KAJU KATLI - DIWALI SWEETS

Kaju Katli, cut into bite size diamond shapes and covered in thinner-than-thin layers of pure silver foil, are the sweets always associated with Diwali.   Made of ground cashew nuts, sugar and ghee - they represent the ultimate indulgence and covering them with silver, adds to their allure !

SHRINES AND SHOPPING

A charming feature of towns in Italy, is the informal shrine dedicated to the Madonna and Child or  Patron Saint, on a street corner, sometimes at head height, low enough for a votive bunch of flowers, to be left by someone in passing.  In India this is taken a step further, every shop has a shrine with burning incense and the shop keeper has a daily ritual of blessing, before opening for business.

With security an ever present necessity, the bigger shops and malls, require a bag check and pat down, for everybody, on entry and on check out, your shopping bags are numbered and bags tied with plastic tags, to prevent shop lifting.  At the exit to the shop, your cash slip is stamped by the uniformed security guard, who checks the number of bags you are carrying.  Another uniformed guard will cut the plastic tag for you as you leave, if requested.

In the general melee of the exit to the large supermarket, I'd never noticed before that in this busy and unlikely place of coming and going, there was a little shrine on the wall.  My attention was drawn to it this time, because a woman stood perfectly still before it, in prayer, with her eyes closed, an aura of quietness surrounded her.  After a few moments, she picked up her shopping and went on her way !

OMG ! BOLLYWOOD COMES TO TOWN !

The crowds were ten rows deep in places, crammed onto traffic islands, standing on every available surface, people carrying others on their shoulders, people at skyline level, giving every tall building a fringe of heads, jammed onto balconies, hanging out of windows, the immense crowd, standing shoulder to shoulder, was intent on one thing.....Hrithik Roshan, the Bollywood star !

Hrithik Roshan had come to Vadodara and was in the main street of the town, R.C. Dutt Road, to open a flagship jewelry shop in Gujarat, for the Indian Billionaire Entrepreneur from Kerala, Joy Alukkas, listed in the 'Forbes List' as one of the wealthiest men in the world.   It's a Dubai based company, owing much of its success to expansion in the Middle East.   Joy Alukkas, based in Kochi, is not worried by the low value of the rupee or the fall in the price of gold - everything comes right in time !

The focus of the huge crowd was on the stage in front of the new Joyalukkas shop, where Hrithik addressed the crowd, looking like a suave, modern day 'Elvis Presley' - balloons, confetti, red carpets, the booms of the TV cameras and the compere shouting to the crowd and whipping up their responses - the air fairly sizzled. The energy and adoration of the crowd focussed on this Bollywood icon, was palpable, as they strained to catch a glimpse of him.  Even if they were too far back in the crowd for a view, they waved and cheered anyway, as the road, which had been closed to traffic, took on the appearance of a football stadium.

Hrithik, is the No 1 heartthrob of the Indian cinema screen, with a string of successful movies to his name.  He's one of the most beautiful Bollywood actors in the business, with soulful eyes, aquiline features and thick dark hair - multi-talented, he's famous for his dancing and singing too.  Apart from being the face of Joyalukkas Jewelry, he was in town to promote his new Sci-fi film, Krrish 3, produced by his film director father, where he plays the role of a 'spider-man' type, action hero with supernatural powers.

Timing is everything - opening a new jewelry shop and promoting a new movie, the weekend before Diwali, sounds like a match made in heaven !

DIWALI DE-LIGHTS !!!

PARTY GEAR IN THE SILLY SEASON !

ALL LIT UP

Dusshera, Eid Al-Adha, Diwali and then Christmas - every religion is in festive mode - it's the season for celebration !  Streets glow with lanterns and lights - boxes of fruit and nuts fill the shops and special sweets, cut into diamond shapes, covered in silver, fill decorative boxes.

DUSSHERA

One Festival follows another, at this time of year....first it was Ganesha, where we celebrated the removal of obstacles and the bringing of good fortune, then it was the Garba, with nine nights of dancing, to celebrate the divine energy, which we all share and the cycle of creation and dissolution.  This is followed by Dusshera, celebrating the triumph of good over evil.  It has its origins of course in Hindu Mythology and the story of Rama falling in love with Sita, who becomes his wife.  She is kidnapped by the Demon King, whom Rama eventually fights and defeats, to free Sita.

Early in the morning mist, women are already out on the road, sitting amongst heaps of marigold flowers, nimbly making garlands for sale.   These will decorate every vehicle with a prayer for good luck and good fortune, from bicycles to motor cars and everything in between......

The owner of the Fitness Studio carefully knelt before each of the exercise bikes, he applied 5 dots of red 'tika' paste on the front of each one, with a little bit of rice and a marigold, dipped in the red paste.  Each piece of gym equipment was given the same benediction.  The intensity of his prayer could be felt - the gym was a new business venture by a group of young trainers.  It had opened at the beginning of the year, but within a week of its inauguration, it had been wiped out by fire and burnt to the ground and the young syndicate had had to bite the bullet and begin all over again !

MADE IN INDIA

The Indian Ring-Necked Parakeet, found all over the Sub-Continent from Southern India, to the foothills of the Himalayas, has adapted so well to varying climatic situations, that it is becoming an Indian export and global inhabitant !  Found in South Africa too, it can also be seen round and about in London, where the original birds escaped from captivity and have since set up a colony and in Brussels, where it was introduced deliberately, to add some colour to the city !  As with all things Indian, it's an exotic looking bird with emerald green tail feathers.  It's a mimic, copying human speech and even human emotions !  Considered an omen of good karma, by Hindus, it is sometimes featured in tribal embroidery,  as an auspicious symbol.

