Finally I am done with the painting of Santorini island.

And free to turn to another one. This one is being color corrected a little bit though, with more blues added to make it look hazy.

Pongal was celebrated at the Temple this Sunday. We attended, and it was like going home to Chennai, or Madras as we are used to referring to it. The references to Makara Jyothi over the hills of Sabarimalai, the call to Swamiyai... Sharanamaiyyappa, the pongal, vadais, and the shakre pongal, all brought sweet memories.

We were a transplanted lot, all of us Marathi speaking people in Madras, but we made it our home, and, although Makar Sankrant is a festival in Maharashtra, it is not major as Pongal at the same time in Madras. We gladly and totally adopted all the rituals and food and fun that go along with it, with no conscious thougts of "when in Rome..."

The same in our adopted country now for the past ten years. Thanksgiving and Christmas, why even Valentine's Day! Looking at us now, you may think we have been celebrating these holidays (not festivals, now, holidays) forever. But then again, there is fun to do the things that people around you do and enjoy (clean fun, of course) rather than dance to your own stubborn beat.

Anyway, so much to do, and so little time as always.