What's in My Jewellery Bag?

To keep my word, I’d like to show you my accessories bag today. 

So let’s see what I have decided to wear with the sarees and kurtas, I have bought for Durga Puja. 

Here is an assortment of the jewellery I’m planning to wear.

In this picture, you can see that I have chosen 4 jewellery sets, two pairs of earrings and two pairs of bangles. Since I’ll be wearing sarees mostly, so I have chosen sets for myself. :)

Now let me tell you about the sarees I’ll match these accessories with. (To read about the sarees and kurtas I have bought for this Puja, click here.)

From left to right: Red and Off White Jute and Bead Set, City Gold Set

The red and off white colored set on the left (in the pic above) is a gift (yes, again!) made up of jute and beads, and I plan to wear it with either the yellow kurta.






                                           

At the top is the pic of the earring of the jute set, and here is the neck piece of the same set for you. 

The City Gold set to the right of this is gifted too and i think it would look great with the yellow and red Patli Pallu style saree.

Next, this pink and light pink color junk set from Goa, has been given to me by my sister-in-law. Yes you guessed it right; this completely matches with the pink color Bengal cotton saree. 

Dark pink and light pink junk from Goa. 

Inside: Golden jhumka (packed in plactic), Jute and white bead earring

You must have noticed the earrings placed inside the junk set I just mentioned. The earring packed in a plastic pack, is a nice golden jhumka, which can be worn with the gold and blue kurta I have bought. 

Golden Jhumka

And I plan to wear the jute and white bead earring, kept beside the jhumka, with my dark green kurta.

Jute and white beaded earring 

I may team up this polki set,with the rani colored saree gifted by my dad.

From Left to Right: Pair of Golden Kada, Thin Bangles and Polki Set

Well, I have not forgot to talk about the bangles. :) 

The bangles kept at the left of the jute set are kadas, which I would wear with the Kerala Cotton saree. 

Kada

The thin bangles placed beside the kadas, could be teamed up with any saree. I love the little elephant heads on this one. 

Thin Bangle

And that’s not all. I have packed other accessories such as:

• A red colored mangalsutra
• A green bead long chain
• A long golden chain
• A multi colored long beaded chain
• A maroon colored neckpiece
• A pair of nice white (shankha) bangles and 
• A Hyderabadi pearl set as well. 

Long green beaded chain

After all, you never know,what will look good on you the day you wear these sarees, isn’t it? 

What jewellery or accessory do you plan to wear for Navratri/Durga Puja? Pls do share. 

PS: The Jealousy Provocation series does not end here. You may wonder why. Remember, my make up bag? It's not opened yet! :P

Question of the Week: 4

Since the festive season is knocking at our doors, my question of this week will be based on festivals and work.

Hope you all remember reading here, that I make it a point to celebrate festival with my family in my hometown. However, I have received plenty of flat for this. 

At times, some friends have forewarned me about the implications of being hell-bent on taking off during festivals. They say this creates an impression, that I am not serious about my work commitments. 

Though I plan my vacation in advance, yet people say, this timed vacation could pose problems for me in the future. And I still wonder, what’s the use of being successful, if you cannot enjoy it with your loved ones. What do you think?

Do you think it is important to take off from your work, to enjoy festivals with your loved ones? Or would you rather focus on work solely, and not bother much about festivals and families etc? 

Please do share your views all you pretty women. 

What do my packed bags contain this Durga Puja?

All my bags are packed and I’m ready to go

Its holiday time folks as I’ll be on vacation starting this Friday and I cannot wait for it to begin. I wish I could fast forward to Friday, using a time machine. 

But before I go on a 2 week vacation, I wanted to show you what my packed bags contain this festive season.

Right after my wedding two years ago, I became a big time saree addict. This makes me wonder quite often, whether it is the same me, who only wore salwar kameez during Durga Puja, right before I got married. 

Oh did I tell you that most of the sarees I have chosen to wear this year are gifted? ― A great bonus of getting married. I still have some sarees that I can wear during next year Puja as well. Jealous?? Hold on, for there’s more to be jealous about in this post. ;)

Okay, so this year too am wearing sarees mostly during the magical four days. However, since I will be travelling between my in-laws’ place and my home in Kolkata during Puja, I have bought three kurtas. So here are the pics for you.

The first pic shows you my entire collection of sarees and kurtas.

Dark green printed and blue and golden Kurta

Yellow and orange colored printed kurta

The blue, green and yellow colored pieces above are kurtas, and the green and yellow kurtas are gifts.

