Goddess of the Arts - Saraswati

Saraswati, the Goddess of the Arts. A bearer of wisdom, a beacon of knowledge and an aficionado of music, she is a Goddess that has alternative blessings. Ones that don’t scream wealth and power, her blessings are subtle and unique. She is the one who protects the skilled, the talented and the gifted. She exudes confidence in every idol she is sanctified in. She is the one to turn to if you want to clear those nasty entrance examinations, she is the one who resides in the homes of accomplished musicians and artists, she is the embodiment of learning.

Saraswati is depicted as a woman with four arms. In one she carries the sacred book of Hindu principles, the ‘vedas’. In another she carries a rosary, a symbol of spirituality as a means of higher consciousness. Her two other accessories are a stringed instrument called the ‘veena’ and a pail of sacred water. The ‘veena’ she plays is the song of love, feelings and emotions. The water she carries symbolizes purity. Saraswati is a benevolent Goddess who is appeased by the worship of arts and sciences. A commitment to one’s talent is prayer enough for Saraswati is the one who has bestowed those creative gifts. By respecting and nurturing those gifts we are respecting and nurturing her.

Not many people are aware of the hidden nuances in the depiction of gods and goddesses in Hindu mythology. Whether it is an idol or a painting, there are teachings even in the surroundings of the Gods. Saraswati is often accompanied by a white swan mythology says that when a mix of water and milk was offered to the swan, it would drink only the milk from it. Symbolically, she could distinguish between the good and the bad, pure and impure. Some artwork also depicts Saraswati in the company of a peacock, a bird known for its proud and flamboyant nature. Since the peacock is depicted as Saraswati’s mount, she in one sense conquers the pride and her teachings are simple, don’t be concerned with external appearances. The soul is the keeper of all goodness.

Try Ayurveda this Navratri

'Vasant Navratri' is early this year, from 6th – 15th April 2008. The nine holy nights of Navratri are dedicated to Goddesses Lakshmi (Goddess of Wealth), Durga (Goddess of Creative and Feminine energy) and Saraswati (Goddess of Knowledge) . The practice of observing a nine day fast also called ‘Navratri Vrat’ is widely popular in Northern India and though these 9 holy days occur twice in a year in the Hindu calendar, the rituals and practises remain similar. A better explanation of these 9 holy days is given by www.shanidham.com - "Navratri is a Hindu festival of worship and devotion. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit; Nava - Nine and Ratri - nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti (metaphor for goddess Durga ) i.e. female divinity are worshipped. Shakti is the root of everything. Navratri commences on the first day (pratipada) of the bright fortnight of the Hindu lunar month of Ashwin. The festival is celebrated for nine nights twice every year. The dates of the festival are determined according to the Hindu lunar calendar, the festival may be held for a day more or a day less. The following 9 forms of goddesses are worshipped during these nine days."

Most urban homes are extremely conscious of ‘navratri days’ and it is not uncommon for restaurants to lose tens of thousands of rupees worth of income during this period. The people that don’t actually fast the entire day make it a point to at least abstain from non vegetarian food and liquor. Punjab and Haryana are equally enthusiastic about this time of the year and both men and women fast for the entire day, eating only one meal after sundown. In metropolitan towns and cities observation of a daylong fast has taken on a new meaning. Rituals permit partaking of fruits, dairy products (salt free) and vegetables, pretty much excluding only lentils, rice and grains. Pretty easy ‘fast’ if you ask me. Entire menus are developed to accommodate these nine days and make sure patrons come in even if it means eating breads make of vegetable flour (water chestnuts can actually be made into a kind of coarse, greenish flour, which can be kneaded and rolled to make ‘roti’)! So there is a loophole for everything. Cool! I like the whole accommodating feel this kind of fasting has, it’s more like detoxifying.



