Wordless Wednessday

Happy Day!

This and that of the day...........

...foggy cold mornings, beautiful and still. The fog hung around most of the day, making the park in front of my house look quite fairy-tale-like.

A fairy-tale mist: The park in front of my house enveloped in the morning fog.

Chasing the winter sun through the trees.

The beautiful stillness of a cold December afternoon.

A bright splash of red on a misty day.

Nature’s winter colors blooming beautifully in the yard.

....the sun eventually came out late in the day, I love late afternoon light, it was a gorgeous day.

My daughter Vipin Choudhary sitting by the vibrant marigolds, beautifully settled in their recycled tub stand.

Here is a picture of my daughter sitting by the marigold flowers. We planted these vibrant orange and light yellow flowers in a recycled plastic tub and set it up on an old fridge stand. I just love how lovely they look on their new raised stand.

A few little details about our space: Our front yard may not be very large, but we make the most of it. It's the perfect little corner for our plants, parking the scooter and motorcycle, and laying out a few chairs, a table, or a Charpai to soak up the sun.

The arrangement with the plants actually happened yesterday while I was deep cleaning the backyard and the kitchen island. We found a big plastic tub and a fridge stand that were about to be discarded. Instead of throwing them away, we used the stand to elevate the tub filled with plants. They have settled in beautifully and have been there for weeks now.

Happy Day!

Idleness, Fabric basket.

Hello friends, as You know my father was and is my GURU and I use to fallow  his mantra of aaram-haram-hai ..........ANY HOW......... I still love  THIS ARTICLE from New York Times The Busy trap by Tim kreider

"Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body, and deprived of it we suffer a mental affliction as disfiguring as rickets. The space and quiet that idleness provides is a necessary condition for standing back from life and seeing it whole, for making unexpected connections and waiting for the wild summer lightning strikes of inspiration — it is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done. “Idle dreaming is often of the essence of what we do,” wrote Thomas Pynchon in his essay on sloth. Archimedes’ “Eureka” in the bath, Newton’s apple, Jekyll & Hyde and the benzene ring: history is full of stories of inspirations that come in idle moments and dreams. It almost makes you wonder whether loafers, goldbricks and no-accounts aren’t responsible for more of the world’s great ideas, inventions and masterpieces than the hardworking.........."

Fabric  basket

Fabric  basket... several uses: made with my Shalwar_kameeez suit
  I used to do something every minute ……….I can ..of course to keep me busy ............otherwise I got lost in the memories of my MOM

Old clothing is something that it seems like many people throw away, it is also one of my favorite things to recycle. I like to make baskets like the one pictured above, I also enjoy making  rugs, making  mats

………, making deco items and cutting t-shirts into strips and knitting or crocheting them.

cozy seat for the fruits isn't it 

Happy Day!

my love for books.....this time........Nirmal Jain’s..

 It’s really great to see so many parkashn smachar out there in cupboard today with the recent one (Prakashan Samachar December 2015)celebrating the Launch of Nirmal Jain’s “ZAMANE ME HAM ” –her fabulous autobiography (as I wish) I have my copy already and if you are so inclined, you can buy a copy of ZMANE MEN HAM for yourself from Rajkamal Parkashan …on their stall on coming book fare in Jan 9-17,  2016 from  Pragati Maidan for Rs 745….Paperback is cheaper about half of the above price. 

 

 

dialogue on zamane men ham at rajkamal prakaashan


xoxo

YES! Feeling unwell

It’s been a tricky few weeks so much has happened and yet what has impacted the most has been a uneasy stomach. I have damaged my digestion system due to bacterial effect on the inner walls of stomach and duodenum this has resulted in indigestion, burping, bloating and uneasiness in eyes in short I was totally collapsed due to these symptoms and lost 15-20 kg of my weight in just 2 months. However I was suffering from this ailment since long.    In fact when it first started it felt far worse than any labor pains I had endured. My uneasy stomach  has meant I’ve had to rest and that’s not been so easy for me or my alters,  the other parts of me.

Suddenly our planned trips to some hilly, days out to recharge my batteries and catch the last summer sun disappeared. I couldn’t get off the sofa without great distress and so I seemed to just exist, I managed by sheer luck and determination to make therapy but sitting is so painful that it’s not been easy. However as time passes by  I am starting to deal better with the uneasiness of stomach, I’ve managed to get myself into a safe routine that means parts of me still get time just its different to what we are used to. I had to spend a lot of time trying to work all the time and understand how to do things for the different parts of me whilst feeling unwell and laid flat on my sofa.

So reading has become  a lifeline, along with the TV and even some crocheting and knitting, it’s been more about internal dialogue explaining why we can’t  do things we would normally have done. Some parts of me are having to except that right now I can’t do the things I would like. 

Yet life is sometimes about dealing with the unexpected, trying to keep moving forwards whilst challenged in new ways. I guess right now I’m challenged by uneasyness  and the fact I can’t move as well as I used to, but time is a healer and I will heal. My family have been really supportive and members of our NGO have been very understanding when I cancel   planned events.

