The Sink

I know , what a title right? I got this thought over a week ago but have been toying around with the idea;then was in procrastination mode , if I should write about this or no was the feud. I finally decided to blog:) . So the hero here , I mean the Sink is the kitchen one for me , well! It could be the one in the powder room or bathroom , doesn’t matter really .. When bollywood can come up with movies with random names like toilet …..etc why not us right ? 😀

So what I was trying to say is I realised that the Sink is like our minds , it can get dirty in a minute or should I say a second… I clean the sink and become happy looking at my work and before I admire it any further either i put another dish into it or someone at home will and it looks dirty again . So I realised my dream of keeping it sparkly and clean will remain a dream forever . Just like our mind , if we dont watch and don’t feed positivity it will get negative and become toxic in no time . So it becomes very critical for us to keep the cleansing process ongoing be it every time we see it or every day and every night so that it is clean when we visit it in the morning . Who doesn’t like to wake up to a clean house in general be it the bed or sink or bathroom , how about we think the same for our mind ? Think positive through out the day, catch ourself loitering in the negative land and steer it towards the right direction. Look at the positives in each situation . Meditate or do something in which we give our 100% (be it running or cooking or reading , this is for people who dont connect with the word meditation ). The best will always remain sitting and focussing on our breath and last but not the least be thankful for everything we have . I know we feel we dont have all that we want but what we fail to see is what we have and appreciate it . Things like the roof, the food, our health , limbs , air , water , friends, family , tv , radio, car , bus , cycle etc etc . I mean we have a zillion reasons to be thankful for and keep our mind clean and stay happy always . A positive mind is a happy mind , a happy mind leads to happy relationships , happy relationships leads to a happy life .

Now do you realise where the sink led me to ? Well! I am thankful to the sink for teaching me this 😉

Stay Happy!

Bee

One Night ..

I feel so blessed to have a roof over my head on this chilly night, The view from the window is such a beautiful sight , People traveling across the river , moving towards their destinations, Some celebrating love , some in pain ..

The reflection of moon is so pleasing to my eyes,

I wish the time stops and never flies ,

The lights from the boats remind me that traveling is life ,

I know , I say to myself – we are all born to travel ,

Doesn’t the earth travel around the sun ?

The sun has travelled so far that it’s night here and early morning somewhere else.

I wonder what is true and what is false ?

He will Come back to shine back on ,

To remind us that life is on .

The flickering street light , brings me back to where I am ,

The beautiful river , pier and distant light ,

I thank for the view in my heart ,

Smile and prepare to sleep , rest myself and my tired mind…

Non Judgement – A way of life

Judging :

I have been searching the meaning(not the dictionary one) for this word from long now . I got different answers but was never satisfied , i felt that was not it . My soul was not satiated . It is so easy to say “dont judge” but explain that ? we are told “just be with it”, so easy aint it? . So my fued with the word was on and finally here I am with an answer 🙂 . Feeling happy and wanted to share the happiness with all of you so wanted to blog this right away .

Judgement is adding or subtracting facts to something we see . Being non judgemental is just seeing the event or person undistorted , no adding past to it , no adding masala to it but seeing the event or person for that moment/instant.

let me try to explain this better may be via an example . When a spouse 😉 (best example no?) says he/she did not like a particular thing you did , listening to that feedback as it is will make sure we are being non judgemental and voila! we can remain calm and hence happy . What we typically do is (this its very normal by the way ) we listen to what he/she said and add all the past experiences /stories he /she said and make that into something else and respond . The other person wouldn’t be prepared and unassuming that you have derived a different meaning out of something simple he/she said . And this can lead to a BIG issue and this is an ongoing issue with most people .

How about listening to that they said and responding to what was just said by not adding any past story, fact , assumptions and seeing the event for what it is.

Life its so simple yes so complicated . Imagine what if we are allowed to record our thoughts and play to others ? we wouldn’t have foes forget friends 😀 . I am amused and amazed with another learning and gratitude towards the universe. This is very simple yet difficult , how can we ensure we see the event or person for that moment or that incident? Did you just ask that? Well! by being aware and by living in the present moment . Living in the present moment is by default being non judgemental in my opinion. Lets live . Lets love . Lets stay happy

Negativity is a spammer

A thought occurred to me , what if we consider negativity as a caller ? So many of us make sure we check unknown numbers on true caller before we respond or most times we don’t pick calls from unknown numbers . what if we train our mind to store negativity as a unknown spammer and choose not to pick it ? I wonder what will happen? When I was in Vipassana a few years ago I remember what the teacher told me . She mentioned that Buddha says when someone gifts you with negativity , anger , unhappiness or any not useful emotions tell them thank you, I don’t need them so I am not accepting it. Its basically not taking anything personally . I know it aint easy but it isn’t impossible either . Was wondering how our lives will change if each one of us will follow that one simple advise .

