Petals!

The best way to cleanse and energize your mind is to chant the sacred Gayatri mantra.  Any person can chant it with faith at any time and at any place. In case you are wondering why you should chant the Gayatri mantra, do read this post .                                 [Image credit: Unsplash] What I love to do most is chant mantras and sing keerthans. The amazing positive energy that it brings - I can't express it in words. Your heart lifts, your body is filled with the positive energy and it clears all the cobwebs in your mind like magic.  The Bhagavatha declares, " Sarvadaa, sarvatraa, sarva kaleshu Hari chintanam " which means " Contemplate on God always, at all places and at all times. " Have faith.  Chant the Gayatri mantra with lots of love.  [DO READ:   How to Chant the Gayatri Mantra correctly ] Do you have a mantra that you chant regularly? Or ma...

This summer vacation in Kochi, I caught up with some old friends and we exchanged real life stories – of pain, struggles, heartbreak.  One friend began her conversation like this, “I filed for divorce. I couldn’t stand the cruelty any more. I thought that filing for a divorce would ruin my happiness. But I feel happier now, than I have ever been in my whole life. I am able to enjoy my life fully and freely, without any fears and with total confidence.” I felt the happiness in her voice. And for the first time in my life, I didn’t feel sad to hear the word ‘divorce.’ And then she said something thought-provoking, “ People around me make comments when they see that I am not suffering, lamenting or ashamed of having filed for divorce. They make assumptions and shallow comments about me even after knowing all that I’ve been through... why is it that we have become an ‘educated’ society that thrives on comparisons and wants to see others ‘unhappy’ – i don’t understand i...

Deborah Chester shares a tip on her blog , which she attributes to her teacher who used to say over and over, "Trust the process" when you are writing. Most importantly, don't give up. Have faith. Keep writing!

I don’t like reading mushy romance. But Ravinder Singh’s book ‘I too had a love story’ got me crying. The book is a spell-binding, honest tale of Ravin’s love story with Khushi – the girl he loved but couldn’t marry. Ravinder Singh’s narrative resonates with honesty, passion and an innocence that is rare among today’s Indian writers. He tells you of how passionately a man can love and respect the woman he loves and how desperately he can fight for her life in the midst of life threatening crises. Most Indian love stories end predictably. Ravinder Singh’s story is not like that – I had tears flowing down my cheeks when I read Khushi’s last words to him in a moving bus. I could personally relate to that surreal experience of saying good bye forever. It has happened with me but in a different context. And then, what broke my poise was the last chapter. There’s a sentence he writes where his father tries to persuade him to marry another girl. Ravin’s reply is ...

I had no great expectations when I went to watch Dileep’s latest movie ‘Chandrettan Evideya’ especially after reading reviews that said the film has no uniqueness and no ‘emotional’ impact. When the movie was over, I realized that the movie reviews are wrong.  Chandrettan Evideya Malayalam Movie Review: Story Chandrettan Evideya is a light-hearted, humorous family entertainer that Sidharth Bharathan has put together.                                                  [Image credit: Kerals.com] The story goes like this: An avid columnist on classical dance forms, Chandramohan (starring Dileep) works at the legislative assembly in Thiruvananthapuram and his wife Sushama whom he fondly calls as “Sushu” (starring Anusree) works in Thrissur. They are happily married till Sushu visits a “naadijothisham” expert in Tanjore. He reveals that her hus...

What if you could move to a country that made it the norm for working parents to take it easy and spend more time with their kids?  In Brigid Schulte's book, Overwhelmed: Work, Love and Play When No One has the Time , she explores how different Denmark is from the rest of the world, particularly when it comes to parenting, leisure and sharing of household tasks by men and women. Denmark: Parenting comes first, Productivity second  The Danish economy is one of the most competitive in the world and it is also has one of the most productive ranking with one of the highest standards of living in the world.                                           [Image Credit: http://www.pexels.com/] Consider this: Denmark has one of the longest paid parental leaves and one of the highest rates of mothers who work in the labor market in the world. Danish men do almost as...

It's May 2015 already! And look what's been keeping me busy! In case you'd missed my earlier posts, here's the one on  Dad's 70th birthday and the birth of my niece, Aishani .    Hard to believe that the months have flown and we are at the peak of a scorching summer that is bound to last for the next two months! Here's my "Keep Cool" summer round-up of posts that I enjoyed reading:                                                                         [Image credit: Morguefile]  Andy Mort talks about how to maintain our focus and his second post  is about how to see confidence as a continuous journey that never ends . Enjoyed reading Sangeeta Reghu Nair's post on how Malayalam is a tricky language .  In another humorous take, Sangeeta also t...