Clever

Kiddo {Thoroughly impressed} : Amma... You are too clever for your age!

I am going to take a print of this statement, frame & hang it in my room!!!












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Happiness

He {with his mile long}: Do something and tell me that you are happy. You have 1 years time
Me {my mile long}: I guess, it depends on our definitions.







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Help will always be given to those who ask for it

Kiddo : Can I have.....
Me {losing it even before she could complete her line}: Can I have, Can I have, Can I have. How many can I haves have you said in the last 10mins? 3 can i haves? Instead of adding more to my task list, have you ever thought of how you can help me? Have you ever thought of asking me, How you can be of help to me? All you are interested in is 'Can I have'. When are you going to understand the concept of Can I give???????

Yes... It was a frustrated me bursting out. But... I was pretty much impressed with the outcome. Soon after this outburst, Kiddo watches me struggling to get things done. She walks up to me & asks...

"How can I be of help to you?"

Thanks to that outburst, Kiddo has been extremely accommodative these past few days. I wouldn't have pulled through if she wasn't there to support me.

Thank you dear... Mmmmuah!

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Appreciation

Kiddo {twinkle in her eyes}: Nice design you have Amma. You have place for everything.
Me : ????

Ooooooh! That was supposed to be a compliment.
Thank you dear.... :-)






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Aparigraha

I was explaining Yamas to the children. Skimming through the Yamas would be a better usage.

Me : Aparigraha! One of the interpretation is non-acceptance of gifts.
She {Even before I completed} : I know!! My mom refuses to celebrate my birthday for this reason - lot of gifts in the house.
Me {Sheepish} : Though our public statement might differ, I stand with your mother. I do not want to get into this party business.

Of course I used that example to explain Aparigraha from various angles :D


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Inspiration can come from anywhere

He {gooey eyed}: What all can you do with your body. I am now inspired to take yoga sessions.

Hold your horses!!! Now listen to the complete story! Humph!

I had taken up a yoga challenge. Last few days, I had been taking videos of whatever asanas I was performing. Of course I shared these videos with my select few. This is the response I received from one of them.

It is interesting to know how little it takes to catch someone's attention. I was not doing any advanced asanas. I am not someone who is into advanced asanas. I work with basics. Yet.... was able to instill the idea into someone.

:-)

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Feeder Pipes

He {with his evil smile}: That too a garage with feeder pipelines. 

:-) 

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That Twinkle in the Eyes

He {with double twinkle in his eyes}: I feel like I am back in my college days.
Me {bowing my head with humility): I am going to take that as a compliment.
He {with his broad smile}: Yes, it is one.

Scene??
Well... It was a beautiful morning amidst nature. I was in my element. After spending the morning listening to me, He tells me this.

How was the morning for me?
I got to watch a man, 10 years elder to me, behave like a 17yr old. I do not know the words to describe what I felt watching an over grown  man behave like a teenager. But... it was soooo gratifying & humbling. Thank you Universe!

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Genetic

Kiddo {excited while watching a Disney movie}: Lets go to Disney Land in our sleep. We will go to Disney Land tonight. We would be holding hands & walking around in Disney Land. Lets hold our hands & sleep tonight & we'll goto Disney Land in our dream.

It was only 2 minutes earlier that her mom was talking about learning Zulu for communication!! Hence proved, this is genetic!!


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Alambana

I remember watching this movie (Malayalam version of Aladdin's Magic Lamp) as a child. The genie keeps repeating the word Alambana. After watching this movie, the word Alambana had become a household utility. Never understanding its true meaning. Until I bumped into its meaning. 

Alambana is a Sanskrit noun which variously means – support, foundation, supporting, base, sustaining, cause, reason, basis, or the five attributes of things, or the silent repetition of a prayer, or the natural and necessary connection of a sensation with the cause which excites it, or the mental exercise practiced by the yogis in endeavouring to realize the gross form of the Eternal.

Now, the term makes perfect sense - Support, Foundation, Base.

Big B... This one is for you :-)

Reference Guide

All on a sudden, I seem to have become this hot marriageable material. My dear men, if you are really confused about things, I will give you 6 months to really try things out & figure out whether it marriage you want... or you just are mistaking your cravings for commitments!!

Even after 6 months of experimenting you believe you are upto it, go through this list!!

1. Are you filthy rich man? 
2. How old are you? Probability of getting selected is directly proportional to the difference in age. 
3. Buy Kerala Saree - cost 30k+ Indian monies 
4. Gold Jhimiki - costs 1.5L & above
5. i20 
6. Monthly pocket money of not less than 80k, this is not part of the household expenses. This is MY pocket money! 
7. Will quit the job the very next day the marriage contract is signed 
8. Convince Kiddo
9. Anything else I have missed out here 

If you are ready for all this, please visit the Fairy GodMother with your horoscope, 6yrs of bank statement & detailed family tree. 

