Book Review: Shantaram

 

shantaram

If you like to read novels written by Indian authors or stories based in India then this book is a perfect fit. Written by an Australian born writer Gregory David Roberts, Shantaram is an autobiography of a former mafia don who spent his time in hiding in Mumbai.

This book is likely to be adapted to fit the celluloid. Johnny Depp would put his feet in Gregory David Roberts’s shoes. Mira Nair known for sketching novels on the silver screen will be directing the film. Sounds interesting, isn’t it? This is exactly why I picked up this book.

Ever since he breaks through a prison in New Zealand where he is convicted for committing various crimes, he flies down to Mumbai where he lives among slum dwellers after being robbed. While here he learns Marathi and Hindi language.

The description of Mumbai is intriguing – and it is a true story. Still alive and pursuing a life as a bestseller author; he has been through that entire episodes he mentions in the novel.

Destiny’s child like they say, he truly is one of them, I believe. Certain episode in the novel I truly enjoyed reading are: His journey to Prabhakar’s village where he sees the Indian village. The standing Babas and his first night in the slum.

The dark world in Mumbai in the 1980′ which is not known to my generation is explained with heavy details. Shantaram is an Epic which is a must read for all book lovers!

Never Stop!!!

There is a time when time stops we all know that time never stops so what actually has stopped its- us. When do we stop moving its when we stop taking actions in our life for the performance we are doing. Yes it is true when we go downhill and stop there and donot go uphill it is us who is not taking the steps to move uphill. We keep on pondering to the thoughts of  the past experiences and not able to move. Its tough for some to move uphill, can be understood but have to make a patient move uphill for which the karma has been in a standstill like the ‘stagnant water’ which is not moving. There is a little push which are forcing us to move, its difficult to move but have to take the move and start taking steps. Yes the steps would look like the big moves of life but that shouldnot be the reason for no movement. Situations make us or befall on us that makes us remain in the past but that wouldnot help us go and make that phase better its gone, what can be done is that we have to forget that; make an improvement in the present to make a better future.

Learn from the mistake and keep on moving. Nothing in this Universe is impossible which cannot be achieved through patience, determination and hardwork. So help yourself move on, there will be many friends who would help you to move on. These are the friends who would be happy watching your progress and they mean it! Difficulties would come and they will go its us who have to face it and know what to do at that point of time. When we come face to face with difficult situations it is for us to learn from it.

We have heard- learn from the mistakes or experiences which went wrong but what to ‘actually’ learn. Its mainly to learn that we should take a different approach to do the work or achieve the goal. Never fall flat to the experiences which cannot be achieved doesnot mean we will not be able to achieve that again its just that the approach to that went wrong. Keep trying for it again and again. If we donot try how are we going to know how things went and should have gone.

The Young Entrepreneurs

The rise of the young entrepreneur is evidence in this economic climate that job seekers have had to re-evaluate their approach to finding a job.

In light of recent technological advances, changing work patterns, the evolving landscape of industry and social mobility, jobs are no longer for life (for the long term for that matter).  Recruitment strategies have also evolved over the years, making entry into the job market even more competitive, Employers are also tightening their selection criteria and expect higher standards from their potential employees.

So what should jobseekers do to make themselves more employable and attractive in this job market?

Firstly job seekers need to understand that traditional methods of finding a job are not as effective in today’s market like they used to be. Answering job ads in papers, sending off speculative CV’s, visit agencies, might have worked 5-10 years ago but in this internet age – are not enough. As more and more recruiters and employers move to online based recruitment methods and tools, it opens them up to a larger demographic and therefore more competitive one. I would like to give a relevant example of my friend who is a translator and specialises in providing high quality translation services. She was struggling to find a job and was using old techniques like applying through newspaper ads and recruitment agencies. In the internet age people need to be more flexible and use innovative techniques to become more presentable and employable. That was my advice to her and also to everyone out there on a job hunting spree.

Job seekers therefore need to stand out from the crowd by presenting a good professional CV, having the right attitude to work and being willing to go the extra mile to secure the employers confidence. All of this will make the potential employee stand out from other candidates.

Job seekers might also want to consider setting up their own business or going freelance thereby creating opportunities for themselves and becoming pro-active instead of reactive in their job search. For those jobseekers, who are graduates, it could be a prime opportunity to utilise the skills and abilities acquired at university to build a business to create employment opportunities for themselves and others.

