Worshipping the Divinity in our homes # Water pot/Water Vessel #Water Memory

When it comes to worshipping and offering prayers, there are many preferences that people choose to have. Some like to have a separate consecrated space, few of them have pooja rooms specially dedicated to it. Few of them have a small corner of their kitchen.  Whatever the convenience, offering anything with gratitude and love is going to manifest in positivity.

I too follow the same routine. I do have a dedicated small pooja room space and also have a small place in my kitchen. I find this space too divine , firstly its on the East side and when I light the lamp in the early morning and offer flowers to the deity, I feel it absolutely peaceful, divine and get a lot of oorja(energy) .

Our tradition places a lot of importance on lighting oil lamps in the morning and evening– it can be anywhere near the deity, near the Tulsi plant etc.  Recently I read a small piece of written work, wherein lighting an oil lamp near our water pot or the vessel  that we use to store water  is stressed upon.  I found this just so simple – why hadn’t I thought of it all these years –-May be it was to come to my lap and my understanding now. This one thing is giving us Life - From then on, I have been putting a small rangoli, lighting a lamp near to my water vessel.  Water is life – she is energy and truly when we worship the energy that is putting life into each of us, life reverberates.

Listening to a mantra first thing in the morning when cooking helps me become peaceful and I get a lot of solace. There is less anxiety and impatience in the morning especially when we have to complete the household chores and rush to the office.  Less impatience is more calmness and stillness within ourselves.  It helps us look better, perform better, complain less, act better and most of all feel at peace with ourselves and with the outside world.

Try lighting a lamp near to the water pot or vessel everyday – chanting a small mantra when doing it makes the water attract positive energy and your entire day becomes that of joy.

I have made it a practice to smile at the water that I am drinking and then say to myself that the water that I am going to drink is going to make me healthy, at peace, happy and joyful.   There are definitely positive results that I am seeing for myself.   You may choose to hold the water bottle and put in a small thought of peace and gratitude and see the way the water behaves inside your body.  It’s an absolute miracle. Check it out for yourselves!!

WATER HAS MEMORY – TRY IT!!!

With Gratitude

Rekha Mahadevan

Of Vadapao Wednesdays, My Books, Workplace Trinkets – Inner Peace IT IS!!!

Many of you would agree that a five day working is such a breeze for every working professional.  More so for a lady who has to juggle between home and office.  By the time you settle down with Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday smiles at you and what more than when your canteen guy serves you yummy vadapao (just the right spices and crunchiness )   I love the way he gets the vadapao in the big container and the soft paos (lovely baked ones) and the spicy and hot dry garlic chatni accompaniment.

When vadapao romances the cutting chai, it’s a wedding of cuisines.  Have always been a lover of vadapaos and cutting chais right from childhood. The spicy interface between me and vadapao still continues and then the saying goes “EK SE MERA KYA HOGA”.  Yes, I can definitely eat two of those and I can say this with pride- hahahah.

The sight of the vada making its way into the soft pao and then taking the bite of it is something that I cannot explain and is truly beyond my comprehension.  Mumbai,  vadapao, cutting chai are all synonymous and just gel so wonderfully.

I have made my workplace more fun loving and lively since I always believe that the workspace has to be bright and happy. One spends around 8 hours plus at this second home, So I have these happy faces and smiley icons that peps me up, helps me concentrate on my work, helps me pen down my favorite blogposts during the lunch time.  There are books that pep me up like the Tagore works.  You will find Louise Hay, Cheryl Richardson on my desk and I love these books, these books have made friends with me.  Then there is Rhonda Bryne and Mahatria Ra and of course my all-time favorite Dr. Wayne Dyer. The bonding and friendship is just perfect with these books – I don’t leave them and they for sure don’t leave me. These guys are so much a part of me, my life, my workplace in its entirety.  They play a huge role in my life and it is thanks to Maddy (aka Mahadevan – my hubby) who instilled an interest of reading in my life – its been more than 15 years of reading and there is no stopping ever since!!

Can there be any other deadly combination – vadapao, chai and your favorite book –Aaah!! Truly truly peaceful. 

