My Experiments with #Sustainable #Living #milk

By the time I was 8-years old, I had earned a notorious title "Palunni." Roughly, it translates to "One who lives on milk." Milk has been the center of my existence since then. My mother used to walk behind me with a little bowl of warm fragrant rice with ghee and dhal. After two hours, I would probably eat a bite or two. But, milk, was completly another matter.

It had to be warm with little sugar served, three times a day with the tiny banana. That is all all I needed to eat and live. My mother was constantly distraught with me. I learned  to relish solid food only when I was in high school.

Yet, in recent years, I am noticing the increasing torture the animals. The farm animals are pretty much industrial robots. Every time, I see the milk bottle, my stomach churns. I am addicted to dairy and there seems to be little I could do about it.

Here is why:

1. Morning cereal has milk
2. I cannot imagine ending any meal without yogurt
3. Occasional indulgence in morkozhambu (spicy gruel made with yogurt)
4. Not to mention payasam (dessert with milk and sugar)
5. And the gulab jamuns (another dessert)
6. Nibbles of cheese

Talking about this, my friend Ma Sudevi suggested I try coconut milk and coconut yogurt. After hee-hah and hum, here is my first attempt at this...

Made from scratch as I have little trust in ready-available store products....

 

 
As the yogurt sets, I wonder if I am addicted to the concept of yogurt or is it my addiction to cows milk. Right now, it seems like the former. It could change.
 
 
 

Experiencing the #tajmahal

Almost everyone has heard of the #Taj. It means different things to different people. I wasn't sure what the Taj was all about.

When we rode from Delhi to Agra on the new Jamuna Super-express way, my son was excited. My mother was happy to just be with us. The driver was chatty. Some of us were quiet ...watching and waiting for the #experience.

I have visited large temples in South India, many with resplendent and exquisite stone carvings. But, the Taj is different. The art and style is centered in a different philosophy and background. The beautiful calligraphy of verses from the Koran are the main embellishment to the structure. I learned that those verses can be a profound way to release the possession of a structure into the realm of the Divine.

For me, the Taj is best experienced as #space. It is carefully planned to provide the best visual experience. The majesty of the Taj comes from not just the proportions, but also by the best use of the space.

As I sat in the shade and gazed at the dome, I had the deep insight into what the space of love means. For one, it does not clutter with rules and the rights and wrongs.  The space of love embraces everything that comes in the way. The space of love is healing. The space of love is openness. The space of love is being able to experience oneness irrespective of if one is alone or in a crowd. The space of love is a space. It is open to a lot of possibilities. It is but a powerful space of possibility that can nurture anything human mind and effort can envision and create.

To hold that space in #heart, be he a king or a barber, is to be living a rich inner life. And to create that space as an experience for masses is the profound compassion of a person who has nurtured the seed of love. The space invites all of us to dream bigger, larger and to do. The space promises us no matter where we are in our lives, if we plant the seed of love and give it enough space, it will grow to be the very best it can be.

The very best is, we all carry that space. We only need to start relishing it! 

Little goes a long way...

In so many wonderful ways, I encountered the richness and fabulous depth of life in India.  The vast ocean of humanity communicated with little gestures, deliberate hesitations, adapting to ever fluid situations and somehow accommodating everyone around even as they moved on.  Nothing was still. Nothing was wasted. Humanity throbs here as people celebrate, mourn and cherish every single day. 

So many profound insights came to me in the noisy atmosphere. Amidst blaring speakers calling devout Muslims to pray, insights about personal decisions washed and cleansed the  brain in waves. It was as if neuronal networks were dismantled. 

The land is throbbing with so much energy that nothing or nobody is spared. It is a subtle spiritual vibration that drives everything in the country. It nourishes everything in its pathway. It leads its own course. Like a mirror, the energy shows that we are filled with riches. And the energy also has tremendous healing power. One just has to sit and watch life happen at their very door step, on the street and in homes. It is possible to see the personal decisions that drives our lives. It enables everyone to be compassionate to another.

