Tag: QB

Oh My Friend Ganesha!

September 13, 2024 / / 1 Comment

I don’t know if it is because my favourite deity is Ganesha or because I have ancestral roots in the temple town of Ainavalli in Andhra Pradesh or because of the large scale festivities in Hyderabad, but Ganesh Chathurthi had always been my favourite festival.  My favouritism doesn’t end there. I eat, sleep, pray Ganesh and I also named my first born Ganesh. So that sums up everything, I rest my case!

Even during my childhood days, I had a pink and white Ganesha statue in POP (Plaster Of Paris) as my toy, more like companion! My pink Ganesha had a place on my bed, beside my pillow. It was a sad day, when I lost grip on the Ganesha , one fine summer morning and broke It, into 2 symmetrical halves, separated at His navel!

My mom let me have It on my bed for two years, but then, some elders warned her not to have a broken Ganesha at home and that was the end of our companionship! My cute little pink Ganesha was left under the hibiscus tree, which coincidentally had light pink blooms (same colour as my Ganesha), year round, to let the rains wash Him away!

That was how the story had ended.

My kiddos have no such bond with the Ganesha and it becomes apparent during this season, or so I thought.

A day before the Ganesh Chathurthi, Mr.Bee, I and both GBee and KBee got into the car and excitedly drove towards the Erragadda market. It is 5km away from our house.

Just like last year, it was drizzling and hawkers and shoppers both braved the drizzle to continue their shopping. The kiddos loved the Ganeshas, agreed on the One I showed them. (For now, I am the BOSS and they know it!) With the Handsome Hunk in my lap, we returned home!

While we got everything ready for the Ganesh puja, I was in my happy space, humming O My Friend Ganesha, Thu Rehna Saath Hamesha…! I was happy because I got home a Ganesha who had vibrant dhoti in my favourite colour, with a cute design. The dhoti clinched the purchase for me!

On His temporary resting place…

In Telugu states, as far as I know, people generally perform puja to only a Ganesh idol made of clay. It is the most auspicious choice. Second comes the idol made of plaster of paris. Even if anyone, (like us) is swayed by the beauty of POP Ganesha, we still buy a clay idol too. So we have two idols, for every Ganesh Chathurthi.

While we were busy preparing Ganesha’s puja mandapam, GBee began to chat with both the Ganeshas on the table, as if he was inviting some guests home!

GBee chatting up with old friends.

I was happy that GBee was talking to Ganesha like I used to during my childhood. But what surprised me the most is that he thought, the POP Ganesha and the clay Ganesha were cousins! LOL. (I mentally noted it, needs to go into my blog, I thought). There is another such incident during Varalakshmi Puja and it is a post for another day.

Anyway, we prepared the mandapam, set everything ready for the next day’s puja and slept off the exhaustion!

On the day of the Ganesh Chathurthi (i.e the next morning), I gave the kiddos a good oil massage and oil bath. (Both cried their eyes out! LOL. I wanted to laugh, but I couldn’t because watching the kids cry is exhausting!)  I remembered how I would also cry when my mom made me take an oil bath and massaged me, during my childhood. I am on the right track, I thought and moved on…

The puja itself lasted for half an hour. The preparations, the decorations, the prasadam and cleaning up the puja area take most time, than the actual puja. That is an universal truth!

Like is the case, after the puja, I went ahead to the kiddos, to put some Akshinthalu on their tiny heads, for blessing them with positivity and to avoid neelapanindalu (which can be loosely translated as ‘rumours affecting one’s reputation’.) While GBee was ok with it, KBee reacted in a way which surprised me.

KBee lying down on his stomach and watching TV and QB in a messy Mom-Bun hairstyle!

Since KBee saw us putting lots of akshinthalu on the deities during the puja, he thought they were only meant for Gods and not for mere mortals and reminded me that he is infact just a baby and NOT a Jeji (or GOD)! LOL.  What fun!

KBee later warned me not to invite my friends to our house. He said that I always invite friends home during puja and make them chant Telugu Stotras! (He was infact talking about my MIL’s friends who visit our home regularly to perform parayanam.) He assumed new ladies in the house meant, friends of mom!

With that, we ended our conversation and got busy eating the jilledu kayalu, undrallu and the other specials for the day. We also visited my parents house, ate the specials my mom made and ended the day with a stomach full of yummy stuff.

