Navratri ReDefined!

India, the land of mystic, magic, and myth. It’s perpetually impossible to talk about India and not mention the 32 crore gods or maybe more the country worships and the for many that God is Goddess Durga and Navratri is a celebration of and for her.

Navratri literally translates to “nine nights. The mythological stories behind Navratri are nothing short of amazing. India has the holy trinity or as Hindu’s cal it Trimurti. Brahma is the creator of the Universe, Vishnu is the preserver and Shiva is responsible for the change, both as in the form of the destroyer of evil or death and also as in the destroyer of ego. It just so happened that a long time ago, amongst all the good and bliss, there lived a demon called Mahishasur. He wanted to be eternal, so he started praying to Lord Shiva, did penance for years, and finally was granted the boon, that no man or god will ever be able to kill him. Upon receiving the boon, his cruelty knew no limits, he conquered Earth and in his blind arrogance then set his eyes on “Indralok,” the home of the Gods. The Gods were now worried and as you can imagine were furious at Lord Shiva for granting him such a boon. Shiva is also the angry yogi, the one who meditates and when his mediation is broken, is awakened with rage that has no control. From his rage came a bright light that merged with the rays from Vishnu and Brahma, to create this beautiful and absolutely amazing woman. Woman, yes, because remember the boon was “no man or god. The woman came to be called, Shakti meaning strength or power. She possessed the power of all the deities in the heavenly abode. She had one mission, to save the Universe and destroy Mahishasur and all demons.

Goddess Durga — Shakti destroys evil to restore peace on Earth

Gods, all men, created this woman to do the task that they could not. They gave her their strength to save the Earth and the Universe. In a sense, Shakti is the essence of the lords, it is the cosmic energy. She is merciful, knowledgeable, powerful, and bestows her disciples with materialistic grandeur and spiritual freedom. She sits on a lion and has ten weapons. Over time Shakti took nine forms, and every day of Navratri celebrates each manifestation, with the most popular being Goddess Durga. Shakti got the name Durga after she destroyed the demon Durg.

Navratri is mythological India’s Woman’s day celebration.

Personally, for me, my favorite is the 8th day. The eighth day is called Ashtami. It is the day when we celebrate the girl child. Little girls, pure and innocent mortal forms of The Goddesses are welcomed into loving homes. They are pampered with gifts galore and in turn, the little angels shower their giggly blessings and love on the family. Soon these angels grow up and cross the threshold into womanhood. Tradition says they are no longer innocent.

Today, let’s talk about it. The Period.

The Period makes us a woman and yet we choose to shun the very essence of us. The Period is nothing more than pain and discomfort that the female body goes through the majority of her life. Every month she bleeds so when the moment is right she can bring a new life into this world. That’s pretty amazing! It’s a supernatural wondrous quality.

A few years ago, I reinvented Ashtami and chose to celebrate the daughters in my life and not their bodies. My relationship with the Goddess Durga gives me the strength to believe that the Goddess will not punish me for pampering the daughters in my life. She is a woman and she knows the Period gives birth and so it cannot be taboo.

I choose to celebrate their strength, their smile, their giggles, and their hugs.

It is time we the women reinvent faith and beliefs.

It’s time we understand that – The Period is a part of every woman and we all exist because of The Period.

So rightfully, Navratri to me has become the celebration of women. And this year, I did exactly that… Invited my girlfriends and celebrated them with the same glory as I celebrate the daughters. These girlfriends are the Goddesses in my life who make it possible every single day.

As Bhavani, we give birth for if there was no “garbha” or womb, there would be no world. As Parvati, we stand next to our consort through all times, like Annapurna, we feed our family before feeding ourselves, as Saraswati we teach our kids the value of knowledge, as Kali, we fiercely protect all we love, as Laxmi we use the wealth wisely, as Sati and Sita we prove our loyalty in every era.

Navratri celebrates all forms of Shakti, the beautiful one and the scary Kali too, thus telling us women that irrespective of what the world says, YOU are beautiful in your own special way. Every woman has a quality that the other does not have, and when we unite, we are a Shakti that can change the world.

Let us remember that we as women come in all shapes are sizes. We are not born to compete with each other but rather to complement each other and make the world possible.

Be YOU, Be BEAUTIFUL!

I cannot end this post, without showing you a glimpse of the Navratri celebrations in the Indian state of Gujarat. Enjoy!

