Nationality in their terms.....

For me the idea of the concept of nation is such that I call my roots as Indian, but would be a global digital native. I thrive in the comfortable life off the work of my parents, not knowing what they went through to get where we are now. Most of all, I have no clue of what my grandparents faced in their yesteryears, when India came to be, and what their thoughts on nation and nationality are. So, this post will throw light on the above mentioned matters.

My maternal grandfather Mr V.N.Ramu 76yrs old, born in year 1940, said that as he was a young boy of 7 years when we got our independence and that at such a young age, the impact of such an important event was not known. For him ‘Nationality’ comes from the need for unity, for the peace of our mother country, it’s what we do to make our nation shine better.

He stressed that my great-grandfather Mr. Narasimha Raghavan would have faced the biggest brunt of the complications of the end of the British era as he had to shift the whole family from Tuticorin to Vellore in the 1940’s due to ongoing agitations at that time.

For my grandmother Mrs. Revathy, 69yrs, born in the year 1948, ‘Nationality’ comes from the feeling of belongingness, of togetherness and unity. She said that she had a deep rooted pride in being an Indian and said that since she was brought up in Ernakulum in Kerala for the formative years of her life before coming to Vellore and settling down at the age of 20, there wasn’t any untoward feeling of need to belong that was particularly bothering her.

What I gleam from this exchange is that, no matter what, the feeling of belonging always hinges on working together for the betterment of our country.

HEALTH FOOD FURORE! :/

The recent appearance of certain ‘health food routines’, of consuming only a very specific type of food to get into shape is all the rage for many people. Needless to say, this is a very direct effect of our highly urbanized lifestyle. No longer do people have time to cook and eat full meals calmly at home, with the amount of daily living pressures on the rise, the ratio of health has become highly imbalanced. People have now fallen prey to the attractive goals that are projected by the so called ‘healthy dieting’ routines, the irony being that, anything that makes a person diet or half starve themselves to be healthy is not the best way to get into shape

A very popular way of ‘healthy dieting’ that is followed blindly by many people is that of the liquids and greens diet. Just as it says, the person is allowed to consume only water and meager quantities of green, leafy vegetables, like that of kelp, lettuce, spinach or broccoli. What the dieter’s fail to realize, is that, if they are not physically able enough to sustain themselves on the afore mention items, there is a high chance of them falling prey to stomach infections. We tend to forget that our diet must consist of a variety of nutritious items, which can have a larger ratio towards one type of nutrient in accordance with the need of the body.

The eating habits of Indian’s is said to be by far, one of the best balanced for keeping healthy. It’s no wonder our ancestor’s stayed so fit and active even in their ripe old ages. Unlike our generation, who just gobble whatever we like or whatever is available, as and when we please, our ancestors made it a point to eat foods that are rich in nutrients, at a certain time with a certain pace of chewing. According to the Upanishads, the proper way of consuming any eatable was to chew it thoroughly 32 times, before swallowing. We might gasp at this bit of information, but it underlines the way in which, we can keep our digestive system healthy. Nowadays, in our haste to finish our food, we tend to not chew it properly and end up swallowing it whole, thus causing complications to the digestive process, which might end up negatively affecting our other bodily systems as well.

Our biological setup also differ, in accordance to the geographic condition that we come from. Italians would find our amount of flavoring of food, highly overpowering and our servings enormous, just as we may find theirs to be slightly bland with servings too small. We should always keep in mind that, when in doubt, of what to consume to stay healthy, our native food is the best for our inner biological workings, provided we consume sufficient portions of it at a proper time. Trying out international styles of eating food should be done within sensible limits, we should have a clarity of what is proper for our body type in order to avoid causing ourselves easily avoidable unease.

So, be sensible when you think of trying anything like this, cause in the end only you truly know what your limits are...........Meghs! :)

Yoga in vogue?.....

Yoga, one of the earliest forms of spiritual and physical strength increasing mode of exercise routine, once prized and placed on a pedestal high as the heavens has now been reduced to a fad. In our present day and age, our living styles are not as those of our ancestors, who obviously did more rigorous work than we ever have (or will) and actually knew how to use yoga as a mechanism to promote health, both physically and mentally. This was because they knew that the secret to good life/living was to promote wellness, not only onto oneself but among others as well.

Sadly, our 21^st century thought process is hardwired to expect more results in less time, unlike that of our ancestors who followed the belief that efforts will bear fruit only with the passage of time. They did not do yoga like that of a chore to make themselves healthy, rather it was incorporated into their everyday activities. Thus, they stayed fit and lived to ripe old ages, unlike that of our generation, where it’s now being considered a feat to live past 75 years, without succumbing to cardiovascular, diabetic or cancer related health complications.

