Sunday, July 17, 2016

Reading


I have been an avid reader all my life for as long as I can remember. But for reasons I cant fully understand, I find that my reading habit is on the decline. Could be due to the lack of time, what with all the responsibilities coming your way and all the challenges that life keeps throwing at you. Still, I think a habit such a reading should not take a back seat no matter what.


The past few years for some reason, whichever book I started reading, I could not finish it at all. This coming from someone who cant keep a book down once she starts off was a bit shocking for me and I couldnt comprehend why this was so. I did read something now and then and finish it, but it is no where near how it once was.


However, the past few months I find that this is changing. I am reading more. I am always reading one book or the other, some magazine or the other, some blog or the other and it  makes me glad. At the moment, I am reading "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert and I couldn't have chosen to read the book at a better time in my life. I love it because it is about travel and travel to pursue spiritual growth in that.


Hope this reading streak continues. I plan to transition from reading for pleasure and onto reading more content driven books about a wide array of subjects. So here's wishing Happy Reading to all the people in the World!


Monday, April 11, 2016

Gearing up for the Summer


It is a bitter-sweet feeling that Summer is here. While the scorching heat, extreme humidity, make for the bitter part of it (let me tell you that Chennai, must fall under the category of one-of-the-hottest-places-on-Earth every Summer), there are several other reasons that I really look forward to summer every year.

Reasons I love the summer:
  1. Vacations!- If its summer, one is officially eligible for a vacation!
  2. Watermelon (juice- lots of it)
  3. Mangoes (the whole fruit, the juice, the lassi, some dessert- whatever form, which ever variety)
  4. Tender coconut (Sure it is available all round the year, but I am always inclined to indulge in them more come summer and sure enough you find that shops make sure to sell them in more numbers this time of year too)
  5. Cucumber (same as before)

Now it must be weird that I have given a separate point for some of the seasonal fruits each but that is just how much I love them. It is a delight to watch the markets flooded with all the seasonal stuff (fruits I mentioned above and many other Summer things, which I wont mention here by virtue of being lazy; some other time maybe folks). Making a note to self to indulge in a whole range of Summer Smoothies too with all these seasonal fruits and such.

While we are not in the peak season of the glorious Indian Summer yet (that falls under mid- May in the calender), I believe that the best way to tide over the hot, hot Summer is by practising a few tips and tricks- staying hydrated by drinking as much water and juices as possible, and on that note never leaving your house without a bottle of water, always having a vibrant, colorful umbrella handy if leaving the house, wearing Sunglasses, wearing light and bright colored clothing, staying indoors during the peak hours of the Sun, making sure to leave doors and windows of living rooms wide open during the late evenings, taking bath twice a day- once in the morning and once in the evening coz you tend to perspire that much (remember what I said about humidity?), and wearing the Sunscreen (I wear a min. of SPF 50 during these hot months). And of course praying to God that your electricity supply is stable so that the Air Conditioner works all night.

If we manage to get these right, considering all the other things that the Summer season has to offer (aside from the above reasons, the golden sunshine for one), I think we can all rejoice that Summer is here!

Two TED talks I liked

I recently came across the following two TED talks, both of which I liked. In the first one, the Speaker talks about why it is important t...