Quintessential Indian Summer Pt-1

Sharing a few glimpses from my recent Indian trip...

My Friend...

Do not keep to yourself

the secret of your heart,

my friend.

Say it to me,

only to me, in secret.

You who smile so gently,

softly whisper,

my heart will hear it,

not my ears.

The night is deep,

the house is so silent,

the birds' nest are shrouded with sleep.

Speak to me through hesitating tears,

through faltering smiles,

through sweet shame and pain,

the secret of your heart!

Poetry by Tagore, translated by Gulzar

Happy Rakshabandhan...

Celebrated Rakshabandhan today, its a special festival for celebrating the bond between a brother and sister or as I like to celebrate it, its the celebration of bond between siblings…

I made these Rakhis with the help of my little one and was so happy and thankful for the technology that I was able to chat with my brother. It was the next best thing after celebrating in person.

Weaving Dhurrie

I have been in the market for a Dhurrie rug for quite some time and since I know that its predominantly made in northern India I decided to source mine direct from an artist/weaver...
So, during my India trip I asked my dad to use his connections and set up a meeting with dhurrie weavers so I can make a purchase and photograph them in action.

One hot summer evening while the air was so heavy and stagnant that I questioned its ability to carry sound waves, we stepped into the narrow lanes of the old city. The streets were so narrow that a small car wouldn't fit through even on a one way street and so we parked the car, abandoned the comfort of air conditioner and set out on foot. We were guided by my Dad's car mechanic, he lives in the weavers community and a lot of his extended family is still in the business of weaving canvas and rugs.

Wraparound Sari skirts… Etsy product update

If you are a regular blog reader then you are perhaps already familiar with my love of saris, the unstitched fabric. I have a huge collection of it despite the fact that I don’t get to wear them on a daily basis. I have shared my passion for saris with my other friends who are not of Indian origin through sari parties and it has always been fun.

Chanderi… Handloomed silk saris

Last month as we were travelling through various cities in India, I made it a point to scout out artists in local markets and buy directly from them. During one such quest I met a family of weavers from the town of Chanderi where the famous saris with the same name and gossamer glow are handmade on looms. Chanderi sari is now protected by the geographic indicator (GI) and can only be called so if it’s produced in the region as defined under the GI and is recognized by World Trade Organization. Further demarcation for these Chanderi saris is that they can only be hand loomed, so if you are buying a real chanderi you can rest assured that it is handmade and not woven on a power loom.

Catching a breath...

A street corner in Italy

Just came back from a whirlwind trip to Italy and India. As excited as I was to get away, I am happy to be back to the lulling comfort of a routine. I loved the exotic and I’m ready to the same old… for some time to come at least.

Vishnu Dashavtar 

I’ll share my travel stories in upcoming posts and I am really excited about them since I delegated some of them to DH (darling husband). We spent a week in Rome and Tuscany and then about 3 weeks in the northern part of India. I had the opportunity to see some wonderful architecture, meet some artisans and of course spend time with family. And as I said more on that coming soon

German farmland from air

Taking a break from the routine is a wonderful reset button that re-programs the established patterns and invigorates you. After the trip, the ideas are just pouring in and I am trying to find ways to prioritize yet not get overwhelmed and cocooned into procrastination.

A street corner in Lucknow, India

Just started reading the book ‘Manage your day to day’ on the instagram recommendation of Pam Garrison. I am always inspired by her art work and hope that this book has some pointers for me to pursue an artist career while also working full time as an engineer in my day-job. I have been at it for quite some time but looking to some sustainable routines that can evolve overtime.

Imarti, one of our favorite sweet from India

An ornate door from India

Cotton Lehnga for Dolls- Etsy update

This weekend I carved out some studio time and finished making Lehnga (Indian dress) for the dolls. Started working on it last weekend but was able to put finishing touches today and then photograph it too.

Lehnga for an American Girl Doll

Its festival season and this year I chose to make dresses for the dolls instead of my girls. Remember the sari that I made for them last year on Diwali, well they are well preserved in the dresser drawer ever since and I am not sure if they’ll wear it again (read: fit into it again).

The little 18 inch dolls offer a lot more predictability and the kids are still introduced to a cultural element, hence the decision to make lehnga for the dolls. Lehnga is a traditional Indian dress comprised of a long skirt, a short top and a veil; and to stitch this outfit I used a combination of red polyester fabric and upcycled the embroidered sheer fabric from an odhni (veil).

Ahimsa (Non Violence) Silk

Silk might have been first discovered in China but once it entered the land of Buddha, it took on a new journey and a totally different perspective. Few people know that production of fine silk essentially requires the death of all the moths that form the cocoons which is unraveled for its silk strand. But there is an alternative, the silk can be produced without such violence.

A Kanjivaram sari from my collection

Although it is said that the making of silk was a secret in Chinese court till about 5^th Century, there have been archaeological evidence from over 5000 years ago from the exploration at the Harappa Mohenjo-Daro civilization site of the presence of wild silk cocoons and perhaps of their use for making fabrics.