Speaking of detoxifying, this may be a good time to discover a new facet of vegetarian food – Ayurvedic Food. The basics of Ayurveda are hard to chronicle in a blog, in fact that kind of science requires deep study and practise. From a laypersons point of view, Ayurveda perpetuates that a healthy body is one that is in harmony with all the elements, is self healing and is balanced. In order to achieve this kind of overall health one must first bring harmony and balance into their lives through a nutritious diet and an active lifestyle. Ayurvedic cooking incorporates these principles into cooking methods, ingredients and recipes to produce a holistic fare. Cooking is almost treated like alchemy in Ayurveda. The combination of herbs, spices, seasonal vegetables and natural sugars and fats in Ayurvedic cooking is the key behind transforming an ordinary vegetarian dish into a balanced and highly nourishing meal. Ayurvedic food is aromatic, wholesome and almost healing in nature. The principles of the five Elements, the three Doshas, the three Gunas, the seven Dathus and the six Tastes form the core of Ayurvedic food. There is a special emphasis on organic ingredients, seasonal fruits and vegetables (nature provides in tandem with the needs of the body and the state that it is in), cooking methods and even the cook’s internal vibrations. The most inspiring part about this is the fact that it does not take more effort, time or means to make an ayurvedic meal. You should have access to fresh vegetables, fresh ground spices, herbs, a healthy cooking medium like olive oil (preferable, but I believe Canola is really good for the heart) and a cooking area that is well ventilated and clean.



Few practises of Ayurvedic cooking are given below as a start-up:

• Ayurvedic cooking doesn’t insist on the use of ‘ghee’ or clarified butter but their argument is quite intriguing. ‘Ghee’ is essentially a diary product, it is a proven digestive, it lubricates the connective tissue, it is a catalytic agent and carries the medicinal properties of herbs. All cooking mediums and fats should be consumed in moderation and the same holds good for ghee too.
• Sautee spices in ghee/oil first so that all its essential oils are released.
• Do not extensively wash vegetables, instead wash gently and soak in warm water to release germs.
• Plan your meal and organize your ingredients.
• Have a positive frame of mind when you cook, unwind and treat the activity like an experience and not a chore. You will infuse the food with love and good vibes.
• Eat up to 1/3 capacity of your stomach, drink to 1/3 and leave 1/3 for God (Ashtanga Hridayam).

Lastly here is an easy recipe of delicious Indian food. Cumin is one of my favourite Indian spices, so we will do a light and summery ‘potato yoghurt curry’ that you can have with white rice and any Indian bread.

Potato Yoghurt Curry
4 boiled potatoes cubed (large pieces)
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp dry coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala
2 tbsp fresh yoghurt
2 tsp olive oil/ghee/cooking oil
1 ½ cup warm water
Salt

Heat the oil, add the cumin seeds and let them darken slightly. Add the spices and potato. Stir and cook on low heat for 2-3 minutes. Mix the yoghurt in warm water and add with a dash of salt. Cook on low for 6-7 minutes. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves. This dish is ideal for summers, its light yet has the wholesome goodness of potato carbs, the garam masala adds a zing but its heaty properties are reduced by the yoghurt.

Make Your Salad Good For You

I am surprised at what a bad attitude people have towards salads. ‘Dieting’ is an invariable part of every social conversation and it’s not long before someone brings up either salads or exercise. At least one person in the group will cringe at the very mention of these words. Seriously, take any demographic and try it. People seem to think that a salad will mean torn up lettuce or worse cabbage, tossed with cubed tomatoes and topped finally with the ultimate food from hell, bean sprouts. Everyone knows the hazards of salad dressings and that’s the sole reason the salad has gained such unpopularity.



Whether bottled or homemade, salad dressings can be very misleading. They are laden with calories and without them a salad is nothing but cut up veggies waiting to be cooked. Reports suggest that even dressings that are labelled 99% fat free have other harmful additives like salt, sodium, MSG and even trans fats. Homemade dressings always seem to involve mayonnaise or at least the mandatory dash of oil making the salad as good as a burger. The key lies in balance. Ultimately a salad should be crunchy, moist and wholesome enough to substitute an adult meal. Few changes in the preparation and ingredients can make a salad the perfect diet food. That’s the good news!



Always start with cold, fresh, well washed vegetables. Prepare a salad just before mealtime unless the recipe suggests otherwise. Healthy meat options for a salad are boiled or roasted chicken, turkey ham, tuna fish (try to buy a can preserved in brine instead of oil), steamed fish, prawns or crab meat. Seafood is high in cholesterol but if consumed in moderation it adds a lot of essential fatty acids and oils to a diet. Boiled egg as a topping is nutritious and makes the meal more satisfactory. The ideal vegetables are all the lettuce varieties. A tightly wound iceberg lettuce has a distinct crunchiness compared to romaine lettuce or even the outer leaves of the iceberg lettuce. Once you have your leafy base, add your colours. Tomatoes are a must; bell peppers add the zing and sweet corn kernels balance the flavours. The vegetable combinations for salads is endless, a good resource for ultimate salad recipes is allrecipes.com.



