Geneva Puja preparations

It is that time of the year again,

when we welcome and bring home Maa Durga in our hearts,

no matter how far we may be from our homes.

We tuned in to Kolkata LIVE radio through our laptops,

to listen to AIR broadcast of Mahishashur Mardini by Birendra Krishna Bhadra

for Mahalaya at 12:30 am, Geneva time,

what better way to commence the festivities!

The photos in this post were taken on the last day of

decorations; this year, we put together a very pretty backdrop

with Bengali sarees (handlooms and silks, with gold work on them).

The textiles used are all in shades of the most festive Indian reds,

with green and yellow accents.

Here is a closer look at some of the figures,

starting with Maa Lokkhi (Lakshmi), the Goddess of Wealth:

Maa Saraswati (The Goddess of Knowledge and Learning);

Lakshmi and Saraswati are the two daughters of Durga:

Mahishasura (love how dramatic his face is in every rendition):

Lord Kartik (one of the two sons of Durga, Lord Ganesha beinf the other)

Closer look at the decorations:

Hand crafted chaandmalas (Bengali: chaand - moon, mala - garland),

these are traditional adornments,

also hung for the Mother's hands, one of the essentials of the puja.

Let me also share with you this video,

sent to me by Halley Goswami from Kolkata.

Halley is a very talented and very young self-taught artist

who makes Durga idols from the scratch every year at home for the puja.

Brilliant work!

For those of you who wish to attend the puja in Geneva,

here are the details:

Venue:

Centre Vedantique

Avenue d’Aire 63

CH-1203 Geneva

(Junction of Avenue d’Aire and Avenue des Eidguenots)

Tel. +41-22-3407807

(Public transport: bus # 27, 7; Bus stop: Camille Martin)

For further queries, feel free to email me at happydithi@gmail.com

Date and time: 15th october, 2010, Puja begins at 18:45 hours.

More photos soon.

Times Of India Durgotsav 2010 Campaign

Very happy to be part of the 2010 Durgotsav (Mumbai) campaign for

one of the leading newspapers in India, the Times of India.

Image, below, from today's newspaper.

Thank you Kaushal and Taproot for your support,

love your rendition. Take a look at their 2009 campaign as well, real nice!

What better pujo gift for me than this, happy girl!

Thank you.

Friend

The Lonely Parrot

Was a little gift for someone.

(pencil on paper)

A bit of a self-portrait.

'Exclusively' for DEEZDEN Readers !!!

Time for some DEEZDEN pampering for my stylish readers :)!

I am so glad to bring to you lovelies

a one-of-a-kind offer from the recently launched lifestyle brand Exclusively.in,

the online fashion hot-spot where you will find 'Indian-inspired style'

from the country's most coveted designers!

'The store offers members-only access to a carefully-curated collection of fashion,

furnishings, collectibles and travel experiences.'

Here is a little note from the store: 'Under the growing influence of international style and trends, India's centuries' old artisanal traditions have flourished into a coveted fashion aesthetic that feels vintage yet modern and sophisticated. Our buyers scour the boutiques, markets, and designer showrooms -that have long made India a global destination for knowledgeable fashionistas- selecting one-of-a-kind products and luxury services to be delivered straight to your doorstep.'

Aren't these pieces adorable?

So Indian and so chic, from casual to the heavier ethnic pieces...

products that hold on to a style that is

essentially inspired by India and yet is contemporary.

Design and style from high priests of Indian fashion,

the store boasts of names such as Rohit Bal, Satya Paul,

Rajesh Pratap Singh, James Ferreira, Manish Mahotra and many more;

experiences from the worlds of literature (rare first edition books),

travel, home décor: a selection carefully curated by experts in Delhi and New York.

Now its time for me to reveal the offer that they have designed

exclusively for DEEZDEN readers !

A unique direct code that is beneficial only to you gorgeous fashionistas:

www.exclusively.in/invite/deezden

Click on the link above, sign up for Exclusively.in,

and you will receive a credit of $20.00 within 24 hours of sign up!!!

mmmmm.....time for some retail therapy eh? :) enjoy!

