I Am Like This Only

During this month of January, I came across many stories of my friends on Facebook. Actually, it was a chain post where friends spoke freely about who they were and what their interest were, they let their hair loose and revealed what they would never discuss on open forum. It was interesting to read about the secret nuggets that were hidden behind their profile pictures. Most of them happily shared some anecdotes of their lives.

They then tagged all the friends who liked or commented on their post and asked their friends to do the same

I got caught up in the chain too when I commented on my friend's  post. I was tagged by my friend Sangeet Bird to share my story of who I am

So here I go, several little nuggets about me

Born normal (and pretty), at the age of six months, I was struck with polio that left me disfigured and physically weak for the rest of my life.

I was shy, reserved and also stupid. Always stood last in class. Teachers at school often told me I had no inclination to study and that I had no brains and therefore no future.

I was so fed up of being lonely and rejected that I decided to wake up 5am everyday in the morning to steal roses from people’s garden so that I could bribe my teachers and friends to love me.

At age 12, my life changed its course, when I found a friend, who took up the challenge to reform me and prove that everybody has brains, and that there was a trick to use it. That year I graduated to the third position in class.

I can’t drive but I have dreamt many times about driving at full speed and crashing…..

My first job was as a head teacher in a special school, which actually was a big room of severely retarded children with multiple handicaps.

When I migrated to Surinam, I was a social butterfly. Organized a big Diwali program, which was such a success that Embassy of Surinam asked me not to plan such important events on my own, instead I was asked to team up with them in organizing Indian cultural events.

Have travelled a lot, (been all over the world) visiting family and friends; have come to a decision that Mumbai is the best place to live (I wouldn’t like to live anywhere else in the world)

So here I am…not just a lone woman but like every other woman with a heart AND feelings

“This post is a part of #UseYourAnd activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette Venus“.

Some Captured moments In Puducherry

The road never looked so long when I was in good spirit. I could walk miles on end, alone, deep in my thoughts, not realizing how much path I had traversed. I had always loved walking, specially on a smooth path or on a muddy track. It gave me the opportunity to be with self, to think clearly. But today, every step was difficult. The pain in my foot protested. "Stop" it said "I cannot go for long" After every small step, I winced in pain. Should I ignore and move on? Was it worth it? I could take my medicines at night but I must go on…how can one stop living?….Pain was no excuse…..time does not wait……This moment would never arrive again….pain always returned but it had never hijacked my life...….."Stop" said the pain..pulling my nerve till I could acknowledge its presence. "Ouch!"…I turned around to look for a bench…..

What I liked best abt our guest house in #Puducherrywas the rock garden with the waterfall n small pond where colorful fishes swam fearlessly.. The food was good so was the comfort. I went with a big yoga group from Mumbai so we were clubbed into dormitory with ten women, it was like Bigg Boss experience with 50 shades of grey.....all other rooms were occupied so we had no choice but sit back n enjoy the live show of entertainment during early morning hours.

While we fussed around looking for a clean table to have our meals, the group of women sat comfortably on the floor enjoying their meals . There was no fuss over non-availabilty of fork n spoon or over a leaf of tissue paper. A simple Satvic food of ragi juice, lentil soup, pilaf and sprout salad was all they cared. Easily, they sat crossed legs, contentment writ on their face. I admired their attitude of enjoying each morsel of food n thanking Lord for this day.....

The Amazing Sea Shell Museum At Mahabalipuram

The trip from Puducherry to Chennai is not very long unless you stop by some interesting places of interest on route. I loved the road trip, because it was very scenic, specially during sunset when the red globe reflected on the calm waters that ran parallel to road. There were many interesting places we saw on route but ‘India seashell Museum’ was the highlight of this trip. 

Seashells museum is located at southern side of Mahabalipuram. A short walking distance from 5 Rathas (just follow the sign) although we did take a longer route by our vehicle.

There was entrance of course, Rs50 for the seashell museum and Rs30 more for the aquarium and an extra Rs100 if we wished to click pictures. But we spend more money in the seashell boutique that had amazing handcrafted thing made of shells like vases, boxes, key chains, fridge magnets, flowers, frames and also wall hanging.

