World's Best Chef is Rising!

World’s Best chef is rising!
Who did you think I was referring to?Well,if you thought it was me(albeit, those who know me will never get that right)…then Congratulate yourself!I am quite excited about this skill that I m trying to acquire lately.Oh!I am so good at it!Though my mom wouldn’t mind laying down her life against this claim.She is more horrified than happy to see her little girl doing things she has been doing for 3o odd years,so creatively.Who cares if some salt goes missing and some sugar sticks on your tongue,when you dint expect it there really!
I have been making Chappatis(Circular,thin breads made out of fine ground whole wheat) and I am having blast of a time in making these..Literally so.My mom is blowing red…well,I know a woman has infinite patience,but a daughter like me makes her go beyond it…to those levels when she knows there is only God she could trust to make me wiser by half an inch.I have this gross habit of straying away from the central theme,anyways,I have also learnt to make Tea..that has been the most painful experience for me…making tea.It demands every ounce of your attention or you suffer and so do others who misdelegated this responsibility of making tea to your efficient hands.
I am an unconventional cook,who defies all laws that have come to exist in this art of Cooking!(Am I bragging over the bridge?)It really doesn’t matter to me,that it has been just about a week that I have starting frequenting the kitchen side,to help out mom with her cooking,though she complains she has had to work harder ever since altruism got the better of me…also she finds some glasswares missing,she thinks I did it(do you think,I could ever dream of doing such a thing?But I have less idea,if it fell off my hands without my knowledge and just right then I had a call to attend to and my feet shoved them under the carpet…(he he he)
My stint at cooking Dal(a preparation made out of pulses) isn’t less adventurous…I gave everybit of my mortal body to make a good(which connotes eatable-without-making-faces) Dal.HA!it looked perfect after final touchups with garnishing thing.Just so that it looked even more beautiful, I added cashews and raisins on the top(my mom almost fainted just the way you did).My dad was the first to have a go and he had a my-daughter-made-it smile on his face brimming with pride.I gave him a bowl-full of it,so that he neednt ask for more,coz its embarrassing to ask for more sometimes…But…well…umm..things didn’t go exactly my way…my dad Threw up.He didn’t want to,though.It just hit me,I hadn’t added salt,not even a grain of it,but I hadn’t forgotten Mumma’s advise of adding very little of sugar in it,so that it adds to its taste.So it seems I had come up with a new recipe-Sweet-Saltless-Dal.
But I am not going to give up..,with courage,dedication,enthusiasm and hard work…I ll come up with newer recipes like this one(Did I hear you saying…others are gonna need these dispositions as well,in order to live with your cooking?)Well,if you said that,then let me tell you,I also invite you to ascertain my credibilities…

Reality shows and all that!

Reality Shows are raining
Are you as much amazed as I am at the recent downpour of reality shows and talent hunts all over the television?All of a sudden,everywhere you see,you find girls and boys,uncles and aunts,grandmas and grandpas dancing,singing,arguing and sobbing to their hearts content.And here we are on this side of the screen,accompanying them on their journeys to that evasive title,which you will find it difficult to recollect after 6 months have gone by.But somehow I find it extremely difficult to understand as to what remains to be “Real” about these shows.These shows are as soppy as some of the ‘K’ shows,infact they make you sob harder.
Everytime a contestant is chucked out of the show,you have to see the whole drama that ensues.I simply cant stop laughing under my breath,while the stage is being set for the emotional saga to unfold.The contestants cant stop consoling the one who is being thrown out and he cant stop wondering if these are the same people who were after his life a moment ago.To enhance the experience,we have a woeful music running in the background.At this point it almost become unbearable for us and our tear glands give away,and there we go,pouring our hearts out in sympathy,empathy,love and tenderness for the poor participant.But after seeing all that he has gone through and all that he would have had to,just incase he hadn’t lost,all that I feel like saying is-Good for him,that he is out.
Another funny thing about these shows are its judges.They provide for the humour.the nasty mothers-in-law and sisters-in-law of the K-shows find a replacement in the person of these scary judges.They suck the life out of the participants as if they were divinely ordained to do so. Guilt isn’t a word they know.And, if, however, they are on a high, then the participant has had it. He would be mashed under the weight of prolific compliments and comments that seem to go over board. phoney praises that make your head spin.
And even more hilarious is the fact that this is the case with talent shows in stand-up comedy as well. Every channel has one such show that earns the TRPs for them.But like the cliché goes,too many cooks,indeed spoil the broth,Too many stand-up comedians have diluted the humour that it used to be.
And have you realized something,all these heady,hyped up, unnecessarily emoted shows have sneaked into our personal lives, snatching away precious moments that we could have spent with our family doing something worthwhile and creative. We have stopped communicating and far less being in each others company,exclusively.How touchy we have become about our favourite T.V shows,that it has been a long while that we ventured into our neighbour’s house and it has been even longer that we gorged on an icecream with out children while strolling around in a park nearby.
I sadistically hope this trend phases out sooner than later,lest we start losing out on life and living,with these cocky T.V shows eating away on our already cramped up time tables and schedules.