According to Chinese legend, silk was an accidental discovery around circa 2600 BC when XiLingJi, the wife of China's third Emperor also called the "Yellow Emperor", found a silk cocoon in her tea cup. She happened to be enjoying tea under in the garden under the shade of Mulberry when a cocoon fell in her tea and the warmth of the water made it unravel and the silky strands were discovered. The queen had all such cocoons collected from the palace gardens and spun into threads for weaving which were then loomed to make fabric for king’s robe. Silk instantaneously became the symbol of ultimate luxury and a guarded secret in the Chinese court; only the highest of the royal subjects besides the king and queen were allowed to wear it. 

Eventually, the art of sericulture traveled along the silk route and reached the land of Buddha, modern day Bihar. Co-existing and respect for living creatures and the surroundings is one teaching of Buddha that monks and laity followed unquestioningly. So when the weavers who weaved fabrics for Buddha’s disciple took to rearing silk cocoons, instead of killing the caterpillar, they waited till the moth left the cocoon before unraveling and spinning the threads.

This special art of sericulture is tedious and requires a lot of patience and isn’t as profitable as the fast and quality controlled version. A handful of weavers are still pursuing this art form, but largely it’s on the path of slow demise. Since the cocoons are raised in the wild and are matured till the moth leaves the cocoon, the silk made from these strands are not as fine and the quality of final product is not uniform; it is something that can be described with the Japanese word, wabi-sabi.  

Here’s a visual journey of the process…

Raw silk, photo courtesy: Monica Harvey

Isolating stands from cocoons; photo courtesy: Monica Harvey

Spindle Wheel

Charkha for making silk threads

skein of silk; photo courtesy: Monica Harvey

Threads being prepared for the loom

Hand Loom

Here is a small video of the making of threads from the silk strands. This video was shot and shared by my friend, Monica. She is also sharing some of her travel experiences to Nalanda through her blog: Nalanda Journey.

Himalaya by Michael Palin

It had been 10 calendar days since my return from the Himalayas but the memories of it still lingered in the forefront of my mind when I first spotted this book in the duty free shop at Indira Gandhi International Airport at Delhi as we were returning back from India. I wanted to submerge in this warm glow of this book but the carry-on luggage already bursting to its seams prevented me from making another purchase.

Our first weekend back from the month long trip, besides stocking up on the groceries we went to the local library to stock up on the reading material as well and since I so vehemently believe in signs, when I spotted this book at the shelf, I knew I needed to read the book.

I became familiar with Michael Palin, after DH read the book Sahara and we watched the BBC documentary of the same name. I loved his style of connecting with the people and his matter of fact approach to local customs and way of life.

The book revolves around 3000miles journey through the entire the Himalayan range along with the Hindu Kush mountain range and the Karakorum that was part of the documentary that is on my wish list to see next. It included visits to 6 countries - Pakistan, India, Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

The documented journey starts from Khyber Pass in Pakistan, goes through Chitral, Gilgit, Scardu, Karakoram highway among other places before entering India through Wagah border at Amritsar.
So far I found the journey extremely interesting but as soon as it crosses the border and enters India, there was something substantially lacking in the depth of the topics covered. It seemed that the book was trying to paint the whole scene with a very broad brush and there could be multiple reasons. I, for one, am very familiar with the region and was looking for more details than the documentary planned to include also my memories were so rich from the recent travel that I kept think but well, ‘you missed this or that’. Other than that the views, but for obvious reasons, were influenced by the escort/guide that they picked for the travel in particular regions and lacked in depth research on the area and the subjects. But this impression was mostly present in the India portion of journey, at other times in other countries, I wasn’t aware of the complete story so could just question in my mind so about the other side of the story and move on.

But this book nonetheless increased my curiosity for the regions thriving within the himalayan range and I can tell this quest is going to end up in going through many books before I can physically visit each of them. I am no mountaineer but now have a deep desire to at least travel to the base camp of Everest and K2 and experience it for myself, may capture it through my lens and bring it along.

Michael Palin has a website for all his travel documentaries and books that have extensive pictures from the trip. You can explore 'Himalaya' and decide for yourself the travel and cultural prospect of the region. I once more find myself smitten...

Peaceful moments on Dal Lake- Kashmir

In the moments of peace and silence when you seem to be a trespasser in your own life, I found myself, arrested in my own wandering thoughts instead of struggling to break free, I witnessed life in all its wonderment…


Evening on Dal Lake

Sunlit Mountains in the morning



Flower vendors

I think I got a glimpse of true ‘peace’ on Dal Lake while waiting for sunshine to reach me and it did. It was more than just a few fleeting moments and I am so thankful for the experience. Dal Lake at the foothills of Himalaya is surrounded by the same range on three sides and I was told prior to my recent visit that sunset and sunrise were extremely beautiful on the lake. I checked the sunrise time on my phone and set up my alarm for 5 minutes prior to that but when I woke up, I was disappointed to hear the pitter patter of a thunderstorm. Despite DH’s request that we should go back to sleep, I insisted that we at least we go out to the front porch in the house boat. Everything on the porch was wet but the rain had stopped and a close cloud cover hovered around. After a few minutes DH went back to the comforts of a warm bed but I decided to linger around for a bit longer. Sun had barely lit up the peaks of distant Himalayan Mountains and the valley was yet to be awaked from its slumber, amidst the quiet of the morning a faint sound of the aarti flowed into my consciousness and as I paid attention it became clearer and I realized that it was coming from the Shankaracharya temple situated on the top of the hill right in front of me, about a thousand feet above my surroundings. The prayers must have lasted more than 45 minutes and apart from a few interruptions from our fellow occupants of the boat, who rushed out on the porch eagerly to make sure they didn’t miss the sunrise shot and made an equal eager exit, disappearing back into their rooms to see the cloud cover, things remained calm.

