Mysooru Dasara

The best thing about being in Mysore is being able to enjoy some of the festivities around the city during Dasara.

As the kannada song goes Mysooru Dasara Yestondu Sundara, chellide nageya paneera.. meaning Dasara of Mysore is so beautiful that it sprinkles the fragrance of joy everywhere. If you look at the city today.. it feels as it its alive! Its lit every where with LED lights as opposed to incandescent bulbs used during the previous years saving energy and at the same time glowing in every corner.

Old Statue Square in all its glory.

Elephants taking their routine walk to get accustomed to crowd

There is at least one program a day in every auditorium in the city, being the cultural capital of Karnataka Mysore is in its full glory.

Since there were 4 kids at home I thought of taking them on a city tour. It was a feast to our eyes and kids enjoyed.

Harding Circle has its butterflies lit in neat LEDs, so are the streets in front of the Palace, Devaraja Urs Road and Sayyaji Rao Road, As usual the the dome structure in Sayyaji rao road is well lit.

Bombe dance performance in Jaganmohana Palace

Maharaja Throne at Flower Show

 There are various programs organised, A food mela, Yuva dasara (dasara for youth), Kreeda Dasara (sports dasara) Dasara Vastu Pradarshana (Dasara Exhibition). There are competitions held at different levels, fancy dress for kids, photography, rangoli, mehendi and hairstyle to name a few. The spirit of Dasara is spread to various offices and institutions by having them participate in gardening competitions. The institutions take this up very seriously and aim on doing different kinds of decorations and plant set-up each year to aim for the prize. Its just not about the prize. Its about the honor and prestige of having participated and won.

Kanyaka puje on Durgastami

Kids dressed up for bombe puje

Kanyaka Puje on Durgastami

Bombe alankara at home

Park

Vaikunta arrangement

 Another important part of this festivities is doll decorations. Many houses across the city arrange dolls in their house and make the festival travel to their houses. Its important to spread this kind of tradition and pass it on to the next generations.

There is also a circus that comes to the city during this time.

Jamboo savari

The grand finale for the 10 day celebration is the Jamboo savari and torch light parade. People throng from various parts of the world to witness these spectacles. These are not just celebrations, its a tradition carried through various generations and Dasara procession is about 403 years old. 

Life in India

All of us know life in our motherland is considered to be the best the whole world.. not just because we are from this place also because of the other social benefits we get from this system..

Here I am after a being away for almost a year. Nothing much has changed.. but a lot of improvements.. first of all the real estate market in Bangalore is BOOMING.. and doent show a slow down at all.. and the roads around Bangalore and Mysore have improved tremendously.. which I had assumed will take a generation to complete.. and the work on the airport is going full swing..

I have to talk about the much appreciated social benefits that we get out of our eternally kind system.. the support which is available here in case of any eventuality, any Happiness or mishap sometimes is taken for granted.. We consider it to be always available for us.. but when we talk about it to the people from the west.. they are soo surprised that we still have joint families and childeren live with parents after their wedding too...

The Social structure in our society in India is unique from the rest of the world.. we can say this because we have experienced some aspects of western living and some aspects of Indian system. Our neighbours know our exsistance and we know our neighbours.. we have internal dependencies and we know that in our absence our neighbours take care of certain aspects when we are away from home. In westren countries as I have noticed.. I have not seen my neighbours for all the years i have lived in our apartment.

The medical system in the west is a far fetched affair as the shortage of doctors and the value for them is high. The medical system in India is easily accessible. Although the money part in the west in terms of earnings is good.. but the living expenses varies through out the country (USA in particular). The availability of medical facility in India is good. We dont have to wait for appointment. Patients can just walk- in to the medical facility and can be assured that the doctor will see them even without appointment.

There are lot more we can talk about when we see this but here we are in the USA.. thinking abot the good life in India and when in India we think of the comforts and amenities thats available in USA.

Creativity

When I started blogging, I came across a lot of people who have a similar thinking like me.. but on the other hand I came across a lot of people who can go really deep into a small topic. When I read such people's blogs I was ashamed that I don't post that often that I have to.. sometimes its lack of interest sometimes lack of topics.. But I feel Lack of topic should not be a reason for not blogging.. so I thought I should try and blog on different kind of topics

Some people are creative and some are not.. according to me.. Creativity is to be developed.. Thinking creatively is an art which can be nurtured to grow into a giant tree. For nurturing the plant of creativity to grow into a giant tree you need to add the manure of thought, water of good company a very fertile soil ie a clear mind!!!

For me writing creates an atmosphere that helps me to start thinking in creative lines.

Writing is a unique skill which is really interesting.. which allows you to play with letters to meaningful create words.. which inturn creates beautiful sentences.
Playing with letters helps our brain to think. The game with words enhances our ability to express better, improves our conversation skills and allows you to have refine your language.

Talking about games with words.. There are thoughtful games like scrabble and pictionary which are designed to widen your language horizon.

Creativity is can be in different ways.. some people are very creative with words, others with deeds and some more with hand work. Everything is very satisfying.. very gratifying and very encouraging!