Friday, May 28, 2010

Simplifying life

This is also an irony! All through our early adult life we add things to our life assuming it will make us more complete. And after realization sets in that those accessories were the ones that created stress in the first place, we get down to "detox" our lives by learning to simplify our lives.
We have restarted our camping vacations now & it is life changing, to say the least. Canadian hotels are expensive. For the sweeping array of places that we would love to see, camping proves to be a decent-budget option, if not the only one.
Earlier, we always carried a laptop so that we could stay connected. But these days, we just love the fact that the places we go don't have access to the rest of the world. With the phone & internet turned off, we turned "ourselves" on. And all of a sudden it looks like we got new self's.

Weekend comes & goes. No doubt we end up working more than we usually do. But the fact remains that we enjoy every bit of what we do & hence only feel rejuvenated. Ready to take the routine of the 5 days ahead.
How beautiful would it be if we do only that we enjoy? Shouldn't we be doing only that? Wouldn't that be an insurance for leading a stress-free life?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

My stupidity exposed

Ok! Here's how stupid I got last night.
G was working late last night. He came home after I went to put S to sleep.
I heard some sound outside & conveniently assumed that G had returned.
As usual it turned out that me slept with S. About 2 hrs later I heard some noise, like someone bouncing a ball. Wondering why G would bounce a ball at 11pm, I was wondering if I should get up. Just then G entered the room & whispered, "I came in after 2 hours". Half asleep, I was like, "whaaaat??"
Then when I asked him, he replied, "The door was locked from inside. I tried to open since 9pm & came in by 11pm. So went to eat at Tim Hortons. It was yuck! Filled up gas & came home. Planned to sleep in the car but was concerned that you may get worried not seeing me when you wake up".
And he said this with no anger or frustration.
This taught me a lesson or what...

I felt so bad. How more stupid could I get? Could I have not checked the door before I went to sleep? Would I have taken the situation in the same way that he took it. How much frustrated he should have been!

This though disturbed me for a while at night. In the morning, I asked him, "How did you not react? How did you not want to shout at me?". He replied calmly, "I thought about it & realized that you did not do it intentionally".
I found a paper near the door, "Don't get worried, I am sleeping in the car or will probably go to office". I could only imagine what all would've happened in those 2 hours.
I concluded that I had lost all privileges of getting angry on anything at all!
A very humbling lesson from G. And I am grateful for what I have in my plate as a family.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Irony

I've known some people for so many years. Yet feel so distant from them at times. Some people, I've hardly met, but I seem to know a lot about them & actually feel their intensity & pain. Ironic, isn't it?
In that context, I am thankful to the Internet & WWW. It has made it a small world. You live in some corner of the world & are able to connect to a person on the equator. I think it is brilliant. The virtual world has indeed brought the theory of all-inclusiveness to a different level(I wanted to use "dimension" but refrained).
Wherever I am, I never feel alone.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A thought

What is a thought?
I looked up. Says Wiki

I was being raided left & right by thoughts during my Surya Namaskars today. I bring back my mind. Another thought! And the process goes on. After a point, I just wanted the mind to sleep or go away somewhere.
I used to love psychology all though my later childhood & early adult life. It seemed intriguing. But today, I just did not want to learn the history or geography or the psychology of my mind. I just wanted it to go away so I could do my practices.
As Sadhguru says, "You will have to become illogical, uneducated...to understand what I have to say". For once, I am able to understand the magnitude of this statement to some extent. And this comes from a man who can live without any thoughts for days together!!!
Our lives these days are dominated by the mind. Definitely not hearts, for most of us at least. The fact is we do not realize it as much. And when realization dawns, it is like, "Duh! What were you thinking?"

Earlier, I used to try hard to not think. That was supposed to conquering the mind. And then I hear a man that said, "why do you want to conquer that which does not exist?"(mentioned in a different context, but works well for me here too)
And today I read that mind is nothing but self-created. If there was no body there would be no mind. Is there an answer in that? I don't know just yet.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Isha Vidhya

A friend's birthday wish is here.
And another friend donated two kid's education for this friend's birthday.
Something in me shook. I trembled. I hit my forehead. Why did it not occur to me earlier? Why didn't I do it earlier? Why didn't I give education to 2 kids? Why did I stop with one? I gifted a child her education & I felt so gloated about giving something. It probably satisfied my ego well.
And I spoke to another friend about Isha Vidhya & told about this first friend's wish. Something clicked for her & she offered to gift education to 2 kids in the next 2 months for her kid's birthday. Wow! I like this chain reaction.
The way I see it is like this. How many kids can we give birth to? I am happy with one, thank you. But nothing stops me from feeling like a parent to so many others.
And these kids, maan, they are smart or what? They are dreamers. They dream about becoming a Doctor. They dream about becoming a Teacher. Can't we make their dream come true?
If it is a moral issue, I've heard the age old saying, "Your left hand should not know what your right hand gives in charity." But I am able to relate to Sadhguru's words better, "Charity is vulgar. Only when there is no love can you do charity." That man never fails to drive a nail hard.
So, is this post about sharing to the world what I did? No. NO! I want to spread the word. Because, at the end of the day, common, it is not about who gave how much. It is all about a child's education. And we owe it to them. To ourselves.
Isha Vidhya

I cannot stop dreaming...how wonderful it would be if one person who reads this donated towards at least one child's scholarship. And that person in turn made another person execute...
I just saw this chain reaction. It works. And fast at that.
So, please. Please.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Mother

I got this as a fwd. Felt so nice that I wanted to share it with everyone. But that FB...wouldn't allow such a long set of characters!!!


