Happy Janamashtami...Peep into Krishna's past through Jhanki.....

I have been celebrating Janmashtami from childhood.It is one of my favorite festivals.On this day most of the devotees keep fast including me.Krishna Jhanki adds a flavor to the celebration.The devotees get immersed in the thoughts of Krishna by seeing and making them.It is one of the most vital aspects of the Janmashtami celebrations. Krishna is the most lovable deity as he is the naughtiest and his mischievous act bring a smile on our face.His life story depicts how small things in Life is treasure and how those things fills our life with happiness.His small lies for a bowl of makhan shows innocence.Though we are in scientific world and we need explanation and proof to believe in anything but when comes to our beloved Krishna we always believe in his celestial powers and that it plays an influential role in our lives. The love towards him makes all devotees to celebrate Janmashtami with pomp, enthusiasm and to make special Janmashtami Jhankis.

The word 'jhanki' means to look into the past. Hence, Janmashtami jhankis are arranged on the different themes relating to the past life of the Lord Krishna, his childhood, boyhood, his raas leela and other incidents of his life.The most important arrangement for Janmashtami celebration is that of baby Krishna. Hence, special stress is given on jhankis showing scenes from Lord Krishna's childhood. Besides, devotees also make beautiful 'jhulans' or cradles for the baby Bal Gopal.

This Janamashtami celebration I too decided to make Krishna Jhanki.I always want to make from a long time but due to busy life schedule I always took print of Krishna's life and pasted on the walls.This time I made Jhankis the miniature representation of a Krishna's Life. Jhanki has a hut made of clay where the humans are represented by clay dolls and toy dolls.

Lord Krishna was born to destroy the cruel King Kansa. Devaki was married to Vasudev. Kansa came to know that he will be killed by the eighth child of Devaki so he put his sister Devaki and her husband behind bars. He did not want to take any chance and killed each and every child of Devaki, until the eighth child was born, the guards fell fast asleep and Vasudev's chain fell off his hands and feet. Wasting no time, Vasudev picked up the newborn baby, and carrying it in a basket, he started towards Gokul. Gokul was a village of cowherds, located across the Yamuna river, where his friend Nanda lived.The below Jhanki represent Vasudev carrying baby Krishna out of the prison cell in a basket.

Radha and Krishna were immortal lovers.We have heard lot of stories telling about their true love.Radha's devotion and dedication towards Krishna was very sincere and that is why we call Radhe Krishna.My Jhanki cannot be complete without them.

Yashoda and Krishna bond is very amazing and very dear to me as I am also a mum of a 3 year old.Krishna was a very naughty boy and every day he will do some or the other mischief. Yashoda gets fed-up and ties him with rope so that he stops and listen to her.When my son saw this Jhanki he told mamma baby is saying sorry.Please untie him.

All the farmers used to spend lot of time in doing preparation to please Indra.Krishna told them that we should do our Karma that is taking care of our cattle and land.People got convinced with Krishna and didnt do anything.Indra got angry.lord Krishna lifted Govardan Parvat on the tip of his finger to protect his people and lovely animals.This Jhanki represent his strength and celestial powers.

Evening starts with Krishna's abhisheka bathing with different liquids like yogurt,honey, ghee and fruit juices.I cook some special prasadam for my Krishna and pray to him.One thing I would like to say engage your kids in all these activities it will help them in making a spiritual person and also it will bind them to our precious culture.You can engage your children in making Jhankis,cooking prasadam,making garlands,birthday card etc.I took help of my son in almost all the things.He shared all his toys with me.Sing and dance chanting Hare Krishna with your family and have a blessed Janamashtami.

Religious hypocrisy...MiddleMen(babas) and God-women continue to misleads public...

I always refrain myself from writing about religious hypocrisy.I don't believe in them at all though I am a religious person and a firm believer in God existence.India has had a rich tradition of Saints like Guru Nanak Dev, Meera Bai , Sufi Saints like Hazrat Nizammudin among many others, who have enriched Indian culture and inculcated unique value systems in peoples of their times.But, of late there has been seen a proliferation of misleading Godmen and Godwomen. I don't want to question or pin-point anyone that why they believe in middleman like Asaram, Nithyanand, Rampal, Radhe Maa so much that they forget about their lives.I have seen people talking about them with so much faith and this blind faith gives them peace of mind.Many a times they try to persuade to follow them. I feel questioning them is of no use and with time they realize themselves that they are wasting their time and energy on them.

Godmen (babas) and God-women mislead public, especially the educated people, and take their wealth.People of India should educate themselves spiritually too so that such fake people cannot play with their emotion.We should spare time and buy ourselves Spiritual books and read them.We should also teach the same to our kids also.This will give us the in-depth knowledge of our customs and why we follow them.

Babas uses some magic to fool people by producing Gold in the name of God.They do large amount of charity to attract people. They also have a large marketing team to spread their ideas and bring people into their Ashramas. They create a virtual world where people forget their problems.

