Welcome 2019 – 2nd January 2019 – MY JOURNEY TO MINIMALISM!!! – MINIMALISM ON MY MIND

Here is wishing all my friends and family a very Happy New Year 2019. May this year be more mindful and may we all resonate more with seeking good health, wealth and peace and going minimalist(for those of you who really want to seek inner peace and well being).

I intend to start my journey of minimalism – this year.  It has been seriously on my mind since more than a year.  In fact, I also tried it 2 years back, but I guess I wasn’t really serious about it. Having read a lot of books on minimalism and also reading lot of blogs related to LESS IS MORE, I really wanted to give it a shot.  After a staycation of about 7 days in a stretch, I realized that the most important things that brought me happiness was nothing hurrying up, enjoying the simple koffee with my hubby overlooking the highway and the garden from my home. 

Simple things like watching a movie, listening to a lovely piece of music, reading a good book that I could relate to really mattered a lot to me.  I was in such a state of peace and nirvana when I spent those seven days (reinventing myself)- things that brought happiness to me.  We watched musical shows together, went for a stroll and all these days I didn’t shop at unless it was for food items and basic home shopping.   Shopping was not on my mind at all and at the end of these 7 days, I was yet happy. So, I had taken the baby steps to walking and treading on this path of minimalism.

We started off with de-cluttering our home (about 5 months back) since we had to get our home done up (went for a simple and functional renovation) and the end result was indeed amazing and happy feeling.  It not only brought a sense of calmness and peace, but every time I look at my home, there is serenity since we have managed to keep the basic theme simple.

We gave away a lot of stuff to charity homes, donated clothes, bed linen, men and women clothing, my accessories, my daughters clothes, her toys which she had managed to hide in those places where I could never see.  It brought happiness to all of us that we could give away stuff that could be put to better use and functionality as against lying in the wooden boxes and storage spaces in our home.

So that’s my first intention for 2019 – start off with minimalism and hope to achieve it over the next twelve months.

Walking my body everyday atleast for 20 minutes a day – has something I have started doing since the last one month, and I am surely seeing a lot of good results, my face feels fresh and healthy and my cells are thanking me for it.

Thirdly, we have started on a vegetable juice diet first thing in the morning, As this blog progresses, I am going to share few recipes on how to go about it and how one could kickstart on this very very important habit.

So cheers to all of us, let’s be more happy, healthy and express gratitude every single day!

Love

Rekha

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

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