Of New Years, birthdays, festivals, Self Love..

#sareespeak #womenofsareespeak

#kanjivaram #handloom #kanjivaramsilk

#paalumpazhamum #kottadi

#SS 25/2021 #95

Today is THE day.
The day something which started
on a whim,
of one Visionary,
who wasn’t aware she was a Visionary then, a selfless whim,
a selfless Visionary,
blew up,
in a good way,
in huge proportions,
in 5 years.
The 5th birthday of this lovely group, Saree Speak.
A forum for
us women,
by women
Wherein we are happy,
have made friends, admirers,
a therapeutic platform on which we are able to speak our hearts, minds, souls. And for this, I am absolutely grateful. Lots of love dear Vini and all of you here.
Our challenge today, too, is an uplifting positive one – to name 5 things we love about ourselves. It could have been 5 sarees we love, or 5 unique places we sareed, but No.
Vini and her cohort thought long and hard and came up with a simple universal truth.
Self love.
Yes,
Because charity begins at home, with us;
Because how can we give off what we don’t possess.
So we learn to love ourselves, warts and all, be confident without being arrogant, and exude that love to one and all.
Here’s my list. Thought long and hard about how to word this without seeming like The Universal Ego. Then reminded myself, am not being egoistic, but am calling a spade a spade.
I so love

1. My quirky, family-find-it-irritating sense of humour. My ability to laugh at myself, at life, with and not at people.
2. My ability to strike a rapport with people of all ages, and in different areas of my life, at work with my clients – children, teenagers, the elderly, my music students, people I meet generally.
3. My eyebrows, big teeth and crooked fingers. Yes, I can wiggle my knuckle bones and bend my fingers at weird angles.
4. My sensitivity to people’s emotions, the environment, atmosphere around me.
5. My ability to see beauty and positivity in little things. Ok ok, when I am in a good mood.
   May I please add one more? 5b? Or 5.1?
   I love that I am courageous and am able to get out of my comfort zone to try something new. This could just be a getting-old-nothing-to-lose thing. This does not include roller coasters.

Anyway, my loves. I am what I am because I am surrounded by people I love, and who love me, you included.

Draped in a fantabulous saree. My choice, my gift to myself, purchased last year. Was going to wear this to distribute cards for daughter’s nichyathartham but Covid lockdown had other plans for us.
A gorgeous Kanchipuram silk with pure silver Jari,
A Paalum Pazhamum Kottadi, literally translates to milk and fruits.
Green, orange, red, mustard checks.
Orange gold pallu.
Orange borders lined with green, red, gold.
Weaved in the traditional Korvai method.
Decided to drape it to celebrate
Today,
New Beginnings.
Celebrating what has been and what will be.
Better than before.
Happy 5th Birthday Saree Speak.
Happy Tamizh New Year.
இனிய தமிழ் புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள் (Iniya Tamizh Puthaandu Nalvazhthukkal).
Happy Vishu.
Happy Sinhala New Year.
Happy Vaisakhi.
Happy Gudi Padwa.
Happy Ugadi.
Happy Ramadan.
First day of the month of Chittirai.
And as per my previous post,
Let’s make a wishlist, not resolutions.
Let’s wish for peace.
Within.
So that we remain unaffected by the Without.
Love, blessings always.
PS – 18 selfies with camera timer as daughter#2 was in the middle of an online lecture, husband nowhere to be seen.
But photos on stairs are last resort photos by him.
Managed to whittle it down to two.