Let the People Choose-August Update

Hello Friends,
First Saturday of the month I join Jo for The People's Choice SAL . Jo takes a poll for people to choose a topic for the month and the participants then post about stitchy projects related to that topic.

This month's topic is Freedom.I have to be honest that I had no clue which project I can show for this topic , so I waited for Jo and other's interpretation.I was very tempted to copy Jo and Rachel's interpretation. 

Over the years I have seen tons of designs related to American Independence and patriotism but there aren't many related to other countries specifically India. So I decided to stitch something related to Indian independence as August is Independence Month for us Indians.

A stitched a small Indian flag and made into a fridge magnet . I think I'm very happy with result.Yesterday, my beautiful country completed 73 years of Independence.

This certainly has inspired me to stitch or look for more designs which show Indian culture .

Will keep this a short post, however I must ask how you are dealing with the new look of blogger. I have logged into blogger after a month and was surprised the new layout.Looks like I need some training to handle this new format.

Irani Cafe Food walk-Where food meets culture and history

Hello Friends,

Don't be surprised to see this post , I know its not normal for me to post twice within 3 days.

Well I thought why not I pen down(or in this case type) my feelings about a food walk I joined last Sunday.

Last Sunday , I had  a chance to join a couple of food enthusiasts for a food walk conducted by Soda Bottle Opener Wala- a chain of restaurant serving Parsi/Irani food across major cities of India.

For the people not knowing about different ethnic groups in India, here is an introduction:

Parsi is a term used for a person who migrated from Iran(then Persia) to India in 15th Century.The earliest of Parsis landed in Gujarat , the western most state of India , travelling thru sea . The Parsi community has a large presence culturally in Mumbai , my current city of residence. Interestingly , I haven't met many Parsis in my life most of  which was spent in Northern India where there numbers can be counted on fingers. So, that explains the interest in Food walk...

Karl Kolah was our guide , a Parsi himself,graciously answered all my questions, trust me I had dozens of them.

Our tour started with a serving of Mawa cake from B.Merwan's, to buy which Karl had to line up at 7.30 am.

Mawa Cake from B. Merwan

Our first stop was Yazdani Bakery , situated in older part of city. This bakery was opened in 1950 and still has machinery and furniture from that time.

The bread cutting machine

The good part of this bakery and the ones I'm going to talk about in the post is that they have been unaffected by the globalization and commercialization. Irani cafes are part of heritage as there are only 12-15 authentic cafes in Mumbai and still they refuse to capitalize the "Heritage" tag.

Our breakfast was Bun maska and brun maska , tradional Iranian bread with Irani Chai(tea).

Freshly baked buns slathered with butter , Maska -verb for putting butter on something

The main occupation of the Parsis who migrated to India was baking , hence they may be credited to introducing a new cooking method-Baking and Bread to us Indians.
Our next stop was Ideal Corner, a restaurant small on space , big on taste. We had traditional Parsi sodas bottled only for these cafes(not available in market elsewhere) ,egg pulao and my husband had a preparation called "Chicken Farcha". Though he was skeptical first as the preparation looked deep fried however when he ate it, he said this is a chicken preparation unlike any he has eaten in life , the stuffing and spice were quite unique.

Building housing Ideal Corner

Most of the traditional Irani cafes were in corner buildings.

Our third stop was Kyani& Co. , by the time we reached there we were so full that we couldn't imagine eating anymore. However on insistence of our guides we tried the cookies , also very typical of Parsi cafe.

From bottom left-Wine biscuits, Caramel Custard, Ginger biscuits and Shrewsberry

The last traditional cafe we visited was Sassanian Boulangerie, which was established in 1913. As you enter the cafe , you realise time has stood still here, with the wooden chairs, marble table top, kitchen adjoining the sitting area .

The tour ended with tea and mawa cake at SBOW , Lower Parel . The cafe tries to recreate the charm of old Irani cafes with its mirror paintings, chequered table cloths and photos of Parsi people back from 20th century.

Traditional Parsi Mirror drawings

While we were sipping our chai and discussing the tour , a fellow food walker and history teacher shared a story about first arrival of Parsis on the coast of Gujarat. When the Parsis landed on the coast, they asked permission of the then King to accommodate the new arrivals. The King sent a glass full of milk to the Parsi chief indicating that the area was already full and couldn't accommodate anymore people.The Parsi chief calmly provided a solution to the problem, he stirred some sugar in that milk and told the King as the sugar didn't spill the milk and mixed so well, we Parsis will mix in your society with no hiccups.
And that's what they did, the Parsis in present day India speak Gujarati(language of state of Gujarat), wear Saris, have inculcated many vegetables in their food preparation.
It is not only food and culture thru which they contributed to their new chosen homeland,the earliest business houses set up in India were by Parsis. Also mentionable is their contribution to India's freedom struggle .These business houses are backbone of Indian Economy today .