The sheer numbers are nothing like you have seen in the US. It looks crazy, but trust me there is a beautiful method to the madness here.
A Glimpse of Navratri celebrations in Gujarat.

Goddess Durga on the lion Navratri Celebrations — The Goddess is within the Woman

O Mother Mine!

Hello, Namastey, Hola:
Hope you are having a wonderful summer and making the best of it. The blog returns this week and just in time for January 26th – India’s Republic Day. Yes I am biased, love the poet, but the poem is also very apt for India. It was written in 1993 and today on the 72nd Republic Day … One can clearly see the poet’s vision coming true. Enjoy.

Happy Republic Day India.

Oh, Mother Mine – Avinash Verma.

Oh, Mother mine,
Land of Ancient skies
I remember the days of your gay full abundance
When you danced with joy in the company of your sons
Oh, how pretty you looked, magnificently decked in gold
Your silken robes fluttered to caress your skin
And beautiful diamonds shone from every place.

Oh, Mother mine, Now those days are gone
Armies from far away foreign lands
Hearing the tales of your beauty and wealth
Came to plunder your precious wealth
But Mother mine; your heart was pure gold
You gave away your treasures galore
Some came and left, some came and stayed
But you welcomed them all with open arms
Some ridiculed your ways; some loved you dear
But you treated them all with your endless love.

But Mother mine, now you lay in gross neglect,
Your robes are tarnished, your diamonds gone
Your health is foul; your skin is dead
Your sons have abandoned you, for they have seen newer lands
Every day millions leave your shore
In search of lands far galore
The ones, who stay, build houses on your grave
They have forgotten the things you said of love, of honesty and of honor and all.
The land that gave birth to civilization, is today forgotten by all

Oh, Mother, they have removed your name from the halls of fame
No longer do travelers flock to your shore
I know you long for your sons in foreign lands
They come to visit you, but only for a while
You rush to embrace them with tears in your eyes, but they turn away
I guess they have seen better lands,

You are too foul for them Mother, you hold no charm
They say you are too old, now, its time to move on

But Mother mine, as now I sit in tears by your side,
I realize since when has a mother been bad for her child
Is she not but a reflection of her child
This world is strange Mother; I sit here in a daze
As your children blame you for their woes and despair

Oh, Mother mine, cry but do not despair
The lone live child at the end of the warfare gave birth to a new nation
In the midst of despair, there was hope
Thy tears are not wasted; there are some who love you still

You will again see glory days; you will again be alive
The world that mocks you now, will revere you then
Your ways will be understood, your sons will return home
Your love is supreme; it will win everyone again
When we play again, in gay full abundance,
That day my Mother: I long to see.

– Avinash Verma (1993)

The Epitome of Feminism!

India the cradle of human civilization, the country of mystic and spices, is also the country of myths and more myths. . Myths, legends, and folk tales is how we transfer our culture and value to the next generations and India has a myth for every moment in life 🙂 These myths as unscientific as they may be, are at the core of Indian culture. They ground us, and ensure we stay true to our uniqueness. India is an oxymoron. We have MOM who sends a satellite to Mars and then we have the MoM who continues to follow centuries-old myths. One such unique myth that brings forward the blend of a woman’s sensuality and strength is Karwachauth

Karwachauth – simply explained is the Indian festival of absolute fasting by a wife for the long and healthy life of her husband. In ancient India, girls got married at a very young age, there was no time to enjoy childhood or flaunt the youth, so where does one go when one misses their family; you find a fellow sister and share your thoughts. Soon this became a day when the women in the village congregated in one place and celebrated each other through prayer and worship. They fasted for their husbands not because they were submissive, but more because the myth of Savitri and Sati has taught them the power of a wife’s faith. A faith so strong that it defies the Gods themselves. A faith that teaches them to believe in their strength and become the strength of their husbands. They celebrated the strength of womanhood and gifted each other trinkets to remind each other that there is always a friend somewhere. If this is not feminism at its best, then I don’t know what is. It’s ancient India’s modern Lean In movement.

It’s all about perspectives.

Modern India calls it being servile and submitting to a regressive culture where the wife is nothing but a thing of beauty. I respectfully disagree with all my fellow feminists who feel this way. India is one of the few countries that celebrates women’s power and if that power comes with curves and glamor, more power to the women of India for they know how to ride a bicycle wearing a saree.

