I must say, staying away from each other all this while has only helped V and I grow that much fonder of each other. We don’t ever want to be apart again! We are making up for all the lost time now and we know that every minute we get to spend with each other is invaluable. And I wish we did not even miss those 8 or 9 hours he spends at work every day!
The time in CA has been wonderful so far, with the setting up of our new place, celebrating V’s birthday and in general enjoying our togetherness. Simple things we do as a couple like sharing a meal [and an address :)], shopping for groceries, watching a favorite movie or taking a walk feel like luxury, and I am reveling in the bliss. It finally feels like I am ‘home’, and do I need to explain how remarkable that feeling is?!
In addition to spending time with V, these are also a few days I have for myself to relax and unwind after a challenging doctoral study, before I get back to work once again. At the moment I am getting to explore my potential as a homemaker, and I must say I like it a lot. Now I have time to think about a proper dinner menu, how to decorate our home and whether or not to set up a vegetable and herb garden! That is leisure right there. In fact it is more than just leisure. It is an extravagance! I could get used to all this indulging and relaxation, but deep down I know that I will soon be thirsting for more.
After all, I do miss the sounds of snapping eppendorf tubes and spinning microfuges, the smell of 70% ethanol and the sight of a perfect DNA band appear under UV light or a protein band on polyacrylamide. The small joys of finding healthy cells, a perfect clone, understanding a protein interaction, and piecing together the clues to a molecular pathway have their own charm. So hopefully I’ll find a position to my liking soon! Besides, it can be a good thing for my bank account too :). Just like me it too thirsts for more!
Coming back to how I am having fun these days, it is Dussehra time and in keeping up with my Tamil tradition, I have set up a small ‘Navarathiri kolu’ with knickknacks lying around the house. It is by no means a traditional kolu with cute Indian dolls, but I think it is a fair start nevertheless.
Navarathri is one of my favorite Indian festivals, and aptly so. First of all it is celebrated for 9 days glorifying the feminine power. I mean, we have a winner right there! Moreover, I love the creative aspect associated with setting up the kolu. And best of all of course, the great food and the 'sundal' collecting ritual! Togther it made a perfect recipe for some of my best childhood memories...
The Navarathiri excitement used to start right from the moment the box full of dolls was brought down from the attic! As we unwrapped the dolls, we used to play a guessing game to identify correctly which doll was inside each package! Most of them used to be easy guesses but let me tell you, identifying the individual dolls in the dasavatharam set can be quite tricky!
Next came the innovative part of setting up the kolu. In our home in India we always improvised on building the steps to display the dolls, instead of buying ‘pre-arranged’ steps. I remember how I used to pester my mom to increase the size of the kolu every year :) And every year we came up with newer ways to increase the number of steps with a table here, a box there and a few planks in between!
Once the dolls were unpacked and set up in the kolu, every morning my sis and I used to sit next to them and stare at their beauty. Till date, I remember each and every one of our dolls and the sweet memories associated with them. My favorite doll was ‘Radha’, standing in water holding a brass pot. I loved her attire (a green skirt and blouse and a beautiful pallu), her jewelry (especially the bright anklets on her tender feet) and her attractive looks! Her charming face always seemed brighter when we placed her next to ‘Krishna’ crawling with a hand full of butter. Krishna's other companion was always a ‘Meera’ doll! A step above them used to be our Ram-Seetha-Lakshman and Hanuman dolls, along with the 'dasavatharam' doll set. I remember another favorite of mine, a cute temple set that had a small temple with a little doll family consisting of mom, dad and their little son, and also a priest! For nine days those dolls stood side by side bringing color and cheer into our lives!
More than the kolu, I used to enjoy building the 'park' set-up we added to the kolu. We used to get soil and plant mustard and raagi to resemble grass in the park. We made roads and road signs, set up miniature tables, chairs and other funny little items in the park. The side walk was made with sea shells. And the little people in the park came alive in the imaginative tales inside my head...
Then there used to be the ‘rangolis’ we drew on plates to adorn the kolu and the balloons and graffiti to decorate the house. But the best part of all Navarathiri traditions was dressing up in different costumes and visiting kolus in other houses, singing songs to praise the Gods and collecting sundal rewards! Ah! ‘Pooja' holidays were always such fun!
This year I set up my first kolu just as a treat for the child inside me. It is a playful set-up that has pieces from China, Africa, US, India and even the North pole! Well, I was talking about santa :) V's b-day balloons also found a place in the set-up! Our only visitor to the kolu this year, my cute little niece sang ‘Baa baa black sheep’ for the kolu! That was adorable to say the least! Well, what do you know; I am enjoying my 'Pooja' holidays as an adult now. And it still is a lot of fun!*-None of the photos can be reproduced or used without the author's permission.
Its spring time once again…
Last year I watched in awe, as they meticulously built their little engineering project of mud and twigs, little by little, and layer by layer. Within a week they had a custom designed, self-built nest they could call home, minus the hassles of realtors or mortgages!
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