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Duh?

Mr P : Can I have a picture with you?
Me {Duh??} : Okkay...
Flash!! {You should be hearing the sound of the flash as in very very old cameras, not the silent click & flash of the latest digicams!}
Me {Looking at the output, in my high pitched surprise tone}: You are taller???!???
Mr P : {puff}









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Communicating with clarity!!!

Scene 1
He Divorcee : I took an early retirement. Now I am looking after the coffee plantations owned by my family.
Audience {clap clap clap}

Scene 2
He Divorcee : I conduct classes for schools. We run charity institutions...
Me { from the audience, cutting him off his sentence midway, with eyes popping out & high pitched voice} : Are you filthy rich?? I am looking out for filthy rich old man. It doesn't matter whether he is gay. Bank balance is what I am looking at.
Audience : Shell shocked!!!

He??? Well he was last seen running out the building screaming, Leluallu Leluallu Leluallu. Onlookers are still trying to figure out what Leluallu is. 

Picture Courtesy : allthetropes.wikia.com

Perks!!

Finally some perks for having a daughter. Maybe the perks are because I have this particular daughter....

My mom finally has some empathy for me. For the first time in my life I saw her feel for me.

Aaah!!

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Reduction in Waste

After brooding over the concept for over 2 years, I finally bought a menstrual cup!!

Waste disposal in general has become an overhead in India. The dry & wet wastes are still okay to deal with. But the biological waste has been troubling me for quite some time. While I was voicing this out loud to a friend, she gave all the encouragement to go with the cup. And, I was really surprised to see the number of people who have converted to cups for the very same reasons.

And I have to admit one thing here.... The reduction in waste is just impressive. I still am awed at that. If I, a single person can induce this amount of waste reduction...... imagine how happy our mother earth would be when more of us start converting...... :-)

And its not as messy or inconvenient as people imagine them to be. In fact, I would say it is much cleaner that the conventional methods I was stuck at the thought of having an external synthetic particle inside me for that long a duration. Yes Judges! Before you start smirking... The duration too has to be taking into account.

The line that tipped me into doing it??? That was a classic line by my friend....
"Hands of 4 hospital staff were inside my body while giving birth to my child. When I think of that, this is just nothing!!"

:-)

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Shoot at Sight or Shoot at Sight????

He : Oh! Since you are free this week, I thought you would be busy trying to get laid.












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The Big J

Kiddo {Watching me write my assignments} : You are neater that I am.
Me {Smiles & proceeds with my work}
Kiddo {After a short pause... all the more frustrated} : Really! Your assignments are neater that mine!!!














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One Week Notice

I have one week... & I have been thinking the whole day... What would I want to do before I die....

One whole day & I still have nothing.

Is that a good thing????? 

Board Games!!!

Kiddo & Pahadi were doing 'Art & Craft' activity with shells. Now that she has a participating listener, Kiddo was chirping away to glory. The conclusion of their discussion????

"In Kerala, astrologers play board games with shells like this."!!!!

Pling is an understatement!!!




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Ekalavya

Me {out of frustration}: I feel like I am Ekalavya!!! You are the one who learned the art. But it is me who is doing the project!!!

Last Dussera, Kiddo had joined quilling classes. Since then she has been doing quilling stuffs. Ok! Fine! I inspire her to do it.

OKKAY!! Whenever there is a birthday, I ask her make something based on quilling & use that as a gift to the bday girl (or boy). 

And..... I end up having to finish the work for her!

Yeah! Now I have learned quilling by watching her & tidying things for her

!!!!

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Vikalpah

Shabda Jnana Anupati Vastu Shunyo Vikalpah 

When we imagine an object in our mind just by listening to some words, then it is called Vikalpa

                - Patanjali Yoga Sutras - made easy by Dr. Padiki Nagaraja Rao 

Vikalpah is mentioned by Sage Patanjali as one of the activities of the mind. Vikalpa refers to the knowledge we store in our mind based only on the words we hear. Vikalpa refers to unreal & non-existent objects. These impressions are created within our mind, using our imagination.

What is the source of such an unreal impression???? It is nothing but the impressions we have already created. The ones that spawned from other impressions. The ones that we constructed based on the words we heard (or overheard). 

Note : This explanation of mine is limited to my understanding of the writer's interpretation AND limited by my personal experiences and how I relate the theory with my personal experiences. Many times in my life, I have allowed myself to be carried away by activities caused by some insignificant shabdhas (words). The results???? I have burned couple of bridges - both internal & external ones. Thankfully, not all the bridges were of the same built. Some did withstand the fire, while some could be repaired. 

Be attentive to the variations caused my the Shabdhas. Be mindful about what is important to you. 

Uff! Yeh Pineal Gland!!!

