Hills are heaven

A local man said, "Hills are heaven!"

I looked around and agreed with him. We were waiting for a taxi or a bus to go to Uttarkashi town and just to pass the time he started the conversation.

"Can heaven be better than this? Naah! It can't be!"
"Very true."
"Hills are heaven except three things i.e. medication, transportation and education." 

Book Review : Open-Eyed Meditations by Shubha Vilas

There is one more gem in my collection of books autographed by authors. Open-Eyed Meditations autographed by Shubha Vilas is the top quality jewel. I love to collect books autographed by different authors and I have a huge collection of such books.

Most of the people complained that when they close their eyes for meditation they only see darkness. If they want to see lights in meditation, this book is a boon for them. If one can do meditation with open eyes nicely then the person will surely be successful in doing meditation with closed eyes. Sage Patanjali also emphasised the importance of practicing yamas (observances) and niyamas (restraints) before practicing dhayana (meditation). This book provides insights and observations to think deeper to meditate with open eyes to change life for better. It is a beautiful compilation of stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata that provide easy and practicable solutions, inspired from these stories for present day problems. The ancient wisdom provides useful and practical lessons on how to cope with everyday challenges and to enhance the quality of modern day life.

The author dedicated the book beautifully as :-

To the thousands of teachers I have come across in the journey of life that have guided me to meditate on the beauty of life.

The quotes from the book which I like are as follows:-

1.      Yoga of non-intervention implies accepting people as they are and giving them space. This in turn allows us to remain at peace with the way we are.

2.      Complexities outside slowly percolate into complexities inside. Simplicity is about living the present moment with gratitude and satisfaction.

3.      While analysis upgrades us, overanalysis downgrades-unless we can discover what we can learn from it. Thus, analysis of our own faults and overanalysis of others’ faults is a pitfall we should watch out for.

4.      Discover your likes and motivation will discover you.

5.      Discernment is about seeing people as they are and not how you want them to be.

6.      Appreciation of others’ good qualities is not just lip talk, but also a meditation.

7.      Like a snake voluntarily sheds its old skin, similarly appreciation helps one shed layers of negativities to replace it with a new glowing complexion of positivity.

8.      Right attitude means to be grateful for our talent, knowing they are gifts of God, and accepting our shortcomings as a chance to depend on others to access their love.

9.      Charisma is not about what you have but like a bee, what you do with what you have.

10.  You are simply a reflection in the mirror of your environment.

11.  When Yudhishthira went around the kingdom to find at least one person who was worse than him, he too returned back with news of his failure. Every person he inspected happened to have at least one good quality that he himself didn’t possess.

12.  Get offline, grow. Get online, give.

13.  Addiction to change is simply an outcome of not focusing on what you have and seeking an escape into the world of what you don’t have.

14.  Instead of constantly changing things, change your prospective of seeing things.

15.  A person who wants to hurt others is primarily hurting himself.

16.  Forgiveness is the sign of being concerned about the future and hatred is the sign of being stuck to the past.

17.  Good friendship is like an air pillow. If you take care of it by blowing air into it (taking care of its needs) and not pricking it with a pin (asserting your needs), it will, in turn, ensure your comfort and satisfaction thus serving you and taking care of your needs.

18.  The test of marriage is tolerance. The test of parenting is values. The test of leadership is inspiration. And the test of friendship is time.

19.  Friendship can be a touchstone that can transform and beautify every aspect of your life when handled delicately. But when handled egocentrically, it can easily become like a heavy stone of hate tied to your neck that can drown you in a salty ocean of frustrated expectations.

Shubha Vilas is an author, a motivational speaker, lifestyle coach and a story teller. He is the author of best-selling book series ‘Ramayana- The Game of Life’ It’s three parts are published namely ‘Rise of the Sun Prince’, ‘Shattered Dreams’ and ‘Stolen Hope'. His leadership seminars about the crucial needs of top-level management are popular in corporate houses. The author blogs at https://roadtodivinity.wordpress.com/.

I highly recommend this book for your collection, for reading and for meditating on the beautiful thoughts from it because the author uses the handle of stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, gently open the window of reader’s minds and transfer the wisdom in readers’ hearts.

Edible red berries in Uttarkashi

Many years back one of my colleagues from army background told me that the army students were given various trainings to survive in the hardest conditions. If during war or in any other situation by chance they were left alone in a forest without food and water, in such a difficult situation what they would eat to survive. And the situation worsened if they were in a forest where the vegetation was unknown to them and they couldn’t differentiate between the edible and non edible fruits and berries. Then, in such a condition they were told to eat green colour berries as the chances of their being poisonous were very less as compared to yellow colored berries. And the red colored berries should be avoided as the chances of their being poisonous were very high as compared to yellow berries.

On seeing a tree full of red berries which was growing close to ashram in Uttarkashi, I recalled this incidence. The red berries were very attractive and tempting. I was looking at the tree admiring the beautiful berries.

Suddenly a tree pie came from nowhere, sat on the top branch and started eating berries. It appeared that the bird loved the taste of those berries.

As it flew away, I gathered my courage to eat unknown berries whose chances of being non edible were very high but my mind said bird was relishing them so at least they were non-poisonous.