It is a proven fact that during economic hardship, human beings are at their most innovative and creative.

Many a business has been started during an economic downturn and has ended up thriving even in the face of such difficulty.

So perhaps self-employment might be worth considering, if you are a young person struggling to find a job in an economic climate where demand ( job seekers) far outweighs supply (jobs)

Book Review: The Last Lecture

Randy Pausch was a professor in Carnegie Mellon University. It’s common on college campuses for professors to give their last lecture to students and colleagues. Professors are asked: If they were to die, what wisdom would they give to the world if they knew it was their last chance.

In Randy’s case he did not had to imagine- he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2007. This was his last lecture.

He gave his last lecture in Carnegie Mellon University which became a popular you tube video. He then co-authored this book on the same theme which became a New York Times best-seller. He died in 2008.

Father of three children and married to the wife of his dreams, the author talks about the joy of life. How much he appreciates his life in spite of so little left. He talks about honesty, integrity and things dear to him. It’s not a book on how he coped with the disease but on how he lived his life.

The first part of the book is mainly on achieving childhood dreams. He narrates his encounter with NASA. It was his dream to fly in one of those NASA floating planes which he did. His stint in football taught him to give attention to fundamentals. He says that his first teacher was his father whom he quoted in his day to day life but it was his coach Graham who helped him develop self esteem. He taught him to work harder whenever he was at the verge of…

quitting. His second dream which was to write for The World Book which also came true when he was asked to write on virtual reality. He also fulfilled his dream to work for Walt Disney by applying to Walt Disney Imagineering.

Randy Pausch was a dreamer with child like enthusiasm for life.

He says to dream big, surrender, stop complaining, work harder, treat the disease not the symptom, don’t obsess over what people think, look for the best in everybody, get people’s attention, be thankful and mean it when you say “Thanks”. The final remark is mainly on his 3 children and his wife. It’s very touching.

Among all the words of wisdom, I liked the thought on focusing on other people. In this age where most of us are self centered, self obsessed and selfish, very rarely do we appreciate other people in our lives. No job is beneath you is also a good piece of advice to the young generation.

THE LAST LECTURE

His medical odyssey is heart breaking, at the same time warm, genuine and motivating. Chapters where he is narrating his life post the diagnosis are very real. You can find many pics of author’s childhood days which make the book very lively. Like him on his bunk-bed before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2007 dreaming, he and his sister at Disneyland, he and his wife etc.

This book is a peek into the life of a good human being. A very inspiring book. Just a Steve Jobs said “Live your life…

as if it was the last day of your life”, Randy lived it till the end and wrote the book for the whole world to be inspired by.

Life Changing Tips By Rumi

1. Challenge Fear-“Run from what’s comfortable. Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.”

2. Be Bold-“Do not be satisfied with the stories that come before you. Unfold your own myth.”

3. Have Gratitude -“Wear gratitude like a cloak and it will feed every corner of your life.”

4. Take Action -“Why should I stay at the bottom of a well, when a strong rope is in my hand?”

5. Have Faith- “As you start to walk out on the way, the way appears.”

6. Embrace Setbacks -“If you are irritated by every rub, how will you be polished?”

7. Look Inside -“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

8. Learn From Suffering -“The wound is the place where the Light enters you.”

9. Don’t Be Concerned With What Others Think Of You- “I want to sing like the birds sing, not worrying about who hears or what they think.”

10. Do What You Love- “Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of that which you truly love.”

Rumi was a persian poet,philosopher, jurist, theologian and sufi mystic. Many Spiritual Gurus give reference to the great writings of this great Mystic Sufi philosopher. For Rumi, music helped devotees to focus their whole being on the divine and to do this so intensely that the soul was both destroyed and resurrected. According to Rumi “this journey, the seeker symbolically turns towards the truth, grows through love, abandons the ego, finds the truth and arrives at the Perfect. The seeker then returns from this spiritual journey, with greater maturity, to love and to be of service to the whole of creation without discrimination with regard to beliefs, races, classes and nations.”

Brahmagyan

Until we are able to get over avarice and envy we cannot apprehend the true form of ‘Brahmagyan’.  So long as one is engrossed in riches, children and material longings one finds oneself in the whirlwind of sea of dilluson, attachment, avarice and is surrounded by crocodiles in the form of ego and envy. The one who is desireless alone can cross this ocean. Avarice and knowing of God are bitterly opposed to each other.

