No, it’s not the cake!! But cards!! :D Yes, the lovely Postcrossers have always cheered me up regardless I hate the fact that I get older on birthdays! :) In this post I would like to thank a heaven to everyone who spent some time writing and sending me your lovely wishes, you have no idea how much it means to me!! :) BIG BIG HUGS!!! (well yeah, I’m featuring cards from past years first, as this is officially the first birthday post for this blog – which only started this year – and in a few days I’ll be posting the cards which I have got for this year’s birthday :)). And actually, I have put several other birthday cards that had already fit in regular posts before, and they are equally special to me as well!!

Hugs to Anu!

Hugs to Mimma!

Hugs to Syairah06!

Hugs to SilentNight89!

Hugs to Wespe!

Hugs to Rwidiani!

Hugs to Ipuenktchen!

Hugs to Kungli!

Hugs to Seetas!

Hugs to Indirama!

Hugs to Anzuume!

Hugs to Ketupat!

Hugs to Padme_chandra!

Hugs to Wilma!

Hugs to Panarea!

Hugs to empty_mailbox!

Hugs to Newrule!

Hugs to rosnah!

Hugs to Taxingwoman!

Hugs to geeanuar!

Hugs to Swan!

OKAY that was  a postcards SPAM -______- but I can’t help it coz I did receive alot of birthday cards in past years!! (and of course, a portion of them are thanks to the fact that I put a “tiny advert” about my birthday on my forum signature once, well, hence those expected surprises :P and a few from Birthday tags and RR as well.. so I did not receive all these merely because I am a total celebrity or anything :D though it’s good if I were one lol). And still my dear friends Postcrossers, you are the best!!

Born : October 2, 1869
Death : January 30, 1948
Place of Birth : Porbandar, India
Known for : Leading the struggle for Indian independence from Great Britain through his campaign of passive resistance and noncooperation, known as Satyagraha (Sanskrit for ‘truth and firmness’)
Milestones : 1888-1891 Studied law in London
1906 : Began Satyagraha campaign in South Africa to protest the requirement that Indians be fingerprinted and carry identification cards
1919 : Instituted Satyagraha campaign in India to protest the Rowlatt Acts, which deprived all Indians of important civil liberties
1922 : Ended campaign against colonial authorities after his followers were involved in a series of riots and disturbances that violated his policy of nonviolence
1930 : Led a march to the sea to collect salt in protest of the British salt tax
1932 : Fasted to protest the treatment of people who belonged to no Hindu caste, the Harijans or Untouchables
1947 : Fasted, successfully, to end violence between Hindus and Muslims in Calcutta after India achieved independence
January 30, 1948 : Was assassinated by a Hindu extremist, an act that prompted riots throughout India
Quote : ‘Non-violence is the first article of my faith. It is also the last article of my creed.’ March 18, 1922, speech in defense against charge of sedition.
Did You Know? After returning to India from South Africa, Indians began to call him Mahatma (Sanskrit for ‘Great Soul’), a title reserved for great sages.

From Seetas. Mahatma Gandhi is called Father of the Nation. His contribution towards the independence of India from the British was immensed and he strongly believed and practiced speaking the truth and non-violence, kindness to one and all and to be independent. Still, he finally became a victim of a violence… it’s extremely unfair for great people to be assasinated!!

From Seetas. She wrote a quote from Gandhiji on this card saying, “He who is ever brooding over result often loses nerve in the performance of his duty”. Mahatma Gandhi’s sculptures and monuments can be found in many cities around the world including in South Africa, Moscow, Hawaii, San Francisco, and New York.

From Vessie. This picture was taken when Gandhiji broke the Salt Law by picking up a lump of natural salt, after bathing ceremonially in the ocean. It was in Dandi on 6 April 1930.

From Vessie. Mahatma Gandhi in a characteristic pose. One of the things I like most about Gandhiji is his clothing!! :D I wonder if he always had just 2 pieces of white cloth wrapping his body and that’s what he called a perfect suit. Still, he looks cool enough. In fact his minimalist style of dressing was a means to identify with the common and impoverished Indian.

From Indirama. This is the COOLEST handmade card I ever got in my mail!!! XD She knew that Mohandas Gandhi was on my wishlist and spent alot of time and creativity on this perfect card.. with a great quote!! I once wanted to learn the Hindi script and managed to identify some alphabets :D but it didn’t last very long..

Temple 1. Located in Ranakpuri, Rajashtan. This temple is dedicated to the Jainism, one of the oldest religions originated from India, and this temple dates back to early of 15th century. Today, it has 4 million followers in India, as well as Indian communities in other countries.