I plucked some and ate. I loved the taste which was slightly sour to slightly sweet. Thank God, I didn’t die after that! ;)

Later on from a local villager I came to know that they were used to prepare chutney in which til (sesame) was added. The chutney tasted delicious.

Age Factor

"How old are you?" One of my batch-mates asked me.
"What?" I was surprised if I heard her correctly.
"I am 42 years old. What is your age?" she asked again.
I passed a long smile to say her to leave this stupid question but she was adamant to know.
She repeated, "My age is 42 years. You must be younger to me. What is your age?"
I inquired, "How does it make a difference if you know my age and if you don't know my age?"
She elaborated, "A is ...years old, B is ... years old, C is ... years old and ....."
She knew age of all batch-mates and had prepared a mental chart of it. She conclude ,"Most of the students is this course are either in their late twenties or early thirties except me, Mr. 'Z' who's age is... and Ms. 'Y' who is ... years old. You know, Chandrika they say if your back is flexible then you are young!"
"Ya. True."
"That's why I am keeping my back flexible."
"That's nice!" I said with a smile. "According to this theory. you are the youngest among us."
She was happy like a child and asked one more question popping up in her mind. "What is Mataji's age (Director's age)?"
"WHAT! I do not know."
"Can you guess her age?"
"I have no idea. In general, people who do meditation look younger than their age."
"Then she must be 40 years old."
When I didn't know what to say for a stupid question then I just smiled.
"Or 50 years old."
I broadened my smile.
"Or 60 years old."
I tried to broadened my smile further but couldn't because there is a limit of my facial muscles to expand in contrary to stupidity which can expand limitlessly.

Aroma of puris

As soon as we heard the ringing of bell from the temple while doing the last leg of yoga class, we started feeling hungry as it meant now the class would end and we all would rush to dinning hall for dinner after that. By that time the aroma of sattvik food being cooked in the kitchen below the asana hall also started entering our nostrils.

One day, the teacher was explaining Samanu pranayama which was every important for progressing in meditation but it was very confusing and difficult to understand as it had to be done with specific number of different mantras while focusing on different chakras, energy centers.
One of my batch-mates whispered, "Can you smell the puris? It seems that they have prepared puris for us. I love puris."
"I can't understand Samanu pranayama." I said.
Later on I pondered, back home I could prepare, smell and eat much more delicious puris than here. I had come so far to learn the right technique of doing pranayamas, some new powerful pranayamas like Samanu, bandhas and different mudras which would help me in progressing further on my spiritual journey.

A photo worth lakhs!

"Chandrika, click my photo!" A millionaire guy asked me. At that time he was holding a broom in his one hand and a wet mop in another. "You can sell that photo for worth lakhs as I have never done cleaning before and everybody will be surprised to see me like this, holding broom and mop. For the first time I am going it here, in ashram as Karam Yoga."

An Important Announcement

“OM! OM!! OM!!! An Important Announcement is to be made! Please pay your attention to my words. There is shortage of glasses, those glasses in which we drink tea! Today, there were not sufficient glasses for each one of us for having tea. Some of the glasses are missing. Whoever taken the glasses in their rooms for drinking tea and had not returned them, please return them. Please search your cupboards and sill of windows properly, wash them thoroughly and put them back in basket for the storage of utensils.” When she was making this announcement a long smile appeared on my face because she had 22 glasses in her cupboard which she intentionally or unintentionally didn’t return which created this problem. 

That crazy Selfie Girl!

Whenever I saw this foreigner girl, she was always busy having selfies with the batch-mates, teachers or director. She even enjoyed having selfies with the priest, cook and cook’s assistants. She hadn’t left anybody in the Ashram with whom she hadn’t clicked the selfies with. She was a crazy ‘Selfie girl’!

One day, we were studying a serious topic in the class about the Vedanta philosophy when she noticed a big monkey passing by the corridor at a distance. She was happy like a child. She was excited. It seemed that if she wanted to have a selfie even with that monkey!

Three days before the examination day, she prepared a mock paper which she solved with some of her friends. I was surprised rather shocked to see her uttering all the Sanskrit terms correctly along with their meanings whereas in the class she was not able to understand some of the words in English. To help her, one of her friends translated the difficult words in her mother tongue for better understanding. In the busy schedule of one class after another, surprisingly she found time to click selfies as well as to mug up complex words and theories whereas I couldn’t find time for both.

Conquered my adjustment problems

On my first day in hostel sort of thing, I met a dark n fatty woman who smelt more like a cigarette, a smell that I hate the most! Her face expressions and gestures clearly showed that she was depressed. Most of the questions she asked me were irritating, confusing and weird which most of the time gave me a feeling that she was trying to read my psychology. One more thing that I hate! You won’t believe me but she stunk even after bathing thrice a day. Her presence in my room gave me a feeling that I was living with a ‘Buffalo’.