Now to the dressings, there are two basic types. The oil and vinegar mix with fresh or dry herbs (vinaigrettes) and the creamy mayonnaise based Caesar and Waldorf like dressings. The key to wholesome satisfaction is substitution. It’s sad when you have to substitute but it’s better than not having a dish altogether. Hang a cup of fresh yoghurt in a clean cotton napkin for a couple of hours. What you get next is cream cheese, provided the yoghurt was low fat, the cream cheese will be too. Use part cream cheese with any bottled of fresh dressing and cut back on the calories. To alter the tastes further add a dash of an Italian herb mix or better still, Tabasco. Finally make a meal out of your salad with add on’s like whole wheat pasta or croutons of oven toasted garlic bread.



Other creative additions can be grilled mushrooms, slivered carrots, bean sprouts (if you are a fan), artichokes, zucchini, boiled kidney beans, broccoli, olives, cottage cheese, tofu and even raw papaya. Few must keeps for regular salad fun are bottles of balsamic vinegar, white or red wine vinegar (red is more robust like the wine, the white one is tangy and dry) and extra virgin olive oil. Keep a regular supply of yoghurt to make your own cream cheese and experiment with adding different flavours like pastes of cucumber, capsicum, green chilli or garlic to make your own signature dressings. View the images in the gallery below to see if your salad turns out like I said it would!

View Healthy Salads Stock Photos by PhotosIndia.com

Gotta Getaway

Every once in a while life becomes a web of stuff. Random stuff, from work schedules and deadlines to dentist appointments and kid’s school functions, life is tough. Its way easier for DINK (double income no kids) couples but everyone deserves a break. The ‘holi’ weekend is round the corner and though I wish ‘holi’ was on Friday, a Saturday will most certainly do. It’s the Wednesday’s and Thursday’s that really kill a festival holiday, they don’t qualify as satisfactory. ‘Holi’ weekend is barely three weeks away yet a quick, slightly unplanned getaway is definitely possible. Most people vacation in the winter and a rebound refresher is a must. For me personally even booking into a nearby 5 star hotel is a possibility. The service is slicker than the maid at home, beds are miraculously luxurious, a tub is quintessential and who would mind a range of cuisines to order to the room. Before I get too suggestive and convince the whole load of you to swamp the Taj’s and the ‘Hyatt’s’ of India, consider a few more options.



Most of the large Indian cities are peppered with quaint resorts, forts and palaces, all within 250 km radius. This makes India a getaway treasure. National dailies are packed with holiday advertisements for strangely familiar sounding clubs that you never knew existed. Someone has to dare try them and then blog about it! Really, let’s do everyone a favour and pick one holiday club, fort, resort, riverside camp, spa or even a pilgrimage and go there. Head out for ‘holi’, India! Take the gujia’s, the beers and the friends along. See, this is the beauty of India; it’s phenomenally flexible on matters of prayer and celebration. ‘Diwali’ is a day to stay home, clean, cleanse, beautify and wait for the gods to pass by. Holi on the other hand is free reign, just remember to have fun. The ‘puja’ is a day before anyway. So pray, pack and go.



Some of my favourites picks for this ‘holi’ is the beach or a restored fort/palace. I want to try and give everyone a direction to head in, North India won’t have trouble finding a fort and the South has some of the nicest beaches to choose from. With 5700 km of mainland coastline, we really have a huge selection. Assuming a lot of these trips will be groups, giving a few choices will keep at least some happy. Every group has ‘beach’ people and every group has ‘history’ people. This may be a good time to find out which ones your friends are. Forts and palaces have always been associated with an old world charm. They are mysterious and enigmatic buildings that housed people out of fairy tales. If walls could speak, some of us would probably move in forever. Most of the Indian ‘heritage’ hotels have tied up with leading hospitality giants and retained their original architecture and décor, to produce fabulous holiday hotels a stone’s throw from most cities. Rooms have high ceilings, the bathrooms are almost as big as the rooms, the balconies are romantic, the furniture is usually a century old and the turbaned bearers are a delight.



The beach is my other most favourite destination whether it’s for a weekend or for a whole summer. I don’t even mind it in the rain. Thankfully all our beaches are tropical and it never really gets cold. Imagine, two days of communing with nature. I don’t care how clichéd this has gotten but a sunset on the beach is by far one of Mother Nature’s most precious gifts. Rainbows, lightening, aurora borealis and eclipses come in close after. Days seem longer on a beach. The stars shine brighter (provided you aren’t at a rave party) and the food always tastes good. In fact going to the beach right after winter is therapeutic in many ways, you will get rid of the winter paleness and you will get a ‘weight gain’ reality check. Don’t get put off, knowledge is power. It’s only when you know the problem that you can solve it!



