RGB Monday

My parents decided to visit my maternal aunt's home and then to Mamallapuram to invite some relatives to the next week's baby shower of my sister-in-law. Taking this as an opportunity, my parents decided to take me out on Saturday, as I haven't gone out since lockdown 0.2; I also visited my aunt's home after five years.

I want to visit my aunt's home sometime and gladly took this opportunity, though I didn't get into her home as we had a short time as we arrived there in the evening. But surprisingly, aunt decided to accompany us on our drive to Mamallapuram, and that way she could spend time with us.  Later we dropped her off at a bus stop on the way home, and she immediately got on her bus and reached home on time. 

It was nice to come out after a long time, and I  could see many changes around me, and some remain the same as before. I could see houses and buildings in bright colors and many developments in road construction and flyovers, easing the traffic. I shared above is one of an apartment painted in different colors in the neighborhood of West Tambaram. I also got a series of sunset shots from the ECR to share in a future post. 

Idol of the year - Ganesh Chaturthi

Contrary to the present cloudy weather, yesterday was sunny and a bit hot, yet I saw a beautiful sky over the evening in accompany of altocumulus clouds with mild orange sunset that went hide behind a building. For some time now, there's been balanced weather of the sunny morning and rainy evening due to the upper air circulation transforms into super cool weather, which isn't usually like before. 

The Ganesh Chaturthi - aka Vinayaka Chaturti, in short, is the birthday of Ganesh, who doesn't need an intro as being a prime deity of the Hindu religion - celebrates the arrival of Ganesh to earth from   Kailash, believed to be the abode of Siva. Every year we place an idol of Ganesh, made of clay, at home to worship on this day, and in the morning, dad bought a clay idol from a roadside shop -  the temporary stalls that pop up during the festival times - worshiped; offering special ingredient to the lord and ate our lunch along with those. 

And later in the evening, we dissolved the clay idol in a bucket of water rather than dissolve it in a nearby water body as per the ritual. We adapted to this method 12 years ago to preserve the waterbody and use the muddy water for gardening.  Today many are following this idea, and some went further in producing idols with a seed inside, and by burying the idol, we help growing trees. 

Our idol dropped in a bucket of water to dissolve.

RGB Monday

The Grand Sweets in the neighborhood is one of my favorite restaurants where I tasted crispy dosa and puri once in a while. After the shut down of my favorite restaurant in Chennai - The Woodlands drive-in - in 2010, it transformed into a botanical garden; I had no opportunity to eat at a restaurant until the grand sweet opens its branch in the neighborhood. 

Not all restaurants are wheelchair friendly, and The Grand Sweets isn't an exception, but at least they allow us to eat from the parked car, and when they served from their own plates, it's hot and crispy to causes a desire to eat, which is missed in the parcel. I usually try this restaurant on Sundays, when there is less traffic on the road and space for parking along with the restaurant. 

After the pandemic begins, they allow only for parcels; though it isn't a matter now as I almost avoided going out rather for a short evening walk on Sundays, I miss the flavor. The last I went to the restaurant was for a coffee in perhaps 2019, and I remember it now when I come around a few shots on the restaurant when looking for images to share for RGB Monday. 

There's a textile showroom on top of the restaurant that caught my attention once, showcased colorful sarees on an array. They also have two mannequins wrapped in sarees, and the showroom has a glistening view.

Jeshwanth as Krishna

Krishna Jayanti (Aug 30), or whatever it's called in other parts of India, is a Hindu festival that marks the birth of Krishna, a Hindu god. According to mythology, many tales are told relevant to Krishna; and he's a popular figure among the women for his naughtiness, and for every mother, their child represents Krishna, so on the occasion of Krishna Jayanthi, they dress their children as baby Krishnan. And this seems like a tradition in every Indian Hindu family who has a baby at home. 

I don't remember me dressed as Krishna or have a photo, but my brother had been dressed this way, followed by my cousins walked the same path. No matter who, kids do look adorable in whatever way they dress. And now, my little nephew too joined the tradition, and at just 4 months, he's too young for this play. I have seen kids who don't cooperate easily to dress up fancy, but amazingly Jeswanth was very quiet and posed cutely. 

The general notion that children would cry was missing on him, and he would cry only when put to bath, so it wasn't an issue dressing him, but once excited, his movements become rapid, and nothing stays on him. It's not easy to keep things in place if the kid's cooperation was nill. In this way, I admire his attitude, and anyone seeing his photos was amused, and I hope you guys too feel the same. 

Krishna Jayanthi isn't a festival celebrated on my paternal side. It was my maternal parents who had cows and did dairy business. In mythology, Krishna is mention to be around cows, and he was also portraited as a cowherd, so naturally, Krishna was inspired to be their favorite deity to celebrate. Being a milk producer, they do not buy dairy products from outside as they produce the yogurt, butter, and ghee they need themselves. And butter being the favorite of Krishna, they offer all their dairy products, including homemade snacks, and celebrate the festival by placing idols of Krishna and cow-calf. 

Mom celebrates the festival by drawing little footsteps from the house entrance to the prayer room in the belief of welcoming Krishna into the home. Mom introduced this tradition at home after married into the family, and from then, she follows it annually. 

Course Completed!

I completed the 2 doses of vaccination on Saturday after 92 days of 1st dose. 

My parent completed the course of vaccination (with Covishield/AstraZeneca) before I took the 1st dose, and the time period for them then was 45 days. But when I took it, the ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) extended the time between the 1st and 2nd doses of the vaccine to 90 days. I think this extension was to make the vaccine available for many, for at least one dose, to keep away from the seriousness of covid.  

For my 1st dose, I visited the nearest vaccination center, and that time it was a total lockdown so accessing the wheelchair wasn't difficult through the empty main roads. Now, the city bumped back to its array of traffic, and steering the wheelchair wouldn't be smooth, but I was in intend of visiting the center if there aren't any options.  

During my 1st dose, I saw the doctors and nurses at the vaccination center getting ready for home vaccination for elders and differently able as soon vaccinated me, as I was the last one to take a vaccine that day. And that was the day home vaccination was launched by the state government to facilitate those who couldn't access the center. So this time, I utilized the facility, and even before we enquired and two days to my 2nd vaccine, guys in two-wheeler came announcing in a megaphone that they would come home-to-home as a special vaccine camp (on Thursday 26 Aug) and the one who doesn't take can take. 

I waited, with a sigh of relief, and I waited the whole day, but there wasn't a sign of vaccination. 

The next day dad went to enquire about the home vaccination drive, and at the center, told there wasn't a home-to-home vaccination camp, and for me, they agree to come home if we arrange transportation. So upon this, dad took my cousin in our car and picked up the nurse from the center, and after vaccinated me (with Covishield/AstraZeneca), dropped her back. The nurse brought one dose for me after being vaccinated for 9 others as one vial of vaccine is injected to 10 people, and once open, it needs to be fully used within four hours. 

Same as the 1st dose, the vaccination went smooth, and I didn't experience any unusual health beyond 48 hours now except for a sore arm. My cardiologist advised drinking plenty of water for 1st dose prescribed blood thinner for a week for the 2nd dose, perhaps because the doctor might want to be cautious. Our state has gone to nill restrictions now, and more liberty with social activities, there's a great chance for a surge in cases and vaccination being the only solution, I'm glad to complete the course to feel secure. But, still being cautious is more than enough.