Traditionally speaking, ofkors!

Writing a blog after a thoroughly boring weekend!... Usually I find something to keep myself occupied and entertained through the weekend. But this particular weekend was an exception to this as I could do nothing other than laze about the house doing absolutely nothing. My non-existant social life contributed handsomely to the sense of boredom. And I could only wait for the weekend to pass and for Monday to arrive (I can't believe I actually was looking forward to Monday!!)

Actually this Monday was indeed something of a day to look forward to...

Tomorrow being Dussehra and a holiday, we had a Traditional Day in our office today. We were expected to turn up for work dressed up in traditional attire! As usual, the fickle mind of a Libran took over in the morning and I was unable to decide whether to go in for a traditional dress (what exactly constitutes a traditional dress!!?) or the everyday clothes! Finally, I settled for the conservative choice and came to the office dressed normally. After reaching the office I saw that most of the ladies looking lovely in sarees and guys looking cool in their Kurtas and pyjamas. Suddenly I felt as though I should've worn the Kurta! But then, I reasoned that these people were not really wearing their tradtional dresses... just ethnic clothing!! Whats the difference?!... Plenty!

Traditional dressing connotes dressing up the way your ancestors have dressed up, historically speaking. Ethnic clothing has to do with dressing up in a way that has been established by a ethnic group over a period of time. It means, even though I am a Maharashtrian, I could dress up as a Kutchi peasant and claim that I'm dressed in ethnic clothing. But, if I'm asked to dress traditionally, I would need to dress up as my ancestors have done. Typically that would involve wearing a dhoti, a Kurta, a pagdi (a pagdi not like the way Sikhs wear it... but rather like the way you see Lokmanya Tilak wearing it in your history books!). Traditional usually has a historical flavour to it, while ethnic could easily be contemporary!

I think I'm going into too many inconsequential details and this is taking the shape of a rambling rant!!... so I gather myself before I digress into oblivion and continue!...

Every year, we have a sri satyanarayan mahapooja in our office on the eve of Dussehra and there is a very festive atmosphere in the office on this day (i.e. today!). Boxes of sweets are also distributed to everybody and that makes it a doubly sweet occasion! ;-)

So, today was something to be looked forward to, inspite of being a Monday!

By the way... today is also Suku's birthday!! So, many happy returns of the day to her! :-)

Tomorrow, I take the first step towards addressing that list of items I want, that I published a few blogs ago! I will in all probability go and buy a new cell-phone for myself!... As of now, my choice has been narrowed down to Nokia 5210 and Nokia 6510. If I go by the features alone, 6510 wins hands down. But if looks are considered, 5210 scores over 6510. So, its gonna be a tough choice to make at the cell-phone shop tomorrow! *LOL*

Couple of days to go for my sister's birthday as well (its on the 16th)... so I'll be buying something for her too! ... I still haven't made up my mind on that! ... any suggestions?! ;-)

Among other things, this weekend was a roller-coaster ride for Indian sports. The cricket team won the match against West Indies quite comfortably. But the hockey team lost to South Korea in the finals of the Asian Games. On the other hand the Indian athletics contingent proved to be a major surprise at the Busan Asian when they unexpectedly boosted the medals tally which looked quite impoverished due to the lack of medals in disciplines like shooting, boxing, weight-lifting, etc. But at the same time, an Indian runner who won a gold in the 1500 metres, Sunita Rani, was reported to have tested positive for a banned drug called Nandrolone. So, that sours the sweet taste of victory, just a little bit!

Anyways... I guess thats it for now!!...

Happy Dussehra to all of you!!

cheers!