Random nice 'Kolkata' things

As you can guess, I am indulging shamelessly in the

little pleasures of home, here are some snapshots

from what life is like right now :) :

This was the first photo I took after coming home,

fresh roses from our garden in a vintage vase.

The glorious morning sun kisses the walls in my room every morning,

a welcome change from Geneva's snow and harsh winter.

Leisurely evenings spent with friends and family,

with delicious Bengali food and adda....

...with only one rule to follow - one must completely lose track of time.

Speaking of food , below is one of the gems of Bengali cuisine, the Luchi.

Mom's luchis are the world's best, I had 15 of these in one go, shhhhh.

As a thank you for your feedback on the last post,

here are the photos of the good stuff

that I picked up from the Saras Mela.

Ethnic character dolls from the Katwa region,

Bardhamaan (my home) District (West Bengal)

quite the family tree there (with the family pet - the wise owl).

A cute little Maa Durga patachitra by Tapan Chitrakar

from Naya, Midnapur district. I think

I'll take Her back to him to have the Goddess's weapons added (!).

Here is my favourite, a Durga painting (the second one from left)

that I collected from Madhu Chitrakar. Love his work.

Handmade and painted tiny wooden temple of

Shree Jagannath, form of Lord Krishna, from Orissa.

This is another rendition of Lord Jagannath, hand-painted on a coconut shell.

A leather puppet from Andhra Pradesh, I like how feisty she looks

and holds her hair - almost as if she is getting ready to fight.

Here is nice post on Tholu Bommalata,

(Tholu – leather, Bommalata – puppet dance).

Handmade papier-mâché masks from Orissa:

faces of Gods and Goddesses painted in a traditional folk style.

These I collected from an Christmas special exhibition

called Burra Din organized by the

Craft Council of West Bengal.

Meeting all these artists and now being surrounded by their art

is hugely inspirational. So I made a quick trip to

my favourite art supply store in town.

This is the first drawing. Ganeshji with four hands,

seated in a lotus with the backdrop of

water, trees and snow-capped mountains.

Details:

Shot in different lights,

the first snap is truest to the original page colour.

Hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season.

Live it up and stay safe.