Ganesha Chathurthi

It is that time of the year when Ganesha Chathurthi is celebrated in full fervor in Bangalore. This time the Gowri festival (previous day of Ganesha festival) was pretty much washed out due to the rains. I am not sure if I have experienced such rains in Bangalore before. Resembled India's west coast!! A constant downpour with dark skies for the entire day.

The fun part of the week was to take the kids around to see the sights of the colorful 'Ganesha's in the temporarily setup stores, and all the flowers that were available in plenty for the festival.

The way we celebrate is to get the clay from a potter and make a small Ganesha at home; it is a fun family activity that brings a lot of joy to the kids.

My husband making the Ganesh idol

Along with the flowers, Ganesha is also worshiped with a lot of leaves. I went around with my daughter picking the select leaves. She was very happy to be doing all this, the only thing that ups my interest level in the whole affair. And when we did the pooja to the little Ganesha idol with flowers, leaves, traditional sweets and savories, ringing of the bell, the kids wearing their traditional colorful clothes etc, it was a day filled with happiness and joy. My kids are young and are thrilled to bits seeing such activities around them; the big plus for me to be doing any of this.

The atmosphere was festive in the neighborhood with the ladies hurrying around in their silk sarees, and the kids going around in groups to see the many 'Ganesha's. This is my first time celebrating the festival with hub and kids in India. And well, it was fun.

Happy Chathurthi from our home to yours!

PS: The bummer of course is that I am sick now and so is my son. It is the rains/weather change and the viral fever doing its rounds.

Jobs in Bangalore

One of the most asked questions over email from r2Blore readers has been about jobs in Bangalore. And the ways and means to land one. I will write a detailed post on this topic sometime this month. This post is to let you know that right now, I know a couple of MNCs that are on a hiring spree for their Bangalore offices - for a wide range of positions.
If interested, please feel free to email your resumes to me at chitra [_] aiyer [at] yahoo [dot] com . I can forward the resume through my friends. Please say 'Resume' in the email subject for easy identification. More details via email.

Nope, this is not for any personal referral bonuses etc.

Burrp! turned 1

What's Burrp? Burrp's an Indian website where you can find and share your views on local stuff such as restaurants, bars, nightlife, street food, juice centres, desserts, bakeries, etc. Started in Mumbai, it currently serves Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata.

On Aug 15th, Burrp turned 1. The very nice Meenakshi Goveas who works for burrp in Bangalore invited a bunch of local bloggers, burrpers (people who review for burrp) and blahers (people who write for burrp). It was a small, pleasant gathering. The birthday party was organised at Brewhaha in Koramangala. While it was nice to get an invitation because of the blog you write, it was nicer to meet other local bloggers and reviewers; each one of them having varied interests and passions. More here. Thanks Meenakshi!

The next time you want to read up about a local place before you go there, feel free to visit Burrp and read their reviews. Or if you want to post a review, you can do that too.

PS: If you find articles written by a 'Chitra' in Burrp Bangalore, well that is NOT me. :)