Remember December 1 with - The 3 'C's of Health...!!!

Here's the first tip. Actually there are 3. 

For an instant mouth freshener, instead of those white synthetic chewables, try any of these - a clove bud, a cardamaom bud or a half-inch piece of Cinnamon. Keep any of these in your mouth and let them play around for a while. They have a lot of other benefits as well. 

Cloves - have antioxidants,  are antiseptic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anti-fungal, antiseptic, antiviral, carminative, and are known to have aphrodisiac and stimulating properties.

Cardamoms - also have antioxidants, detoxify the body, improve blood circulation and complexion (Isn't this one really cool!), help in getting rid of hiccups, and even prevent and relieve cold and flu symptoms.

Cinnamon - reduces Bad Cholesterol levels, regulates Blood Sugar, helps prevent neuro-degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and is also a great tranquilizer in case of agitated mood or disturbed sleep. Just add a quarter tsp of Cinnamon powder in a glass of warm milk and have it before bedtime, you are most likely going to sleep like a baby!

So there you are. What begins as a mouth freshener goes a long way inside your body and in your healthy life! 

But just like I said, try it to beieve it!

Lots of Love. Stay tuned for more...!!! 

A December to Remember...!!!

Once again, it is that time of the year, when making party plans, decorating our homes for the Holiday season and getting the best gifts for Family and Friends is so happening. As far as I remember, I have spent most of the Decembers of my life under layers of clothing and with biting cold waves. But since last year, December has become a sort of favorite month for me - because of the amazing climate and of course, amazing company.

So I wanted to do a payback, which translates my gratitude.

And I want to do it here, on my blog. One post, everyday.

This whole month, I shall be posting bits on cooking, health, books, beauty, time management, stress management, DIY projects, my latest endeavors and the like. Now, I don't claim to be an authority in any of these, but everything I shall share is what I have learnt from experience. I have personally tried and tested all the tips that I shall be posting. 

And I invite you all to try them yourself, before believing in anything, said or written.

Since today is the 3rd, I shall be posting 3 articles in a row. And going forward, I shall be posting one article daily. 
(This is also a run-up for my New Year's Resolution that I want to make in 2015. More on it in the posts to come..!)

So stay tuned everyone, I am really hopeful that all this will make for a good read, and some good learning or experience.

Any queries or suggestions are more than welcome,and your feedback is eagerly awaited! Please leave a comment below, and I shall get back to you ASAP!

Happy December...!!!

My Tryst With WARLI...!!!

A couple of days back, I was upcycling some glass bottles into vases, late in the night and as I completed each one, I would share its image with my friend online. Just then, she mentioned WARLI and that got us into discussing some ideas about our next long-distance art project together.

Now, WARLI Art is a cultural intellectual property of a Marathi tribal community. The monosyllabic depictions in the paintings use the very basic graphic vocabulary of circles, triangles, squares and lines to express everyday life and activities, dance, music, hunting-gathering, farming, festivals, trees and animals, recreation and so on. Having spent some 3 years in Maharashtra, I have had my encounters with this art, and it never really engaged me. But somehow, this time, it did.

So the next day, I found myself combing through web-pages about WARLI and I decided to surprize my friend by making my renditions of some paintings I really liked. Since this was my first time with this endeavor, I needed some inspiration and guidance to create my own versions of the paintings.

But very honestly, once I started, it got me hooked. In a straight go, I made 3 paintings in 2 hours, and reveled in the liberation that "painting" as an activity always offers me. Here is what I made - in order of completion:

1. WARLI SUNSET:

P.S:   I love the "Oye! Its Friday!!" feel that I can visualize within each of these 6 folks.

2. WARLI PEACOCK:

3. WARLI RAAS:

 I am still learning this art and I have begun working on the new idea that was brewing up in our heads (My and My Friend's) a while ago.

I really hope the new idea takes shape the way we want it to, and when that happens, I shall post about that too.

Till then, if you are wondering what I do for the remaining part of the day, when I am not WARLI-ing, I allow you the pleasure of unadulterated guesswork...!!! :)

LIFE Comes A Full CIRCLE...!!!

About a month ago, I had my sister-in-law and her husband come over to our place for a night hold. We are almost the same age, and together with them, we were 4 software professionals under one roof. 

