Decisions

There are days when I wake up with a decisive menu in mind. The breakfast, lunch, and dinner all sorted out.

And then there are days when I go blank not knowing what to cook! It is not a cook’s block…hehe…laughing at my own lame joke 😃

It’s just that the decision of a recipe has not set well with the mind and heart.

Then I put an open question to the family – “What do you want for breakfast?”

Options given by family are aplenty – a toast/oats/dosa/anything you want ma / Pongal…

And they all look at me eagerly as to what am I going to cook. While the options were coming in, my mind was processing them and thinking about the availability of ingredients and stuff and time left for making the same.

And suddenly like a bright light, my mind gives me the idea of wheat Rava upma 😉

I don’t know how much tangential thinking is possible but it happens to me all the time. And I convince the family with my choice…hehe 🤓

There have been repeated episodes of this recipe-decision-making for lunch and dinner too and its been going on for years. Either we all like to play this menu-deciding game or they have all got used to this silly game of mine!

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Dec 14 Blog post

A pause

Some days we are always on the run. The most important things that need to be done on an emergency take up the priority and we end up delaying the things we want to do always.

I have seen people traveling by car and talking on the phone – either voice or video and the whole travel time also become work time. If they can pause that call and look outside their car window, they can probably see such amazing scenes like this! And when I give such ideas, I am asked back, “What do I gain by looking at these cloudscapes?”

It is very simple. For me, these are the moments where I actually live. These moments, where I pause the hurried flow of life, give me the energy to move forward. Sometimes, we are not happy with the results of our work or with the effort we put in or we feel that we are being let down by others. There is an umpteen number of things which can disturb the mind and make us unhappy.

When such moments of unhappiness invade, just pause.

Look at a flower and smell it. Or look up the sky – you may notice a floating cloud or some birds flying back home. When you pause to look at something from nature, there will always be something out there to make you smile or feel happy or be enamored by the beauty of nature. A slight pause can shift or focus and turn it to better things.

The pause can make you happy again.

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Dec 13 Blog Post

Perceptions

I have taken this picture at different times of the day – dawn, dusk, sunny, cloudy! Even though that lamp and tree remain the same, my whole perception of the view changes because of the backdrop. It’s amazing how simple cloud patterns or the color of the sky can matter so much and change the way I look at the picture.

This thought comes to me at a time when I am reading so much about the activities of the mind and the way we interpret things using our perceptions. Sometimes we feel that this not a big thing to ponder so much about. But I feel that our every decision is based on the perceptions we have about so many different things we have in our mind; some are from experience, some from hearsay, a few from what we read and many are assumptions.

The beginning of the month of Karthigai marks the day when S puts his malai and begins his vrtham for the pilgrimage to Sabarimala. And as always, he took a vow of not to eat onions and garlic.  For me, it doesn’t matter much though many people have asked me like how in the world can you cook without onions or garlic!! It always amuses me as there are so many dishes in our cuisine that can be done without those two and it’s not that the taste is so bad without them. Actually, I can taste the vegetables and their natural taste better without the overpowering onions and garlic.

Anyway, the point I want to make is while some people think it’s impossible to cook without onions or garlic, it came to me at the right time! While the onion prices are zooming higher,  I am cooking here without onions and garlic. Thanks to Ayappan and this vrtham by S that I have not even had the slightest inclination to go and buy onions. Another thing is that I am saved from the never-ending tears that start with just one look at the onion.

I know that I will drop down with a thud and run to buy onions very soon but right now am cooking all those dishes without onions and enjoying them too!

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Dec 12 blog post

Let there be light

Let there be light
To ward off the dark…
To see and understand
To infer good reasons…
To gain knowledge
From sources known
And unknown!

Let there be light
To sharpen our memory…
To help us see things
Beyond what they are…
To guide us in the path
Of being good!

Let there be light
To make the leaves glow…
For the buds to show…
For the lands to grow…
For the shadows to show…
And to help us know
The difference
Between dark and light!

Let there be light
For we are mere mortals
And we need this light
To look inward
To understand ourselves
And what happens outside
To make us better
Human beings!

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Dec 11 Blog post

Spread the glow

The other day, S was trying to reverse the car in a narrow street and a large truck was just behind our car. The driver was so good to reverse his heavy vehicle giving way for us and even guiding S as to how much he can reverse safely! Here’s to that person who was glowing with goodness!

I happened to hear about a vegetable vendor who sells vegetables pushing a cart on the streets and who makes it a point to give vegetables, on a daily basis, to a NGO as charity. Here’s to his goodness which glows bright as those golden hued clouds!

There are friends of mine, so close to my heart – who think of the silly me with this huge love for clouds, sun, moon, trees, flowers – who send me pics of those things I love, which they clicked thinking about me! Now if that is not glowing in friendship, I don’t know what else it could be! Here’s to those beautiful souls who glow with their act of kindness, love and sharing their joy!

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Dec 10 Blog post

Here is a place…

Here is a place that I will choose to sit and reflect upon what I want to do and what I have done so far.

Here is a place where I will sit in quiet contemplation on the path to choose in this journey of life!

Here is a place to sit in mediatation, to focus on the higher force, to sit still and feel the vibes that run through my body!

Here is a place to say my gratitude for the way my life is going!

The gopuram inspires me to stand out, stand tall, to rise higher; at the same time I feel humbled being there to feel the energy inside the place.

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Post of Dec 9 2019

Here’s to the new me!

I remember writing a post, during the time when smartphones were making an entry into the market, that I dislike the phone having different functions – of that of a camera or a mini computer too! I argued so vehemently that a phone should be used only for communication and should not be confused with a camera.

And I wonder at myself for even having such a thought!

But I have evolved.

I love my phone especially the camera. And I love my SD card even more 😀 Without which I will surely get into slower work pace with the amount of leaves, trees, clouds, skies that seem to dominate the storage space.

And I love the independence of having a phone and all my apps in it to do what I want to do without the need to carry my laptop around. Of course, for heavy typing related work, laptop is still preferred.

This post is just a proof of the ever changing human mind! And I am happy to accept the changing me and my thought process. Here’s to the new me!