With my limited knowledge and interaction with this wonderful community , I think they live with the motto "Majja ni life" which simply means “a life full of enjoyment".

I enjoyed the tour a lot as it not only introduced me to Parsi food but also the history of the community and I got to see and experience  so many things like the typical red chequered table cloth and the mirror paints which can't be found in any other part of India.

Hello from Mumbai!

Hello Friends,

How have you been? Hope you missed me...😀

I write this post from my new home in Mumbai, capital of Maharashtra, a central state in India. Its been 48 days since we landed in Mumbai with dozen of bags and a scared cat.

While the house is far from "set" , I have been missing blogging so thought of writing a quick post.

For those of you who don't know Mumbai, erstwhile Bombay, is financial capital of India. Its one of the largest and most populous city in the country.The city is home to business houses established in British colonization era and to Indian movie industry called Bollywood apart from many other things.

The city has always caught attention of people from other parts of the country as well other countries and is called City of Dreams, City that never sleeps .Millions of people from across breadth of India come to Mumbai everyday to fulfill their dreams.

So far things have been good and I'm enjoying my new role of being at home(won't use the word housewife). I have decided to take things slowly , we only have a running kitchen and furniture in master bedroom .

What I enjoy most is the freedom of roaming around without carrying a residence proof. If you wonder why I say that its because in Kuwait , every expat has to carry a residence proof at all times and failure to do so can lead to deportation.

The second thing I enjoy most is how well connected the city is, the public transport is like a spider web here with intracity trains called local, metro trains, buses and monorail apart from autorickshaws and taxis. I have been able to go to places whenever I want by myself without spending a fortune on taxis .

One such day was last Saturday when I took a local to attend WWKIP (World Wide Knit in Public day) organised by Mumbai Ravelers. If you have followed me for a while, you know how KIP is a very important part of my crafty life , I hosted 3 KIPs in Kuwait with the very first in country in 2015.
Though I didn't organise or host KIP this time , I suggested the group meets on 8th after I joined it. Apparently the group hadn't met in months (over 2 years?).

We met at a cozy cafe which hosts Yoga sessions ,a total of 12 ladies attended the meetup and it was so much fun. The group is so talented with variety of crafts like weaving, knitting and crocheting. Some of them are designers, I was in awe!.

I share a picture of all the projects displayed together, though I wanted to click individual pictures of these projects.

On personal crafting front , I haven't been crafting much. Recently picked up my knitting needles and finished a scarf. Pictures to follow later.

While we have been busy setting up the house , we did take time out to explore the city. Husband and I are such travel addicts that we couldn't wait for us to settle down fully to explore the city. I will share a few pictures . Feel free to read about these buildings/monuments on wikipedia or ask in comments.

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus ,also known by its former name Victoria Terminus , is a historic railway station and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.The station was designed by Frederick William Stevens according to the concept of Victorian Italianate Gothic Revival architecture and meant to be a similar revival of Indian Goth (classical era) architecture. The station was built in 1887 .

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus or Victoria Terminus 

 The Municipal Corporation Building, Mumbai,built in 1893. Architectural style Gothic Revival style.

Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai , popularly known by its former name Crawford Market , is one of South Mumbai's most famous markets. 

I would like to be more regular with my travel posts now compared to Kuwait , I hope I'm able to share more of this hobby of mine with you.

Friends, I have been reading your blogs , however as I do it from my mobile, leaving a comment is not possible. Once things get more settled , I will try to make a schedule for reading blogs from my laptop.

I hope you enjoy this update as much as you liked reading about my life in Kuwait.

Will see you for GG SAL update soon.

Mesmerizing Garhwal - Part II

See Part I here

The group had lots of stories about the summit climb which were shared on the way to our accommodation for 3rd night. After a short drive the bus stopped on a narrow road. We were told this is where we will be staying for the night. We started looking around and couldn’t see any building, hut or even a brick around. We disembarked the bus, carrying our bags and started following the guide to a place unknown. After walking down a trail among trees this what we saw

Camp Chalkot

A camping ground with pre-assembled tents, the camp had portable toilets, a kitchen where cooks prepared food for the guests. “No electricity, no mobile connection here” is what we were told once we were allotted tents. For once we thought how can we survive with no electricity, no mobile connection in these days. But we did…

Oh what fun it was to request for a bucket of water to clean yourself, water being fetched from the nearby river. I have stayed in a tent before but never used portable toilets or lived without electricity. It was so much fun using torches to navigate to the dining area after sunset , eating local food, karaoke around the bon-fire.