According to me people should indulge in some productive work rather than following these middle man or woman.Spend your time in making yourself a better person both personally and professionally. Help the needful instead if you are capable. Don't spend your money on BABAS. Its totally your decision to have faith on God or not but we should not allow these Baba's to enter our lives.Baba's have only one thing to tell about you sani-dosh,rahu-dosh etc .Our life is full of uncertainities and unpredictability and rather than getting scared from all these we should become strong and face it.Don't worry about Future but enjoy your present.Remember, its called Present because its a gift, gifts are precious. Celebrate life and not Babas.

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Jai Mata Di....Vaishno Devi Trip

Vaishno Devi temple is considered as one of the holiest pilgrim centers in the country. It is the second most visited temple in India which is dedicated to Goddess Shakti also called Mata Rani. It is believed that Mata Vashino Devi calls you to visit her. My husband had some office work in Delhi and I had a Mannat that I will take my son to Vaishno Devi Temple before he turns 5.So I used to always blabber that whenever we go to Delhi we will plan to visit the temple. We never had luck but this time Mata called us and we were there to meet Her and get blessed by her divine glance.

 

Since everything was last moment we had a real tough time with ticket booking. We reached Delhi on Thursday and after finishing my husband office work we took Metro to reach Delhi Railway station. At 5 0' clock in the evening we took New Delhi-Jammu Tawi Rajdhani Express. We reached there by early morning 5-6 AM. Don’t know, how much sleep we might have taken, but it was enough to keep us in good spirit. Seats were comfortable and although we were needed extra bed-sheets to counter the cold due to AC, but it was comfortable journey. 

Cell Phone Network is an important issue. Prepaid connections dies out as soon as you enter Katra. Only sustaining connection is Postpaid. My Vodafone was postpaid so it was still alive.

After reaching Katra since it July month it raining heavily. Somehow through our umbrella and raincoat came out of the station and took an Auto who charged 150 Rs to reach Ginger Hotel(which we pre-booked).In between we took Yatri Parchi from the booth. You can ask the Auto people. They are very well aware about the place. It takes 10 mins to get the Parchi. This Parchi is valid for 6 hours. Daily rental of the Ginger hotel was 2000.We were lucky that we got a family room with two double beds at the same rate. We reached hotel Friday morning at 7 o' clock.We rested for sometime then took bath and started getting ready to start our journey to have visit MATA RANI.I did shopping for Prasad and chaddhawa before reaching the temple.

You may get the ticket online as well. Moreover, if you are coming by plane, then at airport, you may get priority pass as well. I also got to know that why this Yatra Parchi is important. It includes a 1 Lac INR insurance cover in case of majors and 25k in case of minors. Moreover, the obvious aim is to keep the crowd controlled coz it’s a limited mountain resource, which can’t hold things beyond certain natural limits. If want to know additional details about this parchi, then check this article.

 

It was raining. Our rain coats were our saviours. There were counters selling rain coats for Rs. 10-15/-. With a little rest in between, enough washrooms and tea-coffee stalls and shades in way.

To reach Bhawan you have 4 option.

1.Trekking-7-8 hrs one way

2.Pony/Horses which takes 4-6 hrs

3.Helicopter Rs. 2000 one way

4.Palki which is for old people.

In Bhawan I didn't faced any long Queue .It was almost hurdle free. You will be not allowed to carry anything including cell phones and purse. You are required to keep everything in Locker. Carry money and Prasad and move forward enchanting "Jai Mata Di". As you enter Bhawan you will feel immense peace. Give your prasadam to the priest and have Mata glance. Darshan from inside was pretty fast as it was in form of continuous moving queue. Took only 25 minutes inside the Bhawan. Then we stopped near Sagar Ratna Restaurant to have food. Food was no doubt very yummy. After food we started to march for destination.

We reached Hotel and not to say we were very tired. Stayed a day to take rest. Had food in Ginger Hotel. Then we started for Jammu with taxi. Taxi guy was good and charged 1300 for 50 km. In between we stopped to have food. Our train was from Jammu at 5 0' clock in 1st AC. Next day we reached Delhi and had a flight from there to Bangalore.

Though the trip was quiet hectic but I can bet you that you will have an immense pleasure and peace of mind that you have completed a wonderful trip of Vaishno Devi Temple.After visiting temple you will get a feeling how much people love Mata Rani.To have her glance they struggle so much. Some walk bare foot also. I got many goose-bumps seeing their devotion. My son is a small boy of four but he thoroughly enjoyed the trip. I was very tensed that we will really have a tough time doing this trip. But we are going to visit MATA who always provides comfort for her kids. We not only completed our trip successfully but also without any last minute hassles. Jai Mata Di...May God bless you all with good health and spirit.

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Happy Father's Day :)

Father's day is  a day to thank all the fathers for their wonderful journey of Fatherhood.DAD a single word holds so much importance in our lives.Dad is born and defined by his kids.Kids are their toy of LIFE. Father's speak less, show less emotion, seen them crying very rarely and embracing also fairly but a thought "I believe you my cutie-pie" is engraved in their heart which no one erase.

