LIKE A LEAF FLOATING IN WATER

Its not tiredness

Its not laziness

Its not even dizziness

Yet the mind refuses to think.

Its not boredom

Its not tragedy

Its not even sadness

Still the soul faints into silence.

I don’t want rest

I don’t want solace

I don’t even want happiness

Still I’m searching something.

I want to be thought-free

I want to be carefree

I want to break-free.

Yet I’m not moving.

Like a leaf, floating in water,

I want the buoyancy.

Like a leaf, moving directionless,

I want to go with the flow.

Let the water take me till the end,

Let me not think anything.

Let me explore the way it comes

Let me be sure to reach till the end….

KARVA CHAUTH-THE FESTIVAL

 YES, one more festival, one more celebration J. Well most of my non-indian readers would be interested to know- what is Karva Chauth? Ok, no worries I’ll give a brief insight on it.

“Karva” is another word for “diya” (a small earthen oil-lamp) and “chauth” means 'fourth' in Hindi (a reference to the fact that the festival falls on the 4th day of the dark-fortnight of the month of Kartik as per Hindu calender).

Karva Chauth is one-day festival celebrated by Hindu and some Sikh women in North India in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the safety and longevity of their husbands. Yes, today I’m certifying that I’m married because many people still think that I’m a bachelor.

The fast is kept in such a high spirits by the married ladies that they don’t even drink a single droplet of water from the sunrise to the moon-rise. I’m sure you might be thinking that how hard are these rituals to follow, aren’t you? Ironically, when you ask the same question to the married ladies, who are keeping these fasts, they happily take pride in it and they embark this day a very special for the love of their husband.

A special day means a special dress code. On this very special day all the ladies dress up in their traditional outfits along with their traditional accessories. As part of the dress code, the ladies also apply Mehendi(Henna) on their hands. 

My Wife's Last Year's Henna 

In the night when the moon rises, the wife first of all worships the moon and then her husband. As part of the ritual, then Husband offers his wife the water, which wife drinks and breaks the fast, and it is then followed by a special romantic dinner date.

This year's henna

 Well, this is all going to happen tomorrow for us as we(Wife n me :-) are going to celebrate our second Karva Chauth. My wife has applied a really cool design on her hands using the henna and guess what she has also engraved my name(Vivek) on her hand. Anyway, I leave that task to you to find out where it is in the picture.  

COLORS, LIGHTS & HAPPINESS

O its that time of the year again!! India has a big season of festivals, starting with Ramazan(Ramadan) and Ganesh Chaturthi (in Aug-Sept) followed by Durga Puja and Dussehra (in Oct), then Diwali (on Nov 5th), and lastly, Christmas (in Dec). This is a special privilege of being in the multicultural country like India where every festival is celebrated with full tempo. Especially, if you are living in a cosmopolitan cities of India like Hyderabad, you are blessed to witness half a year of thunderous celebrations, no kidding :) :) :)

I really like these festive times, one thing that really excites me is the decorations and the lighting. Sometimes, when you are totally into your life, and the monotonicity has taken it's complete toll on you then one fine day, when you are walking along the streets or buying your grocery in the malls suddenly, you see the glitters and the colors of the festive season and instantly, you start feeling so good, you feel so relaxed and refreshed. Yes, that is exactly what happened to me today.

I'm sure you feel good on seeing colors too. There is a big connection of human mind with the colors and the lighting, and yes this is scientifically approved as well. So many times when we see something colorful it really makes us feel better and happy. Today I captured the beautiful lamps hanging in the mall, and I thought I will share here with you all. Hoping that it makes you happy as well, and wish you lots of love and peace.