Seven Posts in Seven Days: Day 1

I am participating in Write Tribe's Festival of Words from 1st to 7th September where nearly 82 bloggers are writing on the theme of Seven for Seven days - a post a day!

In the forthcoming seven days, I will be writing on the Sevens that make my life and meanderings.

The word Seven has been a fixation in my life as it was the number that was most favoured by my Sunday school teachers and the pastors whose sermons I have grown up listening to. As much as the number Seven is favoured, 6 is dreaded as the number of the Anti-christ. No numerology and all that mumbo-jumbo but Seven always got a special nod and glow. And strangely, I have gotten used to the number Seven and almost always end up favouring the number, of course not out of the fetish for numerology and all that mumbo-jumbo but because it’s a comfort zone for me and may I add, many Christians who have gone to Sunday school and heard diligent sermons also give special preference to this number. So, I must admit that I was excited a wee bit when the Write Tribe had chosen Seven to be the key word for its Writing Festival! Well, here goes my first post of the inaugural day of the festival.

I thought that my first Seven would be the Seven characteristics that are an integral part of me but I choose to conveniently forget or perhaps pretend that I don’t have them. 

~ A bad procrastinator

~ Not valuing time

~ Wills to change some existing patterns but never does as a comfort zone has been formed

~ Swears quite a lot while having internal conversations which is quite alarming

~ Takes for granted that I am the best, which is a delusional thought

~ An extrovert who likes being alone but never portrays that 

~ An individual whose inner thoughts and outward actions don’t often match

The above Seven traits are something that need to be broken from my personality and this first post will strive as a remainder towards that goal. 

Hope to share more of my Sevens in the days to come. So, what are the Seven traits in you that you wish to change?

Stringing a beady tale with love

Personal stories of success always are a wonder to narrate and here I am with one such tale which I admire and choose to share with you.

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When Sridevi in the film, English Vinglish informs the class that she makes laddus and sells them, by way of introducing herself, she is lauded as an Entrepreneur. That scene was an AHA moment in the film. I'm sure that scene touched many a chord and left one teary-eyed. 

This is a tale of one such entrepreneur, who left her job with a leading Luxury group when she had a soul call. Most often a soul call doesn't happen twice and Archana Avinash of Strings & Beads was wise enough to heed that call and follow its direction. Thus began the soulful and beautiful journey of Strings and Beads - Handmade precious and semi-precious jewellery using gemstones, Tibetan silver and silver. This was in Qatar, Middle-east in circa 2011!

Archana's love and attraction to jewellery especially heavy, chunky statement pieces naturally enabled her to begin Strings & Beads. Hailing from a family where all the women did some kind of hand work, Archana says that she genetically and naturally had to use her hands to create something that she enjoyed doing and also that fetched her money. Archana says, "My Grand-mom used to sketch, stitch and do lovely embroidery. My Mom went on her mom and till date stitches some of the most gorgeous clothes and bags. So Jewelry happened very naturally to me. I loved stones and started putting things together. I started with stretch bracelets, then I worked around simple necklaces and finally came earrings."

Like most personal ventures, Archana also faced disappointment and financial constraints in the initial days after starting S & B as she quit a job that paid handsomely. But she had her heart and soul into Strings & Beads. There were exhibitions she did in the Middle East (Qatar) where she didn't sell a piece. But thanks to her friends-- her only clients then who picked all that they liked and encouraged her. Having a supportive and wonderful husband also was her great pillar of strength. In Archana's own words, "A shoulder to cry and a crazy pal when we celebrated successes."

 Archana's medium of work in the beginning was limited to glass beads and metal. Eventually, her liking for Silver increased and also did her love for Gemstones. She came across tarot and Crystals about a year after she began S & B. She saw some amazing results for S & B with the crystals and that's when she went on to learn Tarot card reading and Crystal Healing. Now a practitioner and a designer, she is able to bring about an amazing balance with Aesthetics and Metaphysics.

She procures her beads from around the world from suppliers approved by GIA (Gemological institute of America) and her Silver are all handmade in India and Nepal.

The greatest challenge she faces are the copiers in the market. People come to her to learn the art and begin something by themselves and have even tried stealing her clients. But Archana is quite happy that she has many clients who have also become her friends and family standing by her.

 Archana has come a long way since she began her journey before 2.5 years and the sailing hasn't been quite smooth. But what she has understood is that inspite of many copiers out there, they really don't live long. And as Archana rightly mentions, "True creativity cannot be contained. It is something each one is born with and that which you end up nurturing."

