A June Wedding!!

First published on June 23, 2017, here it is for you to enjoy.  Since there is not going to be any celebration this year, due to Corona, let us revel in this June Wedding from three years ago, I wonder if the couple are happy parents now!!

The lucky couple that got selected to get married at Alsters Herrgård!!

I have always wanted a June wedding!!

Such famous and popular lines. Have heard them in so many movies and shows and poems and stories.

But here in Sweden, on Mid-Summer's day some localities allow for a formal June Wedding.  Meaning the hopeful couples can put in their name, and there is a raffle and the couple selected then gets married while the band plays.

Today I attended one such wedding.  Interestingly, the couple was a muslim couple.  The prayers took place in arabic followed by Swedish and Norwegian dancing and singing.

A little girl on her first Mid-Summer with her gorgeous young mother!! 

Maypole: The phallic symbol and the symbol of fertility!! Had a conversation with someone a  few years ago, when I was told that Mid-Sommar is one of the few pre-christian celebrations that have survived the onslaught  of Christianity. I personally think that it is because nature is so strong. How does one ignore 22 hr days or 7 hrs day for that  matter.  The stark difference makes us revere nature.  Will write about it later sometime. 

A young woman dressed in 'traditional swedish' outfit!!  Notice the Herrgård in the background. 

My Beautiful friend J, who I should thank for inviting me today.  We had a great picnic!!  She brought pasta salad, coffee, fruits and hot chocolate. I brought tea and fried rice. And well, she also brought me a whole plate of rasam and rice....great dinner!! I have been really enjoying time with her--long walk and complex conversations!! She's finishing her PhD in computer science!!

A young boy squatting on a sheep/or whatever that maybe---made of rope in the Herrgård!!

Oh, he was a darling!!  I stopped him and his mother.  Asked them for a photo.  They were kind enough to let me take the picture.  He would not give me a hug though. But alright-- His smile touched my heart and that was equal to a hug.

So, am just going to put pictures here, without much commentary, partly for time and partly because you just need to go over and over again ---over these pics to be able to smell the freshness in the air, hear the mild and melodious songs, but most importantly realize that this couple will probably get stopped by strangers who will say, 'Oh we attended your wedding' and it will always remain a memorable experience.

After all the city people leave the wedding party will simply enjoy a huge fiesta in the building.

The building you see behind is what is called Alsters Herrgård--Alster's Garden.  The house belonged to a famous Swedish Poet, Gustafs Fröding!! Often exhibitions are held here...

I have been here several times, just a quiet walk around here is simply amazing. You can see some old pictures here (last pic)...and you can see the difference in this blog. And you may click here for other few pics at the Herrgård--Well, that is Sweden--from hell to heaven!! But truly winters have their own joy so I do not consider them hell.

Please enjoy. If you like them do leave comments!!

After the wedding the lucky couple walked behind the violin players....I could not get the picture of their first dance. I wish I had, but we were chatting with our very dear friend C, who is an american married to B, a Swede.  But, here is a picture of B, in his usual bright smile and yellow jacket!!

B, who I met the first time I came to Sverige, for an interview.  'Watch the Polar Bears' he had said. Since then, I consider him and C, one of my closest friends here in this little town. They have one of the best selling books on Swedish, on amazon, please check it out here. 

  

On the Way Home

First published on June 19, 2019--why is this being published so soon? Well, Magnolia came and went, and this past week it already bloomed and left.  So it goes --continuing the theme of past post.  Life is unpredictable and things change at the drop of a hat--being happy is our duty, it is our responsibility towards ourselves.  From that joy, we will find a way to ourselves and through us to our purpose and into the world, where we can serve. How do we find joy?  Pay attention to things in nature that are fleeting and yet fine--fine, finely beautiful--like flowers, and butterflies.

Have  a great day!

Same house: Their fence is all white flowers.....

All the above pictures were taken in May-June 2020.   No difference from the year before.  And yet, I have taken pictures of this magnolia tree--ALMOST EVERY YEAR...I truly do live in images and sounds....

 

Taken 2019

On the way home

This is the road I take
On the way home
When I turn here
My heart knows
There will be place
Of my own
Only a few houses down
A small nest
With a couch
And blankets
Where I feel
Like I wear a crown
These magnolias
That have already blossomed
and withered
have been my guide
a reminder of the warmth
even when they are still
hanging in the winter air as a
possibility a few months down
when I turn here
I think of them everytime
and I know,
I am simply on my way home.

