OK

A seedling sown carefully under the wraps of mud and cocopeat

Watered with utmost care, neither too less nor too much

Exposed to enough sunlight

Despite the intensive care, the poor seedling doesn't take bloom,

Lo and behold, without an iota of doubt, the entire pot is moved

Or the mud is dug into, to look for anomalies.

Not once is the seedling ever blamed, it's no fault of the seed, after all –

Everyone would agree without batting an eyelid.

And then when it does bloom, there's so much joy we seek in the little things

Talk of it as though the growth took place because of our care.

Well, let's take the pride if we want to.

The plant wouldn't know a thing, for it’s blooming where it’s planted.

 

In another realm,

Something regular goes amiss

Draws two red lines, when detected

Turns into a tiny sac

Letting out beats per minute, heard through an amplified technology

And it's a real being, a real thing!

Boom! And it changes the whole world for the one carrying it

Every person, with some basic empathy, who gets to know this, offers so much advice and care

For just like the plant, it's an inkling, with a greater potential to grow, after all.

If it's water & sunlight for the plant,

It's good emotions, food and supplements for the tiny sac.

It’s a dependent, after all, anything the carrier inputs, would be its direct output – a tiny reflection

What manifests as a tiny sac, goes on to take different shapes while being afloat…

Whether the mud and cocopeat go through painful changes or not, as the plant tries to expand,

The tiny sac takes up all the space it can –  causing a plethora of changes for the person carrying it – hormonal and what not.

A pleasant feeling this is, unique, and exclusive.

Every movement would want to be documented, just like the flowers blooming.

It could very well be a mundane activity, a routine, like the sunrise and sunset,

But the person carrying it feels every ray of its expansion

To revel in the beauty of the tiny being –  the stretches, moves and the gestures.

What it does when it's out, is public

What it does within, is something that I'd call my own, MINE, in BOLD.

If you'd care to empathise, you'd exactly feel the thrill ride with me,

If not, then you're just an onlooker, seeing my body grow horizontally.

That there are so many emotions running beneath, like a current, is an experience of its own.

And just when I was thinking of these itsy-bitsy movements, there's a sign quite vividly visible on the monitor – OK.

Folded fists, with the thumb sticking out.

It isn't like an imagination of cloud formations resembling different countries on the sky,

The radiologist acknowledges it too, equally excited for me.

It's a real tiny sac that has grown all the way up to say OK when it's still afloat.

Creation, THUS, is a beautiful journey.

Each, to one's own, as I progress.

God's great.

A Curcumin Pongal.

 

Happy Pongal. A harvest festival when everything around is bountiful – fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers. An inevitable part of this festival is of course sugarcane and fresh turmeric. Needless to say that all our festivals are tied to both spiritual, religious and health factors. In fact, they’re timed and aligned to the changing seasons of the year, which makes a lot of scientific and logical sense.

Let’s delve a little deeper into the fresh turmeric, because it caught most of my attention due to its sheer richness in medicinal properties. Turmeric’s most active compound, curcumin — has many scientifically proven health benefits, such as the potential to improve heart health and even helps fight cancer. It's a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant.

You don’t have to be an advocate of Ayurveda in order to begin including this wonder root in your diet – All it takes is to understand its internal body healing benefits, aside from it being a great skincare product of nature.

Here are a couple quick recipes with fresh manjal aka turmeric root.

Recipe1: Turmeric salad: it’s your direct dosage of curcumin.

Take about 5 full pieces of fresh turmeric. They look very similar to ginger. Peel the skin of it, either using a knife or a peeler – peeling fresh turmeric is akin to the peeling of ginger. As you begin feeling the surface of turmeric lying beneath its skin, you will see its bright orange shade, along with the fresh scent of the turmeric root that begins emanating, right from the start, not to forget the yellow color that it leaves on your fingers.

Once peeled, finely chop the turmeric, into tiny pieces. Add the juice of half a lemon into the chopped turmeric bowl, add required salt. Now for some seasoning, take a teaspoon of gingelly oil and temper it with mustard seeds, 2 chopped green chillies, a few chopped curry leaves and a pinch of asafoetida. Once they are mildly sautéed, toss this into the bowl of chopped turmeric. Garnish with a sprig of chopped coriander leaves.

Enjoy this fresh curcumin dose as it is, or with a few scoops of curd rice. You’ll definitely get a very native taste of turmeric though, which could be prominent right in the first spoon, however, that’s negligible when you look at the overwhelming health benefits that this root has to offer. So go ahead and enjoy this crunchy salad!

