It is Power, It is Courage, It is "Red"!

 'Bold', 'Powerful', 'Mesmerizing', 'Bright'- This is 'Red' and this was the colour on Day 4!

....but 'Red' is much more...

Vermillion on the forehead.....auspicious;

Blood from a cut - pain;

Splashed on the canvas - artistic;

Rose in the bunch - love;

Adorning the lips- beauty;

On the platter- health;

Pumping in your heart- Life!

..and now look at the image!! An assembly of all the red things I could possibly gather!! A small attempt to showcase my efforts in teaching my Bunny the colour 'Red'!😖

Nothing very prophetic, nothing so dramatic, nothing so tedious (I thought so)! As simple as the colour 'Red'! This is when I learnt what "Manmauji' meant in the truest sense of the word!!

'Monkey' is super easy, Oniiiiiiiiion is sonorous, 'chasma' comes out naturally, 'Juice' is like 'ABCD', Queen is 'itna simple', 'Watch' to koi bhi bol dega but RED?? 😓

There I am struggling to teach Bunny red at every given opportunity- while she takes a bath, while she's getting dressed, while she's counting the tomatoes and potatoes, while she says A for Apple, while folding her red t-shirts- she looks at me and walks off!!

Segregating the red and blue blocks have not helped nor the red bucket and cup! 'Red' tomatoes are only 'mato' for her and red bindi is "munni" but there is absolutely no existence of the 3 letter word 'RED'!

Navratri signifies 'Victory', Red symbolizes 'Courage' and the 'Red Navratri' colour for me is my tussle with the little one, my wait to hear 'Mumma, reeeeedddd' in the cutest way possible!!

May Maa Durga bestow me with courage to emerge victorious in my battle- battle to teach my Bunny- Red!

As 'White' as Snow!!

3rd Navratri morning...rather a Monday morning! The Monday morning jugglery between early morning calls, filling that 'missed' timesheet, 'this' or 'that' for breakfast, Bunny's demand to watch 'Teddy' on laptop at that same time, absolute chaos- all amidst the sinking feeling that weekend was over!! The only saviour being 'my' excitement' to scout out a smart outfit for Bunny as per the Navratri colour of the day!!:😀

So, 'WHITE' it was!! Ironical to write it in black on this white sheet!! So, is life- Ironical! Getting back to the point, the picture attached is of sabudana chips- White sabudana chips! Sabudana- the 'power' food eaten during fasting- another aspect of Navratri.

My first encounter with sabudana was in Mumbai when the 'dabbawala' packed sabudana khitchdi and dahi one day during my Navratri fasting and sabudana vada the other. It was my first time and the food was alien to me and I remember I wasn't too keen to try it but as they say "Marta kya na karta" and I dug the spoon! 'Yum' is the word which my brain registered amidst closed eyes! Sabudana had another fan!!

Since my childhood, I have seen my family fast for 8 days during Navratri and the staple food was 'Fafad' ki poori and alu ki sabji, amidst many other delicacies like badam ka halwa, home made potato chips, makhanas, so on and so forth. Sabudana, however, never occupied place on the dinner table. My encounter with the 'comfort' food, though late, made me fall in love with those 'white' pearls!! So, this is what the colour "White" means to me - as pure as those sabudana pearls, the 'satvik' and auspicious food!

By the way, 'fafad' is known as "Buckwheat" in English and called 'kuttu ka aata", "giri ka aata" in other parts of the country. Similarly, sabudana or 'sago' is 'Tapioca'- call it whatever- it is still the same beautiful white pearls, ready to be devoured by the foodies like me!!

Sabudana khitchdi? kheer? vada? papad? dudh and sabudana?...and the list continues!!