My wife gifted me this hold-it-all for New Year’s.
I had been browsing Amazon, Flipkart, and Instagram for a hold-it-all from Indian artisans. My wife saw me frustrated with the search and decided to make one herself.
On the very next day, she stitched the hold-it-all from left over clothes from her various tailoring experiments. If you notice the picture carefully, you can see an orbit close to the bottom of my heart with a P in it. With just this logo, she captured my current interest in healthtech and space!
She had missed one of the end bits of stitching. She has since been delaying stitching that bit till today when it was finally ready to show the world.
Pradeep ettan got promoted and transferred to SBI Lonar branch. Lonar is a place which is not accessible by rail. The roads were under repair. The nearest railway station is Jalna, two and a half hours away while the nearest airport is Aurangabad, which is three and a half hours away.
Lonar is a rural area which has no facilities like hospital, school, college etc. Only two-three seasonal vegetables and fruits are available. Pradeep ettan was born and raised in Mumbai while I was born and raised in Alathur, Palakkad in Kerala. While, I am also from a rural area, it was difficult for me to stay in Lonar. When I saw Lonar I felt my home town, Alathur was a metropolitan city. The only thing to see in Lonar is the Lonar crater.
Lonar Crater. Image: Dhanya Vallat
The regional language is Marathi and I don’t speak Marathi.Hence, I was unable to communicate with people there. By God’s grace, I got a very good neighbour, Nanda Sancheti . She became my good friend. She is very down to earth, always smiling and ready to help people. She is the one who always had solutions to every problem. She worked as a teacher in their school called World School in Gaikhed and they run a jewelry shop.
Selfie with Nanda. Image: Dhanya VallatSelfie with me and my friends. Image: Dhanya VallatRithika with her friends Bhakti and Stuti. Image: Dhanya Vallat
She is having 2 sweet and cute children Stuti and Bhakti. Bhakti is one year elder to Rithika. They became friends and always wanted to spend time together. But when they meet, both have complaints (Maa Rithika ka ne woh kiya, Bhakti ne woh liya, etc.) about each other. My other friends in Lonar are Priyanka Madane, Priyanka Hinge, Sanvi Chetan Thakre and Shobha Pund. Because of them, our stay in Lonar became bearable.
Parallel Spirals 