In case you develop an aversion towards the prominent taste of fresh turmeric, then you can also add a couple of finely chopped turmeric root to your regular cucumber salad. This way, there’s a mix of flavours, rather than just the turmeric flavour standing out.

 

 

 Recipe2: Turmeric pickle:

Turmeric powder is an inevitable ingredient in all pickles. This one, will have turmeric stealing the limelight!

For the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup of fresh turmeric – grated. You can alternatively cut the root into small pieces and pulse-grind it in a mixer so that it comes out in a grated format.

Salt – desired quantity

Red Chili powder – desired quantity

 Asafoetida – 1 teaspoon

Fenugreek powder – half teaspoon

1 cup of tamarind juice

Jaggery powder – one tablespoon

Coriander powder – one teaspoon

Gingelly oil – 1 to 2 tablespoons.

A sprig of curry leaf.

Heat 2 tablespoons of gingelly oil in a pan and add 1 cup of freshly grated turmeric root to it. Spread it evenly in the pan so the oil blends with the grated turmeric. Begin adding salt, red chili powder, asafoetida, coriander powder, fenugreek powder and jaggery powder, and sautee well, along with a sprig of curry leaves. Ensure the flame is kept at low so the contents don’t begin to get burnt. Mix well after adding these ingredients and then add 1 cup of tamarind juice. Blend well and cook on low flame until the raw smell of tamarind goes away and the turmeric mix begins to thicken. Check salt and chili powder levels to suit your taste. Add additional gingelly oil as needed. When everything is cooked well, you will see the grated turmeric, assuming a thick reddish orange blend – the oil thus begins to separate. Temper with mustard seeds and a pinch of asafoetida. You now know you have to turn off the stove and let it cool before you could bottle this away to store. This pickle can be stored outside for a day or two. If you decide to keep it longer, then refrigeration works best.

After thought:

Either ways, inclusion of this wonder root in your diet is a direct route to a disease-free health system. Thanks to our ancient tradition and festivities, which focus on health and spirituality in equal degrees. One cannot do anything without good health – no wonder health is considered wealth! Don’t wait to fall sick to begin eating healthy – so let’s get back to our roots...!

Note: The above recipes are part of my creative experiments in the kitchen.

The Navarathri transformation:

 

Seeking the blessings of Devi to write this piece and spread the message of Navarathri to as many as possible.

Sanathana Dharma has its own unique way of reminding us about the Supreme Being, throughout the year, by way of festivities. If only we were asked to remain in prayer and penance constantly, we’d certainly frown or disengage ourselves easily. Hence it’s a gentle reminder of The Supreme Being by way of beautiful festivals year-round.

The Navarathri transformation:

1.      Sundal: While the humble Sundal is still part of the give-aways for Navarathri, a full-course meal - either lunch or dinner is doing the rounds amongst the affluent. Isn’t this already a trend for birthdays, anniversaries or some generic celebrations? Couldn’t we stick to the basics?

 

2.      Small-talk vs. Golu-talk and Song-talk: Back in the days when people visited for Golu, they’d see the arrangement of the dolls, talk about the stories of where they got some of the dolls from. They’d talk about how some dolls made it to the stand… how it got passed down through generations… from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law or mother to daughter… there is no digression in the topic from Golu to people or family matters. If there’s anything new amongst the dolls that was bought newly, the Golu keepers would showcase it as a prized possession. Each doll is after all meant to be an ambassador of tradition, puranas, culture and are meant to be deep-rooted value drivers. They’re not mere pieces of decor that adorn showcases or shelves. So for a moment, think of how much cultural education could be imparted in one-go, through the Navarathri Golu process. Leaving all this behind, sadly people engage themselves in the same vicious rut of talking about petty things. It’s to avoid this that, perhaps, the elders of the past get the children or women who visit the Golu to sing a Bhajan/Krithi (devotional song - mostly based on Devi) or two, so that the attention isn’t disarrayed and gets routed to small-talk and generic talk about household stuff. Some households tactfully engage themselves in chanting Lalitha Sahasranamam and Mahishasura Mardhini stothram – the very powerful Aigiri Nandhini – a much easier way to avoid delusions and chit-chat. General afterthought: there’s no need for peer pressure to compete with Golu in one household vs. another. It’s completely left up to your economic discretion. The base is to convey and educate about our scriptures and culture. I don’t want to transform this post about what could be part of the Golu, that calls for a separate piece altogether.