Yoga has been diluted, or for lack of a better word altered and tailored to fit the interest of the masses, like that of ‘Hot Yoga’, ‘Tide Yoga’, ‘Rhythmic Yoga’ et al.  These ‘types’ of yoga don’t take into account that some of the aasana’s (postures) are not meant for everyone. That is, certain aasana’s are supposed to be done in accordance with the type of problem you may be having or the type of physical condition the person is in. In these ‘trending’ yoga types, the afore mentioned specifications are not taken heed of, leading to probable worsening of the present problem.

We should be clear of our problem and the type of pain being caused to us, due to it. The proper type of yoga to be followed in most cases of pain treatment or physical therapy, is that of guidance under a yoga master, who knows what should or shouldn’t be done in accordance to the physical condition of the person. There should also be acceptance that time and effort will be the healers and that dedication must be given and with it good results will prevail. 

Free to ......?

In the present world that we live in, think, just think, can you really speak your mind without the fear of retaliation or censure? Can you express yourself even fictionally without the censor board of your country breathing down your neck? Can you freely express satirical comedy of situations without fearing for your life?

Short answer  -NO!

Examples stare us in the face, mocking the apparent 'freedom' that we keep fooling ourselves to have. The most recent being the shootings at the Charlie Hebdo offices in France come as quite a shock. Truth be told i had not heard of about the satirical magazine till the grizzly news of the massacre that took place in its office came out. Quite a lot of support was garnered under the elegiac slogan 'Je suis Charlie', French for ' I am Charlie' that reverberated on millions of tweets and wall posts. 

Let's back up for a moment to examine what our Indian constitution has to say about 'Freedom' (speech, expression et al). Articles 19, 20, 21, 21A and 22 are said to grant the citizens certain freedoms, which are considered vital. But, due to the cultural differences that are present, the interpretations are varied, thus causing confusion as each one has a limit to which, they are able to accept something on face value.

what is the possible solution then? the answer mayn't be available readily, cause the problems of admitting wrongdoings stem from past misinterpretations of someone's view that hurt the ego's of communities so much so, that they end up having clashes,which lead to major loss of life and bigger rifts between 2 factions of understanding

 Getting back to what i wanted to say, our freedom of speech is something we need to use in such a way that it should help somebody, not degrade and debase them! There are certain limits that we should set for ourselves and try to express in such a way that our sense of morality does not feel uneasy while we put forth our thoughts in a public domain for the whole world to see.

So, thats all i got for now. Stay sensible and safe....... Meghs! ;)

Fetish a la accessories

Last item!. OMG! did i buy too much again? I don't think i ever say those words when i go shopping, that is unless i maybe running low on cash for the auto-ride back home, or am feeling very agitated /guilty that i have to stop. For me, accessorizing is a major, if not integral part of my everyday life, to the point of matching accessories so well, that i can safely say, i am my own style icon ! :P

I can't for the sake of justification remember from when, or for the matter, from whom i got this Shopper's paradigm, wherever i go, i want something unique from that place, in the sense that it should hold an essence of my experience there. That doesn't mean i go on a crazed shopping spree every time i step out! and NO! my list does not include beauty products, except a Himalaya cocoa butter essence body cream. (Yes! that's all i can  put on my overly delicate skin!) 

Sheesh! look at me going off topic. Coming back to my collection mania, which i try to keep neat, but fail miserably, i have an ever growing collection of earrings, necklaces and of late, even bracelets/bangles. The point that I want to make and have been digressing from, is that I only buy/use items, which appeal to me. If i choose a particular accessory, there must have been a certain aspect of it that appealed to me very much. (It's a good thing my friends know the kind of stuff i like)

I love gifting stuff as well. Ask people who know me, and you'll find that if i value your presence,opinion and friendship, i show it by gifting you stuff that you like. I AM SANTA. So, if i ever end up gifting something, it's guaranteed that i value their friendship.

 For now Adieu mon ami! - Meghs! ;)

A ride to remember....

I am truly lucky that my dad comes from a big family. Big in the sense, 8 kids i.e 4 girls and 4 boys. My dad is the 7th of the lot. okay, all that aside, i have many cousins and whats more fun than going out with cousins huh? (when i could that is, due my oh so delicate condition, while growing up).

One fond memory of an outing, that i try to hold onto (half gone sadly) is that of a ride in the rain with my 3 elder cousins. We had been visiting our younger cousins place and lost track of time. Looking out of the window, Eldest bro is like 'lets go NOW!'. So, this time i got onto his bike and oh boy! am i glad i did.

It was like a race against the elements (it was!). 3 minutes into a highly frighteningly bouncy road (me holding onto his shoulders for dear life, so that i don't fall off), he stops and is like 'where are the other 2?'. In our hurry to get home before we get caught in the rain, we totally forgot that elder sis's scooty could not go over the peed of 60 km/ph.