The Making of a Devotee

The Making of a Devotee… :)
I don’t know how and I don’t know when,.when did I start giving up my gigantic egos and began a new journey.A journey in Devotion,a journey in humble Surrender.It wasn’t like this before,surely not.I was one of those never-touch-down kinds,never the one to really call someone my Guru,I was my own Mentor.Me and bowing down in front of a white clad ‘Godman”? was simply unimaginable.(Later I came to know that Godman was the word used by the British to demoralize Indians,they never called their Pope a Godman !Only Indian sages were called so.From then on I have stopped using this word.).Anyways, Though I respected people with knowledge,I wasn’t going to say-You are my God!My Guru!My Saviour! and all that.
However,This guy was so intriguing that almost involuntarily always ,my ways led to Him.I would doubt each step that he would take,wondering what is he upto?Why is he talking like that?Why should he be so caring and why should he be answering my unasked and yet thought about questions?What was he to gain from me? And yet at other times certain other type of questions played on my mind, “Why did he seem so amazingly innocent and why did my eyes start watering just in His presence and why was it that I never needed him to speak,just with his not-of-this-earth Persona spoke a million words of comfort and a deep sense of knowing that He was there for me all along and Selflessly so.
Initially,I would never call him Guruji,I would call him Friend to save my ego.It seemed like I was testing his genuinity and authenticity like a sharp auditor.But everytime he would come out victorious,putting my doubts to grave.I know it would be difficult for some of you to relate to what I am saying,coz long back we stopped trusting people,we stopped trusting Love and Goodness.So had I.But with days and years that passed by,I grew more and more fond of Him and I would become a Child in His presence,innocent,pure and full of inexplicable joy-all this wasnt for the head,it happened from the heart.I would never understand the whys of this and slowly I stopped reasoning my joy,my happiness and stopped reasoning why was I coming back to my nature,coming back home.May be I was lucky enough.True,I do feel so immensely fortunate when I see people stuck in their intellect,they lose out on some Beautiful experiences.
It was like I was this little girl and there was this angelic presence that held her hand and helped her walk through the labyrinths of life,helping her overcome her weaknesses,strengthening her and just being with her when she feels weak,understanding her without her needing to even say and Loving and accepting her for whoever she is,for not just expecting but Believing in Her as She Grows…
He had amazing ways to bring me to realize I was going wrong,definitely one which was Not was to make me feel guilty.Words that earlier seemed too clichéd and dry,found new meaning for me,when he spoke them.He helped me discover,that I had gravely misunderstood my religion and others for that matter,like millions of us…and Oh,If only all of us knew what lay in these Beautiful religions,we wouldn’t have taken so much pride in being irreligious.He took me to the depth of it.Was I turning spiritual?Yes,I was.Initially I was apprehensive about this other side of mine coming to light,but soon I was to realize that if only there was anything,it was to be proud of.I started being proud of the knowledge that was given,I was proud that I meditated,that I was calm,that I did Pranayams and Sudarshan Kriya and if people were to find something to help them come out of their stresses,it could only be this.Why,shouldn’t I be proud of this knowledge which is so Ancient and yet so Aweinspiring?
This journey back from the head to the heart,is the journey we will all have to travel,now or later,whether we want to or not.With head we can chalk out plans to destroy,kill,make money using nonsensical means,but its only with heart that we can reach out to the other being,someone who is not showing it up,but somehow,somewhere needs you,needs your Love and needs your words to lighten up.

