A Quiet Pongal

Pongal is our harvest festival and it’s a really big deal in our community. In our house though we are not particularly festive, and our festivities were even more low-key this year because of a general goof-up in terms of holidays.

Our Indian festivals are based on the lunar calendar, and so each year there is slight variation in the actual dates we are meant to celebrate them. While it is harvest festival in India overall, depending on the local customs, and the lunar calendar, each area celebrates it on a different day. It’s not like say Christmas which is celebrated on Dec 25 worldwide every year.

So basically holiday allocation is complicated when it comes to Indian festivals, and this year someone really goofed up. My littles had Pongal holiday on Wednesday (which they spent peacefully with their grandfather at home), while K and I had Pongal holiday on Thursday.

And considering we are the hard-working sort 😉 , it never occurred to any of us to take holidays and celebrate the festival together.

Instead on Pongal day, I got up bright and early, packed off the kids to school, and settled down for a restful morning of tea, blogging, and income tax proofs.

After Piglet’s school, we all helped ourselves to a massive helping of Pongal (a very yummy rice and lentil combo dish) and bundled him outside for a bit of shopping.

Now I am still on my shopping ban, but K needed some new basic work clothes, and there was a 70% discount at our favorite family store – Sanctuary, so off we went for a bit of shopping.

Sanctuary, in Hospital Road, right in the heart of Bangalore city has long been one of my favorite stores. I have blogged about it several times here, here, here, and here.

What I like about the store apart from the cool clothes at reasonable prices (it used to be drop dead cheap, but now with inflation and all, it’s reasonable but no longer dirt cheap), is the wonderful atmosphere.

The store is within an old house, and it’s full of that olde-worlde atmosphere.

The staff are all old-timers (I see the same people every time I visit, and this is pretty remarkable considering how fast-moving the retail market is), they greet you by name, ask about your kids, and are really helpful and hands-on.

Plus, even though their prices are low, this shop is a bit of a secret within Bangalore. Not too many people seem to know about it, and so, when I go there, it’s just so pleasant. No jostling among crowds, and waiting for changing rooms, and stuff. It’s just lovely. They also have a café, and drinks, so if you are not interested in shopping per se, you can just loaf around without getting tired or irritable.

Which is what I did on Pongal. While K was busy shopping, I hung around at the café with a tired Piglet who snoozed peacefully in his seat leaving me with time and an iPhone handy, which of course meant plenty of pics 🙂 .

I spent my time looking through the faux antique stuff, Indian kitsch, and home decor stuff that is also stocked, and generally chilling out in the sun. Here are some photos of what I saw and clicked.

Note: I am not a fan of this style much (at least not in our house, I am a minimalist at heart), but there’s no denying they photograph very well.

So, while I spent my time clicking everything I liked, K ended up with a massive haul of shirts for himself and his dad. The shirts were awesome, and I was amazed at the prices. We got about 12 shirts for less than 5K. The quality was super too. K tried nudging me towards the woman’s section, but I held my ground and stuck to my no shopping resolution 🙂 .

After coming back home, it was ballet class and a dental check-up for Snubnose. So off we went again, this time, just Snubnose and I.

She was getting her ballet assessment results, and she was pretty nervous but hopeful she would be promoted to the next grade. While her assessment was good overall, her teacher suggested that she would be better off perfecting her skills at this level, and that moving upwards would be a little too early for her as the next level is going to really difficult.

Snubnose was a tad disappointed with the result, but recovered quickly with a little mehendi on her hands, and a painless dental visit 🙂 .

Overall, a quiet but good day!