My mind as usual went into the thought mode. For example , in a peak traffic an annoying person does all that he/she can to block us but instead of loosing peace of mind and loosing perspective for the day what if we could say I am not allowing you to spoil the peace in my head as I reserve my energy for myself and do what we can do best – say breathing(consciously) ,or listening to music .

Or at a restaurant or office or at home , most times we end up being a part of anothers baggage and they easily pass the buck to us and we unconsciously end up carrying it with us . If its a bad beginning to a morning ,it can cause ripples and will ensure everything in the day is ruined , like the dominoes effect . So what if we chose to say, thank you but I dont need your baggage as I choose to spend my time on myself today , on my family today or on a loved one today . Basically what if we agree not to take anything personally ?

Life from above there :-)

I love flying , even if they are long hauls , even if I get cramps in my legs , even if that makes me want to jump from the plane .. sighhhhh.. I still love flying . It gives wings to me , it makes me feel like I am in the world I dream of always , amongst clouds in the lala land . I love weaving stories from clouds , giving them shape and names in my mind 🙂 . I like the fact that I am floating midair out of no where which wouldn’t happen otherwise . There is another reason why i love to fly , “perspectives” . It gives me perspectives . The houses, buildings , people , things that look so big and larger than life to me becomes like ants and eventually vanish into thin air . It makes me realise its all about how we see things and nothing beyond that . yes! even the plane looks like a toy when we look at it from the ground . Since we live down here we don’t see things the way we would from 30000 feet and above ..

Isn’t it an amazing realisation that what we see can eventually vanish as we go up? My monkey mind went a step ahead and gave me another perspective of this perspective(ok ok! I know :)) Allow me to explain the “perspective’ism “(no! there is no word like that in the dictionary so I created one , Ahem!) since we humans inflate our problems into bigger ones and believe we have the biggest of problems on this planet and pray to God everyday to help ( I am always told God lives above us ), so can GOD, even hear us as they are up high ? Don’t we become invisible to them, how will they even see us lest hear us?

Now comes the point , Is that why we are told our lives are in our hands ? we are given life to take care of it and thats the best God can do? Waiting and doing nothing will never help us as we have to act ? This is how I look at it . Our life is in our hands until we are alive , what do you say ? 🙂

Over The Moon

I loved the name to begin with as thats where i live most times 😀 . Every time I asked any of my friends in hyderabad “where will I get to see the happening Hyderabad crowd” , they would always chorus “OTM in Jubilee hills but go after 1 am ” and thats how I ended up going to OTM the first time , its unfortunate that I haven’t been there at the time as advised by my friends as I prefer sleeping while the “happening” parties 😉 .

A new OTM opened at Gachibowli near the flyover and I happened to visit this place as its closer to where I stay .

Firstly its a nice location and beautiful ambience . They have an outside seating area and of course seats inside and the day I first visited there was a two piece english band performing too. This is a brewery and my friends swear by the wheat beer and me being the teetotaller tried most mocktails while I always end up liking ginger ale wherever I go , so this part I should ideally skip . My family loved the mocktails so its an aye anyways .

We tried their wasabi prawns and they were plated beautifully and tasted equally good . Then came the chicken dim-sums which vanished as they came errr we were hungry too . They have a truck placed outside the seating area which makes truck foods if you know what I mean , so i ordered the pav with boiled egg masala . It was overtly spicy(not chilly) , so we chose to share the feedback with the owner (sanjay) who very graciously accepted the feedback and also brought us a modified version which was surprising for us as it was unexpected . It then struck me why this place goes full on all days . Location can be good but service along with food/beverage is the long term player isn’t it ? I got nostalgic about my days in Kolkatta and ordered for a maccher Jhol which didn’t meet my expectations . It was a modified version and made with salmon so if you are a Bengali and a foodie you know what happens when you change the fish in the first place . Finally we ate the home made marble biscuit cake which was ok. i saw a deconstructed chocolate on their dessert menu which wasn’t available the last time I visited so look forward to trying it the next time I visit . If you managed to devourer it before me , do share your feedback .