‘Buffalo’ played a musical instrument once in a while but that sounded horrible. She never flushed after using toilet and if by chance she used it then for sure the flush handle will be jammed. She never closed the door of toilet before and after using it. Whenever I entered the room I found her either sleeping, eating or applying cream or some fruit pack on her face. After eating fruits, she put the fruit peels on the window sill. I found it difficult rather very hard to adjust with her. I was irritated with her dirty actions and my mind was busy thinking about her and her unclean manners. I was fed up with thinking about her.

One day while meditating I prayed to God, “O, God! I came here with so much difficulty You know that very well. I am here to practice yoga and to meditate to think about You and not her. Please help me so that I can adjust with the ‘Buffalo’. I believe whenever I have a problem God comes in the form of written words in a book or internet to guide me. On the very same day, I read a story about Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevanada.

Excerpt from ‘Teachings on Yoga Life’by Swami Vishnudevananda are as follows which I read:-

One evening during silent meditation, there was a loud crash. Everyone looked up and was horrified to see a distressed disciple swinging an axe at Master’s head. Swami Vishnuji, sitting close to the Master, jumped up and pulled the assailant away from Sivananda in a great fury. Master told him later, “Vishnu Swami, you must learn to control your emotions.”

The assailant was taken to jail. But the next day, Sivananda took him fruit and flowers, garlanding his would-be assassin. He had him set free and set a disciple to accompany him home.

This incident was a great learning experience for Vishnu Swamiji. He saw that, to a Realized Master, God comes in many forms. To Sivananda, a person who would take his life was as much as God as a man who would come to garland him. He had great love for both. 

Next day, I found the peels and pips on the window sill of our room as usual but my attitude towards them was changed. I told myself it was done by God. I cleaned them. I felt better after that, could focus easily on my goal and meditated beautifully.

Rainbow greeted ‘Hi’ n ‘Bye’

On my first day in Netala, Uttarkashi the rainbow appeared on the eastern sky in afternoon. The sun was bright; sky was bit cloudy so the arc formed was quite big with distinct colours. It seemed as if the rainbow was smiling and saying ‘Hi’ and welcoming me to the new world which was calm and serene. It was a pleasant surprise that nature had to offer me.

On my last day in Netala, Uttarkashi the rainbow appeared around the moon. It was a cloudy night and the moon rays get scattered around in a circle. It created a dim rainbow in which the red colour was more prominent. It seemed that it whispered ‘Adieu’ to me. A mesmerising view indeed it was! 

In Hindi, we call it ‘chanda ka hala’. In English I don’t know the exact word for the rainbow around the moon. Does anyone know what it is called?

A quick friend

I always wonder when I will get back home after my educational vacations in Uttarkashi, what I will write about. So many experiences to share, so many persons about whom I wanted to write and so many places I had visited whose attractiveness I wish to blog about. It was my first experience to be away from my home and family. On the first day, I was excited and not at all nervous rather too curious to observe the nature and new people around me. But I will share these experiences later on as I want to begin with my last day in Uttarkashi which touched my heart the most.

Quite surprisingly, I made a new friend in just few hours on that day, contrary to my nature that I am too reserved and too shy to open up with new people that it mostly took me years or a minimum of a month to be friend with someone. What I liked about this person was his sense of humour, his quick replies and his melodious and pious voice which I wanted to hear again and again. In a satsang, he chanted, ‘Om Namah Shivaye, Shivaye Namah Om’ so beautifully and devotionally that my eyes became moist as I was absorbed in the chants and felt the presence of Lord Shiva in those magical words. I had never heard anybody singing so devotionally ever before! And I had never made a friend so quickly!

Book Review : Kundalini – An Untold Story by Om Swami

I have read lots of books on Kundalini and Kundalini Awakening. I always wonder why the books emphasise so much on the unnecessary complications about the figures, alphabets, deities, shapes and number of petals of different chakras when the experience and real truth is completely different. In ‘Kundalini – An Untold Story’, Om Swami wrote about such similar views. After reading him, I felt at least one person shares the similar views with me. ;)

As projected earlier, Kundalini is an uncoiled snake at the base of spine and on awakening one experience a sensation as if a serpent is moving upward towards the head. But Om Swami rejected this age old theory and emphasised that Kundalini is not just an uncoiled serpent at the base of spine but layer by layer cleaning of negative thoughts to experience the true self. He explained Kundalini from a totally different perspective.

First few pages of the book can be read here http://www.omswami.com/2016/04/kundalini-an-untold-story.html in which he said that chakra bracelet, pendants, incense, mats, rugs, clothes, wall hangings, chakra music, chakra programming and other attractive paraphernalia have absolutely no connection with the real sadhana of chakras and the only way to awaken the Kundalini is by meditating over a prolonged period, that’s all. Our true self is veiled with ten layers i.e. desire, anger, greed, attachment, ego, passion, jealousy, hatred, fear and self-concern. These layers are shed as one elevates spiritually slowly and gradually. With each level of awakening, one discovers bit more about the new self and one shed bit more of the old self.

On Kundalini awakening one finds oneself immensely powerful, talented, full of peace and happiness. One sheds ones negative emotions like anger, jealousy, ego and fear. One reaches state of bliss from where there is no return.  One gains the power - to heal people, to do miracles, to see through them. One's heart is filled with boundless compassion. One experiences how the whole universe is within oneself. 

