Kantha,a simple Stitch for complicated designs

In sewing, the first thing that we learn is 'Running Stitch' used when we have to mend clothes. It is a common form of embroidery in Bangladesh & India in every household. Although I have been using this stitch to sew clothes, I was not aware that the very plain & insipid running stitch could be used to create such beautiful patterns, called as Kantha Embroidery. Yes, It was my ignorance and now I am more than happy to admit.  ofcourse  its is one of my favorite  embroidery  forms.

Any garment can be embellished with kantha stitch since it is the most simplest of stitches in the language of embroidery. The way in which the stitch is filled inside a design in different arrangements, forms the complex vocabulary of kantha. It can enhance the most simplest of sarees or cloth materials. 

It is said to have originated in the early 1800's & is derived from the Sanskrit word 'kontha' meaning rags probably originating from the legend of Lord Buddha & his disciples who used hand stitched, discarded rags to cover themselves!!!  The traditional seat of kantha embroidery was Bengal (Shantiniketan) where Bengali housewives used the colourful saree threads from the borders to mend old clothes. Gradually with experimentation, they began to hand embroider sarees & use the cloth material as a canvas to try out different patterns as a means of self expression. The patterns can also be machine stitched but the beauty of it is in its imperfections that can only be revealed by hand stitching the cloth. 

Different motifs of sceneries, geometrical patterns & designs can be created with this stitch. It is also used with sequins & beads to create applique work & different accessories, thereby increasing the variety of its application. There are about 7 known types of kantha work & although it is a time consuming process, it is an immensely creative & satisfying activity.

Nature

Red & Green

How a room can bring back Memories?

Growing up, we are living in the same house from I was about 10 years old, so I can pretty much picture every room in my house and I have a few special ones.

Our bed room- it was never matchy, matchy or fancy, it was always just fun and mom pretty much let us (me & my Siblings) rock whatever style we wanted. It was  our space, we used to build forts with sheets and enclose  TV in  there (LOL) and me and my siblings with our dog use to have slumber parties. It was a room I have only good memories in.

Then there was our family room, the space where we all hung out, where we played with  barbies behind the couch and the family sat and enjoyed each other.

Lastly, there was our backstairs room where we had a pull out sofa. This was Kid's "pent house". Whenever some guest visit us, we (me & my siblings) would camp out there together, because they usually would sleep in  kid's room. This was the very special memory for me and I missing all the fun and masti of my childhood.

I love thinking about the rooms and everything as well with I grew up in and hope for  every memory would never fade.

The Change Called CHANGE..!!

CHANGE is permanent – sounds ironic, but the reality is that this is a the pivot around which the human race has made progress in leaps and bounds. Yet change posses a challenge – the challenge of accepting change. In our growing up years, we found it easier to accept the change because we did not rationalize too much. We accepted our bodily change to adult hood as a natural progression of life. In any case there was very little that we could do to stop those changes and so we accepted the pimples and warts as also the realization of our sexuality with curiosity and a wee bit of anxiety.

However as we grow older, we prefer to cling to the tried and tested, avoid the discomfort of learning anew and anxiously bypass the challenges posed by new technology. Unfortunately, we can neither avoid the fury of change nor ignore the discomfort of being called outdated in the fast paced world. So the only option is to make friends with change and make change an allay in our personal pursuit of excellence.

So how do we embrace change wholeheartedly ? The first thing we must do is acknowledge that change is permanent and will be our allay. The next step is to adapt and adopt it at the earliest. Only then can we experience the wonders of change. See the revolution brought about by the internet or an ATM machine or a digital camera. Mobile communication and the mobile hardware and software industry are driving change at a supersonic pace and while the heart of the technology would be quantum mystery to the lay man, the use, ease and pace of change are something we can easily identify with.

Festive Lighting...

Diwali is long gone and it's time for Christmas with reds & greens, cakes & cookies and loads of happiness....

...but festivity can never go out of style, can it?

Enjoy..!!

How to Protect Yourself from Failure-Deepak Chopra

A failure is a setback that has left scars. When it doesn't scar you, setbacks are learning experiences, but there's no doubt that suffering a setback is difficult. It only turns into an opportunity if you have the psychological tools that protect you from failure. In the last post I presented a strategy for preventing failure in advance, which is always the best way. I encourage you to take a look before reading this post, which is about how to recover from setbacks.

