learnings

  As mentioned several times I am fascinated by technology and now with AI. My son had gifted me an Apple watch. Yes I enjoy all its features. I shall discuss some later. Today I opened the mindfulness feature. It has two options: gratitude and breathe. Time= 1 minute.  I clicked on the gratitude. It guided me to be grateful... For the one minute the apple had a soothing  visual colour swirl. I had so much to be grateful for. I picked one and focussed on it. One minute sped. I thus began my day with peace and calm. 

  RIP Shane Warne. I hardly watch cricket yet I cannot escape this game ( can any Indian?). Some cricketers have made an impact on me. Shane Warne was a media favourite too with his marvellous professional life and a colourful personal life.  In them morning I woke up with the news that the legendary Rod Marsh had passed away. Shane Warne had given a condolence message. By evening Shane is no more. Just 52 years old.  I spent some time reflecting on life. As ever I am deeply grateful. All the irritants faded away. I felt lighter and happier. I wished it would always be like this. From time to time we are constantly reminded how mortal we are. Sigh all this amidst Europe being torn apart.. why is the homo sapien so difficult..

  Health and fitness is everyone's pet topic and nightmare. In my caseI like to experiment with various forms of exercise, the most popular being the gym and yoga. Both these suit me well and my ambidextrous self.  I have not had happy experiences with my aerobic instructor. She just could not understand why I found rhythm and the concept of right/left so hard. She would also use racist slur on the 'south indian body type/ rice eating type etc. it was very de motivating.  I figured out very late in life, thanks to my dance teacher- yes I did join a classical dance class. The teacher was patient and a keen observer. She pointed out that being a left handed person who was forced into being right handed, I had this confusion. Whoa that was an eureka moment for me. I almost teared up as I had a better understanding of myself.  In between all such stunts I do moderate walking to maintain some amount of fitness. My body hit a plateau with walking. I entered into a comfort ...

  pic courtesy-google images It is fascinating when one looks at another via one's own 'lens' and is willing to discover a different facet to the other.  It is a choice we have to make. Assumptions, presumptions, expectations, generalisations are red flags in any relationship. 

  As the title goes it is indeed a huge achievement, nowadays, if a movie does linger on for more than 24 hours!  Two young men, sons of two legends, have made this movie worthwhile ( in fact every actor in the film has donned the role beautifully). Hridayam is a feel good film a tad longer than usual with plenty of twists.. It is a movie where you can take breaks and get back with enthusiasm and curiosity. It is not a film that has to be rushed into watching in one go. Savour the scenes. Thanks to OTT!! The movie is a simple reflection of a slice of life. Now if life isn't magical then what is. The film has captured the ethos of a Malayalee student in Chennai. The teachers/profs not being mocked; the subtle dialogues without bringing in hostility between Tamilians and Malayalees; the mix of students; hostel scenes; engineering students finding their own off beaten paths; the bond of friendship; the bullies; crush and infatuations; life after college, weddings of classmates- t...

Yesterday it was my father's birthday. A few memories came up distinctly. One that came up uppermost was thanks to my son's blog   My father taught me to remember that there were 'angels' on earth who have helped us sometime somewhere in our life's journey. He would speak of his bachelor days when he had starved and lived on black coffee because he did not want to burden his brothers. But it was miraculous when his second older brother would send him a parcel of goodies. The relief; the mitigation of hunger - I would see my father's eyes tear up. He remained grateful to many in his life's journey. And I am glad he taught me by being the role model. 

 I had my post grad classmates over for munch on Valentines Day. With gusto we wore our favourite colours; had chocolates , food and plenty of pics. We had such a memorable time catching up with stories old and new. Eckart Tolle featured in our conversation. It was a well spent day. We were comfortable talking various topics, comfortable with our flaws and laughter. It is interesting how Indians have embraced valentine's day. Of course the romance tradition is uppermost. For the rest of the populace it symbolises simple plain/non romantic love between individuals- parents and children; teacher and students; and above all a beautiful platonic love between friends. Valentines day in India embraces the Indian family and extended family plus friends circle.  Love is indeed beautiful is it not!