Minorca…..truly the land of beaches!!!

Minorca, Spain……small windy roads, local markets,sandstone villas and of course lots and lots of beaches. Best of all, the beaches are never crowded….well I guess there are too many, so people can easily spread out. As I walked down the narrow pebble stoned lanes, I only wished my home-country had maintained its streets the same way. Clean and so well organized. Alas!

Tried many delicious eats..lobster stew,almond macaroons (carquinyols),Alaior (Minorcan ice-cream)…my favorite was the Minorcan Biryani which was basically the same as the Indian Biryani but with fresh seafood (prawns, mussels, squid, mullet, sole and sea-bass) ..Yum! was the word the oozed from my mouth!!! Mornings always began with coffee and an ensaimada - a fluffy spiral pastry made with lard and sugar and of course my view of the ocean front….heaven!! And yes my afternoon “Siestas”…people here love to take their Siestas…all shops are closed from 2pm to 5pm. And since it gets dark only around 11pm, people are out socializing till the late hours. Even the beaches here close really late which is awesome, coz then u get to enjoy the beach everyday.

Last but not the least, meeting my Uncle and his family has been wonderful. I spend a lot of time trying to speak with my 2 yr. old cousin who converses only in Espanyol!!!! So we have fun communicating with our hands and facial gestures….ha-ha!!! We are trying to teach each other our languages…managed to learn a few words.He just makes my trip all the more fun. And yes! his favorite cartoons are Mickey Mouse and Dora…I guess Disney is everywhere.

Fun Fact: Minorca is especially well known for its traditional summer fiestas, which intrigue many visitors. The ‘Festes de Sant Joan’ is held annually in Ciutadella. The festes lasts for three days. On the first day, a man bears a well-groomed sheep upon his shoulders and parades around the local streets. In the late evening, main streets are closed and bonfires held upon them. On the second day, locally bred black horses are the star of the show. Dressed up for the occasion with ribbons and rosettes. The riders, or caixers, ride the horses through the streets and encourage them, along with a tumultuous crowd of people, to rear up on their hind legs. The brave can be found running underneath them as they do so.The third day sees intense competition between the riders in a harmless form of jousting that involves spearing a suspended ring with a lance at considerable speed. The festes is brought to a close with a firework display.

Adios!!

Germany…so eco-friendly!!!

I was in Germany for a week….days went by so fast. Berlin and Koln were such beautiful cities, friendly people, good food and great architecture. But what I loved most about Germany and its people was the fact that everyone was extremely environmentally conscious. People bike around a lot and recycle everything. I myself borrowed a bike from my friend and rode around the city. It was the best way for me to see the city and its people. I enjoyed every bit of it.

Some cool facts: The Blue Angel (Blauer Engel) is a German certification for products and services that have environmentally friendly aspects.It has been awarded since 1978 by the Jury Umweltzeichen, a group of 13 persons from environment and consumer protection groups, industry, unions, trade, media and churches.

Blue Angel is the oldest ecolabel in the world, and it covers some 10.000 products in some 80 product categories.

After the introduction of Germany’s Blue Angel in 1978 as the first worldwide environmental label, other European and non-European countries followed this example and introduced their own national and supra-regional environmental labels. The common goal of these labels is to inform consumers about environmentally friendly products thereby giving global support to product-related environmental protection.

Anyways, heading to Menorca, Spain….its going to be beaches and seafood for me all the way & of course meeting up with my favorite uncle & family

Traveling time!!!

Hi All,

I am going to be traveling again…will be carrying with me all the blessings of my women, children and my mom of course!!! Crossing my fingers that all goes well. Wish me luck!!!

Also just shipped off a whole lot of unwanted stuff from my sister’s closet to Nepalgunj for our women and children. Geeze…never knew women could love clothes, shoes and jewelry that much!!! Now, just hoping my sister does not create drama for this act of mine..lol!!

Kesang

Art Competition in Nepal Gunj

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Before heading to Nepalgunj, I decided to buy some art supplies for the children of Padhma Creations. I got a bunch of crayons, pencils, color pencils and disco pencils (this was highly popular when I was in middle school). We had invited women and child to come in the afternoon for an art and craft competition.We had an amazing turnout of child participants from age 2 to 17. The children were so enthusiastic and seeing their smiling faces got me excited too. I asked them to draw whatever their heart wished. Some drew fruits, trees, the Nepal flag, Disney characters like snow white and mickey mouse. As I mentioned that there would be a grand prize for the kids the mom’s were getting a bit competitive asking their kids to draw fast or draw better. Mom’s were being moms! Picking the winner was extremely difficult considering the fact that there were so many amazing drawings. So, instead of picking one we picked four! It was a beautiful day with our wonderful kids! The winners of the art and craft challenge have been awarded with full scholarship and gifts. Also their artwork has been screen-printed for our Kids for Kids Collection. Please visit our website to learn more.

I will end with a quote by Pablo Picasso: “Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again. And what do we teach our children? We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France. When will we also teach them what they are? We should say to each of them: Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique. In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move. You may become a Shakespeare, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven. You have the capacity for anything. Yes, you are a marvel. And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel? You must work, we must all work, to make the world worthy of its children.”

Thank you

Kesang

New slippers for my kids

After 14 hours of a gruelling bus ride from Kathmandu to Nepalgunj, I was back in Nepalgunj, the mid western part of Nepal to visit the shelter and Padhma Creations work. It was wonderful to re-connect to the community and see the kids and women at the shelter. There were four kids at the shelter, one of the kids Nisha did not have shoes so i had asked the mom to go to town and buy her daugther some new slippers (too hot in nepalgunj  to not be wearing any footwear). In about an hour they were back with new pairs of slippers! Well we would call it padhma’s slippers lol!

I love working with my women. Their innocence and hard work shows on their beautiful faces. Even after experiencing such tragic lives, they never forget to smile when they see me. This simple act of their’s gives me immense power and encouragement to work harder for them. Every time I leave Nepalgunj my heart gets a little heavy and wishes to never having to leave the place.

The true cost of cheap cotton!!

All of us have worn and used cotton in some way or the other. But it is important for us to know where all this cotton is generated from and by what means. Please watch the video below.

 

Thank you,

Kesang

Hello Blog World

We are thrilled to finally start Padhma Creations blog!!!!!

We would love to tell you all about our skill development projects, people who we work with and our current collection!

However, lets not get ahead of ourselves…Here is a documentary that we made in 2009 that pretty much explains our work!!

ENJOY