A perpetually hard thing to resist
I have stayed alone in an apartment for five months. I interacted with people only over the phone or when I was outside for work or shopping. Nothing seemed unbearable, though my close ones advised me to be more social.
I slept and woke up on time. I cooked and ate diligently to keep myself healthy. I took showers every day. I watched television, read books, pampered myself once in a while, and sincerely claimed that I was staying alone in an apartment.
Now, years later, with age and comprehension, I renewed my understanding…
…their faceless identities empowering the subtle more than the substantial… Their tours were not actual but virtual!
It’s been a ‘trying’ time for most of us. I mean in both parts of speech. Exhausting and experimental. I was losing a semblance to my preferred self and succumbing mostly to domestic drudgery and at times to depression and distance. Then one evening, almost a month ago while I was talking to my brother (referred to as Big B going forward), he introduced me to a WhatsApp group. Initially, I was not really keen on joining it as it sounded like something…
It’s been a year. Though the first 7–8 months of blogging were difficult, defining, and yet gratifying, very much like nurturing your own child, the last four months have suffered distraction and distance. In fact, even right now I feel like the way Malala Yousafzai (well-known author of the book ‘I am Malala’) felt on her twelfth birthday, which she spent in Haripur. She was upset and certainly missed a cake, a couple of companions and a celebration. Yet she made a wish and so did I.
Strange and at times, surreal is how I can describe my past few…
…we need to go back to our grandparents, re-examine their lives as a whole and then try reconstructing our own on those very principles that pervaded theirs.
Besides politics, these days the next issue which is being talked on, diligently discussed, argued about and fought over for finality, is food. Every day, you will come across articles, messages, videos, advertisements, and whatnot, about the way you should deal with your gut. Be it something as understandable as managing your bowel movements or something as incomprehensible as the workings of the solar plexus, some information or the other is being served…
With years of roles foisted upon her, she has forgotten what it is to be herself.
A certain Mrs Sen was staring hard at life. Four decades of scathing remarks and constant belittling had reduced her to an entity she could hardly recognise as being her true self.
Irritable and lost, all that she could remember of her past was the warmth of her childhood home and the amassing accolades for her performance.
Marriage had bestowed on her, activities and engagements, but untimely and unknowingly, halted the flowering of the self. Doing the chores and tweaking her life in the larger interest of the family soon became her habit and the only way to be.
And…
Cherishing the simple stuff of life, staying close to nature, using a positive vocabulary, hanging out with the right kind of friends, rejecting retirement, inculcating new hobbies to boost the brain and the brawn can add to the inventory that holds the secret to a-century-and-still-batting league.
As I had mentioned in my previous article, a steady purpose and a somewhat slow pace seemed to be the secret makings of the successful life-stories of centenarians. But research reveals that there are many other cogs in the wheel that engage to make the motion that is likeable and long-lasting.
Vigorous veterans mostly rely on a plant-based diet. The emphasis is on fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and low consumption of salt and sugar. Two other aspects related to food are also watch-worthy. They stop eating when they are almost 80% full. To facilitate such discretion they use bowls…
Why would you wake up tomorrow? Why should you take it a little easy?
Being a teenager who was fascinated by the ‘carpe diem’ concept (seizing the now), popularised by poems like Robert Browning’s ‘The Last Ride Together’ and as a woman who still binge-watches on shows like ‘Little Things’, the present and the little are all that matters and makes sense. It’s a different thing that tall talk mostly remains idealistic when it comes to implementing them for real!
Anyways, I saw a video this weekend, which once again activated my brain cells and tugged at my heartstrings. It is about people. They are frugal in number when compared to the vast population…
A new journey begins for a new Durga designated to vanquish the new Asura, more appropriately, Asuras.
After a precious interim of ten months, my little Durga was coming home. The joy was immense as was my anticipated relief. Through all my years, I never missed the opportunity of being in the proximity of the unique festival, the Durga Puja. Its exuberance overwhelms me every year and I respond to it ecstatically. But that year, it didn’t even seem that the celebrations were going on. It didn’t depress me though, for once, as I lay in bed away from the festivities that fostered the Feminine Energy of existence.
Such was her captivity. No lesser than the one…