Mommy to Mom to Mother
Real Mothers don't eat quiche they don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried play dough doesn't come out of carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?' and get their answer when a littlevoice says, 'Because I love you best.'
Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade....It is marked by the progression of Mommy to Mom to Mother....

The Images of Mother
4 YEARS OF AGE - My Mommy can do anything!
8 YEARS OF AGE - My Mom knows a lot! A whole lot!
12 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother doesn't really know quite everything.
14 YEARS OF AGE - Mom doesn't know that, either.
16 YEARS OF AGE - My Mother? She's clueless.
18 YEARS OF AGE - That old woman?!
25 YEARS OF AGE - Well, she might know a little bit about it!
35 YEARS OF AGE - Before we decide, let's get Mom's opinion.
45 YEARS OF AGE - Wonder what Mom thinks about it?
65 YEARS OF AGE - Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

Saturday, May 08, 2010

Breaking free

For the last 6 years, I considered a dishwasher as the most inevitable part of my life!
I just could not imagine washing all those dishes, everyday. Plus I also blame little S a bit for that. "A child in the house means more dishes."
Ridiculous. No. RIDICULOUS!

But since last month, I have been living without one & I realize how my mind made me believe that it was THE most important part of my everyday routine.
When I settled up the house, I bought quite a bit of boxes & I had to obviously wash them all at once if I needed to fill up groceries in them. That seemed like a never-ending process. And how much ever the label on the dish liquid yelled, "soft on hands", I found it hard on my hands. Well, I am not used to this...not this much. That made me kneel down in reverence for all the maids that worked in our home as I grew up.
I stopped whining. I geared up with a pair of gloves & started doing the job. With some music in the background, I am actually starting to enjoy this whole process.
I am not sure how much water I am saving by doing the dishes myself. But I am sure I would save at least some. At the end of the day, that is all I need to get some good sleep.
There goes my bondage with the dishwasher. [ROTFL]

Thursday, May 06, 2010

More Calgary

Finally Settled! Kinda.
Settling so soon has everything to do with IKEA. Just a weekend in that one stop shop. God, I love the store. As much as I'd like to get a local store experience, I am so relieved when I see a Costco, IKEA & Walmart. With these stores, I know what to buy where.

This is the view outside our window. What's not to love?







I seem to have forgotten Bay area already. That's funny.
Because, when I left India to settle in Bay Area, I was holding on to India like it was my life. And every instance G showed a slight hint that he had forgotten about it, I'd remind him all about how terrible a husband he was for having brought me away from Amma, my city & my country. If I was G, I'd have sent myself happily back home. Poor G!

I have loving people back home("home" is now a relative term). I still love them. But I don't seem to miss them. Not that much where it would kill me.
I have realized that everyone has their way with life & I am happy where mine is taking me. Part of it has to do with the impossible fact that I am in the city of Calgary. One of the prettiest cities I've seen. Though I love SF, I wouldn't fancy living there. Calgary, well...given a choice I wouldn't live anywhere in the city. But the gas prices are so high that you are forced to live close to work. I definitely like my current residence better than the downtown apartment hands down.
The library system is great here. Though the membership is not free(a meagre sum), they have a whole lot of stuff for kids the age of S. And all their programs are free(S has a library card too- of course, that's free).
As I gather more information on this city(& country), Calgary is still a large town & they have a lot of community awareness.
Every small town in this large town has leisure centers. And these leisure centers live up to their name. They have a wave pool some 1000+ km from the ocean.
And these leisure center is a stone throw away from home. Of course this becomes a far throw when it is snowing outside, which has pretty much been the case since we landed here. :) Driving is not too difficult, so long the low speed limits don't bother you. Side note: We have not yet driven outside the city.

We now drive a Subaru Forrester. With the extra AWD, snow is not a big issue. Even otherwise, what snows at night hardly stays on until morning. The air is so moisture-deprived. You would need a single salary to sustain your moisturizer purchases. :)

But having said all of that, I read Bay area's temperature as 80F(in May) & I am only happy that it is snowing here. What I once guessed came true. I am a cold person. [I can hear myself say, "Ok dear. Wait until winter's near." Well, will wait & see.]


I love this city called Calgary in this country of Canada. I love it as much as I miss sitting in an IE class! Well, there's always hope.