Diwali Greetings

Deepavali wishes to all my readers. May the festival of lights spread much joy, happiness and peace.

Here's an arrangement of floating candles and marigold flowers that I created a couple of years back.

Happy And Relaxed

I am really chilled out these days, enjoying life as a home maker and full-time mommy.

It is so much better to enjoy the festive season without worrying about rushing to office the next day.

I am working on creative projects that I have been wanting to do for a long time now.

I am keeping busy taking pictures in the garden, and planning for a family vacation next month.

I get to spend so much more time with the kids, playing with them and goofing around.


Here’s a picture of them taking a joyride in the toy train at a school fete.


Life is bliss! :) And I’m planning to keep it this way for sometime – no unnecessary pressures anymore. The sole focus will be to enjoy the small things that matter…

The Ravana Makers: Part II

For those of you who missed out the first part of this story, you can catch up here. And if you have been keeping up with the tale, then here comes the rest of it….

Once the paper layers of the Ravana effigies dry completely in the strong autumn sun, the body parts are painted in bright colours.


The faces are painted in striking fluorescent shades while the torso pieces generally get a coat of black. This is because the torso is covered with bright, decorative paper designs.

The expression on the faces is plain hideous, with bulging eyes and a toothy, wicked smile!

Don’t they look cute all lined up like that?

On the eve of Dussehra, trucks and tempos arrive to carry away the pieces they ordered. So you have all the various pieces bundled into the back of a truck, like this…


The craftsmen who create these effigies earn through various other means of livelihood through the rest of the year. However, around this time of the year they gather in groups to create as many as a thousand effigies of the demon king.

These effigies are used on Vijayadashami, to mark the victory of good over evil. Colourfully painted and decorated, with crackers strapped inside, these effigies are put up in parks and open spaces with the help of ropes.

Fire-tipped arrows are then aimed at them, as everyone enjoys watching them go up in flames with a loud bang.

Dussehra and Vijayadashami greetings to all my readers! May the Good always prevail….

The Ravana Makers: Part I

A couple of months before the autumn winds start blowing and the festive season begins, the pavements (sidewalks) around the residential area I stay in witness a flurry of activity. Truckloads of bamboo poles are layed out and a dozen or more people start working on them, slicing them into halves, and then further. And thereby hangs a fascinating tale…..

Come with me as I show you a glimpse into this cottage industry of creativity that I have witnessed for the last many years. It is a tradition that is passed on from one generation to another, from father to son. It is the art of making Ravana effigies.

First the bamboo is spliced into thin strips. The strips are then tied together to form frames shaped according to the different parts of an effigy. So you have separate bits for the face, the upper torso, the lower torso and the limbs. And, yes, the crown…. Ravana was a king after all, remember!

Bamboo frames of the torso lying on the pavement

The bamboo frames are then given a cloth base, with yards of fabric tightly stretched and wrapped around them. This forms the ground for the paper mache work that follows.

The frames covered with colorful cloth stretched across

This is how the cloth-covered frames look from the inside

Large squares of thin brown paper is slathered with glue and pasted on the frames. The process is very similar to decoupage.

Applying glue on brown sheets of paper and pasting them on to the frames

Part I of this remarkable tale ends here as I bring you reports and pictures live from outside the colony gates. Part II of of the Ravana making process shall reach you soon… stay tuned.