Brim Over!

You Heart Will Always Be Full...What You Put In It Will Make It Sink Or Let You Fly!

No matter how out of control things may seem...No matter how powerless you may feel in face of a seemingly daunting moment, situation or person...there is always a powerful superhero...deep within you waiting to hold your hand...pull you up...and help you pack a punch! But there also could be a little bundle of trouble...with horns and a tail who will love to take you south with it.

It all depends on which one you've fed and who you've nurtured with your thoughts. So let's say when the mirage of a 'difficulty' supposedly faces you from outside - it is really maybe a reflection of a not-so-positive self perception. And the anger that builds inside you is not really at the difficulty in the form of a situation or a person. Look deep and perceptively enough, and you'll discover the anger is truly sourced from the lack of power felt to 'respond' in the right way. That is why we REACT. That is why we PROTECT 'ideas of self' when there is nothing really to protect.

On the other hand...Imagine this!! Close your eyes and feel...If the same situation had a halo around it!! This fleeting feeling of relief or even bliss can actually be more permanent...more giving and thriving and even gleefully contagious eventually. It is possible that even in the face of adversity, the angel(s) of confidence, faith and focus - on the ultimate goal - greatly improve our chances to handle the adversity. Hell...in some cases simply pull us out of feeling down and powerless about it. Eventually not even allow it like most do and make us more and more powerful every time we conquer the supposed adversity with grace and style! This repetition makes our self-faith more and more unshakeable as we feed off our own power of positivism allowing it to grow itself as a result.

So as long as you are human, as long as you feel and as long as you breathe...your heart will always be full. It is up to you...to decide what you want to fill it with and what you want to lead it to feel. It is up to you to let it take a flight or a fall. It is up to you to discover...with what will you see your heart brim over!

Can Good be Good Without Bad!??

When I was spending one of those days simply brushing my teeth with a chaotic flurry of thoughts rushing through my head; it just occurred to me...Can there be a good without a bad!?

I mean think about it...if someone was not rude, mean, unfair, hurtful, inconsiderate, abusive and so on with us - directly or indirectly - would we have truly valued and appreciated the same or another person being polite, considerate, completely fair, comforting or even healing!

Would we have valued this "goodness"? Would we have associated any kind of effort or applaud involved in being good?

So naturally I went on to think that if there was no bad or evil in this world there would be no place for the 'notion' of good! Don't you think?? I do not mean to promote bad but I simply want to suggest an alteration in the way we look at these things.

I could simply say that if there was no pain there would be no value added in our life when happiness came along. Hell...the word happiness would not even exist because everything would just be life...simply being lived! I could even go on to say life would be one boring never-ending movie. Our emotions would starve for content!

So you may ask me now... "Enough of the sermons! What is the bottomline you  are getting at?"

Well...the answer - as the inner-voice of my heart suggests - is to embrace the happenings as a part of life making it less-painful and more bearable if only we did not hate the bad so much, give it a chance to make a point..."How would you like good and love happiness if it wasn't for me?"

Spirituality...

What does this word mean to you? 

Is it just a fashionable word used by those men and women in saffron or white robes...

Is it a money minting word for the so-called spiritual gurus...

Is it the thing you practice by chanting for and going to idols, places of worship and other material identities...

Is it something that goes out of the window when seemingly stronger words like hunger, anger, love, lust, jealousy, success, money, comfort, luxury call you?

What is Spirituality to you?

While you ponder on this 'more-important-to-you-than-you-know' aspect...let us go for a verbal walk together...

The journey starts young! There have been many moments in my life when I have questioned the claim of others on this word; and then wanting to transfer that claim on to my belief system. They succeeded sometimes, they simply did not otherwise and then there were times that the mission was half-done (Dangerous!). So when this kind of an Operation Spirituality was being done on me...while I was too young to know it was...it left me confused, lost and indecisive. The stronger the cause of the Operation (not just spirituality), the more is the seriousness of the casualty :-) !

There was a tiny voice that kept telling me, why should I listen to what is being told, who told or taught the very first person who taught us. My guess being as good as yours...the answer is NO ONE! The person who started the spiritual belief system we want to follow because someone around us is saying so...that first person came to that situation of being able to prescribe Spirituality...by embarking on a journey of his own. Gathering the know-hows along the way and making 'his own' Spirituality manual step-by-step.

The intention here is not to mock at the whole grand scenario...the idea is to show that Spirituality manuals were not made out of thin air. They were made out of at least one person's journey within to begin with. And I strongly believe that when that first person must have spoken of his or her journey, it must have been merely to guide the path and point the arrow to some who went to him or her seeking answers...and not tell them when to step forward, how to do it, and how much of a big step was a good step.

The journey will always be our own and ours only; which will never begin until we understand that clearly. This subtle journey of self-exploration being truly termed as spirituality has now become in its extreme a fanatic pursuit of false-pride, anger, hatred, discrimination and much more..and I guess the reason is a lot of people along the path of passing on to generations and in passing time have added their layers of motive, ego, need for superiority, abuse of seniority and more. No offenses to whoever I may be referring to...including myself maybe.

The idea is not to judge and make a mock of this set-up, but simply to realize where we are and then where we want to be followed by wanting to be there and then taking steps to get there.

Now many people may get all charged with this; which may soon fizzle out in some cases by having to stop at a point of thought, wondering how will I go about this, what if I don't succeed, what if I don't find what I am looking for and when I am looking for? 

Don't be scared. It is not about what you could not do at a point in time; it is all about taking your time to discover your true self once and for all...slowly but surely...so that in its future you are not staying busy going in and out of such discoveries...that are superficial, temporarily comforting and gratifying. 