Shankaracharya Temple atop hill

Shikara

Shikara for the tourists

Sunset captured on Dal

I took a few breaks to capture a few shots in changing lights but mostly focused on the sound that carried me with it. It was a ‘peace and blessing’ that still lingers in my heart and all I have to do is to still my mind to immerse myself in its divinity. It is hard to communicate the calm I felt and the sounds I experienced but the morning pictures might let you in on the secret. It was serenity that pierced into the soul and grounded you into the moment.


It doesn't matter how you went to sleep but what really matters is what you awaken to... Morning on Dal Lake, Kashmir

 Soon, the aarti was over and the distant calm was taken over by the traffic noise on the boulevard along the lake shore and there were breakfast and tea orders to be placed and kids to be tended to and routines of life that actually brought me to that moment demanded their presence back in life. The rest of the day was equally fabulous but those solitary morning moments remain close to my heart.

The lake has self-sufficient system of its own with many houseboat resorts that mainly evolved around late 18th century British visitors that wanted to stay in the valley where the construction of houses was prohibited and circumvented the rule by staying in the anchored house boats. The boats were made with exquisitely carved cedar wood and equipped with facilities keeping in mind the European travelers. The main economy of the Dal Lake system is through tourism in summer months but to an outsider it seems to have a strong backbone that continues sustenance in the cooler months as well.

Post Office on lake



7-11 on shikara



Beautifully carved front Porch

Beautiful all around

Sikara is a small wooden canoe with a canopy on top which is exclusive to this area and are used for commuting passengers from shore to boat along with using them as mobile shops for selling everything from fresh flowers to jewelry to cigarettes…

Ever since my recent visit to Dal Lake, I have been smitten by it and trying to collect information and through that I discovered the major environmental controversies surrounding the tourism and houseboat industry. Pollution in the lake was an imminent problem that I had experienced myself and also while talking to the house boat manager but I haven’t done enough research to make an observation but just that in the true Indian tradition of ‘Atithi Devo Bhav’ (Guests are like Gods), the Dal Lake never spoke to me about its pain and dilemmas but conveyed to its best the serenity that I was seeking from it. Perhaps this warrants another future visit to assess how I can repay for the hospitality she bestowed me with this time around…  

Gujhiya

I am not a cook but I love to entertain and experiment with new recipes and at the same time I cook all the traditional fare for the festivals that we celebrate. It is a little tougher here away from Traditional Indian markets because you don't get many of the prepped ingredients like you might find in India and neither do you have an experienced maid at your disposal that you can delegate things too but these limitations just add to the adventure of starting from the scratch.
Well not quite so cause I didn't grow/grind the wheat and neither did I adopt a cow for a pet... He..he...he...

Since I got so many hits on the Roti photo post, I decided to do a similar photo version of the process of making 'Gujhiyas'. Gujhiyas are a traditional holi festival dish and are made with a shell of wheat flour dough which is filled with various soft fillings, like jaggery and dried ginger, coconut, sweet semolina, milk solids. The milk solid (Khoya or Mava) filling is the most common gujhiya in North India and can be found in sweet shops there around the spring time. I think its closest food cousin on this side of the world would be the South American sweet 'Empanadas'.
Again since I am not a cook, there are no recipes from me but I'm sure there must be plenty available on the web if you have the urge to make some yourself.

First off, you start with Khoya for the filling and its a long and slow process that requires continuous attention of boiling milk slowly till it turns solid. I have had many friends ask me if there's a trick and how is that even possible but trust me it does eventually turns into a paste and then a drier paste too. I start this process a few days in advance and keep the khoya ready in the fridge for whenever I am ready to make Gujhiyas. And this is one step that I sometimes wish I could delegate to a 'help' or buy fresh from the market, but given the circumstances, DH is my biggest help and he usually does a better job of making khoya than me :-)



Thickening Milk




A few specks in the milk from when
I wasn't paying attention and milk stuck to the
bottom of the pan.



Turning into a loose paste



Almost there...





Filling is ready- mixed with sugar, a little coconut and raisins

Caution: Don't add nuts that can damage the shell cause if the gujhiya breaks while frying it spoils the oil in the pan and its tough to salvage that.

Roll the dough



Add the filling




Fold into a semicircle and seal edges



make a few at a time and store in a cheese cloth
to prevent from drying out



Fry it on high heat, till medium brown



And its ready to be devoured