The gist is, it was effortless to connect, have fun, and just talk, with an undercurrent of  commonality running through almost all topics of conversation - work, home, travel, relationship-dynamics, every day experiences, et al. Life, in general.

Food was a key participant in this reunion. As it is, "Cook to Love and Love to Cook" has somehow become the ruling philosophy of my life in the last 7 months. Both me and my Kitchen were in top form.

Every time I went inside the Kitchen, my sister-in-law would follow me and ask how she could help. Outside, the full-bodied laughter of both the guys filled the air.

Now, on any usual day, I am alone for 11-12 hours. And as the person I am, I love company. So this was a very welcome treat for me.

My house filled up on a Saturday afternoon, and emptied half of its 'human' innards on the following Sunday afternoon. The rest of the holiday was spent relaxing and sharing the experiences with our folks over phone calls.

The next day was when the strike occurred. After my husband left for office, I was left all to myself, and every corner of my house was oozing with memories and the resounding banter and laughter. Especially, in the kitchen, every time I went, I felt Shruti saying, "Bhabhi, how should I help?" 

I could not help staying amazed at this experience. It was just 48 hours that I had spent time bonding with both of them. And THIS was how I was feeling. I could only imagine what parents feel when they put us in hostels for college. Or when we are out, super-excited about our jobs and the new life, and they see us off at the airports or railway stations. Or, as in the case of daughters, when they finally do the 'Kanyadaan' and hand them to their life partners.

I simply shuddered at the thought of what things would be like when I would be on the other side as a parent. I don't have words, even now.

*****

About an hour ago, I  was talking to a college-friend who was sharing her experience of today morning.

She and her family had gone to register her mother-in-law in a residential Art of Living camp which would go on for 3 days, starting today. "The room allotted to Mummyji so reminded me of my hostel room in BITS Goa" she said. "And after settling the luggage, we went out to get the other necessary stuff which we missed taking from home, like mosquito repellant etc. for her from the nearest general store outside. It so felt like we were leaving her there for some graduation program. This was the first time I realized how our parents would have felt when they checked us into our hostels. So much so, that I could not bring myself to look back at her while leaving, else I'd have cried..." she went on.

Well, I felt THIS in just 48 hours, she has been with her mother-in-law for more than 2 years! I have to give this one to her!!

We then talked about the turn of events which occurred when we would go home for vacations, when our parents saw us off for college or jobs and of incidents from our marriages. It felt as if only the characters were changing in her and my narratives, the underlying story, and the story's heartbeat, was just the same.

Probably this is why we say that 'Life comes a full CIRCLE', and not a Square, or Rhombus or Pentagon or Hexagon. There are no sharp edges. There is no break in the flow. 

Just continuity. Seamlessness. Of values, emotions, feelings. Of LIFE.

Goose bumps were my loyal partner throughout while composing this post.

The big solace - that there is still a lot of time in being on the other side.

No Greater High Than A Job Well Done..!!

It is a little more than 3 months since my last post. And I really hope this beloved blog of mine spares considering to sue me for my sloth, lethargy and neglect. Honestly, there is so much I want to share, considering the major changes my life underwent in the last six+ months, and the posts are almost ready. Just need some finishing touches, and they'll be here. Very soon.

But I just had to get started. So I thought that this time I will yield to the adage - "A picture is worth a thousand words." I have some interesting things to show, stuff that I have been doing over the past months. And all this stuff shows a very Real Me.

The First one is the last painting I did, for my 7 year old niece and 5 year old nephew, when they graduated to Yellow Belt from White in their Kumfu Karate classes. This was a kind of certificate for them for their great job. It really is a treat to watch those kids in action. And both of them love to draw and paint. 

The next thing is an interest that gate-crashed into my life just by chance, and has kind of got me hooked. It is some flowers I made out of clay.

Next in line is the first acrylic painting I did on wood-mdf, and it was very liberating. The whole process I mean. It is a simple one, I did it mostly to gain the warm-up energy out of it, and I love it. It has my favorite muse and my favorite colors. And I love the positive energy it emanates. 

The final one on today's list is the most recent chocolate cake I made. I have acquired a whole new interest in cooking, especially baking, and cakes are something I love doing. I had never known, rather realized that chopping veggies or kneading or blending could be SO therapeutic and relaxing.  

Every single one of my creative endeavors has left me with a lot more peace of mind and clarity of thought. I tend to lose myself during the process and there is just one thing on my mind. And THAT, is pure redemption.