Enough preaching, I hope at least some of you will log on to yatra.com or heritagehotelsofindia.com, indiaweekendgetaways.com, travelershub.com and do yourselves a favour. Check out a cool gallery of holiday images we produced. That will surely seal the deal! Click on the link below.

View Holiday Stock Photos by PhotosIndia.com

Gandhi's words 60 years on...

Jack Hollingsworth is the Chief Creative Officer of all the images you see on this blog. To a large extent he is the soul of the brands while we all are the constituents of its beating heart. This year Jack’s motto for the team comes from a man very close to my psyche, a man who has influenced many things in my life, a man who makes me proud to be Indian, Mahatma Gandhi.

"A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption in our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider in our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us an opportunity to do so" - Mahatma Gandhi



So much has been written about Gandhi that I don’t expect this blog to do more justice to his character, I am simply writing this as an ode. He was assassinated on 30th January 1948 and as we draw away from that date, I find myself thinking of him and his words a lot more. I had my share of insecure college days, the jitters of a new marriage, the shakes of a new job and lately the ultimate paranoia of being a new mom. Gandhi had words for me through each phase of my life. Words that felt like they were written only for me and my situation. Did Gandhi know a girl like me? Well he probably did, his entourage could beat Britney Spears hollow, if only we chased his ideals the way we chase her shopping sprees!

The words that stayed with me through the hardest parts of my life were -

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to a control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and yourself melt away."

It worked every time. It’s not that I looked for happiness in the misery of others, never! The principle was so evident, ‘I, me, myself” maybe the main components of my life but in the general scheme of things, I am too minute to consider, I am actually a ‘one’ that is a part of millions. These words were inspiring and what our generation needs the most, they were humbling. These words always make me realize how fortunate I am and that my existence should not be for me alone. I should ‘counter’ enrich the lives of people that enrich my life. My teen years were governed by one of my favourite quotes – “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality”, I felt that was such sweet liberation. In a world where real icons are hard to find, Gandhi remains relevant and contemporary even after 60 years of passing on. Before I knew it, the teen years were over and I was bang in the middle of my first job. I didn’t have a very forgiving boss and he didn’t have the word ‘naïve’ in his vocabulary, making my work environment highly volatile from day one. It was into the third week that my brother gave me a little purple print out that said – “Nobody can hurt me without my permission”. Oh God, it was so simple!

My list of favourite Gandhi quotes is actually running into page 3 and I don’t think it’s fair to burden you with them all. I will leave you with two priceless ones consider them a ‘mantra’ and find that ‘true peace’ we all seem to be chasing.

“The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems”

“We must be the change we wish to see” - Mahatma Gandhi

Falling in Love in India

Falling in love anywhere is easy; staying in love anywhere is tough. Yet each country poses its own unique cultural and social challenges to the human race when it comes to love. The west is perceived as a place where the entire multitude is still writhing in the ecstasy of the 60’s. It is not the permissive nature of the nation that gives this impression, it is the media projected out of there, into millions of middle class Indian homes. Thank you cable TV. I am not going to rant about how twisted that makes our slightly prudish minds, I am genuinely thankful to Cable TV. It has opened a whole new chapter of entertainment for me, considering my idea of fun was the outdoors and books. A good combination according to my parents but teenagers needed more than that. Suddenly everything was so colourful and loud, that’s my most vivid memory of 24x7 TV viewing. I remember the Valentine months most. Every show had a ‘valentine’ episode, every product had a ‘valentine’ promise and every channel had ‘valentine’ specials. I am quite sure there was an Ad for coconut oil that promised ‘Valentine Beau’ attracting tresses in a week. Thankfully it aired a fortnight before ‘Valentine’s Day’.

Unregulated cable TV seeped into Indian life around the time of the Gulf War in 1991. Metropolitan cities in India could view live broadcasts of glowing scuds whizzing across Kuwaiti skies, courtesy CNN. Shortly after that came the day time soaps, some of which are still revered by the now 30 + year old Indians. The third momentous entry was definitely MTV, with its brazen attitude, mind numbing graphics and freaky dating shows. You could practically see the minds blossoming right out our skulls.

