2 awards and some mela - moments

So, my red chili on the balcony can again enjoy the company of shiny stars and blinking bulbs! I sip my tea, enjoy the warming sun, and admire the result of last year's hunt for Christmas decorations in Mumbai - which has now been put up around the house again. My favorite place is the balcony: palms, bushes and flowers dressed up in tiny light bulbs. Happy December dear reader! Am I in Christmas spirit? Nah.. 

I am sitting here feeling grateful though. You see, 2 fellow blogger friends have nominated me for 2 awards - to show that they appreciate my blog. Yey! Someone enjoy what I write:-) It feels good:-) It seems to be "pay-it-forward" awards - so I will in return show appreciation to some of the bloggers I like! Looking forward to that: - to give a nice encouraging pat on the shoulder, in a way:-) Stay tuned on that one.

So, plenty of X-mas decor from last year - no need for new stuff - but you might remember that I have loads of gorgeous wrapping paper, boxes and gift-bags laying around? So, following the urge to find something to put inside all that - led me to a mela, organised by the American Women's Club.

Mela is a word from sanskrit, meaning a fair, a get-together. It is used in India for all kinds of gatherings f.ex cultural or commercial. It can include activities, shopping and dining options and entertainment. This mela included lots of stalls from Mumbai NGO's - selling their products - so a good opportunity to get great handmade gifts and supporting a good cause at the same time! Here are some of my mela-moments:

Akanksha is an NGO working to empower children from low- income communities, with a special focus on art classes. The kids' art is the inspiration behind the products: bags, watches, bangles, cards, calendars etc.

Great mousepads with quotes and colorful motives. 

Save The Children India is an NGO which runs a number of projects and focuses on improving education, health and living conditions for underprivileged children. They also have projects for women.

Beautiful bags for sale - at the Save The Children India stall. 

The Mann Center is an NGO which focuses on education and growth of children and adults with special needs. They provide training and adjusted programs to enable them to live as independently as possible.

Very lovely people at the Mann Center stall - and gorgeous stuff for sale too:-) 

Please check out the AWC homepage for a list of all the NGO's that were present at the mela, and for more info about the event as well. You can also order items through many of the NGO's webpages, or choose to support their work in other ways. They are doing a lot of good things. Many of them, like "my" NGO, are working for improvement in education and living conditions for children. What can be more important?

And talking about kids - my friend fell so head over heels in love at that mela! She ended up walking happily away - carefully carrying with her 4 handmade elephants and 2 camels! Lucky kids - who will get a soft elephant from auntie for Christmas:-) Although I do suspect she will keep at least one elephant for herself:-) 

Cute elephants from fourtyredbangles:-) 

Hope you have a good Sunday, dear reader! Bye bye from the red-chili-and-star-decorated balcony:-)

Spices for body & soul

Thali is for me India-on-a-plate. Those small bowls filled up with yummy stuff - each one with it's own flavor, color, taste and identity. And still complementing each other, making a balance, a wholeness. Spicy, bland, bitter, creamy, sweet and sour. It all comes together perfectly, and where would that thali be without spices?

Ah, those Indian spices, dear reader. I tell you, my taste buds have never been challenged this much anywhere else in the world! Tasting and eating. Cooking with spices in a whole new way. Shopping for spices at the markets. Chatting with the sellers, trying out something new, bringing home my favorites. Ginger, chili, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and uncountable masalas'. The colors are vibrant: red, orange, yellow and green. And check the health benefits: spices may f.ex. help for depression, digestion and different aches&ouches around the body. At Indiaparenting you can find a list of the most common spices, their benefits and as an extra bonus for us never-giving-up-to-learn-Hindi-people - the name of the spice in both English and Hindi.

So, spices for body and soul, dear reader. Here are a few shots from shopping spices at stalls and markets:

Tasting new nuts

My garam masala being measured up

Pick and choose! 

