When time stood still...

This time of the year when I wish to go back to childhood, go back to the times when we would wait for the exams to get over, do the shopping and enjoy the festivities. This morning I sat and penned a few memories of Mahalaya and immediately the melody of the Devi Stuta seemed to be playing in the background.

This evening as I walked back from the market, witnessing the Ganesh Visarjan procession my thoughts immediately went back to those days of the Durga Visarjan. Back home we would throng the streets and almost everyone had a tear in the eye bidding good bye to the Mother with shouts of ‘Ma, don’t go, come back soon’.

For a split second, I stood there like a child watching the procession with the same kind of enthusiasm I had years back, then suddenly ran back home to pick my little niece so she could witness the same. This was how culture was imbibed in us by our elders.

We walked with the crowd today until the point where we could get ‘darshan’ of the deity. The bright and decorated trucks and ‘Jai Deva, Jai Deva’ playing in the air, people walking as they sang, bowing and praying,  was a treat, something I missed in Delhi and Delhi felt like home for the first time today.

Tola Toli Tales - The Trash Searcher

These are real life incidents, somewhat funny but true to the core. The characters are known, the names are very close to real and the incidents in random order...
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So someone dropped their trashes at Tola's gate and Tola being Tola meant business! So daily he searched through the trash bag in the hope of finding a clue.

Hard work meets success sooner or later, so one day he found an envelope bearing the address of the recipient. Tola immediately knew this was his man; he reached the address and gave the man a piece of his mind.

No more trash at his gate from the next day...

Tola Toli Tales - Of how she trades

These are real life incidents, somewhat funny but true to the core. The characters are known, the names are very close to real and the incidents in random order
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So Toli comes home with a pair of bangles she says she bought for Rs 150. The bangles are loose and she can't use them. So she decides to sell them. She says someone tried bargaining at Rs 100 and that was the reason she didn't sell.

Now why would she want to sell it at a profit when the bangles are already old?

We hear another angle - another aunty used the same pair of bangles for a few days and did not want to pay. Since she was reminded about the price again and again, she returned it. So when it was brought it was actually third hand.

Now Toli is 70 plus, with nothing to worry about, no liabilities and she goes door to door to bargain on a pair of used bangles. All the best!

The Lights and Sounds of Twilight

Growing up in a family where rituals have been a routine, the significance of these have however been understood much later. One such ritual is the performance of the Sandhya Aarti along with the  lighting of the lamps and the blowing of the conch at twilight.

In most traditional Hindu families a lamp is lit in the Puja space during twilight as this is the time of transition and negative energies have greater power during this time. The lighting of the lamp is considered auspicious as it removes the negative energies.

As a child I found such joy when all the neighboring families blew the conches and the bells at twilight and the sound came reverberating through the blue and orange lights of dusk.  It is believed that evil spirits are chased away when the conch is blown. The sound of 'Om' emanates from the conch and  this is the sound of the universe and creation. Conches find special mention in the Mahabharata where the beginning and end of the day was marked by blowing it.

The blowing of the conch is also beneficial to health in several ways - it improves the respiratory system and is said to have removed blockages in the heart.

Modern lifestyle and working patterns and hours don't allow us the luxury of performing these rituals with discipline however the more we try to inculcate these rituals in our daily lives the more good it will do to our physical and mental well being.


Twilight is a time to pause, to stop and the day's activities, to relax, to meditate and pray...to let the lights and the sounds play.

Guru Purnima

The full moon day in the Hindu month of Ashad (July-August) is observed as the auspicious day of Guru Purnima, a day dedicated to the memory of the great sage Vyasa. 

It is said that Guru Vyasa edited the four Vedas, wrote the 18 Puranas, the epic Mahabharata, and the Srimad Bhagavatam and even taught Dattatreya, who is regarded as the 'Guru of Gurus.'

Hindus attach great importance to spiritual Gurus. Gurus are equated with God and always regarded as a link between the individual and the supreme. This day is dedicated to the Gurus and people irrespective of caste or creed offer their prayers to their gurus thanking them for the knowledge they have provided to the learner.