I fast, because not everything in life is about equality and men bashing. Men put a smile on our faces too, they just don’t fast. I am sure you have heard the age-old adage, way to a man’s heart is through his stomach 😉

Karwachauth is about a wife’s faith. The wife, who knows that she is the foundation of her home. The wife who knows that fasting is just one more way to continue to make her will power stronger. It’s about the wife who doesn’t care about being labeled, the wife who is only interested in the continued companionship and love in her life.

Karwachauth – it is about celebrating womanhood and sisterhood. It is about celebrating all women and reminding ourselves of how remarkable we are.

Karwachauth, It’s the epitome of feminism.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is karwachauth-celebration-2.jpg

Document
Block

Status & visibility

VisibilityPublicPublishNovember 4, 2020 10:43 pmPost FormatAsideLinkImageQuoteStandardVideoStick to the top of the blogAuthorShilpa VermaShilpa VermaMove to Trash4 Revisions

Permalink

Featured image

Excerpt

Discussion

Toggle panel: AddToAny

AddToAny

Show sharing buttons.Open publish panel

Document

Post updated.

Karwachauth – It’s feminism at its best.

Karwa chauth – simply explained is the Indian festival of absolute fasting by a wife for the long and healthy life of her husband. There are stories and there are interpretations, but at the end of the day it is about a wife’s faith.

A day of celebration or regression to patriarchal India, it’s all about your perspective.

I am definitely not the God fearing kind of person. I believe in God, and I don’t think he punishes us for anything. So, yes I know that if I don’t fast, God is not going to punish me in any form, and yet I fast. Here’s why?

I fast because I love my husband. My faith teaches me to not fight everything in life. Somethings as illogical as they are, need to be done to keep the roots alive and the foundation strong. I depend on a man, and he’s my husband, so if my faith teaches me that I have the power to increase his life span and keep him healthy, then why won’t I?

It is very sad that modernism and feminism questions the faith and belief of so many of us. We as women label each other as traditional and old fashioned. Why? What is old fashioned about keeping your roots alive? There are many husbands and in-laws who don’t care about the festival and that’s okay too. It’s their choice. However, it is not okay to debase the faith of millions of women who fast on Karwachauth.

I fast because it’s a celebration of feminity. On this day, I dig out the brightest of my sarees and the boldest of my jewelry and adorn in all the glamour. It’s a day when I celebrate my feminity. What’s wrong with that?

Again modern India calls it being servile and submitting to a regressive culture where the wife is nothing but a thing of beauty. I respectfully disagree with all my fellow feminists who feel this way. India is one of the few countries that celebrates women power and if that power comes with curves and glamor, more power to the women of India for they know how to ride a bicycle wearing a saree.

I fast, because not everything in life is about equality and men bashing. Men put a smile on our faces too, they just don’t fast. I am sure you have heard the age old adage, way to a man’s heart is through his stomach 😉

I fast because I am the typical woman who believes that I am the nurturer in my home and my husband is the provider. We are comfortable in our roles and have found our grounding. I don’t know if this makes me less of a feminist or more of a woman, all I know is that it’s a spectrum of two extremes and somewhere in between the spectrum of feminism to woman is a wife.

I have understood one thing, If I had been a career woman, the women in this world would have questioned my dedication to my family. When I was a SAHM, the same women question my decision to be just a mom and today when I am mom trying to find my career, the same women question my decision to not choose a career with the best ROI…. do I care? I think I do, because it hurts. It hurts at many different levels when women refuse to acknowledge and celebrate each other.

However today’s post is about a wife’s faith. The wife who only cares about her family, the wife who doesn’t care about being labeled, the wife who is only interested in the continued companionship and love in her life.

Karwachauth, it’s a celebration of a wife’s faith. It’s the epitome of feminism.

Tea Time Gossip (Chai pe Charcha)

I am steeped in the legends originating from the mountains of China and the world still wonders how I was discovered. I am tiny, very tiny and yet I can fight the scariest and calm the nervous. From the mountains of China, I saw the world beyond and started my journey. From the royals in Europe to the street vendors in India, I have seen it all. I even met the little boy Santiago. He knew that in order to save money and return to Tarifa he had to find a way to get more customers into the grouchy merchants crystal shop. So he started introducing me to all the wary travelers on their way to Mecca. Soon the shop was flourishing and Santiago was rich BUT still torn between returning home or continuing his journey further to fulfill his personal legend. I wonder if he ever met “The Alchemist?” Maybe someday I will meet him again in the bazaars of Tangier, Africa. Today, centuries later my simple green form has evolved into a multitude of colors and aromas. Some call me Green tea, some call me Black tea while others call me Herbal tea. Deep down I am just tea, a simple tiny leaf that was mystically discovered in the mountains of China.