We decided to sleep early to recover from the strenuous hike of the day, to be ready for the next day. Though I must say it’s difficult to sleep when it’s so quite that you can hear people moving in next tent..ha ha .

Day 4 –We had an early start for a long drive to Joshimath, elevation 6200ft. Five hours later we were in queue for a ropeway cable car (or trolley as we call it in India) ride to Auli .Auli cable ropeway holds a record of longest in Asia with total length of 4.15 km. 

Its lower tower is at 1906 m from MSL and the upper tower is at 3016 m. The view from the ropeway captures beauty of the snow covered peaks, the alpine forest and the bracing climate.

View from the cable car

20 min ride to Auli and we were ready for a short trek to valley of Gurson Bugyal (bugyal means meadows in local language).We reached the meadows after trekking through dense oak forest with occasional spotting of Nanda Devi peak.

Our tents at Gurson Bugyal

On reaching the meadow, we selected a ground big enough to accommodate the whole group. We were trained how to assemble our tents, pack our bags and instructions on how to keep away from forest animals and use no water toilets. Boy, did I laugh and weird when it was described on how to use ecofriendly establishments.

View from our tents

Sunset at Gursan Bugyal

The temperature started dipping with the sun going down and everyone started feeling hungry.

The kitchen and dining area consisted of two taller tents and we were served instant noodles “maggi” as evening snacks. Trust me instant noodles never tasted better than on that cold evening. The whole group gathered in small tent of 10 ft by 10ft, sitting so tight, helping each other keep warm. No one wanted to move and go back to their tents to come back for dinner. We decided to stay where we were and started sharing stories from our childhood. We had such a blast laughing our hearts out at the things we did as a kid. Dinner was served and we ate whatever was served never thinking how much we were eating.

Now sleeping in these tents was another story….we started teasing each other that how a jackal can enter this tent or a strong wind will blow it.

It was decided to wake up early to see sunrise at some of the highest peaks of Himalayas. I knew that’s not my cup of tea, waking up early is one thing which I haven’t achieved my whole life.

Day 5: I woke up at 4 am to the sounds of birds chipping. I wasn't able to sleep properly as I was cold inside the sleeping bag. Hubby said why don’t you join us when you are up.I joined the early risers for a small hike for a better view of the sunrise point.

I must say the sunrise was one of the most beautiful natural phenomenon I have seen so far. It was a blessing to be present there and see the colors changing, light filtering thru clouds and sun rise behind the mountains.

  

The only task for the day was to walk down to the cable car boarding point which seemed easy after the last two days.

View of Nandadevi peak,the second highest mountain in India

After a few hours bus ride , we reached our cottage in Auli with overcast sky and snow covered peaks as the view from the window.

Our cottage at Auli

Everyone took nap, and evening we played cards, sang , shared jokes and had a good rest .

Day 6 – This was travel day back to Dehradun, the group members had become quite close to each other after spending such wonderful times together. The journey back was full of talks of what memories we created.

With heavy hearts we said good bye to the group and got down at Rishikesh (Translates to Hair of a Sage) . Rishikesh is a small town in the foothills of Himalayas with many Hindu temples.

Day 7 - We had our flight in the afternoon so we decided to visit Ram Jhula  which is an iron suspension bridge across the river Ganges built in 1986. We visited the nearby ashrams  to understand more about history of the town.

A late afternoon flight from Dehradun brought us to Kuwait , and an incredible journey in the Himalayas came to an end.

I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings about this trip of mine.

Mesmerizing Garhwal - Part I :My first summit climb

Hello everyone,

The year is coming to an end and I’m so behind in everything: blogging, journaling, crafting. As much as I feel guilty about this, I think the only way to act on this is to pull up my socks and try and catch up. I don’t have any crafting update for now, but I thought I will write about one of my travels this year.

Its month of May, hot here in Kuwait and temperatures are touching 50 deg C (122 deg F). I’m not sure if I have mentioned this before but Hubby and I work in same company and same department… I can imagine your reaction after reading this … Are you crazy? Being together 24 hrs? How come one of you haven’t killed the other? Ha ha. Ok, so the point of telling you this is we can get leave from work at same time (most of the times) and that’s what happened when we finished some big projects in early May.

Hubby hadn’t had a break since long and we wanted to take a quick one which didn’t involve much planning and specially no visa requirement. The obvious choice was India, my sweet home land.

