Instant splurge on 'Maati'.....Thank you 'Once Upon A Tea Time'!

Woke up this morning quiet miffed & muddled at the mundane routine of playing mother, wife and God knows what else.

The day began with on a ‘not so happy note' with my husband over my toddler followed by unnecessary banter over regular daily fusses. This was post my morning cup of chai (thank God), got lil boy ready for school and then felt miserable that I have changed so much as a human being...sulk...sulk...sulk! Just while I did manage to bring down my daily pace to a near zero on the meter gauge this post by 'Once Upon A Tea Time' brought by a ray of hope.

Sulk bubble 1 burst when I read that this beautiful shop called Maati (meaning Earth stands for the essence of nature and earth that’s imbibed into all handmade crafts in India) Crafts was only about 100 meters from my home (that's a big high for anyone remotely aware of Mumbai n distances)! So next thing was a quick shower and post my breakfast I was in my car driving to Maati...

Sulk bubble 2 burst the moment I stepped into the store. Greeted by dokra metal craft (I am very fond of this craft) from Madhya Pradesh (most popular in this n neighbouring states like Jharkahnd), textiles from Rajasthan, Kutch, Chennai and clay pottery as well! Yippie...all under one roof and so close to home! By now I was feeling partially rejuvenated but completely unsure of how much will I buy! There were beautiful ceramic magnets in the form of colorful butterflies and bugs. Little artifacts like sheep, turtles, Giraffe's (cutest of the lot) and elephants all in clay glazed ceramic finish; some amazing kurti's and sareer's; Flower pots, dinner/heat and serve ware, teapots n cups; bedspread, silk cushion covers, material.... WOW!!!!

Fresh daisies

Claypot, the kind I like!

Sulk bubble 3 burst when I picked up a couple of flower vases, a beautiful ceramic aroma decanter and a vegetable die bedspread for the house. On my way back I picked up some flowers (rajanigandha/tube rose, a stalk of red glad and some white daisies) all set to get the house ready for my beloved husband...a kind of mid week surprise...stuff I'd love doing when I was just a few years younger!!! :D





Displayed at another angle. This time with the aroma decanter.


 

The second vase for my Budha corner.

Well...expensive way to burst the sulk bubbles but hey, ian't that the way most women feel good?

Once upon a tea time, you just made my sulk day into a memorable one. Thank you!

Signing off feeling 'not as miffed' anymore!!!









My chocolate Santa's gifted me an oven!!!

Always wanted to own a decently large oven and finally my sweet heart obliged and bought it for me today as a pre-Christmas gift. So finally I own a 40litre Morphy Richards oven and I just cant wait to bring in all the celebrations around the next few weeks.

I am so looking forward to some 'Happy Baking' times!

Bloggers who inspire me...

Almost 7 months into active blogging I am now a big fan of a few extremely talented blogger. I thought that writing a small post on them is the best way to extend my appreciation towards their work.

Aesthetically written articles (home or artifacts or spaces or personal grooming) seems to be my foremost topic of interest and who else can but make an impact other than Kamini from Once upon a tea time as well as Frangipani Decor

My fatigue buster blogs are Deezden, A cup of chai, Art n Light, Habitually chic, Amitpatty, Matsya and so many others that keep me company through the days.

When it comes to food everyone of the blogs is so yummy but of them I guess 3 hungry tummies, Kitchen tantra and Bong mom's cook book help me put together a meal effortlessly!

There is so much talent around each of these blogs that one can't stop at just 'being inspired' but keep blogging further...

It has been the most exciting blogging journey thus far and I am so looking forward to more in the future.

Bharatanrityam OR Bharatanatyam

My expresion of taal perhaps matured because of the wonderful dance form that I have been associated with as a child. Jogging back my memory, going for the regular weekend classes felt such a burden during those growing up days. I'd rather wear my sneakers and play base ball than toast in the sun while cycling down from home to the class, of course not to mention the hammering which one got for not stepping right at the beat of my guru-ji's taal!

A few memories that make you the person you are.

The quest around the dance form has deepend ever since. Today I am back to training under a new guru and feel a renewed rigor with which I pursue my talent. Determined that I will reach my arangetram this time I am readying myself with knowledge beyond the practical. I am reaching out to various sources of content to deepen my historical knowledge of this beautiful dance form.

Bharatnatyam is the one of the oldest classical dance form of India which originates from Tamil Nadu and is also popularly known as the 'fifth' veda. As the name depicts it is the combination of Bha-bhava, Ra-raaga & Ta-taala which gave rise to its name.

The spiritual symbolism of Bharatanatyam is a manifestation of the ancient idea of celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of beauty of the material body.  It consists of elaborate gestures (Mridu Angaharas, movements of limbs), sentiments (Rasas), emotional states (Bhavas). Actions (Kriyas) are its soul. The costumes are charmingly beautiful and love (Sringara) is its foundation.

Some of the well-known interpretations of dance form are by Padma Subrahmanyam that were based on 108 (karana's) brief movement phrases describing specific leg, hip, body, and arm movements accompanied by 52 hasta mudras (hand movements) described in the Natya shastra and other scriptures, and from depictions of the movements in sculpture in five South Indian temples, notably the Chidambaram temple which contains depictions of the full set. Some other Bharatanatyam gurus, such as Adyar Lakshman (Kalakshetra school) and Sheela Unnikrishnan (Mangudi school), as well as the Kuchipudi guru C.R.Acharya have also attempted to reconstruct all the 108 karanas, which were often significantly different from Padma Subrahmanyam's interpretations.

Due to the significant variations in the depictions, and due to the vague textual descriptions, most traditional Bharatanatyam schools considered Padma Subrahmanyam's interpretations as incorrect, which forced her to name her own style as Bharatanrityam rather than Bharatanatyam.

While there are still some elderly devadasis who perform all the 108 karanas, in most contemporary Bharatanatyam or Odissi schools only 50-60 karanas have been transmitted by parampara up to date.

Apart from that, performing of the same karana differ greatly across different classical Indian styles. Currently, as regards the exact technique, there are no established standards and no universally agreed upon interpretations of the texts and sculptures.