Raksha Bandhan Trivia and Assorted Memories

Today is a very important day in the Hindu calendar. It's the Shravana Pournima, which means the full moon day of the most auspicious month in the Hindu calendar - Shravana. Don't ask me why it's auspicious. It just is! :P Anyway, what this day means to ME is that the festival of Raksha Bandhan falls on this day. Raksha Bandhan is the festival celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters. So, naturally, I'm missing my two brothers a lot!! (To note: "brothers" means cousins. I don't have any bothers or sisters. But, back home, all cousins, even the far removed fourth, fifth or cousins by marriage cousins are brothers and sisters. We are like that relationships-wise. :P) Of course, I don't tie rakhi (a sacred thread that the sister ties on the brother's wrist praying for his long life) to all those hundreds of extended-family "brothers." But, both my first cousins are very very close to me and I tie them both rakhis.

Now, I generally miss home sometimes. You know, regular homesickness. And then, I'm all like yea but dude! I'm in England only for this year and then I'm ok again. But during festivals, this homesickness is multiplied 10 times and refuses to go away! I miss the colour, the noise, the fragrance of the festivities, the feel of cheer vibrating and tangible in the air, the activity in every household and the general feeling of goodwill everywhere around you. Of course, it doesn't help that India has so fucking many festivals that I feel this way at least once a month! :P Anyway, I decided instead of wallowing, I'll do something constructive today. And generally, my idea of "constructive in order to get rid of the depression" is cooking an Indian sweet. So, I decided to experiment and make some jalebis today. And, well, they taste alright but they look really weird since I didn't have the instrument which makes them fall in a perfect spiral. So, not a total failure! :P

But, today's constructive includes blogging about Raksha Bandhan. It is one of my most favourite festivals. (the others being Holi and Diwali, of course! :P) According to the legend, Goddess Yamuna (It's the name of a sacred river in India. She is also one of the manifestations of the female power in mythology.) tied a sacred thread around her brother, the God of Death, Yama's wrist and prayed for his immortality. He became immortal and in return promised to protect his sister. He proclaimed that whoever gets this sacred thread tied around their wrists by their sisters on this day will become immortal. And thus, began this festival. There are some other stories surrounding this festivals as well. But this was the one I was told in my childhood.

However, the most famous story told about Raksha Bandhan is the one from the 15th Century. Rani Karnavati, the Queen of Chittor sends a rakhi to the Mughal Emperor Humayun to seek protection against another Sultan (a minor Mughal King) who was going to invade Chittor. The Emperor was so touched by this gesture that without thinking about the Hindu-Muslim divide, he went ahead to save Rani Karnavati and Chittor from invasion, leaving behind a battle that he was leading. So, it is the emotion of erasing the rampant communism currently prevalent in India, which makes this festival extra special for me.

One of the best things about Raksha Bandhan is the colour that the cities take on due to the stalls which crop up all over the place, full of different kinds of rakhis - right from the ones that cost 3 rupees to the ones that cost 100 rupees. Just like the Christmas lights and decorations, the Diwali rangolis and lanterns, the Holi colours, pichkaris and water balloons and the Eid late night food joints advertise the advent of each of the festivals and spread the festival merriment. One of my favourite Raksha Bandhan memories is when I was 11. That was the year, my younger cousin, the baby of our family was born and he was like a month or so old. Also, that year Raksha Bandhan was on 15th August, the Independence Day. And so, the auspicious day also being occasion-ful, our family decided to have his naming ceremony that day as well. I remember he was dressed up in a ridiculous red and white stripe thing with a baby cap on and he looked like a very chubby baby girl. I was so proud that day, being the eldest sister and all! Then, my aunt and I, both performed the naming ceremony together. I was literally bursting with excitement that day! And a few years ago, I and my other cousin, who is only 5 years younger to me, really started bonding a lot. Since that time, Raksha Bandhan means a lot more to me since I really value my relationship with him a lot more now than I used to before. As of this year, no such nostalgic, fond memory. But I do have a joke. :P Kyra and I were talking on phone and I was telling her how much I miss the festivities and all. And she said, "Yea, why don't you ask someone and tie them a rakhi? Jerome is cute! You could go ask him!" Now, it's common for us to "adopt" a brother or a sister. In fact, in schools, when everybody was being an asshole and linking you with the ugly boy/ the irritating sneezer, you would to use Raksha Bandhan as a shield and tie that boy the rakhi, "adopting" him as your brother just to shut everybody up. Anyway the same thing happens in the legend of Rani Karnavati and Emperor Humayun, no? But what I didn't get was why would I want a cute boy who is unrelated to me adopt me as a SISTER?!! Heh, sometimes Kyra likes being funny! :P