P.S:

Here you can experience the charm, beauty and gastronomical experience of my favorite Vadapao without straining your eyes and brains too much (check the photograph).   I love my desk so much and relate to every item here – they are so much a part of me – the photographs of travel, life quotes, positive affirmations, My favorite books, coffee mug, the Morrocon glass where my money plant is evergreen,  the hand painted glass bottle with yet another plant – they say hello to me every morning- the Buddha peacefully meditating on these lovely books give me the encouragement to write something different and new- something which I love doing.

So here’s to some happy writing  -More to think, more to write, more to feel happy about!!

Love

Rekha Mahadevan

NOT WITHOUT MY KAJAL – FOR SURE!!! – JAI TO JAI KAJAL 

As long as I can remember (don’t know – how long) never been without my KAJAL.  And girls and women who romance their kajals just the way me, Radhika (my lil sister),  Jyothi  and Shreya  our  daughters, my sister-in-law Latha, would agree totally that staying away without using it is fact sinful  J. In fact,  so depressing. - You may call me a KAJAL addict and I am one of THE most addictive kaajal users.

In those days we used to get the humble JAI KAJAL (the green small dibiya). I remember having to pester my mom to buy me one and it costed around 70 paisa to be precise.  It had such a pleasant fragrance to it and it still does.  I still own one of those pieces of  JAI Kaajal with me.  It still adorns my dressing area. The sight of that small dibiya of kajal around my home in some corner would bring such joy and smile to my face and this was so true for me as well as my sister Radhika (she would not differ) from this for sure.  There were days during my childhood and growing up years and times when I would feel low (god alone knows why) ,  JAI KAJAL came to my respite. And then I had it all -HAPPY EYES and SMILING FACE IT WAS yet again.  The 70 paisa kajal used to last me for quite many months I remember, but now all the LAKMES AND PLUMS AND MAYBELINES do not even make their way through a month and times when I really used them darker, it lasted for only 26 days to be precise.

Believe it or not, the kajal kissed eyes and a small bindi can complete the look just so wonderfully for any Indian girl.  The manner in which the kajal just glides on our eyelids and adorning the eyes is like a painter getting his high when he is using his brushes and colours on a canvas. 

There is so much a kajal can do to the eyes, it can mush up your look, give a smoky look – you choose how you wish to look. The olden times kajal like Jaikajal used to smudge and I remember we had to really take care to check ourselves now and then to ensure that the kajal doesn’t smudge. We used to be so particular.  The greatest advantage is that you can get away with the slight dark circles under your eyes by giving it the smokey look. See it rescues you there as well!!!

You get to create dramatic looks, smokey, bold eyes, Arabian style, reverse smokey and last but not the least, the latest one that is winged look.

Times have changed now and the latest versions of kajal are smudge and waterproof. But at times, I miss the smoothness and the crayony feel of JAI KAJAL. 

With the modern woman being out for work and staying outside home for more than 8 to 10 hrs, the smudge proof kajal is the one she can depend on – be it for a quick outing or a meeting or just chilling with friends.  You may choose to call it any name, kajal, eyeliner, kohl – the feeling that it gives you is truly high.

So JAI TO JAI KAJAL!!!

Love

Rekha Mahadevan

Feeling the Pulse and Breath of your HOME – BREATHING IN !!!

Every home Breathes. Yes, it’s true. One has to listen to it with some amount of awareness and remaining in a state of consciousness (even few seconds or minutes in a day works wonders).

I always knew about it, having read few books on subconscious mind and books like The Magic.  But it took me many years to understand this and implement it in my own life.  One has to feel the breath of one’s home since every home is an extension of one’s personality and behavior. Many things that go into creating a specific ambience in one’s home has so much to say about the members staying in that home, their likes, tastes and behavioural patterns.

When I get into a space of someone’s home, I sense the aura of that place and feel great doing it without being judgemental about anything.  Every home definitely has a story to say about itself and if you have an ear for it, you will get it right.

Just imagine a home speaking about herself (for me a home is a feminine concept since she requires a lot of pampering and cuddling).  The more you take care, she is going to give you more. Just imagine  coming back to this restful space after a tired day’s work. She will relate to you and welcome you just the way you left her in the morning. 

