Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Remembering Holi


Holi is the official day to play pranks and do silly things.As a child during holi I used to play with colors and water the whole day. After all Holi is the festival of fun. Its a day to get together, play and laugh and rebonding relationships. A day to forgive and forget. With the vibrant and fragrant colors. Holi is always associated with colors, fun and masti. Its the best time of the year as its the end of winter and the arrival of the spring. 
The day before playing with colors the Holika bonfire was celebrated as this bonfire is a reminder of the symbolic victory of good over evil as told to me by my grand mother. My grand mother used to play with flowers as she was allergic to colors. I liked played with flowers and waited the whole year for this wonderful festival to come. Holi is a lovely festival and it always reminds me of my childhood days and the amount of great fun we used to have. 
Holi preparations were always grand. Home made gujiyas, laddus, Namak Pare, Samosas were prepared by the ladies of the house before the bonfire, as they were also offered during the prayers and thrown into the fire. The bonfire was lit late in the evening and everyone gathered around it. The prayer ended with walking around the fire for seven times. This ritual could be seen in almost every lane. This get together was the time for making strategies for the next day. 
We used to get up early in the morning and that was the only one day when no one scolded us or asked us to take bath. Our biggest and most important preparation was filling water balloons with colored water and we kept big drums of colored water ready. We used to gather dry colors, water balloons in a bag and water guns. We used to gather all our mandali and shouted, laughed and ran after each other while putting colors on each other. Then we targeted the kids of opposite building. It was so much fun. We splashed colored water every where. Some naughty kids used to smear us with silver grease and paints. The balloons wars lasted till the balloons lasted. Then we smeared each other with dry colors. We used to target the passers by. We would throw the balloons and then hide and wait to see their reaction and then we laughed loud continuously. Now thinking back it was all so senseless and it was a day when we could not stop laughing. We played with colors as well as ate delicious food and drinks at almost every house which we visited. It was a day of total masti and fun. Times have changed but Holi remains the most favorite and special festival since my childhood days. 

 “I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”

Bonding with colors

Holi is a colorful festival which brings the spirit of joy and enjoyment along with it.In those childhood days we used to have a had lot of fun during the Holi festival.Now on this Holi we and our family members andour
neighbors as well have already got decided to save water and celebrate the festival in an eco-friendly way, hence on the auspicious day of Holi festival we will avoid the usage of water and harmful chemical based
colors for as children we were unaware about these facts and hence enjoyed the festival in the traditional way itself.Most of our family stayed in the same building in those days.Our neighbors were a part of our lives too. So, every year we played Holi with all of them.We called for a Dholwala and  bought loads of gulal and water balloons, Pichkaris. We started from 9 in the morning and continued  till 4 in the afternoon.
 At the end of the day it was difficult to differentiate the faces or tell , who's who.Music was in the air all day long,especially the old, nostalgia -oozing melodies like Rang Barse Bheege Chunariya or Aaj Na
chodenge...My mother always insisted on natural colors. Reds made from crushed rose petals, yellows from haldi, and beautiful pinks.So fresh and fragrant that it was pleasure to be drenched in rang.I
wish we could go back to the Holi of my childhood when the festival brought happiness..We had a blast, dancing, singing  and splashing color.It was a major bonding time.The entire family joined in the celebrations.that took place in our building. Holi is synonymous with smiles, gaiety and colors.Staying indoors on this festival of cheer is not a great idea.Holi was a day made for  pranks.We purchased a variety of pichkaris.A special shopping spree was arranged for us kids.Gulal made up of numerous colors such as pink, magenta, red, yellow and green were purchased.
In the olden times the household priest was invited to start the function.The men, women and children all assembled together in the courtyard.Beginning with the eldest member, each member went  around and sprinkled some gulal and colored water onto each individual.We children used to put color on the elders and
enjoyed the liberty of the occasion. Special eatables like gujia, papri and kanji-ke-bare were served.There was so much dancing and singing, the old and the young joined in the merry-making.Holi remains unique and special due to the spirit of it which remains the same throughout the country and even across the globe, wherever it is celebrated. Entire country wears a festive look when it is time for the Holi celebrations. Surely it is the one and only festival which is celebrated by the masses.The spirit of Holi stands for happiness and unity and we should ensure that this spirit is not spoiled by cheap gimmicks or making fun of other people.So let's keep it as the festival that bonds us together..
So let's  #KhulKeKheloHoli!

