OH 6 : NAVRATRI CELEBRATIONS in OH

Navratri celebration  OH started with a bang with participation of sizable number of residents in pooja aarti of "MATAJI". The whole garden was well decorated and shining with lights. After the aarti and prasaad was done, it was time for garba. Enthusiasts had great time dancing to the folk songs' beats.  

Ab thoda sa gyan! 

Navratri, Navaratri or Navarathri (Sanskrit: नवरात्रम्; Marathi: नवरात्र; Gujarati: નવરાત્રી; Hindi: नवरात्रि)  is a Hindu festival of worship of Shakti and dance & festivities. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti or Devi are worshiped. The 10th day is commonly referred to as Vijayadashami  or Dussehra.

Each day of the nine-day festival are dedicated to the worship of different forms of Goddess Durga, which unfolds the religious importance of the occasion. 

Navaratri is celebrated four times a year: 

1.Vasanta Navaratri, 

2. Ashadha Navaratri, 

3. Sharada Navaratri, 

4. Paush/Magha Navaratri. 

Of these, the Sharada Navaratri of the month of Puratashi (Sept - Oct) and the Vasanta Navaratri of the Vasanta kala  ( March - April) are very important.

This is the time for sharada navratri.  It is also called Maha Navratri (the Great Navratri) and is celebrated in the month of Ashvina. It is celebrated at the beginning of winter .

Navaratri this year starts from October 13 and ends on October 21 with Vijayadashami  on October 22. 

Navaratri is celebrated in different ways throughout India.

In North India, all  Navratris are celebrated with much fervour by fasting on all nine days and worshipping the Mother Goddess in her different forms. The Chaitra Navratri culminates in Ram Navami and the Sharad Navratri ends in Durga Puja and Dussehra. 

The Dussehra of Kulu in Himachal Pradesh is particularly famous in the North. 

Navratri festival  is one of the main festivals of Gujarat. Garba is done after the Durga Pooja with the groups and live orchestra or devotional songs. Since the past few years, the Government Of Gujarat has been organising the "Navratri Festival Celebrations" on a regular basis for the nine days of Navratri Festival in Gujarat. People from all over Gujarat and even abroad come to participate in the nine days celebrations. It is also popular throughout India and among Indian communities around the world including the UK and USA.

The last four days of Sharad Navratri take on a particularly dramatic form in the state of West Bengal in East India where it is celebrated as Durga Puja. This is the biggest festival of the year in this state. Exquisitely crafted and decorated life-size clay idols of the Goddess Durga depicting her slaying the demon Mahishasura are set up in temples and other places. These idols are then worshipped for five days and immersed in the river on the fifth day.

In Goa, zatra begins during Navratri, entire Antruz (Ponda) is highly ornated. The Saraswat Brahmin temples are beautifully decorated and the idols are taken out for worship. The idols are dressed and adorned with flowers, sandalwood paste, turmeric and kumkum.  The Dasha Maitrikas (the 10 sisters of Goa) of the Saraswat Brahmins are taken out to worship - namely, Shantadurga, Aryadurga, Mahalasa, Katyayani, Mahamaya, Kamakshi, Vijayadurga, Bhumika, Mahalakshmi and Navadurga.

In South India, people set up steps and place idols on them. This is known as golu.

In Kerala, three days: Ashtami, Navami, and Vijaya Dashami of Sharad Navaratri are celebrated as Sarasvati Puja in which books are worshipped.  On Vijaya Dashami day, the books are ceremoniously taken out for reading and writing after worshipping Sarasvati. Vijaya Dashami day is considered auspicious for initiating the children into writing and reading, which is called  Vidyarambham. Tens of thousands of children are initiated into the world of letters on this day in Kerala. 

First three days

The first three days of Navratri are devoted to the worship of the Goddess Durga. This is the period, when her energy and power are worshipped. Each day is dedicated to a different appearance of Durga.

First day: Kumari, which signifies the girl child. 

Second day: Goddess Parvati, who is the embodiment of a young woman.