I guess feeling unwell has been a learning curve too and it’s also given time to think, time to re juggle priorities and balance my diary better. Suddenly faced with being unable to move meant I had to wipe my diary clear and start again, that’s not been all bad if I’m honest.

Now I’m managing my uneasiness  better and I can potter about the house carefully as long as I rest quite often. Whilst my diary is still quiet I have managed a few things. I made it to Mandir this evening and whilst I felt unwell throughout and in uncomfortable position it felt good to be out and to be there.

I’m learning so much through this ailment, I’m learning to priorities my family, to manage my diary better and to value the little things in life. Things I haven’t had a chance to do for ages I’m suddenly able to, crocheting and knitting are some example of that I’m often too busy to do them, but now I have time and surprisingly you can knit and crochet while sitting in front of TV. Parts of me understand too and seem to appreciate the efforts made to give them time.  What I’ve realized too is that feeling unwell is not unmanageable,  yes it felt it at first but once I’d accepted the situation and got used to the fact I will be in continuous disturbance in my stomach, things were more bearable.

Having gastro problem makes feeling unwell harder to manage, but it is manageable once you get your head round it. May be once this is over and my stomach fully healed I will be able to look back on this time and see the positives and not just the uneasiness.  I hope so. For now I’m taking it one day at a time and managing my uneasiness as best I can and I’m going to keep smiling and remember that there are people who are far worse off than me.  I will heal in time and my problem will eventually disappear, till then I plod on, me and my parts together.

 xoxo

October was a MEGA, Rehana

October was a MEGA MONTH and needs two mosaics to do it justice. In the first part of the month, I took my family on a mystery tour around Tosham
the place where my ancestors used to live they were descendants of Prithviraj_Chauhan. 

When I was a kid, I accompanied my grandmother on Tosham Kund to bathe in gyaarasiyaa kund on  Somavati Amavasya._

 I never forget that day as my grandmother shared with me the  stories of her past that how their neighbors and relatives stepped in to take care of her when she was left without a mother at a young age. So along with a pious bath I came to know about my grandmaa's past story that made me  very close to her.I loved her tooo much.
Lets past to be paaasssssssssssss........

On Somavati Amavasya_this year, I returned to Tosham with my son and my D-in_law, my grand daughter and my niece and I got the same feeling that I did when I visited there with my grandmother forty years ago - the feeling that I was standing on sacred Hill, where My ancestors used to live many…many years ago. In the Haryanvi_ tradition, these sacred spots are known as "local deity", where God's presence can be felt despite the passage of time:

"There is a geography of holy places, the places where the saints have dwelt.... Places whose beauty has been revealed by lives which have been open to God in such a way as to show that this world is not a system closed upon itself. These are places whose power persists through centuries of indifference and neglect to be revealed again when men are ready for it. Places which display the potential holiness of all this earth which man has loved so much yet so much ravaged."

To cut the story short………………….

We started from Hisar, where we pass through cowherds of Rajasthan, I like Tosham. Then we proceeded further north towards another Hill where Barah Dari (prithvi raj ki kachari) is situated. Prithviraj_Chauhan who is fondly remember for his valour among old and for his love affair with princess  Sanyogita among the teens. My forefathers belong to this clan.

According to the folklore, it is where Rajput king Prithviraj Chauhan use to preside over the court proceedings to pass judgement. Baradary is a mountain of Satvata 
  religion. It has 12 doors of a tomb. It is an approximately 80-meter-high mountain. Tosham wala Pahad - 200-meter-high mountain of Aravali range. You can see full view of near by villages and greenery all around. It has many temples in this some of them are Baba mungipa, Hanuman temple, water fall etc. 

History of Tosham dates back to at least 4th century, as evident by the Sanskrit language Tosham rock inscription at Tosham hill. Tosham was under Gupta rule in 4th Century as per the inscription, later it came under Tomars and Chauhan (Prithviraj Chauhan who built the Baradari) Rajput rulers.

It was simply the most superb day and I enjoyed every single flipping minute of it. Just amazing. I’ll never forget a single thing about it .

Tosham

In the second part we visited  Nainital for the kumaonliteraryfestival.My daughter Vipin Chaudhary was speaker for Hindi Poetry, Udaypant moderated the interesting session of Hindi Poetry on Sun, 25 Oct at Aabbotsford ( Abbotsford is located one of the highest points in Nainital and is one of the most distinguished and enchanting stately homes and heritage estates in Kumaon area.)with big name like Geet_Chaturvedi was in the panel.

We met few Of our fav Filmi Duniyaa persons like

Rajat_Kapoor . Had variety of Kumaauain food & other gourmet food. Thank you, ‪#‎KumaonLitFest‬ for creating a truly experiential literature festival of its kind and treating the writers with so much respect. Specially loved the way the volunteers worked with smile on their faces. Sharing a few pictures here.

Nanital pics

sitting on stage for debate

near naina mandir

its me near naina madnir 

its men near naina jheel 

my daaughter near naina river

holy naina river

Naintal at dusk

its me near bone fire in hotel 

its me in hotel room 

REHANA  at play 
17.11.2015

xoxo