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

Thanksgiving..

In one of my earlier posts, I wrote about the festivals celebrated widely in the United States. Thanksgiving Day is one of them. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, it is originally a harvest festival, where people of the region pay thanks to Almighty for a bountiful harvest and in a larger sense it marks the thanksgiving for everything that matters in our lives, for all the beautiful relationships and for all that we are blessed with in our lives. In USA, the day is awaited throughout the year with pleasant anticipation and is celebrated with joy along with friends and family. The one important aspect of this celebration is the family re-union over dinner and the menu (another important parameter) famously consists of a turkey delicacy. I have observed while living here that the Thanksgiving Day is the only day where most of the offices and businesses remain closed and the later reopens in the wee hours of Friday morning with wonderful and huge deals to the shoppers' delight. Thus the whole weekend starting from the Thursday until the Sunday remains in true festive spirit nation-wide.
I am now revealing the true intent of my story...that this year, after merely observing the pomp of the day for the past two years, we decided to celebrate the day in our own way. One of the two major aspects of the festival was missing (as we are thousand of miles away from our family...so family get together was painfully out of question)....but turkey was not.....!!!! So we decided to have a turkey dinner...:) Observing that a whole turkey would be too much for just the two of us, we bought a Turkey wing and I cooked it in true Indian style ( much in the same way as I would have made chicken tandoori )....!!! and I must say, we loved it....it tasted even better than chicken...( as were said by many of my friends here...) 
For the two of us, (the husband and I), experimenting with food doesn't happen very often....we prefer to stick to our good old Indian foods and delicacies, but we tried this and much to our delight, it came out very good.....We most definitely will always be very much Indian, in every way possible, and..even more especially when it's about the palate....but Thanksgiving with turkey will remain memorable......:)

p.s. For my friends here, I share a photograph of the Turkey I cooked....:)