Kolam

I had lot of problems in uploading this  as I seem to have run out of space for my snaps on gmail.

Kolam is the name for Rangoli in Tamil Nadu.It is generally done with rice paste & sometimes even with rangoli powder.

On my Chennai visits,I have seen that women draw kolams outside their homes at dawn on  daily basis after washing the areas.Even outside buildings ,this is done !

A home for Tink !

Green house that is home to Tink.

Harini,my daughter has gone crazy.She has taken to Tinker bell,the fairy in such a big way that she sleeps,eats,drinks & breathes Tink .Really this is quite exhausting.Her exams are on & the only thing she can concentrate on is the fairy.

She coerced her dad to get her a VCD on the latest film on that two winged tiny creature & has watched it  umpteen times.She also brought in her chums to watch it -obviously to get them converted like her.I dunno if she succeeded.But all this is going on in the thick of her exams ! How I wish she could concentrate atleast one tenth of what she does so passionately for Tink on her studies but then ,such is not my luck nor the teachers as they will discover from her answers.

In all this frenzy for Tink,Harini was inspired by the movie to build a house for her newfound love.She scrouged our  house & got a cardboard box.From this, she cut out squares & rectangles to make windows & a door.She camr across squarish pieces of glass which she painstakingly added as windows.One of the galss piece is a sealed window & two other pieces are open windows.The door is of  cardboard & is rectangular.

She took some cotton & made it into a bedding & a pillow for Tink. This is laid on a cardboard bed .The cardboard bed is a rectangle resting on four cardboard legs.On the cotton bedding she put a piece of velvet cloth-cut from her discarded dress sleeve.The velvet is  violet in color.From the same sleeve,she cut out two more pieces.She punched it at one end with a paper punch to make holes.These pieces were to be the curtains for the open windows .She took a straw & hung the curtains after passing the straw through the holes punched into them.

Then she took a polythene  glass  & covered it with a  circular cardboard lid .This was taped to the side of the house.This is the mail -box for Tink.Harini also built a table & chair -both from cardboard for Tink.On the table is placed a ceramic kettle & a tea cup & saucer.This tea set is a present from  her cousin .The roof of the house has an opening covered with a polythene sheet so that one can view it from the top.


The door of the house has a grand stand resting on two cardboard props with a roof attached to the house.There is a bell hanging from this roof to ring.This bell idea is copied from the movie.

Then Harini covered the roof with newspaper & painted it blue.She also painted the house  with green & yellow colour on the outside.I helped with painting.This was more out of compulsion rather than choice as Harini had taken out so much of paint from the tube that I felt compelled to use it.I also used brown colour to cover up things on the cardboard box.

She also put stars & other shiny embellishments on the walls of the house -on both sides of the door.On the side ,one can notice that it belongs to Tinker Bell as the name Tinker Bell is glued on the left side of the house in the snap.

On the door there are some flowers struck to make it look inviting.


The house does not have a floor -it is open from below.Harini uses the emergency lamp to light up the interiors of the home .Actually,she wastes a lot of energy on lighting up.A lot of other things were wasted in this venture-cello tapes.I am thinking of investing in shares & stocks of a cello tape manufacturer now.

But apart from that,all other material used is waste material .So this is a Green house -as it has made use of recycling waste materials.She did it fast in three to four days -a record time ,wouldn't you all agree ?

Moreover, she has painstakingly built it with lots of  love for Tink .The result is, that the house that she built for Tink has become a home now !

On second thoughts,  if only , our builders could take a lesson from all this ? !

Raangoli

In Gujarat,rangoli is called Sathiya.I saw sathiya being drawn in Surat .They use colours also.

Painting.

My parents & brother were desperate to get the flat painted.It never crossed their minds that my opinion should be sought as I am the one who stays in that flat.But then this is what happens when you are a tenant -you are always at the receiving end of all largesse of your landlord/s !

So,it was all decided to get it done. A brand was chosen.They came to inspect & told us that the flat desperately needed painting .The way they apprised the condition of the paint ( or whatever was left of it ) on the walls,ceiling etc,it made us wonder as to  who was  in greater need- they or the flat.Anyway,they stated that as it was too badly done up earlier,they will need a minimum of four weeks to make it look presentable.I could feel my blood pressure shooting up.

Well,the painting or rather the process of peeling the old paint began .Then they put up the plaster of paris. Then the primer which smelled so awful that  I used to suffer from headaches.Now,this proved to me that I had a head which all suspected I never did possess ! Then the painting was done.Yet,it was not so simple.

My brother who is the owner had his own ideas about the colours he wanted on the walls of the bedrooms,the drawing room,the ceiling etal.Mind you,he was doing all this vide the phone from a neighboring city.As this was getting too confusing,we told him to email his choice of colours for the brand official to have a dekko .After all,he is the final authority.Unless he says yes,it is difficult for one to go ahead & suffer the results of ludicrous color schemes.It always helps to have some company in case,the color choice is decried by others ! That is one of  the advantages of working as a team !

As the flat was getting renovated by painting,I discovered to my amazement that I had also got fairer. The plaster of paris,the putty were falling all over me & others at home as fine dust .So this was the secret which made us look like Nordic whites ! .I am sure , painting your house can make you  much fairer  than all fairness creams applied together .I am currently talking to the PRO of the company which painted this flat  about how paints can give tough competition to fairness creams !

My feet also got fairer day after day.So,there was no need to get a pedicure done ! So,I saved at my brother';s expense .The painting left a hole in his pocket as one has to pay more for a branded product.Nah,the  high cost one tends to pay for  painting makes others conclude that a brand was chosen for painting !  But then ,the painting covered all, the holes on the walls & the ceilings.So,in effect the hole got transferred & transformed ! Small holes got transformed into a big hole in the pocket !

As they rubbed the walls ,ceilings etc,all the white powder which is a compound of calcium  kept falling into everything below including our food .Now,that served another useful purpose.It was a calcium additive & at this age,we are in perennial need of calcium supplements .So,this painting also fulfilled our calcium requirements.If ,I had known this,I wouldn't have spent money on buying calcium capsules from the pharmacy.I am certain that immediately after this painting job got over,the calcium readings of all the members who were in the house must have shot up so tremendously that Calcium was in excess- in the bodies that is ! So,next time,our calcium levels hit rock bottom,I know what to do - get my house repainted !

There is one downside to all this -our  hair also  gets its fair share of the white powder .So all of us appear older than we really are.On second thoughts,we can blame the painting for all that grey hair ! Hopefully ,all that extra grey in the hair makes us appear wiser - more grey matter in the brains. But then we all know- appearances can be deceptive & in such cases,they  certainly are !



The way the painting work was carried on left a lot of questions unanswered.They took four weeks to do up the flat but the speed had reduced midweek itself.I was left wondering if they were pretending to do a thorough job by taking a long time.It is like this in examinations- those who fill reams of paper are awarded more marks than others who write up to the point.One ponders if the answer sheets are indeed weighed before marks are granted.

Finally,painting ended & I sighed.Because,I realised that I will start looking my colour -so many shades darker as I will no longer have the benefit of superfine white powder which was like a halo around me ! Some had even mistaken it for some divine aura !

I will end here as I have to get a facial  & pedicure done lest people begin to notice the difference !