Petals!

New Year 2024: How exciting it feels to start the New Year and experience the vibe of exploring new goals and new beginnings! We can make every day feel special and here's how! [READ: That Time Of The Year] This is a good time to find new and smart ways to excel at something that you haven't done before - it could be as simple as starting a new fitness regime or a new diet plan or creating new dishes for your loved ones, or you can make it as complex as exploring India's culinary traditions and documenting it by infusing it with your own signature touch. None of this has to be mundane or boring. Make it fun - that's where the magic begins. [Read: Goan Vibes, Parsi Memoirs] You could also give yourself some fun-filled goals to steer your confidence with social skills in the right way. You could start a small Book Club with friends and read together some amazing Indian authors. I'd highly recommend books such as 'The Last Queen' if you enjoy historical fiction...

Wish you a wonderful, blessed and joyous Happy New Year 2022!                                [Image: Pazhavangadi Temple prasadam] Starting the year with a temple trail feels super sacred and joyous for me. It felt like a beautiful way to grasp with gratitude the precious moments of 2021. Taking inspiration from  the words of John O'Donohue: "We bless this year for all we learned, for all we loved and lost." A visit to Thiruvananthapuram, capital city of Kerala, is how I wrapped up the tumultous year of 2021. Paying respects to my favourite temple in the capital city - yes, Pazhavangadi Ganapati kshetram - and then a first time evening darshan at Sreekanteshwaram temple concluded our visit as we got ready to welcome the New Year. On New Year's Day, which is today, I had an amazing time meeting loved ones, especially spending time with family members, uncles and aunts and cousins. Such fun-filled moments...

Woooohoooo, 2020 begins! How swiftly 2019 whizzed by! This is a good time to reflect on what the year brought for most of us.  For me, there were several personal challenges to tackle during the first six months. This required me to go deeply within to understand and identify 'triggers' and embrace 'shadow work'. [READ: A Powerful Lesson from the Mahabharata]                                                   [Image: Pixabay] Truth be told, I didn't even realize that I have embraced shadow work till much later towards the end of the year when I read several posts on social media by influencers on the effectiveness of shadow work and inner child healing, both of which I took very seriously throughout 2019. Reading the teachings of Sri Paramahansa Yogananda in his beloved disciple Sri Gyana Mata's book titled, "God ALONE" was a life changin...

Loving Happy New Year wishes to all of you and I say this with all my heart. If I don't feel it from my heart, I can never sit down and write these words to you.  2016 has been a roller coaster year for me - I am sure it may have been the same for you and your loved ones too.  Life will keep unfolding, the best thing we can do is to keep evolving and making new choices that bring us more peace and clarity about being in the "present." I don't know if this sounds like mumbo-jumbo nonsense - yikes, I hope not. As a working mom, the toughest challenge that I faced this year has been to be fully focused on my son. As my son is growing older, he has far too much to tackle in his studies. What I strive for is to have open discussions about any topic that he has questions about even if it means answering questions that are not easy to find a balanced response to but we discuss everything openly.  I am not a control freak mom and I don't aspire to be one....