It’s all about tea. While the history of of its discovery continues to be a legend, the taste is not. Tea today is no longer for the royals. It belongs to the common man. The common man who sits under the roadside Banyan tree and sips tee to fight the scorching summers in India, or the common woman who sips it, on her plush desk in the USA, while taking a Skype call. Tea is everywhere.

Chai or tea is today the National drink of India – officially or unofficially, it really doesn’t matter, it is India, after all :)The credit for this goes to its current Prime Minister – Narendra Modi. Like the President of the USA is the grandson of a cook, Modi was a tea seller, and when the opposition mocked him, he started the “Chai pe Charcha” and branded the mockery to one of the greatest political victories in the world. “Chai pe Charcha” translates to “Tea time Gossip.” Gossip isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It is when the brainstorming happens, it is when the mind relaxes and says, ok let’s be friends and do something meaningful, it is when President Obama recognizes the subtle symbolism and acknowledges the lack of “chai pe charcha” in the White House. Such is the magic of Chai.

So today’s blog post is about Chai. Not the history, you can Google that. Today it’s about HOW TO MAKE CHAI – the Shilpa way 🙂

Growing up, mom would make a flask of tea every morning and my parents would start their day with a cup of tea. This was their time to catch up with each other, plan the day and maybe the week ahead. The ‘cup of tea’ would stay filled till the very last drop 🙂 Surrounded by tea lovers, interestingly, I never learned to enjoy it until a few years ago BUT I did learn to make it and make it well. Like everything else in cooking, I learnt the basics from my mom and them made up my own versions. In India, guests are like missionaries of God, they can come and go as they like, and when they come, we serve them Chai. So if you are a daughter in a social household in India, chances are growing up you make a lot of chai and practice does make perfect. One such afternoon, I was making chai and a very dear uncle asked me “pati bethi gayi, translates to; Did the tea leaves settle down?” I asked him what he meant, and he explained, when you pour the tea into the cup, there should be no tea leaves in the strainer, that’s the sign of a good quality tea. I was confused, how is that possible? If there are tea leaves, they will be in the strainer, right? He further explained that if you boil it right, they will settle down and so started my journey to make sure those tea leaves settled down.

As I mastered the “Art of Making Tea,” I realized that adding milk before in half and half quantity like it’s traditionally done, never worked. The tea leaves always floated on top. So I reversed the process. I developed my own way and name. I call my style of tea making “The Punju Chai.” Chai is Indian for tea and Punju is slang for Punjabi often synonymous to North India. Punjabi’s are North Indians and in some remote ancestral way descendants of the Aryans ( I think ;)) The difference in tea; Punju chai is chai (tea), for there is TEA and then there is TILK (coined by my dad, once he approved my tea:)). TILK is milk + tea. Punju chai also has milk, but very little, just enough to kill the slightly bitter taste of black tea and TILK typically is lots of milk, and when I say lots.. it’s almost half water that is boiled together to make tea. How can that be tea?

The flavor of tea is so delicate that adding milk and boiling it to glory kills the flavor and aroma of tea, what is left is boiled milk with something that was tea – that’s TILK in my world.

So here’s my way of making Chai – the Shilpa way 🙂

It’s all about the Kettle 🙂 Measure or not, pour in the water, add the spices and let it boil. My favorite spice combination is cloves and cinnamon, but there are many and you can mix and match them all from fennel seeds to ginger to mint. As the flavors seep in, you will notice the color of the water changing. At this point, the water is ready to embrace the tea leaves. I typically put one tea spoon for one cup of tea. Let this boil for about 2 minutes, and then add milk. How much? That’s the tricky question – I add till I like the color 🙂 In about 4 cups of water, it’s not more than a quarter cup of 1% milk. It’s very little milk and that is why it is very important to not over boil the tea leaves as that will make the tea bitter. After you pour in the milk – let it boil once and then turn the heat off and pour in the magic. Add sugar or not and enjoy a culpa chai ! Notice the absence of tea leaves in the strainer – that’s key to good Punju Chai.

ENJOY YOUR “PUNJU CHAI”

The Agnostic Believer.

