Journey

 Life is just like a train journey, continuously moving sometimes slow sometimes fast! Moving incessantly is a natural phenomenon of train same is with life. With passing time, the travellers change, new passengers board in whereas old passengers get down on reaching their destination. Similarly in life, one meets new persons and parts with others. Life is such!

Smriti, a beautiful gal in her late twenties loved to travel by train, her joy got doubled if by chance she met someone known in the journey, time fleet so swiftly while chatting when the destination came, when the journey is completed, went totally unnoticed. After buying the ticket, she boarded in the train, placed her luggage on the upper birth, took out ‘The Lowland’ by Jhumpa Lahiri from her handbag and started reading it. The engine’s whistle blew, train moved slowly, picked up the speed and reached the next station, and she didn’t come to know as she was absorbed in reading about Subhash and Udayan – two fictional brothers. Pushing each other, hurriedly people were getting down from the train and those who wished to get on the train were almost throwing their bags from the windows to reserve their seats and were thrusting themselves inside the train from the doors as they couldn’t enter from the windows with grills fitted in between. The noise disturbed her and she raised her eyes from the book to look at this hustle and bustle. Amidst this, she heard a familiar voice, “Hey, you here?” She instantly turned her head in the direction of sound and found Komal, her old batch-mate standing there. In few years, her silhouette had completely transformed from a slim girlish body to a fatty aunty. Her long plait like a black cobra had now taken a shape of a beautiful round bun, light jewellery of gold was novated into huge sized artificial jewellery, small bindi on her forehead had grown bigger and was shinning more. She had put on weight but her lovely smile was the same as in the college days. It had broadened with the time!

She asked, “Didn’t you recognise me?”

Smriti smiled and stood up. She hugged her friend tightly and after arranging her bags on upper birth with great difficulty they both started chatting about their college, about old friends, about movies, about this and about that. In conversation with Komal, she came to know that presently she was doing a job in private company, her husband had a business of wooden furniture, resided in a rented flat in Bhiwani and now she was a mother of two cute twin boys. These days they were constructing their own house in Delhi and to supervise the work, she was going there.

Komal asked, “So, what are you doing these days?” 

“I have recently joined my family business of designer jewellery.” Smriti replied.

“And what about marriage plans?”

“After some time, I will see! Right now, busy with some big assignments from U.S. and Europe.”

“You are going to be thirty soon, even then you are delaying it. Will you get married when you have grey hair and only a few teeth in your mouth and will not be able to see your groom properly without wearing spectacles?” She teased her.

“It’s just like that!” Smriti looked here and there to change the topic but couldn’t find a suitable one.

“Is there someone whom you love?” Before Smriti could say anything Komal uttered, “Didn’t I tell you about my love? How I met him? How I had a great time with him? Which gifts I bought for him? I didn’t hide anything from you. And see, you are not sharing anything. Say something, who is he?”

“Somebody.” Smriti didn’t want to disclose at this stage of her relationship but Komal was too eager to know.

Komal fired questions at her, “What he does? What is his name? Where does he live? How is his personality? Is he fair coloured or dark complexioned? Is he tall or short in height? Is he bald or have long hair? Where did you meet him? Did you converse with him on various aspects of life? Did you go with him to watch an English movie and have a corner seat? The last question she whispered, “Did you have sex with him?”

On seeing silence of Smriti, impatiently Komal said, “Tell me I can’t wait any more.”

It was rather impossible to escape from the questions of Komal so Smriti started narrating her story somewhat reluctantly, “Dristi, who was in my stream in M.Sc., on her b’day, I met him. He was fair, handsome and a strong and sturdy person. On that day, he was wearing navy blue colour coat and pant.”

“A featherless peacock!” Komal laughed not so loud on her own joke.

Smriti didn’t like her comment as the beauty of peacock is because of its feathers. She didn’t express her resentment but continued with her story, “He was meeting everyone decently. He sang the song ‘My heart is fleeting!” in his melodious voice.

“Oho, so he is a cuckoo as well!”

Smriti’s anger busted, “Stop comparing him with birds. You can compare him with some celebrity like Michael Jackson, Enrique Igless etc.”

“Phew! In the first meeting you went crazy about his face and voice.”