Some places, things and images remain etched in your mind for the times you have taken that journey. This tree, that I have seen blossom and sleep for the last 9 years has been my guide and signal.

I take its pictures every year.  You can find them on other pages on this blog,  Yet, every year when the flowers bloom, I look at them anew, with hope, with love.

Because after all, they have been my signal that I am on my way home.

The Year that is 2020

This is on top of a chest of drawers.  I woke up one morning around 3 am, and did not want to sleep.  So lit a candle sat up in meditation, --the best morning in a long time. 

An hour later, 4 am, and this was the view outside the window.  This was mid-May. I have so much to do and so much to think about, but every year, this still spells magic time for me....Now it is bright at 3 am!!  

What a year it has been!!  What can one say?

We have no lockdown and apparently there have been many more deaths in Sweden now than anywhere in Scandinavia.  An expert who proposed that theory felt 'remorse'. Most of the people dying were inhabitants of senior citizen homes.

'Wonder if he tested this theory on his own family members?' was a question posed to him on social media.  In that sense, India fared much better.  I am NOT gloating.  

Year 2020, it not where you gloat.  We are all in survival mode. 

But taking precautions is good.

And then there are the riots in the US right now. I do not even know where to begin. I was not going to address and even now I do not think I can write it in completion.

But news is an incomplete way to understand issues of the world.  

Is it all about George Floyd? It is definitely about anger that has been festering for decades.  But those looters spoiled it for those people who are genuinely concerned!  The movement was real and needed---

But are they looters?  

Were they paid? Was this mayhem planned? We don't know and I would not put it past the big powers who want to destabilise countries --anything is possible.

Then there is another thing.  Historically, till about 1950s, black families were the strength of that community.  But a combination of media focus on crime and criminalising blackness, focus on feminism such that state support in many ways became a way to keep the broken families broken, and many other policies have brought serious issues in the fabric of African-American families and communities. 

Much of the anger also comes from having to live half a life.

Not that broken families do not exist in other ethnicities, but black families are particularly broken due to all the issues mentioned above.  

I had an African-American student here from Georgia in 2014--he refused to return to the US. "Our media and govt are teaching our women that black men are their enemies, I stand no chance of a decent life there.'  He then became an English teacher and has not returned to the US.

Please read this article --watch all the links, click on all the links. It will take days.  But its important to understand the situation. To understand that context.  I have cursorily looked at it, but am familiar with most of it due to having studied it in classes and discussed and understood how the media works.  But please check this out.  It won't be easy or pleasant, so spread it out. But please be informed CLICK ON THIS. 

But now that I have written this, I must share that I have cried--over the news. 

I cried when I watched the US, and some of its beautiful cities being destroyed. Peaceful protests were definitely warranted.  Looting (and that includes many non-blacks--that is what I mean by things getting so muddied that no one will ever know what happened) not needed and messed up the whole point.  

But to quote a line from a Bollywood film' 'after things have burnt the only colour left is the color of the soot" It reflects no joy back, it proposes no solutions, it is just a mark of anger and it will be a while before you clean it up and if we are not awake while cleaning it up, anger can emerge again....

I am afraid it will tarnish the image of the community, and they will stil remain the most affected people.  

Yes there have been mass apologies, but what will eventually happen? Will they get jobs easily?  Will people give them apartments easily? Will they be trusted? Despite all the apologies?  Not sure. I hope it all changes. I hope this unrest works like a magic wand and our hearts are cleansed and we focus only on a positive future. 

I wish, I hope.

Let peace prevail. I wish you all a few moments of rest.  Leave television and news alone for a while. Check it only sporadically to care for your own safety.  This includes even places in Europe where violence has been witnessed due to this.

Keep safe, Corona is not dealt with yet.   

News only repeats the same images.  There can be quite a bit of harm done by watching the same images repeatedly. 

I, on my end, will definitely meditate more --considering myself a piece in this.  Can I generate positivity? Around me? That is where I can start.

I hope I am conveying my message, love and affection to the readers.  Look at the above image, the candle and the sky.  Look at the colors, let your life be the color of the sky, not things burnt out of anger.  We are all hurt.  Some more than others. Let us be containers and the contained for each other.  Carry each other through this crazy year 2020.

I believe in this world!

Thanks for reading!