Third Day:   Goddess Kali is worshipped, who represents the woman who has reached the stage of maturity. The destructive aspects of Goddess Durga symbolise the commitment to acquire triumph over all the evil tendencies.

OH 5: KITTY @ DIMPLE'S

Yesterday, the monthly get-together was at Dimple's place. We are a gang of 12 ladies who are members of this kitty party, which is the first kitty party of the OH. 

Sometimes, I wonder why these girlie get-together are called kitty parties? 

The word 'kitty' originally meant the pool of stakes to be played for in certain card games. In colloquial use, it also referred to any fund or savings for joint use like the chit fund. Later, the system of raising a common fund became very common among women of high societies. In this system, every month each member contributes some amount of money. Some games are played, some gossip and great food sums up the kitty party. It is a miniature form of the cooperative credit societies.

Our kitty party is a theme party, which is the host' prerogative. Dimple , the host of October kitty kept the NAVRATRI theme. The theme is most appropriate as it's almost navratri time and Dimple is the garba tutor of the society. Most of the members wore chaniya -choli ( lehenga - choli). I did not . :( 
Food was delicious gujju food minus the floating oil. A vegetable like baingan was made so delicious. 

Kitty party is generally looked down by the working and conservative ladies.  Kitty parties is not  about gossips or bitching. It's also not about whiling away time by stay at home women. It's about sharing one's interests and problems. It's about creating a support system in a new surroundings. It's about understanding human behaviour. It's about learning too. It's about communication.  It's basically an idea exchange platform. 

I have made some great friends for life in this OH kitty ! Thanks to all who are members of this group! 

OH4: ACTION FILLED WEEKEND in OH

Suddenly a movie invitation  and two movies were screened on Saturday, 10th Oct 15 in the cricket pitch area.

Bajrangi Bhaijaan for children had some kids having fun.

Jazbaa being a new film has some takers... afterall who will not mind saving time and money? Watching with free popcorns ( ghar se garam bana ke lao) and some free cold drink bottles add more punch and fun to movie watching .

 I was not part of this movie show in the grounds for two reasons. One, I want to watch it in the cinema hall. Second, I do not support piracy. A new movie Jazabaa can only be pirated version.

While taking a late night stroll, I heard the loud soundtrack from our neighbouring society, Orchid Greenfield. I guess, they are also having a film show.

Though such events are fun events for the residents who participate but they become pain in neck for the people who want to have peaceful evenings and night on weekends. Moreover, there are students who are preparing for exams, senior citizens who are disturbed with loud sound, creating noise pollutions. People should find out a way to accommodate concerns of other residents by keeping volume at a level which is fine for film lovers and peace lovers.

Sunday witnessed a healthy activity call for the health conscious people. The society gym instructor organised an intense exercise session in the open grounds for regular gym lovers. Some one is trying to create healthy living habits in the residents. Feels good.

A late night project submission kept me awake till 3 am, so could not be part of this initiative.

In these days of stressed living and working conditions, health is of utmost importance. One of the major reasons of relocating to OH is the in house gym and swimming pool. An out of the city location is pollution free. I guess, it may continue for a while.... may be around 4-5 years? I will not mind, if it stretches for few more years till the areas across S.P.Ring road are lined up with commercial and residential buildings.

The idea of fun changes with age,experiences, attitude and aptitude of the person towards life. My idea of fun is to have a good book to read. It may be a kindle addition or a paperback edition if at home. I plan my outings to revisit history or a location with umpteen natural beauty. Food has taken a back seat to motivate me to go out. I now love to go to places where I can  experience the challanges, efforts and  victories of common people.

Looking for development of better human relationships in Orchid Harmony!
AMEN!

OH3: Navratri Preparations

With navratri just few days away, the whole environment in OH is full of festivity. Garba classes, garba practice, music arrangements, DJ and lighting arrangements, whole society is full of action.

Ladies are busy designing the chaniya cholis for the night outs. It's great to see every body busy in preparations.

Garba practice has been started almost in August end. There were two group practices. The uninitiated ones like me have learnt the basic steps and some more to take part in the dance festival, which is said to be the longest dance festival in the world.