Clockwise: Bengal cotton saree, Baluchari printed, Dhakai, Baluchari printed saree, Patli Pallu, Kerala Cotton, Dark Green printed kurta, Blue and Golden kurta, 

Now let’s talk about the sarees. All the sarees that you see here are gifts.  

You must have noticed the white golden bordered saree in the front. This is a Kerala Kasavu cotton saree gifted by my mother-in-law, and I plan to wear on Ashtami morning.

The yellow and maroon golden bordered saree beside this, is a Patli Pallu stye saree, that was gifted to me during my wedding by a group of teachers. Patli Pallu is my personal favourite.

The deep pink coloured saree with maroon and golden border is my dad’s gift to me, and it is a saree with Baluchari print (a traditional Bengal Saree) all over the pallu. 

On Saptami morning, I plan to wear the light blue saree with deep blue border, which is a traditional Dhakai saree.  

To the left of the Dhakai saree, is a light green silk saree with brick red border. It is similar to the Baluchari print that my dad gifted to me. Again, this is a saree given to me by my sister-in-law’s mother-in-law.

The last saree in this collection is the light pink Bengal cotton (tant) saree that was gifted to me during my husband’s cousin’s wedding. Presently, I’m in love with the colour of this saree. I might wear this on Shashthi morning. On Dashami morning, my mum wants me to wear a white and red bordered Banarasi saree. I am yet to see it, and yeah it's a Gggift again! 
Mum liked it and bought it for me. By now, you must be wondering, woh how many gifts this girl gets. :)

In the nest post, I'll show you what accessories I have decided to wear with these sarees and kurtas.  

So stay happy and stay beautiful. 

PS: This is the first part of the "Jealousy Provocation'' series. So keep a tab! :P

Pics: My personal archive

Navratri and Durga Puja: A Tale of Two Cities




Pic 1: Blue Skies with Cottony Clouds
and Kaash Flowers

Well, it’s that time of the year again, when the sky seems a clear blue fraught with cottony clouds all over. The ka ash flower blooms in glory, as if bowing to the Mother Goddess, who is about to arrive very soon. In fact, as legend says, on Mahalaya (the last day of Pitru Paksha), the Goddess announces her arrival.  The shiuli and the sthala padma flower also blooms during this time. 


          
          Pic 2: Shiuli/Shefali Flower





Pic 3: Sthala Padma/Land Lotus



          

I have heard grandmothers say, that the Goddess Durga loves these flowers, and so they are found in abundance during this time of the year.

Each year on Mahalaya, my heart begins to leap with joy, thinking that Durga Puja is right here. And the story is same this year too. The songs of Mahalaya kind of tell you that the Holy Mother is about to be with us, to bless us with joy, peace, happiness and prosperity. Truly speaking, I’m fortunate that am a Bengali damsel, otherwise I wouldn’t have got a chance to experience the festive fervor of Durga Puja ever.

Hence, when I left home to work in Pune, I promised myself, come what may, I’ll have to be in the city during those four magical days. And fortunately, I have been able to keep my word all these years, except twice. Touch wood!

This year, I’m going too (yipppppyyy yay yay) but first to my in-laws’ place in Jamshedpur (JSR)/Tatanagar and then to my lifeline and my city, Kolkata. And boy I’m mighty glad. J




Pic 4: Oct 2011: The Durga Idol in our JSR home



Pic 5: A creative pandal in JSR


Let me tell you a little bit about the puja in Jamshedpur. I got to experience the Durga Puja festivity in Jamshedpur(JSR), last year. My in-laws live in a flat, where the society organizes a Durga Puja themselves. This means you get a chance to help perform the rituals and witness the Puja very closely. What I love most is – you dont need to cook at home –  the whole society lunches and dines together. Isn't that wonderful?







Pic 6: Me (on the extreme Left) with my In Laws on Ashtami morning
 

The best thing in Jamshedpur is the cultural programs organized on all the days of the Puja. So after the evening aarti programs begin, which include songs, dance and orchestra. The orchestra is a hit with the masses, where people dance crazily to the tunes of popular songs. At times, you may get to watch a Kishore Kumar or a Mohd. Rafi nite too.

Most of the pandals in JSR are organized in huge playgrounds, which make life so easy on the roads. So you can drive to the farthest corners of the city, without much difficulty. Along with the pandals, fairs are held, where you could buy many handicraft items. The whole experience of Durga Puja in JSR is about eating and merrying.

Coming to Kolkata – I just love the joyous mood in my City of Joy, weeks before Durga Puja. Here, the scene is quite different than JSR. The whole city is decorated with lights and Durga Puja pandals are everywhere, even encroaching the roads. You can hear popular songs, Bengali songs, and Rabindrasangeet round the clock. People dressed in their best, flock to see the creative pandals and to eat the yummy street side food of Kolkata that include rolls, fuchka etc. To sum up, Durga Puja in the eastern part of the country is a wonderful extravaganza which is celebrated with zest and must be witnessed at least once.