There is, Really, no greater high than a job well done..!!

"You are a dream that came true..."

You are my every wish that counts
Spreading cheer in leaps and bounds
First bug me to limits, then turn the mood around
You are what makes my world go round

You are my first ray of the rising Sun
A shot of unbridled, unadulterated fun
Enigmatic as much, as much endearing
A new experience on every turn

With you, I want to be the best of me
Look like what your eyes want to see
When you are around, this world seems beautiful
My soul feels liberated, my spirits are free

You are my honor, you are my pride
You are my Hero, undenied
I have started believing in miracles and magic
I can rule the world, with you by my side

You are my dream that comes true everyday
Our love, Handsome, is here to stay
"WE" are the best thing that could have happened to us
And We will stick together, come what may...

Book Review: To Kill A Mocking Bird

“I want something new to read now” I told Eeshan, as we were sipping coffee in the office cafeteria a few days back. I had just finished the other piece of fiction he had loaned me. Since he was turning out to be a mighty cool supplier, seeking him for more was only inevitable. “Okay, tell me”, he asked, “What kinda book do you wanna read now?” “I dunno, but something nice. Something that can make me a better person”, I replied purposefully. To this, he chuckled and said, “I don’t know if that can make you a better person, but this book that I’ll get you tomorrow is one of my favorites, and will certainly take your mind off things.”

I had been dealing with a myriad of issues, over which I could barely exercise any control. So, I got fairly excited at the prospect of adding a new dimension to my hitherto kaleidoscopic thought process.

The next day he handed me a copy of “To Kill A Mocking Bird” and the first look at it delighted me. It has a velvety black cover with a matchstick figure of a bird in crayon orange, and the title and author’s name in stark white. With a little over 300 pages, it exuded that warm and assuaging fragrance of paper and ink, which can tranquilize any book lover’s parched mind. It gave the feeling of being a suspense thriller, but having pursued reading for so many years now, I know much better than to judge a book by its cover. So, I allowed the book to mesmerize me. And I am so glad it did.

Set in the America of 1930s, it is a very vivid, first person account of the world around her and the mosaic of people who inhabit it, by the 8 year old Scout Finch. The Finches have a legacy of family history, of which Scout is somewhat wary of, but she deeply loves her father Atticus Finch, who is a lawyer, and her brother Jem Finch who is 4 years her senior. Both these men are her window to the world, as much as these are each other’s world.

In her very fluid style, Harper Lee weaves this story around the ‘irrationality of adult attitudes towards race and class’, the fatalities that injustice can cause and the amount of effort two very sensitive and loving children of a staunchly virtuous and upright father, put in to understand the mechanics with which their Maycomb county and its residents operate. In the process, she has created timeless characters, which are poetry in motion; adorable beyond scope, beyond will.

The mental somersaults of an 8 year old, whose father is defending a black man against the charge of raping a white girl, are expressed with immaculate innocence, realism and rationality. The humor is sunshine-ish and the emotions unadulterated. The pain in the story hurts, just as its goodwill uplifts. There is stiff competition between what is more likable – Scout’s rendition of her county and its neighborhood, or the person that she herself is.

Without a particle of doubt, this book deserves its Pulitzer. It is a celebration of relationships, humanity, virtues and emotions. It is a celebration of the purest form of outright righteousness. It is a celebration of ‘Scout-ism’ - the innocent grace and élan, which is so eccentric to the ‘daughter’, ‘sister’ and ‘lady’ she is. This book could easily give any bestselling parenting guide a run for its money.

Since I was a little girl, I always wanted an elder brother. Reading this novel made me yearn some more. But now that enough years have passed, there is some respite – in the fact that my younger brother has outgrown me in height and strength. Today, he is way more mature, responsible and caring, almost like an elder brother.

I try to let the hope of being able to spend a lot more time with him now, not depress me about not getting the opportunity of being together in our growing up years. If only I could be with him as much as I didn’t get to. But for all that I missed, this book is a very beautiful reminder of how it could or would have been. That launch into time-travel is simply effortless.

If I have become a better person or not after reading this book, I know not. But I am certainly inspired to become a better sister, daughter and eventually a parent, every forthcoming day. Thank You Harper, for penning this down. And Thank You Eeshan, for passing it on to me.