Gratitude List - Aug 2020 #GratitudeCircle

 It's difficult to write this gratitude list when Corona Virus is showing it's harsh impact everywhere and wildfires making many homeless in US Western states. What can we be grateful for when people are suffering around us and losing jobs?

But, this list might be a reminder that we should be thankful for our basic needs fulfilled in these uncertain times. If we have a place to stay, enough food to feed our family, clothes to cover ourselves, and no health problems, who is luckier than us? Shouldn't we be grateful for these simple yet important things in our lives?

I am grateful for relaxing weekends, simple, yet comforting meals I cook, the good health of my family, friends, and some Me-time.

So, Here is my Gratitude List for last month - Aug 2020 :

Virtual Recital

My time is majorly spent on editing our students' dance videos and publishing them on youtube in August. We couldn't do a stage Recital this year on behalf of our dance school - Kala Deepika Dance Academy due to Covid-19.

I am grateful for this activity as I passed time with video editing every evening and enjoyed publishing them on Youtube. Parents and Students felt good too to be able to showcase their dance even during COVID-19 time.  

All our Virtual Annual Recital videos are in the below Youtube channel.

Kuchipudi Dance Practice Videos

Book Reading:

I couldn't read more books last month but could read at least one book from the library. Chitra Banerjee is my favorite author and I completely enjoyed the short story collection about arranged marriage.

Read my Review for more details. 

Click the book image to buy on Amazon.

Festival Celebrations:

We celebrated 2 festivals in August. Varalakshmi Vratham and Vinayaka Chavithi.

Both are important festivals celebrated annually by us. Both have a procedure to follow with the offerings to make and the puja process to do.

Varalakshmi Vratham

I am still not getting better in preparing offerings to God, but a lot better than earlier. I celebrated Varalakshmi Vratham on a weekday, so it was not a pleasant experience running between puja and work.

We celebrated Vinayaka Chavithi to our heart's content as it was on weekend. Kids participated in preparing the clay Ganesha and we enjoyed our family time. 

Vinayaka Chavithi

Local hiking and outdoor time:

August is the last month before the Fall to enjoy the Summer outdoors in Colorado. We did some local hiking, relaxed at the river-side, and watched beautiful skies. 

It rained more than it usually does in Colorado this month. So, we could see some beautiful rainbows and colorful sunsets.

Is the Sun Smiling?

Self-care :

My Health continued to be better in August as well. I reduced my blogging time, could spend some time watching Netflix, editing videos, and reading books.

I am really grateful for my Saturdays. Took afternoon naps on some days, cooked one-pot dishes, and relaxed overall.  

What are you grateful for this month or the last month? 

Do let me know in the comments. 

Until next time,

Linking this post to #GratitudeCircle hosted by Vidya Sury.

My Gratitude List for Sep 2018 #GratitudeCircle

Time has come again to be thankful for all good things. Are you practicing Gratitude?

Already it's 16th October and I am late to write my gratitude list. I focused on dance classes in September month and we celebrated a festival and birthday of a family member. We had some short weeks for school, thus more holidays. I performed Kuchipudi on stage after a long time and I have also started training 7 to 8-year-olds for a stage performance.

Gratitude is the best attitude. 

My Gratitude List for last month (Sep 2018):

1. Dance performance :

I performed annamacharya keerthana on stage. With just one week of practice, I think, I could do well. Fortunately, one friend helped me with makeup and the costume suited well.

2. Festival and Birthday:

We celebrated 'Vinayaka chavithi' which is an important festival in Telugu household. This time, I could do some festival dishes better than the earlier years. I think I am getting better in cooking slowly :-) We also celebrated a family member's birthday. We have cut a cake and as usual, I prepared Payasam (milk sweet) and we went for a long drive on the weekend. In our family, long drives and traveling are actually birthday gifts :-)

3. Fall colors:

I love watching nature. This season is my favorite due to many reasons. I love the leaves changing to bright yellows, oranges and then vibrant reds. Here are the best places for a long drive in the fall season in Colorado. 

4. MyFriendAlexa Campaign :

I have participated in the #MyFriendAlexa Campaign and published 2 posts per week. I read almost 10 blog posts every day, commented and shared them on social media. It was a great experience to write content regularly and see my Alexa rank grow. I didn't have many expectations before joining the campaign but this campaign organized by Blogchatter benefited me with not only a reduced Alexa rank but also to enhance my blog visibility. I grabbed more sponsored post opportunities too.