Thank you Ganesha, for a memorable day.

P.S:

  1. For those who are new to our Hindu culture, akshinthalu is the grains of rice mixed with either turmeric or vermilion, which are showered on our heads by elders, to convey blessings.  Other words and meanings for you: mandapam = place where the Deity is kept during the puja ; stotra =  verses ; parayanam = chanting verses together;  dhoti = cloth tied up like a pant.
  2. None of my friends visit my house, because everyone has either one or two kids to look after and this is not the correct age for socializing. We are too busy for that. Who will make the kids study or do their homework if we go about socializing each evening???
  3. I always prefer tying my hair in a messy bun. I sometimes wonder how I have changed from the girl who once hated to have even a single strand of hair out of place to being a woman who enjoys messy bun! Times change, WE change, only change is constant!
  4. I would love to have atleast one cartoon in each of my posts, but they take a minimum of 1 hour to draw and edit!

Till the next post, cheerio!

Sketch Please!

April 24, 2023 / / 1 Comment

If all you have with you are different pencils, a couple of white papers and time to kill, then , sketching is a good hobby for you! I started to sketch during my class 8 summer vacation and continued it well into my early twenties. But then, life happened and my hobby took a back seat!

For S, let’s go with Sketching!

According to the great internet God, Wikipedia, Sketching is the process of drawing of a rough outline  of a final piece of art.

Drawing a rough outline of fighter figures! – Basics of Sketching

Sketching is also about using different strokes to complete the drawing. The different strokes of sketching are..

A sketch made with basic pencil strokes…

Tree during the Fall

One fine day, Mr.Bee and I decided to see who was better at sketching and the winner is obviously not me! Mr.Bee and I decided to sketch Marilyn Monroe and see who was better, but mine sucks. I have refrained from showing my piece. This one is Mr.Bee’s sketch.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Marilyn Monroe! – by Mr.Bee

While I am not posting my Marilyn Monroe sketch, to save my face, I would like to post, something else…

Girl in a Flower Crown – by QB

The easiest of all the sketches are the ones of nature, landscapes and hills. I have loads of those in my sketch book. Will post more of my sketches in later posts.

Sketch of a Hill Station – Probably Ooty! – by QB

All you need to start sketching are H and B pencils. H is the hardest pencil and so lighter in drawing, whereas, B is for darker shading, since they are softer.

Graphite Drawing Pencil guide

If you want to start sketching, why not start with a simple one like this …

Fallen leaves – Best beginner’s sketch for learning to shade

Go ahead, get sketching!

P.S:

  1. The other hobbies starting with S are Sky Diving, Soap Making, Star Gazing (or Amateur Astronomy) and Snorkelling.

Mr.Bee tried his hand at Sky Diving, in Charlotte,NC,USA and enjoyed it thoroughly. You can watch the video here.

2. The images which don’t have my logo on them have been freely copied from the internet. Thanks to all the sources.

3. During our stay in USA, when Mr.Bee was busy in his office working, I would either go and make dozens of pottery or sit and watch movies.That is how I ended watching some of the movies of Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant,  Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, from Netflix. I loved watching Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, the Seven Year Itch, Roman Proposal, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Good, Bad and the Ugly,to name a few. (I need more time to refresh my memory to remember the other movie names!)

Holi Ke Din….

March 6, 2023 / / 0 Comments

As usual, at 1 o’clock in the afternoon,  I was eagerly waiting for the return of GBee from his school. Just as he put his foot inside the hall, I saw his face. It was covered partially with green colour on his cheeks and forehead. That was when it hit me that tomorrow is Holi!

The rectangular thing in my hand is supposed to be a cell!

Looking at GBee in colours reminded me that, gone are the days when I would look forward to Holi!

I remember the days when we used to return to school with traces of gulaal (pink colour) in our hair, faces and hands. The more pink one appeared, the more proud we would feel. Being pink meant, we had played and enjoyed the festival!

QB with pink highlights in hair and some random classmates talking about Holi

There used to be this gang of rowdy boys, who would come to our apartment every year on Holi,  They would catch hold of the guys in our apartment and brush their teeth with gulaal and blue colours! (Yuk!Who would want dirty colours in their mouth and teeth? Beats me!) They would also throw eggs at us kids. Phew, who would want smelly eggs on their heads, mixed with bunch of colours? Double yuk! If you are being chased by someone with an egg in hand, suddenly sit down on the floor and you probably would avoid being hit!