Smriti nodded. “Later I came to know from Dristi that he was working in a multinational company and earning a good pay package. Like youth of our country he too wished to go to a foreign land.”

“Then, what is the problem in getting married?”

“His elder sister will get married after three months. She will flewto Canada after marriage. All her in laws are NRIs. He is busy with the arrangements of her marriage as well as Visa. After that he will think about his marriage.”

“How much property they have?”

“He has his own house and two three shops in a shopping mall where foot fall is quite good.”

“Does he reside in your city?”

Smriti smiled and said, “Then I wouldn’t have wasted so much of time in taking only seven rounds around the fire with him.”

“Then where he lives?”

“After he got the job, he shifted to Pink city, Jaipur. He is presently residing in house no. 20 of Mayapuri Colony.”

“You are telling me the complete address as if I am going right now to meet him.”

“You told me about him but you forget to tell me his name – his identity!”

“How can I take his name? In our caste, girls are not allowed to speak husband’s name, sounds quite orthodox but we are like this.”

“He is not your husband. Right?”

“Hmmm…ok. I will tell you something interesting about his full name that it begins with letter ‘L’ and ends with letter ‘L’.”

“Are you talking about Lalit Mittal?” An elderly person sitting on the opposite birth said whose eyes were sorrowful and red. It seemed that he was crying hard from past few hours. Hearing this Smriti was about to fall from the seat only if Komal was not holding her hand. Smriti nodded and couldn’t utter a single word because of tornado of questions arising in her mind. She was starring him without blinking. May be he read Smriti’s mind and explained, “I am Lalit’s uncle. And I am returning back after attending his funeral possession. Yester night he died in a car accident. It will be better for you to forget him.”

All of a sudden, Smriti’s life came to a halt. The train stopped. He got down from the train, might be he had reached his destination. Smriti’s all dreams were shattered. She was feeling as if a strong earthquake had destroyed her house before it could even be built up.

Chamba Rumal

 

Can an embroidered fabric look alike from both the sides? Ya, Chamba Rumal! It is a distinctive style of embroidery, in which the embroidered motif appears the same from right as well as from the wrong side. Surprisingly, there is no difference between the wrong and right side! It’s the identical on both the faces of fabric!! That is the reason why a rumal (handkerchief) can cost thousands of rupees.

It is famous for transforming the art of Pahari and Kangra paintings of Himachal Pradesh into the intricate embroidery patterns. It is an imitation of paintings of scenes from Ramayana, Mahabharata and other scriptures. The delicate and detailed designs are mesmerising which depicts Krishna Leela and circular Gopis dance with floral motifs on its borders. The wedding scenes and hunting scenes were embroidered. Animals like tigers, boars, horse and rams and birds like peacocks, parrots, swans and ducks were also beautifully embroidered in bright colour scheme. Unusually tree motifs of willow and cypress trees were also embroidered in magnificent colours. A rare design of Chapad game which was played in between Yudhistra and Duryodhan in Mahabharata was depicted in it. It was used to be given as a gift to daughters at the time of their marriage.

It used to be embroidered on white tussar or malmal, cotton cloth. Multicoloured threads like crimson, green, yellow and blue colour threads of pat, untwisted silk were used. Dohara tanka or Double satin stitch was mostly used but sometimes stem stitch was also used to embroider square piece of fabric and rarely rectangular ones. It was used to embellish cushion covers, pillow covers, wall hangings, caps, hand fans etc.

This art is dying a slow death and the revival of this art is the need of the hour!

 

Maximize your wardrobe

Anybody can have a versatile look by mix and match of old and unused garments in the wardrobe. From a minimum number of garments, the novel outfits can be created by intermingling, swapping, mixing and matching. A variety of new combinations can be created as per the mood and taste of the wearer. It is an art to give new life to your untouched or not so frequently utilized clothes in your wardrobe that can be mastered easily. That is the reason it is too economical and fits in everybody’s budget. Who doesn’t want it?

The basic formal wears like white T-shirt, black blazer, black pants, dark blue jeans and plain coloured shirts can enrich your wardrobe by mix and match with dots, checks, strips or floral prints. Multi piece dresses like sari-blouse, salwaar-kameez-dupatta, skirt-top, jeans-top, ghaghra-choli-chunari can open up unlimited options to look elegant by creating pleasing combinations where as mix and match technique is restricted to single piece dresses like gowns, nighties, frocks, kaftans etc.

