Small acts of kindness: Support a women’s sewing circle

Ever so often, when I write out a cheque to NGOs like WWF or Cry, I wonder about the smaller NGOs that are doing excellent work but that I know nothing about. Rather than supporting these larger, globally established NGOs, I prefer to support smaller organizations that are doing excellent work in their areas. The problem, especially in a country like India, is in finding NGOs that do genuine work.

One of the NGOs we support every year is Asha Bhavan, which is doing excellent work to rehabilitate drug addicts. Recently, I learnt of another NGO – Project Why – from my friends Damyanti and Ishieta. Project Why was started by Anouradha Bakshi in 2000 with 40 slum children who wanted to learn spoken English and a handful of volunteers. It slowly expanded to include women’s empowerment initiatives, so the slum dwellers could support themselves and their children. Since 2007, over a 1,000 women have been trained at the women’s center sewing circle, including Renu, the sewing teacher.Continue reading→

Anything but books

I’m generally not a huge fan of blog tags, mostly because I’m just too lazy to answer questions about myself! But I’ve been seeing this book tag do the rounds, and it looks really interesting. So when Sreesha tagged me on the Anything But Books tag, I had to give it a go.

Anything-but-books

Here’s how this works. I’ve been given a set of questions. My answers have to be about anything – as the name suggests – but books. At the end of the post, I’ll tag a few other bloggers to share their answers.

Here goes!Continue reading→

Introducing the #Writeaholics!

Blogging is a solitary activity. It’s you, alone behind a screen, sharing your thoughts and dreams, your art and travels, your loves and hates, so many little glimpses into your life. Sometimes it can feel a bit lonely out there, adrift in a sea of a billion blogs all writing about a billion different things. You wonder if your voice is getting drowned, if anyone is listening, if any of this even makes a difference.

This is where the power of community comes in for a blogger.

For me, it came in the form of Blogchatter, through whom I found a lot of friends, numerous bloggers whose work I admire, and a number who inspire me to do better.

And now, seven of us have come together to blog better and stronger!Continue reading→

#InkingReflections: My adventure with Create

Create. That is my word for the year. Within it exist myriad possibilities.

For art. For a more soul-centred existence. For health and fitness. For life.

Word of the year 2016: CreateI had a sense of what I wanted to achieve by the end of this year, but focusing on this word has taken me down paths I could have never imagined.

Continue reading→

Returning to a place you’ve never been to before

Have you ever felt an intense longing to return to a place you’ve never been to before? To walk along those roads again. To rest awhile in its embrace once more. To reacquaint yourself with the people and the houses, the nooks and the crannies, the roads and the twisting, winding paths that you’ve never been on before.

Like this beautiful cottage somewhere in the English countryside…

english-country-pub-garden-737948

Continue reading→

I Stand With Peshawar…And With Humanity

Sometimes I think there is no hope for this world. We are the generation that will watch as people and nations are ripped apart in the name of religion. We are the generation that will, with our own two hands and our hate filled hearts, bring about an apocalypse.

And then I see people quietly standing in solidarity, willing to offer support to the oppressed and those in pain, and I feel hope. But it often gets crushed.

Continue reading→

Meet the blogger: While the coffee brews

While the coffee brews…get to know a bit about Naina Madan.

When you land on her blog, you’re greeted by bright, happy colors and a lovely header done with cool fonts and a really cute graphic of a girl on a bike.

Naina shares little slices from her life in a chatty, relatable tone. Even if you don’t generally like reading personal blogs, you’ll be drawn in by her writing style.Continue reading→

Top Tips for Upholstery Cleaning

Upholstery is a real challenge for home makers but don’t worry, just as all the other challenges you have faced it you will be winning it too. Very often home makers have to face spills stains on the carpets, clothes and other stuffs. Here are few tips, which can give you a respite from the problems of the stained clothes or Furnitures that have often poised a threat to your peace.

Considerations that Need Attention

There are certain kinds of dirt, dirt or stains that may be handled by home treatments as well and not just by professionals. But before starting your treatment you must consider the following aspectsContinue reading→

Happy Diwali!

The festival of lights is here! It’s my favorite – a day when the house is adorned with flowers, colorful rangolis decorate the entrance, diyas are lit all over. A day for family and loved ones. A night of twinkling lights, of visiting friends and neighbors and relatives, and yes, of those infuriating fireworks that go on until all hours of the night!

I typically spend the first half of the day making a rangoli outside the door with flower petals, while the husband hangs garlands of marigold and Ashoka leaves at the entrance, in the balcony and on some of the doors. After relaxing in the afternoon, it’s time for pooja (prayers) in the evening, then we spend a quiet evening listening to music, drinking wine, talking. Bliss!

This year, my mother will be in town for Diwali, so we’ll go over to a cousin’s house after the pooja. That should be fun!

Happy Diwali

The window display at The Wishing Chair, Shahpur Jat, New Delhi

Here’s wishing all of you a very, very happy and prosperous Diwali. Be safe. Be happy!

If you’d like some more information on the festival of Diwali, take a look at these articles:

It’s the festival of lights! (An older post that gives some details on Diwali)
Light that lamp (A brief look at how and why Diwali is celebrated by different religions, from thehindu.com)