Sant Tulsidas says: ‘Jahan Ram Tahan kam nahi, jahan kam tahan nahi Ram. Tulasi kabahu hot nahi, Ravi rajaniek thau.’(where there is desire for indulgences there can not be God consciousness. Tulsidas says that day and night can never be together anywhere.)

Where there is greediness, there can not be contemplation of God and meditation. Then how can a greedy man attain detachment and liberation. A greedy man has neither peace, nor contentment. Nor can he be of firm resolve. If there remains even the slightest trace of greediness in the mind then one must understand that all spiritual efforts have gone waste. If an aspirant is not free from the desire of getting results of his efforts or is not free from the feeling of getting reward of performing his duties and no disinterestedness in them is developed then he ought to take it that all has gone waste. He cannot succeed in getting self-realisation. Those who are egoist and engrossed in sensuality have no effect on them of the lessons of their preceptors. Therefore, the purity of mind is absolutely inevitable because without it all spiritual exercises have no meaning and importance and it amounts entirely to be falsehood and self deceptive and full of pride.

Therefore, it is only appropriate that one should adopt only path which is comprehendable to oneself. My treasure is full and I fullfil the desires of everyone as per their choice. But I have to keep in mind the deservingness or otherwise of a person. Whatever Iam telling if you would comprehend it with full attention then you would certainly benefit by it.

-Sourced

Teaching of Ishopnishad

The main contribution of ishopnishad is related to the principles of conduct of human life. It is a matter of delight that the principles of this ‘upnishad’ are founded on the spiritual values, which are dealt with great details. The beginning of the Upnishad commence with the spiritual principle that everything that exists is permeated with God. This is also the principle of the state of self-confidence and the principle of the conduct of human life is that what we have available to us is gift of God and we must be contented therewith and must have the firm faith that God is omniscient, therfore, whatever he has granted us that alone is appropriate for us. It is also described that we must control our avarice for the wealth of others.

The second principle relevant to character is that we should live our lives by discharging our duties as the will of God, especially such duties as are enjoyed upon by the scriptures. In this respect this upnishad reiterates that the soul is degenerated due to lethargy and inaction. Therefore the one who lives his life by doing his duties with detachment attains the ideal of selfless action.

In the end it is exhorted that one who considers all beings as one’s own form and to one all beings and things have become his own self how can such a one ever have attachments? Such a being has no reason for grief. It is for the reason that one does not visualize one’s own self in all beings that feelings of grief, attachment, and desperation arise and one feels miserable.

-Sourced

The Average Indian Male: Book Review

The-Average-Indian-Male

The Average Indian Male written by television anchor, stand-up comedian and theater actor Cyrus Broacha decodes the average Indian men. The funny man makes no bones in calling himself as an average Indian male as well.

The book is nothing but pile of letters. The book starts with a witty letter by a foreigner who questions as to why most men in Mumbai and Delhi roam holding each other’s hand? Are they all homosexuals is his next question? For all those who know Cyrus from his VJing days on MTV he answers in his witty fashion in the book too. A number of reasons behind holding hands in public are cited in the book. No don’t expect all logical answers but yes they would still make some sense to you at the end. In fact the book is filled with stereotypes. Still you won’t mind reading it.

Next observation is on the lift and the liftman. What do people do while they are in the lift? Why do some people stare on the floor as long as they are in the lift and why the liftman’s job is the most boring job ever?

The part where he describes the five zones of the country is quite hilarious. He goes on to say that the north zone male indulge most in body touching among all the five zones. This includes your body as well as their own. Some of the other peculiar habits include public spitting, burp, fart, pushing old ladies…

of buses, ogling at women etc. Coming to the south zone male they apply copious amount of hair oil and they look down upon others who are not from the south. East zone males are lazy, where as he calls the west zone male as visiting faculty from other zones, who never leave.

Another quirky habit the author mentions is growing little finger nails to dig ears and nose. He then goes on to talk about the average mother who is quite motherly even when his son is married and 42.

According to the author the ultimate reason for divorces in India unlike in other countries is hot chapatti. The most common joke around as to why Indian men have skinny legs is also raised in this book.

Some other insights given are on why Indian men are short? Why do they have poor bathroom mannerism such as they forget to put the seat down, urine is sprayed all over the pot, wetting the entire bathroom after taking a shower, leaving the wet towel on the bed, so on and so forth!

