Xpressions

Lights show at Opera House It feels really different to have winter in May .. :) But the climate in Sydney is really beautiful. So even in winters we have sunny days which really feel great. Another event we were looking forward to was Vivid Sydney - the festival of lights, music and ideas. The main venue for this is the Opera House and the area around it. The preparations start about a week in advance. They have huge light installations along the Rocks. The buildings in CBD also participate in this with their own installations and idea exchange forums. There are many music shows as well lined up during this event at various venues around Sydney. Custom House Color changing light panels The main attractions this year were the 'Move your Building' installation at the Custom House. This had a digital projection over the whole building with music. There were few specific themes during which the music and the projection played in sync to create an illusion...

If you are celebrating some occassion in sydney, you have to go to Darling Harbor .. :) Opera House Amazing place with lots of good restaurants at the waterfront. So many options to choose from that you dont have to worry about being a vegetarian either .. :). Yeah, I'm not a vegetarian but I always prefer going to a veg-friendly place because both me and hubz are very fussy about what meat we eat. So it's always good to have veg options handy in case we do not get anything to our liking. Harbor bridge Sydney Skyline from the boat Although it was a weekday, we made bookings in advance so as not to have any surprises. It's easy enough to book any restaurants from their websites. From Circular Quay, there are regular ferries going to Darling Harbor. Although you can always walk or take a train if you want to travel to Darling harbor from the city, taking a boat adds that extra special touch to a beautiful evening .. :) A liesure walk around the Circular ...

Hardly coming out of the new year mode ... and lo!! .. here is Makar Sankranti ... the 1st festival of this year .. :) This festival is celebrated with different names in different parts of our great country ... in the southern state of Tamil Nadu it's Pongal the harvest festival. While in northern parts of the country it's the Lohri. In Maharashtra and adjacent states we celebrate it as Makar Sankranti ... As kids, we used to love this day for the 'Tilgul' - it's a sweet made from sesame seeds and jaggery, embellished with dry fruits and coconut shavings. We had this custom of wearing new cloths and going to people's houses offering to give them tilgul and they return the same gesture mostly with gifts as well for the kids - be it just a pencil or a few coins .. :) Tilgul is offered to people as a gesture of renewing ties, forgetting fights and coming back together. "Tilgul ghya ... god god bola amcha tilgul sandu naka ... amchya shi bh...

Had an amazing Diwali this year ... had been to Kolkatta - the city of joy. More on the trip later .. :) Enjoyed a lot in the office as well .. with a whole week of activities - cube decorations and diya painting events. And office decorations - as always were totally amazing. They put you into the festive mood with lights and rangoli, diyas and flowers everywhere ... On home front .. it was mostly travelling. Getting to see Diwali in Kolkatta .. with Kali Puja and loads of rassogullas .. :) I've moved yet again. Same city, another house .. :) . So missed the Diwali and specially the fire cracker show in Magarpatta.

My favorite time of the year is here ... :) It's Ganesh Utsav and most housing complexes and several Ganesh mandals all over the city are decked up to welcome Ganapati Bappa. This 10 day festival starts with installing the Ganesh idol and daily poojas and aartis. Most mandals organize different social events, blood donation camps,charity events as well as entertainment events like talent shows and music shows. At our house too we install the Ganesh idol and invite friends and relatives over for aarti and prasad. This year we went for a completely Eco-friendly Ganesha. We got the idol from a local vendor and it was made out of 'shadu maati'. They had used natural dyes and colors made out of turmeric and kumkum for painting the idol. It really looked very beautiful and serene. For the decorations, it was a simple lotus made out of pink card sheet paper. No thermocol or plastic decorations this year .. :). With a blue cloth for background and green colored handmade pape...

Another year ... another wonderful Diwali ... :) t'was more about lights and tradition this year ....   Decorated my home with lights and diyas ... Even created a diya shape out of diyas .. :D    This is my favorite snap of this year ....  This lighted diya looked wonderful and serene.   Also tried some traditional Rangoli designs ... done with help of a pattern though. Not an original creation ...   There was a grand fire cracker show at Magarpatta. Was able to witness it for the second year in a row. They also decorate all the office buildings with thousands of lamps. Feels awesome to walk along the path. Celebrations @office were also more on traditional lines with these rangoli patterns and a decorated 'Killa' 

Yesterday was the last day of the 10-Day Ganesh Festival in Pune. On this day, the Ganesh idols are immersed in water - symbolic to Lord Ganesha travelling back to his abode. Pune being the cultural capital of Maharashtra, has certain mandals which are more than a 100 years old. These mandals carry out the festivities as well as the last day procession in the same traditional ways even today. I was lucky enough to be able to catch the first 5 "Pahilya Manache" Ganesh in procession this year. Below are some snaps of the interesting traditional festivities carried on in the procession.   The roads were adorned by beautiful colorful  rangolis. Some so huge, they covered the entire chowk...  Here comes the first Ganesh - Kasaba Ganapati - The Gram Daivat (City Deity) of Pune ... in full welcome sounds of the 'Tutari' This is the actual Deity, which is taken out for this procession in a Palkhi. There is a huge crowd gathered for darshan .. The...

Love this festive season in Pune. And the ongoing Ganesha festival is kind of an identity for the city. So many beautifully decorated idols are seen everywhere across the city. I love visiting the inner city areas of laxmi road and peths to catch a glimpse of the decorations.  We also celebrate it socially in our societies/colonies. We have several cultural programs and competitions. This has always been a time we kids looked forward to in our school days. In our teens this was a good bonding time which more than often saw a love story taking shape .. :). Personally, I've always looked  forward to this festival for the modaks .. :D. Our society had a wonderful program this year as well and a very peaceful Ganesha idol which you can't take your eyes off. We celebrate this festival at home as well. From childhood days, I remember working hard into the night the previous day to complete the decorations. On the Ganesha pooja day, we start the day early. Bath i...