Some of the interesting quotes from this book that I want to share are as follows:

1. Like Hanuman, our talents are lying latent within us, our potential is waiting to be realized. We are born of a boon and we have forgotten about it, and as a result of that we have taken ordinary way of life as our destiny.

2. If you walk the path and not give up, you will give results exactly as expected.

3. Mind becomes eternal when it becomes still. No change is possible without movement. Truth is still, and that's why it's eternal.

4. If you can remain indifferent to other's opinion by thinking they are merely joining letters from the alphabet and offering you a garland, majority of your reaction will disappear.

5. Kundalini is love coiled at the bottom of your desires and dreams, waiting to pierce through the wheels of emotions and attachments to attain a union with your own infinite existence.

This book is one more gem from Om Swami’s jhola. 

'Happy Rakhi' Chocolate

This year I was planning to buy a unique present from my brothers. I searched the markets, malls and online sites but nothing different I found. While chatting with an old pal on Facebook, I came across Choco Affairzz site and found the wonderful collection of home made chocolates.

'Happy Rakhi' chocolate was very attractive. It contains four more small chocolates. I called the number given on the site and asked the owner to replace the small golden chocolates with rakhis, roli, chawal and flavoured supari.

I also bought two 'I Love Bro' chocolates from them. My little brother birthday was approaching near so I decided to give him the cassette with poems recorded in his voice by me about 15 years back.

On seeing such tempting chocolates I couldn't resist myself and bought some for my taste buds.

WHO AM I?

"Is your name A..... Y.......?" I asked a woman who was standing beside me from the past couple of minutes in a government office.
"Yes." She said with a bit of surprise in her voice.
"You are from H..... city." I asked as it was clear she didn't recognized me.
"Yup. But how do you know?"
"I was your batchmate in Home Science college."
"Who? I....mean.....In which group you were?"
"My name is Chandrika Shubham." I told the names of my group members so that she could recognize me.
"Ya....Somewhat I can recall now. You have changed so much."
"Like what?"
"You looked like a doll in the college days and now..........."

Her mind was busy noticing changes in my physical appearance where as my mind was busy finding the answer of question 'WHO AM I?'- a ever-changing body or never-changing soul or ever-changing as well as never-changing GOD!

Whatever happens, happens for good!

I ordered a book from amazon.in. The cost of book was Rs. 275 and Rs. 30/- were transportation charges totalling to Rs. 305/-. I paid Rs. 300/- from the gift voucher and remaining by using net banking. I book the order on 23^rd May, 2016.  The delivery was to be made on 28^th May, 2016 to 2^nd June, 2016. On 2^nd June, the post man came to deliver a VPP. I was shocked to see my address correctly written over it and I have not ordered anything through VPP and was not expecting any packet through VPP.

He asked me to give Rs. 321/-.

On seeing the sender’s name which was written not so neatly on the packet, I told him , “I have made the payment to Planet V company through amazon.in. Let me call the sender’s mobile number.”

I called the number but nobody picked it up. Just to confirm, I switched on my laptop, checked my email about the payment details and found that I was correct. The payment was already made to amazon.in. In the mean time a person from Planet V called back. I told him, “I have made the payment then why should I pay again.”

“You have paid the money? Let me check.” I heard the voice over the phone. “You pay Rs. 321/- and we will refund what you paid earlier.”

“How will you refund the money when it was paid to amazon.in. And moreover, the packet doesn’t have any bill or sticker or envelop of amazon.in.”

I told the postman, “I do not want this and please return the book.”

I complained the matter to amazon.in. After a week I get the refund of my book from amazon.in and from that money I bought Kundalini – An Untold Story and The Wellness Sense, two gems from Om Swami’s jhola. Well said, whatever happens, happens for good! :)

Even if you can't understand at least you can enjoy!

Today I went to attend exhibition-cum- workshop. The exhibition-cum-workshop was on a specific topic. It lacked attractive offers, lucrative products or sexy models. Anybody who didn’t have any personal or professional interest in the subject would definitely feel bored to death.

At the end of the event, cocktails were served starting from the opposite corner where I was sitting. Before getting up, by mistake I peeped in the mobile of a middle aged person who was sitting beside me and was typing ‘Kuch samaj mein nahin aa raha hai per maza bahoot aa raha hai’ (I can’t get anything but thoroughly enjoying the event).

#CatchUpOnGrowth Indiblogger Meet

To attend Indiblogger Meet is always fun, sharing of information, showing creativity and above all enjoyment! I attended the first Indiblogger Meet of year 2016 in Delhi on 15^th May. #CatchUpOnGrowth Indiblogger Meet at Lalit, Delhi was also of unique of its own kind as I got the chance to meet blog buddies and to attend the launch of a brand new product i.e. HorlicksGrowth+, a revolutionary development in the field of nutrition sciences. It offers advanced nutrition for growth and development in children during their crucial years of growth. It was great to participate in discussion on child development with experts, talk about blogging with blog buddies and to know more about their blogs. I had nice time in face to face meetings, sharing experiences, interacting and playing games during the event.

