Petals!

''Hey, you are Swapna, right?'' For the first time in over 30 years during my frequent visits to Puttaparthi, I was asked this question by a stranger.  I was taken aback because this is a very unusual occurrence for me in Puttaparthi.  My parents and I were about to sit down for dinner when the stranger walked over to us.  "I am Rakesh Menon, your husband's friend from Class 1,'' he said. Phew! Of course, I have heard about Rakesh Menon from my husband though the two friends have not met each other for over two decades.  ''Heard so much about you and now I finally got to meet you....the year was 1997. Sanand couldn't stop talking about you and I have heard so much about your romance...,'' Rakesh was smiling as he said this. I was literally squirming - it does feel a little odd to hear about my romance in front of my parents and my very curious 11-year-old son. But Rakesh Menon has this amazing way of making everyone ...

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....

I love to start my day with a smile. So, I have a couple of happiness routines that I like to follow.  Sit up. Pause. Contemplate. The first thing that I do is I sit up, slowly and close my eyes, hold my palms up with love and gratitude as "Namaskar" to my Guru.  Express gratitude. Thank Earth. Before I step on the ground with my feet, I bend down and ask forgiveness and loving energy from Mother Earth for trampling on her all day. I convey my gratitude that the ground beneath my feet keeps me and my loved ones safe. Sing a song over a cup of tea And while I brew tea, I sing kirtans. If I don't sing kirtans, I play it on my phone so that the energy stays divine and hopefully, seeps into my first cup of tea.  Rewind to the 80s' childhood days. When I was growing up, I always woke up to a very cheerful, energized home environment.  My mother would be in the kitchen, cooking a nutritious breakfast and supervising every little detail - whether my da...

The year began with a visit to Lord Tirupati Balaji, the Kalahasthi temple, followed by three unforgettable days in my favorite place - Puttaparthi.  When I returned from the trip, it felt as though something had already changed within me - as though an important decision was being shaped by the Universe or a Higher force. [Does Maha Mrityunjaya mantra work?] But of course, I didn't realize it then, nor was I meant to. That hit me later. I returned to my place of work, happily.  Within a month, there were all the signs of a new beginning, literally. I stepped down from my comfort zone.                                                                                                            ...

Life is pretty short. So, just do what you love. Do what makes you happy.  There's nothing like it! Tell me: What makes you happy? 

What to do when you feel bogged down by negative thoughts? These simple tips give you a clue: 1. Do something you enjoy Bake. Cook. Read your favorite Or better still, go to one of your favorite places and simply chill. Watch people around you, how life moves on and brings out the best in everyone.  2. Contemplate on how you feel Work through your observations. Everyone deserves happiness, so do you. It's just your thoughts that tend to choose happiness and unhappiness. Once you know what you want, create your action plan and stick to it no matter how impossible it seems .  3. Visualize your dreams Remember, you alone can make your dreams come true. Visualize and live your dream. You have to help yourself first by taking the first baby steps. Doesn't matter if you fall, get hurt... just NEVER GIVE UP. Keep trying.   4. Dare yourself to do something like never before I am a cautious person by nature. I hate taking risks. Afraid of getting badly...

I asked my 8 year old son, “Frame 3 sentences quickly about your mother as a person.” This was his answer: 1.      Amma is a good cooker. 2.     Amma is beautiful. 3.     Amma works at..... Look at it from a language perspective and you know that the first sentence is not correctly framed.  But you also know one thing: it is straight from the heart. He meant 'good cook' and I burst into laughter because 'Amma is a good cooker' reminds me of my 2015 resolution: eat less, exercise more! Of the three sentences, the first one made me smile.                                                      It’s no different in our interactions with others. It’s not the “perfect comments/conversations” we recall. It’s the flawed, funny, heart-to-heart ones that stick like glue to the he...

Here’s a fantastic round-up of the three HAPPY blog posts I read. You could try looking at it too. Go ahead, give it a shot! Don’t POSTPONE joy There’s something about being happy that makes all of us happy. I mean, come on, do you honestly enjoy seeing anyone suffer? We want the world to be a happy place, don’t we? We all want to lead happy lives. Do read: 5 Exceptional Posts that will motivate you today                                                              [Image Credit: Unsplash] This post from Helen McKay, who says, “Don't postpone joy” makes sense. Her wise words also say, “ I believe happiness is about appreciating small things and simple experiences: the kind of things that leave lasting, enjoyable memories.  Our lives are full of joyful experiences, yet many folk don’t value the...

Here you go with my favorite posts for this month’s reading list: 23 amazing women writers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka talk about what it means to a be a writer  . Is there a connection between writers and pubs?  YES, says Billy Wilder.  Head out to ScotlandsPubsandBars.co.uk , a great resource detailing dozens of pubs with connections to music, industry, literature, sport, architecture and more. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?  If you aren’t tipsy yet, you have to read: Vidya Sury’s thoughts on the book “The World Has Changed: Conversations with Alice Walker” .  Alice Walker’s book 'The Color Purple'  had given me sleepless nights because of the heart wrenching narrative.  Another heart-wrenching post is from Vishnu   about   the “We own you” mindset of Indian parents wherein “your success is their success, your failure is theirs, your income is theirs….” For those of us who are in the denial...

                                                                                                              Mother of a three month old baby joined back for work. She sat on her desk, unable to focus on anything but the thought of her baby. She placed  on her desk a tiny framed pic of her three month old baby. The more she looked at it, the worse she felt. She couldn’t work. So, she put the pic away and she set to work. That day, she learned the most important lesson in her life – No matter what your situation is, keep yourself happy. One of my former friends from law college (a class topper, super achiever, excellent in arguments, etc) wrote a Facebook post after watching a very inspiring Malayala...