Here are the rank updates:

Sep 1st (Week 1) 
My Global Alexa Rank: 3,642,454
India Rank: 310,640

Week 2 - Sep 11th
Global Alexa Rank : 1,939,208
India Rank : 143,227 

Week 3 - Sep 17th
Global Alexa Rank : 1,435,439
India Rank : 109,652

Week 4 - Sep 25th
Global Alexa Rank : 888,185
India Rank : 47,908

I am still maintaining my Alexa rank :-)

5. Teaching Dance:

I never thought I would teach dance in my life. I always dreamed myself to be a professional Kuchipudi Dancer and not more than that. I am learning to be a good teacher and here are a few lessons that I learned from teaching. I think Now I am enjoying that phase too as a teacher. 

So, those were the important happenings in my life that I am thankful for. What are you grateful for today? Please share in the comments.

Until next time,

Linking this post to #GratitudeCircle hosted by Vidya Sury and #ChattyBlogs hosted by Shanaya. Also linking to #MondayMusings hosted by Corinne. 

Vinayaka Chavithi - A festival devoted to Lord Ganesha

Vinayaka Chavithi is a festival celebrated to pray Lord Ganesha who is worshipped to ensure new beginnings and avoid all hurdles in the path of success. In the year 2018, it was celebrated on September 13th. 

Like Diwali, this festival is our favorite where the whole family celebrates together. We do pooja together as a family by offering different fruits to God Ganesha. We install a clay Ganesha, offer different naivedyams (food) and worship the God to avoid all hurdles in our life and grant all our wishes. 

Children who are going to school place their books before God and pray for the success in education. Here are my earlier posts about the Pooja: 

Vinayaka Chavithi Celebrations in Andhra style

Vinayaka Chavithi

This is a 11-day festival where the Ganesh idol is worshipped daily by offering naivedyam every day. Major cities like Mumbai, Pune, and Hyderabad celebrate it very well. You can see Ganesh idol installed in almost every lane/ road. On 11th day, the Ganesh idol is immersed in any lake or water body. 

How do you celebrate Ganesh Chathurdhi/ Vinayaka Chavithi? Do let me know in comments. 

Happy Vinayaka Chavithi. May God shower you with his blessings.

Until next time,

am taking my Alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter. 

This is the fourth post that I am writing for #MyFriendAlexa campaign. I will write 8 posts in September month - 2 posts a week and see my Alexa Rank grow. 

If you are on twitter, follow me @mahathi_ramya. I am using #MRReads hashtag for all the wonderful blogs that I am going to read and share. I will share my posts with hashtag #FantasticFeathers.

Sep 1st (Week 1) 
My Global Alexa Rank  : 3,642,454
India Rank : 310,640

Week 2 - Sep 11th
Global Alexa Rank : 1,939,208
India Rank : 143,227

The treasured memories of Diwali

There are four festivals I remember enjoying in my childhood. Ugadi (Telugu new year), Sankranthi (harvest festival), Vinayaka Chavithi  and Deepavali (Festival of lights). There are many other festivals too like Dussehra, Varalakshmi vratham, Krishnashtami, Maha shivaratri, Nagula chavithi, Karthika Poornima etc., but the four festivals that I mentioned have complete family participation. We celebrated them together as a family and they were not meant for only pooja.

I have lots and lots of memories associated with Deepavali from childhood. Now, being in another country, this is the time I mostly miss my home and our country.

"We didn't realize we were making Memories, we just knew we were having fun." - Unknown

Diyas, Candles, and Light
We used to buy diyas (pramidalu) made of clay before Diwali, light them and place them on Diwali night at every corner of the house both outside and inside. 'Deepavali' (in Telugu) means an array of lights. Our houses will be glowing on Diwali nights with beauty and light. We, as kids used to help our mother in arranging these diyas and ensuring that oil is refilled at the right time for them to glow continuously.

Flower rangoli with candles

Firecrackers
We used to love firecrackers as children. Our uncle used to buy the longest sparkler so that we aren't afraid to hold it while it's burning. We used to put a bucket of water to dispose of used crackers then and there. I love flower pots and Ground chakras more than anything. I never liked the noise of 1000 walas but the beauty of the light that crackers generate is pleasing to the eyes.

Fireworks - Flower pots

Rangoli
After my marriage, I started a tradition of making a big colorful rangoli on Diwali evening to decorate it with flowers and lighted diyas. I used to spend 1 to 2 hrs on rangoli but always enjoyed that time. My kids help me now in decorating rangoli with flowers. I used to buy scented candles and floating candles to decorate for Diwali. I don't like the electric array of lights but I am crazy about different types of candles.

Rangoli made by me

Diya Painting
I started painting the clay diyas from last 4 years and I enjoy doing it with my older son (6 years).  Sometimes, we both used to paint diyas with acrylic paints and gift them to relatives and friends or just use them at our home on Diwali.