*Pictures courtsey Google.

Tonight's gonna be a good good night!!

Subtitled: The night I realised how much I'll be leaving behind when I leave this city

Last night, I went for Effy (short for Efficient)'s birthday party with a bunch of other friends, all from the uni - Kyra, Sara and JD and Grace. It was good meeting Effy and Grace after long, long time, what with no more actual classes but just working on individual dissertations. Though I've met Kyra, Sara and JD more often lately (remember that night of drinking games I mentioned in the earlier post?!! :P), it is obviously always fun to hang out with them. So, last night was a fun girl's night out without even having planned it! :)

But, Effy is moving to The Big City next week and so, it was not only her birthday party but also a sort-of farewell party for her! She was one of the first people to whom I'll have to say goodbye after this year of wonderful friendships and beautiful experiences. She just returned from her visit to her parents' home in Nigeria and was telling us all Funny Stories from Africa! Hehe!! :P I've always known her as a very no-nonsense sort of person when it comes to work and a totally opposite, crazy fun-loving person when she lets go of herself. I wish I could have that balance in my life. Both, she and her partner, Jerry are at that point in their lives where they know exactly where they stand and exactly what they are going to do next. Except for any surprises of course. :P Like the one they got when they went to Nigeria. Funny story (number 1. But, unfortunately, that's the only one I remember!! :P) When they were with Effy's parents in Nigeria, the parents arranged a little "introduction ceremony" for the relatives and neighbours to meet Jerry. And got them married. Yes, you heard right. MARRIED. It was really funny when she was telling us the story about how she "sort-of got married!" Her parents asked her if they were planning to get married or anything and like always, Effy dilly-dallied telling them that she didn't believe in marriage blah blah. So, her parents said that because they had to answer the relatives and the neighbours about her marital status (and the lack thereof) she'll have to participate in this introduction ceremony so that everyone can meet Jerry. And, that was how Effy got married, with only half a knowledge of what was really happening!! Hehe. Oh oh, and when she (by chance) dressed up in the only African dress she had, her mum exclaimed, "Thank God you have something African!!" Hehe, mums are the same everywhere!! However, the ceremony was very beautiful and even Effy was touched by it all. So, we all had an "awwwwww" moment and toasted to her and Jerry's lovely (and organised - I'm not letting go of that one! :P) life! ::again has the "awww" face::

Apart from that, we were all harassing Kyra about leaving THE SAME DAY as we hand in our dissertations, not even giving us a chance to say a proper goodbye! :( But JD, our friend, under the influence of JD, the whiskey, was a lot more vocal about it! :P Sara and I mostly just watched amusedly, when JD announced her affections for Kyra a few times too often!! And then, on our way back home, ranted about how capitalism destroys the world! JD, she's a special one!! Hehe! Finally, when it was just Grace and I, walking back home, we again talked about how we wished we had tried to bond with all of the other people in our course and how there were so many things we could learn from everyone, ending the evening on a very philosophical note.

Sigh, how I am going to miss being with all these people!! All the drinking and gossiping and dancing!! I know I can do all these things back home with my friends as well (well, maybe not the drinking bit as much! :P) But still, this year has been such an important year for my personal growth and I do feel nostalgic about leaving this country. I'm very excited about going home, since home is home and nothing, definitely not this cold country can replace Mumbai. But, in a way, England is like a close, close friend to Mumbai's being family. Like I was telling Grace while walking back home, I want to take all my friends, fold them and pack them up in my suitcase, take them home with me and keep them with me forever. ::makes a poor puppy dog pout face::

Whoever said life was about moving on was right but dude, honestly, easier said than done!