Gurur Brahmma Gurur Vishnu
Gurur Deva Maheshwara
Gurur Saakshaat ParaBrahma
Tasmayi Shree Guruve namaha

Guru is the creator, Guru is the preserver 
Guru is the destroyer
Guru is the Lord himself, the highest consciousness
Salutations to the Guru

The Power of Udi

Udi or Vibhuti is the ash from the sacred fire which Sai Baba had lit. The Udi is supposed to have great power and has been able to cure diseases of the mind and the body.

I was in Higher Secondary when I had suddenly developed an intense pain somewhere in the neck,  behind the ears. The pain would suddenly rise to the extent that I would scream, take my pillows and hold them tight, want to pull the iron rods off the window and cry. Some pain killers would help but again the pain would come unannounced somewhere in the middle of a classroom or while in sleep. On one occasion my tuition teacher's wife had to apply some hot compression for some relief much to my embarrassment.

I saw a doctor, he said the cause was excess accumulation of wax, prescribed some pain killers again and ear drops. This only ensured temporary relief...

This went on for some days when one day my father had gone to meet one of his seniors and probably mentioned that he had to rush home to take his daughter to the doctor. It was then that he handed him a packet of 'Udi' and asked it to be applied to the affected area.

The same day, one of my father's friends mentioned another doctor whom we immediately went to see. He dismissed the wax theory and said this was a nerve dislocation. He knew the exact spot where the trouble was and demonstrated how it brought relief on applying some pressure there.

It would take days of message by my father, morn and night, and some homeopathic medicines to get rid of that pain. Needless to mention that I would also apply Udi sans doubt or disbelief.

Till today I attribute the discovery of that doctor to the 'Udi' and have been applying it ever since as a daily ritual.  I don't question nor do I look for results as to when it worked and when it didn't and why.  I know the power of 'Udi' has benefited my overall well being, body and mind!

Friends visiting Shirdi do not escape my request to get a packet of 'Udi'...

Kamakhya Temple - In Stories and Memories

Kamakhya is to the east and the North East what Vaishno Devi is to the North - and this is purely in a layman's terminology...this happens to be the nearest and most accessible pilgrim spot in the North East and so it is everyone's common religious destination

From our childhood it was the place where small family functions would be held, where eloped couples would head to for marriage, where all rituals took place under the supervision of the 'Panda' and where the yearly pilgrimage would happen.

These are the earliest childhood memories but as years passed I learned more about this place and found bliss in the fact that such a pious place existed so near to our homes.


Situated in Guwahati in the heart of the Neelachal hills, it is one of the Shakti Peethas. 

The temple consists of four chambers: -  garbhagriha and three mandapas locally called calanta, pancharatna and natamandira,  aligned from east to west.

Legend has it that it is here the 'Yoni' of the mother fell after Shiva danced with her dead body. Shiva was not invited to the Yajna ceremony at Parvati's paternal house by her father Daksha, and this had angered her. Also Daksha had insulted Shiva and Sati felt insulted and jumped into the pyre. When Shiva saw the dead body of Sati, he could not stay still any longer and started dancing with Parvati's corpse in his hands. Vishnu jee fearing destruction ran his Sudarshan Chakra and cut Parvati's body into pieces,  and each of these 108 pieces fell in what is today known as 'Peethas'. There are 51 such Shakti Peethas.

Every year the water in the garba griha turns red and it is believed that the Goddess menstruates during this period. The  temples are closed at this time of the year for three days. It is also considered inauspicious to dig Mother Earth during the period or perform any religious functions. Thorough cleaning of the temple happens on the fourth day after which the doors of the temple are opened to the devotees. This period is known as 'Ambubachi' and the mela that is held is very grand attracting thousands of Sadhus and seekers from different parts of the country. 

The other times of the year when the pilgrims flock to the temple are during both the Navratras. The autumn Navratra when Durga Puja is celebrated sees scores of devotees rushing in to offer their prayers. It is not otherwise during the spring Navratra when believers rush in to seek blessings of the Goddess. On the Ashtami day, 'kumaris' or little girls are worshiped. They are believed to be the embodiment of the Mother. Girls are beautifully dressed and taken around the temple before and after the Puja.

The 'Pandas' or priests have been the official caretakers of all the ceremonies and most of our families have a designated Panda. He takes care of all the rituals, his forefathers have done so in the past but it is not too sure if his next generation will carry on with the same job and responsibility. Only time will tell.

Our family 'Panda'

 Kamakhya temple is an ode to Mother Nature's power to create, nurture and sustain        life.