Sporting Memories

Today is Pongal. May this be the time to thank God, reap the harvest of hardwork and dedication and celebrate success.
Pongal used to be a festival to celebrate with the Sun God. Back home, it used to be wonderful to offer Pongal in a paanai (earthen pot) in the balcony, pray and enjoy a sumptous meal.
Tracking back the days, it used to be fun to eat, watch numerous TV programmes, new releases and so on.
While I track down memory lane, let me write what we discussed this week-end. My flatmates and I were in a serious mood of chatting that we found ourselves talking about all those cute, funny, 'intellectual' games that we used to play as kids.
And I list a few of them here and expalin a few of them.
Hide and Seek
Snakes and Ladders
Ludo
Scrabble
Frisbee
Business
A board game where mock currency is dstributed amongst players, and trading is done, cities are bought, mortgages are performed etc.

Cut the Cake
It is similar to the 'Running and Catching' game. The difference is that when the person who is being chased feels she might be caught, she shouts 'cut the cake'. When she does, another person runs in between the chaser and the runner. The chaser now has to chase this new person. When this new person feels tired, she shouts 'cut the cake' and another person runs between the chaser and the runner and so on....

Chain
A chaser chases a runner. When she catches the runner, both of them join hands and chase another person. When this person is caught, the three of them join hands and chase another and so on..

'Killer'
This is an indoor game played with chits of paper. The chits have 'King', 'Queen','Minister', 'Police', 'Killer' written on them. They are then folded and strewn. The players have to choose a chit. The person who is the 'Police' has to find the 'Killer'. The 'Killer' in the meantime has to wink at the others one by one by ensuring that the Police does not notice him. Obviously, the 'Killer' would not know who the 'Police' is. But he needs to wink at people one by one. And the person who is being winked at by the 'Killer' responds by saying 'I am Dead'. The 'Police' needs to make a guess who the 'Killer' is before the remaining person says 'I am Dead'.

'Name, Place, Animal, Thing'
Each person has a sheet of papaer with four columns- Name, Place, Animal, Thing. A letter of the English alphabet is chosen and each player, writes a name, a place, an animal, a thing starting with that letter. No two players should have the same entry.

Dodge Ball
A huge circle is drawn on the ground. Few players stand inside the circle and the remaining stand outside thecircle. The players outside the circle need to throw a ball at the people inside the circle and ensure that the ball hits someone inside the circle below the knee. That person is sent out of the game. The idea is to remove people inside the circle one by one.

Are these being played any longer?

"C" for Creativity

When someone tells you to creatively solve a problem what do you do? How do you start? Lateral thinking, out of the box solutions seem to be the jargons that every manager is fed with.
With increasing competition in the economic scenario, companies are forced to employ ‘creative’ strategies. With increasing competition from their peers, managers are compelled to deploy ‘creative’ solutions. But what exactly is being creative like? Is it doing something that no one has ever thought before? Is creativity based on facts?
I remember participating in creative writing competitions during college and even won one of them. I just had to think and write a story for which only the first and last line were given by the panel. Simple, isn’t it?
I worked with a multi national company that was bent upon improving employee satisfaction more so for its call center. Employees were given awards for numerous ‘excuses’. A customer complimenting an employee would automatically fetch a gift coupon for him/her. An idea of the employee that the company feels would be beneficial for it would fetch a reward. One of the managers came up with a practice called “peer-peer’ awards wherein boards with posted sheets were stuck on the wall. Any employee willing to appreciate another employee could go to the board, write on the sheet. The first three employees who had the maximum number of appreciations each month were rewarded. Apart from this, parents of all employees were sent a letter signed by all the mangers stating that their son/daughter was a star. Such small things mattered to the employees.
I remember hosting a debate competition at my college. I had prepared a few topics out of which one of the topics was “1+1 = 1X1”. I did not know why I gave that topic but I had nothing in mind then but just plain curiosity to see how the participants would think in a short span of 2 minutes. And yes, the participant who got this topic did justice to it. She immediately conjured up with the idea that 1+1 represents two individuals in the institution of marriage and after marriage they become one thereby representing 1X1. I think that was a brilliant explanation.
Let us take the success of the book “The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari”. With numerous self-development books flooding the book shelves, this was one book that carved a niche for itself. The recipe of the book was different. It had things that had been told to us before but it was packaged differently. It spoke of a story of a successful lawyer who failed at his personal relationship and who was on the verge of a breakdown until he discovered what life had to offer. This story added spice to the book and enabled it to become a best seller.

