Chandamama

In my childhood, we used to have magazines called Chandamama aimed at kids. I used to love reading them when I was a kid and was delighted to find out that they have made Chandamama magazines which I used to read online in pdf format in many different languages. you want a nostalgic

Read them for a nostalgic blast from the past!

Chandamama

Make My Ganesha Event!

Since moving to Arizona, we found out about an event in the local Indian community here and decided to go to it.

It's associated with the Maha Ganapati Temple near Phoenix and the local Tamil Sangam was running a Make My Ganesha event for kids to use clay to make their own Ganesha.

In the religion of Hinduism, Ganesha or Ganapati is one of the most popular Gods and he is the God known for removing obstacles and is worshipped at the start of most rituals. He is also known for his wisdom. He can be recognized distinctly by his elephant head and lots of interesting stories are associated with him.

At the event, we were given molds and clay to put in the mold and the result is below.

It was a very well organized event and only cost $5. We also got to meet a lot of people in the area and AGirl had a blast.

Gender Inequality

I came across this Indian advertisement for laundry on my Facebook feed and it brought me to tears. It brings home a fact that is so true... Women do a lot more of the housework and childcare than men do. And when a man does do housework, he is greatly appreciated and lauded for that.

My husband and I both work full-time. My husband enjoys cooking more than I do and does majority though not all of the cooking in our house and recently has started doing his own laundry as well. But I still do 95% of the childcare in the house and 95% of the cleaning and my laundry and the kids laundry. I however consider myself better off than a lot of other Indian women - my husband does more work than they do. But it's not equal.

I read this article on the New York Times and according to the article, in India, men spend about 0.9 hours per day on cooking, cleaning and childcare whereas women spend about 5.9 hours per day on the same. Talk about being unbalanced.

Saving time in the kitchen - Chapattis Part 2

So, to continue on my with Chapattis story, (Part 1 over here), I made some dough and put it in the freezer. I took it today morning, thinking to thaw it and use it immediately. Unfortunately, even though I waited for it to thaw for 2 hours, it didn't thaw enough for me to make it.

I then put in the fridge overnight and then used it the next day evening. I waited for some time and then started rolling it out. While the temperature of the dough was still on the cold side, I was able to roll it out but I had to fight with the dough a bit. To make the dough easier to roll, I think I may have to wait for it to completely come to room temperature next time.

The chapattis, after I fried on the tava or frying pan, were ok but a litte on the thick side since I wasn't able to roll it completely thinner.

Lessons learned: Put the dough from the freezer in the refrigerator overnight or at least for 5-8 hours before using it. Wait for it to come to room temperature before rolling it out.

Vara MahaLakshmi Pooja

Yesterday, since the baby hasn't come out yet, we (mostly my mom) were able to perform Vara MahaLakshmi pooja at my home.

Varalakshmi pooja is performed by married Indian women to pray to the Goddess Lakshmi to bring health, wealth, prosperity and wisdom to their household. It's performed typically in the July-August timeframe.

You can read more about the pooja here and how to perform the pooja here. Each family generally perform it a little differently and that tradition is followed by all the women of that family. My mom does it by smearing a coconut with turmeric paste and making the features of the face with turmeric paste and sticking jewelry depicting eyes, eyebrows, nose-ring, earrings, etc onto the turmeric. Below is the picture of the pooja coconut depicting Goddess Lakshmi

It was the first time the pooja was performed in my house and hopefully, next  year, I will be able to perform it as well. It is generally said that the way to perform this pooja is not very important - even a simple prayer to Goddess Lakshmi on a smaller scale is good when performed. I may not do it on the same scale as my mom but on a smaller scale to begin with.