The author also talks about the order of the comb phenomenon- the tendency of the average Indian male to always carry a comb in his pocket. They tend to overdo the head nodding and bobbing when talking but this is common among all Indians, Isn’t it?

On the whole the book is a light and funny read. Time flies while reading this book. It’s in true Cyrus…

Broacha conversational style. Though towards the end it kinda gets monotonous. Nevertheless, a very entertaining book. Must read!

Going Beyond

Sourced*

Episode 15

 

Life is not a competition. Each one is on their own journey, live according to your choices, capacity, values and principles.

The output of our actions is in proportion to our inputs. Inputs could be circumstances, health, resources, and value systems. Our output is not dependent on the output of others.

Past Karma is a very important input factor. Even if all the present input factors of two people are the same, their past karma are different, therefore output will be different and therefore no competition.

If we compromise on our input factor – values or interfere with the inputs of others, we are creating deep karma and this will influence our output today and in the future.

 

Episode 16

 

Negative thoughts like jealousy, hatred, anger, criticism are toxic and large in number. They make us feel heavy.

When someone is jealous of us, we need to empathise with them, they are insecure and they feel they have not got what they deserve to be happy.

The one who is jealous is not feeling nice and they may not speak nicely about us, but we do not need to justify ourselves by talking badly about them.

Continue to create beautiful clean thoughts of understanding and love for the person who is jealous of us, these pure thoughts will help them to heal themselves.

 

Episode 17

 

Very often our behavior is only a reflection of the way others have behaved with us, and in the process our own personality is lost.

Irrespective of environment and people, let us retain our original qualities, so that we will be comfortable and we will spread the fragrance around.

Values are our strength, even if no one around us is using it and even if others think they don’t work, we should not give up.

With values we need humility to accept others around who may not use the same values, and power to face the challenges that might come because of living by our values.

Let’s choose one value and then use it with everyone, everywhere and every time.

 

Episode 18

 

To take control of situations first take control of yourself.

In every situation instead of checking what is right for the situation or the other person, first take care of what is the right way for me to be in this situation.

Going out of control means disconnected from your natural self of purity, peace, love and happiness.

One wrong has no right to correct another wrong, and no power to change them. We have to be in the right before inspiring others to change.

If family or friends are in pain, hurt or anger, we have to first take care of ourselves, remain stable and then help them to come out of it.

When we use love as the way of working, our internal strength, makes people – want to respect us for our inner power, rather than – have to respect us for our position.

 

Episode 19

 

Our negative emotions have an impact on the mind, body and relationships. Physical disease is easier to heal, but emotional hurt and relationship conflict is a deeper impact.

Sanskars of this birth are easier to change, sanskars being carried for many births need more attention.

Assertiveness is stability inside and focus on the act, not on the person who has made the mistake.

Assertiveness retains the respect for the person and corrects the task. Anger is an attack on the person, and also brings up the past.

A silent mind silences other noisy minds. If parents and teachers have silent minds, they will help children to concentrate.

 

Episode 20

 

In any situation, control your state of mind, then look for an alternate way of thinking and delete the emotional baggage held against people.

If we hate someone, when we leave the costume we carry the imprint of hatred, and when the two souls meet again they experience hatred.

Every time we carry forward the unpleasantness, the magnitude and complexity increases. To change the quality of the interaction right now is only one thought away.

If someone has cheated or betrayed us, one option is to create hatred and carry it forward. Other option is to create forgiveness and change the quality of interaction.

Whatever others are doing to us is a return of our past karma, they are not wrong. The response we choose now will create our present and decide our future.

 

Episode 21

 

Our thoughts, words and actions are the energy we send to people, which is our karma. Situations and people’s behaviors are the energy on the return, which is our destiny.

If God wrote our destiny, it would be a perfect destiny. Our destiny is created by our karmas, our free will, not by the will of God.

God can never get angry with us. God can never curse us. God will only bless us, forgive us and give us the strength to correct our mistakes.

God gives the knowledge of right and wrong karmas, the strength to create good karma and the power to face the consequences of our past karma.

When we are performing rituals they need to be done with the intention of purity and love for God. Not an intention of fear of God or to appease God so that life is smooth for us.

Episode 22

1. When we do something for pleasing others, we do the act, but we create a lot of negative thoughts of stress, anxiety, unwillingness which reach the other person.

2. We say yes to people only for their approval. We think when they approve of us, they love us, if they love us we will be happy. We do everything for pleasing people but we are still not happy because of the unwillingness we have created.

