The Yellow Butterfly

R of AtoZ Challenge Co-incidentally, the names of the three most idolized heroes of my life, start from 'R'! I have been following them and idolizing them since I was seven or eight years of age! These three heroes have been my constant inspiration and I often fall back on them and their words when I slip into a slump or feel hopeless!  Ruskin Bond  'Rusty's Adventures' and 'Grandma Climbs a Tree' were amongst my first Ruskin Bond reads. I related to Rusty and would often imagine having a bindaast, brave Grandfather (like Rusty's) who  adopted and took care of ensemble animals in their big garden! And I secretly aspired (still do) to be that Grandma who climbs a tree and lives in a tree house!    (photo courtesy: Google images)  Ruskin Bond's stories are timeless, ageless and seem like a warm blanket on a rainy night! His stories are that much-needed hug that I hide into when I feel like sobbing or when I am really happy! Not ...

Q from AtoZChallenge Quilt.  गोधडी.  Hand-stitched गोधडी!  When I was around seven or eight, my Aaji hand-stitched two गोधडीs for me. One was a magenta-red with white and orange dots and elephants on the border and the other was a bright mango-yellow with tiny white polka dots and a brown border.  She had used four of her sarees, rather पात्तळ (her word for her everyday soft cotton sarees) and had undertaken this 'project of love' for me, her youngest grand-daughter!  She had layered one saree over the other, keeping the pretty, softer side on the outside and had hand-stitched it with the thicker thread and a taller pin.  My Aaji had a sewing machine at home. A regular tailor's machine, which worked manually. The one where you had to step on and keep pedaling and tapping for the machine to move. She had used the machine for years, stitching bags, pillow covers, making kids' dresses and many things (which surprisingly I never got to see...