She was born with skin as white as snow and hair that shone like gold. Beautiful like the heavens above, the warriors and sailors were yearning for a glimpse. From the fair skinned Aryans to Alexander the great, followed by the Mughals and the Europeans; it was hard to resist the tantalizing stories of her mystical beauty, so they came and came again and slowly took it all. The warriors knew that a family so old, holds its roots strong so they created walls. Walls that led to barriers and even bigger dividers. It wasn’t until a weak petite soldier stood up one day and said enough is enough and started walking miles to create salt and fight the gold diggers. People laughed and said, break an empire with salt? He said sure, and like a turtle, he slowly and steadily won the race, making her free again. and so was born modern India.

India was free and once again welcomed cultures from far and near; but something was different. The abundance was missing, the brotherhood was gone and there was a new ruler, the people called him God. God he was present in all forms. Some thought he was dark complexioned while some thought he was fair like the Aryans who came centuries ago. There was confusion, but the people of India were used to rulers, after all they had had so many of them, so they followed again and they continued to let their God govern their decisions.

When things went wrong they prayed to him and when their wishes were granted, they thanked him and went on with their lives. When things went wrong again, they believed in him again and prayed, but this time their wish wasn’t granted, so they went and sought advise from a neighbor who claimed to have a direct connection with God. The direct connection said, “to get something you have to give something too.” The giving happened and created huge houses where God lived with his direct connection. They lived in luxury while his disciples sat outside waiting for a morsel; and so continued the story of India, until an alien space ship landed and out stepped an extra terrestrial.

The extra terrestrial was stark naked like truth and he walked the earth with bare feet. He knew no language for the purest thoughts are felt and not spoken. He then saw another one who looked at him, excited he ran to meet him, but this other one, while he was similar did not feel the same. He had wickedness in him. He stole the aliens only possession – his communicator to his home planet and ran away. The alien didn’t know what do now, so he started walking in the hope to find his remote communicator. In his quest, he learnt the language and started asking questions. His questions were confusing to the people of India. They thought he was ridiculing them. The started saying “PeeKay hain kya,” which translates to “are you drunk.” The alien in his innocence thought they named him PK, and he was happy he had a name. His questions continued, and when India got tired of answering his questions, they finally said, “we don’t know, ask God.”

God; thought PK, and so started his journey to find God. He went to the temples, they told him to go to the church, he went to the church, they told him to go to the mosque, he went to the mosque they sent him back to the temples. He thought maybe it was the wrong kind of God. He looked around; he saw people praying to stones, praying to trees, worshiping cows and it only made him more confused. He asked more questions and finally met the “Man of God.” The one man who said he had answers to all the questions for God spoke directly to him. PK challenged him and all who listened to him.

His questions were simple and yet baffling. So is the story of the newest Bollywood hit movie PK.

PK, the movie; brings forth the bigotry of Indian religion in a humane and fun way. Opponents or the puritans have criticized the movie for its attack on Hinduism thus missing the whole point of the movie. The movie does not attack Hinduism, but rather brings forth the point that hinduism like Swami Vivekanand said “is a way of life.” and not a religion confined by set guidelines. Every state in India celebrates Diwali (the most revered Hindu festival) in a different manner, then how can it be a confined religion. Hinduism is more of a belief. Over centuries of slavery and blending of cultures, religion crept into culture of Hinduism. I may be wrong, but at the essence of Hinduism is OM, perhaps you have heard it at every yoga class. What does it mean? Again, its entirely your interpretation, some say it is the Holy trinity, some say it is the infinite universe and the very embodiment of our soul. There are as many interpretations, as there are people.

The movie shines light on the fact that a very large majority in India are agonistic believers in denial. While we know that God does not want us to walk bear foot for miles to have our wishes fulfilled, we still do it for the fear of God. This includes me too. I know that God is not going to punish my family if I don’t stay hungry and thirsty all day, and yet every year I look forward to Karwachauth (the most sacred festival for a Hindu married wife) but only if you are from Northern India. Wives from Southern India even though Hindu are exempt from this, they have their own rules 🙂

The movie is 3 hours long, but it doesn’t for a moment have a dull moment. It is a brilliant narrative of the adage “faith begins where logic ends.” It is brilliant for its capability to shine light on a delicate topic in a non threatening manner. So the question is why is it generating such a conflict of opinions, I think; because of the ending.. the movie rather than having a “all is well” Happy Ending, leaves the audience with questions in their mind. It does not give any answers, which personally I think, is again a stroke of brilliance, because religion is very personal.

It left me feeling agnostic and yet I am afraid to stop believing.

Tag: India