A cup of Assam Tea

Two years had passed by, and normal seemed like a distant dream. However, after two years, things slowly but surely began to return to normal. We are ready to welcome Spring festivals with all their glory as spring approaches. If you read my blog, you know that April marks the beginning of a new year in my birth state, Assam. We, the Assamese community in different states in the USA, celebrate the Assamese New Year and Bohag Bihu. This time, we visited Boston, where a vast Assamese community celebrated Bihu with great enthusiasm, featuring numerous cultural programs and a variety of delicious food. Visiting the Bihu festival in Boston after a two-year absence was an absolute joy. Meeting friends old and new was a fresh breath of air in our mundane Monton life.  Here comes the best part,  the outfit... I wore a  Muga   Mekhela Chadar  with lotus motifs in orange and maroon colors, and my hair with some weaves, teamed up with Assamese traditional jewelry and a Sab...

  When you celebrate festivity or any celebration with your friends and family, it always doubles up the joy. Alas, 2020 is not like any other year in which we share our happiness with others. 2020 brought so many unexpected changes to my life and my family. Many times, I almost felt that my life had taken a pause, but the beauty of human life is that it never stops; it just flows like a river.  We had no get-together or such celebration this Diwali; however, we celebrated with Zoom Diwali. I set up our dining table according to the Diwali theme with everything we had available. I cooked my favorite food for my family. Then we all dressed up for Diwali ; it surely made us smile a bit more. We lit up Diyas(Earthen lamp), colorful candles. It was absolutely divine. I wore a pink Paithani saree, a simple hair bun, and some multi-stone jewelry. My saree is light pink, and the border is bright pink. I wore a dark pink tone lipstick just to match with the saree. Did you no...

Happy 70th republic day India. India's independence has a lot to do with Ahimsha silk or peace silk Khadi. Unlike khadi, my home state Assam is a proud curator of Eri silk. This subtle understated light beige or cream color silk has huge importance in Assamese culture.      After the festive season bids adieu in Assam, the mild winter arrives. My grandfather used to wear the Eri shawl to protect him from cold. Not just my grandfather, in those times a quintessential Assamese winter essential was an Eri shawl and still is.     Cultivated domestically the word Eri came from Assamese word ‘era’, which means castor as the silkworm feeds on castor plants. Eri is also called ahimsa or peace because while producing eri threads it does not require to kill the worm as moths leave the cocoon naturally and then the cocoons are harvested to be spun. Isn't it enthralling?      Eri silk was once considered as an essential part of the bridal trou...