To be contd...

Digging Around and into the Mind

Gardening is a wonderful experirnce to be totally in touch with nature, forget the mundane happenings and be in sync with the greenery around. During one such afternoon, after a good drive, I was busy mixing manure for the plants in our small garden comprising of flowering plants. It required mixing three varities of organic manure. And after that, Dad asked me to dig around the plants to pour in the required manure for each plant. As I started digging around one plant and started filling up manure and mixing it with the sand, I was asked to dig more. I was told that the manure had to go in deep into the ground surrounding the roots of the plant for it to act. And hence I started digging. And at the same time pondering.
It is the same with life. To grow in our attitudes, values, we need nutrition to be supplied very close to our root-the root being our mind. It is essential to conceive what we want to grow at and apply this thought to our mind that would absorb and reflect it in our actions. The more nutrition we apply to our mind, the more we grow in a healthy manner. The resolutions that we take every New Year need to have a deep will in ourselves to see that they are followed. This conviction stems from the resolute mind. Thoughts keep appearing in our mind and vanishing. We resolve to do a lot of things but many a time, we fail to keep up with our convictions.
Those that stem deep from within have a greater impact.
Nature indeed teaches us lessons in a subtle manner.

A Culinary Lesson on Life

I was very enthusiastic about cooking pasta. It had been a long time since I made it and that day, I indeed wanted to savour it. After having the tomato puree ready and having chopped onions, I set some water for boiling. Once it boiled, I dropped chunks of macaroni into it. As I was stirring them in the water, I noticed that it took some time for the macaroni to get cooked. And as the water started throwing up bubbles, the macoroni started responding to the temperature by getting softer slowly. And as each moment passed, it got softer until it was just perfect to be mixed with the other ingredients.
And that is where it struck my philosophical bent of mind. Under extreme conditions, the macaroni, already hard and bland, reacted by getting softer and so perfect that lead it to being tasty. Is that how life treats each one of us? Probably extreme situations, mould us to become better individuals to sculpt ourselves better that we already are. Probably extreme situations are created to enable us to realise that we have the capability to handle them and react in a positive manner.

All the World's a Stage

Very true. And we are mere actors performing to the tunes of the surroundings around us. One moment we exhibit charm, excitement, joy and the next moment melancholy surounds us.

The play changes as we change. Each day is a different story and our performances change regularly. As the earth shifts from one season to another, we shift from one mask to the other, each fitting us perfectly as the other. Masks of attachment, anger, appreciation, pleasure, hatred...We wear different attitudes, emotions, and feelings depending on the scenario we are in. There are no trials, no rehearsals. The journey is constant.

Our performances are lauded, our performances are criticized- all by fellow actors yearning to reach the epitome of success (being defined as the performance that brings maximum satisfaction).

None knows how long the journey continues for actors are replaced by others, fresh to the arena but perform with expertise.

All the World's a Stage...

A Contrast

I was waiting for the lift and as it arrived, I stepped into it. I found a foreigner in. As we proceeded to the ground floor he greeted me and asked me how my week-end was. He supossedly had spent it listening to classical rock, did a bit of driving, had a tough time finding parking space at Brigade Road and on the whole thoroughly enjoyed the week-end. And all this talking happened between the 4th floor and the ground floor. Made me wonder as to how easy it is to communicate with strangers. All it takes is just a warm smile and a 'hello'. It makes the beginning of a Monday morning good with pleasant things happening.

25 minutes later, I was waiting for auto. An auto stopped and onto it boarded a lady of who appeared to be in her early twenties. The autowalla agreed to take me also as we had to proceed in the same direction. I thought of initiating a conversation and proceeded to ask her where she was geting off, where I was getting off. And then it stopped. My attempts did'nt materialise.
She just bade agoodbye as she got off.

Made me wonder why we become stiff in front of strangers!

The Oasis

There is a beautiful lake beside my work place. It is serene, invites birds, fish. You can find ducks paddling in water. In the midst of so much concrete,with tall buildings mushrroming everywhere on the lane, vehicles zooming up and down, this lake appears to be literally like an oasis, ripples forming concentric circles, the breeze gently quenching its thirst on its way. And from my window, it is always a refreshing sight.
It's a pity that people hardly take time to notice this beauty on their hurried sprint either to work or on their way back home.
It's beautiful to take a stroll on the sidewalk adjacent to the lake, forgetting the mundane life, watching the water forming patterns and inhaling the beauty of the stillness surrounding the lake.