And then conveniently enough - loads of fresh vegetables and herbs next door -
 just waiting eagerly to be added some spices:-)  

Spices for body and soul. Another important ingredient adding color, flavor and spice to my life is music. And like with the spices: I have my favorites, but I am more than open to try new stuff! And India has certainly introduced me to some new catchy rhythms! Once a week I meet with a group of ladies and a dance teacher - and we dance modern Indian music, and very often music from Bollywood - films. We have a lot of fun, and what a great feeling that music brings me! The catch is that very often the song is completely stuck with me for the rest of that day. Here we go again! Now, we are dancing to Balam Pichkari from the film Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Spice for body & soul - music and wellness. Have a look - catchy, eh? (PS: Reader outside India: The scenery is from the Holi-festival! And yes, we do throw colored powder and water at each other. And some do dance around like this:-) )Enjoy!

So, more spices in my everyday life? Well, for you with a taste for mystery, I can report that the mysterious wall outside our door, remember - has now vanished. Our new neighbors-to-be wanted to follow vastu -principles and had it built as a part of a new entrance complex. However, since it limited the access to the fire exits, cable-storage and common space - it went down again. So, now it looks like this.

Oh, well, some surprises kind of spice up our daily life, I guess:-) I hope you have a good Friday, dear reader, and I wish you a wonderful spicy weekend:-)
Ta ta!

My favorite-spices-on-a-plate  - love the size & flavor of those cinnamon sticks! 

Hindi - never ever giving up!

- So, what do you speak in Norway? My friend looks at me. - Norwegian, I say. - You have your own language? She is showing a mix of shock, impression, and amusement. - Yes, I respond, - but-it-is-quite-similar-to-Danish-and-Swedish. Why do I always say that? Like that can explain it. We love our language though - with all the different dialects and variations.

A luxury maybe, our very own language, for around 4 million native speakers, in Norway. Ok then - also for the Norwegianamericans and for a few more around the world - so spoken by around 5 million people.

Now, I live in India, a country with over 1,2 billion inhabitants, and over 1000 spoken languages. Over 400 million people speak Hindi, the official language for the Republic of India (together with English).  But the different states also have their official languages, and no - they do not necessarily understand each other!

Of the 1000 languages, 22 languages have more than one million native speakers each and 50 languages have more than 100.000 native speakers.  In our state, Maharastra, they speak Marathi, as do 90 million people in India. In Punjab they speak Punjabi, in Kerala they speak Malayalam and Gujarati is used in Gujarat. Just to mention a few.

So, is it confusing for a foreigner? Well... I am grateful that so many people speak English! And then I can spice it up with some Marathi or Hindi words. BUT - do not believe I have given up! Do you remember, I did a Hindi crash course? Well, I have been practicing a bit, but - it is really difficult... ( re-phrase: I get lazy, because I get by so well with English).

However, a funny thing happened when I was at a market, shopping for some garlands. I was looking around, and I overhear this lady next to me asking the seller: - Kitna he? Oh, joy - I understand - she is asking for the prize! He answers her: - (something) pachas (something).

- Aha, 50 rupees, I say to myself ( extremely pleased, I admit, both with the prize and with myself ) So, I look around some more, and find some (slightly different) garlands I like, so I ask the seller (in English, because-what-were-those-words-again..) - How much are these? He tells me: - 80 rupees. Hm, that was odd?! I look around a bit more, and take up one of the garlands the other lady had looked at: - and this? He nods at me: - also 80 rupees, mam. 

Ok. I could have walked away or maniac-bargained, but by then I had already started to giggle inside, so I could not help myself, dear reader. I turn around, smile at the seller and say - I am going to give you 200 rupees,  and you give me 4 garlands, so I have the same prize as the lady who just asked you about the prize and you said 50. Ok? 

He looks at me. Not sure what he is thinking. He wobbles his head - Ok, mam.

What? To funny - for a foreigner. And kind of encouraging. A curious mind like mine - I just can not give up right? Got to learn some more Hindi. Got to! Watch out, market sellers - I'll be back:-)

So, today's useful lesson:
KITNA HE? = How much is it?
GARLANDS KIA BHAAV HE? = How much for the garlands?
BHAAV KAM KIJIYE ( optional: KRIPYA)  = Reduce the prize (optional: please)

mapsofindia.com

Well, today is the last day of the Ganesha festival, and I might head off to see the immersion of the huge  - really huge - Ganesha statues (we are talking 6,7 meters tall here!)