Registration and warm welcome from Indiblogger Team, was followed by the buffet lunch. The meal was tasty, not too spicy and lavish. I got the change to meet nice bloggers from various fields from fashion to food. It was awesome experience to meet new bloggers face to face who wrote on different subjects whom I earlier knew only virtually as I had read their blogs.

Horlicks Growth+ is the first of its kind to provide nutrition solution to the children of age group 3-9 years to catch up the lost growth in terms of weight and height. It contains specific nutrients like whey protein, growth amino acids and vitamins, minerals from natural sources to trigger the growth in children who are leaner and shorter of their age.

The programme began with the introduction session from the selected bloggers such as Shilpi Dutta, Nimi Arora, Dr. Mandira, Arvind Passey and Reena Batra who shared their experiences with children and what they had learnt from them. It was hosted by Anoop. An interesting and informative discussion was organized in which the moderator was Natasha Badhwar who was a mother of three children, media professional, entrepreneur, avid blogger and the co-owner of Ochre Sky, an online fashion brand. The discussion panel included Dr. Rajiv Chhabra, HOD of Paediatrics at Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon who had worked with Max Hospital, St Mary's Hospital, Seth GS Medical College & Rajiv Gandhi Cancer institute & Research Centre, New Delhi and did his post graduate program in Paediatrics Nutrition from Boston University, USA, Ms Satinder Kaur Walia who was running her centre named 'Learning at Potential' a centre for psychological and educational assessment and Dr .Jyoti Batra who was the Head Dietitian at Batra Hospital and had also worked with Artemis, Fortis, Max & Paras Hospitals. An interactive and informative session with bloggers took place in which the bloggers actively participated. The panel with illustrations and examples answered the queries of bloggers about child growth, nutrition and eating habits. They emphasized on developing a healthy habit in children to eat healthy food which should be made interesting so that children relish them and love to eat them. Moreover, children should be allowed to eat junk food once in a while but before that child daily nutritive requirement of nutrients should be fulfilled from the healthy food. Therefore, healthy food in the morning and junk food at night could be given.

The product was launched by Amaan Khan who is the Marketing Lead for Horlicks for the Indian Sub-Continent at GSK Consumer Healthcare and earlier has rich Sales and Marketing Experience across FMCG, Healthcare & Personal Care categories across multiple geographies. Horlicks Growth+ is clinically proven to support ‘catch-up’ on lost growth in terms of weight and height reduction in children of age group 3-9 years.

Soon after the launch of the product we were offered to taste it. It is available in two delicious flavours chocolate and vanilla. I love the taste of chocolate flavour. It was so flavoursome that one mug was not enough I was wanting more. I am quite sure children will love the taste and flavour and will not be fussy about drinking it. It can be given to children in hot or cold milk or water. It can’t be mixed in juices or soups as the product contains milk powder. It can be given to child in between the meals or before sleeping so that normal regular food is not compromised. It is a boon for fussy eaters for their weight gain and overall growth. It is intended as a nutrition supplement not a meal replacement and is a nourishing beverage to be taken as part of a regular diet. It contains whey protein, essential amino acids such as Arginine, Glutamic acid, Leucine and Lysine 16. It also contains Calcium, Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Zinc which are extremely important to help children catch up on height and weight in the short duration of only 6 months. It provides immune nutrients like Vitamins A, C and D, which are all known to support a healthy immune function. It is a nutritious and flavoured healthy drink clinically proven to nourish children who have fallen behind with their weight and height.

Dr. Aditya Kaushik head of Medical Affairs for Indian Subcontinent at GSK Consumer Healthcare, was a physician (MBBS, MD), had clinical and industry experience in Medical & Regulatory Affairs & Clinical Drug Development and also chaired the OTC Industry Association committee at FICCI enthusiastically answered the questions from bloggers related to nutrition and make up of Horlicks Growth+. He suggested that parents should consult a physician for the amount and time framework for giving the Horlicks Growth + to child according to age and reduction in child’s weight and height.  

Tea time was the best time to interact with the bloggers of various fields under the same roof. I got the chance to meet the fellow bloggers to discuss various aspects of blogging. After it, all the members were shuffled and were asked to make the team of ten members. I was in Team No. 4 and was given measuring tape, T-shirt, mug and Horlicks Growth plus as props which were to be used while making an advertisement of not more than 30 seconds. It was a great fun with the team while making a clipping of advertisement. 

All of us enthusiastically took part in selecting dialogues, situation, and scene background. Shooting it, was real fun! Never done it before but thoroughly enjoyed creating that masterpiece. 

No grudges that our team couldn’t win but it was master piece for us as it was the beginning of vlogging. Moreover, I believe that participation in more important than winning a game.

Holding the gift from Indiblogger and Horlicks I came out of the hotel with memorable and knowledgeable experiences. On reaching home I found, Horlicks Growth+ pack in the bag. This is the best product in the market to trigger growth in children who are falling behind on the growth curve (in terms of height & weight). For buying, it is available at all leading pharmacies, modern trade retail chains and selected grocery outlets as well as online. Horlicks Growth+ 400g pack costs Rs. 575/- only. So much in so less price!

