Thursday, 12 September 2013

Krishna and the Syamantaka Jewel.

Hello Everyone..
Ganesh Utsav is proceeding on a full swing in Mumbai and I am loving every bit of it.
Work has been keeping me away from visting most of the Ganesh Pandals, but I intend to make the most of it during the weekend.
Like I promised in my last post, I am going to tell you a way to redeem oneself from the curse of the moon.
What if you accidently see the moon on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi??
You need not worry, as we have an anitidote for it. For that, you just have to be patient and read the story I have written below. It sure looks long, but is an interesting one.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

Satrajit was a nobleman of the Yadava dynasty and a big devotee of Surya or the Sun God.  Humbled and pleased by his devotion, the Sun God had presented him with a jewel called Syamantaka. This jewel is believed to posess magical powers and would mutiply the weath of the owner. It is also mentioned in some religious literatures that wherever this jewel is worshipped there would be no poverty..ever.
And hence, Lord Krishna had requested Satrajit to hand this jewel to Ugrasen who was the Supreme Leader of the Yadavas, so that the entire dynasty could benefit from it. But Satrajit had blatantly refused the Lord.
Once Satrajit had given the jewel to his brother to wear it, who went hunting adorning the jewel. Unfortunately, he was attacked and killed by a lion. This lion seeing the gleaming jewel, decided to take it with him to his cave.
On his way, the lion spotted a bear nearby, and he attacked the bear to make him his meal.
This bear was actually Jambavan, the king of Bears who had helped Lord Rama in his fight against Ravana.
Jambavan, beingh his mighty self, defeated and killed the lion in no time. He took the jewel to his cave and gave it to his children to play.
Soon the news of Prasena gone missing spread like wild fire. Satrajit did not take a minute to accuse Krishna of his brother's death, to acquire the Syamantaka jewel.

On hearing this false accusation, Lord Krishna decided to investigate this matter himself, to wipe off the stain of his reputation. Krishna started tracking Prasena's footseps which led him to the jungle. There he finally landed up at Jambavan's cave. Seeing the jewel there, Lord Krishna requested Jambavan to hand him the jewel, but Jambavan seeing him as an intruder, challenged him for a fight.

The fight lasted for about 28 days, after which Jambavan started feeling weak. That is when he realised that the person he was fighting should be a divine being. He recognized Lord Krishna and offered his apologies. He then handed over the jewel to Lord Krishna and also the hand of his beautiful daughter Jambavati.
Lord Krishna accepted both. He then returned to Dwarka and surrendered the jewel to Satrajit after narrating him the entire story. Satrajit felt sorry fo his doings and to make ammends requested Lord Krishna to accept the jewel and the hand of his lovely daughter Satyabhama.
Lord Krishna accepted the hand of Satyabhama but refused to accept the jewel.

This is the story of Krishna and the Syamantaka jewel.
So, how is this story connected to the story of Ganpati and the cursed moon?
Let me elaborate a little.
Weeks later after this incident, Narada with an intension to seek Lord Krishna's Darshan decided to visit Dwarka. When he entered the Lord's room, he was surprised to see the Lord in a sad state of mind. When he prayed and requested the Lord to tell him the reason for his upset mood, Lord Krishna narrated him the above incident. He was happy that all this ended on a good note, but he wondered why did this have to happen in the first place. The whole incident and the accusations had caused the Lord a lot of agony and pain.
Though Lord Krishna is omnipotent and omnipresent, when they choose to be born as mortals, they make sure to abide and follows all rules applicable to normal mortal beings. And though Narada knew that the Lord, had complete knowledge of all the incidents and the reasons behind them, he decided to play along. Narada narrated Lord Krishna the entire story of Ganesh and the cursed moon, and reminded him of the curse that whoever sees the moon on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi shall be falsely accused. On hearing this story, Lord Krishna immediately recollected that he had seen the reflection of the moon on the precise same day.
He felt bad that if he himself had to face such hardships on seeing the moon on Ganesh Chaturthi, what would be the fate of ordinary mortal beings committing this act. And hence, Lord Krishna granted a boon that anyone who hears this story of Lord Krishna and the Syamantaka jewel, and how he proved all the false accusations on him to be untrue; shall be saved from the curse themselves.
Whoa..now that was one long story, but at the end of it, atleast all of you reading it are curse proof.

What say?? ;)

Below are the glimpses of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival through my eyes. Hope you enjoy them.






The Choorme Ke Laddo that we made for Bappa. :)
The Saran wrap nails that I tried for the first time. Not too happy with it. :(

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Sunday, 8 September 2013

Ganpati Bappa Morya..!

Ganpati Bappa Morya..
Pudchya Varshi Lavkar Ya..