And, maybe I will practice some Hindi while I am out there - Ganpati Bappa Morya...  - wasn't it? See? There is hope! :-) Have a lovely evening, dear reader!

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Farewell Ganesha - see you again!

So, there I am, walking in the rain on a muddy path leading up to a lake. I am clinging to my umbrella, and try not to loose my bag and camera while I simultaneously attempt to:
- Take pictures
- Not loose sight of my family and friends
- Smile and thank the smiling strangers who offer me fruit, nuts and sweets
- Not slip and fall
- Shout Ganpati Bappa Morya... - and some more words

Around us there is a constant flow of small processions of people, following their Ganesh to the final journey for this year. Some are dancing to the drums. Most are shouting: Ganpati Bappa Morya, Purchya Varshi Laukariya ( O Father Ganesha, come again early next year) The atmosphere is electric. But let me begin with the beginning:

We had been invited to some friends' home, remember?  ( thank you so much again, Girish & family:-) to follow their Immersion. Last Monday was the beginning of the festival, and yesterday was a big immersion day for the Ganeshas in people's homes. The smaller ones. (which basically means that millions of people in Maharastra went to immerse their Ganesh yesterday).

So, first we gathered in our friends' home. They have done Pujas twice a day since Monday, and now it was time to do the last one. We joined in.

After we had done the last puja, it was time for Ganesha and His procession (including US) - to leave the house. By then it was raining a lot, so we decided to go by car. And no surprise who got the front seat..:-)

The car left us at a pretty chaotic spot. There were music playing, speakers on, drums, and all around us small Ganesha processions appeared - at foot, from rickshaws and from cars- and they all headed up the hill, towards the lake. So did we.  

Arriving with their Ganesha...

But hang on, before reaching the lake, we stopped (like all the other processions) to do one final offering for Ganesha. It included breaking a coconut, the symbol for human ego (a hard nut to crack). Only to use force and do your best - to break your ego, you will overcome obstacles and release your inner energy.

There were large tables set up on the hillside, and all around us, the other processions stopped, placed their Ganesha on the table to do the last offerings. People were walking around, offering each other fruit, nuts and sweets. - Ganesha is the God for everybody, and this is blessed by Him. Like one big street-party really, lovely! Except for the fact that they were there to say goodbye to Ganesha. Our friend said: - It feels a bit sad, because He has been part of our lives now, and the house will feel empty when He is gone.

Everybody gave each other sweets,nuts and fruit. Love the little guy's expression here... 

Final offerings - and many looked quite sad...

One of the bigger ones we saw today...

Final offerings to Ganesha- and rain is still pouring... 

After the final blessings, (and stuffing ourselves with goodies), we continued towards the lake. At one point the Ganesha-carryer had to go one way - and the rest of us another. He then had to give his idol to someone taking Him down to the water.

Last holding of Ganesha before seeing Him off..

The blue-t-shirt guys was the trusted people to take the Ganeshas down to the little lake. 

Then we gathered at a small temple. Our friends, who now had an empty tray, received a small piece of clay to take home, to place where Ganesha had been, to fill the void.

So, dear reader, Ganesha departed, but will for sure be welcomed next year with equal enthusiasm! 

And hey - that was only the small home - Ganeshas. More will be immersed tomorrow. As for the really huge community Ganeshas: we will bid farewell to them next week, at the end of the festival! 

So, my Ganesha tale might not have seen The End quite yet. Farewell for now, Ganesha, see you again! 

From indiatoday.com

Welcome Lord Ganesha! - Happy Ganesh Chaturthi!

Today it started - the festival for the beloved Lord Ganesha, the elephant - headed Hindu God. We celebrate His birthday. Families installed statues of Ganesha in their homes, and gigantic statues of Him was set up in neighborhoods. All over Mumbai today there have been processions with people carefully carrying their Ganesha home, - or driving him home. I have seen Ganeshas on anything from rikshaws to huge trucks today, accompanied by crowds of singing, dancing and drumming people. Ganesha has arrived, and he will stay for 1 1/2 or up to ten days! Dear reader, one of the biggest festivals in Mumbai is definitely on!

