Petals!

From dawn to dusk, we work - all of us are engaged in some task or another. Many tend to work almost on autopilot. Happens, doesn't it? Sometimes, we engage in activities that may not be of use to us and results in waste of time. Distractions trouble us - it could be a colleague talking loudly in the phone, and we may do the same too, without realising we are distracting others at work.                                        ( Source: Radio Sai.org) Often, we are not conscious of how this impacts the quality of our work and time, not to mention our energy and attitude to work. The way we work reflects in the minds of our children. They watch us and we barely realise what they imbibe. Now life wasn't easy for our elders - in fact, they had none of the comforts that we do today. It wasn't as though they didn't have difficulties to handle. They managed bigger families and challenges than we...

The year 2023 has been full of surprises. My birthday this year was almost spent in the hospital and it was not an easy terrain to navigate, at the time. So, yes, it has been a year of precious lessons that taught me to surrender to the Divine Mother. I am still learning to take the baby steps, falling and getting up again while the Divine Mother watches. [Read: Kalyanam Celebrations, Temple Visits and Sarpakaavu] The rollercoaster of anxiety that gripped me this year paved the way for understanding the need to transcend the trappings of my egoistic mind. The story of hidden trauma is another tale to tell, a mapping of pain and agony, only the doctors can probe and share their clinical spells. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu once asked Ramananda Raya, "What is the greatest suffering that anyone can undergo in this world?" He replied, " The suffering of a pure devotee from being separated from another pure devotee or the separation pangs of a pure devotee bereft of the Lord's ...

Wondering who or what Vyas is? With renewed interest in watching the Ramayana and Mahabharata during the lockdown, this seems like a topic to explore. As a writer, what I find inspiring is not just that Sri Ved Vyas is a revered figure in Hinduism but he was the first meticulous and thorough writer, story teller and chronicler of classic, real time story narration!                                                  [Image: Pexels.com] Well, I can understand your confusion. You are wondering who is Vyasa? After all, we are no longer tuned in to our grandmother's stories, are we? We grow up on digital devices and play games on iPhones the moment we can crawl out of diapers! Vyas, to many millennials, may sound like a new digital game! Growing up in Kerala, most Malayalam movies I watched had jokes about getting confused between the Ramayana and the Ma...

You know I love readings books and if it relates to mythology, you've got me glued to every page! It is never easy to recreate the character and the inner world of already known characters - the challenges are many and quite tricky for a writer.  In the mythology genre, Kavita Kane is my favorite writer.  Her books   Karna's Wife and Menaka's Choice had me spell bound! . Kavita Kane brought every character to life and I simply loved both these books. [My post in Writers Melon: Why are Kavita Kane's mythological narratives so compelling to read? ]                                       [ Source: Kavita Kane's Facebook page ] If you have read the Ramayana, you already know a little about the story of Surpanakha - the ''wronged'' sister of Ravana. In this novel, the author gives readers a glimpse of the inner world of Surpanakha - her childhood, her relationships...