The "Pa" of Sadhana!

" Amma , Kaani... Amma Kaani....." my elder son was obsessed with stories from a very young age. He used to repeat these words continuously, suggesting favorable topics for his stories. It could be on any thing under the sun...animals, vehicles, plants ....he would name it and I had to give an extempore on the given topic. This exercise has surely kindled my creative faculties and my imaginative thinking!.....it has helped me realize the beauty of childhood, which is a life with out any limits...

One day , he came up with a topic..".hands"! Once upon a time ......I started with my on the spot story! ... it ended up to be something I had heard in my childhood....It went thus....

".......there was a discussion which turned out to be heated debate among the five fingers. Each one wanted to prove that it was the best. The thumb said, "I am the strongest! with out me to support no one can even hold a pen or a pencil. So I am the best!"
The pointer said," I am the best, there is no doubt about that.....people use me to point at things...I am the most useful one in communication!"
The middle finger said," Come on guys! how can any of you imagine to be best ....I am present! I am the tallest...and the most elegant! "
The ring finger said, "Can't you all see ! I am the most honored ... people adorn me with precious stones and jewels ! I am the symbol of love!"
All waited for the little finger...what would it tell, after all it was without any special features....but the little finger mustered up all confidence and rose to the occassion.It said," When you greet some one or When you bow down before God with folded arms , I lead the way! I am greeted back first! How can you all look down upon me! I am the most blessed!"
Each one has his or her own role to play .. like the members of a family!
Like the palm which holds the fingers together , it is love and understanding which holds the family together.

Each member of the family, big or small is important to make it whole. Shiva kudumbam or the family of lord shiva, in hindu mythology is an apt example of the diverse personalities in the family. Shiva who has smeared His whole body with ashes and has snakes for ornaments, the embodiment of penance and austere meditation ....is with His divine consort Parvathi , a potrayal of feminine beauty and power: their elephant headed Son Ganesha with a protruded belly and their warrior son, Subrahmania. They represent a family .... entirely different personalities who are held together with the power of love.

The "pa" of my Sadhana is that I am my Family....a part which makes it whole....! I enjoy the warmth and the joy when we are together. I am surrounded by the embrace of my family ....the time and togetherness we share nourishing our growth , strengthening the roots of relationships!

Kanna and Sree go Apple picking!!!

I was waiting with Sree my toddler, for my elder son Kanna's school bus to arrive. I couldn't help wonder at the tapestry of nature , as my eyes fell on the swaying colorful trees as they performed their autumn dance. All the colors were compressed in the costumes these trees wore , creating a divine aura of joy and bliss.
" Anna bus , Anna bus" , yelled Sree as he heard the approaching yellow school bus.
" Amma, Anna come in magic school bus. Sree also go in magic school bus with Anna" he added.

Kanna came running , his face beaming with pride , his out stretched arms eagerly waiting for a warm squeeze and a loving hug. He started elaborating the days events at school... trying not to miss every opportunity at arousing jealousy in his little brother.

"I have something special to give you " said Kanna as he opened his school bag and pulled out a few papers. On it were given detailed recipies of apple sauce , apple sauce cake and apple muffins.
" Amma, I am going to help you make these!" he declared.

There was home work to for me .. it said " write why is your child the apple of your eye?"

" Amma, my teacher lives near an apple orchard!
Amma, you know what , my friend Zac brought apple sauce to school today!
Amma , you know there are red , yellow and green apples.......if we slit open an apple we can see a star...........

He went on and on ....and apples were the main topic of discussion through out the day!

We finally decided to go apple picking at "Erwin Apple orchard", which was a 20 minute drive from our place.

On Saturday morning , off we went to the apple orchard. We first took a ride around the farm on the farm wagon.. trying to figure out which variety of apples we would fill in our plastic bag , that we bought at the counter.We passed the corn maze , the pumpkin patch and finally arrived the apple orchard.

