Navarathri 2012 and the grand Golu's

This year we had a very different Navarathri (Navrathri) Golu festival. 

We did not invite anyone to our house because San went to India as soon as the festival began and we had to manage with Daddy's ability to dress the kids up and visit all golu's because they refuse to be dressed up by my mom. 

Given those limitations, did the best I could and if you think their hair could have been combed better or there could have been better necklaces or bangles, yes.. yes.. wholeheartedly agree!

That said, the whirlwind visits to a dozen places in a span of three days was a little too much for me to handle!

Did take photographs of almost all golus except Suja's (sorry!) and put them in a landscape gallery  and  a portrait gallery. So please check out the pictures! It is amazing to see that the golus in the bay area are getting grander and bigger every year. 

Seriously!

Last year I missed the golus because of the hand surgery to remove plate and screws just a day before Golu season started. More than made up for it this year!

You can check out previous golugraphy's for :

2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, ....

The three step ones have become 5 steps and the 5 have become seven and the grandest one went from 7 steps with a width of 5 feet to almost 10 feet! Truly amazing!

Some of the displays created by the kids were really cute and imaginative.. like this cow about to be captured by velociraptors ala jurassic park style in a field of methi grass..

or Vedhaville (my favorite).. why not name a ville after yourself and make it rhyme with your name?

and a hand made set done by a 9 year old..

with a rangoli to go with it! 

It was truly an experience having Jr. sing at most of the Golus and get some really tasty treats for all of us! 

It was also an eye opening experience for my parents to see that culture and tradition are alive and well and realize that just because we celebrate Halloween with great pomp, it does not mean we give up the Navarathri celebrations.

They probably saw what their grand daughters are missing, but still insist on not starting a doll display in our house because of some old ill omen stuff. For the sake of not upseting the kids, we steered the conversation away from that topic. 

We had a great time, not to mention the mege photo session that we had on Sunday!

Indian festivals are a ton of fun. Nothing is less than a day and this one spans 9 days.. so go figure!

Paavaadais for this season

Too bad I was not in good enough shape to capture the other two sets.. We will get them the next time they dress up to go to a temple or some other function.

Our girls are growing up.. too fast for my liking!

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Missing the golus

This year the wife, MIL and kids made it to all the golus over the last 2 1/2 days while I slept at home after taking painkillers.

We did manage some photographs of the kids in their new Paavaadais before they stepped out of the house. When I get back to regular typing speed or proficient mouse use will upload those photos.

Did not get a chance to eat all the lovely sundal or take photos of the golus. So here is a request to those relatives and friends who have let me photoblog their golus over the last 5 or 6 years. Please email me or Sangeetha a Photo of your golu, even if it is taken with your grainy cell phone and we post it all here next weekend.

Next year there is hope that daddy Narayanan will get to visit all the golus in good health and cheer and blog about it!

Thanks to all for your wishes. The hand is making nice progress.

Brush teeth - check
Take a bath on your own - check
Wear your own clothes and zip up pants - check
Eat with spoon - check
Write with pen - check
Type slowly with both hands - check

Driving and lifting heavier objects with right hand to be checked off tomorrow. Yoga plan from thursday. Then we will be back to the old normal routine.

Plan to go to work tomorrow and test out a few things as well!

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Navarathri Golus - 2010

This year's nine day celebration went by real fast. There was a three day time lapse with heavy pain killers that made it look like a six day festival.

The previous years golu collections are in this link. I know a lot of folks look for how their golus have evolved over time using the blog posts. Thank you all for allowing me to chronicle the fantastic doll displays.

The spirit of this festival is not in the doll displays. It is watching your kids have fun. Go to every one of their friends houses, play, eat sundal, dress up, sing, dance, collect goody bags and just enjoy being a kid!

A few photographs that capture this essence

The elaborate jewelry that kids wear with great love..

The joy of comparing goody bags..

or the joy of making photography really challenging for daddy (had to chop grandma's face because she was not amused by the kids making the photo session difficult!)

Now for this years golus. The HDR ones are obvious (most shots are a composite of 3 images std , +2 eV, -2 eV)and you can see the difference it makes.

This year was fun. Next year as the golus morph in shape, size and color... will have a different way to capture the displays.. maybe go B&W to create that 1980's nostalgia? Go take close up of dolls in a set instead of the entire display?

Your ideas are always welcome!

Note to self: Just like we do an oil change or scheduled maintenance on the van two weeks before any long weekend for an anticipated road trip, always get your dental checkup two weeks before navrathri! It is a bad idea for Sundar to be left out in Sundal season..

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Lamphead

Manual mode shot of a swan on top of a traditional Indian lamp in a Navrathri golu..

Tonemapped and noise reduced with Photomatix trial software..

Had a wisdom tooth infection that prompted a short notice surgery and extraction of both lower wisdom teeth. Recovering nicely so far. Have been forced into a "silent" fast (mouna vrath)for the last three days. Looking forward to a nice meal today.

The golu trips continued with San, MIL and kids attending some golus during the week. Tonight we will round up the rest of the golus and post pictures.

Until then..

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