Diminishing Identity

NOTE: "This entry is not to hurt anyone. It is just my perspective"

There had been days when girls were yearning to have mangal sutra around their neck, kum kum or sindhoor on top of their forehead, I mean waiting to get married. They had pictured these as a symbol of beauty besides it being the symbol of identity of married women. By the tradition of South India, Mangal sutra and the toe ring had been the sacred ornament. In these days of the stylish era, it is being worn as just an ornament. How many of us know its importance and preserve it? So why is the toe ring worn?? Are we wearing for the purpose of it?

In the words of my Granny,” In olden days, girls wore mangal sutra and the guys wore the toe ring. While commuting on roads, the women wore mangal sutra visible to others and to walk on the street heading downwards, and men would wear the toe ring, so when a married women catches a sight of a man with ring on his toe, she would move away and the guy on looking at the mangal sutra would give her way to go.”

In those days, a toe ring were made only of silver and as gold was considered as the form of goddess Lakshmi, so was looked upon as a disrespect to wear it below the waist. But which is not deliberated in the world of fashion today.

We always like to have pleasant sounds at our house. For example the wind chimes which produce a melodious rhythm, fills s with joy. Similarly, there is a common belief that clashing sound of toe rings chases away evil spirit and brings wellness for the family members.

There is also another belief on medical insight on wearing toe ring is that it regularizes the menstrual cycle of married women. A specific nerve from the second toe connects uterus and heart. So while walking, friction caused by this nerve gives energy to reproductive organs.

This toe ring is gifted to the bride by her uncle after the sacrificial rites, who has a significant importance in the her life. After this, the groom holds the bride’s big toe and takes seven steps to affirm their relationship as friends for life.

So with all these significance in it, do all of us practice and cherish its values? Here is a little comparison with a foreign culture, the English ones. If a guy or girl finds their soul mate, they get to know them in person, understand them, go around dating and stuff till they magically decide to hold their hands. But when asking for her hand, the guy approaches her with a ring and asks, “Will you marry me?” on a perfect evening in all due respects. And the girl on deciding to marry the guy wears the ring as a symbol of love and an identity of their relationship all through their lifetime together. They do have their identity where ever they go irrespective of their lifestyle.

These days, toe rings have become an ornament rather than an identity. Let we not be too orthodox and walk with our heads facing down on roads but it is our duty to preserve our tradition and culture. So wearing it in silver or gold or enameled is not the concern, wearing it is of great importance and will give us the pride of carrying our tradition in whichever lifestyle we be.

Kaju Almond Katli

I made this for my Hubby's Birthday. It came out well that people commented it tastes like the one from the sweet stall. Thanks to all.. Here is the recepie.

Ingredients:

Equal amount of cashew and almond (here 1:1)
2 cups of sugar
2 cups of water
Sliced almond - to garnish


Procedure:
- Soak almond in water and peel the skin
- Grind them into fine powder (as it s wet, it will leave some pieces unground)
- grind the cashew finely (as dry)
- Mix these and roast them in medium fire till it gives out aroma and colour changes to light golden brown
- Romove it from the heat and keep it aside
- Boil water and add sugar to it for about 15 min setting haet as high (till slight kambi padham, it s one thread syrup)
- In another vessel, preferably the coated one, add the mixture and add the syrup while it s hot and stir it in medium fire.
- Continue stirring till it comes as whole (surrundu vara varaikkum)
- Put it on a greased plate and let it cool
- Once it is half way cool, u can make it into desired shape..
- Slice almonds and decorate it on each piece.


Do try this and post your experience. Thanks for reading :)

I Just Turned Back:

The years have just turned two fold since I came out of college. As I converse with my friends, they say about their career, situations at home and, we gossip just as we did when we were in college. It is truly hard to believe that time is the one and only factor that never stops for anything, may it be our laziness, relationships, sentiments, whatever…

We would have had a completely different standpoint of life during that stage, dreaming most of the time though we might have piles of assignments to be completed, and chit chatting with friends for long hours over absolute nothing. It’s hard to believe our viewpoint of life has completely changed for each one of us from that. People say we see the real world after college. That’s very true indeed. All our dreams don’t come true, for some of us only a few of it, and for some none of it. A few ones’ carrier might change, a few don’t get anything called a career, and a few just accept the one coming along their way. Just as we evoke the sensational life of college days with our friends, we get drenched in the sensitivity of misplaced at present. Soon either of the conversationalists drags us into reality and wonder saying, “Just three years before, we were worrying about our internals, resolving our tiff with the roomie, but now we have become more responsible with no time to look back”.

This is absolute truth, now when I speak with my friends, I speak about my accomplishments in the kitchen and they speak about the pending deployment plans. Crazy life, for ex: It flings two friends who were class mates, studying the same notes into extremely discordant paths. That was certainly the “Spring Season” of our lives.

AWAITING YOU….

It has been quite a wait, then dawned a beautiful morning. I was excitingly heading towards the airport. I never stopped showing my excitement to my dear one who was driving and showing his excitement too. Parents are arriving from INDIA… WOW!! No sooner did I see them waiting with their luggage, my heart was bouncing with joy. I ran towards them and hugged them tightly; there peeped a tear of happiness and relief. A sigh of relief came up as I have got a full time company, a soul to care for me, help me in cooking, and kill time in a better way. And towards our way back home, they were explaining about their travel experiences. I was in turn recapping my experiences to them.

It was a beautiful summer, with the breakup of daytime silence. Our home was filled with care, love, affection even more as there were two more to contribute. We happily went around showing them the places around, having a beautiful and a peaceful walk. They enjoyed the sight of new country filled with a lush of green everywhere. Of course they dint feel the heat as it is comparatively low from the homeland. We enjoyed our weekends, visiting a few lakes around, showing them the Indian temple here. I enjoyed the whole day with them expelling loneliness out of my way which was better than pushing the loneliness out of the house by myself all through the day till the evening. Getting new tips in cooking, learning basic stuffs which I was unaware these days was an exciting learning experience which I had missed immediately after my marriage. Chitchatting the day with various topics that ran across our minds, and I was never idle and I liked it. It was indeed a beautiful summer.

But when are they coming here? Expecting them soon!! Expecting and waiting to experience all those I had quoted above which are only a few of all my wishes. We are waiting for you!! This is dedicated to both of our parents. We really miss you and our country..