Red and golden balls were dangling from small healthy looking trees , which was a real treat to the eyes. Some trees were covered with these from top to bottom , that even my two year old could easily pluck them with out any one's help. The golden delicious were so tempting and inviting that it reminded me of Adam and Eve's first temptation. Our hands involuntarily held the golden fruit , and it came off its branch with a slight twist. Before long all of us were busy munching the juicy treats as we roamed through the rows of apple trees trying to research on the juiciest ones.

Adjacent to the apple orchard was the orange pumpkin patch with huge pumpkins....Kanna went in search of the perfect pumpkin which he could carry ...the long search finally came to an end after trying to lift each pumpkin we saw ....finally we discovered kanna's perfect pumpkin.


After a long day of apple diet .... we once again succumbed to the freshly made apple donut and apple cider before heading for the games that were organized for kids.

Our apple cake


apple pickle

Back at home , we made apple pickle, apple sauce and apple cake .....while Kanna stirred the dry ingredients , Sree and Appa blended the wet ones .....we all anxiously waited for the cake to bake ....its aroma arousing our taste buds....As the kids savored the apple cake ...I could catch a twinkle in their eyes , a glow on their faces !!!

The "ma" of my Sadhana!

" Om Hari Sri Ganapathayee namaha! " wrote the tiny little fingers on the tray of rice with joy and excitement, squatting on her dad's lap. She used to wait eagerly for this moment every year! The nine day Navaratri festival filled her home with energy and life. Her dad used to walk to every nook and corner of the house with a broom stick threatening the homes of spiders and bugs while her mom used to rearrange the home giving it a new look. The house echoed with the music and chitter chatter of all the students who used to spend long hours in her home practising and preparing for the oncoming cultural events which are routinely held at the famous thrikkakara temple.

The best part was decorating the pooja room for the "pooja vaipu". All the Gods and Goddesses were given a rose water bath. A ritual carried on with reverence and creativity. the small room was transformed in to a temple ....a temple of art and learning! ornate d with musical instruments , dancing bells and books. Each instrument was considered divine , and respected with the offering of new attire ( which later was to be worn by us).
Pooja vaipu is considered a sacred moment ...which is an act of total surrender ....an act of shedding ones egos which are build on learning and wisdom ....an act where one offers all knowledge acquired in this life to the Divine and prepare to be a Zero.

As young kids we were given all the time in the world to play once the pooja vaipu was done. We relished those moments of unhindered luxury when we never ever heard authoritative voices lecturing to us about the importance of reading our books! On the other hand we were asked not to read .... forcing us to break the rules and later put on a face of guilt.

Vijayadashami was on the tenth day . I usually woke up to the rhythmic sound which emanated from the kitchen .......it would be the sweet music born from the voice modulation of the coconut and the chirava(coconut scraper). The artiste would be Appa .. while Amma will be preparing the nivedyam for the day "phovu kalailolo" ( a blend of rice flakes and coconut and jaggery and banana) After bath, all would assemble at the koodi(pooja room) for vidyarambham or new beginning. For infants this day is considered auspicious to begin writing. And for the rest, this symbolizes the necessity of relearning, new beginning and the beauty of remaining a forever student eager to learn and re learn at each and every phase of our lives.

The "ma" of my sadhana is that I am a student forever......(a fact that I never realized during my school and college days). A role which makes life worth living ......I dedicate this post to all my gurus ..Guru means someone who guides you from darkness to light. It is difficult to name each and every one here... so as I visualise them in my inner eye I bow down before them seeking their blessings!

Life is Relationships....................................

In this journey called life we come across umpteen number of people. We pause to exchange a "hi" with many.....with some we manage a shake hand.....with a few we sit down to chat and with a few others we hold a bond. Life is relationships......

The few countries I visited in the past seven years have enriched my life with beautiful bonds.....
when I tread back my memory lane , its these beautiful moments created by some wonderful friends that I am reminded of than the places I visited.

I would like to dedicate this post to four loving couple who made my days memorable in the four foreign countries I visited. There were many more lovely relationships which I still treasure today ....but these couples have surely etched their names with their infallible love and untainted friendship.

