Petals!

There are many, many paths to God.  All paths have their advantages and disadvantages, difficult moments to navigate and pitfalls to avoid. It's your attitude and openness on that path which makes all the difference to your spiritual growth. Ram Dass, an American spiritual teacher, had doubts  whether he would be able to do justice to the great task he had undertaken - of sharing his reflections on The Bhagawad Gita - for students at a spiritual camp.   When Ram Dass shared his concern with Swami Muktananda, this was the reply He received: The Gita isn't a book about Krishna. The Gita is Krishna. You don't have to worry about teaching the Gita - that's none of your business. The Gita will teach itself. Krishna will do it in spite of you." This message is not just for Ram Dass but for all of us. Have unflinching faith about your path and develop a heart full of openness and love - that's enough.  [ DO READ:  Strong is the NEW Beautiful ...

What's your fun way of enjoying the beautiful monsoons? I love to curl up with piping hot tea, some samosas that have green peas-potato filling that tastes yummy!  To match the monsoon mood, I've put together  four delicious, heart warming posts that I enjoyed and thought you may like it too!  When I read about Wicksdom , I remembered my grandmother. She loved getting wicks ready every evening.  Wicksdom is truly a beautiful initiative to spread the light in the lives of the elderly women in Kerala and beyond.   With most temples in Kerala requiring up to ten thousand lamps to be lit daily, Wicksdom will address that need. READ more about it here.  And in case you want some thing to give you a boost, simply curl up and read through Vishnu's heart-warming list of quotes that will lift your spirit up instantly!                                    ...

Do you find yourself angry way too often? Does anger mess up your relationships? This reminds me of a Dulquer Salmaan starrer 'Kali' which shows how anger is a life threatening thing for the person prone to anger - it turns you into a monster in a fraction of a second, making you say and do things that you never intended to do. In this film, the hero loses his temper so often that it puts his wife in real danger! In real life too, anger often leads us to say and do things that end up with disastrous consequences for ourselves than anyone else. Trust me, I know. Been there, done that! In Pandit Rajmani Tigunait's autobiography My Spiritual Quest and Life with Swami Rama (a candid account of a village boy's spiritual struggles in today's world), he shares what happened when he lost his cool.  While studying in a Sanskrit school, there was a temple of the Goddess nearby and  he lived in one of its small chambers. He was very hungry and the domestic help at the te...

If you love writing as a craft, David Morrell's book Lessons from a  Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks At His Craft  is bound to excite you! The book packs in many useful, practical writing tips.  For instance, he says, " Instead of waiting to write until you've thought through an idea, why not write as you think? The format is a conversation with yourself..." [READ: What makes your writing shine?  and Home is Where the Heart is ] I've often had this inner argument with myself while writing.  Hmmm, that's a thought, isn't it? Here is a blog post in which I wrote just like I normally speak:  How I Made My First Kerala Fish Molee. And this forms the crux of that inner argument: the time-taking birth of beautiful sentences.                                       Source:  http://tumblr.austinkleon.com/post/115664474886 How do yo...

I walked into a near-empty movie hall when I stepped in to watch the Malayalam movie 'Lavender' written by Anoop Menon and directed by Altas T. Ali.  So, why did I bother to go? One reason: Rahman's early films such as Koodevidey, Kanamarayathu, Poomukhapadiyil Nineym Kathu, Chilambu, Thammil Thammil, Kariyilakaatupoley remain my all-time favorites. Those were and are golden hits in Malayalam cinema and Rahman's acting was not just charismatic but effortless and natural !  [ Do read my blog post on Rahman's role in Mumbai Police ]                                                          [Image credit: Google Images] Lavender Malayalam Movie Review: The Story Lavender is presented as a visual of a director's proposed movie script while pitching the story to the leading lady. He goes into the details of the movie ...

Alphonse Puthren's Malayalam movie "Premam" starring Nivin Pauly has been a most talked about film as Malayalis across the world have shown great love for "Premam."   "Premam" is a movie that will take you back to the bittersweet memories of your first love, second love and maybe, third and final love!                                             [Image credit: Google Images] Premam Malayalam Movie Review: Butterflies are mentally mental, so is love I had a big smile on my face when I read the words "Butterflies are mentally mental, so is love" on the screen. This was shown just before the credits started to show. It marks the perfect beginning to a "nutcase" love story! I was all set to enjoy this delicious tale of teenage crush, love & mature love - the phases that each of us have gone through in this journey of life at some time or the other. ...