And it is here, I also encountered how little can go a long way. A roll of paper and piece of metal made into an ornament.... truly extraordinary, I thought.

Is this art?

Is this subsistance?

Is this green?

Is this the future?

 
 These pieces of #jewelry were handcrafted by my cousin. She is a single mother raising her son. Into each of her creation, she adds a little of her inner beauty and sensitivity. She gives away a little of her fear, worry, and stress. She shares it for little joy. People buy it from her a little money. She smiles a little. Her little smile has brought her a long way, shining in her own light.

Watching the ebb and flow of life around me, I experienced the most profound gratitude for everything I had experienced, held, and seen.  As I settle back into the silence, I am glad I recharged my self. Everyday, I will be able to use a little of that energy to keep going.

Just a little... everyday will go a long way.



 

Flowers from my garden...

Humming birds love these flowers....

Such sublime golden yellow....always reminds me of a ball of butter floating in air

Feast for butterflies and bees....

And the joy of our senses... scented lovely roses

 The profusely flowering peace roses....

These are a few of my favorite flowers....

Share yours!

Sunshine is for flowers!

Sunshine! Sunshine! Sunshine!

I love this time of the year. My home is warm. I want to spend all my time outdoors, tending to the plants that are celebrating life. The yard is teeming with life. The birds are singing all the time...

Sunshine magnifies and amplifies everything. Birds do call in winter. Evergreen plants are green in winter. What makes spring and summer so different is the abundance of flowers, birds, the bees, the butterflies. It is as if paradise has transplanted itself in my yard. Flowers are truly the gift of Earth to every creature on Earth. 

The sight of colorful flowers nodding their heads cheers me up every time I step out of my home or look out of the window. I pause in wonder and ask myself, "Is this truly my yard?" Flowers truly interrupt my habit of taking things for granted.

The other evening, I was tending the rose bushes and the scent of the flowers from the nearby bushes was so comforting. I touched the petals of different rose plants and noticed the tremendous variations and uniqueness in the thickness of petals, the size of flowers and the ferocity of thorns. So much of what I take for granted in my everyday interactions and life was laid out for me to complete and drop. And the flowers convey their message so gracefully. I felt no exhaustion or powerlessness at this new understanding.

If you have a minute, watch a flower. You will end up feeling a lot better.  Research shows that flowers are indeed mood boosters. They dance in their bliss and it is contagious. Flowers are good for every occasion.  If you are like me, you can close your eyes and think of many occasions when flowers were by your side. I am glad they continue to be on my side.

Tomorrow, I will post some pictures of the flowers in my garden. For today, I hope you will tolerate my experiment with a new online tool I am learning to use.

Please share your favorite flower memories.

Cloud Messenger

Image courtesy: Varun Iyer 2014

"Mom," said my son pointing to the clouds as we watched the evening sun, "Do you notice how big and dark the clouds are getting every evening?"

"Hmm...," I said, not wanting to miss a teaching moment, "what do you think is happening?"

"Global warming. Clouds are getting bigger. Rain is pelting us daily. Yet, we have drought. Water is a big mystery."

"And why is it a mystery?"

"What happened to our snow in winter? And why does it hail now in summer?"

"Climate change," I agreed.

I chose teaching moment instead of an experience moment. That moment would have included the wonderful work of Kalidasa on the cloud messenger. You can read the English summary of the poem here, but it is certainly not the same. Not close.

And it would have been a good moment to talk about music- ragas associated with rain...Tansen's soaking success...the folk predictions associated with cloud watching...and many more...In a class it is easy to teach. You need to work only on the teaching moment. At home, I need to stretch time to encapsulate both. I am learning. I am trying.

All tips are welcome!

Raining Indoors!

Image courtesy: NY Dailynews


When I was in Elementary school, we lived in a home with clay-tiled roof. We shared the roof with sparrows, lizards, crow, and even some mice. We shared the floor with several other critters. Every morning, the sparrows would stir around 4 am with fabulous chirping songs. I loved it! I love it. When I need to do something that requires long hours of concentrated efforts, I play some bird chirping in the background. Our window was fortunately open. Always open for fresh air. It was a cement slab with designs and more holes than the dosa my mother made.