I am looking forward to next Indiblogger meet to have fun, to share information and to exchange knowledge.

Sharing of experiences in meditation

“So, when are you going to attend Yoga and Meditation Course?” Mrs. ‘V’ asked.

“I will be going by the end of July and coming back in mid of September.” I replied.

“What will they be teaching you?”

“My first course is a basic course about yoga and meditation which is of one month duration. And second course is about advance course on meditation and is of 15 days. During the first course they will give sattvik food to eat and may allow once in a while to talk on phone and to check emails. But during the second course they will give food without salt and sugar and most probably will not allow me to use mobile during the period of 15 days. To clear the first course is there preliminary requirement for attending the second course.”

“Is it really worth attending?”

“I checked on internet that people who have attended these courses have various experiences in meditation during the meditation class. The students are asked to do pranayama for 8 hours per day. With the result, the students have some unique and rare experiences while meditating.”

“After returning from there, do not forget to tell me about your true experiences in meditation that too in detail.”

“Have I ever asked you about your sexual experience?” I inquired with bit harshness in my voice.

“Are the experiences not to be shared?”

“No, they should not be, as they increase the ego-problem. They can be shared only if the person listening has experienced that himself or has a level of knowledge to understand those out of the world experiences.” 

Fear for lizards

"Lizard! Lizard!! Lizard!!!" Ms. 'Z' screamed.
I entered the room and saw her standing on the bed. She was shouting at the top of her voice and jumping once in a while.
"Where?" I asked.
"Under the bed!" She said.
"You come down. Do not be afraid of it. Lizard will go away. If  you jump on it the bed, it will hide more to protect itself." I said.
"In my hostel the lizards used to climb on my bed."
"Then you are standing totally on the wrong place." I thought.
To sooth her I said, "The lizards in your hostel must be very intelligent that's why they can climb on the bed but in our house they are stupid and foolish. Moreover they haven't master the art of climbing bed."
"I will switch of the light of my room and will go out for my evening walk." She suggested.
"That's a great idea!"

When she returned from her evening walk, I told her the good news. "I lizard creep outside the room and rushed towards the lobby."
"Was the lizard slim?" She asked.
"I didn't noticed her figure." I thought.
Seeing me silent she uttered, "May be they are more in the room!"

Appam with Italian Flavours

I love to experiments with food. This time I give a twist to appam. The recipe is as follows :-

Ingredients
Rice flour - 1 cup
Sour Buttermilk - 2 cups
Thyme - 1/4 teaspoon
Roasmary - 1/4 teaspoon
Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chili flakes - 1/4 teaspoon
Fresh Basil leaves - 7-8
Salt to taste
Mustard oil -2-3 tablespoon
Method
1. Mix rice floor and buttermilk very slow so that the lumps are not formed.
2. Keep it aside for 2 hours.
3. Add the spices, salt and chopped basil leaves. Mix them thoroughly.
4. Pour small amount of oil on heated flat tawa and spread it on whole tawa with a help of a wet cloth.
5. Pour the batter on the tawa and spread it very gentle with the back of katori or tablespoon.
6. Cook it on low or medium flame than turn it.
7. Pour some oil on the tawa on sides of appam. Let it cook.
8. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.

Knol Khol chips

In my balcony garden, a knol khol was ready to be picked up. Although I loved to eat it raw but due to problem in my teeth I couldn't eat it raw and had to cook it to make it tender and easily chew-able. I asked in a foodie group on internet to share good recipes of knol khol. My post was flooded with delicious recipes. Most of the people said that they love the knol khol pickle very much. I thought if its pickle is so delicious then must be its chips.

I prepared knol khol n potato chips. I shallow fry the thin slice of knol khol n potato till golden brown. I take out them on paper and sprinkle salt, white pepper on it. The recipe turns out to be very yummy. 

#KhulKeKheloHoli

The festival of colours – Holi is being celebrated all over India with pump and show. Whoever loves the colours – love this festival! The enthusiasm of children as well as adults reaches its peak when the nature is enthusiastically blooming with beautiful vibrant flowers. In my childhood days, we used to collect different flowers, leaves and berries from the trees, bushes and plants. We used to grind them fresh and extract their colours to play with them. Those colours were not only soothing for the face and hands but also give extremely beneficial effect on applying on skin.

We used to prepare different colours from different flowers and leaves. Red colour was mostly prepared from palash, China rose, sinduria. They were collected in bulk and then dried. The dried petals were grinded into fine powder. They could be applied on face directly. Pomegranate peels were boiled in water to obtain red colour water. Very rarely we use tomatoes to obtain the desired colour.

The other most commonly used colour was green as it was easily obtainable from henna leaves powder. We used to mix it with flour to get a nice shade of green. On mixing with water and it gave decent colour on drying. Green colour could be obtained from the leaves of China rose and kadhi patta. Both of them were very beneficial when applied on hair and skin.

We used to get the yellow colour from the turmeric powder and besan. They were mixed together with curd or milk to make a paste and on applying on skin they gave positive results. Similarly other colours like blue was obtained from crushed indigo berries, magenta from beet root, saffron from dried harsingar flower stalks, black from dried amla fruit and brown from dried tea leaves. These colours when applied on other’s face and hands were extremely beneficial.