A village went MAD-Made a Difference

Whoever said its not possible?
Let me take you down the memory lane,it was just as disturbing as you could imagine…water supply was something that came to them with great coxing and cajoling,may be once a week..all the men in the village knew how good or bad the alcohol tasted just by the face of it,it wasn’t important for them if they knew the alphabets right.Terrified by the state of affairs in this dreamy village of Kapsi,families started fleeing the village and started hounding the nearest towns and cities-solapur,ahmednagar,pune…Diseases?you name it and they had it.The only thing you would wish for after being there is,the slightest opportunity for getting out of that place.There were three things that could happen to you-You run off or you are chased out or you are shot at with n-number of requests from mothers to get their sons certain things called jobs,well it could be anything(atleast that much of it lay in your jurisdiction).

But did I tell you,all this was quite some time back..Today,however its different,its very different..Just as easily you believed its past,its present stands to be as unbelievably and beautifully true.So is the reason I have stuck pictures,real ones at that.Pictures,as it were and as it is today….So that you might somehow like to say-well,this is Amazing!
Would you be interested to know the hows and the whys of this story..
There I go again hitting the same note…The Art of Living…
Its so magically true that any reform or change has to first happen in the mind and then it actualizes into reality.So was the case with my little Kapsi.This village came to be adopted by the Art of Living Foundation and all for good.The instructors mobilized the village residents and made them undergo breathing,Yoga and employability enhancement workshops.Everybody relished the experience of Sudarshan Kriya(which is taught exclusively in the Art of Living workshops)!Well to put it in the words of Vaibhav,a resident of Kapsi, “Sudarshan Kriya was so powerful.In six days,I found something missing in me and that was my temper and I found my self belief.I
was peaceful and could work more.”
Another lady,well in her 60s, told me with an unusual glitter in her eyes, “My feet used to bleed.Nothing helped,but when I did this Art of Living,I was cured.I started smiling a lot.In our village,many babas used to come to teach us about God,but nobody healed our pains.But Art of Living changed my village and my life.Now we have water all the time,we don’t have to go out of our houses for using toilets.We have Chulhas which are smokeless.”As she went on,I could see she was utterly grateful and happy.
Almost at the risk of being called biased,I go on to say,for the first time I realized there is such an organization that has worked magic in the lives of people..You could see this magic in their smiles and in their eyes and in the utter faith they project.
Now coming back to where I was,after all the people had undergone these courses in the village,some of the youths from the village were chosen to spearhead this movement of transformation in the village,they were called Yuvacharyas.(Youth leaders)They were given special month long training that strengthened them into becoming Peace warriors.When I met these Yuvacharyas,I was dumbstruck by the amount of confidence,conviction and yet a sense of calmness,that pervaded their personalities.It was a duality which was new to me,you could be very enthusiastic and you could be as serene in your mind,at the same time.
These Yuvacharyas literally started an awakening in their village,about how they needed to stop expecting and start doing it on their own.They showed them the possibilities and empowered them with logic and love,that Kapsi belonged to them,they belonged to each other.
So to cut an already long story short,in the coming days they would be taking up huge community works and accompalishing them with great ease,Together as one village…Dams were built,as you see in the images,toilets were constructed,smokeless chulhas were installed,Chemical Free Farming(CFF) substituted chemical fertilizers and pesticide,.trees were planted like mad…Agricultural produce increased(look at the size of the cauliflowers) like a bull set free…and how this village got itself a Makeover of sorts..Now when you go there,the only thing you would wish is to stay back for just another day and another day and yet another day-Clean, Green,Happy and selfdependent Kapsi…
I just forgot to say something-Thanks Dr. Pol for giving your self to making this village the Adarsh Gram(Ideal Village)..A Village that we could only have imagined and wished for,if it were not for angels like you and the other yuvacharyas,who awakened a Village to its own Beauty and Splendour in The Masters Grace…
Friends,No matter how badly I might have tried to cut out the grandeur of my experience into right words,I guess I failed.Simply because,Certain things can only be experienced and to that extent less expressed.For those who have been to Kapsi post the changes that have come,would know what I mean and would be frantically nodding,Yes!Yes!she is right.She is right.So I thought let the pictures do a little bit of talking.