Smile at your door when leaving your home and see the difference it makes when you return.  You will definitely feel good coming back.  You will start noticing the change in yourself and this is where awareness and consciousness comes in.  Simply cribbing about your home and its drawbacks is in no way going to make her welcome you – she will respond back with a not so good smile. So lay your cards well, speak good words when in your home – she is listening to every word that you say.

As a child, I would always dream of my home being decorated in a specific fashion and that dream has come true. We got it done just the way we wished it for, suiting our personalities and liking.  We wanted the Indianness to stay and the authenticity to remain intact.   It’s been a definite hectic month for us, but after all the blood and sweat that went into creating our dream space, we feel good of having got it right.

I now feel in a meditative state when I am relaxing on my sofa overlooking the simplicity of the décor and the little artefacts that I collected for my home.  I felt the texture of the fabric and the smooth smoothness of my drapes – I now relate to smooth (pun intended). The rustic feel of my walls felt so heavenly yesterday and that was true meditation for me.  Those seconds of being with my HOME gave me a lot of peace and calmness which I never got even when I closed my eyes and tried enough to be in a state of meditation.

So, try this small trick with your home. Give your furniture, furnishings, the walls that warm touch and see every piece going alive and living life just the way YOU AND I BREATHE.

Yes, Every HOME breathes!!  Put LIFE into this living space and see wonders happening to your LIFE.

Love

Rekha Mahadevan

When life gives you lemons and you have a barni (PORCELAIN JAR), PICKLE IT!!!!

There is this nostalgia with the typical pickle barni (porcelain jars).  I remember come May and my mom used to pickle the spicy tangy mangoes, cut mangoes (avakai – in Tamil).

Years went by and with time, maintaining those barnis became a big hassle, when we shifted residence and just few years back, when we were clearing our storage for Diwali, I saw the same barni and it brought a smile on my face.  I asked Amma to wash it (which she was in no mood to- lolz) and I did it for a change.  I with that childlike innocence told my mom to store tamarind in it since I remembered my amma telling me that these barnis are specifically use to store salt, pickles and tamarind.  I just wanted to see those barnis get their due respect on our kitchen shelf and not somewhere in the storage shack.

I thought why on earth she had stopped using them.  She had a fairly big barni with a nice handle and it was quite heavy.  With the entry of plastics and Tupperware and so many other types of materials which have actually invaded our kitchens, somewhere the humble barni was stored away far from its due place like A no man’s land.

Even today the site of these lovely jars brings such joy to me and with the advent of Amazon shopping (Maddy aka Mahadevan) teases Amazon as AMMA ZONE) where you name it you get it.  So, I was on this hunt for these wonderful cut barnis and guess what -   I found them. 

Online shopping is definitely thrilling – no doubt on it.  But the thrill of holding and feeling a particular item in your hand and associating with it and having the happiness of buying it from a Brick and Mortar store is something which is incomparable.  So guess what, I went to Dadar, kirti market where I was literally ravaging through shops to find these barnis.

I am sure the people around would be amused to find someone look out for these age old models of jars but I was disappointed that I couldn’t find the round barnis and all he had were the slim tall barnis.  My search still continues.

Amma Zone aka Amazon does have these and if I am not able to find something to my palate then I have no other options but to seek refuge from these online sites but the pursuit ends with me ordering these online and I have been lucky to get these and place them on my dining table.  Every time I have my food, I have these wonderful spicy pieces of art gleefully looking at me and smiling to glory. 

Happy pickling!!!!  Enjoy a great BARNI day!!!

Love to all

 Rekha Mahadevan

The Beginning of 40 for me: Wings to fly – THE CHEMICAL LOCHAPHASEGet yo...

The Beginning of 40 for me:




Wings to fly – THE CHEMICAL LOCHAPHASE
Get yo...: Wings to fly – THE CHEMICAL LOCHA PHASE Get your wings to fly !! Do it today.   Make that small beginning today itself since on...

Wings to fly – THE CHEMICAL LOCHA PHASE

Get your wings to fly !! Do it today.  Make that small beginning today itself since one is not sure whether the mood would be right for tomorrow and the ambience you are seeking would be available tomorrow.