Yes..its that time of the year again, when we are all set to welcome our favourite GOD.
It's Ganesh Chaturthi again, and So-Saree can't contain its excitement to welcome Ganesha on So-Saree.
Each Indian festival has a story behind it, and Ganesh Chaturthi is no different.
There are so many stories associated with this festival, and though we would love to cover each and every story, we have our limitations.
Lord Ganesha with his parents Shiva and Parvati.(Picture Source)
Ganesha/Ganpati or simply Bappa is the son of Shiva and Parvati.
And Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated on the birth day of Ganesha. It is a 10 day festival, and it is believed that Lord Ganesha blesses all his devotees with his presence on Earth.
There is an interesting story associated to this festival. Some call it a myth while some follow it religiously.
It is believed that we are not supposed to see the Moon on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, else you will be falsely accused in the coming year.
You ask why?? Well, there's a story behind it, and I really enjoyed hearing this story every year from my mom on the evening of Ganesh Chaturthi. I remember my dad used to close all the windows and curtains of the house while we heard our mom for the umpteenth time. It was sooo much fun.
So the story goes like this..!
One fine evening, somehwere in the month of Bhadrapad, Lord Ganesha was returning home on his vehicle i.e. the Mouse.
Lord Ganesha's weakness for food is well known, and his devotees had made sure that the Lord was completed satiated.
The little Mouse was tired of carrying Lord Ganesha on his back, but was trying hard to keep up. On a particular turn, the mouse slipped and Lord Ganesha fell from his back. On seeing the mighty Lord fall, the radiant and proud Moon started laughing aloud from the sky. He was amused at the sight of the Mighty Lord on the Tiny Mouse.
In order to teach him a lesson, Lord Ganesha cursed him that no light would ever fall on the moon.
{Like you know, Moon does not emit light on it own, its light is a reflection of the Sun.}
Thus, the moon went into the dark, and was invisible.
On realising his mistake, the Moon got apologetic and seeked forgiveness from Ganesha. However, a curse once given cannot be taken back or reversed, but it can be modified for sure.
Seeing the sorry Moon, Lord Ganesha modified the curse and said that the Moon would undergo regular waxing and waning so as to remind him of his mistake. Also on the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, no one would see his face and those who do, will face false accusations and hardships.
And so..the belief.
This is the story of the Cursed moon. Like it???

But what if..
what if you accidently see the Moon on Ganesh Chaturthi...??
No need to worry ..!
Coz we have an antidote for it.
But for that you will have to wait a little..
Until we meet next time..!!!!
Ganpati Bappa Morya...!

Disclaimer: Like I always say, this may not neseccarily be the correct version of the story, but this is how my mom recited it to me, and I am just putting it down in words. Thanks for reading.

Sunday, 1 September 2013

What's Your Good Name???

India is predominantly a Non-English speaking country.
Stats say that close to 90% of India's population, cannot speak or understand English, forget writing about it. { No need to feel sad..considering India's population, even the 10% English speaking population is HUGE  and the Best.:) }

The English ruled us for about 150 years, but could never really rule over our languages.
Considering all this and much more I do understand if everyone in India cannot speak English fluently. It is just fine...its not like ..its the end of this world.
But what I do have a problem with ...is that in order to pick up on their English speaking skills; people tend to do a literal transaltion of phrases and sentences of regional Indian languages in English.

My top pick: AAPKA SHUB NAAM aka What's Your Good Name?
GOD..can u believe it??
Seriously..??
Do you also have a bad/inauspicious name??
While I do try to explain anyone and everyone around me who utter these words, I feel it's just not enough. I wonder why bad/wrong habits are much more contagious and far reaching than the good/correct ones?
Anyways, while I am on a noble mission to save people from making a joke out of themselves, I wish you all join me in this noble cause to build a better tomorrow.

Or what the heck..just leave a nice comment on the pics below and save my day. That's much easier I guess...!





For this nail art, my inspiration was the Mixing Prints Trend, and so I decided to combine dots with stripes. What do you think?

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Sunday, 25 August 2013

Craftsvilla Dobaara

No points for guessing that I took some Bollywood inspiration for the title of my sequel post on Craftsvilla.;)

Since I really can't get over with my fascination for Craftsvilla, today I am going to share some of my favourite jewellery pieces from their collection.  Their jewellery collection is so huge and vast and covers almost all categories from fashion jewellery to the traditional ones.
And I want to repeat again, all the pieces are so reasonably priced so they don't even pinch your pockets too much.
Now, I will let the pics do some talking.


Buy it Here










If you like what you see, then you have just seen the tip of the iceberg. So I suggest you go ahead and browse their jewellery collection.

To know more about Craftsvilla, check the below links:

Friday, 16 August 2013

Craftsvilla.com

Today's post is a sponsored post..but let me assure you that the opinions expressed here are 100% mine.

When I was approached by Craftsvilla to review their site, I was really excited.
But when I visited their site, I was full of pride and respect.
Pride for the rich cultural heritage of India and
Respect for Craftsvilla who promotes and nurtures Traditional Indian art and artisans through their website.

Craftsvilla.com is not just a shopping website, it is a marketplace to "Discover Unique Indian Products".
The people at Craftsvilla connect with local artisans & designers directly to global customers and thereby increase their livelihood, remove middlemen, help them create/promote their brand and thereby preserve our culture, traditions and values.
And it is this belief of theirs to capture the regional variations of India is what sets them apart from the rest.
One look at their website, and I was animated.
From Clothing, Accessories, Home decor, Handicrafts to Books. They have it all.
And yes, how can I forget Sarees. Their collection of sarees is so exquisite and vast that I am completely awed. And they are so reasonably priced that I want to buy them all.

So keeping up with the So-Saree tradition, I am sharing pics of few of my favorite sarees.
Tell me which one you like.










To know more about Craftsvilla, check the below links:


Wednesday, 7 August 2013

Satya Paul's First Ever Demi Couture Line.

This is another impromptu post..
And the culprit this time was Masaba..
I just can't stop celebrating this woman.
Satya Paul And Masaba presented their first ever Demi-Couture collection at the Delhi Couture Week 2013.

So take a deep breath and indulge your senses ...
























I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!!
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Disclaimer: I do not own the images used in this post.

 

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