These were some of the facts about Color Black. Enjoy them, along with my crocheted Black n White Cap. 😛
P.S. See more of my Crochet Experiments here…
If you ask someone to draw a sketch of an Indian Girl, most probably they will draw any girly face and then draw a Bindi (sort of a red dot), on her forehead. 😀 In reality, if you go to any Indian city, you will be disappointed to see, that not every girl, wears this red dot on her forehead. 🙂
I couldn’t find out, who started this tradition of wearing Bindi? But, I do found out why it started, and what is it’s actual significance?
Now a days, mostly north Indians women wear Bindi as a symbol of their marital status. A Red Bindi is mostly worn by married women on their forehead. Widowed and unmarried women don’t wear Bindi. Even if they do, they wear a Black Bindi or Sandalwood Bindi. But, these customs are not followed religiously everywhere, and I think it’s for the best, because Bindi is not supposed to show your marital status or your fashion statement, but rather your spiritual self.
Before we go about exploring Bindi, lets first see the importance of place where we apply it. Bindi is applied at the center of the forehead just between the eyebrows. Why this place is important?
The position directly behind the center of forehead is of Ajna Chakra, the Sixth Chakra. This is also known as the position for the Third eye. Sixth Chakra is the highest chakra in our physical body. If you remember my several posts on Chakras, the highest Chakra, Seventh Chakra is rather placed in our outer body, also called as our spiritual body, just above our head. Thus our Sixth Chakra, Ajna Chakra, is the highest center of Spirituality in our physical body.
Sixth Chakra is for command, intuition, intelligence, as it represents mind, knowledge, and also connection between our physical self to spiritual self. Sometimes it is also referred as the gateway to attaining spiritual energy and Moksha.
In earlier times, when people used to pray, they used to awaken this Ajna Chakra, through their Kundalini Shakti. In a very simple term, during praying or more specifically Meditation, this place being the gateway for energy, becomes active, and as Kundalini passes through it, it becomes hot. Focusing on your Sixth Chakra also create headaches for some time. To calm this effect, and cool it, people started putting Kumkum and Sandalwood on their forehead, in the form of a Bindi or Tilak. Both of these have a cooling effect.
Now a days, it would be very rare if anyone has this capability to awaken their Kundalini Shakti to such a level as to took it to Ajna Chakra. But this practice of putting Kumkum and sandalwood Bindi, just before praying started based on this basic notion. Also, to show importance of this super dynamic place filled with heightened spirituality, we place a mark of respect and devotion. It is also a representation for the Third eye.
So more than Bindi, it’s the place where we apply Bindi, is of utmost importance. More power to our Ajna Chakra.
Keep watching this space because soon we will talk about significance of color in Bindi. Till then Happy Reading, Happy Learning. 🙂
I am reading Hellen Keller‘s autobiography “The Story Of My Life”, and midway my reading I realized that I have actually seen a movie based on this book.
Themovie was ‘Black‘ by ‘Sanjay Leela Bhansali, released in 2005. This movie was based on the life of a deaf and blind girl Michelle, played by Rani Mukherji and in adult and child roles respectively. Amitabh Bachchan Played the role of Teacher, who helped the little girl understand the language and introduce her to a dignified and meaningful life. This movie was very well received by the critics at the time of it’s release.
When I watched it first, I didn’t enjoyed it much. It was too much over dramatic for me. Now after realizing that this movie is indeed based on a real person, I watched it again. Alas, again it was too much over dramatic. I decided to watch some other movie which is based on Hellen Keller, and I stumbled on “The Miracle Worker”.
After watching The miracle Worker, I realized just how much drama, we Indians love. 🙂
Firstly, the teacher is male, just so that they can introduce a love angle to the whole story. We do need romance, right? Remember that kiss between, Rani as Michelle, and double aged teacher, Amitabh Bachchan? Now, how could this kiss would have been possible if Teacher, would have been a female. Point to note, in reality, and in The Miracle Worker too, Teacher is the famous Anne Sullivan, who is still recognized for her teaching work done on Hellen.
In Black, almost every important scene is picked as it is from The Miracle Worker, including that famous, dinner table scene or introduction to first word, water, scene. Only difference being, the size and scale of emotions and drama is so high in Black, that it looks unrealistic. Teacher, is shown more like some crazy, brainy old fellow, rather then as a strict but compassionate Anne Sullivan.
To induce more drama, Alzheimer disease is also roped in, so that they can stretch the plot some more. But, to be on a fair side, it was not a documentary but rather a Bollywood movie. This does make it exceptional, as there are no songs and dance routine in the movie, but it’s not entirely a true story.
Still, better than the rest. Go enjoy it once again. Don’t forget to watch The Miracle Worker too, for a dose of realism.
Something sweet with a little spicy flavor along with a tangy sensation, but above all finger licking better version of potato fries. This is Honey Chilli Potatoes.
I have always loved this particular snack, as it offers so many different tastes to you. Specially the ones I ate in Mainland China, Gurgaon. Those Honey Chilli Potatoes were amazing. I was longing for that taste and thus decided to take the whole matter into my hand. In simpler terms, decided to make them at home. 🙂
Below is the recipe I followed.
Ingredients:
For Potatoes –
For base sauce–
Method : –
P.S. My cooking is experimental. You will find many similar and different recipes, but the idea is to explore your food and do experiments with it. Enjoy Cooking Experiments and Experiences 🙂
4th Of July Fireworks @ State Capital Building Jefferson City
My Journey So Far.... 