This time the preparations are in the hands of tower representatives. OH has 6 towers. Each tower has 3 or 4 representatives. A group of about 17 people  are discussing  and deciding about the function. Each flat has contributed Rs. 1200 and hope to have a reasonably well organised function.

As far as I could gather from the information shared, that there will be garba nights all the 9 days from 9.30pm to 11.30 pm. On some days, there will be DJ and on other days in house DJ are available. Single dish meals like Pav- Bhaji, Dosa etc are to be served on selected 4 days. Mataji ki arti at 9pm sharp. People have started registering for prasaad for the aarti.

One of the residents with artistic bend of mind has created a very colourful poster. Have a look!

OH1. LIVING IN ORCHID HARMONY : DEC 14 TO SEPT 15

Dear life,
We were in Faridabad since 1993, when we constructed a house there in HUDA sector 28. Faridabad was then a small sleepy town which was safer than NOIDA, where we were living in company's flat. Possessing a house is one major achievement and we became proud owner of a mid size banglow in our early thirties. The house was a labour of love. We have invested all the money we had at that point of time and worked hard to make it our dream house. The designs were simple, straight lined and user friendly. Comfort and convenience were our main thrust in designing. High full wall big windows, sleek straight line furniture in a north facing plot was a very convenient house. My children grew up there and we have many happy memories associated with this faridabad home. When we shifted to Faridabad in 1993 there were no water or electricity issues. Both water and electricity were 24 hours, except during rains or thunderstorms. A peaceful, pollution free town! Slowly things getting worsen as population increases. Electricity cuts increased from fixed time to any time and any length. Sometimes the cuts were 5 to 10 hours. Inverters entered in the homes. Most of the conversations among people are around bijali, paani and sadak. The whole city has turned into a big pothole with nil electricity and very low water supply.

On one of the postings, we moved to "Modi's Gujarat".  The comfort of 24 hours electricity and water along with safe rides any time of day and night was blessing! The city freed my soul. Instead of planning household work around availability of electricity, I joined many classes to learn things I wanted to learn like photography, vegetable carving etc. During our tenure of 5 years, we have decided to finally settle down in Ahmedabad.

It was a tough decision, as we have a house..a beautiful house with memories of children's childhood associated with it. Most of the relatives were there in Delhi and NCR. My only sister was 200 km away. We discussed with our sons. They also supported the decision of moving out. We finally decided to move to Ahmedabad.

On September 17, 2014, we have shifted to Ahmedabad with bag and baggage. The household goods were transported through a movers and transporter firm while we both drove down in our car, Chevrolet SPARK. Our little car has been a great companion on our innumerable road trips.  With a night halt in Jaipur, we reached on 18th September to Ahmedabad. It was such a relief.

We perched ourselves in a rented accommodation till we could select a place for our permanent abode. Then began the house hunting. Orchid Harmony was love at first sight. Serene, quiet and very positive vibes.

I along with my husband have shifted to orchid harmony on 15 Dec, 14 in a record time of 7 weeks after taking possession. We hired carpenter Kheta Ram to do all the wood work, which he did in a record time of 7 weeks.

 Christmas on 25th December, 2014 was the first festival, which we attended to meet people. Though the programme was very amateurish... the host, the selection of items, presentation and everything, dinner was somewhat  saving grace. But these are the baby steps of growth of a society.

Settling down in a new city has it's own challenges.  I love them unlike my husband.

First few months were busy in setting up the house. It was like setting up a new home as we have disposed off all old furniture, utensils, personal utilities items either by selling or by donation. I wanted a new home. I detest the household getting older with it's inmates.

My father who had shifted with my sister due to our shifting , searching and finalisation of a house in Ahmedabad arrived in January 15th  2015. After my mother's demise on Nov 28, 1996, my father shifted with me from Hisar, where he had a grand house. On my first floor, he constructed a two bedroom, hall kitchen portion with  a big roof area. The arrangement was working fine. He used kitchen for tea etc but otherwise all his needs were taken care by me. In Faridabad, papa had an independent unit on a separate floor. In my sister's palatial house, he had a full room to himself with large open spaces all around. He has never lived in a flat and that too on 7th floor.

