A different Rakhi this year :)

The hindu festival of Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan is the celebration of the special emotional bond between a brother and a sister. The symbolic representation is done by the tying of the 'Rakhi' which is a sacred thread by the sister on the wrist of her brother as a mark of sisterly love. The brother in return reiterates his vows to protect her from any harm that could affect her. The Rakhi also signifies the inseparable ties of sibling love that starts at birth and continues for life.

This year Rakhi was different as it was my first after having settled into holy matrimony :-). It meant more than the regular and also meant new relationships which I had to look into. Starting with me and my husband visiting his sister, there were some new learnings in store. I was introduced to the concept of 'Bhabhi Rakhi' - something totally new for me. According to my sis-in-law, it meant that she would tie me a Rakhi as well along with tying a Rakhi to my husband and it is a practice that is quite prevalent in some parts of India. Here it means that while sisters naturally have special feelings for their brothers, these feelings get extended to their bhabhi too once their brothers get married. Quite a nice concept and I was quite touched by it! I promise Di that I too will protect you - save all your secrets especially from our shopping trips ;-)! She tied me a very pretty pearl and coloured stones Rakhi which looks quite different from the one that is made for guys. It has to be tied onto a bangle on your hand.

That's my Bhabhi Rakhi. Ain't it pretty? :-)

Post this I was excitedly looking forward to tying my younger brother his Rakhi and to my cousins. Usually I was always in my house and had my brother around, but this year I would have to meet him to tie him a Rakhi. Felt weird but also felt special as I feel he will value this relationship even more now with didi not being around all the time(and my gifts will also get better :-)) Also my first Rakhi wearing a saree and traditional jewellery.

Well surely a different Rakhi this year!!

STeAl DeAl!!

Hill Road(located in Bandra in Mumbai,India) can be a place that can provide you some real good deals when it comes to street shopping. Saturday was that lucky day for me! :-) I was looking out for a pair of silver flats and landed up at the stall of one of my favourite street side vendors. He usually keeps surplus or samples of big brands that are exported from India. Scanning the various types of footwear on the racks, my eyes landed on these pretty Billabong flat silver leather sandals.  Bought them for just 150 bucks(a real steal) and am loving them on my feet ! :-)

Vogue India August 2010 - The Age Issue

Grabbing a cup of hot coffee, I said down to read the August 2010 issue of Vogue. Its become a ritual that every month I eagerly wait for the lastest issue to hit the stands so that I can lay my hands on them (either buy, borrow or steal ;-)). Even though I'm not a label design slave always, its been quite an influence on my wardrobe over the years.

Cameron Diaz on the cover aptly matched the title 'Little Miss Sunshine' :-) I love her trademark casual style which shows in her cover outfit with one blingy gold jacket making all the difference which also matches beautifully with her golden blonde hair. I agree with her realistic approach to life where she doesn't want to look 25 again and would rather enjoy what she has at 37 while she's still got something. Her insight on the fountain of youth being 'exercise, a healthy diet, lots of water, lots of laughter, lots of sex as it's healthy and natural' is good to hear whilst most other interviews talk of botox. I like her!

This issue is called 'The Age Issue' and as I am now in the age category of people who should not worry :-) but atleast start to incorporate some tips into their daily beauty regime, makes me take instant notice. With the graphic trend being in these days, Vogue Shops shows you how to get the right look whatever age you are along with pocket friendly buys. What 40 Did brings out the stories of 3 women in their 40's with each one being at a different threshold of their life and defying the generic laws with one celebrating being single, the other joys of being a first-time mom and the third one a grandmother :-) Quite inspirational!! Free style depicts dressing for your age through ten graceful women ranging from 23 to 67 who possess widely contrasting styles and attitudes. Sometimes sans make-up can be beautiful and that is what Bare Minimum shows seven women ranging from 15 to 44 through its lenses. Making cancer sexy is what Lisa Ray does and its inspiring to see how she has resurfaced after the disease having hit her. Other articles give insights and good tips on skincare as new and new topics of concern start to emerge on the beauty front with anti-ageing products being the new mantra from as early as 25. The issue keeps up to its name :-)

I feel relaxed now as I picture myself dressed in most of the outfits on the pages I'm reading through. I'm already thinking of some of the stuff that I can buy and the others that I can run off to my local tailor for ;-). Filling myself another cup of coffee, I sit back again to continue my jaunt. A few more pages down and I start to think that if I had all the money in the world, I would splurge on the jaw dropping watches in Time Out. Makes me wanna say, I want this and I want that and Oh, I want this too! The Vogue Beauty Awards 2010(first ever) gives you the best of beauty products and services available in the market and I realize that the next time I go shopping, I know I'm going to take a lot less time and come back with the best buys.

Happy and content at the end of the read and my fantasy shopping spree, I guess this is what keeps people like me sane cause sometimes a fantasy is all that you need!

Dispensary Discipline

Been down with this terrible bout of fever and cold for the last two weeks. Just doesn't seem to let go. The temperature doesn't go high but stays low thus irritating me and making me all dull and sleepy :-( And don't ask about the cold. Allergy and sinus make it worse!

Finally decided to go to the doc today and get an opinion after husband, dad and mom (in-laws not yet ;-)) had told me a good number of times. Reached the doc and was given a token. 30? Wow! Good business for the docs within a span of few hours in the monsoons, with each patient around me complaining of similar symptoms. What I found ridiculous was that people in the waiting would take off for a while and on getting back try to still get in to meet the doctor in between others, even if their token number had gone by. Hello Mister, don't you understand 15 comes before 24 and not after 24 and to top it all, 15 argues with 24. Do we others waiting look stupid to him or what!?? And there was not one but quite a few of these jerks around. Well I had an unending wait of nearly 2 hours thanks to such people!

I mean citizens of India still need to learn some discipline in these matters. Docs too should teach their attendants to put such people back in line after the people waiting if they have missed their turn on taking off. Cause if the docs just look at the money they are going to lose by not obliging to take such patients in between, then the ones in waiting might just turn out to be the ones they lose! :-)

Charity begins at home kiddo :)

Driving down to my mom's place in the morning, I switched on the radio and started flipping channels to get some worthwhile music :) to listen to. A song caught my fancy on 93.5 FM from the movie 'We are family', the latest from the Dharma Productions stall. Came to know at the end of the song that RJ Malishka was interviewing Arjun Rampal (Hottie!!!). The conversation was on a very sensible topic which for once prevented me from flipping channels at the end of the song.

The Government has decided to have a 25% quota in all the high flying schools for children from low income groups. Interesting!! The bone of contention here seems to be as to who should pay the school fees - the government or the parents of the other students? Well if it is a government initiative then hell yes the government should pay for it as these schools have atrociously high fees (maybe from the commonwealth fund ;-) ) Otherwise, since most of the parents sending their kids to such schools are rich (barring some parents who put each and every penny together to send their kids to such schools), they should contribute to a common fund for kids who come from the low income group along with contribution by the school as well.

Malishka called up one rich daddy's girl studying in one such school and asked the girl what she thinks about this initiative by the government and guess what the kid said -'It's all good as long as my daddy doesn't have to pay for someone else's fees'. I was like :O! I mean what do these rich ones teach their kids? Charity begins at home kiddo! I think each kid should be taught this and Arjun thought so too :)