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!!