some overwhelmed by the honor, burst into tears, wiping their eyes and nose with the hem of their dress and some too excited to say anything at all.

And the awards went to:

Vijaya got the HASI TO FASI Award for laughing and giggling all the time.

Lucy got the FAST AND FURIOUS Award.

Dilu got award for BANDIT QUEEN

Sandra for JUNGLE BEAUTY

SANGEETA for STYLE DIVA

Lata got an award for being NAUGHTY AT SIXTY.

Shipra got the IRON LADY Award

Madhu, Bindu and Annie(in absentia, she attended only the dinner)  got the award of THE THREE MUSKETEERS

Jahnavi got the CHETAN BHAGAT Award for her writing skills.

Sharbari got a STRAWBERRY PUDDING Award

Sita and Nalini got SADHU AUR SHAITAN Award.

Pushee got DANDAWALI BAWARCHI award

Many of them had ribbon round their neck, throughout the night (and I am told that some of them even took the medals home to decorate their living room shelf.)

The eatables and drinks made their rounds while we prepared for the next game of tambola.

We had many more games planned for the night, like playing antakshri and some naughty group games, but heavy dinner at Sasural and then additional snacks at home played tricks over the eyelids…with droopy eyes, some of them chose to stretch, just lie down for a while..

The voices became blurry, and suddenly lights went off with just few of us who sat alert on the couch in darkness....whispering away our anecdotes till the daylight began to sweep inside the room.

After the hot cup of tea, we, like zombies, headed home to catch up on sleep that we had lost during the night…….

Special Children's 3-days Camp to Wagoli in Pune

Last week I made a trip to Pune. My family owns a residential home for senior citizens at Wagoli, (near Jain College at Bakodi Phata) and there are many rooms still vacant, so this was a good opportunity to take the special children of Swami Brahmanand Prathisthan for a camp for three days. I went two days prior to their visit to make the arrangements.

35 children and 15 staff enrolled for this camp. I called up my cousins, who was very happy to help. They helped me arrange for a cook and helpers that would be required on hand, since it was not possible for us to take from Mumbai. Seven large rooms were prepared for their accommodations.

The main purpose was to make children's visit as comfortable as possible. “Give them the food that they don’t eat on regular basis.” Said my cousin excitedly. We spent many hours discussing menu and shopping for the things we would require. We tried different flavors of ice-creams. A dish with cottage cheese and chinese too was planned. The menu was planned, different meals each time that included snacks, vegetarian meals, ice creams, fruits and also desserts like Gulab Jamun( that my cousin popped into his mouth, (secretly) more than it was allowed  by his doctors)

The children just loved the food and came personally to my cousin to thank him for the delicious meals. 

There was much activity in the kitchen during those three days, many volunteered during preparation of food and making snack packets for outdoor trips. The gifts kept arriving as the news spread. I had to stop many people from distributing food items (cause there is limit to eating and couldn't risk stomach upset)

Children enjoyed their road trip from Mumbai to Pune, singing and dancing in the bus and yet when they arrived in Wagoli, they didn’t look tired. That same day they spend their evening at Chowki Dhani - a Rajasthani theme park that has various activities to keep people occupied such as pottery, drama, music, singing, dancing. There were different kinds of street food at regular interval and also proper Rajasthani food for dinner.

Children were most eager to take part in all activities

and prouldly posed with their tattooed arms

The staff enjoyed too, for camel rides and many other rides.

The next two days were spent visiting different temples. They visited all the gods during those two days, seeking blessing in every form.  It turned out to be spiritual camp. Because besides visiting different temples, they were also singing and dancing on spiritual hymns. 

They loved the temple activities and came back with beautiful designs done by the priest on their foreheads.

And of course..a group photo is a must

Next day evening was spent going to Sadhu Vaswani mission and then attending a bhajan session by group of visually handicapped children.

They played outdoor games in the ashram compound whenever they were free, they took part in the organized games during late evenings after dinner. I was amazed by their energy level.

The children showed great discipline and took part in all the activities. People who met them, showered much love on them and commented that they were well behaved, much more than normal children, cause none of them were shouting or quarrelling amongst each other. It was remarkable that each child help the weaker one and everybody was alert all times of the day…..

It was the most enjoyable camp.

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….