Navratri and its true essence- and memories

 

𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 # 164

Navratri and its true essence- and memories

Many parts of India are circling around—as its Dandia time!!

India celebrates the 9 days (10 days this time) of Navratri followed by Dushehra

There are many fond memories of this festival

Navratri meant Durga ma... lots of puja, jagrata, bhandara time... it was also Durga Puja time 

Lucknow had many Durga Puja pandals- the time was spent in pandal hopping- walking from one pandal to another, adoring the beauty of the Goddess, eating chatar patar food, welcoming the gradual change in weather – from the hot weather to the light winters…. 

Soaking in the positivity, as a kid joining the other kanyas for kanya pujan, having fun with family members, sitting in Navratri puja and havan and finally going to Dushehra mela

Dushehra mela had its own charm.... Watching the Ravan burn and seeing lots of fireworks excited me. The mela had so much fun things... From toys, sweets, kitchen items, street food to watching the end of Ramleela finally leading to burning of Ravan was all fun

Looking at this festival now.... amidst all the festivities, do we really pause to reflect on the essence of this festival... Between the twirls of Garba, excitement of Puja and fun of Ravan dahan, we forget what it teaches us. 

The different roops of Durga are not just roops but different qualities and characteristics which we see around us ...in different women and sometimes in men too

Each roop teaches something...I have been following this quiet closely this time and was deeply intrigued at the knowledge available but not known to us

Each roop teaches about staying strong yet rooted, creating good as well as destroying evil, raising voices against wrong but also maintaining harmony, caring and raising wonderful human beings, standing up against harassment and any wrong doing, fighting against taboos, overcoming struggles and rebuilding life and lifting each other up!!

Garba in itself celebrates creative power of women ... The twirls indicate the circle of life... No beginning no end... Respect for the power of creation...

In earlier times women would come together and dance more as offering their movements as prayers to Goddess... With time it took more towards the fun part and now more for the reels... 

Watching Ravan burn is watching our inner demons burn. Everyone has some evil inside which can be burnt along with Ravan 

 

So today when you step out for Garba, do it after a quick appreciation of your Durga around - take a step as an offering to the divine ...to the Shakti and power around and in each of us... Let every twirl be an offering to the divine Shakti that surrounds us and lives inside us.

Burn the Ravans inside you and speak up against those around you

✨ Wishing you a Navratri filled with not just festivities, but reflection, power, and positivity on this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚........ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊

#𝖶𝖾𝖽𝗇𝖾𝗌𝖽𝖺𝗒𝖶𝗁𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗅𝖾𝗌

The puddles of water...

 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 # 163

The puddles of water and the reflections they give

It was a sunny week – the week when monsoons have started their return journey when all of a sudden the weather changed again – it rained during the night and gave a pleasant Sunday morning urging me to venture out for a walk

It was a lazy Sunday – little foggy and cloudy with wet roads, leaves scattered here and there due to rain, muddy roads with puddles of water…. 

I was walking and noticed some beautiful leaves, flowers with water drops clinging to them – it was a pleasant site and definitely needed a click 😊

On may way back, there was slight change in weather, the rain had stopped altogether – the road was still muddy and water puddles everywhere

Suddenly I stopped by a big puddle of water – it was giving a beautiful reflection of my housing complex – the nature and surroundings posed for a that moment and I got a wonderful click

Thinking back on it while sipping my Sunday wali chai, I reflected on how often we focus on the negatives—the muddy road—while missing the beauty hidden in them

So often we look for negative things but ignore the good things that may be hidden behind them – we keep worrying or get angry over the not so good circumstances but don’t look at the learning we get from them. We don’t look at how we can improve the surroundings to convert the negativity to positivity. We overlook the small happiness hidden behind the bigger worry

That puddle also made me think: reflections don’t just exist in water, they exist within us too – something which we ignore – the reflection of what we do – what if we could see our actions in the mirror when we do them—would they still be that great or beautiful as we may be thinking them to be? 

Many time we think what we are doing is right or great but if we reflect back or look in the mirror , would the actions be still great?? Isn’t looking into your puddle of water – your inner mirror – your conscience - something we should do once in a while – to see what magic we may be missing….

I leave you with this puddle of water on this 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚........ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊 

#𝖶𝖾𝖽𝗇𝖾𝗌𝖽𝖺𝗒𝖶𝗁𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗅𝖾𝗌

Visarjan is not just about letting go… it can also be about rising up.

 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬 # 162

विसर्जन … अस्त या उदय

हर अंत एक नई शुरुआत छुपाए होता है।

Visarjan is not just about letting go… it can also be about rising up.

India celebrated Ganeshutsav last week with grandeur. We welcomed Ganpati who came to our houses and graced with his presence for 11 days.

The entire festival is marked with celebrations where people come forward to welcome Ganpati with love and enthusiasm, decorate their houses and pandals, celebrate with family and friends, eat lots of tasty food including modaks. The festival also showcases some very traditional ways of welcoming Him- be it dhol tasha, jhanjh, lezims, shankhnaad and other several interesting ways. Pandals are decked up and crowded with people from all ages and spheres coming to seek Bappa’s blessings, adore the decoration and of course post on social media 😉

Our housing society also as always welcomed Bappa with grandeur – there was our own Dhol Tasha group which had many members this time. The decoration for Bappa was superb talking about the start of Community Ganeshutsav and also showcased Ashtavinayak. There was lot of puja, prasad and blessings. Many cultural events of Antakshari, Dance, Drama, competitions for kids took place making the festival fun.

And the last day of the festival (7th day in our case) we bid adieu to Bappa – with the same grace and enthusiasm but with a touch of sadness of letting him go after so many happy times- with the promise of bringing him back next year with more happiness and josh

I have been actively participating in this festival since it was never celebrated in north India and Ganpati is the most loved God 😊

This was my third year as part of the Dhol Pathak group. I went a step ahead this time and participated in the Antakshari – singing event and also went on the stage for the first time as part of the historical drama of Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj

All of these took a lot of time and efforts – every hour after office and house work was spent either playing the dhol or practicing the drama lines. It took a toll as well and left me exhausted but the excitement of doing something new, different and interesting kept the show going.

The day of Aagaman and Visarjan I played the Dhol with the group and enjoyed. The drama was a success and the moment I stepped on stage, all the nervousness of forgetting the dialogues and facing the crowd vanished and I did well and enjoyed myself while singing in the Antakshari…

The day of Visarjan was sad for us with Bappa going but for me it was not a visajan or end of anything – thinking about it after the event,  I realised that I I grew as a person, moved out of my comfort zone, and moved up. I did things never tried before and things beyond the daily routine – this was an uday or rising for me – moving out of my comfort zone and moving up.

Post was not about me but about coming out of comfort zones or trying new things.

When did you try something new? Your uday may be just a step away….

Do try this next time – do something which may be challenging to you or you are afraid or reluctant of doing – and see how you shine

 

I leave you to this late 𝑾𝒆𝒅𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚........ 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒈𝒖𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒆𝒌... 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒆... 𝑵𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒃𝒍𝒖𝒆𝒔' 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒆 '𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝑮𝒐𝒅' 𝒇𝒐𝒓! 😊

#𝖶𝖾𝖽𝗇𝖾𝗌𝖽𝖺𝗒𝖶𝗁𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗅𝖾𝗌