Ganesha is widely worshiped in India as the God of wisdom, prosperity and good fortune, and is invoked at the beginning of a new venture or at the start of a journey. He is the one you should pray to, to remove any obstacles that are in your way. He is seen as the most important Hindu God, and a God for everybody. During this week, he is worshiped, and then immersed in the sea, a lake or the river at the end of the festival.
Some families will immerse their Ganesha already tomorrow, but the big statues will not be immersed until the tenth day. So, for the next week, the neighborhoods will come to worship Ganesha in large beautifully decorated tents. They will bring flowers, fruit and sweets for offerings. And there will be a lot of celebration!
We had been invited to some good friends today (thank you, our sweethearts Mrudul and Kirti) - and this is what we saw:

This is the big Ganesha statue for the neighborhood. With drums and dancing they are bringing Him to the big tent, where He will be for the next ten days. People will come to worship Him there. 

Took some men to hold on to Him.... 

This is the Ganesha in our friends home. They will have Puja for Him again tonight and then 2 times tomorrow, before they will take Him to Juhu beach to be immersed in the sea. 

Some of the offerings..

They pray for Him bringing wisdom, fortune for the next year, and remove any obstacles which are in their spiritual path. 

Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, dear reader! All the best! Now, I'll check how the elections in Norway is turning out.. From one thing to the other today...! I hope you have had a wonderful day! Ta ta from me:-)  

Namaste!

I think the first time I heard the word Namaste was in a yoga studio in Norway, or at least that was when it had an impact. It was January and snow was pouring outside. We were sitting on our yoga mats with scented candles in the corner of the dim lit room. Our yoga teacher looked at us, closed her eyes, bowed her head and greeted us with a soft Namaste. Being used to greet each other with a firm handshake, a pat on the shoulder, kisses on the cheek or a hug, this was something new. So elegant, exotic, clever and a bit mysterious...

shalusharma.com

And you may remember my attempt to master Hindi? Then you'll know that Namaste was the first Hindi word I learned (hopefully not the last). Namaste is a greeting, and when saying it, you place the two palms of our hands together in front of the chest (heart center), and bow your head a little. You can also place your hands together in front of the third eye, bow your head, and then bring the hands down to the heart - to show a deeper form of respect. Doing the gesture in India, it is understood that it means Namaste, so it is not necessary to actually say Namaste when you bow. But, I'll still say it...:-)

Obama's greetings when he visited India. about.com

For me, Namaste sounds like the Greek Na'maste (Na imaste) = here/there we are. So for me, hearing it makes it sound both familiar and friendly, and a thing I am used to say catching up with someone. In English: So-here-we-are-and-it-is-so-nice-to-see-you-all-and-be-together-with-you-all!
The word Namaste origins from Sanskrit: namah + te = namaste. (namah= to bow, te= you). I bow to you – my greetings and salutations to you. A wonderful way to greet someone, I always thought...

Namaste, dear reader, and thank you for following:-)

Happy Raksha Bandhan - celebrate your sibling!

Have you told your sister or brother that you love them lately? Yes? No? Well, today is the perfect day to do it! Because today we celebrate the relationship between brothers and sisters here in India, and they sure know how to celebrate in this country!  Today it is time for Raksha Bandhan, dear reader!

Today the sister will tie the rakhi (holy tread) on to the wrist of her brother, as a symbol of love and her wish for his well-being. In return the brother will give gifts and sweets to his sister, and he will promise to protect her for a lifetime. The girls/women may also tie the rakhi on the wrist of their male cousins and on boys/men, (friends&unrelated. but considered to be their brothers) -, if they commit to a lifelong obligation to provide protection to the girl/woman. In that way they bond for a lifetime and extend their present family. And as Manisha told me (I thought this was both sad and lovely at the same time): If the brother has passed away, the sister will tie the rakhi at the picture of her brother. So, she added: if you forget it in every day life: at Raksha Bandhan you are reminded to tell your siblings that you love them...:

Festivalsinindia.com

Happy celebration -  Happy Raksha Bandhan, dear reader!

PS. The very popular practice of Raksha Bandhan has many historical associations. My personal favorite (we are talking Greek History now of course!)  is the story about when Alexander the Great invaded India in 326 BC. His wife Roxana then sent a rakhi to the Katock king Porus, asking him not to harm her husband in battle. On the battlefield, when Porus was about to deliver a final blow to Alexander, he saw the rakhi on his own wrist and restrained himself from attacking Alexander personally. So there you go!