Guest Blogger with Gnaana

We live in a time when work often takes us thousands of miles away from home,

we build our nests and grow families far far away from home.

In such a time and age, all of us feel the need to stay connected to our roots,

and to help the next generation relate to those roots as their own,

to help them know where they belong and identify.

At Gnaana, parents find ways to do just that, as the Gnaana ideology says,

'we bring the wisdom of the past to the children of the future'.

Right from this message by its founder, Aruna (the 'Maharani of possibilities', indeed!)

to the Gnaana blog which is consistently publishing informative posts for parents,

I found their concept and design brilliant as well as extremely

relevant to the way our lives are as of today. Their products are super-adorable,

the das-avatar puzzle being my favourite :). Needless to say,

I was really happy to have been invited to guest blog with Gnaana.

For all those of you who may have missed this, I am publishing with them all of this week.

Here is the first post: Indian Folk Art: A brief Primer for Kids

and the second went on air today: Raising young artists

The third post will be published on Friday, so stay tuned, I'll be posting the third link on FB.

Enjoy your Gnaana tour and hope you'll like the posts by yours truely.

I had said that I'll post my new painting in the next blog,

so here are some sneak-peeks, I am almost done and after seeing this work,

I am sure my readers would understand why I may have missed a deadline.

I would love to hear from you on the Gnaana blogs,

for those of you giving me feedback on FB - thank you.

Little hello!

Dear readers,

As you must have noticed, I have been off my blog

for sometime. The reason being it was difficult for me

to resist the travelling bit this summer.

I have not gone home in 2 years and

had reached a point where a change

was much needed. So we went hiking,

cruised on boats and took the cable-cars

up to the snow-capped Alps.

I'll be adding some new prints to my shop next week,

and post a new painting in my next blog, so stay tuned :) .

Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer.

~Love and hugs~

Title: 'Haatpakha' (Bengali for handfan)

Medium: Acrylics on watercolour paper

Size: 18cm x 24cm

*will be listed in my shop soon*

Little painting inspired by two of my favourite things,

the Bengali handfan (I have an identical antique

Bengali handfan that I collected some years back from Kolkata)

and the 'Tota' (Indian parakeet).

enjoy the weekend lovelies :)

Garden of the five senses

A couple of weeks back, we visited Le Jardin des Cinq Sens

(or the Garden of the five senses) in the medieval town of Yvoire, France.

It was a glorious day, we took the boat from Geneva and sailed for

a little over 1.5 hrs to finally get to the 700+ year old town.

'One of the vegetable gardens surrounding the 14th Century castle in Yvoire was transformed in 1986 and opened to the public.Within this enclosed space the paths, pool and fruit trees were kept and taking the five senses as a theme, a plant maze was created using the techniques and symbols of the Middle Ages.'

'The hornbeam hedges and the espaliered apple trees

of the Jardin des Cinq Sens ®

divide the garden into four rooms, each representing

one of the senses of sight, touch, taste and smell.

The fifth sense of hearing is represented by the sounds of birdsong and water.'

'The labyrinth is, in fact, the castle’s former kitchen garden,

restored according to the art of medieval gardens:

maze of the five senses, espaliered fruit trees, old roses,

hedged cloister with medicinal and scented plants, fountains, birds…'

As you explore the labyrinth, narrow hedges lead you to

'The Garden of smell' and these yellow flowers

that smell like jasmine greet you.

The Garden of touch is filled with texture, the most unusual geometric shapes

and pods and thorns and buds.....

'The Garden of sight' has magical shades of blue, mauve and pink....

It is said about this garden that if you revisit the labyrinth,

it'll never be the same experience. It constantly changes colour and

promises to be feel like your first visit each time.

'Un jardin qu'il faut decouvrir lentement avec une âme de poète'

~A garden that needs to be discovered with the soul of a poet~

Hope you enjoyed, I couldn't short-select the snaps so posted almost all :)