3. Due to our low self esteem we are dependent on others Approval, Acceptance and Appreciation for feeling good. We are then ready to do things to please people so that we do not face rejection.

4. Approval, acceptance and appreciation is like a drug, dependency goes on increasing and our vulnerability increases so we feel rejected by a single word or gesture.

Episode 23

1. We need to be prepared we will lose people’s approval when we do something different from what they expected, but that does not mean we are not right or not good.

2. When we choose to do something for others, it is because their happiness matters to us, it is important for our relationship, so we are actually doing it for ourselves. Always do it after we understand we are doing it for OUR happiness not for them.

3. If we feel we are doing it for them, then we may do it without being happy, and then neither us nor they will be happy.

4. If we give what we want whether it is love, acceptance or appreciation, we will experience it before we give it. This makes us a master who gives, not a slave who is dependent on others.

Episode 24

1. Trust should be the first thing to come in a relationship and the last thing to go and actually should never ever finish.

2. When we say we cannot trust someone again, we actually fear the hurt we will create if they do something which we did not expect. We do not fear trusting them, we fear our getting hurt.

3. They have done something which is not right for us, but the hurt we create is totally our responsibility and we have a choice how much and for how long to remain hurt.

4. Every time we create hurt we are getting weaker and then we create hurt even in simpler situations, because getting hurt is becoming our sanskar, and then trusting people becomes difficult.

5. When we start healing our selves, we do not fear getting hurt, and then we are able to trust people because even if they do things differently, we will be able to take care of ourselves.

6. When we doubt people around us in society or at the work place then doubt becomes our sanskar, and then it becomes difficult to trust family and friends.

 

Episode 25

Expectations means we have already decided the outcome of a situation or a person’s behavior and according to us that is the RIGHT way.

We want the outcome to be only OUR WAY for us to remain stable. If it happens any other way we will get disturbed, even if it is a better way.

When we get disturbed, we hold them responsible for our reaction and we even feel that they have let us down by not meeting our expectations.

Not having expectations does not mean that we will not give instructions or corrections. It means whatever may be the outcome we will be open to being in the present moment and respond proactively.

Give instructions and opinions, but do not expect that they have to be followed the way and at the time which we think is right. If we have expectations we react negatively. If we do not have expectations, we will accept the outcome and respond positively.

If we get hurt and react often, very soon we label them saying – they NEVER listen to us, they ALWAYS let us down.

INSPIRATION

How do we understand that this thought is inspiration. It is the word or sentence which is inspiring us to do something good which mind thinks is right for us.

Inspiration as the dictionary definition goes by arousal of the mind to special unusual activity or creativity that is to create, motivate with all the effects of positive words and sentence. Inspiration can be found in nature, in personal experience and spiritual thoughts. It should provoke us to do and think only inspirational.

Why are some of us so attached to ‘spiritual gurus’ and ‘motivational speakers’ its because they tell us in a way which is positive and create the right vibration in our life.

Life as we know gives all of us the effects of hard tones rather than the softer tones which needs cleansing of our mind so that we can work our day to day life. All of us know it takes  lot of time to take out the effects of our grinding between the good and the bad karma. We have to struggle a lot to be a better  human being to be uncorrupted in thought  process as well  in the actions we apply in daily life.

We get so much incorporated in our daily life that to 365 days of our life that we are only making our fame, position and money, we forget that this body is only a form made of clay; actually it is the soul which is making us do the  deeds in this world and we are so egoistic about the ‘body’ thinking that it only  does eveything we think about. We forget that “the body is only the means by which it performs the work its the Soul which tells us to do it”. 

So Inspiration is the food to the Soul which has to be washed every day to make clear thoughts which are pure, honest to fulfill the purpose in Life!

King Chilli – Restaurant Review

KING CHILLI

THAI POT NOODLES WITH GRAVY (SEAFOOD)

PEKING RICE WITH GRAVY (CHICKEN)

Online Retail Shopping

Online Retail Shopping is the latest form of shopping in India. Still at a nascent stage it is in vogue among youngsters who are earning handsome disposable income. I too have joined the bandwagon I started to shop online just a year back.

FASHIONNYOU

My first buy was on www.fashionnyou.com. I bought a top from Aadro an Indian brand. It is maroon coloured-polyster top. I was apprehensive about the fit but if you basically go by your bust size you should get the right fit. I even liked the length of the top which was below waist. It matched the picture displayed on the portal. The cost of this top was Rs 1000 approx.