Alexander the Great - saved by a rakhi???

1,2,3,4 - Greek Halva - receipe

Dear reader,
Language confusion can be quite entertaining. Take words that mean something in your language but something completely different in other languages. I am very intrigued by Hindi language and determined to master it  - to some extent, but it is sooo different. If you remember I have tried to, and Hindi Crash Course Take 2 may well come up soon. It's fun, and people are smiling when I try out my Ap kese he? The respond is usually not understandable for me, but sometimes words occur which I really feel I have heard before.. For example, when visiting an Indian friend the other day, she proudly announced: Oh, now I will introduce you to a lovely Indian Sweet. Halva.

Halva?! What? Come on! Its called the same thing in Greek. And it turned out it was veery similar - made with semolina and lots of sugar and lots of butter. Oh yes, halva was definately halva. So of course we had to make it the Greek way and exchange and share the halva-experience with our Indian friends. You will soon understand why this recipe is called 1,2,3,4 halva..

GREEK HALVA

You need:
1 cup with half butter, half oil
2 cups of semolina (rava in hindi)
3 cups of sugar ( 1 1/2 - 2 cups is more than enough really)
4 cups of water
2 cinnamon sticks
If wanted you can also add grated lemon/orange peel, chopped almonds and raisins.

You do:
In a pan mix the sugar and cinnamon sticks with water and heat until the sugar is dissolved.
In another pan, brown the semolina a little bit in a pan. If you want almonds add them towards the end. Add the butter/oil. Mix a little bit. Remove from heat.
Add the sugarwater (and grated peel from lemon/orange) to the semolinamix and stur until it looks like porridge. Leave a little to cool off, pull into forms and leave to cool. Sprinkle over some cinnamon powder.

Tip: I thinks it gets extra tasty if you add some grated lemon peel. Yoummie! And then:

You enjoy!

Good evening from Mumbai. Stay tuned!

Greek halva with strawberries

  

A Puja for Powai Explorers

Dear reader,
Remember I told you about my desire to explore Mumbai and the wonderful group I am a part of? Well, today we "kicked-off" the Spring season in my home. With a bunch of great ladies - from UK, Canada, US, Denmark, Japan, Germany, Belgium, India and New Zealand (puh:-))- we started this season on the more spiritual side with yoga and meditation with Manasi. Spread all over the living room floor we first challenged every living muscle in our body, through different yoga poses.

We then learned an interesting foot reflexology practice: when you walk - try to use the different parts of your foot. First walk on your toes, then on your heels, then on the outer side of your foot and then on the inner side. I tell you: a looot of giggling as we were strolling around in the living room, testing out this technique!

Then we moved on to challenges for the mind, the different ways of breathing and striving for the union of body and soul, the very essence of yoga and meditation. And we practiced some serious relaxation. Lying there on the floor with Manasi singing to us was a niiiice. And it was kind of hard to get up again. But Manasi assured us that the more relaxed we feel, the more energetic we will feel later in the day!

Yoga and meditation in my home today:-)

And then it was time for the puja. A puja is a religious ritual performed by Hindus. For everything new, or at the start of something new, a puja is often performed. The idea of a puja is to give an offer or a gift to a deity or important person to get a blessing in return. It can be done at temples, public places or at home. Today we marked the start of a new season for our group Powai Explorers.

Our puja was to a Guru, our guide's spiritual master and teacher. We offered flowers and fruits. His feet was symbolically washed and there was a burning light, symbolizing the spread of wisdom. So, we were sitting with our eyes closed, enjoying the sanskrit being cited and the puja being performed.  while a delightful scent spread in the room. A wonderful moment!

The Puja set up

See the small sandals? -  symbolizes his feet 

Manasi explaining about Puja to us and why coconut is good to offer.

So, our group had a good and spiritual start, and we learned about the puja! And after coffee, tea, fruits and more chit-chat the ladies even managed to find their shoes again:-) Ready for exploring!

Have a wonderful Friday dear reader, and stay tune!