 “I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.”




Thursday, March 10, 2016

Romeo & Juliet could have lived if only...


Do you know Romeo and Juliet could have lived happily ever after? There was no reason why Anarkali could not have been saved from her fate of being buried alive in a brick wall.All tales of eternal love that met with an tragic end could have seen happy endings . Even Soni Mahiwal,Heer Ranjha and so many lovers who met untimely death at the cruel hands of society who opposed their union could also have been saved and lived happily ever after if only they had heeded to my advice seriously. After all our society is of stereotypes that oppose true love. So they spot you hanging from the balcony of your beloved and they kill you for being in love. If you are in love you are constantly under the scrutiny and cross-hairs of society who are always ready to pass judgments. They adhere to stereotypes such as the fact that laundry is a w omen’s job. Had this not been the case then why would
- 81% of married men in India agree that their daughters must learn household chores.
- 76% of married men in India believe that not helping with Laundry at home still makes them a great role model for their children
- 2 out of every 3 children think that washing clothes is a mothers job
-78% of girls in India agree that they should learn Laundry as they will have to do it when they grow up and
- 65% of married men in India agree that their children replicate their behavior at home
- 2 out of every 3 children think that household work is a mothers job.



So all you great lovers who got spotted on, balconies, gardens and so many places where the moral police were looking for you. Instead you could have chosen to do the laundry together and meet in the laundry room. As most of the society around us believes that laundry is a w omen’s job you could have easily escaped the cruel ends that you met with. Besides washing clothes together, singing love songs and then spreading the wet clothes to dry in the sun can be a great backyard romantic escape for the love birds.
At the same time your homes would have got rid of the dirty clothes.
On a more serious note guys be a man and share the load of doing the laundry. Be it you mom, your sister, girl friend or wife they need your love as well as your support by sharing the load of doing the laundry. I take this pledge that I would share the load of doing laundry at home as I strongly believe that if you love someone then shower your special one with love and do not burden them with dirty laundry


 I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.

Who says men do not wash clothes?


Who says men do not wash their clothes. Look at the politicians, the actors, celebrities, and why go far you would find offices and perhaps every home with men who wash dirty linen in public.
Now that I have got your attention with my opening line let me take you to the main topic of discussion and let me share some alarming findings of a recently conducted survey that reports that
78% of girls in India agree that they should learn Laundry as they will have to do it when they grow up.
65% of married men in India agree that their children replicate their behavior at home
So how can the men of this country rest easy when their mothers and sisters are subjected to such a raw  deal and caged in the belief that 81% of married men in India agree that their daughters must learn household chores and knowing the fact that
76% of married men in India believe that not helping with Laundry at home still makes them a great role model for their children as a result 2 out of every 3 children think that washing clothes is a mothers job and 2 out of every 3 children think that household work is a mothers job.
These men are being insensitive to the rights of their daughters as they are proving to be poor role models for their children.
At the same time they are depriving themselves of the opportunity to spend some quality time with their family.
When I say this I am pointing towards the opportunity lost by so many men in this country.
Take for instance a boy who has his room littered with dirty clothes .his argument could be that he has no time to do the laundry or it’s his mother’s job to do the laundry. However when he decides to watch a match on his mobile, or laptop then he gets nagged for not paying attention on his studies. Instead he could multitask by dedicating portion of his time as laundry time. This could be on days when he wants to see the match. He could put all the dirty clothes in the washing machine and as he oversees the laundry being done he could watch the match or chit chat with friends and no one would complain about him wasting time. A cleaner room would be the added bonus.
For the ever so busy men spending time with wife and children as they do laundry together could be the key to spending some quality family time together that could go a long way if used properly. You could device a picnic around this activity where there could be food and drinks after you do a good job together.




I am joining the Ariel #ShareTheLoad campaign at BlogAdda and blogging about the prejudice related to household chores being passed on to the next generation.