 

3.      Shakthi to Saree: Everything has been commercialised, so is Navarathri. While saree is an integral part of our culture, it seems to have hogged most of the limelight vs. understanding the true essence of Navarathri. A color is associated with each day of Navarathri… (haven’t heard of this until the last couple of years to be honest). It’s certainly beautiful to look good and feel good, that’s not the only motive behind the Navarathri season. While there are many demons that form part of the stories of Goddess Durga, it’s Mahishasura who stands out. Killing of Mahishasura and victory of good over evil, celebrated as Vijayadasami on Day 10 is perhaps the simplest one-liner about Navarathri. However, if you look at it in a day-to-day point of view, there are inner mental demons which stand in our way from doing things or thinking positively. So as we dress up beautifully in that saree of ours, let’s also take a few minutes to invoke the Supreme Feminine Power to help us fight our own inner demons. Imagine giving a name of an Asura for each negative thought. Try listing down 9 negative thoughts in you and see how you could convert them to your advantage rather than giving that Asura more power by fuelling it. The 10th day then would naturally become victory of good over evil, with a renewed wisdom and energy. At the end of the Navarathri, we'd have 10 virtues that would be part of our mental framework - rendering positivity and spiritual reinforcement.

 

4.      The humble Vethalai Paaku vs. peer-pressured, Back-presents: gifting is nice for sure, not to the extent that it’s transformed to almost an event management of sorts. This is still Navarathri, and the concept is as basic as giving some flowers, kumkumam and manjal, vethalai paaku and coconut, which is already of Supreme spiritual significance. It is so that the woman is blessed with long years of marital life - with pottu and kumkumam and if you’re un-married and are interested in getting a groom, may you find a suitable one 😊

5.      Pictures vs. actual experience: social media appeasement and messaging appeasement is great, as long as we’re not too held up in just the pictures vs. the first four points in this write-up.

6.  Lastly, let's close this piece with a myth I thought - That Navarathri is meant only for women. Well, the demon Mahishasura wanted to be so indomitable that when he asked for a boon, he said he could be destroyed only by a woman. The rest is history, Ma Durga ensured to take a form so ferocious that Mahishasura couldn't even dream of. So how are men related to this festival? There is another side to everything. You can't be all masculine, there's a need to invoke the Feminine Supreme Being as well for all the wellness - Shakthi, Dhana and Vidya (Power, Wealth and Knowledge) - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi, sans which, we'd be reduced to zero. So the next time you sideline this festival and call it a mere ladies night-out, re-think of the magnificent Trio - Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswathi. I hope you're looking to at least listen to Lalitha Sahasranamam to begin with after reading this. Well, you can't really blame the men though, simply because of the commercial importance given to this festivity. So ladies, the onus is on each one of us as well, in spreading the correct message behind Navarathri.

So how are you fighting your demons? Leave some comments here. Happy Navarathri.

 

Suprabhatham

 

A household tradition just got revamped – as though with sounds emerging from the skies, with the entire solar system waking up and coming to life, with the purpose of waking up the Supreme. Every word chanted with immense lucidity. The background score is perfect and complementing, it is intended to wake up the Lord after all, so it has to be special.

It’s almost as if you’re transported to the sanctum sanctorum of a temple and standing before Maha Vishnu with folded arms, with rapt devotion and attention. The chant echoes better in the ears as it has special effects which makes it sound like you are listening to a group of people who are standing before the Lord, chanting, in order to wake up the Lord Himself.

Suprabhatam, indeed. For it isn’t just a morning, or a good morning. Suprabhatam has a better ring to it – for it truly means auspicious morning. Su = auspicious and prabhatam = morning. And this isn’t a trite tradition, cliched with the picture of a coffee cup. It’s an adjectivized waking – studded with colors, fragrances, flavors and stories about the Lord. Imagine if someone woke you up like that every day, wouldn’t the morning be auspicious, a gratifying way of waking up? But there’s only so much to a mortal human’s limits, it can get contemptuous. Not quite the case when it comes to the Immortal – there’s no dearth for satiation, there’s beauty oozing out every day, there’s silence and a never-ending satisfaction.

This is the tradition of Suprabhatham, dating back to 14^th century, (Wiki fact – written in 1430 A.D. by Prativādibhayaṅkara Śrī Anantācārya also known as Annangaracharyar, and P B Annan). The first sloka in suprabhatham is from the epic Ramayana written by Vathmiki maharshi who was Ratnakara, a decoit earlier. Sage Viswamithra in order to wake up Sri Rama said "Kausalya Supraja Rama......"This happened in Tretha yuga. We’ve grown up listening to our dear MS Subbulakshmi who still continues to divinize each morning with her voice and rendition of the Shri Venkateshawara Suprabhatham. It is so ubiquitous, that the smell of coffee, combined with the fragrance of incense sticks and MS’ voice in the background is the formula for a perfect morning scene. Not sure if anyone of us wanted to necessarily pay attention to the lyrical glory embedded in it though.