One of the family members had mentioned Foliage Outdoors a few time as he had taken short trips with them. So we checked their website to see whether they had any tours that matched our interest.

As we knew it would be summer in India too, we chose a trek to Himalayan Garhwal region to keep away from the heat. With no mood to plan an itinerary I left everything to Hubby, though I had my apprehensions as we haven’t used services of a tour company in India before.

Hubby tells me the booking process was easy and the tour company representatives were helpful with our queries. We received instructions for things to carry for the trek. One of them was to carry woolen clothes along with socks and gloves. If you have been following my blog since sometime you may know how I love winters and hubby doesn’t. While discussing what to pack Hubby kept telling me he will pack his winter jackets and I kept laughing at him that why are you scared of winters? It can’t be cold when Delhi, which is some 250 km away from Garhwal ,is experiencing temps as high as 48 degC (118 deg F). You see, I like to travel light and didn’t want to carry stuff which won’t be used.

My limited knowledge of Indian weather was proved wrong when a day before boarding the flight we started checking temperatures for the places we were supposed to stay. Out went summer clothes and the bag was full of winter clothes.

We took a flight to New Delhi, nearest connecting airport to Dehradun from where our tour started. We stayed in New Delhi for few days and spent quality time with my brother and his family.

On 21st we took an overnight train to Dehradun, meeting our tour guide on Delhi railway station. I’m always excited about train journeys as it reminds me of my childhood and teenage when we used to travel by train to reach cities where my grandparents lived. Our reservation was waitlisted but it was upgraded to RAC (Reservation against Cancellation -  a common term used by Indian Railways). Me and Hubby were allotted 1 sleeping birth, and we had no problems with that!

The tour started on 22nd May with a bus drive to Kund. The journey was long with some scenic stop. We were provided accommodation at Himalayan Eco Lodge in Kund near Rudra Prayag with the river Mandikini flowing nearby.

Picture taken at Himalayan Eco Lodge

Next morning after an early breakfast we started our bus journey to base of Deoriatal. We were told it is an easy trek and the distance will be covered in no time. No kidding… after months of sitting in anair-conditioned office, my lazy body found the trek difficult. But as always it’s always tough initially and once you get the hang of the terrain and re learn to control your breath, it becomes easier.

This was the view after 1.5 hrs of trekking… We had fun here with some group activities, listening to myths about the lake.

Deoriatal

On the way back to the cottages, we stopped at an ancient Hindu Temple. Though I’m not religious, I’m always intrigued by old style architecture, folklore and stories behind why places of worship were built.

Omkareshwar Temple, Ukhimath

After the visit to the temple, we changed into pyjamas and went to dip our feet in ice cold river water.

Day 3 : After an early hearty breakfast at the cottage , we left for Chopta by bus . I slept thru the 2 hour journey, a combined effect of pleasant climate and altitude. When we stepped down from our bus at Chopta, which is base for Tungnath, I started feeling nostalgic. While growing up, my parents often took us to nearby hill stations. As a child I was so amused by the different life style in the hills. People always wearing jackets and caps, mules being used to carry heavy loads, absence of cars and two wheelers… Chopta reminded me of those days.

We started our trek from Chopta for Tungnath with enthusiasm, ready to soak in the Himalayan beauty. Tungnath is a famous Hindu Shrine so the route was never lonely. The path to Tungnath is mostly paved with bars and appropriate arrangements to sit at intervals. When our tour guide told us that Day 2 trek was a warm up, she was right!

On the way to Tunganath

The 4km trek to Tungnath covering an elevation of 2473 ft took us 3.5 hours. It started getting cold at the temple and the view was just breathtaking. Hundreds of devotees lined up to visit the temple and we had a good rest there for 30 mins.

Tunganath Temple

View from Tungnath

“Now is the real test”, said the tour guide when we started to move towards our final destination Chandrashila.I thought how bad it can be, I just trekked for 3.5 hours …boy was I wrong…

Steep turns around the temple took us to base of Chandrashila from where couldn’t see the peak. The group started moving north with guidance from an experienced trekker, locals who were hired for the trek to help us in situations when we were tired or felt lost.

Steep slope to Chandrashila Peak

As I started climbing, I realized why the guide said this was the real test. With steep slopes, no paved steps, it became difficult to climb. I started feeling tired and breathless further we went. 400-500 m away from the peak, I decided not to continue as I seemed to be my limit. The group and guides encouraged me not to give up so close to the peak. However, my mind said I’m not here to prove anything or compete, I should trek until I enjoy. So I and another trekker with a hurt knee stayed back while the group move forward, waving and smiling at us.