Trying to avoid an egg on the head? Just sit down suddenly!

Those were the days, we would drench each other in buckets of gulaal water and begin to shiver. To stop the shiver, we would stand under the Sun, in the middle of the road! (Who even does that now?)

Even the uncles in the apartment would play Holi. I remember one particular incident when someone brought silver colour to play and the next day, my father and I had severe rashes on our faces. (Silver is danger!)

The ladies in the apartment would play with the good old kumkum and haldi.  We even had fun scaring away the domestic helps, who would come to their respective flats to work. We would sneak attack! If we sneak attack now, we may get beatings, people are less forgiving these days.

During one Holi celebrations in my schooling days, I had taken an egg in my hair, from K, who was younger to me. (How dare he mess up with a senior!) I waited in the verandah, till my mom had hot water ready for my bath . Meanwhile, I was fed lunch, by my dad. What fun!

I pity the generation of kids who have no idea how to spend time away from a t.v. or cell.  They have no idea of how safe our world was and how carefree we were, while we played on the streets, away from deranged people who lay hands on innocent kids or the violent stray dogs or the lack of traffic and vehicles on streets. Those days can never come back!

P.S:

  1. Before going out to play Holi, it is better to apply oil on your face and hands. This way, you won’t look like a pink alien in office. This is for all those who hate looking like they drank gulaal!
  2. My favourite Holi song is Arey Jaa re Hatt from Navrang, a very old Hindi movie, directed by Shantaram. Not everyone likes it, but check it out. The dancer Sandhya acts as both boy and girl in the song. It was a sensation in those days. (Let me be your DJ for Holi and suggest grooving to these songs…)

and also this…from Sholay, hence the title of the post!

Lastly, I would like to mention Balam Pichkari from Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani….

Did I miss any popular Holi song?  Do drop a comment and let me know. Till the next post, cheerio!

The Tale of the White Leaf!

February 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Before I start today’s post, let me tell you that, if you ever read any post titles, which sound at once intriguing, rest assured that it is related to the kids. This is one such incident I would love to elaborate on…

The daily routine of GBee is, to wake up at 7 a.m. Laze around on the bed, planning ahead, about what he is going to do for the particular day! Then after much coaxing and coddling, get out of the bed at 7:40 a.m.

The next step is to run around the bed, either to wake up his baby brother KBee or to bring his school bag, open the pouch and begin sharpening his pencils and chatting all the while.  He has his pouch always filled up with atleast 10 pencils. He writes with a different one each day.  (Never buy kids pencils in various colours, they ask us for one in each colour. Buy them boring pencils in same colour and they never ask for another.  Don’t repeat my mistake! I bought him colourful pencils and now he has one in each colour ready for any emergencies and still asks me for more!)

When we first joined him in school, he would cry incessantly and always plead me not to send him to school. (I spent many nights wondering if he would ever make any friends or go to school at all!)

Because he manages to cry a lot, he would throw up before going to school, each day. So feeding him breakfast early in the morning was a bad idea. In his early school days, he never ate anything before going to school and always brought his tiffin / snack box, as it is, without eating. (For a week, it felt like he was fasting and opposing the school, in his silent way!)

That’s when I decided to just give him milk before going to school. To make him slowly begin eating at school, I would send his box filled with his favourite cookies and pooris in the shapes of hearts, squares and circles. The little GBee, never liked Pediasure to begin with. (Any new food / beverage never interests him. He has zero interest in trying new food) To get GBee interested in Pediasure, I bought the Vanilla flavoured one and would mix it in milk and give it to him before school and slowly he began drinking it. He never knew I mixed anything in milk, because, vanilla flavoured Pediasure was off white in colour.

Just as I was getting used to him having his morning cup of milk, one day ….

A white leaf!

Since I was busy packing his snack box, I really didn’t understand what he meant at first. My mind was occupied.

He was referring to the layer of protein on the milk, a White Leaf!