Then I bought a black kurti for a friend’s birthday. I do not remember the brand name. Though my friend was very delighted. It fitted her well and she did not had to alter also. The cost of the Kurti was Rs 450. I had got some credit in my account of Rs 200 from www.fashionnyou.com so I had to pay minus the credit.

Next I bought a tunic from www.99labels.com. This one was from Sepia brand also an Indian brand. It was wine coloured satin tunic. 99labels takes 20 working days. But due to some delay from the brand the delivery was delayed. It took more than a month for the delivery. I was very disappointed with their service. They did not even bother to alert me about the status. The cost was Rs 650 approx. Luckily I loved the top and its fitting once again.

99LABELS

But not with www.zovi.com. I purchased a purple colour top with frills in the front. The sleeves were not stitched properly and it was too tight. A big disappointment. It cost me Rs 700. I did not bother to exchange because I did not think they could have done anything about it. Zovi is a brand that also manufactures its own products this includes apparels.

ZOVI

These portals claim to have discounted prices on their products but I found it too heavy on my pocket. I would have got the same brand at any mall at the same cost if not less.  Online shopping involves a lot of inhibition since we do not get to touch and feel the clothes. It is sans trail – a major disadvantage. Also, if you find any fault with the product exchanging procedure is too painful. If one gets products half the price available in the malls then shopping online could be appealing. Till then shopping online would be a choice only for those you wish easy and time saving shopping experience.

Bindas Sisters

Gorgeous sisters Shruti and Akshara are quiet natural with the camera…I love the hair colour – Vibrant & Bindas!

-Courtesy: Yahoo.com

A Day at the Parathawala Gali

PARATHEWALI GALI

Chandi Chowk as we all know is famous for their old, new and always famous for its fabrics, jewellery and antiques, its also famous for the ‘parathas’. Visiting Parathawali Gali was like visiting the shrine for the ‘foodies’! Always heard about but could never find ample time to visit it. So finally visited it. It was a wintery Day with a ‘bright sun’ to provide a feel of warmth. A sunday which I thought will give less number of people visiting it but no it was not, the story was to wait in the queue for it. The waiting was for half an hour…….the ‘wait’ was worth it.

The famous and one and only Pt. Kanhaiya Lal Durga Prashad Dixit Parawthewala (estd. 1875). Many known politicians and actors have visited this place to have a bite of their famous ‘parathas’! The very recent to my knowledge included Ranbir Kapoor and Imtiaz Ali for the promotion of Rockstar movie.

The place is well known to the foreigners too who travel and visit the place with their touring guide.

The menu included regular parathas and very unusual parathas which inclued ‘karela (bitter gourd), ladyfinger, tomato, kaju, badam, rabri, khoya and mix parathas’. The parathas are served piping hot which are fried in desi ghee with potato curry, a sauteed mash of sweet pumpkin, tamarind chutney and sweet chutney and mixed pickles.

THALI

My take on the whole thali was the sauted mash sweet pumpkin along with the ghee fried lovely parathas were just ‘YUMMY’ ….. can end up licking the spoon for more sweet pumpkin!

To end the lovely sumptuous meal one can only desire for ‘lassi’ with ‘mallai’ which after coming out of the parathawala shop is easily available on the opposite side in ‘earthern glass’ which is totally an indian touch way back to centuries!

So next time you visit Delhi, visit Chandni Chowk for their famous Parathewala Gali which is ten minutes walk from the nearest metro station. Happy Eating!!! :)

My Food Journal – Muesli

I like to munch something in between my hectic work. My mind gets exhausted and I feel the urge to munch something. Crunchy eatables reduces stress for me. At the same time I need to check my weight. I need to cut down 9 kgs. So one day I decided to buy pack of oats and store it in my office drawer. When I went to the store I was introduced to Muesli. Muesli includes rolled oats and wheatflakes, dry fruits like raisins, almonds etc. Some of the brands also have strawberry or apple flavoured muesli or dry fruits like apple, pineapple etc. You can pour hot or cold milk and serve. You may also try yogurt, cream etc. They also have options like with sugar and no sugar. Muesli is low in fat, no cholesterol, zero trans fatty acids and rich in fibre.