At that time, playing with colours and water was fun and not terror. These days Holi colours are made up of harmful chemicals which can cause not only rashes on skin but also irritation on skin and in eyes. I have not been playing Holi from very long time because of the fear of being harmed by the chemicals in gulal and pakka colour. This year, I will be playing Holi with natural colours prepared with dried flowers and leaves by me and my friends. Moreover, Parachute Advansed is there to protect my skin and hair.

This Holi, I will play Holi festival like I used to play in my childhood. I will play with natural colours, will fill my belly with homemade delicacies like gujjia, bhujjia, mathari, shakarpara, dahi bhalla and pakodas and will shout on the top of my voice ‘#KhulKeKheloHoli’.

I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories atBlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.

Holi - Full Masti

In my childhood days, I love to play Holi. At that time, I celebrate Holi to the fullest! The joy of playing with colours and water was immense. I used to buy gulal in vibrant colours and the latest model of pichkari available in the market. I never forget to buy pakka colours for rubbing on my friends face and for mixing in water which is to be filled in pichkari and for throwing on my friends.

A week before the day of colours, my granny started preparing gujiyas, basen papris and bhujiyas. I loved to help her in preparing the gujjiayas. I filled it with sweet mawa and dry fruitsthen concealed the flattened dough with a gentle touch of water. I even prepared small papris. She deep fried them to prepare delicacies.

One day before Holi, water was collected in big vessels and containers as there was water shortage. On the every day, after eating snacks prepared by my granny, I took my small bucket, filled it with water and mixed the pakka colour in it. I went out of the house to find my friends to play Holi with them in the park. I and my friends throw water and colours on each other and have fun. We used to have full MASTI! In the last, when we all were tired. We sat in the park where there is ample of sunshine to dry ourselves. My granny gave delicious sweets and namkeens to each of us. We all enjoy the treat. At that time we used to celebrate Holi in true spirit.

Now a days I stopped playing Holi as these days Holi colours are made of chemicals which are very harmful of skin and hair. Moreover I am too busy to find time to play Holi as most of the time I am doing office work from home even on festivals and other holidays. I always wish to play Holi like I used to play in my childhood days and shout #KhulKeKheloHoli. But this time I have made a decision to bring back the fun and madness of Holi in my life back. I wish to revive all those golden childhood memories related to fun filled Holi festival.

This year, I have decided to take care of my skin and hair with Parachute Advansed and to tell my boss that I will not be able to do work on Holi as I want to celebrate this festival with my family and friends. I will be preparing gujiyas, bhujiyas and papris recalling my granny’s recipes. Although she is no more with us but her memories and recipes are still alive with me and will always with me.

I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories atBlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed.

Strawberry in balcony garden

In a nursery, located near my house had a decent varieties of herbs, flowers and other plants. From there, I brought pok choy, lettuce, mint and strawberry for my balcony garden. All plants were growing well. More and more fresh leaves were coming from them, making me happy. In strawberry, white flowers came which converted into little green strawberries. And today, I was surprised to see a strawberry ready to be plucked! :)

Cute rabbit

I was admiring the pets in a pet shop near my house. There were guinea pigs, white parrots, bazarigars, love birds etc. Suddenly a cardboard box opened up and this cute rabbit looked out. I clicked the pic and it came out perfect. :)

Grow vegetables in balcony

There are more than 35 tomatoes on a single plant in my balcony garden. I am happy to see so many organic tomatoes. That was not tough, anybody can do that even you can! I am sharing some tips to grow and get good yield from vegetables in pots.

1. Select the pot of bigger size made up of mud or ceramics. You can also try growing plants in empty plastic bottles, empty tins or useless vessels. Don’t forget to make a small hole at bottom in plastic vessels for draining of excessive water.
2. Place the pot in south or west balcony where the plant can get maximum sunlight. You can also place it near the window which gets the maximum sunlight in your house.
3. Put the stones or small pebbles in the lowest layer of pot.
4. Set the thick layer of soil above it.
5. Spread the vegetables peels, washed tea leaves or crushed egg shells.
6. Put some earthworms on it.
7. Final layer of soil covering worms and their food.
8. Sow the seeds and moist the soil with water.
9. If there are earthworms then keep the soil sufficiently moist as they can’t sustain in soil which have less moisture.
10. You can select any vegetable like brinjal (eggplant), tomato, mint, fenugreek, spinach, capsicum, chili etc. You can buy seed or saplings from a nearby nursery.
11. To notice a new leave, a new flower or a new fruit on the plant is truly very refreshing.
12. Planting vegetable in the balcony will also clean the air around your house.

Thanks to #Colgate360GoldMornings

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. – Marcus Aurelius

Every morning is bliss for me! A new morning, a new beginning and a new goal to accomplish!! I feel I have one more day to change my good morning to gold morning.  The only difference between the bad morning and good morning is the attitude. Change in attitude makes a lot of difference!