Are you bored of wearing the same dress again and again? Break the monotony by applying different colour schemes with your dresses and create your unique style that perfectly goes with your mood. Monotonous colour scheme in which all the shades of the same colour are used can create a serene and calm effect. It is pleasing to eyes. Whereas complementary colour scheme in which colours on the opposite side of a colour wheel are used gives a powerful and energised look to the wearer.

These days, one has no to bother about the harmony, colour combination, hues matching. It has been simplified by various fashion and style apps. More and more apps are coming up in the market with innovative ideas to not only to match dresses but also accessories with them. These apps randomly generate outfit ideas mostly selecting those clothes that are not in much use from a quite a long time. It creates new combinations, which you have never tried before and give new life to your existing wardrobe.

For mix n match, you want to use your brain or app it is a matter of personal choice!

Interesting facts about Phulkari and Bagh

 

You must have heard the word ‘Pulkari’ and must have used this word numerous times while purchasing outfits for yourself and for your loved ones. But do you know what is the difference between Pulkari and Bagh? Nah!  

Pulkari literally means a flower craft in which flowers are blooming here and there where as Bagh means a garden where flowers are blooming everywhere. In Pulkari, the floral patterns are dispersed and base colour of fabric is visible where as in Bagh, mostly geometrical patterns are used to cover the whole area and not a single strand of the base material is visible from the right side.

The Pulkari like saloo was worn during a household work as it had very light embroidery work on it. Til patra was presented to servants on various occasions and it was made of inferior quality of fabric with very minute patterns scattered widely apart. Chope and suber were given as wedding gifts to the daughters. Sheeshdar Phulkaris had mirrors embroidered in between the floral motifs. Ghungat Bagh as the name suggest was use as a veil by young women. It was embroidered in a triangular shape. Kakri, mirchi and dhunia bagh were named according to the size and shape of the motifs. The Bagh that contain five or seven colour was named panchranga or satranga respectively. The white and golden threads were used to give a unique effect of sunlight and shade, a dhoop chaun. The circular white motifs were embroidered on dark blue khaddar to create a mesmerising view of moon in a dark night was known as chandrama bagh by many.

Before partition, in East Punjab Pulkari was popular in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Rohtak, Hissar and Ludhaina and in West Punjab Bagh was done in Peshawar, Rawalpindi and Sialkot.

Despite all these differences, they share a common thing that they both were embroidered from the wrong side of the fabric. It was unique technique to embroider a fabric by not looking at the right side but was done gently and intricately from the wrong side. Therefore, this art not only required good eye site but also practice for a long time to master.

 

Traditional embroideries of India part -2

 

In your jam-packed closet you always look for a cool outfit with light embroidery especially in summers. Most of the time you pick up white Chikankari dress for casual wear. Chikankari is also known as ‘The Shadow Work’ as it was done to create a shadow effect on the cloth. It was traditionally done with white thread on white organdie, silk muslin or chiffon fabric. The most commonly used motif was mango which we better known as ‘Ambi’ designs. The other motifs were taken from the surroundings and daily life like leaves, flowers and dots. Most common used stitches were herringbone, button hole, chain stitch, French knot, satin and stem stitch. It was done on sarees, borders, pillow covers, blouses, kurtas, caps, shoes, handkerchiefs etc. Now a day’s Chikankari work is available on different colour fabrics that too with multi-coloured threads.

Namda is traditional embroidery of Kashmir along with Kashida. Kashida was done on silk fabric with vibrant colour silk threads with satin, stem and chain stitch. The floral motifs like lotus, lily, and tulip were common along with grapes, plums, almonds, cherries etc. Whereas Namda was embroidered using chain stitch on jute with woollen threads of green, blue, yellow and mahroon colour. Motifs were inspired from nature like parrot, woodpecker and floral designs. 

Kathiawar embroidery is famous in Kathiawar, Sindh. It was done on cream colour khaddar kesmant with cotton threads of red, green, blue and pink colour. Sindhi stitch was the most commonly used stitch in the embroidery, which is basically a four step process of interlacing threads. It was used along with chain stitch, herringbone stitch, stem stitch, satin stitch and buttonhole stitch. It was used to decorate torans (wall hangings) and chaklas (square clothe).