I have tried Express Foods’s Harvest Crunch with and without sugar. Then I have tried Bagrry’s Fruit n Fibre – Strawberry. This time I got Kornflakes Muesli. Unfortunately it does not match up to the other two. I did not like the combination of cornflakes in muesli.

I am skipping my dinner since few months and instead having muesli at night as well.

What I Am Reading Right Now!

365 days of wisdom

After a long hiatus today I went to my spiritual class. I sat for the lecture. I felt light. I also picked up a book from the centre. It’s by my favourite dadi – Dadi Janki. I like her lectures a lot. I make sure I read her lectures online. The book is called 365 Days of Wisdom.

Synopsis – It offers 365 short but profound spiritual thoughts, one to inspire each day of the year. The quotations of the day have been specially chosen to provoke thought and encourage inner development.  The quotations address the issues we all struggle with daily: stress and negativity, how we organize our lives and make the best decisions, the joys and difficulties of connecting with others and the nature of love. Organized as one day per page, each day’s thought is followed by a short contemplation, practice or project, with space to write your own thoughts and chart your inner journey through the year. The beauty of wisdom is that it is timeless and simple; there is no calendar element to the book and so you can start using it at any point in the year. Whether you need to cool the mind or warm the heart, let this inspired collection of wisdom and insight be your guide through the year.

365 days of widom

Soul Fry – Restaurant Review

SoulFry

If your wondering where can you indulge in some soulful sea food in Mumbai, then Soul Fry @ Palinaka, Bandra is one stop for you.

Soul Fry comes from the name fish fry and it serves home style food. The restaurant is predominantly Goan style and has a cottage like look. It also has a bar within.
They have a branch – Soul Fry Casa on M.G. road, Opposite Mumbai University, Fort.

They claim to serve the best sea food in town but do they really deliver? Well, they do have a variety of fishes on the menu such as Crabs, Prawns, Squids, Clams, Ravas, Pomfret, Surmai, Bombil and Bangda. The most popular dishes include Portuguese prawn rice, calamari/prawn green chilli garlic, sungta maria that is prawns on toast, potato spinach curry etc.Don’t forget to try the Ginger Lemon Fizz which is Lime Soda and chopped ginger and Solkadi which is coconut milk and ginger, it’s really refreshing and a change from the usual cocktails.

They also have home delivery facility within the vicinity. The restaurant is open in the afternoon from 12 noon to 3pm and in at night from 7pm to 1am.

Soul fry is a delight for sea food lovers – a must TRY!

Going Beyond

*Sourced

Episode 5
To change any habit we take care of 4 aspects. Gyan – Knowledge, Yog – Meditation, Dharna -Inculcation of qualities and Seva – Sharing. Meditation means to check your emotional blockages, see the thoughts behind it and then replace those thoughts with the truth. For eg. No one loves me is the blockage. Replace it with, I am a Loveful soul, I will give love and acceptance to everyone.

Rajyoga Meditation means connecting to the Supreme Power, God and taking His powers and love to heal our blockages.

 

Episode 6

 

Success inside i.e. stability, comfort, happiness inside will have an influence on getting success outside.

When two people are in conflict inside, they cannot create harmony in the relationship. Harmony inside, i.e comfort, stability inside flows into a relationship and creates harmony.

We always thought if the relationship is beautiful, if we get along well, then we will be very happy. The truth is if we are happy then the relationship will be beautiful.

Knowledge is not to be used only for reading, listening and feeling nice, but to be experimented and implemented in daily living.

Early morning the absorption capacity of the mind is high, fill it with pure powerful information i.e. spiritual knowledge and keep the newspaper for later in the day.

 

Episode 7

 

When we take knowledge shared by others and implement it, we silence our noisy mind, then our own innate wisdom will emerge and this will change our deep belief systems.

Study knowledge in the morning and then attention in the day on its application in situations, this is Dharna, inculcation of values. We shift from reactive behaviors to consciously responding from our original qualities of peace, love and respect.

When we respond with stability in smaller situations we conserve energy. When there is a crisis we have the energy to face it with calm and stability.

The knowledge we learn, we share it with the other, this is Seva. When we share we benefit first because we churn the knowledge while sharing. Sharing can also be radiating vibrations of purity.

 

Episode 8

To make transformation natural and easy begin the day with meditation. As far as possible at the same time daily and in a dedicated place which is preferably not the bed, where there are vibrations of sleep.Meditation silences the mind. Then study of knowledge implants seeds of new way of thinking and behaving deep into the subconscious. A minute of reflection after every hour to check the quality of thoughts and change consciously towards the right way of thinking. At night review the day. Any action which was not right, we reflect on it and see how we could have responded in a different manner and visualize ourselves doing it a different way.