The Celestial Goddesses memories

This one's another post dedicated to us, The Celestial Goddesses: Sun, Moon and me, Star! (:P - it's my blog and I decide the names) Besides, they fit!! Sun brings, you know, sunshine and light to my and Moon's life; Moon is cool, calm, composed most of the time when Sun and I are, you know, spouting fire (:P); and well, I'm just a Star, only in the sense, you know, that I'm tiny and keep twinkling. *ahem ahem* Really.
Look look, you two!! Isn't this awesome for us?!! :D I got this picture from a tattoo parlour brochure and I swear, if I ever get a tattoo, this is the one I'll get! ::eyes shining, sings lalalala and draws hearts and music notes::

Anyhooo, this post is supposed to be about our memories!! As everyone on this planet knows, (well, people who know us are what constitute our planet, right?) the time we spent together has been the best time of my life ever! The most cherished of our times together though would be our sleep-overs at each other's. We would mostly watch some or the other films or Sex and the City episodes (we are EXACTLY like the SATC foursome except that we are a threesome. Hmmm, that sounds *SO* wrong. Imagine how many hits it'd get on google search! I'm going to leave it like that! Ha! :P) And, we would talk about boys. Of course. That was our favourite thing to do. Watch films only so that we can drool over sexy boys in the film. Rewind and replay parts where they look extra-hot. And then, crib about how unfair life is and how some women just have it all while others, like us, have to make do with ordinary boys. Hmph. Well anyway, we enjoyed the Sex and the City episodes a lot!
I remember this one time when we were watching the episode where Carrie was dating the politician guy. There was a lot of "action" going on on the screen and both Sun and Moon decided to oblige me by explaining what's going on (you know, because I'm tiny and all, they thought I didn't know what's a bj) Meuh! Turns out they were wrong and I DID know (ahem, ahem!! :P) but I didn't bother to correct them because I thought it was hilarious! :P The scary part is that just when all the "explaining" was happening, my mum decided to poke her head in my room and see what we are up to! She never mentioned it but I think that was the day my mum suffered from a minor stroke! But I'm glad that she did that because it was after that day that she kept expecting to find alcohol bottles and cigarette packets in my possession. Obviously she didn't find any (because I don't smoke and don't drink at home.) But, I came off as looking as the "good daughter" instead of being the "bad daughter" she always accused me of being because I didn't get distinction in my results. Sigh, expectations! How drastically can they change your perspectives! ;)

And then, there was the time when we all went to Sun's country house, which, by the way, is also THE MOST beautiful place in the world!! No, really!! By popular votes! ALL three of us think so! Well anyway, we used to take long walks in the mountains and sit on the cliffs watching the tiny lights slowly come on below us in the valley as the sun starts setting. And we celebrated [an alcohol-less :(] New Year's over a lovely campfire singing songs! No loud music, no clubs, no fireworks but definitely the BEST New Year's ever! :D And there are other, smaller but equally sweet memories, like, meeting each other for a coffee, a hug and a10-15 minute chat before the first lecture of the day, making chocolates for the first time in our lives (yes yes, they were edible!! :P), arguing over our birthday lunch venues (hehe, of course I won!! :P There was no meat eating that day!! :P), deciding who slept where after *VERY* careful evaluation of the situation (:P), wrapping each other's gifts because it makes us happy, bra-shopping and the resulting frustration (:P), having goti-soda (yes, in Mumbai!!! ::sniff:: I miss Mumbai!), going shopping at Flora Fountain and Colaba Causeway, dressing up together and pinning up each others' dresses, borrowing each others' clothes and jewellery, bitching about Pearl......there are just *SO* many! Oh, and watching films and talking about boys! Did I mention that already? Oh well, it's not enough!! :P

