When prices of onions grow, as they sometimes will,
When pay rise you are hoping seems all up hill,
When rupee has fallen & debts are high,
And you want to go shopping, but you have to sigh,
When economy is pressing you down a bit,
Go creative, but don’t you quit.

My apologies to have infused a bit of nonsense into one of the most inspiring poems…. but then this is my humble way of tipping the hat to the anonymous poet.

Creativity is a form of meditation;………………….. it doesn’t matter, what you make (& what others make of what you made), what innovative dishes you cook ( might inspire your friends to go on an eternal fast & loose some weight), what you paint ( Mona ya Lisa ), how well you sing ( the Tansen in you might succeed in bringing down some rain, at least an assured rain of branded shoes), what you compose (be it a Mozart or a noise hazard), how well you write ( let me not delude you, Booker might elude you ), how gracefully you dance (can always blame it on a bout of fits), how well you sculpt ( Angel ‘o’ might refuse to be linked to your name though), how well you play (if not a Sachin, always walk ‘up-chin’), ………. it takes you deep into yourself, a fulfilling journey of discovering YOU; the ‘real’ you – a more divine, wonderful, endearing, beautiful & better version of the the ‘reel’ you (struggling & juggling actor of the all time reality show ‘All the World’s a Stage’).

Isn’t that enough reason to be creative; to nudge ‘softly’ ( any harder, you could be jailed for cruelty towards children, Children Act 1889) our children towards creativity……..you think so?? But before we herd our children to the right path, lets walk the talk, & tread that path a little.

I did my bit & lo behold …

Picked up two phone mats, Rs 50/- each…
Folded them & got the sides stitched from a cobbler.
Attached bamboo handles to one.

Bucket handles wrapped in satin ribbon were stitched onto the other.

Can’t say if you will ever get to turn into a bat woman or a cat woman in this lifetime….. but then comrades, rest assured with these bags you can surely turn into a …… MAT woman ………… LOL.

Where there is a Will there is a Way,
Where there is a Jill there is Say.

And so much to say. All Jacks & Jills should rigourously excercise their fundamental right to freedom of speech. Else she ( ‘speech‘ has to be a Woman……who else has the capacity to woo & wound a man) will turn lazy, gain unwanted weight (which we try to throw around) & die an untimely death.

Probably that’s what happened to our dear PM, it is not the cat who got his tongue….. it ‘s the fact….. that with so many people speaking & singing RaGas for him, our PM’s ‘power’ of speech, due to sheer disuse, must have coughed, spluttered & died. Unimaginable for a politician whose Brahmastra is his flowery & clever-y speeches….which grows, thrives & blooms (wish onions,tomatoes & potatoes would follow lead) these months every 5 yrs. But then such eerie silence in speech & deed galvanized the Aam Aadmi into action (a positive outcome, I believe). Namo! Namo! will we be led to glory….or would it turn all gory? Only time will tell.

So all that talk about desh ka ‘patthas’ brings me to today’s ‘say’- dupattas.
That two metre cloth that we once used to enhance our mo-des-ty (now that trait has gone-to-dust-ji), these days mainly used to enhance our ‘गुण कम’ style.

In my opinion dupatta is that spice which fires up a dishy outfit, be it a Salwar Kameez or a Chudidar Kurta. I really dig unique ‘spicy but not very pricey’ dupattas. There are fortune hunters, & then there is me, a dupatta hunter. But then, in our country where winning a crore is all in a day’s game, being a fortune hunter is an easy bet…….. scanning & spanning galiyan & bazaars for unique dupattas – an uneasy fret.

So I have come out with an alternative method….if you can’t get them… make them. In that blue ( Prussian, royal, sky?????) moon when I decide to grace the city market, I pick up stuff ( cloth materials, embellishments, laces), whatever suits my fancy & pocket, and when the time comes, make my own dupattas. Let me show you a few, take a look..

A Kutch mat, some Kutch laces & patches have been stitched onto a handloom piece of cloth. Garnished with some tassels to make it a super hot ethnic dupatta.

Leftover strips of cloth joined together to make this yummy sandwich dupatta.

An embroidered peacock motif (meant to be a wall hanging) patched onto a plain cream cloth for this vibrant piece.

A plain dupatta gets a new flavour with a ‘tadka’ of block printing.

Hand painted floral designs cut out from an old saree & patched onto an existing plain Kerala dupatta for a designer piece.

A boring piece gets a ‘Fab India’ makeover by attaching a Rajasthani cloth over it.

Few patches from Kutch & a black border gives this cotton piece a new lease of life.

Got a talented friend to paint some ‘sunshine’ onto an otherwise simple piece of silk.

So guys, hope the date paid off….. I believe these dupattas deserve a pat on the back….. do you?