Episode 9

We need to check our internal comfort zones of habits and behaviors created due to past experiences or affirmations made by people around  us. We may be comfortable being that way, but it is damaging if it is depleting our energy. Self talk that we create has a deep impact on our sanskars and behaviors. Like we talk positive loving words to others to help them to change, we need to be positive and loving to ourselves.

Other people’s opinion about us should not stop us from breaking our comfort zones. Goal is to have harmony inside. Easiest way to break a comfort zone is to start doing the opposite, even if it appears to be difficult. Each of us is a powerful soul and all of us have the same amount of will power, we choose how much to use. The more we use it, the more we will experience it.

Episode 10

Subtle way of controlling people is when we change our behavior, like getting angry, hurt, sulking, not talking to them, till they do what we want them to do. When we ask people to do things in a particular and they do it our way, we feel we control them and they feel they are being controlled, both are not true and it makes both weak. The one who feels they can control will always have the fear of what if they lose control. Their happiness will always be dependent on the other person doing things their way. The one who is listening to others needs to be aware that they are choosing to obey for certain reasons.  Important is they are making the choice, they are not being controlled. A powerful being is not the one who is able to control others, but the one who is able to control themselves.

Episode 11

When people don’t do things according to what we want we start being judgmental and critical. This is creating resistance towards them. At that moment we don’t love them, we reject them. Resistance is not because of what the other person has done. Resistance is because of how we start thinking in response to what they have done. Our judgmental thoughts will travel to them and they start creating similar thoughts, and the process of conflict has begun. Each one is different, no one is right or wrong, we are just different. Acceptance means we accept the difference. Acceptance means we are comfortable with their present sanskar and way of working and ready to work on it from the next moment i.e. future. Rejection is focused on the past, the mistake they made.

Episode 12

Criticism depletes the energy of the one being criticized and also of the one criticising. The criticiser creates emotions of rejection, anger, and fear of what if they don’t listen to me.
Criticism creates hurt in the one who is being corrected. When someone is hurt they can follow our instruction but they are not feeling nice and hence we cannot say – it was for their good.
Critique is giving feedback for the deed and criticism is thinking negatively for the doer. Separate the action from the person and give  suggestion only for what they have done.
Appreciate the person’s qualities and the other tasks that they do, build their self confidence and then give them feedback on the task  which has gone wrong.
When we are hurt or angry the feedback goes with the negative vibration and therefore not comfortable for the other. When we are stable and give the same feedback, it is only a feedback.

Episode 13

Give advice and corrections to others only after we are doing it in our own lives.
Each soul is carrying sanskars of many births, created due to cultures and situations in every birth.

Sanskars which are not comfortable need to be changed, else we carry them into our next birth too.
Criticism deepens their wounds and sanskars get stronger. Compassion helps them to heal their sanskars.
Correcting people means empowering them to do it better in the future.
Punishment was for what had happened in the past. Shift from control, discipline, authoritative, punishment to being compassionate, facilitate, guide, empower and heal.

Episode 14

Habits change only when we know WHY we need to change and we really WANT to change.
MIND creates thoughts, INTELLECT evaluates and decides, comes into action, repeated action becomes a HABIT or SANSKAR. Once it is a habit, the mind does not create too many thoughts and the intellect does not evaluate, the habit comes into action automatically.
To change a habit, first we have to create a new way of thinking. Shift from automated way of thinking to consciously choosing a new thought.
When the new thought is created, we will start feeling better. Now bring the new thought into action. We are consciously creating a new habit.

 

Things I Miss

Low waist denim jeans

High Heels

Mojris

Wandering on the streets

Solo travelling

Sitting on the floor

Walking bare feet

Running

Gym

Dance

Swimming – I wanted to learn

Driving my dad’s car – I wanted to learn

Short pants

Skirts – I had plans to wear it in future

Dresses – When I see them in all shops

Going to the canteen and chatting for hours

Going outside of my office for time-pass

Going out for tea outside my office

Cycling – My favourite vehicle

Reporting – My forte

Meeting people from different fields

Mehendi On My Hands

Last Sunday I attended my friend’s sister’s Mehendi ceremony. I got mehendi on my hands as well. So did my mommmy! Check it out!