Children's Day- In touch with the child within

Nov 14- Every year used to be holiday. It used to be the day to look forward to after Diwali holidays. We were pampered with chocolates, games. As years passed, we slowly forgot the day as it no longer meant a holiday. And slowly we got used to the regular mundane that we seldom reconnected ourselves with the child we were.

Even today, very often, we feel like dancing to a tune that used to energise us in our good old days but we immediately get conscious of what people around would think. How many times have we felt like running down a slope, jumping in puddles, build sand castles but restrain ourselves bcause we think we have 'grown up'! And what do we gain?

To rephrase what learned people say, we allow these inhibitions to rule our life. Freedom, hence lies actually in each of us- freedon to sing when happy, freedom to dance when joy seeps in, freedom to eat chocolates, freedom to eat cream biscuits by sepearting both the layers of biscuits and licking the cream within...

It lies in each one of us to nurture the child within, let loose inhibitions and enjoy life as it is meant to be...

A touch of philosophy

"Pootukal potaalum veetukkul nirkadhu katru" - the melliflous voice of S. Janaki fills through my headphones.
This line translated to English conveys the meaning that 'even if you put a lock, the air would not stay within the house'.
This line knocked my philosophical bent of mind and made me realise the hidden meaning - an important ingredient of life- determination of the mind.
What the mind can believe and conceive, it tends to achieve it. It is the power of detrmination that sets one on focus onto something and concentrate and divert all efforts towards achieving one's vision. Thereby, the mind does not see obstacles but opportunities to achieve the goal.

Philosophy at 14 minutes past 7 p.m.

Jammed!

8:00 a.m...stuck up on Hosur Road.
10:30 a.m...jam on Inner Ring Road
6:00 p.m ...traffic pile up on Airport Road
8:30 p.m..traffic congestion at Majestic

What is the world coming to? Gone are the days when we used to find vehicles moving freely on roads, driving being a pleasure. We are in an era where we need to go to work early just to avoid being stuck up in the traffic? Is this called enhancement of quality of life?
And how are these jams created? Why don't vehicles follow traffic discipline and move in lanes and make it convenient for everyone else to drive?

A friend of mine made a very interesting statement, the statement being "driving is team work. If everyone, co-operates, everyone wins". Impressive and very true? Why do we fail to understand this?

The solution is simple. Instaed of cursing the country and the narrow roads, would'nt it be simple to follow what we had learnt? "Stop when the signal turns red. Move when the signal turns green. Do not overtake from the left. "
In pursuit for a higher quality of life, we are actually demeaning it...consciously yet unconsciously.

Imagine a city where vehicles stick to lanes, respect oncoming traffic, do not block 'U' turns.

Seems like Utopia.

Nature-Thy name reflect beauty-5

It was a warm Saturday morning. The sun seemed to be very enthusiastic and shone brightly. Being a week-end, the roads were relatively silent, with sprinkles of people here and there. We, a group of eight took to the roads to reach Anthergange near Kolar. The agenda of the day was cave exploration. We started off with rock climbing. Huge boulders lay around as we trekked up, puffing and panting and at the same time enjoying the journey upwards. The sky seemed so near the peak as we climbed through bushes, stones, rocks and stairs. As we continued to ascend, the sun’s enthusiasm seemed to turn to fury thinking that we were conquering his territory. And as we stopped, fresh breeze rubbed across our cheeks, happy at the prospect that we were no longer intruding into nature’s arena.
As we trudged along hoping to reach the cave we were supposed to explore, we came across beautiful view points from where we could see the city below. Yes, we were on top of the world, joy seeping through us as we spotted pockets of water, greenery, roads at a distance.
It was almost around noon time when we were announced that we had reached the cave.
As we peered into the hollow, we saw what looked like a steep entrance to the cave where we had to literally slide sideways to get into it. This was just the beginning of a series of adventures that we undertook into the cave.
The darkness seemed soothing to the eye after the stark contrast of the brightness outside. The stones reverberated with chillness that seemed breathtakingly refreshing. As we slowly felt our way through, we reached another hollow where we had to jump from one rock to another skillfully to avoid the gaping crater-like pit that seemed to beckon from below.
We climbed, held onto boulders for support; our legs hanging in the air, desperate to win over the gravitational force, exerting to climb onto the next rock that seemed far away from a hand’s reach.
At one point in time, during our course of exploration, we came across two rocks, gazing each other, one horizontal and one vertical with little space that would allow just a weasel to squeeze through. And we were told to slide through that gap!!
You can see the picture here.
It was a heart pounding experience, thrill seeping through the spine, beads of sweat rolling down in anticipation and yet excitement screaming aloud.
Have explored for over an hour, we were hungry for good food. It was a delight to see good food waiting for us.
Post lunch it was rapelling time. We again climbed on huge rocks to reach the top in order to perform this sport. It was fun, scary at the same time while standing at the edge of the rock that seemed like a cliff, and realize that one had to slide down through a rope. On the whole, it was a wonderful experience, embodied with lots of varied emotions, layered with tonnes of excitement.

