On vulnerability

An inspiring talk by Brene Brown on the power of vulnerability - that also inspired me to break the shell and re-start blogging :). hope my friends and family enjoys it as much as I did:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html

To a very special person on her very special day

Her eyes are what come to mind when i think of her. Happy, shiny eyes when she flashes her dimpled smile; tired, puffy eyes as she works on her laptop. Passionate, steadfast eyes as she makes her point in discussions and unwavering,intense eyes as she listens to you making yours.

What i value most about her is the profound honesty she brings into every relationship in her life. (the very same honesty i find annoying at times when all i want to do is wallow in self pity but she won't allow me to!)

What i find touching about her is her calm dignity as she works to better herself in her personal and professional space.

I am inspired by her sustained efforts to go that extra mile - be it meeting challenges at work, or taking care of her health or her wanting to contribute to the world in ways that she finds meaningful. Her focus on her goals. Her unabashed confession about her levels of ambition. Seeing her ways of being, i am driven to fight my own self-limiting beliefs and be a better person.

I enjoy the way she has a way with words - be it when she is talking or writing.

I feel honoured when she appreciates something i do.

I celebrate the telepathic connection i have with her in ways that i don't have in other close relationships of mine.

I am astounded by her capacity to hold her pain and her struggles. And by the deep caring she holds underneath her practical, no-nonsense self.

It is so gratifying to see her extend all her love, her warmth, her caring to my daughter even as she lives across the seven seas! i am delighted to see glimpses of her in my little daughter - the way she persists in her point of view, the way she uses sound reasoning to help me get her point of view or simply in the way her eyebrows go up when she is intensely involved in a discussion!

But what i am most thankful for is that she is part of my world as my friend, my critic, my confidant, my sister.

As she celebrates her birthday today - here's wishing her a fabulous, blissful year ahead....dear oni - may you have many more sunny days, lesser meetings at work, healthier plants in your garden, shorter catan games, coordinated moves on the gym floor, long drives to newer places, fun-filled treks with good friends, and may all your deepest dreams come true this new year of your life! I love you :)

A must visit site for women

Following upon a web article a friend of mine sent me the link to, i stumbled upon this really cool website : My Inspiration Lounge


Created by a woman, it has tons of links to very interesting websites, thoughts, ideas, practical tips and everything you possibly need while you are looking for inspiration. The inspiration you seek could be to start a venture, go travel, save, go green, get healthy, cook and entertain (that's the one that got me) and even references for books, movies and films. I loved the idea and I loved the look and feel of the website. A must see for all my women-friends

It really is that simple!

Monday morning. As usual running a little late to work. Trying hard to get past the overloaded trucks, crazy bikers, equally impatient cars. Honking, manoeuvring, cursing.

Finally stuck at a traffic signal. Using the time to run through the to-do-list to be tackled soon as i get to work. And getting exasperated at the idiot behind who is honking despite the signal being red.

In the middle of all this irritation, i glance at the sidewalk, wondering if walking would have gotten me faster to work. And i spot this guy going by. Seems like a daily-wage worker. Two nylon bags - one filled with what looks like saw & hammer and the other with his lunch box. And walking bare feet. Nothing unusual - except for this broad smile on his face. I look hard to see if he actually has a cell phone or some ear phone connected to some kind of audio device. But NOTHING at all. Some memory playing on his mind that's making him smile. And the smile doesn't get any smaller as he waits to cross the road. In fact, it gets bigger as i see him cross and go past me. Completely oblivious to the world but somewhere deeply connected to his own life.

For a moment, i wonder what he might be reliving in his mind. But it does not matter. The smile is enough to help me tide over the monday morning blues, the traffic, the cacophony.

And as i drive on, the morning seems different. and my mind is cocooned by the image of that smile.....

.....it really is that simple to pause, breathe, let your back relax and take things in your stride!

Thank you, Mr. Carpenter!

“I Looove Garbage”

.....declared Poonam to a group of children who looked at her like she had really lost it! We were on a field trip to Daily Dump, an organization that promotes composting at home. The group of children, all between 7-10 years, each carrying waste from the kitchen – peels, tea leaves, rotten tomatoes and what have you. And each trying hard to hold his breath as we walked towards Daily Dump’s work area. And instead of a smelly, fly-infested garbage dump that we are all used to seeing on our streets, what we saw was a series of very aesthetically designed terracotta pots all lined up in a small garden patch. No smell at all and just a few fruit flies frolicking around! These pots are what Daily Dump designs to help you compost your organic waste at home – truly adding beauty to an aspect of your home where you would least imagine it! Different sizes, designs and service contracts to make composting at home super-easy. Do check out the great work this organization does at their website: http://www.dailydump.org/.

What I would like to share is how I experienced the place with the children. A self-proclaimed Garbage Lady - Poonam connected so well with the children and in her warm and direct way challenged them to look at what “yucky” really means. And how garbage is not really waste. And best of all was her drawing a similarity between garbage and children – saying that just like you kids who have great potential to become something in the future – so does your daily garbage! How cool is that!

Explaining the process in a very simple way, Poonam showed the children how the garbage ‘harvests’ over a period of time. Sure the smell of fresh garbage was a little repulsive to the children, but what was an eye opener is how all that smell is lost even as the garbage is half way into the composting process. By the time your harvest is ready – it actually smells like fresh mud. Pure magic! The children got quite drawn into the process and enthusiastically jumped in to rake the composting garbage. And insisted on doing it several time over – all apprehensions of smell and yuckiness buried under the garbage pile!

What stayed with me the most was Poonam describing the earth as the skin of the earth. And just like people need to keep their skin clean and healthy to be safe, adding compost makes the earth’s skin healthy. Did you know, you can actually reduce your organic waste by 80% by composting at home? And even if you don’t have a garden, by simply adding your compost to the soil anywhere, you are doing your bit towards taking care of the planet.

So go ahead, start composting. Echoing Poonam’s parting remark to the children as they marched out with their composting pots : Let’s all make Earth happy!