Milk Skin = White Leaf

I say ‘sad’ layer because, I hate the layer of protein on top of milk. I just hate when the milk skin forms on milk. Or even tea for that matter. I exaggerate and tell everyone who listens to me, that milk skins suffocate the throat, so I can’t have it! (which is a lie)

After he complained about the ‘white leaf’, i filtered the milk for him and then and ‘only’ then did he drink his milk.

That, dear readers, is the Tale of the White Leaf!

P.S:

  1. I was inspired by ‘The Tale of Two cities’ of Charles Dickens while naming the blog post. I may read it in future.
  2. The milk skin infact has a scientific name, Lactoderm! But,  as usual, I love the one coined by GBee, ‘White Leaf’. He also calls grey hair as ‘White Grass’!
  3. Do you know ‘the Order of White Lotus’? If you are an Avatar geek, you may know it. If you are not, it a secret society of intellectual people who share knowledge. It is part of the ‘Avatar’, the anime and not the James Cameron Avatar.

Till the next post!

The Ugly Butterfly

February 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Those were the ‘Happy Days’ of my life! (Just like the Telugu movie, Happy Days, set in CBIT, Hyderabad, this post is of me, during my Engineering College days.)

During those days, the only worries I ever had were, does my dress look too flashy? Will the seniors decide to rag me because of my dress? What seminar should I attend? What is my attendance percentage? Is it really above 75% ?

Anyway, I have always been insect friendly.  So, naturally, the ever beautiful butterflies were also among my friends, who caught my attention every now and then. But don’t go imagining the beautiful Costa Rican blue butterflies here!

Blue Butterflies = luck

The Costa Ricans actually  believe that spotting a blue butterfly means luck is on your side. (Lucky Shivudu. Spotting a group of blue butterflies must be the reason he could climb the waterfalls, defying death! This is part of Baahubali story. Hope you watched it. It is one of the most iconic scenes, with a magnificent waterfalls in the backdrop. Never was CGI used more beautifully for creating a waterfall)

The butterfly that I am actually referring to was a far cry from these beauties. Although our Engineering college campus had its share of huge farmland insects, thanks to all the farm lands and vineyards around our campus, this one was a surprise.  I had seen big grasshoppers the size of my hand, beetles the size of lemons and some insects whose names I don’t even know.

After a fun filled day at college, I was exhausted and I lept on to my bed , ready to end the day.  We (me and sister shared our bedroom) chatted away, after turning off the light in our room. I turned to my side in my bed and put my hand on the pillow beside me. My hand touched something and I felt something flee the spot, like rushing away! I jumped out of my bed, ran towards my sister’s bed and turned on the light! I saw the most surprising thing ever!

It was a huge butterfly, with each wing, a little bigger than the size of my hand, whose wings were as rough as the skin of a crocodile! It was wheatish in colour. (That must have been the reason I couldn’t spot it before sleeping. Camouflage!)  It was completely different from the notion I had of butterflies and the tender love I always had for the colourful beauties vanished!

Once we spotted the butterfly, all hell broke loose!

The Ugly Butterfly, refusing to budge, while I and sis were at wits end.

We began jumping up and down, crying out loud. Our commotion brought my parents into our room. We demanded our dad to chase it away or we wouldn’t sleep at all.  After 10 minutes of extreme effort with a mop, dad managed to chase it out. It was such a stubborn butterfly refusing to budge. It must have been scared about the commotion it was creating!

Sadly, one of its wings was hurt. (It was unintentional. Seeing such a butterfly in our midst made us adamant. We wanted it out of our room at any cost.) I am mostly a forgiving person, but once it perched on my bed, I knew it was better to get rid of it. I can still remember how I felt when I touched it by mistake!

Looking back, I now understand that, even in the midst of the concrete jungle, a wild butterfly managed to survive!

P.S:

1.  Our college chairman once said during our Annual day celebrations, that he was torn between, whether to use the land to ‘grow’ grapes in his vineyard or to use the land to build the college to ‘grow’ students!

Our college was in the middle of farms and vineyards. I also remember seeing Sunflowers each morning. Happy Days indeed!

2. One of Mr.Bee’s friend, J from our days in Charlotte had presented him with a souvenir of a Blue Butterfly, after his trip to Costa Rica. That’s how I got to know the significance of the blue butterflies.

More posts coming up. Till then, cheerio!

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