For a friend

Brave are your thoughts
Courageous are your actions
The vigour to fight and to
say "Let's do it now"
Is what I learnt from you

Timid little girl
You have a long way to go
Live life every moment
With smile in your face and
Joy in your heart.

Shopping Stuff or Junk?

During my Holiday in India, of course ventured out on a lot of shopping and once I got back home, I would be back with loads of plastic covers as a result of walking in and out of several stores. When I had to re pack into suitcase, I started ripping them of the nice fancy package and just the stuff went into my suitcase.

In the end when I finally felt like I am done and looked around to see that I am surrounded by unwanted plastic, cardboard boxes and paper. OMG! I said to myself, it seemed be a lot more that the goods that I shopped, which just goes into the bin.

When will these big brands stop emphasising on looks and package. Of-course I realise that the goods travel from the production house to the warehouse to the retailer and then to the consumer. But isn't there a better way of distributing these goods? I directly do not have an answer for this but then I realised what I could do is say No to Plastic Covers.

So from the next day I walked into the Mall and tell the cashier that I Don't need a bag, and I make sure to carry a small fordable carry bags either from Tesco or the one one my cousin gave my mom (and I flicked it from amma :P) from www.smallsteps.in and trust me I feel so good about making this decision. Now there is less junk that goes into my bin :)

Two Kinds of People

I was having this very interesting conversation about religion to an acquittance whom i had just met. As we spoke i quoted the example of Zarina Wahab's dialogue in MNIK where she explains that there is no difference between an Hindu and a Muslim and there are just 2 kinds of people in this world Good People and Bad People. I some how love this analogy and this is what i took back from the movie.

Anyways whilst discussing this our conversation slightly drifted away to the topic of karma and I was trying to explain what karma means to me and ability to eradicate bad karma in this lifetime. As we spoke she said to me that what might mean good to me might not mean good to another person, so how do you justify good deeds in this lifetime . I went on quite confident on my belief saying that "we cant justify the whole world and we don't life our life from another persons view, and so as long as you are satisfied about the actions that you do in your life you don't have to worry about others". The next thing she said was quoting my own statement that "this is exactly what happens in the world in the name of jihad". They fight for their rights claiming what they do is the right thing, and she asked me that how does that justify?

I remained speechless and only ended the conversation saying i really need to find out more on this.

Inseparable

His Smile made her blush,
but would never accept that she had fallen for him;

Coffee houses and pubs
knew them more than anyone else did
Cinemas and restaurants played their part;
in abstaining from people.

Away from the bustling city
long walks on the beaches,
she never never wanted to see the sun set.

Felt like a time, where nothing was more important
than being with each other every time.

Ego would rip them apart;

but his heart would melt as she smiled for him.

Neither with each other nor without
Best friends they were or
so they called each other.

Apple Muffins

1 Apple - peeled, cored and chopped

Flour - 160 gms

Sugar- 50 gms

Cinnamon pwd- 1tsp

Apple Juice- 200ml

Wheat Bran - 50gms

Vanilla Essence- 1 tsp

unsalted butter- 55gms melted

Baking Powder- 1 tsp

Sift the flour, sugar, cinnamon pwd, baking powder together. Add wheat bran and apple to it, mix it with apple juice and butter.

Pre heat the oven at 190 degree.

Grease the tray or use muffin cups. fill the mixture into the tray and bake it for 25minutes.

Remove it and let it cool for 5 mins, Apple Muffins are ready :)

Bringing Change

This year began with a determination of I will change things about me; and when i thought of what I wanted to change, loosing weight and being fit was the first on the list. So, there I go with a strong determination to loose weight before I go home in March. I have 7 weeks to sort myself out. I thought of joining a gym, but that dint really happen, coz most of the gym's are on a contract and i am totally jinxed about making any such commitment due to past experience.

So ya i started off with dieting, no no... i am not off food but then really watching what I eat. I am off fried food, potatoes, peas, carrots and paneer, pizzas. I have started having regular breakfast, including a lot of greens and veggies in my food, switching to skimmed milk and wheat-bran rotis. Trust me this is not depressing food in fact i feel healthy and light. Its about 2 weeks and i am going strong with this :)

Have another 5 weeks to go and lets see where i get after that!

From Challenges to Smiles

Guess it was a best day of my life as a leader and supporter. I was trying to nurture V in faith, and oh boy! what an amazing journey it was... a struggle between heart and practicality of life during these few month I felt like a sister, a mom, a friend and a member in supporting V. There were days that I got irritated, impatient and I just wished for him to stand up and be truly happy.

He challenged all us (my fellow leaders and me) to be a leader and support people. He dint let me give up on him. Had I done that he would have failed and so would I. He brought me closer to the gohonzon, closer to myself.

And my joy had no bounds when I actually saw him receiving his Gohonzon and sharing his experience.



Thanks V for being a part of us, for the struggles and joy.