Here it sits on top of the Indian 'Mast Tree'.  This strange tree, quite unlike anything else, grows vertically upwards, like a ship's mast and appears to have no branches.  Often cultivated as a screen, in front of a house for privacy, it also helps to cut out noise !

MOO

ENDANGERED SPECIES.....

It seems that the rhinoceros is under threat not only in Africa, but right here in Gujarat !  This sculpture, the first of its kind in India, by Gujarati artist Narottam Luhar, has been removed from its dominant position in the centre of a major traffic circle and dumped at the side of the road, where its future is uncertain - a notice announces that the site is under reconstruction !  With a backdrop of billboards and bikes, the rhino looks forlorn, to say the least.

It's constructed out of scrap metal and weighs around 3 tons.  Commissioned by the Founder of an Iron and Engineering Company in the 1970s, it took its place in a significant spot in the town, adding to the variety of sculptures, providing a focal point for road users.  The different shapes of metal plate have been soldered together to create the essential form of the rhinoceros, beautifully expressing its bulk, weight and stocky power.  Together with the 'Banyan Tree' circle on the outskirts of Fatehgunj and the 'Bird Circle' near Alkapuri, these imaginative and secular roundabouts, create a delightful contrast.  The newer roundabouts in town, are more formal and religious in character.

Interestingly, roundabouts help to define a city.  Support for local artists, here in Vadodara, is very worthwhile and the rhinoceros definitely deserves to go back to its original habitat, at the crossroads !

ROOM WITH AN 'EXISTENTIAL' VIEW

It could be the backdrop for one of De Chirico's early metaphysical paintings - the loneliness and   emptiness of an endless row of classical structures....... stretching into the distance, devoid of humanity !

Hard to imagine that these are, in fact, newly erected apartments in a small town in India !

ESSENTIAL JEWELRY TO WEAR WITH A GARBA DRESS

GARBA GEAR IN GUJARAT

THE GARBA SEASON BEGINS

Garba dancing requires practice and co-ordination and children start learning the dance at an early age.  The garba begins slowly with a few people leading, other 'players' join in behind and gradually a circle is formed, with steps going forward and then turning back on themselves, the movement allowing the circular garba skirt to radiate outwards, in a shower of sparkles.  It's a religious dance celebrating 'shakti' or Divine Energy, common to everyone.  The circularity of the skirt and the dance itself, symbolise the cyclical rhythm of time from birth, through life, death and re-birth, ever subject to change.  Only the Goddess, Dirga, at the centre, is constant and unchanging.

It reminded me of the nature of Rose Windows in 13th century Gothic Cathedrals, in Europe.  The Wheel Windows, early predecessors of the Rose, would show struggling humanity, being dragged around the outside rim of the wheel, subject to time, change and decay, whilst Christ at the centre of the wheel, represented a still and constant point, outside of time,  omnipotent, omnipresent and infinite.

The cycle of life, 'from the good to the good', is also the underlying philosophy of much of Neo Platonist thought, eloquently expressed in the work of the Renaissance artist, Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510), especially in his painting, 'Primavera' (c1480), which also features the rhythm of a dance.

THE RED AND WHITE HOUSE

Directions to this house would be very easy indeed !   Using bold colours to outline architectural elements, is a feature of Indian architecture - always colourful, it doesn't seem to follow any particular logic.  Even formal elements, like arches and coloumns, play a decorative, rather than functional role, and are sometimes randomly placed at skyline level.

Interestingly, in the West, colour does not play an active role in architecture.  From Greek times, the formal properties of harmony and balance were celebrated.  The Romans added might and mass and Vetruvian principles of proportion, based on mathematical logic.  Applied sculptural decoration enlivened pediments and friezes with narrative stories.

Brunelleschi, the famous Renaissance Architect, interestingly introduced colour into his buildings by using the simple contrast of grey pietra serena (a local sandstone) and white stucco, to emphasize the rational logic of his mathematical proportions, in a very controlled way.  Applied decoration in the form of blue and white glazed terracotta, was the only colour permitted by him, to be introduced into his rational structures.

And even with the architectural revolution of the 19th century, when new building materials like reinforced concrete and glass became available, the focus of architecture was on building higher and higher, economics, being a motivating factor.  The early 20th c movements of Art Deco and Art Nouveau, were a brief decorative interlude, before Gropius and Le Corbusier, brought us back to our senses and reminded us that form should express function and the frivolity of decoration was eschewed in favour of truth to the materials themselves.

The sheer playfulness of The Red and White House (1952), with its pale mauve shutters, is a glorious example of indulgence !

6.15 P.M.

Bumping along in a rickshaw, down the very long Productivity Road, at 6.15 p.m., is a chance to view things from this vantage point of relative comfort - the open sides of the rickshaw catch the passing breeze and provide an unimpeded view of street life at this magical hour.  The sun has almost set. a blazing ball of orange and a few scattered monsoon clouds are tinged with pink.  The air has cooled and the light is betwixt and between.  Productivity Road is parallel to a major trunk road and by contrast has an informality - a special atmosphere.   The energy has gone out of the day, people stand and chat and yet the road still bustles, in a laid back, cheerful, 'end of the day', sort of way.  Shops are beginning to light up, their goods spilling out onto uneven pavements.  It's the Garba season and many ad hoc stalls have been set up displaying garba dresses, with their wide, colourful skirts and shiny borders, glittering in the lamp light.  Bodices are laid out, embroidered and embellished with mirrors.  Jewelry and all the paraphernalia associated with the season is displayed.  Bright festive lights decorate some shop fronts.   Dogs wander in and out - one defecates, its back flexed into an exaggerated curve. Two peasant girls in shabby clothes, holding bunches of brightly coloured balloons aloft, make their way homeward.