And thus Archana nurtured her soul call and here we are with beautiful strings and beads! In early 2013 Archana shifted to Chennai and since then her journey has been functioning from the South of India to many countries in the world. One visit to her Facebook page leaves you sighing and wishing that you owned atleast one S & B piece of jewellery.

Archana has been showcasing her work in different venues in Chennai and recently exhibited her work entitled, Madras Memoirs in the 11th edition of By Hand, From the Heart, the market place for hand made stuff from South India.

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Postscript: Written for the Indiblogeshwaris Ladies Independence Special Contest in association with Women Entrepreneurs in India

All images are from Strings & Beads Facebook page.

Five seconds don't mean much

How long does it take to assess a person? I have read that in five seconds an impression is made. I cannot agree and neither do I agree with the cliched saying, 'First impression is the first impression.' Today I was introduced to someone while going for a walk. As soon as the first introductions were made, I could see the lady scrutinising me from top to bottom. I could sense that she was ass . . . essing me. I felt rather uncomfortable. Could she have gauged me just by looking at me. Did she sense that I was a corny blogger or for that matter that I didn't choose to bathe today?! Maybe not. What did she read of me when she looked at me from top to bottom. At that precise moment when she looked at me, I also judged her or rather ass . . . essed her. We were both doing the same things but I would like to be partial with my observation because it was the observation of an observation.

Often we are not open-minded enough to be compassionate and non-judgmental while meeting someone for the first time. Perhaps there is this notion that the other person might be judgmental of us and why not take the first step by judging them harshly and showing that through our facial expression. By experience and a bit of prudence, I have come to realise that first impressions don't mean much. A tough exterior can mask an insecure interior or a seemingly calm exterior might be vicious within. The phrase, 'Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle' runs and reruns in mind when I find myself trying to judge a person in the first five seconds of meeting someone. Something related to this is falling in love at first sight. While I can possibly extend my general speculation to love, I will not venture that side because I have strongly felt attractions in the first five seconds of meeting someone. Well, can attraction be equivalent to judging, I don't know. Some things are mysterious and cannot be ascertained but I guess scientists have tried cracking the mystery of love at first sight and maybe they are right.

I think first meetings pave way for opening one's world to someone who is different, unacquainted and new from our world. After subsequent meetings, we can decide whether we want to stay or leave but that first time should be an open-minded one, I reckon.

Just because I write this, it doesn't mean that I'm open-minded. I am learning to rein my force of habit and trying to be open to the possibilities of a first meeting which could probably lead to some strong bonds and conversations.

What do you think of this preoccupation with first impressions?

Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet

Won't you allow yourself to be seduced by local metaphors/similes

Some time ago in 2010, I invited my readers to exercise their grey cells and come up with metaphors and similes from their immediate environs - in short, local and regional similes/images and metaphors. Well, we did try to come up with something and in the process tried to invent our own images! Well, I'm tempted to do something like that again and so I invite you to come up with unique metaphors and similes of your own and from your own locale. Let's be done away with those cliched, "As blind as an owl" and "as sly as a fox!"

Leaving you with some examples from the comments of the post I did in 2010.

~ "As it shifts out of sight, the birch trees and farms in my view become dark silhouettes on a canvas of silver. Like a gentle painter, the sun leaves behind brush strokes of warm colours on the evening sky for a short instance, before submerging us in dense darkness yet again, without any promises to return..."

(Zuzana Hansen)

 ~ "There was so much humidity in the air that photosynthesis threatened to become audible"

(Yuvika Chaube)

Okay, shall we begin? Here are some of mine:-

1. Her voice was as shrill as the Lapwing during monsoon
2. He became predictive as the words in the word document ;)
3. Your face is beaming as the smiley that my G-chat provides!
4. You are slowly becoming tasteless like the leftover dal that is three days old!
5. Her imaginary ghosts within were numerous than those found on the Tamarind tree in our village square!


Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet

Inter-state weddings and monolingual children of urban India

Language is a beautiful connector of two individuals and so is marriage but then both have their pitfalls especially if two individuals belong to different language-speaking communities. National integration is something of a national joke these days that people resort to whenever they speak of India and her remarkability to people who don't belong to India. But the scenario in India is completely different with a trillion castes and a million languages. And then, there is a boy who falls in love with a girl from a different language group and community. They say that everything is fair in love and war and yes, everything is fair until marriage happens. Even a few years after the great M, everything is fair until a child arrives and hastily juggles all the neatly arranged pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.

