Happy Pongal!

Pongal is here!

They say Pongal is a festival to celebrate prosperity. Also, it is our Indian version of the Thanksgiving.

This got me thinking.

What am I thankful for?

What prosperity am I celebrating?

Both these questions led me to this quote from a Grey's Anatomy episode.

"At the end of the day, when it comes down to it, all we really want is to be close to somebody. So this thing where we all keep our distance and pretend not to care about each other, it's usually a load of bull. So we pick and choose who we want to remain close to, and once we've chosen those people, we tend to stick close by. No matter how much we hurt them. The people that are still with you at the end of the day, those are the ones worth keeping. And sure, sometimes close can be too close. But sometimes, that invasion of personal space, it can be exactly what you need." ~ GA S3E10

I am thankful for such beautiful people in my life!

I am also celebrating their presence in my life :)

Happy Pongal!!!

p.s. Pongal is celebrated as Makar Sankranti in North India with their skies filled with kites.

Oh how I wish I could be there to take some colourful pictures of the kites and run down the streets with the children to claim the fallen kites.

Some day....someday....

One winter morning, last year...

Peeping through....

fluttering doors opened.....welcomed in

Why and how.

Caught in the way.....

Well Hello!

Time to say bye for now.

Hello! Year 2011

It is nice to finally meet you and blah blah...

Lets get down to business shall we?

Okay. I hope you are going to behave yourself, cos I have given myself permission to be at my worst behaviour this year! (Well even if you dont behave, it is fine!! No pressure)

Yes!!! I am giving myself permission to be naughty, make mistakes, to mess up, to screw up, be a loser, let go of the need to be perfect, let go of all the rights and embrace the wrongs more often and to just BE!!!

Time to be more playful in life. Enough of the seriousness already!

So here is me saying Hello to you!

Inspiration for the Uncertain

Lately, I have been experiencing un-certainty in all possible forms, shapes and sizes.

In moments of un-certainty I tend to reach for something, anything certain.

There is a constant struggle to fight away that which is un-certain.

But is there anything that is certain?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Then why fight it? Why fight anything?

When I was looking for some answers and questions in this direction.

I came across this .......

"Living with doubt

... is almost always more profitable than living with certainty.

People don't like doubt, so they pay money and give up opportunities to avoid it.

If you need reassurance, you're giving up quite a bit to get it.

On the other hand, if you can get in the habit of seeking out uncertainty, you'll have developed a great instinct "

~ Seth Godin

Another post on his blog that also caught my attention. Couldnt be more true.

This got my brain juices buzzing.

Buzzing on.................................

cook to think

Arundhati Roy, the writer for who I have all the awe and hero-worship for, says ' Sometimes I need to write to think.'
I have been discovering a new side in me lately.
Sometimes I need to cook to think.

Here is what I have been cooking lately.

procastination

It has been a year since I last posted.
This, I assume, is what one calls structured procastination ?

I am still waiting for inspiration(?) to find me to continue writing...

I will stop procastinating tomorrow. I promise.

The Time Traveler's Wife

sob
skipping beats
books
movies
wander
first
















Books - my first love and Movies - my second love. It seems like it, these days anyways.
For me movies have always been a pale version of a book, esp when the movie is a remake of a book. I don't know what I was hoping for from this movie. I had read the book many years ago and sobbed through it! Have you ever read a book(s) that stay with you long after you are done with them? Experienced a book popping up now and then in/through your own experience in life, like a fish in a vast vast ocean? I always do! I sometimes describe it to people like it was a deja vu and always get strange looks(but then again, I get that for a lot of other things so by now I should be used to it). Maybe because the book left a strong print on me and the movie dint match up, I was slightly disappointed. Eric Bana in all his beauty made up for it and more! *sigh* *heaven*

Maybe I should stop comparing the movie to the book. The movie in itself was beautifully made and sent me down a tunnel of thoughts about the past, the present and the future.

Aren't we all time travelling all the time? We live with our memories from the past. We either hold on to the past or it seems on to hold us. The past is what makes us who we are today. Are we a consequence of the past? From our past we seem to project into the future. (Even while I am typing this, I am wondering who will read it and what they will think of it) Because the future is so unknown there is sometimes so much anxiety and the fear of the unknown. But it is full of surprises as well isn't it?

It seems very difficult to be rooted in the present for a continuous period of time. I often experiment with it and find myself noticing mundane things about people around me, about objects, sounds and smells. I then ask myself, how is this in any way more richer or better than me going to a past memory or a future projection in my head and experiencing that in that moment? I have never been able to find the answer to that question. These mundane details are pale in comparison, my logic says. But no! I do notice that when I am rooted in the present moment, there is a beauty to reality, that I cant explain with words. It is just real - beautiful.

I think I also run to the past to run away from facing the present or project into the future to feel safe, through a false sense of control over what is going to happen. I feel we also often glorify the past too much, make it more beautiful than it was. Is it because we are now far away from it and can rewrite/tweak it to what we want in our memory? Create a new experience out of it? Or is it because, only now, we can experience the past in totality? When I look back at any memory, I often find myself experiencing it in a completely new dimension.

When I was in high school,I have always wanted to see into the future. But two years ago, if someone had described what my life is like today, would I have laughed at them? Do I really want to know?

If I knew back then what I know now, would my life have been any different? But how would I know all that I know now, if I dint go through all that I went through?
Life is strange, isn't it? But definitely in a good sort of way!

I am going to experiment more in being rooted in the present for however long I can without going into the past or the future. It enlightened The Buddha, let us see what it has in store for me. :)

Oh! before I forget, this movie will be very special to me because, this is the first movie I went alone to a theatre to watch. I have always been scared to go alone to movies and dinner, it looked sad and lonely in my judgement. When the man at the ticket counter repeated 'ticket for ONE?' Pang, but I said yes please! :D I have always thought it takes guts to go watch a movie alone! And today I did it! And guess what? I loved it! I am going to do it more often in the future.

Have a beautiful present! :)