It was sunny afternoon, the beautiful bright white entrance with rock garden and pond on one side and large shell installations displayed in the compound and on roof top of each building was very inviting, the compound itself had tiles in the shape of waves with embossed sea-animals and fishes. All around were the murals and graphics of shells in different shapes and form.

Far end, at the back side was a sea food restaurant, which we didn’t visit cause most of my friends were vegetarians.

The AC salon has amazing shells of different shapes and sizes, all in their natural form.

They were just cleaned and exhibited in large showcases against the wall and the tiny ones in the center showcases. There were display of wide range of sea shells, about 40,000 of them, collected by the founder (K Raja Mohamed) of the museum and their history. 

How beautiful must be that bed of sea where they grow in cluster. The divers are so lucky to be able to go underwater and find them in their natural habitat.

This shell really amazed me. Inside the shell were compartments shaped like a leaf….nature to be admired!!

There were four sections of display and in every section was a large handcrafted piece.

The aquarium was a smaller room with just few fish tanks with rare kind of fishes.

But the most interesting part was the shopping area and fish pedicure corner.

Came back home with few souvenirs from the shell boutiques, that included a shell box too.

21st Yoga Festival at Puducherry Was Informative

The 3 days yoga conference seemed a good opportunity to visit Puducherry. Train tickets booked, accommodation arranged, my five friends and I reached the White town in good spirit.

Initially, sharing the dormitory with ten women seemed impossible, I immediately rushed to the concierge to ask for a private room for smaller group of my three close friends, but the place was full, and hunting an alternate accommodation in another hotel seemed a difficult task after our long train journey.

Comfortably settled, we settled on attending the festival

Two days were spent attending lectures and workshops on yoga techniques, during evenings there were cultural shows. More that two thousand delegates attended this festival. There were competitions held for children of different age groups in different postures of yoga and prizes were given to the best performers.

I was not in very good health, therefore, I did not attend all the sessions. I feel bad at having missed SuryaNamaskar, an event where two thousand children participated at the beach road at 5:30am. My friends, who attended, told me it was a spectacular show.

But the other events were equally interesting. Some of the exercises were demonstrated on the stage and the audience did participate. “Stand firmly on the ground with equal balance on both feet” they said. We don’t realize that we tend to shift the weigh of our body on one leg more than on other.

During the cultural show in the evening, there were great control of the dance steps and flexibility of the dancers. The dances were performed with great skill, the eye-expressions distinct, movement in coordination with the music, an amazing performance that requires concentration and controlled breathing.

2014 proved a significant year for yoga in India, with the United Nations declaring June21 as the International Day of Yoga, following a proposal made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Yoga is not just breathing techniques or meditation; it is actually a discipline of mind and soul. Different speakers spoke about different diseases and how they can be cured by simple exercises. 

Points to bring home:

In five stages of yoga, the mind and body can be brought to a perfect balance.

First - We need to relax our body. Lie or sit still, relaxing each muscle of the body. Part by part, starting from foot, relaxing of the body, gradually bringing attention from foot to head. This helps to bring down the stress.

Second- Follow a proper diet of fresh vegetables and fruits. One must never overeat, because that brings imbalance in the body. The most effective way for food consumption is to fill the tummy with fifty percent solid food, twenty five percent water and the remaining to be left for air to circulate and help in digestion.

Thirdly- Body requires exercises like walking, swimming or yoga. In yoga there are many stretching exercises that release the toxins from the body, makes body flexible and makes one active.

Fourth_ It’s the pranayama, the controlled breathing. The inhalation and exhalation that purifies the blood stream, improves energy in the body and activates the cells.

Fifth - To calm the mind, meditation helps. Sit with yourself, watch your thoughts and concentrate on your breath.

Hundreds of thoughts come into our mind when we sit with self. The trick is to bring the mind back to focus, concentrating on sound of mantra that one can chant with eyes closed. After chanting repeatedly for several times, body gets tuned and mind comes to stillness and then there are no thoughts playing games.

Stress is normal, only dead bodies have no stress. But to minimize the stress, there should be control over discipline and attitude, our reaction to the outer stimulus, to the society, to accept other’s behavior as the part of their nature.

Yoga is stopping the thought process, concentrating on mantra and to bring peace of mind.

When the mind is relaxed, the diseases automatically exit from our horizon……and good health sets in.