This is no degradation of MS’ version, for it could’ve been so due to external constraints – of which we’d not want to get into the details here. Probably none of us (we laymen) thought that there could be another version of the Shri Venkateshawara Suprabhatham, with such divine, calming fervor in the rendition.

2 weeks into its release, this version of Suprabhatham from Madhavan’s movie – Rocketry, has already replaced my existing morning routine and it has been nothing short of a blissful morning, every single day. As much as I’d like to avoid banality, this version of the hymn is certainly worth replacement, for it helps give a great jump start to the day, regardless of how hectic the day might unfold to be. There’s a certain impetus that it renders to the day, and makes mornings really Su, Prabhathams – quite free-flowing and glowing. For that matter any version of it should still impact the day positively because it’s the Lord’s glory that’s being sung after all. Personally, this version has a slower cadence, which is what makes this one stand out. This post is not written with the intention to compare. What’s key is the divine hymn itself, every day.

So good morning or Suprabhatham? Have a good day ahead 😊

 

A chat that’s dead

The rapid death of a chat: in person and in groups.

WhatsApp’s newest feature of a collection of pre-decided standard emojis (possibly decided based on a survey of the most used emojis - a highly data-driven output): 

thumbs-up, praying symbol, heart, surprise, cwl (crying with laughter) and a sad face with a tear drop. Well, this is how it started with, and then Whatsapp decided to add the rest of the emoji library in say 2 weeks, very magnanimous with emoji options hahah!

What used to be a chat that’s quoted and replied to, has been truncated to a mere set of emojis that Meta decided to introduce as a recent feature. 

Instagram has this feature as well, however there somehow seems more personalisation to it. At least, there is a notification on the inside of the app (in-app notification?), showing how someone reacted to a certain message of yours. 

WhatsApp does tell you if you received an emoji response to what you shared with so much fervour (lol), however, it gets muddled with the many notifications on your phone, that when you open the app, you don’t have something in-app to filter out and show you what emoji you got. Hahaha.

The time spent in writing actual responses seems to be rationed, even if someone truly had a lot to say or comment on a post or a picture. New features are supposed to tighten ties and not sever, aren’t they? After all, with every process improvement you add, you’re expected to gain efficiency and time. In the work world, you add more work to this newly gained “pocket of time,” that was hiding somewhere behind the clock, and you suddenly feel as though someone gave you an extra couple hours in a day, as a bonus for being smart and efficient! Congratulations, you’re rewarded with more work!! Haha 

Ok and in the WhatsApp world, it’s your personal space after all. What would otherwise be a well-thought of, time-spent written message, is now just a double tap with some emoji that sticks out. Poof! You’re done ‘replying’ to someone, at least, so you think. Like really? Since we’re talking personal time here, you can do anything you want with this newly gained time, by not actually bothering to reply. 

What does this activity give back to you? Mindless scrolling and that’s it. The internet and its messaging offsprings are sure great inventions to stay connected with our near and dear ones. There are those genuine people, who actually take the time out, EVERY TIME, and reply to messages, and also use the new feature to the conversation’s advantage and fortify a messaging relationship. That’s if they wanted to. 

For that matter, anything can be used either to make or break. The choice is ours. But that’s where the challenge is - you throw the feature out there and expect people to do what they want with it, however we’re just not too very adept at using good discretion. Features will need to be forced on us to be more responsive perhaps. Truly there would be no such thing though, for it boils down to what you’re habituated to. Simply put, if you wanted, you could.

On the other hand, Everyone is busy and wants to get back to some mindless scrolling where there is no response required. You’re only a spectator after all. 

Thus died the chat, a rather rapid death?

Passion Fruit - an experience.

 

Strictly for someone who is already highly romantic, a little romantic, or at least someone willing to understand what it is like, to be romantic.

Having said that, I’d rate this as an erotic fruit, so much so that, I’d elevate it to the state of The Forbidden Fruit. Such is the beauty of this passion fruit. 

Eat it with a spoon, and the charm is lost. Eat it with your hand, slightly better. But when you suck it up slowly, as though you are gently in search of a pair of lips in front of you, you do justice to this passion fruit’s very existence. 