Things are more or less the same 15 years down the line. There are more channels, more products and more ‘this and that days’, but the marketing blitz for Valentine’s comes in a close second after Diwali. Locally every restaurant and store has a promotion aimed at lovers of all kinds, young, old, just friends, mistresses, crushes and of course teens. Nationally, FMCG and Fashion brands cash in on this occasion. The Indian psyche has morphed itself slowly but surely. We don’t condone ‘love marriages’ yet all our kids are manically buying Valentine paraphernalia every February 14th. We don’t approve of dating among our teenaged kids yet each one of them knows when Valentine’s Day is versus when Gandhi was assassinated. Love makes the retail world go round, money makes the real world go around.

So far the general perception and awareness about Valentine’s Day is limited to the love between a man and a woman. This makes the marketing efforts concentrated towards the youth of India, 51% of India is below 25. So I am guessing it is fair to call this kind of product pushing an ‘advertising frenzy’. If only the awareness could be brought up a notch and India would realize that Valentine’s Day celebrates love, all kinds of love.

I can picture Kingfisher Airlines doing a ‘Senior’s Valentine’s Special’. Any Indian couple over 65 years old, flies to any one of the ten listed romantic destinations in India at half the price. Now, open this promotion to foreigners. Give them Agra for the Taj, Goa for the party, and Ladhakh for the mountains, give them an Indian love experience. China attracts 87 million tourists a year versus India’s measly 2.5 million. We need to hop on the global media bandwagon, make ourselves heard, make ourselves seen, and make ourselves marketable. Let cable TV be our guiding light. It is time to wake up and take stock of every day that means something to somebody and then sell, sell, sell!

Happy Valentine’s Day. Do check out our eclectic collection of ‘love’ images on Photosindia.com. ; )

View Valentine 2008 Stock Photos by PhotosIndia.com

Work Like a Woman

I have always believed that women make better managers. There are several reasons for it, some pathological and some simply because of the way women are conditioned. Women are better at reasoning and use more of their emotional brain centres that in itself make them approachable and affable. Women are stronger in times of crisis and ultimately women are the perfect combination of patience and pursuit. More and more companies are realizing the worth of their women employees; stories of rising from the ranks are making news all over the world. Whether it is Priya Paul, Chairman of Apeejay Park Hotels, who stepped into an established business or Kiran Mazumdar Shaw who started her career as a trainee brewer at Carlton & United Breweries and is now the CEO of Biocon, both have that one thing in common, indomitable spirit!



The most notable change has been in the finance sector. Out of the profiled top 21 Indian businesswomen, 7 were from banks and financial institutions. Naina Lal Kidwai was first to make news at Deputy CEO of HSBC bank followed by Lalita Gupte, Joint MD of ICICI Bank. This brings me back to why women are attracted to largely male dominated business sectors. It could be the lure of the unconquerable or that women fair well throughout school and university across India. It seems more like a scenario where women want to seize the moment and squeeze every opportunity because things finally different from what they were a generation ago. National progress can be quantified by the presence of women as a work force. It is the trickle effect that will benefit India in the long run; educated women will rear educated children. The most noted book of 2005 ‘Freakonomics’ cites ‘working mothers’ as one main reason behind successful people.



Even at a grass root level, I have noticed a new breed of Indian businesswomen, the enterprising housewives. Last Diwali I walked into a small shop selling terracotta lamps and idols, the women manning the counter had her head covered, spoke only Hindi (Indian regional language) and had a mobile ringing constantly around her neck. She knew every product and its price in her shop; it was 200 square feet and stocked 2000 things! She was a shark when it came to bargaining and all the while she was polite and courteous. The other such woman I know is one who runs a plant nursery. She is always cutting deals on landscaping and grass prices, she won’t budge on the price of exotics and if I saw her on the street I would never imagine she could run an enterprise that sold over 500 varieties of plants and was spread across 2 acres of land. The third woman I have been lucky to encounter was the lady I rented DVD’s from. She escaped an abusive marriage, started a movie rental service with the money she made from selling her wedding jewellery, all the while she was bringing up three children. She then expanded into electronic repairs, hired a talented electronics engineer and went on to marry him. They still have that little shop but its full of love, good service and a definite mark of sheer enterprise.

Even as far as global achievements by Indian women are concerned, Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo stands out as an exceptional achiever. Born and brought up in Chennai, she went to the US for higher studies, started with major corporate, has a successful marriage and is a mother to two children. Now that’s commendable.

View Women in Business Stock Photos by PhotosIndia.com