Every monsoon, both the birds and humans were distressed. The pitter-patter on the roof caused water to seep into the birds nest and sometimes it fell down, eggs and all. Distress for both of us. 

During rains, all our books were covered with our raincoats and anything plastic we could find. Now, my books are all over the house. The rolled-up beds was stacked on top of the bench covered with stitched plastic sheets from several rice bags by my resourceful mom. All our buckets were used, as were all the empty vessels from the kitchen, down to the tumbler. Sometimes the water was up to our ankles. Nobody was exempt from work. I remember how our red-oxide floor shone at the end of the washing and mopping. The streaks of rain left their mark on the walls and the soaked tiles took a long time to dry causing some mold to grow on the wood. We have seen mushroom grow on the wood. After one particularly heavy downpour, not a single room in the house was free of dripping. We were out of vessels to hold water. All rags were wet. The thunderstorm continued unabated all through the night. We went to sleep standing.

Next morning, my father went house hunting.

All this came back to me in rush this week when we encountered a similar situation at work. Our roof literally caved in! Water poured. We moved boxes in amazing speed. Mopped floor. Threw the collected water out. And gave a collective sigh of relief when the rain abated...

Will my supervisor go office hunting?

Any guesses there?
   

Daily Double

Image courtesy: Wiki Commons


Rainfall everyday is fantastic. I love the #sunshine in the day. No complaints at all.  The #rainfall at night is a wonderful closure to the day. I can stand by the #window and watch the rain for hours. I watch the light display with a grin. So much grandeur on display for everyone! Nature is always happening. It is always displaying. When the rolling thunder rattles the roof and possibly the Earth under me, I wonder if the Earth is shaking too.

One thought lingers...it is a brain thing, a pattern that you recognize with more awareness. It is hot during the day...cold during the night...no snow in winter...thunderstorm in the evening..water, brown and swirling, and rushing down the drain, into culverts, creeks and rivers...right into the sea...water no more...

Spring is just here and the State of Washington has already declared #Drought

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/drought/

Kind people, please put your hands together in prayer for our forests, wildlife, waters, crops, and people. While we do everything that is humanly possible, we still need a bit of cosmic help to keep us going until next year. 

Thank you! 

Rainfall to rejoice!

Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

#Monsoon is my favorite season. #Snowfall too. In fact, I am fascinated with all aspects of #watercycle. I think it should be taught to kids of all ages to understand that our water cycle is #locked. 

Locked?

This is it. We have no "other" water to save us. Our water cycle is a global unifier. Water from Florida can collect into the clouds, sail all the way to flow into waters of the #Nile. Water from Caribbean can travel to North America. Water has no boundaries. It is dynamic force that follows only itself.

Every time it rains, I wonder...Where did these clouds travel from? May be it has the molecules from the sacred Ganga or the mighty Niagara...It probably has molecules from ancient past that sages meditated and offered for peace to reign on Earth...Endless possibilities...Eternal wonder...

 #Seasons come and seasons go, but #rainfall and #monsoon has always been my favorite one.

How about you?

Light....

There are all kinds of doomsday predictions about Earth and the natural habitat. I believe that a part of us, conditioned by fear, wants to use the fear to force people into fear filled submission. The other part that does not fear, acts like a child. It is filled with innocence, caring, love and belief that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In my case, I believe that there is green at the end of this journey. It is a long journey. A kind of journey that is fueled with curiosity. Being curious opens up wondrous dimensions in me. 

Happy Earth day!

What drives you on your journey?
 

For mystery and innocence

Image courtesy: Varun Iyer 2014

Nature is a wonderful space. It is expansive, ever extending, and inviting everyone. Studies have reported that spending time in nature gives people a cognitive advantage. Nature is filled with splendid things in every nook and corner.