In many ways the two states, before and after, call for the same steps. In particular,

1. Have a good support group around you at work.

2. Communicate with your spouse or partner.

3. Don't isolate yourself and carry the whole burden by yourself.

4. Identify with core values that sustain your sense of worth.

5. Build your self-esteem.

6. Develop interests outside work.

Since these points were covered in some detail in the first post, I won't elaborate on them here. It's realistic to accept that for most of us, preventing future failures is something we pay little attention to. Our focus is on immediate challenges and their success. Therefore, when a setback actually does occur, we are left vulnerable and open to a rush of negative emotions. The more that a setback feels like a failure, the more likely it is to scar you. You become more wary of risk, sometimes to the point of genuine anxiety. You feel a range of emotions from guilt and shame to anger and fear. Your mind obsesses over "What did I do wrong?" and "Why did this happen to me?"

This composite of reactions differs for each person, but the major setbacks for most people are similar: divorce, losing your job, having a small business go under, and bankruptcy. To make full use of the points already listed, you have to get over the trauma first. Here's a general guide.

1. Give yourself room to grieve over the loss. Healing takes time.

2. Don't hide from your pain. Denial makes healing take longer.

3. Notice the signs of depression and seek help for them.

4. Spend minimal time with commiserating and indulging in "what if."

5. Find a confidant who has survived the same setback you are suffering through.

6. Revise your vision of the future in a positive way.

7. Make clean breaks with the past where it's necessary.

These points are all action steps; they get you moving instead of brooding. It's unfortunate that the most common way of dealing with crisis is to watch more TV and play more video games, although surveys show that this is so. Sometimes laying low helps your battered emotions to recover, but more importantly, they will recover, in time. Everyone has an emotional set point that returns to normal, usually within six months of a major trauma. Even so, recovery isn't the same for everyone. At one extreme are people crushed by a setback, who internalize it as "I'm a failure." At the other extreme are people who say they thrive on stress and only want to fight harder when they go down.

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum, and therefore we vacillate between discouragement and hope, self-disparagement and self-belief. Beneath all of this turbulence, there is a steady state of the self that can be accessed with meditation, contemplation, and other practices that connect you to your center. It's very worthwhile to explore these techniques, because at the very least you will begin to have a sense of inner purpose.

Most men in particular feel compelled to move on as a first response to setbacks. Something bad has happened to them, so they are determined to find something good as a remedy. The impulse is commendable, but too often what gets ignored is the inner turmoil created by a setback. As a society, we are so used to efficiently organizing the externals of life that we ignore where the real damage occurs, which is inside. You can be swindled out of a hundred dollars in a shady investment and feel enormously angry and resentful, or you can lose a million dollars honorably and walk away from it a better person. The choice is yours, and it depends on how much attention you pay to building a self. In the coming posts I'll talk more about this lifelong project, which is the most valuable thing you can do for yourself and others. Someone who is successful at building a self doesn't fear the ups and downs of his inner world, because he has created an unshakable foundation in the true self.

(Deepak Chopra, MD, author of instant New York Times bestseller, What Are You Hungry For?)

I posted this because i feel like to share with you all, very  useful  article. Yes, I'm subscribing him occasionally..no very frequently as I like to read him.

"The Cuckoo's Calling"-Fun Read

"The Cuckoo's Calling" (Mulholland Books), by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

I have not read yet any book of J. K. Rowling, so I thought to stop my search on "The Cuckoo's Calling because this is a good story that entertaining enough to merit a read even if Robert Galbraith had been a real person who really wrote it.

"The Cuckoo's Calling" introduces readers to Cormoran Strike, a London private detective with his own complicated back story — he's the son of a rock star and a groupie, has a prosthetic leg to replace the one he lost in Afghanistan during his military service, and he just ended a difficult romantic relationship. He's also quite clever.

Along with his started-out-temporary-but-who-didn't-know-that-was-going-to-last secretary Robin Ellacott, he looks into the death of a supermodel, Lula. Everyone assumes it was suicide, but Strike is asked to investigate it by someone who tells him it had to have been otherwise. His investigation takes Strike into the worlds of high fashion and big money as he makes his way to the truth.

Rowling's (Galbraith’s whoever) literary gift is on display in this work. She crafts an entertaining story with characters that hold the reader's interest, and comes up with an ending that I'll admit I was surprised by.

It gets a little too clever in some places, with the final denouement tying together some earlier elements in a way that's almost a little too pat, and some of the leaps Strike makes seem a little too out-of-nowhere. And it wouldn't be a J.K. Rowling book if it didn't have lots and LOTS of description, not all of which seems necessary.

But overall, it's a fun read, with a main character you can care about and one you'll want to see again in other adventures. It reads like Rowling had fun writing it. There's a certain lightness to it that was missing from her other grown-up fiction endeavor, "The Casual Vacancy." Perhaps that came from the freedom of writing and publishing under a pseudonym without all the pressure of her own back-story. It will be interesting to see if she can maintain that sense of fun now that everyone knows it's her and that particular mystery has been solved.