Petals!

Most of our childhood is stored not in photos but in certain biscuits, lights of day, smells, textures of carpet. - Alain de Botton One of the most beautiful aspects about being a mother is to experience the world through a child's innocent and playful gaze. When my son looks back to his childhood days , I truly hope that these are some of the things that he will remember fondly and perhaps share as part of the 'Down Memory Lane' conversations as an adult. When You are a No-Nonsense Mom - Not "Son is King" type My boy has grown up with fun times with his easy going mother, who despite struggling with 24X7 work related tasks, kitchen chores and other odd jobs, makes sure that she raises a confident, down-to-earth and positive thinking kid who often tries his hand at being a brat. Whenever Adi's playmates would come with complaints about him, I would listen to each of them and tell them that yes, it is wrong if he did what he did and I would make Adi...

                  Love without a price tag, conditions attached or the fine print of debt  At the age of five or six years, I told my Dad that I would never ever opt for an arranged marriage, especially the transactional ''bride seeing'' ceremony, where the bride is paraded around like a fancy showpiece before a bunch of curious strangers, who are more interested in how much gold she is wearing than her IQ. Dad, being my ever patient, serene hero, just smiled that calm, soothing smile that some of you are already familiar with and he said, ''Sure, that's fine." I was expecting a full flung family drama, a storm, maybe even being thrown out for the audacity of breaking the much-treasured family tradition. How dare a girl even say such a thing to her parents, right? Nothing happened. Dad was so cool. Then it struck me - maybe I am adopted. That's why it doesn't matter so much to him.  I did manage to summon ...

Anju Sundarikal, as the title suggests 'Five Beautiful Women,' is a poignant anthology of five short films that celebrate five  female protagonists and their tumultous lives. These five films play on different themes and emotions, and on the whole, it is an interesting anthology. Anju Sundarikal - Sethulakshmi The first film,  Sethulakshmi , is a heart-wrenching portrayal of sexual abuse of a small girl whose hobby is to collect newspaper clippings of newly wed couples from newspapers and she embarks on getting  a similar photograph taken of herself with her best buddy from school. What appears as an innocent wish is the honeytrap that leads the little girl to understand the meaning of fear.  Each scene in  Sethulakshmi    seemed to  tear into  my heart, particularly in a scene where the photographer's hands and glance linger a tad too obscenely on the innocent, unsuspecting girl whose eyes are filled with fear. There is anoth...

Directed by Shoojit Sircar, Madras Café, stars John Abraham and Nargis Fakhri in lead roles. The backdrop of this film catapults you straight into the centre of the civil war in Sri Lanka during the 1990s.  As a film viewer from   South India , I do not feel that the movie attempted to ridicule or insult Tamilians as is being suggested by many. The narrative is conducted as neutrally as possible and with tremendous sensitivity. You will be gripped by an overwhelming sense of anger, despair and pain as you are taken through some heart rending scenes of how the Tamils were persecuted in Sri Lanka .  Some of the most disturbing scenes in the movie present a very different view of India’s political  endeavors  to manipulate and take control of the ethnic conflicts between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil population there.  It also shows how vested powers from across the globe strategically pushed forward their vested economic interests t...

We all dread waking up to Monday mornings. So, I thought to myself "I need an inspirational quote to get started today. For all you busy bees, too, that would be a ray of light to start your day." Here's one inspirational thought for the day along with a snap that I clicked from Haridwar:   "People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds." — Carl R. Rogers

Mahadmrityunjaya Mantra: Benefit of chanting this mantra There are very few mantras that are as powerful as the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra. Do read my post: Does Mahamrityunajaya mantra really work?       Mahamrityunjaya mantra is believed to have the power to remove all sufferings, diseases and bestow the one who chants it with good health and long life.   It is also believed that constant contemplation of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra can help spiritual aspirants to overcome the cycle of birth and death. Also read: The Power of OM  and  Dark Night of the Soul What got me fascinated about this mantra is something personal.  I learned this mantra from my father but it is my maternal grandmother who chanted it all the time and repeatedly told me of its tremendous power to protect. However, I did not chant this mantra regularly.  At the age of two, my son was taught some mantras by my mother who explained what it means to him and he became very...

This morning did not begin like every other day. Because I do not start my mornings crying. But today was different. Father called me and informed me early morning, "Chechi (his older sister) is gone." That is all he could bring himself to say before he kept the phone down. This is Shantha valima, my father's sister. Kerala's 'Gana Gandharvan' Dr. K. J. Yeshudas was her most loved student. From high school itself, he used to call her 'Shantha teacher' and he used to say that she is the closest he had to his mother. Such was her unconditional love towards everyone. Then my sister called. We cried, shared memories of our childhood vacations with our loving aunt. When we began talking, we couldn't stop. Because we had so much to share from the love she had brought into our lives. Continents apart, but we cried and cried. But we also understood what Father hadn't said with that call. That she wasn't just sister to...