It’s been a year of not writing/blogging.  I would say that I had forgotten to think what I love doing – I spoke to my inner self to understand what gave me the pleasure and happiness that I was even a year back.  I had created a self imposed vacuum around me and I was the only one to blame for it.  It was getting depressing lately since I didn’t know what was amiss these days (was it the h omefront, or was it the office or was it ME).  Was it the hormones or the chemical locha that you may say –  considering I am in the mid 40s.  Self policing gets on your nerves at this time, since one is not sure of what and how to do it right.

I thought about it and immediately related it to my mother, aunts, cousins who I am sure would have gone through this phase.  Then why did anyone not speak about it ? Or did they speak and no one understood? Really tough.  May be speaking about these was considered taboo those days.  I spoke to my amma and she responded that she actually didn’t remember whether any of those things really bothered her those days. Guess she didn’t have the time on her hands like me.  Ours was a typical middle class family comprising of me, my little sister my amma appa and at times my paati (my paternal grandmom) came to stay with us. 

It was a rented chawl apartment with just a room and a small kitchen.  My Dad worked for a small company and mom took tuitions to support him in the household. May be she didn’t have the time to think of too many mundane things that I consider important and those that really trouble the lot like me – the current generation.

Yaa so getting back to what I really want to say – Rejoice in the fact that YES you are good at something.  Try working on it.  Getting back to something after a sabbatical is definitely not all that easy especially in your mid forties, but if a little effort and interest goes into finding your passion, you will surely not find the CHEMICAL LOCHA period all that boring.  YES, there may be days when the hormones trouble you a bit more than the normal days, but there will always be a Rainbow making its way with both the rain drizzle and the sunshine smiling at you simultaneously.

So get your wings to fly – YOUR PARACHUTES.  If you don’t know what they are, think a bit. Get it right away and FLY.

The MID FORTIES DIVA

R       e       k           h            a 

p.s  I am loving it today that I did manage to scribble something and smiling at the fact that I could manage it. So can YOU!!

Pongalo Pongal

A very very happy Pongal/Sankranti to all of you!!

Yes I am back again after a semi long lull.  Many thoughts in mind but what to write is still to be figured out.  True - this year I have also sort of thought that I need to make this resolution work.  The resolution of BEING MINIMAIST.  After having read the Minimalist blogs for more than 13 to 14 months, yes I have been inspired atleast to a quarter of myheart to go the minimalist way.

There is a lot of confusion in my mind as to whether it is really worth all it. At times, I feel yes it is worth it.  I will have less of stuff to handle.  Basically I am not a collector of items. The only thing that I love shopping are clothes and the accessories that come with it – like neck pieces, ear rings, finger rings that’s it.  This stuff itself is quite a lot in number at my home – yeahhhh but I am loving it and I am honest about it.

There was a time when I used to drape those lovely sarees and used to have this goodwalla feeling – even if it meant getting up half an hour early, doing the daily chores like cooking, cleaning and still stepping out of my home at 715 a.m.  With years passing by, these seem to have changed to absolutely impossible and honestly am like – is it really worth all the effort.

I am happy at this point in time wearing my kurtis and quickly stepping off my home with 2 bags in hand (which are functional) and it satisfies every shopping requirement.

So the next question is to whether one really needs all this stuff- cleaning them, storing them, ironing them is quite a hassle – it has come to that stage.

So hence, this decision of going minimalist.  Have seen a lot of my known acquaintances and friends being so judgemental about people wearing the same clothes and stuff at get togethers, weddings, birthday parties. Then there are those type who are comfortable the way they are.  So that’s it. Why bother about who is going to bother or comment?

I would rather use the saved money on travelling.  Travelling is one activity that me and Maddy are loving these days. The desire to travel, see places, go local markets, eat the basic local cuisine is really making me want more of it. A week left untraveled seems to me as if I have wasted that week without actually using it.  Yes, but as a working woman I have loads of things to be done at home as well, regular cleaning, clearing up the rooms – that’s where this original idea of going MINIMALISM was sown.

I felt that if we had less stuff, there would be fewer things to do and maintain and I could possibly use it for better things.  Anyways better late than never, so this year we try and be minimal when it comes to buying stuff and go MAXIMUM in travel (like the last 2 years)- YES, WE ARE LOVING IT AND THANK GOD FOR IT

Loads of love

Rekha