Mark Twain has said, “If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first.” In winter it is a difficult task to come out of the cosy quilt and doing hatha yoga and pranayama in the morning is as well as a tough job. Out of these two, I find the bigger frog is to come out of the warm quilt. ;)

My mornings become brighter with the new Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold toothbrush which does more than just cleaning the teeth. It cleans teeth, tongue, cheeks and gums. It frees the teeth from debris, bad breath problems and bleeding gums. Regular and daily brushing and flossing maintains the good health of my teeth. Healthy teeth make the personality pleasing. Proper brushing and flossing helps in preventive care of teeth which is must of good general health.

With every fresh morning I start my day by doing hatha yoga (physical exercise) and pranayama (control of breath). Hatha yoga helps in making me physically fit and healthy. Yoga increases flexibility, blood circulation, lubrication of joints, ligaments and tendons, excellently tone the muscles, messages all organs of body and flushes out toxins from the body. Pranayama helps in focusing the mind on a goal as well as gives mental strength to cope up with the stress and strain in the office. And above all, Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold gives the confidence to smile all the day irrespective of the hurdles, obstacles and problems which I faced during the whole day in my home and office.

I take balanced diet with more emphasis on calcium, phosphorus and fluoride as they help in maintaining good health of my teeth. I avoid foods rich in carbohydrates, starches and sugar as they produce plaque acids that attack tooth enamel. These acids can cause tooth enamel to break. Hence, tooth cavities are formed. Tooth decay should be avoided as it may lead to many other diseases.

Physical fitness, mental alertness and oral health turn my good mornings into gold mornings. Thanks to #Colgate360GoldMornings. 

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Book Review : Ramayana – The Game of Life Book 3 (Stolen Hope)

I can summarize 2015 year for me as ‘Meeting Celebrity Year’. I met, talked, had photos, got emails and books autographed by celebrities such as Karishma Kapoor, Ranveer Brar, Aditya Bal, Vicky Ratnani, Amrita Raichand, Swati Jain, Saransh Goila and Ravi Subramanian. Addition to this, in the previous year I received Ramayana – The Game of Life Book 3 (Stolen Hope) with a personal letter from Shubha Vilas, the author too. 

Shubha Vilas though holds a degree in engineering and law with a specialization in patent law is a story teller par excellence, lifestyle coach, spiritual seeker and motivational speaker. His lectures and seminars are available on YouTube. He blogs at www.thoughtsutras.blogspot.in. In author’s words, “As you flip the pages of these books (Ramayana series), one thought is sure to pass your mind; never has the Ramayana been so applicable in our own lives!”

The opening lines of the book describe about it.

Have you ever felt that there should be a book that bridges the gap between the loyal, traditional approach to the Ramayana and the twisted, modern but exciting approach to the epic?

If yes, your search ends here. Ramayana – The Game of Life is a series that attempts to present an authentic rendition of the Ramayana in an absolutely modern and riveting manner. This book promises to enlighten the loyalists and entertain the modernists.

Stolen Hope is based on Aranya Kanda when Lord Ram, his wife, Sita and his brother, Lakshman lived in the forest and met many sages till one day Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, King of Lanka.  

This book is full of beautiful sayings and quotes which are very practical and goes with every age. Some of them I have listed for you, my dear readers.

1. Life often leaves you with limited options. Often the choice is between limited happiness and limited void.
2. Time is like a mocking bird. It waits for you to laugh at others and then mocks you in the most embarrassing and irritating manner.
3. People and situations in life appear like an ocean that seem deceptively simple but may actually be endlessly complicated.
4. Just as an octopus eats itself due to stress, a human is mentally consumed due to negative stress.
5. In the absence of somebody’s presence is revealed her true value. What presence cannot accomplish, absence can!
6. In the broken confidence of your enemies lie half your victory and the other half in your own ability to handle your destiny courageously.
7. While dissatisfaction is the backbone for creative excellence, it breaks the bones of mental peace.
8. Rama also wanted to teach the world that when one prefers the cheap attractions of this world over God, He silently walks away from one’s life. Maricha represents the fraud veil of illusion over intelligence that numbs the sense of discrimination. All have their own golden deer in life.
9. Sunlight can penetrate clean ocean water to a depth of hundreds of feet, because it is transparent. Similarly, for love to have a deep impact in relationships there has to be transparency that leads to respect between two people.
10. Anxiety is the worm that eats away one’s peace of mind.
11. A hurt hurts the most when the one you love hurts you the most.

‘Jeihe vidhi rakhe Ram teihi vidhi rahiye’ (Whatever be the circumstances created by God one should be happy and satisfied with that), this theory is beautifully explained in the chapter ‘A Reckless Request’ by the author.

Long ago, Sita had heard from a great sage that the center of happiness was not the world but the heart. Whenever and wherever your heart stabilizes, that is when and that is where happiness is born. Since Sita’s heart was stabilized on Rama, Her happiness did not depend on where She was – Ayodhya or the jungle.

These are my favorite lines from the book and are so true to the present context that happiness is not outside rather inside us. And we have to discover it!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this immensely insightful book whose strength lies in its simplicity and lucid writing. This book is like a priceless gem which is to be preserved, conserved and read again and again to absorb its deep teachings in our lives.