Natural world is also filled with fantastic mysteries. These could be deep philosophical questions that drive each one of us to ask the purpose of life, or may be to navigate a current situation without hurting anyone in the process. If we turn around and look around, we will see millions of creatures, living in harmony. That to me has always been a mystery. Today, we say #diversebooks #diversity, but diversity has always been the slogan for #stability in nature. It is just the way of life.


Immersing oneself in nature and interacting more with the natural world in the thoughts also provides a deep kind of innocence. Many people who spend long time in nature are so humble, so ready for expansion and open to examination of an idea.

As I reflect on my human interactions, I realize that it has sucked away a lot more in terms of time and resources, often without replenishing me. This is so totally opposite with all my interactions in the natural world. Every minute that I was out in the open, with the sky above my head and feet on ground has always given me hope, given me opportunities to be honest, truthful and expand in a deeply personal manner that it left me inspired and replenished. To this day, I carry some effervesce of the fulfilling interactions.

This Earth Day, I pledge to reclaim my time and space by increasing the frequency and intensity of natural interactions. I want to spend more time with nature, to rediscover the mystery and innocence of life in the voiceless vibrations that will expand and fine tune my mind out of impossibilities and poverty gathered by human interactions. The minimum I can do, with gratitude, for the wonderful space that Earth has provided me is to interact respectfully and positively with her.

How do you plan to recapture the possibility and cause your expansion?

Searching for home

Image courtesy: http://bit.ly/1EhRe7r


On this warm, sunny, spring afternoon, while on a walk with my son, he remarked that he would love to be a bird and fly up in the sky. The sky, he said, feels more like home.

Home!

What a conundrum that word is!

My home, my special home, my best home, my eternal home... which home to choose? Having lived on the plentiful planet (albeit with poverty consciousness) for more than 14,500 days, I need to bring in more awareness into my life on this special place. 

Everyday, as I toss the plastic bags into garbage, I am filled with regret. I think of life without plastic. Several upgrades have been within my reach. This year, I began to use ghee instead or bees wax instead of chap stick made with petroleum jelly for my lips. I switched over to almost plastic-less house hold. We are not there yet, there is too much to toss.

The pictures of the newest pacific gyre is difficult to see... am I better of holding on the plastic until they discover or create some bacteria to eat the plastic?

Here are some good ways to reduce the problem but we have no large-scale solution for alternatives. We do have some alternatives for reducing plastic and eliminating plastic.  We may not clean up all the plastic in this lifetime. If we can avoid adding more, we can leave less for the next generation to clean up. 

This Earth Day week, I pledge to reduce plastic and to stop adding to the plastic pollution of my home. 

What about you?

Without....

Picture courtesy: http://bit.ly/19HoM0U


Everyone should read children's books, especially the older and crabbier we get the more it should be mandated...Every citizen should check out 3 picture books a week and read it to somebody who can enjoy the story with them. Wouldn't be a great way to connect younger generation with the older generation. One needs attention and another needs company...3 children's book a week, is all it needs.

If anyone wants to use this idea for their story, do feel to use it. Please share the story with me ;-) I love a story.

Seriously, here is one perspective why we need to read more children's books...

It feeds our sense of whimsical and the freedom of perspective that helps us to grow.

Here is sterling example, a wonderful book

Take away the A: An Alphabeast of a book!

 Should be titled as An alphafeast of a book!

Normally, as a part of growing up, we are taught to think and live in poverty consciousness. We believe that we become poorer when we lose or give up something. We see people who seem to live the message "giving=losing."

This book give an alternate message. It speaks in yogic parlance of giving or removing to make your life richer. Don't believe me. 

Here are some examples for you to test it out--

without an A, a BEAST will become BEST
without an I, STAIRS will lead to the STARS
without an U, AUNT becomes an ANT...

So, let us try to be inclusive in our hearts and deeds and give away the Y, as the book says, 

without Y, YOURS is OURS...

Let us live in the same uplifting spirit, by giving whenever possible...

What would you rather be without? Let me know your favorite word play.