On Holiday in God's Own Country

Blue skies, warm weather, green topography and no access to electronic gadgetry. Wait a minute, no access to electronic gadgetry? How does anyone survive unless of course you have planned it that way? Well, I did and let me tell you it was the best thing ever.

I had no idea how much my life revolves around electronic gadgetry. Whether it is the microwave, computer or even the internet. I flew home to attend a family function. It is a very different experience when you travel on your own versus with kids. You tend to worry about different things. You also have lots of time to think and observe.

This trip brought me back to the land of my grandparents, land of coconut palms, ancient herbal remedies and temples. Impressions of how the trip should be, changed, as I spent time in Kerala - God's Own Country. Coming in from a totally wired, scheduled to the last minute, appointment oriented west, it was the shock to the system when nothing went according to the plan in your head.

It takes a while before it sinks in - then you too become acclaimatized to the weather, the clothes, power cuts, reliance on your ingenuity to get things done and power of prayer. It was not long before I too followed the routines of everyday folk living there, getting up early and taking an oil bath, visiting the temple everyday, making sure the clothes get washed early in the day so that the sun can dry them, afternoon siesta and finishing cooking and chores early so that all the work is done before sunset so that even if the power fails - its ok.

The computer was a forgotten instrument - I was too busy breathing in the air and listening to the sounds of nature as I walked between, coconut, mango, guava, tamamrind, pepper, peepul trees just to name a few. Even the movements of the red and black ants are quite fascinating. By the way you don't want to get in their way - they tend to bite, especially the red ones. The times of no electricity forced you to look up to the sky and admire the stars that seemed to close.

The visit to the temple gives you the sense of being cleansed. As the sounds of the chants and bells resonate through the air you sense the vibrant energy. The temples in Kerala have a code of its own. The temples are squeaky clean and they are fastidious about it. Women have to wear sarees or skirts and men cannot wear shirts and have to wear the traditional 'mundu' which is a cloth around the waist. The smell of sandalwood paste and flowers wakes you up. The feel of the granite stone under your barefoot feet activates all your nerve endings.

Intersting fact to note that even if there is a crowd - nobody will touch you. The belief is that if you touch then you will also get the benefit of the power of their prayers. As the priest lights the lamp and chants the mantras you can feel the power of the God.

It is almost like God himself is saying 'Welcome Home!'

Looking forward

You know how you feel when you are on vacation? Even though you may be leaving only next week your mind is already on vacation. You can't help but feel upbeat about everything in life - why? - because you are going on vacation.

Interesting pattern because if I was not going on vacation and had to face the day I had today - I would be a. very ticked b. exhausted and c. wondering - why me? Instead I was a. optimistic b. cheerful and c. impressed that everything got done.

Now if that was an attitude all the time - can you imagine how much stuff would get done? Actually - that is how I am most of the time - it is the others who have issues - hee hee hee. No, really - but when you look at it - it is all about how you look at it and what do you need to do to fix it.

I never thought people are genuinely nice - but I actually heard people ask on two separate conversations - 'What can I do to help?" Now how often have you heard that? Me? not often enough, I guess other wise this would not be so much of a surprise.

Have you ever noticed how exhausted you get when you are angry or upset. An unhappy reaction is very exhausting - you get tired very quickly.

But I had to say I was impressed. Stuff that had to get done, got done and now I can spend the time doing all the other things I need to cause I have so much energy left.

Now if I could only figure out what to do to make everyone else look at life that way.

Learning the lesson - monetarily

All it takes is one wrong move. You could be the best child, best student, best athlete, best spouse, best employee but you make one wrong choice and it can ruin your reputation for a very long time.

You see the impact of Michael Phelps, the golden boy of the Olympics, treated like a hero, nos a superhero. One picture of him smoking a marijuana pipe and everywhere around him - is disappointment. His sponsors, his fans even his coach is disappointed.

It must be a very big burden to carry. How do you know what will happen if you make a certain choice? If we had a crystal ball - that would be so perfect. Even if you have elders telling you what is right and wrong, it does not guarantee that you will listen to them. So what is it that makes one listen, even at a young age?

As a parent you try to teach your children of dealing with the truth, no matter how hard it is. Yet in this day and age money speaks and nothing speaks better than taking money away. When you look at the way the society works, it is all about the money - having too much or too less has an impact. Just look at the economy today.