As the kids bag size increases with each passing year,DAD share of information also increases for their kids and for their wives which will make them a better person.Smile of his kids gives him confidence to excel in his professional life and he makes sure no stone is left un-turned to fulfill his kids dream.

MOMs are very sensitive to criticism so they lose focus and can’t stop thinking about what the unknown person said or wrote. She knows she shouldn't be bothered, but knowing doesn't help she keeps on thinking about it over and over and over.DAD are tough people they try to understand criticism and don't take them up personally.They are assertive wherever required. DADs are called insensitive but their is always sense in everything.And their this nature keep them strong most of the time and the wheels of our so called family bi-cycle is always balanced.A physical, emotional and spiritual support of our family.

DAD and Kid relationship is a journey of small steps.When we talk of discipline only one figure come to our minds that is of our DAD.He teaches us the demarcation point and consequences of our actions.

He is one of the epitome of our house.His moral values not only make us proud but gives us a foundation of our lives when we grow up and become an adult.

When a Man's role change to a DAD he is skeptical as to he will be able to take up this new role but his devotion and persistence takes him through and makes him successful.

In the end I wish each one of you Happy Father's Day and I would also like to say everyone that this is a greatest responsibility which god has chosen and given to some of you.So you should always fulfill your duties.Many times DAD's image is getting tarnished by increasing divorce rate and infidelity in marriage.On this Father's Day A wish from me for every kid to have a wonderful DAD who will be their Friend of life and not an invisible face when asked about their Father.

"I’d love to hear what you think about this article. Let me know in the comments.”

Disclaimer:THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail priya.anshu.blog@gmail.com with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Mother's thought on Mother's Day

Today On Mother's day I will like to pen down what changed in me as a person.

It started about 7 p.m., two week before my due date my water broke.I called the doctor and she asked me to drove to the hospital. They checked me and said I was already in labor. Baby head was not fixed so the doctor told me that We should think about a c-section.My first reaction was that I didn't want one. I hadn't read up on c-sections but I trusted my doctor, so I said OK.He was born at 5 23 in the morning.I saw him after 3 hrs.
During the past 9 months, I thought I'd bond with my boy immediately, but I didn't quite feel a sense of "maternal bonding" until about 6 hours later when I first saw him smile.And that's when my heart melted.

The major decision which I made was to breastfeed my son. I used breast pump to pump and fulfill my son's needs.When he was 2.5 years I weaned him.And during these years I felt it as our top bonding activities to date.

I feel my son has made me a very strong person.Looking after him and managing my roles and responsibility as a career oriented woman was made very easy by his support.Evenings when I come and pick him the smile I get from him is simply beyond comparison.I feel responsible for my actions.More thoughtful towards my son aspiration.

When I am upset a tender and caring gesture from my son gives me comfort.Your company gives me satisfaction.
I observe my son activities and his perception towards everything in life.And this observation helps me to  understand my husband as a person.

Utmost I can say I love the silly conversation we have.Its humors and takes away the tension.And I hope as you grow old you will continue communicating and sharing your stuffs with me.It makes me smile.

Acne Problem

I have had Acne since my teenage days. When I was a young teen I have been bullied alot because of my acne and my classmates used to call me pimple face. And I know how difficult it was to get rid of them?

I have tried everything from gram flour, neem paste to applying fresh aloe vera juice on my face. But nothing gave me clean face removing all red color pimples and red pimple marks. I tried hard started using creams, more creams, even more creams, some used to it worse, others a tiny bit better, or most of the time have no effect at all.

I changed my diet stopped eating milk products. Sometime switched to Raw Vegan Diet but all the stuffs didn't worked as expected. So just eat healthily for having a balanced life.

It was slowly destroying my self-esteem I was not getting in my head that I should be confident with myself and walk with my head held high and tell them Listen guys you don't affect me.

I went to dermatologist who gave me hormone tablet. The hormone tablets have its own disadvantage and it didn’t help in making it better. So I stopped taking it after sometime.

During my pregnancy my acne increased a lot and became severe due to imbalance of pregnancy hormones.

After struggling for so long I finally decided to follow a regime which helped me for making my problem better.

Morning when I get up and use Garnier Pure Active Neem face wash. It does not only prevent acne but also soothes skin and prevent dryness. Keep your tummy clean poop daily. I try doing 45 minutes of exercise daily. Sometimes certain tips of losing weight like joining the gym sounds pretty boring and doesn't compel you to put 100% so exchange it with whatever you like say Zumba classes , aerobic dance ,running etc. Try to do it for 45 minutes. Regular exercise helps to lower blood pressure, helps in getting better sleep, and relieves stress, more effective in losing weight. And in addition to improving your fitness, exercising frequently reduces your chances of getting old-age diseases. Try to treat yourself with sweet only once a week. Eat more of fibers like whole grain, fruits and vegetables. Drink water at-least 2 liters per day. Personally following these small changes in my daily life is not only improving my Acne but also my overall health.

 

Disclaimer:THIS BLOG claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail priya.anshu.blog@gmail.com with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.