SOULspace

Today( 30th Sept.) marks the beginning of 10 days of celebrations for Hindus in India called Dussera. It overlaps with the Muslim festivities and austerities in the same holy month, called Ramzan. Every festival in India is associated with a story! That is the uniqueness of our collectivistic culture. Every festival is a reason for us to socialise, with neighbours with family and with friends. There is more, every region will have a different story to tell for the same festivities!! Some times the story remains the same but the embellishments will be unique to that area/region. So also Dussehra/ Dussera ( pronounced as duh-seh-ra), also known as Navarathri (meaning 9 nights) has two stories associated with it. In Northern India it is celebrated for the victory of the legendary king Rams' victory over the demon King of Lanka, Ravan (which is the story of Ramayan). In Southern India, the story associated is totally different. Here the 9 days marks the fight /battle between t...

Three pairs of eyes follow me as I walk down the road lined with trees, Three pairs of eyes, with innocence, follow me as I walk down the road lined with trees. Each a copy of the other, of varying heights though. The eldest pair of eyes walks with a smile on her face, The second with a grim one, The youngest has no walking to do as he is of the princely age of carriage! My eyes follow them too, As mother, daughters' and the little son in arms walk the road lined with trees. Where do they go every morning? I wonder. Such a picture they make. The eldest in front, mother and son behind, and the straggling second, Goaded by the elder to hurry up. Neatly kept, they are always well dressed, little son with socks and scarf, Daughters with skirt and top one day, a salwar on another, hair combed and braided. Where do they go every day? So tiny they are, like miniature soldiers, they follow in perfect discipline. Marching one behind the other, or the other behind one, down the road lined wi...

Another chance to tell a story and I grabbed it, of course this time I was thrust into it. The ladies club wanted a story. With humour, a little about the air force, and a farewell note as well, said the senior lady who approached me. Tall order. A challenge, as I have not told a story to an adult crowd before. The first point, of course, is: what story? So that saw me searching and searching and searching... No luck! Desperate now, I came up with my humour (corny) but then we can only laugh at ourselves. So I thought of conferring a degree and an award on the ladies! The degree of the triple "B", and the AVSM. Whats that? Triple B is awarded for having the Beauty, Brain and Brawn. Ladies in the air force are known for their beauty(ahem!!), and Brain, where else do we need to dish out 5 star fare at dabba rates (that's what I hear from my husband so often!). Didn't get that? That needs explanation: you see we ladies plan the ladies club parties, every second month a...