Kajiyoshi San and Sadami San of Japan

They were the most polite people I have ever come across. Sadami San was kind enough to prepare a full vegetarian course meal , when she invited me to her well decorated traditional Japanese home. Kajiyoshi San was one of the librarians in the library which was opposite to our apartment. How can I forget the knock at our apartment door at 4.30 in the morning....on our last day in Japan. We would have missed our flight , if he was not at our door step to bid a final good bye to us. He was in his seventies , but still helped us with all our luggage and dropped us at the railway station .

Mrs and Mr Jaison Shang of Taiwan

Our first day in Taiwan. My husband PP had already left for office and I was feeling homesick and far away from home. Just then the phone bell rang , and a female voice introduced herself as Mrs Jason , wife of Customer site Manager of PP's project.She was already waiting for me in the downstairs lobby , to show me around . She helped me purchase necessary groceries and fresh fruits and vegetables from the local market and I was already feeling very comfortable . The warmth and the kindness , we receive when we are far from home is so precious.

Mr Naas Ferriera and Mrs Wickie of South Africa


They were the most jovial and energetic couple I have come across. There enthusiasm and energy is so contagious , that they skillfully trap us in their magical web of love and friendship. My baby had started calling Mr Naas " abu"( meaning grandpa in our mother tongue.) Once they invited us home for dinner , which was an unique experience. Naas was cooking hot and fresh buns for us in his open hearth oven in his back yard. Each one had to prepare his or her own dinner.We were each provided with pans and small portable stoves. They had cut a variety of vegetables and cooked a huge casserole of rice and lined up a row of various spices. We could make a meal from the ingredients they had provided and eat from the pan. Each one came up with a different variety of rice which all savored in the warm embrace of friendship.

Mr George Chacko and Mrs Anuja Chacko of USA

I am glad to have met these wonderful people , who have made me and my family feel so much at home. Anuja 's support in exploring my artistic talents and also establishing a personal bond has made my life here more fruitful and enjoyable.

I feel fortunate to have been exposed to various cultures through my travels. If not for these experiences , I would have been like a frog in a pond.....leading a cloistered existence ....the nomad in me is thirsty for more travels and more experiences.....

The'ga" of Sadhana

The "Ga" of my Sadhana is that I am a " Chrysalis". Try to recollect what you learnt in your biology class in school. ....
Doesn't Chrysalis sound familiar? An adult butterfly lays eggs , which hatches into a caterpillar. Caterpillar swallows and accepts all the greenery that comes its way ..shedding its skin every now and then. It later transforms into a chrysalis or pupa before evolving into a beautiful butterfly.

I remember learning the life cycle of a butterfly in school, but now, I am relearning it. Today I am not forced to memorize the process of metamorphosis in a butterfly, but I pause to think the powerful message it implies. Metamorphosis is not a process that is characteristic of insects or amphibians alone. Though not physically, we homo sapiens too have the innate capability of metamorphosis. Like a caterpillar we take in with greed all that comes our way. As we tread along towards growth, we shed our, preconceived notions, beliefs and image building egos...changing every moment. Then we enter into yet another new existence ....that of a pupa.....which might seem static, but is actually a dynamic existence.
A state of meditation, awareness .... moments brimming with life.
A state which makes life meaningful and worth living.
A prelude to a celebration....
a state before the flowering of a butterfly.

Like the light in total darkness which guides you find your way, the various retreats and youth programs at the "Oneness University" helped me live each moment of my life. Boredom was erased from my life dictionary, and I started living life with all intensity. Perceptions and attitude changed, and I stepped into the robe of a chrysalis.

Here is a video on metamorphosis!!! Hope all of you will enjoy!


I was delighted when my brother Naveen responded to this post with a beautiful poem.To read this poem click here.

A relaxing Dessert !