Adjusting with each other in adulthood was a challenge. Our habits and interests vary a lot. My dad is a TV buff and we both do not switch on TV for days together. Our eating habits and time were different. Papa has a very routine life. I do not want to be guided by the alarms and clock any more. All three of us really worked hard to set up systems so that no one interferes in other's life. With little teething problems all adjusted well. Being eldest of the two , I felt very responsible towards my dad. My younger sister is having some health issues so she can't take responsibility of papa. I want him to be happy and peaceful. He is running into 85th year . I wish  a happy and healthy life for him.

As we were in the process of settling down in society life, my elder son Vaibhav informed us of his decision of taking a break from his job. He came on March 2nd to upgrade himself professionally. During his two and half month's stay, he discussed about his marriage, the girl of his choice etc. My younger son is studying in USA and he comes only once a year. So it was mutually decided between both the families that wedding has to be celebrated before Vibhor goes back to his university. His wedding date was finalized on 31st July, 2015. Vaibhav's stay, his wedding preparation, Vibhor's stay , all kept me so busy that there was almost no time to think of anything else.

We left for Kanpur from Ahmedabad on 28th June, 2015 and reached Kanpur on 31st July along with our extended family. We came back on 2nd August, a reception on 3rd August was organised for local friends and relatives. Newlyweds left on 4th morning and Vibhor on 11th August.

And now my life is coming back to routine. My morning walks and gym sessions have been restarted. Afternoon meetings over green tea were rejuvenating. Kitty in society had helped me to have a good circle of friends. We have started meeting over Pot luck dinners in our tower.

August 15, Independence day of India was planned to be celebrated in OH. The collection was done. The programme was total flop though the organisors spent much more than what appeared to be spent. There was anger at being cheated. The undercurrents started and came into full bloom on a meeting called by self proclaimed leaders. I was one of the persons who spoke against the arrangements. Besides me, two more  women came out in open and spoke against the arrangements. The reactions from the so called education and moneyed people were beyond my perception. Many were of the opinion that women should not speak in such matters. Women should not be allowed to come into such meetings of in society's committe, as they donot let any decision to be taken. In short, they have no respect of women in general and their wives , daughters and daughters-in law in. Disgusting  MCPs. It's very well said that one can't choose their relations and neighbours !

The discussion about taking over the society from builder has been warming up these days. In a general body meeting ( most of the meetings are attended by just 25 - 40 people) it was decided to form a central committe with three  representatives from each of six towers. Our tower elected two men and a lady. So the trend has set in. Now moost of the towers are sending one women representative. Good step.

Ganesh Chturathi, a festival of social participation started with a very negative note on women's whatsapp group. Self proclaimed leader posted about the celebtration without any consultation with any of the residents. Again hot discussions helped reach on cool agreements. For the first time in society, effort was for social participation rather than collection. the things are going on fine. All interested people have been activaly participating and whole atmosphere is festive these days. The discussions are around decoration, music, prasaad, lightening etc. Feels good!

This year, I have also brought my Ganesha for the first time. I have made an eco Ganesha with terracota . For a first timer and with no artistic sense, I think I have done a marvellous job. I have a different equation with God. He is my BEST friend. While surfing internet to know about celebration of Ganesh chaturthi, I decided I will do it my way. Since I have made eco Ganesha, I will try to use eco friendly and energy conservation products in pooja. I have made a simple sitting for Lord with a corrugated box and hand made paper. I am loving it and I am sure my Ganesha will love it too. I will mostly use flowers for decoration. For prasad, I will use peda or laddoo. I will go out and get some today. I will do an aarti in the morning around 8.30 am. No, I donot know the arti, I will play the record and read through the aarti book.  I will keep Ganesha for one and half days. Since it's an eco friendly , I will immerse it in a bucket full of water and then spread the water in the vegetation.