Sharadiya

Today is "Mahalaya", which signifies the end of the "Pitr-Pakshya" and the beginning of the "Devi-Pakshya". It is said that on this day, Maa Durga leaves her Kailasha abode to start her journey for her paternal home on the earth. 
Mahalaya also marks a stipulated, quite predictable routine for many of us. Waking up early and listening to the "Chandipath" (Rendition of Shlokas for the worship of the Goddess) by Shri Birendra Krishna Bhadra, feeling the crisp autumn air which seems to proclaim the advent of the much awaited festive season....the much anticipated Durga Puja ( or Navaratri, as it is otherwise known in many other parts of our country). This year, the wait is even more important and special for me. After 3 years, I will be going home for the Pujas. There is nothing like spending this time of the year with your family. I have known the pain, of staying far away from the family, missing them much more during this festivities, so the reunion this year is so special......only if my husband could join me too in the trip back home...that would surely have completed the joyous moment. Guess for me, not every good thing occur at once. I have some and I lose some...
But here's wishing everyone reading this piece a very happy, peaceful and safe festive season. May the reverence of Goddess Durga touches our lives. 




Image Courtesy : aumkaar.wordpress.com

9/11

Year 2011 - USA is commemorating a decade of the horrifying tragedy that rocked the heart of the country....stole many innocent lives...near and dear ones gone forever....

This 9/11, I am in this country and cannot help watching the live coverages from Ground Zero on TV, and wondering how strongly this country has moved on...without forgetting a single moment of that fateful day.

Real people, with their stories of loss and longings, tear my heart apart. Our world is repeatedly being assaulted by these heinous acts of terrorism. The present time has so become vulnerable in the hands of people who probably themselves do not even know what they want... 

Looking back, in the year 2001, the day when all these happened, I was in Kolkata, and I remember that was my 1st day in my College Hostel ( Our favorite PCGH )....I knew nothing much then about the WTC but know that it was something very important and surely knew how terrible a thing had happened. Several years later....in 2009, when during a trip to New York city, I visited Ground Zero, I felt a severe surge of emotion...I watched the Freedom Tower being built and I realized that this is going to be a mark of sadness and hope, of holding on to the past and moving on to tomorrow,of never forgetting the moment and becoming stronger by the day...all blended together. 

I look forward to seeing the light of that day, when we do not have to have tears in our eyes remembering something so heartbreaking and inhumane..."You may say I am a dreamer....but I'm not the only one..."

A Mom now..

On 2nd May, 2011, my husband and I, brought home our little bundle of joy, our son, Sanket. Life has changed wonderfully since....Things which I have never imagined happened...something never felt before, was felt in the past two months...and I can also see the promise of many more such wonderful things to occur in future. 
So the new mom is happily busy nowadays. 
Mothers' lives are never relaxed..as many will agree, and I am of course no exception. My little two-month old keeps me on my toes - action packed days and sleepless nights ( the later I am wishing to pass soon ).....:) But exhaustion has seldom been so rewarding, and sleep has never been so easily ignored. 
Looking at the little one's face makes my day now.....when he smiles at me ( a thing he has started doing just a few days ago ), it takes my heart away....
All for today...hope to be back soon...:)

Historic Win....!!

The most awaited tournament for the cricket players and the lovers of the game, the ICC World Cup, 2011, came to an end on Saturday, April 2.......and did it finish the way we want it to.......you bet...!!! India, after awaiting 28 years to bring the coveted cup home, succeeded and so well deservingly won it by beating Sri Lanka in a match that will be etched in the annals of cricketing history, forever.


I am sad that I cannot join the euphoria back home.....but really feel after following the whole tournament and its glorious end that words really do fall short for describing occasions like this....:) Kudos to all the players and our brave hearts who exhibited tremendous cricketing sensibility on the field and finally became the proud owner of the World Cup.

The winning Indian Team with the ICC World Cup 2011 Trophy.

http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/photos

After quite a while...

I have heard about the expression 'Writer's Block'.....the creative block writers feel at certain times. Although I am not quite a writer, for the past few months I felt the block, nonetheless. One of my blogger friends also wondered whether I have stopped writing altogether...:) I thank her heartily for the reminder that I should wake up from the hibernation I got myself into all through the winter that passed....It's not that nothing came across my mind or no ideas occurred...it's just that somehow I could not bring myself to put those thoughts into paper (or should I say on the internet..) 
But there is one thing I would like to share....I will tell you that I was not creatively inert altogether these few months.....I did some little paintings (but only as a beginner....) and will put those up today for you to see and comment/criticize. I am absolutely in the learning phase and thus there is nothing much to expect. I got an opportunity to attend a few watercolor painting classes under the able guidance of artiste Kristine Brock , and only began to learn but unfortunately, I was not able to continue attending the classes for a number of personal constraints. So whatever little I learnt and I tried (and still learning and trying), I put up here....

 Bird on a tree branch (2.5" X 3.5" canvas).

 Wild Little Fowers (4''X 6" canvas)

Yellow Finch bird in watercolor ( 3.5" X  5" canvas, cold-press watercolor paper )

Snowfall @ Nashua, NH, USA, Jan 12, 2011..