"Bhaan" - big bellied pot

Good evening friends! It snowed here today. Was so divine. Reminded me of the movie Black. Amitabh and Rani on the bench. Posting the link so all of you can relate. I was listening to the song "Ishq Sufiyana' the whole time. Made for a romantic commute to say the least.

***********************************************************************
Imagine a life without modern facilities for a nice hot shower after a rough day. It would be miserable wouldn't it? But people in the past did not sit tight. They were creative. They made maximum use of the materials that they found around them to make their lives comfortable. They made the Bhaan to boil water. Now, Bhaan is a konkani word for a big bellied pot. In fact, people with big stomachs are often teased by calling them Bhaanas. The Bhaan is buried in cement half way. The cement square on which the Bhaan is mounted has an opening at the bottom. Firewood found in the backyard is collected and placed inside the opening and lit with fire. This boils the water. Believe it or not, we still have a Bhaan in my parents house. See below for pics.

We had this ever since I was born. The Bhaan comes with a tappil which means a mug. (The small golden mug by the side in the pic.) The tappil is used to take water from  the Bhaan and pour it on the body for a bath. I love taking a bath this way. My Mom calls me balanti which means a brand new Mom. Normally a balanti is given a very hot oil bath till all the hot water from the Bhaan is over. This is to make sure that the Mom is very tired and goes to sleep and get the well deserved rest. It is also believed that the hot bath and the massage will increase the milk in the mothers breasts, so the baby can be well fed. Whenever, I visit my parents, my Mom makes sure that the Bhaan is ready for me. I associate the Bhaan with the diwali festival. On the first day of diwali, Trayodashi, my Mom decorates the Bhaan with flowers and rangoli. On the second day of diwali, Narakachaturdhashi, when Lord Krishna killed Narakasura, Mom fills the Bhaan up to the brim with water and decorates the entire bathroom with rangoli. She writes "Narakasuranthakaya Namah" (end of Narakasura) on the wall. After this, my Dad does a Puja to the Bhaan. The entire family then has a hot oil bath. Awww, I really miss those traditions. I wish my children could experience it. Since they are born here, they cannot relate to these things. Maybe when they grow up, they will want to know more about our culture. I can only hope.

Caw caw says the ----?

Namaskar blogdosts. Watched the grand finale of Bigg Boss 5. Very disappointed! If entertainment was the USP of the show, then either Sid or Mahek deserved to win. Sky kept the show going, but was very hurtful in the process. So, Sid, in my opinion, should have been the winner. Other than that, today was a family day. Morning was spent with the kids, helping them with homework and afternoon, cleaning house as it had been neglected for sometime now. Just came back after a sumptuous dinner at a Mexican restaurant. I ate the chicken soup and salad. Trying the diet thing again. Sigh!
***********************************************************************
On our trip throughout India, my cousin who travelled with me and enjoyed photography had an eye for birds. Below you will see some of the pictures of the birds that he clicked.

However, today's post is about a very common bird that is found everywhere. I heard that this bird, that is connected with many superstitious beliefs in the minds of the Hindus, might be listed as endangered species sometime soon. Yes, I am talking about the ugly bird called crow.

This is a picture of a crow sitting on the roof of my In laws house in Mangalore. That day we were having a Navagraha homa in our house and we were offering the food cooked, to the crow as it is believed that one of our ancestors comes in the form of crow on auspicious occasions. If the crow eats the food, it means that the homa was performed successfully without any defects. However, that day, it was very difficult for us to spot a crow. Many of us tried cawing like the crow to catch it's attention, only to make a fool of ourselves in front of nosey (now laughing) neighbors. My Mother In law made the final call. She left the food on a banana leaf on the compound wall for the crow to come at it's time and enjoy the food. Sure enough, as soon as we left, the crow in the picture came by to eat the food. We were so glad for 2 reasons. One, we felt, now that the crow has eaten, we were blessed by our ancestor and the homa was done satisfactorily and two, we could now eat! The crow has a very harsh voice. It is very unpleasant to the ears. Crows begins to caw just at dawn. This jet black bird is often associated with bad luck.. Shani or Saturn, the god of ill luck, rides upon the crow. The cawing of a crow at mid-day is said to foretell evil. Thus, to the Hindus this bird is very sacred in spite of it's harsh voice, ugly shape and color. A crow is also know to be the most cunning and clever bird. We all have heard the popular pnachantantra story "The thirsty crow" that demonstrated the intelligence of the crow. A thirsty crow sees a pitcher of water. Unfortunately, the water is at the very bottom of the narrow mouthed pitcher. The crow cleverly throws pebbles into the pitcher that brings the level of the water to the top of the pitcher and quenches it's thirst. Not only is the crow sacred to the Hindus, it also acts as a scavenger in nature. It eats almost anything. So, please try and save crows. We need them.

Ringa ringaa ringaree

Hello friends! I hope some of you missed me. Had gone home for the holidays. The Mughal architecture, foggy mornings, cold weather, dhabas, adrak chai of North India, the gopurams, temples, hot weather, filter coffee of South India, and above all the pampering by parents, relatives and friends. I captured it all on camera. My favorite companion the Nikon 21X. Had a good first day at work after the break.
************************************************************************

With India's booming economy, it's no surprise that the common man can afford luxuries like mobile phones. From businessmen, to students, to rikshawalas to conductors, they ALL carry mobiles and use them rather obnoxiously. Amidst all the confusion of the traffic, one cannot help but hear all kinds of ring tones that go off simultaneously and contribute to the noise pollution during a rush hour commute. It is surprising to me how one can remain sane by the end of the day. Since, I was a tourist, I had the time and patience to observe the people who talk on the phone. People mostly picked movie songs as their ring tones. Any guesses on the most popular ring tone for 2011? You bet, "Kolaveri Di" it was!  By the end of my trip, I was sick of that song.  I could easily guess a person's age just by listening to his/her ring tone. "Kolaveri di" belonged to students, Hindustani classical was picked by middle aged people, the bollywood item numbers were preferred by masses of age group 15-40 and the sahastranamas were popular with the early morning south Indian commuters ranging from 15-75. Not surprisingly bollywood too lately cashed on the ring tone concept by using it as a signature comedy act in the movie Singham. Everytime this character's (who played the heroine's father) phone rang to the song of "Dinka Chika". Of course the phone rang at the oddest moment, making the scene funny. Public gets influenced by this. Result - nuisance to the ears for people like me, but bliss to the people who use mobiles and enjoy the ring tones on a daily basis.