Kantha Embroidery was done mostly in Bengal on four or five layers of old cotton sarees that were sewn as well as embroidered together using small running stitches. The threads used in embroidery were drawn from the red colour border of sarees. Mostly they used for making small pouches to keep combs and other items.

I would have told you about Kasuti embroidery but the page from my file is missing! ;)

Traditional embroideries of India part -1 is here

Traditional embroideries of India part -1

 

Embroidery is the ornamentation of fabric with needlework. It is the most interesting and pleasing art. It was most widely practiced by homemakers as a domestic craft. But with the fast development and technological advancement most of ancient arts of India are fast disappearing as nobody has the time and patience to embroider the designs on fabric. The young generation love to spend rather waste time on gadgets rather than creating something innovative with their hands. Moreover, the machine embroidery is becoming popular because of its low cost. Hence, traditional embroideries done by hand are dying a slow death.

Let us have a sneak peek into the vast varieties of Indian embroideries. You must have heard about Pulkari. What is so unique about Pulkari done by hand? It has invisible stitches on its backside. Have not noticed it? Pulkari done by machines lack this feature. Traditionally Pulkari was done by mothers on khaddar kesmant fabric (hand spun and hand woven) to gift their daughter at the time of their wedding in Punjab when Haryana constituted a part. The geometrical patterns were created with long and short darning stitch by untwisted silken floss of golden yellow, green, crimson red or orange colour. Chaddar, dupatta, shawl and kurta were decorated.

Manipur embroidery was famous for its animal and insects motifs like elephant, butterfly, sheep etc. stitched on khaddar cotton fabric with pat, untwisted silken floss with tiny satin stitches. This embroidery was used to embellish bed cover, cushion cover, tablecloth, wall hanging and shawls.

Dancing peacocks, dolls and human figures were common motifs of Kutch embroidery, which was done on black satin with chain stitch in vibrant colours like red, pink, yellow, brown. It was used to beautify ghagra (skirt), cholis(top) and toran (wall hanging) etc.

 

Traditional embroideries of India part -2 is here

 

Life is tough!

 A tear erupted from his eye as his colleague gently thrust food in his mouth. The morsel of chapatti wrapped around a lady finger was just as he liked it - not too spicy or too plain - and almost as good as home-cooked; yet it made him cry. Inder chewed on it reluctantly for a few seconds and forced it down his parched throat.

 He glanced around the room which has become his humble abode for a while. The walls were spotlessly white-washed. Blue curtains were drawn partially on the windows to shield the brightness and heat of the October sun. On the other side of his bed a white partition provided some token privacy from the occupants of the room. He was lying on a white iron-frame bed on which a spotless white sheet was spread. Two small holes almost the size of a rice grain was visible near his knee. A stainless steel table stood on the side. A dented steel glass, two spoons with different designs, a dirty steel plate, a Bisleri bottle half-filled with tap water, an old Nokia mobile, two brown pens and lots of colourful pills and bottles were competing for space on it. A creaky cane chair stood on one side. They had to pay extra for it, but Inder wasn't too sure if it was suitable for sitting on.

 He was wearing a sky blue gown which hung loosely on his skinny body. The hospital staff had been adamant that he wear their gown and not his own clothes. The tears in his eyes made everything look blurred. A blurred corner of handkerchief came towards his eyes.

“Inder Singh, if you will lose courage now, you will lose the battle of life. Be brave and use your brain to come out of this trouble,” said Sumit, his colleague.

“Without hands?” Inder said, unable to keep disappointment out of his voice.

“Be brave and use your brain.” Sumit repeated, and put a spoonful of curd in his mouth, which Inder gulped half-heartedly.

“I will not be able to do my present job.”

“You will find a better one! This might not had been the right job for you and I am sure that some better job is waiting for you!” He put one more morsel in his mouth.

“Ya! What's the use of a job which puts my life at risk?” said Inder, his voice muffled with sobs and food in his mouth.

“I found you unconscious under the metallic pipe.” Sumit told. Inder started to recall the events of that fateful night.