I have always been accused of trying to live an ideal life so that I don't have to deal with conflicts - and maybe that is true to some extent, however if everyone did what they were suppossed to do then we would not have any problems now, would we?

What is surprising is how quickly the lesson is learnt, and when there is money involved then the lesson is learnt quickly and when the money involved is yours - the lesson is learnt at lightening speed.

Case and point - books borrowed by the kids needed to be returned to the library except they were late. By the time we figured out what the fines were, (they were astronomical!!!! ) tempers were simmering on a slow boil. When it was confirmed that no adult would be paying the fines and all extra curricular activity would be suspended until all fines were paid off - there was an incentive to work out the details to get the issue resolved.

In this day and age of technology and instant gratification - in order to maintain your values, you have to be creative.

Sometimes I wonder if money was invented so that life lessons can be learnt faster than if we took the time to figure out who we are and what purpose do we serve?

As far as our case, needless to say, the issue was resolved - no major fines. In fact it was a miracle. (too long a story for this post - maybe for another post).

I guess the incentive worked.

Signs

Have you seen the movie 'Bruce Almighty"? In that there is a scene with Jim Carrey where he asks God to give him a sign and he looks up at the billboard and there is a huge sign that says YES. Some would argue that that is a Hollywood special effect but that is the reality.

We humans are conditioned only to believe what we can see and prove. However only when we open ourselves and be conscious to the truth that we truly see what we cannot see. Does that make sense?

For example, I have to send an email response to someone. As I think about that response, in my head I have worded the email and how I am going to say it. I was upset and did not want to be taken for granted and I was going to be blunt about it.

I am all ready to sit in front of the computer and write the email and I notice for the oddest reason that my computer screen is blacked out. The computer is running but I cannot get the screen to come up. I push different buttons, unplug, restart - still nothing. I sit back and think about it. What is it that I wanted to do that the Universe is telling me that I should not do?

That is when I realize that it is the email I was thinking about. The way I was planning to word it was not the best way to go about it. So I said to myself loudly - it has to be the email. I will not write it like that. Then I do the same things as I did before, press different buttons, unplug, restart and this time the computer came back to life as if there was nothing wrong.

Now, if that is not a sign, I don't know what is. It has taken a lot of time before I got to this point where I recognize a sign and I acknowledge it. It is also a scary process since you are trusting the universe to take care of you. At the same time it is a liberating and exciting process because it is like an adventure and whatever happens is always for the best.

If I see anymore signs I will let you know.

I can feel it!

I have been on this journey since November, trying to find out what I am supposed to do, what is my purpose.

It has not been easy at the same time it is liberating. I have the feeling that I am almost there. I have the feeling that whatever it is I have to go through, and me and only me will have to go through it. It will be tough but at the end of it, it will be worth the effort and from then on you can only go forward. Have you ever felt that way? Or maybe it is just the excitement of meeting family that is making me feel that way?

I can still remember the metallic taste of fear in my mouth, the churning of my stomach, the anxiety, every time I had to make a decision before. But now, in spite of the bad economy, the feeling is very strong, that whatever I am doing now is the right decision.

I am looking forward to a new environment for the next few weeks. A well deserved shot in the arm of optimism, hope and faith that will bring me back motivated to jump into the fray with both feet.

I can recognize the signs. More on the signs later.

The power of words

What is it about writing that makes us writers go back to it?

For the longest time I thought that only if you have a book published you could be called a writer. I am happy to note that even those who are not published are still called a writer. There are many in the unpublished or self published category. Then there are the ghost writers. In my mind comes an image of a shapeless form that holds a pen and fills the paper with words, of course one cannot see them, except for the pen moving across the paper. Cool image huh?

I started writing at a young age but I was paranoid about anyone reading it - I really did not want them to read it. I liked stories, but I liked telling them instead of writing them. But then, I would forget what I said and then the story would sound different.

As I grew older the writing was in the form of papers and essays and assignments. In the working world it was putting information on paper based on what people wanted to see in a format that was easy for them to understand.

Now, I have come back to it and I am still paranoid about anyone reading it - this time I want as many people to read it.

Groundhog Day

So Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today on February 2 2009 which means we will have six more weeks of winter. While some may groan at this prediction, I look at it as a reprieve. This means that I have 42 days to get ready for spring.

I love the spring - it gives you a new lease on life. This is your chance to start from scratch. As Robin Williams said "Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"

Lets go people!!!!