Sankalp's Dhoti Ceremony

Far away from our own land and people, we tried to create a home away from home. So with a subba, a Samata, a Srini, a Nirmala, Kavitha's, Anandans, Chandran's, Shan's and Ingela's and many many other dear friends who have become like a family - we celebrated the dhoti ceremony for our son Sankalp. May be the sankalpam ( idea) is our's but the festivity was everyone's right from the arrangements to the execution. I thank this family of ours from the bottom of my heart, who by becoming a part of our lives always make that positive difference. 
This has to be a picture intensive post :-) .

Many people asked me - what is a dhoti ceremony? As his atta Nimmi put it - "It symbolizes your entry into adulthood and your journey into the future".

 

 with his sister

Yess! this is me finally :-)

When Sankalp changed into Dhoti he was led to the dais by the MEN IN DHOTI.  As the dress code was Indian traditional for all - it added that extra bit festivity. 

With men in Dhoti - Sekhar in the Zari uttariyam on the left hand side of Sankalp

  Food as we all know is an integral part for the success of any celebration and I cannot thank enough all my friends who made it possible.

I will do a special post in the coming days on the flower arrangements a dear friend of us made. Stay tuned..

  At the end we celebrated the birthday of Shreya too and as always a pappa's daughter :-)

The festival is still on....

.... with the parties for Diwali going full throttle - I wish you all a festive weekend

Happy Diwali

May the festival of lights usher in all that you wish for yourself and your loved ones.

 

 

linking to Itz Festival time

A day that counts !

It's my daughters birthday today. She was here for the weekend for her brother's Dhoti ceremony (which I will cover in a separate post), and had to rush back for her tests and assignments. I am sharing a video here from a couple of years back from her 18 years birthday, where her Norwegian friends had put up a show for her.

Happy Birthday Shreya

Celebration Time!!!!!

This week we are going to celebrate the Dhoti/ Pancha/Vesti Ceremony for my son S.  The dhoti or pancha or vesti  is the traditional men's garment in the Asian subcontinent. It is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth, usually around 4.5 metres long, wrapped around the waist and the legs and knotted at the waist. In Andhra we give this to the boy, the first time in a festive ceremony. It is a social function and has no religious significance as far as I know. Here is the invite we sent out and isn't it amazing to make our own invite, with our own pics and and then being able to share it with you all. Thanks to the modern technology :-) and thanks to Chandra - my tech genius . Click on the play button below.
 

some text source from wikipedia, all pics by me - do not use them.

Some days are good days .......

...... and these are called the weekend days :-). I and my son are having a quality mom-son time as Sekhar is away in Geneva. That means we can eat all the junk we like, sleep as late as we want, watch TV for several hrs. Does that sound like I have a very cruel husband. Nope!! that does not speak of him , it only speaks of me :-). Do you remember my buys here. I am happy to have found the right styling for this old wine jar :-) ( at least for now). What do you think ?

All photos by me

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Mushroom picking

I have been doing a myriad different things the last couple of weeks one totally different from the other- mushroom picking, boating, fishing, walks in the woods, visit to a glass factory and of course some retail therapy. I have a big celebration coming up for my son soon and before I get very very busy and the blog world takes a back seat, I decided to do  a couple of posts :-).

Last week I was out with a friend picking mushrooms in the forest. Though most of them are finished, I could still get few to satiate my taste buds. The best part is one is out in the nature , walking on the soft bed of green moss and pine needles, and the return point always extending until you are lost in the forest a few kilometers deeper. It’s like a gamble – you are never too satisfied to say its enough :-).

 

The worst part is to know which ones to pick. A wrong one can get you killed sometimes – so one has to be very very careful while picking mushrooms. S is fully equipped with the knowledge of the good and bad ones and we set out with a basket, a brush to dust off the mud and a knife.  

 

The Kantarell

 The Trumpets

together with some black trumpets - our picks of the day

 Saute them in butter and sprinkle some salt and pepper and they are YUMM!!

all pics by me

Adding cheer ....

There is nothing more welcoming in a home than fresh flowers. In the entrance, or on the dining table or on top of the piano, or in the bed room, they add that extra bit to liven up the mood. However beautiful they may be, its a NO NO for artificial flower arrangements. Every weekend I make it a point to get some fresh cuts into the home. Don't you agree that they add cheer and life to our surroundings. Here are some that spread joy and brighten my days.

 

Finally the painting from Kamini is up on my wall in the Norway home

 

Click here to see some more fantastic flowers I brought home last week :-).
All images by me 
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