This watering hole is here to stay , if you are around i strongly recommend you to go. Its an AYE from me .

Website : OTM

Address :Plot No. B 2, Quiet Lands,, Gachibowli, Serlingampally, Hyderabad, Telangana 500049

Phone : 077310 76667

The Airport

A place which reminds us of travel . Hustle bustle .. people talking business .. security lines .. flights .. tension of missing the flight .. destinations .. noise and if international terminal it’s duty free shops 🙂

I have been oblivious to something beyond these recently “The Travellers” .

Beyond all that I mentioned it is also a place which brings some people together and separates others . The last few times I have travelled I have seen the most warm hugs , passionate kisses and painful tears at this same place – “the airport” . Could it be a place where real emotions peak ? The hurt of someone going faraway , the joy of a dear one coming back . A place where reality strikes ? A place to confess and a place to celebrate. A place that will port us to reality or is it a gateway to new possibilities ? It makes me think, it makes me smile , it sometimes brings a tear ..

For me it is also a place that gives me wings , makes me want to live more and love more , snaps me back to reality( the moment )and of course makes me dream….

Pic courtesy : Google

The Home Makers!

As a kid I never valued what my grandmother or mother ever cooked . It was mundane and boring I whined. I always thought how difficult is it to cook a new dish everyday ? Why do they plan and discuss ? What’s the big deal ? I always found it silly though this happened for months and years . Unconsciously I never respected what they did . From cleaning to mopping to cooking to washing . I felt that was easier than studying or working . I thought it was the easiest to be a house wife( now the polished word is home maker) . Especially later when my friends who had kids always mentioned they don’t have time to breathe , I never understood but nodded . I never connected with that, I did try to explain them how they could manage time but they never understood me neither did I understand them . It went on like this until I decided to take a break from work and do nothing for a while. I have been working from the time I joined college so I felt I deserved the break . And then realisation struck . What to cook for lunch ? How about dinner ? And breakfast was a question I juggled with . When I had hired a cook , I told him decision is yours and then when he wasn’t around again it’s a vicious cycle for days and then years . Then it dawned upon me how much value our parents/my friends added to their families . I realised how tiring and stressful their life is compared to a corporate life where after all that one does there might be an appreciation , an appraisal and there “will “be a salary 🙂 . And being a home maker is a thankless job as we take them for granted , day in and day out .

Today when I eat what my momies(granny +mom) cook , I relish every morsel . After moving out of home I realized the value of everything they did . I admire all the home makers even more than anyone who works for a living in a corporate this day.

To all the moms – I respect you for what you do!

For all the single dads who handle their kids and home – I take a bow!

Can’t stop admiring you all . Gratitude for being a part of my life and teaching me the value of life..

what will people think??

I am one among the people and even I am surrounded by people but yet that statement is something I am just not fond of . We are a “society being” , I agree . We are answerable to our near and dear ones I know .. Yet! what they think is not in our control no ? If they are here to judge , then will our clarifying ever matter to them at all? People have to say something and they will . Even if they don’t loudly , their subconscious mind will prompt not so nice things which leaves an imprint on them without their knowledge , now thats a BIG game . How can we decide what others think? How can we change what others think? How do we know how others think? How are we responsible for how others think?

Now lets assume we have control of how others think through our actions , then considering there are 7 bn unique beings alive on this planet how do we know that most think alike , oh yeah! our circle is not 7 bn I know ok lets say 20 people how do we know what all the 20 will think , is it them thinking or is it we thinking on their behalf? isn’t it our negative thoughts that run on their behalf most times ? I have noticed 90% of the time all that I think is futile , no one cares . . At any given point of time there will be someone who doesn’t like something most likes , wait there will be an aesthist in that 20 so he doesn’t necessarily like GOD(the creator) himself 🙂 so then how can we ensure all of them are liking what we say or do? then will we have time to live our lives ? Or will we have enough time to ensure we are keeping everyone happy. How do we necessarily know everyone around us is happy ? And isn’t our purpose to keep ourselves happy? Will we ever be content and happy , if we are in this race of making others happy . Thinking for others , living for others . Will there be a day we wake up and realize that we lived our lives pleasing others to realise there is no life left to live ? people who matters will understand, if they don’t then they never mattered no? people and society matters but they can’t be the only thing that matters there is “we” beyond that .. WE , the life ..

Bindu Gopinath

Food – Life – Travel