Pineal Glad degeneration!! 

This is what Swami Sathyananda Saraswati repeats in his book 'Yoga Education for Children'. Well, it is too late for me now. But... May this article help you in aiding your decisions with your children. 

"The pineal is a tiny gland located in the medulla oblongata of the brain. In yoga, it is closely linked with Ajna Chakra, the seat of wisdom & intuition. When the child is about eight years of age, the pineal begins to degenerate. This decay corresponds to the beginning of sexual maturation, precipitated by the release of hormones from the pituitary gland." 

In another place, he says... 

"In yoga, the pineal gland is said to be the physical correlate of Ajna chakra. Mystics & occultists refer to it as the third eye & the philosophers call it the supermind. The pineal gland is very active in children, but by the time they reach the age of eight or ten it begins to calcify, and in elderly people it has little or no role to play in life. 

This is very unfortunate because in yoga the pineal gland is considered to be the controlling and monitoring station in the brain." 

And then again...... 

"When the pineal gland starts to degenerate, the pituitary gland comes into action and the emotions shoot up. This is the reason why so many children become emotionally unbalanced and disturbed during their pre-adolescent and adolescent years. The pineal gland has a balancing influence on the activities of the brain, which keeps the whole brain in receptive order. Therefore, I found that those children in whom the pineal could still be commanded or monitored were much more receptive than those whose pineal gland was no longer active." 

For those who still have the chance.... Start early for your child..... :-) 

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Poem

Finally!!! Someone sends me a love letter. Okay... not exactly a letter... a poem.

I met him 6 months back. Statistically speaking, we would have interacted for 40mins everyday for 7 days. During the last 6 months, we would have spoken over phone... may be 4 times. Each call lasting not more than 2 mins. Then we met last week. This time our interactions were even reduced.

But, in those few mins that we interacted. I could see his interactions move from harmless flirting to calculated compliments to that respect for the entire package that I am - the mother I am. 

PS. 

I have the poet's and his wife permission to publish this. 

Unclean

He {amidst a serious discussion}: I do not think I want to have sex with you. I think you are unclean.
Me : What????
He : Yeah... I have lost interest in you. I believe you are unclean.
Me {Disconnecting from the original serious discussion & coming to the moment with full on sarcasm}: I do not remember asking you to have sex with me.
Me {After giving him a thorough scan}: What made you think that I would be interested in having sex with You?
He : Even if you are, I now cannot.

As Kuttan PP mentioned in Bangalore Days, I did introduce him to those few key words from each of the languages I know. He was last seen enquiring about the significance of bathing in the Ganges!!!!

My Dear Supreme Power!!!!!
7 billion people... Maybe 8...
I do not need any more interactions with ___ to know that men are like this. I can point out quite a few in 20km radius.
Now that you & I have come to a conclusion, can we move on?

Picture Courtesy : macobserver.com

Plans Impacted

Kiddo {walking out after passing the verdict}: Purple
Kiddo {breaking the long silence}: Your plans get messed up when you include me, isn't it?

If she hadn't worn that encouraging smile on her face, I wouldn't have know how to take this statement.

:-)











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Perks of visiting Temples!!!

Setting the background....

The rituals in temples differ based on the locality. The poojas & rituals in temples in Karnataka is way different from those in Kerala. As is I am not much into poojas & stuffs. To add to this, the temple priests complicate the matter by asking questions like - Gothram, Name of every single member of your family, etc etc!!! In Kerala, it is a simple process - Just give the name & birth star of the person. No need of Gothram, family members, or any other statistics.

Today, for a change, I decided to offer my prayers in form of some pooja. Yes! I didn't think of the lengthy questionnaire. I was focused on the flame & gongs in the temple.

These were the gyans I received after answering the third question.... The shorter version of the gyan...

Gyan 1
You are at a difficult age. Till 40-43 the kamam (lust) is high in a lady. Your body needs it, just like it needs food & air. Be adventurous, have fun... but.... let that fun remain within you... Enjoy it... But do not flash the details for the entire world to see.

Gyan 2
Your eyes reflect what is in your mind. For your daughter's sake... hide it all within you... but be happy & content from the outside... Allow her to grow up watching that happy face. That will give her the much needed stability in life.

Gyan 3
You have an infectious smile. Smile is very dangerous. It will bring in a lot of danger to you. Smile... but let that smile be for that 1 person you like very much... for the rest of the world... smile a little less.

I do not remember the rest of the stuffs he said.

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A Twist in the Tale

The narrator started narrating a story....

There was this parish priest. He had immense faith in his Lord. The place where his monastery was situated was hit with heavy rains & the entire place was flooding up. {At this point, I started getting excited. I had figured out the moral of the story and I was going... Ayam the answer! Ayam the answer! Of course, he ignored me & continued with his story}. When it started flooding, he started praying to his Lord to save them. People came running to the priest & requested him to leave the monastery while he still had the chance. The priest politely refused & continued to pray.