Yes, the child forces many unsought questions and niggles the peace of mind. What will the poor parents do? After all while courting, children were a hazy dream of delight who were in the distant horizon but in the present the bundles of delight bring with them some vital questions - What will be the language of communication if the parents belong to two different language systems? Is the mother-tongue always the tongue of the mother that the child will adapt to or a language that the child picks up without much ado? Then enters the great coloniser into the picture - ENGLISH. Well, the parents find it easier to talk to the kid in English, after all English is a global language and the language of communication so why not. Lullabys are sung in English, sweet nothings are cooed in English and eventually the child picks up only English. The rich and diverse regional tongues of the father and mother are gradually forgotten and remains as a hazy memory. But not all children/ parents are so. I don't know how they do it but they systematically see that the child learns both the languages.

As much as I like English and the nuances of this coloniser's tongue, I shudder to think of my unborn children and their tongue. What language will they speak? Will they speak my language or my husband's? Will they love their parents in the regional or in the foreign tongue. Ah, no matter what, English is still a foreign language and we aren't native speakers even if we master the language. As I write this, I also think of my own predicament. Both my parents spoke the same language but since I grew up in a place which was not my state, I can hardly write or read my own language. While in school, it gave me great pride to say that I knew only English but now I feel quite uneasy to admit that I can only speak my language and not read or write. And I even think in a foreign tongue! But today being the 21st century, it does not pose much of a problem but when I increasingly listen to only English, I wonder whether we are gradually becoming a country with a homogenous language system. We like to be seen in Starbucks, KFCs and Macs speaking a language not our own and swearing in cuss words that belong to another country.

Everything is fair in love and war, they say. I don't agree. What do you think?

Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet

A post on a comment

It's one of those days when you are randomly checking Facebook, you see a comment, not on Facebook but your blog that someone was having coffee in another part of the world and that they were talking about you. A wee mom and her sweet son, who also happens to be a blogger buddy are sitting in a corner Cafe in Philippines and of all things, they are talking about me and my blog. The feeling is beyond priceless.

I think of all the odd times that we cross people's minds - Space and time inconsequential. That's how it happens when one starts blogging and posting. At different times we are thought of with fondness, I'd like to think that way. I also wonder how the image of my posts translate in their minds. What if they don't know my face - will they imagine me through my words or my posts' titles. What are the building blocks of me in their minds. I value those thoughts. That a blogger friend and his sweet mom were talking of me was communicated to me but there are many others who don't say it but still smile and think. A stray naughty comment here and a deep insightful comment there - How am I perceived? As a naughty one or as a thoughtful one. Perhaps a blend or perhaps a delirious mixture that is difficult to digest. But then do we digest all those images of words that form a personality. We sip. We take in the taste. And then forget until we find a part of that taste in ourselves.

Sometimes I think of all the blogs that I visit and wonder how much of it I sip and how much of it I savour. Do I savour all that I taste and sip or do I just sip and find the taste unpalatable. Even when I say 'unpalatable,' I remember that it was unpalatable - the bitterness is also a memory. I recently read on one of those random Facebook posters that gets circulated - "We don't miss people, we only miss the memories of time spent with people." Well, I wondered how can we miss memories without thinking of the people! The memory of the touch is as good as the touch itself. Maybe I'm just writing things on a whim. Once in a while I like doing that - moving in disconnected tangents.

When I see a fiddle/violin, I don't have to coerce myself - my thoughts on the symbol of a violin is Steve who blogs at The Fourth Dimension. His comments always make me smile and happy. I haven't met him but I know that when he comments, he thinks of me and my peace. And travel always makes me think of that blogger who was discussing me with his lovely mom. AJ Poliquit's tales of travel in The Transcendental Tourist always amaze me and leaves me with a strong yearning to back my bags which, of course, I cannot do at a very short notice! And the word Mohican and word play always stands for Brian Miller and his WayStationOne.

I firmly like to believe that these fond thoughts of me that cross in your mind at different times of the day/month/year give me a shield of well-being and happiness. And likewise you cross my mind as well. Next time, you feel a sense of being watched, you crossed my mind.

So, did I cross your mind today? Well, you did!

Image 1 and 2: Internet