“I was just doing my usual routine. Before leaving for home every night, I check that the boiler fire source is closed. I tried to tighten the knob, but even after three complete rounds of the handle it was still too loose. That's when I realised that the spring must have broken! It was a set up! Someone was jealous of my promotion last month and knew my routine. But there was no time to think. The pressure was building up very rapidly. I was trying to prop open the release valve with both hands, when the pipe connecting the boiler and the dying container started creaking. I should have stepped back, but I thought the jammed valve would open any second.  When the heavy pipe dropped on my hands, I lost my balance and fell down, trapped under the pipe. I could hear my bones crack! It was just too painful! I must have screamed loud enough to crack the concrete walls of the factory. I tried to pull my hands once but that only made the pain worse! After that I must have blacked out. Next thing I remember is waking up in this room."

Sumit picked up the thread of story from him and continued to narrate further “I had just started my night duty at the entrance gate when I heard you screaming. I rushed towards the boiler and found you unconscious. Without wasting a single part of a second, I pressed the emergency button. Alarms rang all around. Meanwhile I found a metal stirrer lying nearby and tried to use it as a lever to raise the pipe. Three more guards came running and joined me in raising the pipe. One two and three… we all shouted in chorus.. The pipe just rose by a few inch. The others hung on with all their might while I dragged you out. We rushed you to the hospital in an ambulance.”

“This is a costly hospital. You should have taken me to some cheaper place. All my savings are draining out in the treatment,” Instead of being thankful to his colleague Inder complained.

“You can earn and save more once this difficult period is over,” Sumit tried his best to raise Inder's spirits.

“Saying so is quite easy but how can I earn when I am not even able to do my personal work.”

“Nothing is impossible. You can do whatever you wish.”

“I can’t feed myself. You are feeding me.” Tears rolled down Inder's cheeks again, he tried to hide his face behind the stumps of his hands.

“Any movement of your hands will delay recovery.” Sumit reminded him of the doctor’s advice.

“I can’t bathe myself. I can’t change my dress. I can’t even hold a glass of water to my mouth when I am feeling thirsty. And to top it all, I can’t even open the zip to pee.” Inder felt defeated.

 Sumit kept the half-eaten plate aside and started fiddling with his mobile. He showed Inder a video in which a woman with no hands was leading a normal life and doing all household chores as well as any other housewife. For a few minutes Inder felt better and accepted a few more morsels, but then again a cloud of depression came from some unknown source to wrap him. Seeing him sad, Sumit took out a paper cutting from his purse and put it in front of Inder so that he could have a good view of a cheerful girl.

“Sexy?” He teased Inder to change mood. He looked up irritatingly with wet eyes. Sumit winked a little and asked again. 

“Even if then what?” Inder’s anger was reflected in his words.

Sumit picked up the cutting, turned the folded paper upward so that Inder could have a full view of the photo and the article below it.

“Hell! She has no hands!!”

“As you can see she is standing in an aircraft. She is a pilot.” Sumit explained.

Inder read aloud, "Jessica Cox, 25, a girl born without arms, the girl from Tucson, Arizona got the Sport Pilot certificate lately and became the first pilot licensed to fly using only her feet. With one foot manning the controls and the other delicately guiding the steering column, she soared to achieve a Sport Pilot certificate. Her certificate qualifies her to fly a light-sport aircraft to altitudes of 10,000 feet.”

“Yup! I always carry her inspiring story in my pocket. Any time I am feeling down, I look at her photo.”

“Hmm..”

“So dear friend, focus your energy and attention on your abilities rather than disabilities. You have to use your foot as your hands for doing chores. He asked Inder to pick up the cotton piece in between his right toe and moved leg towards his face to clean the tiny droplets of the terrible past.

Inder cried more, uncontrollably this time. Sumit was confused but decided to let Inder clear out his pent-up emotions. A couple of minutes later Inder in between sobs said, “I lied to you my buddy. I lied.”

Sumit frowned but didn't say anything, waiting for Inder to say more.

“When you were away to fetch the food from cafeteria my mobile had rung, I picked it up from the table using my toes. On seeing the screen, I came to know that it was from my mother. I pressed the buttons and hold it near my ear using my toes. My mother told me that my wife left me for her lover on hearing about my accident. Actually I was not crying for my hands but for my wife as I loved her very much.

Sumit totally dumfounded threw himself back on the cane chair. ‘Life is tough!’ he mumbled. The chair creaked in unison.