Temple 2. Located in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh. Maheshwar is a picturesque town renowned for its temples and bathing ghats. Ghats are stairs/steps leading to a body of water like rivers or lakes, which can be regularly found in India… and one of them is here at this temple, of course :)

Temple 3. This Khajuraho temples are famous for its architecture and exotic sculptures. There used to be 80 temples but now only 22 remain preserved. This particular sculptures belong to Kandariya Mahadeva temple of Khajuraho, Madhya Pradesh. It dates back to the 10th century and has been listed as one of UNESCO World Heritages sites.

Temple 4. This one reminds me to one Hindu temple gate in Kuala Lumpur, but only much bigger and taller! Plus, see in this picture, there’s ANOTHER tower(?) or structure at the back! Yes, these are towers, as said in the card, belong to Madurai’s Meenakshi Temple in Tamil Nadu. “Gopurams” is Tamil for the tower at the temple entrance.

Temple 5. This is rather a “new” tample compared to many other temples in India.. This is Birla Mandir in New Delhi, dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu. It was built in 1933 – 1939.

From Seetas. “A Delightful Friendship” as the postcard says. These are happy children from Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India.

From Seetas. I love this view coz I don’t see such in my country! The men are the Dabbawalas (Tiffin carriers) in Mumbai. They are a group of people who make a living by delivering lunch boxes to and from homes and offices. Thousands of boxes are delivered everyday without any mistake and always on time!

From Seetas. I am not sure which word to use as the official English term to call this person.. I mean, Buddhist men who wear such orange piece of cloth and have their heads bald. Is it Monks? Coz in Malaysia we call them Sami Buddha so I’m rather confused. Well this is one of the historical Buddhist temples in India, located in Sanchi. It’s well knownfor monasteries, stupas, pillars and temples date back to year 3 BC to 12 AD… such loooong ages back! Surely one of the oldest sites related to Buddhism.

From Rebeccachandy. Err.. is this some sort of man as well? Yes! Look at the unpainted hands at least. He’s playing a traditional dance called Kathakali whose stories are based on Ramayana and Mahabratha Hindu epics. In this dance, men play all the characters even characters of females!

From Pazzolina. This is rather a postcard from France, but I decided to feature in this post coz it was published for “Voyage Indien” de Madras à New Delhi expo in 2006, and the card has several pictures of different Indian people, which I find really interesting!

This is Bharatanatyam dance during the Khajuraho festival, an annual event that celebrates the spirit of the classical dance traditions in India.

And this is Kathak dance originated from Awadh. It’s one of the 6 main classical forms of dance in India. Kathak is derived from the world “Katha” which means telling a story.

Apparently these women from Rajashtan are not dancing even though their outfit look like they’re going to dance as well :) Rajashtan is a popular destination for tourists for its rich culture and historical palaces.

1930-1940. 4th December 1931, Mahatma Ghandi outside 10 Downing Street, London while attending a conference of Indian constitutional reform. His long, non-violent struggle played a big part in paving the way for Indian Independence in 1947. I think Mahatma Ghandi is a very cool and down to earth person. Look he’s wearing his own piece of Indian clothings in a really important conference in London!

1970-1980. 11th December 1978, one of the many demonstrations for the return of religious leader Ayatollah Khomeiny to Iran. With the return of Khomeiny on the 1st February 1979 Iran becam a fundamentalist Islamic state after many months of chaos. I just had to get this card when it was offered in a tag because I have a thing about Iran ever since I visited the country in 1999. I don’t really understand myself the meaning of fundamentalist, and I’m not interested to comment political-wise, but in the sense of culture they’re original as they are really what they are, pure Persian lifestyle still strongly remains and hardly influenced by the outsiders or Westerners. Unlike Malaysians – we are always so proud to worship the West! :P

But finally…. finally…. I received my first card from India, and it couldn’t be more perfect than something showing the Taj Mahal! I was happy like crazy when I received this from Sidharta, aahh it’s so lovely with sunset and all, and this is Taj Mahal, I repeat, Taj Mahal :) :)

From an old penpal Manu. Taj Mahal is a mausoleum in Agra, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It was built from year 1631 and completed 17 years later. This is truly the finest architecture in the world which should be my first reason to visit India.

And as if it’s a key for me to start receiving more India postcards afterwards! Shortly later I received two others from Seetas in the forum, including this Bollywood movie card :) I am not a fan of Abhishek though.

Needless to say, all this time Seetas has been sending me alot of great India postcards.. I am so lucky! :) MUJHE INDIA POSTCARDS PYAAR HAI! I’ll surely go and visit India one day :D