Basic Diya painting

Sweets
I am not a foodie, so I don't enjoy indulging in sweets but my mother used to prepare 'bobbatlu' for Diwali, which I love the most. Sometimes, she used to cook 'Gulab Jamun' too and tamarind rice. After my marriage, I tried Gulab jamun but couldn't prepare to my satisfaction. We used to buy dry fruits and sweets (Motichoor laddu) to gift to our friends and relatives on Diwali. I think preparing and distributing sweets is an inherent part of this festival.

juicy gulab jamun Pc:www.pixabay.com

So, that was from my treasured memories of Deepavali festival.  How do you celebrate Diwali?
I wish all my readers a very happy and safe Diwali.

Until next time,

Linking this to #MondayMusings hosted by Corinne, #HappySunday linky party hosted by Menaka, Vasantha, and Anubhuthi and Linking this to #QuotedStories hosted by Upasna and Rohank. Also, linking this to #ChattyBlogs by Shanaya.

Gratitude List - Aug 2017

It is very late for me to publish my gratitude list for the month of August, but this has been a busy month and it is better late than never.

1. Paint Nite
This has to be the first in the list. I love drawing, pencil sketching and painting a lot. I couldn't learn pencil sketching more than a few months in my childhood, but I loved those days. Here came an opportunity to attend a painting class due to my friend and of course, I am happy to grab the opportunity. With my spouse's support in taking care of kids for a few hours, I managed to paint a canvas for the first time in my life. Here is the pic. It was not a bad start after all.

2. Festivals and Pujas
August has kept me very busy. Varalakshmi vratham and Vinayaka Chavithi are both very important festivals in our household. Adding to these, I also have done another pooja 'Sai baba Parayana' for one week. Festivals are a great time to thank God and offer our prayers together as a family.

3. Get together
We had a small get together with friends and also a potluck. We spent some fun time cooking different delicacies, chit-chatting and eating together. It is both relaxing and rejuvenating.

Thus, last month went in a jiffy and I am grateful to God for my happiness.

Until next time,

Linking this to #GratitudeCircle hosted by Vidya Sury and #MondayMusings hosted by Corinne.

Deepavali Celebration - A festival of lights

Deepavali (in Telugu) or Diwali means an array of lights. I am very fond of this festival as it is awesome to see every household with lighted diyas in different patterns to decorate their houses to welcome Goddess Lakshmi.

 There are a few festivals in Telugu household which are very joyful than others. Vinayaka Chavithi, Ugadhi and Deepavali are some of them. Deepavali is celebrated on a no moon day. We pray Goddess Lakshmi in the evening and arrange the diyas made with clay and light them with seesame oil. We usually prepare flower rangolis and decorate with diyas. Sharing some of my old photos of Diwali.

This festival is actually for 3 days. The first day is called 'Naraka Chaturdhasi', which we celebrate by taking the head bath, wearing a new dress, performing pooja and offering prasadam to God. We celebrate the second day(on No moon day) by lighting diyas and bursting crackers. The third day is called 'Balipadyami'.

Why it's celebrated:
Narakasura used to create unhappiness among people and used to abduct beautiful young women and force them to live with him. 'Naraka Chathurdasi' marks the day when Lord Krishna's beloved wife 'Satyabhama' defeated this evil king 'Narakasura' in a war and came victorious. So, people celebrate the defeat of Narakasura as a win of Good over evil.

There was also a story that people celebrated Diwali as Lord Rama returned to Ayodhya after killing Ravana.

We perform pooja to Goddess Lakshmi on the second day(No Moon day). Businessmen usually start their account books on this day.

Bali was a generous ruler and when all Gods requested Lord Vishnu to test his power, Vishnu incarnated as a dwarf 'Vamana' and asked Bali to give the space that his 3 strides can occupy. Vishnu kept one foot covering complete Earth, another stride covering the Sky and asked Bali where can he place his third stride as there is no space left in this world. King Bali stood on his word and realizing that the dwarf is none other than Lord Vishnu, asked him to keep the foot on his head. Lord Vishnu appreciated Bali's kindness and blessed him that everyone will remember his greatness on 'Bali Padyami'.

Celebrations are not complete without sweets :-) We prepare 'Payasam' and Gulab jamoon on Diwali day and gift sweets, dry fruits to friends and relatives when we visit their place.



Why Crackers:
These days, many want to avoid crackers to reduce air pollution, but this was a tradition started many years ago. Crackers denote celebration, prosperity, and happiness. Ayodhya has celebrated Diwali with crackers on the return of King Ram to the Kingdom after 14 years. Fumes coming out of crackers will kill a lot of mosquitoes and insects too, which might have increased after the rainy season. If we love tradition and want to respect the mother nature, we can burst sparklers, flower pots and ground wheels alone, instead of bombs and others which increase noise and air pollution.

On the eve of Diwali, I wish everyone a healthy, wealthy and prosperous time. Happy Diwali to one and all :-)

Happy to co-host Monday musings with Corinne from Everyday Gyan and WriteTribe.