After like 5 minutes of waiting, we see her and my other elder bro, coming slowly up the road, and boy does sis look irritated! 'Idiot!', she yelled as she passed by and elder bro yells at the top of his lungs in the funniest way! Next minute, BOOM! CRASH! and rain descends on us! Well, so much for trying to out run the elements.....

we got drenched alright! so drenched in fact, that we could have as well had another bath! By the time we reached their house, our clothes were stuck to us like we were dipped in glue. A round of scoldings from aunt followed. But we didn't mind! this was truly a ride to remember.....

Exam season Emergency

Yup! The title says it all. With mid-semester exams peeking right around the corner, everyone is in a tizzy to get their hands on study material, be it the notes of a wannabe bookworm with bad handwriting, who makes it a point to attend every class (AKA me) or a copy of the much needed textbook that was circulated god knows when, which only a lucky few have.

The missing notes + the harsh cold weather seems to be a recipe for sure disaster, since all anyone would want to do is wrap a thick blanket around themselves and go to sleep, leave everything else for a later date. But, oopsie! being in the final semester of an undergraduate program seems to have it's own set of rules and regulations. No more can you do a borrow and photocopy routine, since NO ONE is ready to part with their study material, since they have already had a taste of utter betrayal, when the notes had not been returned on time or were left to fume in hatred against the borrower , who had 'lost' their notes.

Seriously Folks! I have been the notes provider for my class on many occasions and once you start, you can never stop since you get requests left, right and centre for pictures of your notes, or requests to borrow your notes or study material for photocopy purposes. In the beginning, you'll feel all good inside, but trust me, as time goes by you'll get fed up with the nonsense people who don't attend class say, just in order to get notes. 'Hey, I wasn't well, I was down with a fever!' (Yeah right! I know what happened to your scooty at Nandi hills!) 

All I can say is BUCK UP already. Enough of feeding off the work of others. If you tell me so nonchalantly to get a life, I'd say practise what you preach why dontcha? There is a limit to leeching and maybe you are overstepping many boundaries BIG TIME!

So, ALL THE BEST EVERYONE! Start preparing now and you won't repent for the time you'd have lost lolly-gagging around.................. Yours truly, Meghs! ;)

Cold with a capital C

Ok folks! Looks like with the dropping temperatures in bangalore , there is a sharp increase of viral infections going around with the number of cases of fevers, colds and chill related aches on the rise.

Believe me when I say i love my bangalore, i truly and sincerly do, but with the way things are now, I just want to ask 'Bangalore why are you being so cold :(?'. 

So! here are my top 5 tips to bear the chill ( you might know some of them already, but hey! there is no harm in some free advice)

1. Don't pack in the sweaters just yet. Break out the heavy woolen's if you feel a daggerlike chill piercing you everytime you step out! ( This is so my scene). 

2. Sometimes our hoodies just dont cut it!(yes,yes I know the let down feeling, notch one up for cold weather) try buffering yourself with full sleeve tops and some thermals.

3.Socks! Colourful, comfy, wonderfully warm Socks. Not only do you have warm feet now, you are also preventing yourself from getting chill cramps! (Uhh, just remember to change them everyday, otherwise the dead fish smell can make anyone vanish)

4. Substitute your cold comfort food/snacks for a healthy dose of Masala tea, lime tea or green tea. Not only do these bevrages help you keep your inner systems in tune, they also help in reducing the risk of falling prey to throat infections.

5. Keep your medication handy (most common sense thing to do ALWAYS) . Yep you read that right! If you know that you are prone to headaches or body pain in cold weather, always carry your ammunition, so that you are ready to go ahead with your day, come what may.

Thats all for now folks! Keep warm.....stay healthy......yours truly, Meghs! 😊

Be there and care!

 

An amazing quote from an amazing actor. I really am happy that i came across this quote on Facebook cause i can totally relate to it. Since my life has been an extreme roller coaster ride, emotionally and physically numbing. Thinking back of how much i did for many people, who i sadly thought would be my forever friend/s. Of how I have got used to the pain of being let down, so much so that no one knows the scars i hide. Coming back to the quote, yes, I have been doing this as well, cause i know the piercing pain of how it feels to not have someone to turn to when you are shattering inside.

 Be there for a friend. Make them feel wanted and not like a forgotten rag doll. Call them up if they don't attend class and enquire on what happened. Don't stay wrapped in the security blanket of your own bubble. Do something for someone dear to you, cause you may never know the amount of pain a person has gone through or is going through just by looking at them.

REMEMBER

Not all the people who always have a ready smile are blessed with everything in life. That's what makes them great. they smile through their pain and try to forget it by helping others cause they know how horrible it truly feels to be cast aside like that of a rag doll after being used.