For there’s no better way of relishing, (not eating) this juicy, sweet and sour, slightly fleshy, like a thin layer of fruity derma. 

A nice looking small-sized red cricket-ball like structure on the outer. Within this house, lives this seedy passion. The inside of the fruit’s skin is softer, which makes it compatible to hold the fleshy fruity derma and its antioxidant-rich seeds. This is one of those few fruits, whose seeds double up as the fruit itself. 

You slide a knife through its centre to have two equal halves. What you behold is pure passion, that’s oozing out, waiting to be sucked up. Just as how you wait with passion when you meet your significant other after a brief separation. 

A passion fruit is not just eaten, it’s relished - by first taking in a deep breath of its fine natural fruity aroma. A touch is irresistible after all, when you have something that passionate in front of you, so you feel the fruity derma by running your index finger through it for a quick few and then without further ado, just slurrrrp!! You can’t but impulsively close your eyes while doing this. Can anyone kiss for long with their eyes open, after all? And without a doubt, the experience is surreal. You cannot stop until all of the seedy fruit derma is sucked up like a noodle. This is the very reason why eating it with a spoon kills the charm of eating this fruit. It’s a new, passionate, experience each time you lay your hand on this beauty.

Perhaps this is how and why it got its name - Passion Fruit.

What are you waiting for? Go find a passion fruit and relish it for yourself to experience a fruity romance. Even if you aren’t a romantic, I hope this post changes you from being a hopeless, to a hopeful romantic. ❤️😍

Signing off, after a passion fruit high. See you soon with a new post! Until then, I’ll have a fruitgasm with this nature’s bounty - Passion Fruit. 

What’s your address?

“Pottu vaitha oru vatta nila” rightly plays in the background as I put thoughts to pen on this one. The case of a forgotten pottu, kumkumam on the forehead and an address. You’ve known me for over 2 decades now and you still don’t have my address? Bang came a very valid question. Oops! That’s when you realise how enslaved you are, to the cell phone. The consolation that it’s all there online…and poof! You just don’t know where exactly!

Because you think it’s safely residing in the cloud, you’re tempted to not go back and check if it’s still there, was it deleted, or if anything has changed! You just tend to take it for granted and when the opportune moment arrives, you don’t get to the cloud, you get to the person instead and ask for the info first hand, as though you were getting introduced to them for the first time! 

Now this may be a teeny-weeny act of remembering things, but it would go a long darn way in determining the value and respect you have for your people, at least your “most immediate” near and dear ones. 

Then comes the sticker pottu, which keeps slipping away from the forehead, just when you are supposed to have it intact. An excellent excuse for not wearing it at all, you know :) ! It starts with not replacing it when it slips off, to not wearing it while at home to not wearing it at all, all because it’s gonna fall off anyway! And not to forget, the evolution of pottu with every fashion you slip into. No pottu with a pair of jeans and tee, no pottu with casual wear… How easy to have ifs and buts for the wonderful pottu. But wait, they always embellish corners of a bathroom mirror, also the center of the mirror too. Somehow, the adhesive seems to work well when it’s stuck on the mirror. 

And now for the kumkumam. There’s a romantic and prosperous charm to the kumkumam, for it adds glow to your face, as though you were wearing the miner’s helmet with an attached light. Such is the positive radiation of this beautiful kumkumam, shining all the way from the forehead, to your eyes, nose, and cheeks. This speaks volumes - of romance, of happiness, of grace, of togetherness with your husband and of culture too. When worn, your face looks adorably adorned as though with a piece of jewellery. Excuses for not wearing it are galore… with fashion being directly linked to it. But, Excuse Me, it’s not a fashion statement, first of all!

So the address, if it had to be remembered in the time of need, would be hand-written in a pocket notebook and carried along, just like your cell phone. The pottu, even if it slips away, could find its way into a sticker pad and act as a backup, just in case. And hey, it can be slipped into your purse very easily. As for the kumkumam, there’s a paste available, which holds the kumkumam all day long. You’d first wear the paste and the kumkumam, right on top of it, so its remnants don’t fall off on your chest, through the surface of the nose! It leaves a mark though, marks its presence, everywhere… in the center of the pillow cover, with you rolling over in oblivion during sleep, on the padding, which is on the  inside of your helmet, each time it is taken off and worn back, on the inside of your dress, each time you pass it through your head. These go to show marks of existence, of a significant other, in every walk of life.

That the pottu and the kumkumam have a spiritual significance, is a different discussion altogether. But think about it, it’s all about the effort you put in to retain things. It’s just that! If you wanted, you could.