I’ll be away for two weeks to pray and to have fun and I’m sure you’ll have fun too.  All I’ll ask the Anonodomoyee Mahamaya to bless me and my family with this:

Rupang Dehi, Jayang Dehi, Yasho Dehi, Disho Dehi

So here’s wishing everyone a very Happy Durga Puja. And to those who will be fasting during Navratri, keep strong and Jai Mata Di! As I part, here's a pic of Puja in California, USA, where the Goddess has already arrived this weekend, yes even before Mahalaya!

Pic 7: Centerville Junior High Puja in Fremont, California, USA

Navratri greetings to everyone! Please do share how you plan to celebrate this festival below. I'd love to know.



Pic 8: Centerville Junior High Puja in Fremont, California, USA

Pic Courtesy:
Pic 1-3: Google Images
Pic 4-6: My Personal Archive
Pic 7, 8: Aishani Banerjee

It's raining awards here

Yes, it’s literally raining awards in my blog and as is the norm, my beautiful blogger friends are awarding me. So a million thanks to them for recognizing me and motivating me to write more and more. J

Coming back to the blog awards – I received three awards in the past 2 days, and Radha and Demi have given away these awards to me.

Demi of Beauty and the Mist fame has passed 2 awards, one of which is very encouraging and Radha of My Noble Secrets has generously awarded me with the Lovely Blog award.

Now, let me introduce you to these wonderful friends of mine.

Demi has a wonderful blog, which is a treasure trove for any beauty and make-upoholic. If you haven’t checked her blog yet, you are surely missing a lot of cool stuff. And I can assure you, once you plunge into her blog, you’ll be asking for more.

Radha also has a very interesting blog that consists of recipes for weight loss (Yes people, you read it right) and many DIY tips. And the list does not end here, as you’ll find lots of posts on yummy food. You can also learn about deals and discounts in Radha's blog. So do take a look.

Lastly, I cannot thank you enough for awarding me. And here’s what I have to say about myself which is a part of the rules for the award given by Radha. But I must say it’s so difficult to say about myself! J                   

7 Things about Me:

1.  I am a simple Indian, Bengali woman, who is still a child at heart.

2. I love to sing, and listen to music. I’m a trained Classical singer.

3. Reading, writing and swimming are my passion.

4. I believe in honesty, even if it means people dislike me. I cannot pretend.

5. I love all things natural, though that doesn't mean I don’t like make up.

6. I’m a very independent person and I do not like it when someone does everything for me. I hate to be forced by anyone and I completely believe in ‘Live and let live’ policy. I love being myself.

7. For me, my culture, tradition and my origin is very important. I can easily forego anything for my family.

 I would like to share the Lovely Blog Award with: 

Dolon of Pout Pretty

Ramya of Lemon Kurry
Dr. Rashmi of Heathy Beamy
Swati Murti of Perfect Skin Care for You
Prachi of Luminousha
Swati R of Serendipity
Pooja G of Beauty Brains and Brawns
Ritu of Indian Beauty
Anindita Neogi of Ani_Make U Up
Demi of Beauty and the Mist

Aditi of Budget Belleza
Samannita of Make Up and Beauty
Shilpa of Our External World
Niesha of Indian Beauty Forever
Shourima of Make Up Fashion and Everything  like 


The Rules: One lovely blog award

• Thank the person who nominated you.
• Add The One Lovely Blog Award to your post.
• Share 7 things about yourself.
• Pass the award onto 15 nominees and let them know.

Question of the Week 3

The festive fever has  bit me hard and hence the delay in posting the Question of the Week posts. Today, I’ll like to explore a very touchy and sensitive aspect of our lives. Oh wait, don’t press the panic button yet. 

My question for today is based on the ubiquitous factor of a modern woman’s life today – Work! So here you go. :)

With time, the chapters of our lives change. After college and post-graduation, most women decide to go for a career, to become independent and to utilize their skills and knowledge in a fruitful manner. 

However, some women reach a stage in their lives, when they are forced to choose either a job or a happy domesticity, due to marriage or pregnancy or any other important factor.

Do you think a woman should give up her career to resolve such situations? Is it not harsh on an educated woman, who has worked hard to secure a well – paying job and become a successful working woman? 

Or should she rebel and continue to work, striving to face whatever difficulties that come along the way?

Please share your views in the comments section below.

Have a great day. :)