An InLinkz Link-up

Until next time,

Vinayaka Chavithi festival

Today is Vinayaka Chavithi and it is an important festival in our household where the whole family contributes to the puja and participates in the celebration.

Vinayaka is considered to be a God who will remove all obstacles. Ganesh is another name to him and he uses a mouse as a vehicle. He is depicted as a person with the head of an elephant in mythology.

From childhood, this festival has a special place in our hearts and my sister and myself used to eagerly wait for this festival. Purchasing a new dress is kind of a madatory. We used to purchase different types of fruits, flowers, different types of leaves (patri) and an idol of Ganesh made from mud. We take head bath on Ganesh Chathurdhi wearing new dresses, decorate our homes with flower garlands at the entrance with mango leaves bunch. We clean our pooja area, place the mud Ganesh idol on a stand, tie palavalli(a wooden construction to tie fruits) above the idol. We prepare special dishes to offer to Ganesha like undrallu, talukalu (jaggery sweet with rice powder), panakam (drink with water, jaggery and pepper powder), vadapappu (soaked moong daal), chalividi (sweet with jaggery and rice powder) before pooja. Children place their books before pooja with a swasthik marked with turmeric paste and pray to God to make them study well without any failures and obstacles.We all do pooja and read a story about Ganesha and give haarathi (camphor light).

This Ganesha idol will be kept at home for 1 or 3 or 5 or 7 or 9 or 11 days and then will be merged in any lake(nimajjanam). This festival is very famous and celebrated well especially in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Very large Ganesha idols are prepared for the occasion and large processions will be held before merging them in a lake, which is called nimajjanam.

So, that's about the festival and its importance in our culture. Look at these photos from my archive of Vinayaka Chavithi Pooja.

Happy Ganesh Chathurdi to all :-) May God bless you all with happiness and good health on this occasion.

Until next time,

Vinayaka Chavithi Celebrations - in Andhra style

Vinayaka Chavithi is a unique festival for Telugu people because of the way it is celebrated with family members. 

It is fun time especially for kids, decorating clay idol, Palavelli (Wooden frame to tie fruits), marking all notebooks with Om or Swastik symbol with watery vermilion paste, praying Lord Ganesha with different types of leaves (patri), helping mother in preparation of special dishes for the day - Vundrallu and talukalu.

 I have many wonderful memories associated with this festival from childhood. As children, we used to wait for this day for whole year.




Importance of festival:

Before I touch upon our way of celebrating this festival, let me tell you the importance of the festival in our lives.

 This festival is celebrated as the birth date of Lord Ganesha, Son of Lord Parameswara and Goddess Parvathi. Ganesha is also known as Vighnadhipathi, which means first God to be prayed before starting any work to avoid obstacles and bring success.




Story behind Puja:

The legend is that Moon God laughed at Vinayaka on his birthday watching him walking slowly because of over eating his favorite dish Vundrallu, which made Vinayaka's belly burst. 

Goddess Parvathi is upset with this and cursed that no one should see moon from now on, or else, they will face many obstacles/problems. 

When all other devatas requested her for a remedy, she changed curse saying that whoever watches moon on Vinayaka Chavithi without performing puja to Lord Ganesha and without wearing akshinthalu (rice with turmeric powder kept in puja), will face problems. 

So, it has become a custom in Telugu household to perform puja on that day morning to Lord Ganesha, by taking head bath, wearing new dresses, preparing and offering dishes which please Ganesha, listening to the above story and wearing those puja akshinthalu at the end.


Puja process:

We buy Ganesh idol made of clay, different types of fruits available and different types of leaves(patri) to perform puja. 

We prepare and offer Vundrallu/ Kudumulu, Chalividi, Vadapappu, Panakam and a sweet called 'Talukalu' prepared either with jaggery or sugar and milk. 

Each fruit bought for Puja will be cleaned, applied with vermilion paste and kumkuma and tied to Palavelli (a wooden frame), which is tied above the Ganesha idol. 

All fruits are tied symmetrically as shown in images. Some also buy and place an umbrella above clay idol. 

We usually write Om/ swastik symbol on academic note books of children with vermilion paste and kumkum and keep before God during puja. 

After performing puja, we listen to the story about Vinayaka's birth and wear akshinthalu at the end. We end the puja with harathi and distribute prasadam. 

Usually, we keep God decorated in the household and pray for at least 3 days and leave the puja remains along with idol in a lake, which is known as 'Nimajjanam'. 

A Few people perform puja at home daily for 7 or 9 days before immersing idol in the lake on 10th day. 

Because of performing puja and wearing akkshinthalu on head on that day, it is believed that no problem arises even by seeing moon by mistake.

 That's how we celebrate this festival by making every family member participate actively.


Let me know how you celebrate this festival :)


Until next time,

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