As the water levels rose, the priest moved to places above the water levels. After some time, a few people came down in a boat & requested the priest to join them. He refused again. In a short while, the entire building was immersed in water and the priest had reached the top most floor of the building. This time, rescue came in form of helicopters. This time too he refused. Finally, the priest was drown to death.

The priest goes to Heaven. In Heaven, he meets God. The priest goes wild with God, "I have been your faithful servant & you did not save me.". To which the God responds, "You fool! It is not possible for me to personally come & tell you, I am God I have come to save you. Instead I entrust people to do my bidding. You being a fool refused to accept my help."

{At this point, I was over joyed. I drew up the correct conclusion. Yippeee...

But then the narrator continued with no change in tone.... }

Likewise, God is not going to come to you & say, "Lakshmi, this is where you have to go." Instead he has entrusted me with that job. I will provide for the rest of your life & your child's life. I will take care of you & your child for the rest of my life. Both of you will have a secure life even after I pass away.

I do not know what else would have been taken care off or how because I was running faster than light... in the opposite direction!!! As every one knows... light travels faster than sound!!!

Picture Courtesy : www.crank101.com

Sigh!

Me {not sure what else to ask}: Are you excited or sad?
Kiddo : Hmmm... A bit of both... Sad because I have to leave everyone here.
Me {expectantly}: And excited about?
Kiddo {In her perky voice}: I am excited about  5th grade!

Yeah! Thats the sound of flushing.
Sigh!! Manju Warrier... I stand by you!




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Pretend to Think

He : Does the drinking reflect on my face?
Me {waking up with that fresh burst of energy}: Yes!!!
He {a bit irritated}: Damn Girl! The least you could have done is pretend to think for a minute before you blurted out your answer.

:D :D :D





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Untraceable

He {concerned}: How do you feel?
Me {can feel that halo}: Blissful! Think of it... I do not have to worry about finances.
Me {continuing after pause... halo morphing into that wicked smile}: Think of it in this way.... I do not have any proofs to prove that I am me... I exist only the system... I, in real, am untraceable.... Thihahahahahahahaha :-)

O! Come on!! Calm down! I didn't get into anything illegal... I just lost my wallet!!





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BAU

Me : How is life?
She : Business as usual

















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What is in the Order?

He {wide eyed}: But thats the last section. When did you get time to go through the entire set?
Me {sheepishly}: I started from the end

We both exchange a warm smile & then burst out laughing...
He continued.... You should do more of Shirashasana.

:-):-):-):-)





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Family?

A 12yr old He : Are you family?
Me : Hmmm... Now that is a trick question.
He {in his American accent}: You seem to know every one... Every one knows you... The way you talk is similar... But... I do not remember seeing you.
Me {with my mile long smile} : Yeah! Thats what happens when you have known some one for twenty years!

Well... the boy did have a point. Nobody knows whether we are friends or family... Including us... Thats how things are today... :-) :-) :-)

Please do not ask us to define things now... :-P





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Connections

Scene 2:
He : It is my birthday too... No wonder we get along easily.

Scene 1:
Another He : See... Thats another thing that connects us. We both are into piercing.

I just couldn't help thinking.. Do you really need to find the whys behind these connections?

And then He makes me wonder more on these lines...

"The moment you feel the connection from your side, just know that you are already connected."
                   - The Yogasara Upanishad, A commentary by HHSSRS

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Subtle Matter

"The subtler you go, the more difficult it becomes to express, the more difficult to describe."
                   - The Yogasara Upanishad, A commentary by HHSSRS






Thihahahahahahahahahahahaha ;-)

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Prathyahara

Prathyahara - elimination of the unwanted aspects in life or removal of the distractions

As read from Yoga Sudha, May 2014 edition.






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Manthra for Lost

She {in our WhatsApp group}: What is the manthra for finding lost items?

And I go... Whaaaaaat? There is manthra for finding lost items?? Why don't you go in search of it??? Well... maybe I should start reciting it to find me!!!!

Psst! I did find one such manthra in YouTube!!






Picture Courtesy : This picture was edited by a friend of mine for my personal use. Originally from post - Lost

Silent Conversations

I meet him as I was stepping out of a wonderful talk. We occupy our place in the nearest park bench. After a few mins, I still hadn't come down to the real world. That was when I sensed him make a move to start a conversation... And I go...

"Ssssh! Lets just sit & have a silent conversation"

He gave a wonderful smile, nodded his head in agreement and we just sat there for..... I do not know for how long... We just sat there...

That was when the second he walks towards us. And I go again... This time... in a hushed tone...

"Ssssssh.... We are having a silent conversation...."

I got an amazing mile long smile & he stepped away...

:-*

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