Nature- Thy name reflects beauty-4

Continuing with my series of adventures with Nature, this time I went home and we decided to drive down to Kerala. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon when we set out to venture into God's Own Country. The weather was perfect for a long drive. The sun began to hide behind the clouds. As we entered the territory of Kerala, we were welcomed by showers of rain. Both the sides of the road were blanketed with greens, fresh with rain drops still lingering on them, nourished with health. It was a beautiful sight to fresh water lakes filled with ripples of concentric circles, the wind blowing gently above them, coconut trees standing with pride at a distance, houses covered with ivys and compund walls covered with moss, the road clean as concrete appeard clean, birds flying around enjoying the evening breeze. I inhaled the fresh air and filled my lungs with them. For a moment, I was tempted to perform Pranayama right there.
As the car rolled by, wipers lashing on the windscreen wiping the droplets of water, we came across fields brimming with prosperity. Advertisement boards hovered above them.
We drove down to Vadakkandhara Kaavu (a temple of Goddess Amman) and sought her blessings. Fresh water lay in puddles as we walked around the temple. A well appeared as we entered the sannithi of Lord Guruvayoorappan. I peered in and was astonished to see it almost full, I remembered having seen another well so full long time back at Palghat. Water plants grew around the rim of it. As we walked back, the clods opened up again and blessed us with showers antoher time.
The journey back was as beautiful as the onward journey as we halted beside a green filed and savoured hot rava kicchadi, sambar and filter coffee.
Truly, it was a week-end well spent in sync with nature.

Nature-Thy name reflects beauty-3

It was 4:00 am on Saturday. The outside was dark resonating with silence. I got ready for another trip to be in sync with nature. And this time, it was to Bandipur and Mudhumalai. The journey started with enthusiasm and cheer reverberating all around the car. We drove down through Mysore Road, had breakfast at Cafe Coffee Day located at a beautiful spot, overlooking the main road yet cozily resting in a corner surrounded by greens. We were right on time as we embarked on our journey after food. As we drove along, we spotted sunflowers smiling at us, blooming brightly towards the sun, waving alongside with the breeze speeding by. They continued for a long stretch that painted the entire left side with yellow. All of a sudden, our eyes caught a splash of orange on the right side from marigolds that sprung beautifying the concrete roadside.
The weather was just perfect with droplets of drizzle occasionally. The landscape slowly started changing from yellow to orange and to water. Tall trees slowly emerged at the horizon. There appeared lakes full with fresh water till the brim.
We started climbing the hills of Gopal Bhetta where we were literally tearing through the clouds. The moist in them stuck to our face as we inhaled the fresh air that seemed to carry with it the aroma of herbs. The steep continued for sometime as we slowly trudged along. We got out of the car, kicked a football that we carried along as we climbed and reached a Temple. Behind the temple, land continued to slide down towards a valley (which I presume must be the Bandipur forest). We waded through bushes and shrubs and trekked along to find a perfect spot to stop for lunch. Sitting on a huge rock, overlooking the forest, our legs hanging down, we relished the masala dosas and pooris we had packed en route.
We continued wading through post lunch through the mesh of shrubs and greens till we decided it was time to proceed towards Bandipur.
With anticipation and excitement, we drove through the forest area. As we proceeded from Bandipur towards Mudumalai, searching for some form of wildlife, our eyes suddenly caught a herd of deers grazing. What a beautiful sight it was!! Brown, spotted, graceful deers nibbled at grass with sharp alertness for any sound. Monkey scrambled close. What struck me was how they co-existed with harmony...made me wonder why humans could not be so.
Having relished this sight, we moved only to find a couple of elephants hidden behind an overgrown bush. We were careful not to make any noise lest we disturb them.
We reached Mudhumalai, hungry for good food. A stream gushed by, covering rocks with its frequent gushes. We took a safari ride that gave us a tour through the interiors of the forest area. It was a beautiful journey through wilderness, covering spots that were well hidden into some of the pockets of the woods. Peacoks seemed to be in absolute ease within this peaceful arena that they flew around in bliss.
It was time to take on the return journey. As we entered the car, we saw monkeys scampering around with mischief. We fed them with danish cookies and clicked snaps.
We took the same road back and stopped to take a few videos of a peacock crossing the road, elephants munching, deers proceeding back home at dusk.
You can see a couple of snaps below.