One of the other great nights we've had is on Moon's birthday, which, incidentally was also the last time we spent a night together (I just did it again!!! :P) before we moved out to different time zones. There was much dancing and nautanki that day. Well, there always is. But, it was like we knew we wouldn't be able to do this for a VERY long time again. So, we poured out ALL that we had in that moment! During the party, Sun and Moon did a spoof of Hindi film fight sequences for all us lesser beings with everything from Matrix to "Yanna Rascala" to Bhangra dance steps thrown in!! They even did two takes for the camera! And then, we had a full night just to ourselves! We watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S. for a change because even though we are SATC, our emotions at the moment were very F.R.I.E.N.D.S. And, of course, we talked about hot men and how life is so unfair! See that??!! He's all three of our's collective fantasy boy! :P Ohmygod!! Some men are just made for pure TORTURE!!! ::battles the knot in her stomach, the dryness in her mouth and her light-headedness::

And then, there was some crying. Come on, there would be no "us" any more!! I mean, there is, but it'd never be the same with the three of us in 3 different continents, isn't it? It's like the end of an era! We have actually come much closer now. Especially, because we know that there will never be anything like us any where else, ever again! But it doesn't take away anything from that moment of bitter-sweet joy, where we were mind-numbingly happy but at the same time, infinitely sad knowing that it's going to end soon.

Sigh those were the days! Celestial Goddesses are now like poles. Half a year of Sun, half a year of Moon. ::sniff sniff:: But the Celestial Goddesses will resurface and then, there'll be more stories and more gossip! Until then, stay tuned for more rants and laments and nostalgia and drool factors! ;)

"Provocans Ad Volandvm"

"Provoke to Fly": The logo of my alma-mater - St. Xavier's College, Mumbai - the place that encouraged me "to fly" and the place which I refer to as my second home and my second parent but my very first runway. This post is dedicated to my beautiful college and everything that I learnt from my five years there!

The five years I spent at Xavier's were the best five years of my life! It gave me so much exposure and the necessary life skills to survive in the world, yet it sheltered me like a parent under its generous wing. It gave me the best friends of my life and taught me how to recognize good and true friends from others. It gave me friends in teachers and teachers in friends. It made me the person I am today.

Xavier's gives everyone everything that it promises in its anthem, the Xavier's anthem (and one of my favourite songs in the world!):

Xavier's, you gave me roots and wings,
Xavier's, opened my eyes to things,
Xavier's, somewhere along the way,
you taught me how to fly and how to stay!!
In a world outside so differently,
Xaviers, you helped me become more me!
To fly like an eagle, discover new skies,
With wings we've been give to soar ever high!
Over mountains and ocean, beach,
Learning from what they teach,
Believing that we can reach
Waaaaay beyond!

Yesterday, when Xavier's finally got autonomy from Mumbai University, something that it has been trying since more than 2 years, it was one of the proudest moments in the history of St. Xavier's College. I am sure all the Xavierites across the world would have felt a touch of that pride, no matter how long ago they graduated. The news made me so nostalgic about my time at Xavier's (hence, the blog!)

I used to call Xavier's my second home (like almost ANY other Xavierite I know!) In fact, there were times when Xavier's WAS my home and I used to go to my "parent's home" only for sleeping! If you have ever been a Xavierite, you'd know what I'm talking about. We all have had those times, haven't we? There were times that Terry's office (the wonderful Cafe Terance! :D) and his comfortable chairs would provide more solace than mum's food. There were times even after 3 and 4 years of studying in this college when I walked into the first quad and felt an awe about the impressive building. And I don't even want to begin counting how many times I've passed the new Mofis (Malhar Office, for those of you who don't know, Malhar is the annual Xavier's festival and the biggest event in Xavier's every year) and reminisced about the old XRCVC (Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged.) The window sill opposite the old XRCVC, overlooking the beautiful first quad, has been witness to so many silly 18-year old traumatic dramas (and some, 21 year old silly and traumatic dramas as well! :P) What I wouldn't do to go back to that world, where the Xeroxwala, the juicewala and Muchhad sandwichwala are bigger celebrities than even Amitabh Bachhan and Chrisy and Leoni bigger villains than Mogambo! I feel a belonging there that I've not felt anywhere else in the world except for my family!

I wish Xavier's all the very best in this new phase that it has embarked upon since yesterday. Here's to the best college in the world: Xavier's, it's not just a college, it's a way of life!