Would you like to have your favorite creamy ice cream that tickles your taste buds and swims down your esophagus ?
or,
Would your like to have aromatic and glistening gajar ka halwa with the intoxicating smell of ghee ?
Why not try the thick sweetness of palada payasam , enriched with the flavors of condensed milk ?.......
Do not mistake this for a food blog, though I have dreamt of starting one....

These are a few of my favorite desserts though the list can get longer in a jiffy. I was notorious for being a picky and fussy eater during my childhood. Though my affinity for food has deepened as I grew up , there is something that has remained constant ....my temptation for a nice dessert. You can put a full stop to your meal only with an exotic dessert! It cools down , relaxes and also rejuvenates your tired digestive system after it has to assimilate , grind and digest the heavy inputs.

The same calming and soothing effect is met when you get a good assertive foot massage at the end of long hectic day. I am fortunate to enjoy this daily doze of dessert at the end of each day, which is like a balm , and which has all the properties of a sleeping pill. And my daily therapist is none other than my husband PP.

When we were in Taiwan I grabbed the opportunity of offering my feet to a professional foot massager. The board " FOOT MASSAGE" used to be so inviting , and I always suppressed my temptation of peering into the road side massage rooms. But I finally gave in ; and on one of my usual walks to bargain for fresh vegetables from farmers , who displayed their crops in the congested and noisy streets, I stopped at one of those boards ...and found few people in a queue awaiting their turn for the massage. I too joined the group. I could also hear pleading and yelling voices from the customers who were already tasting the efficacy of the massage .It was finally my turn ... and soon realized the secrets behind the pleading and yelling voices.The half an hour massage that followed was an experience that I find difficult to put to words. You have to experience it.


The person who massaged my foot kept on talking to me in Chinese , but I was not in a state to explain that I did not follow their language .. If I opened my mouth to speak I knew I would not speak , but only scream. After the massage I was given one and a half liter of warm water , which I was supposed to drink . Even though my bladder could no longer endure the pressures from within, by the time I rushed back home .....I went back every week for more of those massages.

Though the massages were painful, it promised energizing each and every cell by removing the blocks that have piled in our body!

Here is a small video of a Taiwanese foot massage, which brought back memories.

The "Re" of Sadhana

Once upon a time there was a man who used to go from street to street selling hats. One day, when the Sun was scorching, he sat down under the shade of a huge tree to have a midday nap. With the basket full of hats next to him , he dozed off . The huge tree which sheltered the man was also home to a few monkeys. Fascinated by the basket full of hats, the monkeys grabbed all of them from the basket. Now each of the monkeys had a hat on top of their head!

When the man woke up he found his basket empty. What he found was a bunch of chattering monkeys crowned with his hats. He tried to shoo them, but in vain. Then he threw stones at them. They imitated him by throwing back fruits from the tree. He suddenly realized that the best way was to trick them. He understood that monkeys only imitated, while he had the capability to think and act. He removed the hat from his head and threw it towards the monkeys. Any one can guess what the monkeys would have done. They just imitated him and the man got back all his hats.

The "re" of my Sadhana is that I was more or less like a monkey during my growing up years. That doesn't mean I have stopped growing now :). I was just alluding to my school and college years. I never knew why I was doing something. I just did it because everyone else did it. After my tenth grade, I chose science group, just because everyone around me was doing that.I wrote both the engineering and medical entrances because I did not know what else to do. After I got selected for Ayurveda and Homeopathy(two streams of medicinal approach), my mother asked me whether this was what I exactly wanted to do. The answer was no. But still I did not listen to what my heart spoke....! The other options were taking up a degree course....there were varied subjects from which I could choose from....physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics.....Any subject was equal to me as I never realized, what I actually liked. The Principal of our college, asked me to take up English literature as I would not have to lose lab attendance, whenever I wanted to participate in extra curricular activities. I just nodded my head and signed in. I am not sure whether I enjoyed my classes in college. After my graduation, I pursued post graduation in the same subject...this was when I started knowing the fact that till now I was not listening to my heart ... or my passion.


Here is an interesting video on Ganesha Chaturthy!