Just close your mind's eye to the chaos and understand what is it that you are feeling. Are you comfortable when you are going through this journey. If you experience discomfort, your mind, if you are truly listening, will gently slip you into the thought zone where you will know where to go to feel lighter and happier. Try to shield this zone from the then angry and eagerly attacking demons of boredom, excuses, ego, anger, jealousy. Don't trust any thoughts that are decreasing your comfort or taking you away from your happy zone.

And the trick is that simple. Keep doing this over and over again. And while at it, keep giving yourself a higher and higher certificate of achievement. Pat your back and reward yourself with a mission of a being in a better place in your mind.

Don't think about how fast, how soon, how much and compared to how many. Keep going...and the left and right wont matter. Start looking withing and make your own Spiritual rainbow!

So now...back to where we started...at both the end and beginning of a full-circle...What really is this word..Spirituality? Wanna answer ;-) !?

Two Steps Back...

There are very many moments in our life that make us think...well what is it really that we seek. We tell...no..ask ourselves...."Why did I do this?", "Why did I say that?" or "Why did I not do this?" and "Why did I not say that?" And then this leads to all the "I wish I had..." statements in the world.

The thing is..no matter how much of a Socrates we think we are.. (and we truly are...metaphorically speaking...clouded by the chaos of make-believe)...we always end up making the same old 'perceived' mistake over and over and over again. I may be making one myself right now. Who knows?

The key is to take two steps back...and put efforts in not wanting to pass a judgement there and then. Or in fact, resist the passing of a judgement or a conclusion of our act or that of others altogether. Mind you, taking two steps back is not allowed for over-analysis, over-empathy, any kind of sympathy, sadism on self or others or any such emotions or states of being that are akin to these.

The magic will be in believing in the choices we make and sticking to them no matter what. Just like we want our loved ones to stick to us no matter what we do. Well, if we cannot do it with the thoughts we have and the choices we make...then how in the world can we expect our loved ones...even spouses/parents/siblings...to stick to us.

So ladies and gentlemen...the next time you are trying to see yourself closely in the mirror as you brush your teeth in the morning...grumbling in your mind about this thing going wrong, or that person wronging you, or even you being a part of the wrong...the next times these thoughts occur to you...analyzing all the chaos you possibly can...Take Two Steps Back.

Take Two Steps Back...and take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Take a look at your face...I am more sure than not, that you will want to straighten out what you see in that reflection. Try to smile at whatever you see in there...and you will instantly come closer to who you really are...and mind you dont judge.


Think of the time you were the little one of the house...loitering about the house with a big grin and agile feet. Falling a lot, laughing more, rejoicing more, clapping more, loving more, embracing more....living it up so much more than....

Take Two Steps Back and fill up that blank for yourself...and see yourself wanting to go in reverse gear. Now here is another thing...reverse gears are only in cars not in our life when the time is ticking!!! So how about this...since you cannot go back...how about simply turning around and change the place you are looking at and going towards...and just keep walking the same way.

The way the MORE in the love, laughter, rejoice, embrace kept coming down gradually...when you turn around and walk that path it is going to seep and peep into your life and grow gradually! And the thing you will discover is that there are no rules and limits to when you can experience that abundance.

So if you take those two steps back from the mirror the next time you are brushing your teeth, and reflect on your reflection, the dawn of life will dawn on you like the never setting sun of yoohooooo!!!!

So Step Back...and Step in....Life awaits!!!

Tomato Chutney

There are many dishes that I have experimented with...but this has proven to be the most popular and hence I would like to share it with you all...

Tomato Chutney (Can be served with Idli/Dosa/Paratha/Rice/Anything you want to have it with!)

Ingredients (for 3-4 ppl):

4 tomatoes
6-7 green chillies (or to taste)
1-1.5 tbsp hing/asafoetida (most important)
1/2 tsp haldi/turmeric powder
2 tbsp chana dal
1.5 tbsp urad dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 tbsp oil
1-2 tsp red chilly powder (adjust qty with green chillies)
1-2 tsp sambar powder (optional)
salt to taste

Method:

Wash and cut the tomatoes into big chunks. Wash the green chillies and slit them vertically in halves and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the chana dal first and saute for a while, once it is halfway towards browning (approx. 1-1.5mins) then add the urad dal and saute for another 1-1.5 mins or until both of them seem just a minute away from browning. Then add the mustard seeds. Once they splutter, add the hing/asafoetida, haldi/turmeric powder, slit green chillies and saute for a few seconds. Then immediately add the tomato chunks, sprinkle the salt to taste and add a little water if necessary (it may not be necessary if the tomato itself is very juicy). Mix this a little and then let it cook on medium heat for 8-10 mins or until the tomatoes seem almost cooked. Just when you are about to close the heat/stove or even just as soon as you close the stove, add the red chilly powder and sambar powder. Mix this mixture a little so that these powders blend into the mixture. Now let this mixture cool and then grind it in a blender or with a hand blender. Serve hot/warm with the desired variety of food as mentioned above.

Sweetheart

The gentle smile blooming on your lips,

With joyful bliss lifts my heart,

That untouched concern in your eyes,

What do I say...You are my sweetheart.

Your silent prayers for my soul,

What more could I need while being apart,

And when I think of you...and the good ol' days,

What do I say...You are my sweetheart!

सुनसान धडकनों की चाल में...गुदगुदी सी जगा जाते हो,
शराबी मन को...नशे के जाम पिला जाते हो,
हवाओं में समाकर...मेरी नम आखों को छू जाते हो,
कभी यूँ ही...मुझमे आकर मुस्कुरा जाते हो,
फ़िर बड़े ही प्यार से...अपने प्यार में छोड़ जाते हो!