It was indeed a treat for the eyes and the soul that yearned to be back n touch with nature.

Nature-Thy name reflects beauty-2

Another drive over the week-end. It's a great feeling to wake up early on a week-end and look forward to a drive with friends. This time, we wanted to look out for fields absolutely in sync with nature and have a good lunch. It took over one and a half hours to find the exact location. The road seemed to be winding up and down into oblivion as fields stretched alongside waving to the tunes of the breeze swinging by. The sun subduedly shown, making the weather perfect for a drive. We located a beautiful spot, slightly off the road, submerged in green, beckoning us to visit. Big haystacks lay at the forefront. It was perfect for a snap:) Cows lay lazily chewing hay and relaxing in the afternoon sun. Trees loomed around providing the shade for us to sit down for lunch. As we started unwrapping the packets, two hens tip-toed and looked invitingly at the food that lay before us. It was fun to feed them, over- looking the fields that seemed to reveberate with prosperity. Post lunch, we walked to the greens, lookng the women planting the crops. We suddenly spotted a stretch of orange that presented a beautiful contrast to the green. Orange and yellow flowers grew into a beauitful bed that compelled us to propel in their direction. We sunk into the sheer beauty of nature with absolutely zilch commercialization. It was a beautiful drive that reinforced the fact that one always feels at home with Mother Nature.

The Zing...

I miss inter-collegiates. The buzz, excitement, thrill and energy generated was something that made me look forward to going to these fests. Three years of college life were largely spent in going to various competitions, competitng, winning, making new friends, learning, encouraging...I made some of my good friends during these competitions.
It used to be great fun competing in a competition against the same people whom one would meet in different inter-collegiates. This was largely true for debates. We had the same set of 5-6 teams coming to various colleges. And of course, by the time, I came to the second year, I was familiar with each of their styles of debating, the way they would think.
Debating indeed gives spontaenity to thought. Given the time span of hardly two minutes to think on a topic on which one would be speaking for the next five minutes, it surely kept a person on his/her feet.
Creative writing was a contest that was conducted in a few colleges. It used to be funny to see the items displayed on which a story had to be chalked out. The items would be as varied as a mosquito mat, a blade, a cross word puzzle.
Dance used to be celebrated. Some college teams were known for their costumes. The atmosphere in the auditorium used to be filled with squeals, applause, enthusiasm as this much awaited event as well as the fashion shows used to take place.
There has hardly been an inter-collegiate that I have missed attending. Thanks to my Scooty, I used to be there right at the time of registration.
College life certainly is colourful with these fests adding a zing.

Into a Different Era...

This is what i used to do after school hours when I was a little girl.
Build castles out of mud
Ride my cycle on the colony road
Play cricket
Climb trees
Play 'Hide and Seek'
Climb sun shades, water tanks
Visit the colony park and swing and slide
Play ‘Pandi’
Play ‘Running and Catching’
Play ‘Cut the Cake’
Play ‘Kallaanga’
Play ‘ Trade’, Chess, Carom, Shuttle, Tennikoid
Play ‘Countries’
Read Phantom comics, Mandrake and Lothar
Skate on the colony road
Try to clumsily water the plants
Run barefoot across the platform and climb compound walls

What do today’s children do after school hours? I see most of them carrying loads of books, running from one tuition class to another, crib about tonnes of home work being given, mug up pages after pages for the examination and most of all, sit in front of the computer!!!!

I am glad I was born in an era when life’s pleasures were simple, where we could find joy sans technology.

In touch with the Divine...