10 mins pass by and I look up and see Hubby smiling at me and gesturing at me “You can do it”. The look on his face told me he will not be able to enjoy conquering the peak without me. So, I decided to try and walk until my body allows to. Before you know it, I’m the second last person in the group to reach the peak. It took me a while to realize I had done it….MY FIRST EVER SUMMIT CLIMB AT 13240 FT….

Chandrashila Summit

I can’t explain what I felt at that moment. I wasn’t trekking as part of an expedition or compete with anyone still it felt so empowering. You see it’s special for me as I didn’t know a thing about trekking until I met my husband. The first time I trekked, I was 27 years old. With no background of sports, never moved a leg for exercising, I had never imagined climbing a summit in my life.
But as they say “The things you do for love” and “You’ll never know what you are capable of until you try”.

On the way back

The journey back to the base is a haze now and all I remember was looking for the bus at the base and my legs at the verge of breaking….

While I describe my mental and physical state, I don’t want to give an impression that the trek organisers weren’t helpful. I must mention that the tour guide and others were supporting, carrying our bags at time and paid full attention to our well being.

Will continue about the trip in my next post...

Hello there!!

Hello dear Friends,

Mid-february and my first post of the year....Have you missed me? In case you are wondering where I was until now, I was on my annual vacation to India. I'm lucky to have spent quality time with my family during the vacation. It was a relaxing vacation ...all I did the whole month was wake up late ,chat, sip tea ,eat and sleep.

My mom spoilt me by cooking my favourite Indian recipes and I'm sure I must have gained a few kilos..who cares anyway. Winter is my favourite season of the year and I love everything associated with it..fog,blankets, winter food , sweaters, coats ,waiting for the sun to shine :)

This vacation was special as I got a chance to visit my maternal family homes which was unplanned. I met my uncles,aunts and cousins and had so much fun talking about the times when I used to live with them during my college education.

There were trips to bazaars for shopping for clothes,spices,accessories and specialty items and I somehow restricted the weight to allowed baggage limit.We even managed to watch a movie based on evacuation of Indian migrants from  Kuwait in 1990(knowing that it will be banned here ..lol).

Ok, back to business ...I didn't do much of cross stitching during the vacation. In fact whenever I picked up my needle my mom would say "Are you here to cross stitch or spend time with us"? Ha Ha. She was surprised how come I love cross stitching so much and have chosen it over other crafts she taught me.

Don't worry I still have few things to show for Gifted Gorgeousness SAL. One of my cross stitch friends on facebook proposed to do a swap in October ,however I wasn't confident about international shipping from Kuwait. So I kept delaying to commit for the swap. I agreed for it in Dec, when our annual vacation dates were finalized knowing that I can safely post from India.
This is what I stitched for the birthday swap,February being birth month for both of us .It was so much fun to gather goodies for the package .

The whole package I sent..can you a crochet coaster in the pic? Its my first !!

 Here is what she sent me for the swap. All the things are handmade in this package including the needle minder and scissor fob. We discussed our likes and wishes before committing for the swap ,so we knew what we can add to each other's stash.

My main target for this vacation was to make arrangements so that gifts I have been making reach the recipients. One of those was to be sent to Singapore. After my first plan failed, I posted the cross stitch piece unframed, half halfheartedly to my friend's family in India. I was so happy when my friend contacted me and told that her father has got the piece framed in one day and she will getting the piece next day as her mother was flying to meet her .My joy knew no bounds when she sent me the picture of the piece displayed in her house.

Just before going on vacation, my ex colleague sent me this picture of the framed piece I stitched for him as retirement gift.

The cushion I made for my niece ,which I showed in my last GG post, was well received too.

Seeing our work being appreciated and displayed is the biggest motivation for any crafter..don't you agree.

The second agenda for the vacation was to get hands on handcrafted beauties, made by my mom and granny, which she does not use any more. Success achieved and my house now displays these heirlooms. I will save the pictures for future posts.

We visited many wonderful historical places during our vacation and I'm so thankful to my family for taking out time to take us around.

My post will be incomplete without mention of my nephew who turns 2 in few days. He is growing to be such a adorable kid. He loves to play with people and smiles at you for no reason. The way he snuggles melts my heart.Oh I miss him so much.

I have been trying to catch up on reading blogs ..if you don't see a comment from me,soon it will be there.Thank you for your lovely comments on my last blog post.

I hope you had a good day with your loved ones on Valentine's day. We celebrated it on 13th at home as Sunday is a working day here. I cooked hubby's favourite recipe and exchanged gifts.

Happy Stitching