It was a beautiful June, Saturday evening. People were out on the roads to celebrate the week-end. Vehicles soared to holiday destinations. The weather turned pleasant as though it was waiting for this week-end to arrive.
I, along with my family visited the Anjaneya temple at Peelamedu. I was going to that temple after quite a long time and this time it was after a puja that was performed at home. It was around 6:00 pm and the sky was turning orange with a tinge of pink.
Lord Anjaneya was dressed in “Raja Alangaaram’ (like a King). The green stone from his necklace stood out and indeed seemed to vibrate with radiance. He looked every bit royal but still retained that look of innocence on his face. The crowd at the temple were rejoicing the occasion and relishing the puja that was done meticulously with grace. It was indeed a pleasure to sit down with everyone and keep looking at the flowers being decorated, aarathi being shown, and mantras being chanted.
The pujari asked all of us to pray for world peace and chantings started.
Lord Rama and Goddess Seetha were offered respects and then Lord Anjaneya. It was a treat to the eyes to watch the rituals being conducted with precision and devotion.
This is indeed one of the pleasures of life – to sit in a temple, listen to bhajans, the aroma of vibhuthi and tulsi lingering in the air, prasadam being distributed, the mind at ease with no qualms and worries.
The most beautiful sight was when the pujari started throwing flowers in the air that presented all of us with a sight of flowers raining on the Lord.

It was bliss!

Dancing My Way...

I was reading my friend's blog yesterday wherein she had mentioned that writers are able to look at various perspectives of life. I agree with her and would like to state the same about dance. Here, I talk about classical dance. Dance gives expression to life. It enables one to connect to the world around. When a dancer emotes, he/she is able to feel the emotions. It could as simple as relishing the sight of a beauitful flower. Picturise a dancer doing the same thing. You would note that dance brings out each and every aspect of this situation, there exists a range of emotions starting from looking at the flower, being astonished at its beauty and then glancing blissfully at it. In ordinary life, would we realise that we actually go through these feelings? I guess they just happen in a matter of seconds that we hardly realise this.
Dance brings discipline to life. Classical dance requires a good amount of rigour and practice to get flexible and in shape and to get the right postures. A dancer requires the right combination of these to carry off well what he/she expresses. And most of all, it brings grace. I have seen that it is easy for classical dancers to grasp other forms of dance easily. When I mention other forms here, my exposure has been limited to folk, western dance form. Probably, it is beacause of the flexibility that has been built in.
I would like to write more on this subject- something I am passionate about..probably sometime later on.

Are We Balanced?

Today is 06/06/06. Let me write something to make a mark on this day.
Ever since I started working, I have seen loads of people who sink into work that they forget what their family means to them. The number of hours they spend after work hours trying to complete more work just leads to reduction in time spent with family. Why does one work? To earn and lead a comfortable life!! With whom? With loved ones!! But what's the use of earning so much when one cannot be at home, talk about routine life, spend time with family? What is the point in slogging so hard at work when all you do the whole day is wake up, rush to work and return late in the night only to hit the bed and wake up the next morning and rush to work again?
We need to stop in our tracks and look at the world around. Let us take a look at people who need us, who are with us. Let us realize that each day brings with it, lovely moments to cherish and opportunities to grow. One must maintain a work-life balance.
I certainly do not agree when people say that one must stretch and work for longer hours during the early years of one's career in order to lead a good life later on. Who knows how long one is going to live? Rather, I believe that a lot of learning should take place during the early years to be a thorough professional later on. For this, one need not stretch at work. Passion to learn and enthusiasm to exhibit this would do. Not stretching at work does not mean shirking work. unfortunately, that's what people think!
I wish people resolve and realize that the quality of life lies in quality time spent with people whom you love, doing what you love, creating small, constructive differences rather than slogging and accumulating a huge bank balance!

Paraphernalia

It's been a while since I posted something here and let me think as to wht I should write about..
I had been to this shopping mall the other day where I saw a small jute exhibition put up. I love jute. It gives a very ethnic, classy feeling. I bought a jute handbag and a few accessories.
Jute gives a very earthy look. I strongly recommend jute with cotton wear. If you are wearing something in cream, you could try wearing a contrast jute accesory..probably jute with orange, jute with maroon. You could also match it with wooden accessories.
Teracotta is another which I like. Teracotta pieces look very good in gardens, in the verandah, balconies... I love these pots that are exclusively teracotta made. Again, these also give a very traditional look. I tried hand painting a small pot and made a few flowers with 'M- Seal' and painted them orange and pink. It does look good.
How about floral bed spreads? I love bright flowers- blue, yellow, green matched with floral curtains. They brighten the room as well as spirits.
I love interior decoration. It gives me a lot of energy and satisfaction when I spend a day cleaning, re-aligning furniture and taking out show pieces and moving them around.

After all, your home reflects what you are!!