After a very long long time, I watched five full-length movies this month! Unbelieavable for a person like me who till now didn't have patience to sit and watch a 2-3 hour full movie.

Two of them were ‘I am Sam’ and ‘Life is beautiful’…both Academy award winning movies…both centering on the theme of love…both should be on the must watch list...I am Sam deals with father-daughter affection and Life is beautiful emphasizes the importance of love, family and imagination in sailing through life and conquering its difficulties.

‘I am Sam’ is an American film starring Sean Penn (Sam Dawson) as a father with developmental disability and his seven year old daughter Dakota Fanning (Lucy)…the child is abandoned by her mother after birth…with love, care and with supportive group of people around he raises his child but soon Lucy surpasses his mental ability (Sam has the intellectual capacity of a seven year old only)... Other children tease her for having a "retard" as a father, and she becomes too embarrassed to accept that she is more intellectually advanced than Sam…in preparation for a custody case, a social worker takes Lucy away…how Sam gets his daughter back proving convincingly that he is a loving father despite his handicap is the story…it says that even developmentally challenged people can foster and raise children well…all what a child needs is only love, care and affection.

Life is Beautiful (La Vita e Bella) is an Italian film starring Robert Benigni (who is also the director of the film) as Guido and Nicoletta Braschi as Dora. Guido found the woman of his dreams and he does everything to sweap her off her feat and carry her away. Theirs was a fairy tale of love and romance portrayed convincingly with the help of humour. They later have a son (Giosue). When everything seemed to go their way, the second World War had begun and everyone are taken to Nazi concentration camp. It showcases the stark reality of a Nazi concentration camp. In order to keep up spirits, Guido convinces his son that the camp is just a game in which the first person who gets 1000 points wins a tank. He tries to find Dora. After finding Dora, Guido is caught and shot dead by the Nazi guards. Giosue manages to survive and thinks he has won the game when an American tank arrives to liberate the camp. He is reunited with his mother, not knowing that his father has been killed. When Giosue grows up, he realises his father's sacrifice for his family. The movie convincingly tells the message that humour brightens our life and lightens the miseries that we may overcome through life. Life is beautiful if we know to see the beautiful positive aspects of life.

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The scorching heat here drives me insane and wild

And I wonder when the windy season will arrive

Winds remind me of wind chimes… am so so fascinated by the sounds of wind chimes…wind chimes are so amazing and so beautifully sounding… THE SOOTHING TINKLING SOUND when you tweak it as you walk past…it feels like the wind singing…the mild breeze blowing on your face along with the sound of chimes is such a bliss

Have it anywhere in your house where there is free flow of wind

Could listen to it for hours and feel at peace by the beauty of the sounds they make…they are so magical

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When cooking is done with passion, it is such a pleasure. I enjoy the whole cooking process. I never get tired or bored at it. (Irony is that I’m not a foodie but love experimenting with new dishes for others). I just love experimenting with new dishes and eventually when it turns out to be tasty, edible and much appreciated, the feeling is so special. And smelling the aroma of your dish being cooked is heavenly.

It is an art not rocket science. It’s all in the dexterity and skills of your hands…put all your mind and heart into it and enjoy it heartily with your loved ones.

I haven’t known cooking till college days (except omlette, scrambled egg, maggi, dosa, tea). But the days when I lived outside my home, there was no other option but to cook myself. Also for the fact that I am very health conscious and hate hotel/ outside food, I learnt cooking.

In the initial days, I started experimenting with upma and pongal varieties and slowly the love for cooking started. What I observed is…the more you love cooking, the more you get to know about the various ingredients, vegetables and fruits, the more you get to know about their health benefits, the more conscious and wholesome eating habits you get, the more healthier you are and a healthier family.

Leave aside the fad of eating outside (occasional dining out is no harm)…it is very essential that women know cooking to keep their family healthy…

Cooking is all about getting to share your passion with the ones you love…and when someone enjoys, relishes and appreciates what you made with love the feeling is so special

I have cooked many things, some just by trial and error, while some from recipes (either from mom, books, magazines and even internet). I have experimented with Indian foods and vegetarian items only. Soon I should start experimenting with others also.

Some of my cooking experiments for others…

In my first office, I took my cooking thrice…Rusk Halva; Biryani, kurma, raita; Ven pongal, sambar, egg curry

When I cooked for my mom, sis and bro on their visit to Mumbai…rice, sambar, potato fry, papad, payasam

And recently I cooked for my special one…tomato rice, raita, omlette…raw mango rice and raita

Nothing great but nice memories these are…nice thing is that the dishes didn’t come out as disasters but was much liked by them.

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Writing is an outlet to my already overloaded brain. It is an effective outlet to our deeply seated thoughts and emotions. How long can I remember incidents and aspects of my life and things around me. Hence I write to chronicle them in the passage of time. It is a strong medium to express myself fully. I can reflect upon my thoughts later on. I observe and reflect on things around me and many a times I feel I get thoughts and ideas from nowhere, find meaning where others see none and have the urge to express them in writing. And the satisfaction and elation after you’ve penned down something is enormous.

My first original writing started with a poem (surprisingly!) and over time my writing skills have honed well but is yet to get shaped up to a great extent. I have realized that I can get to think and write something only when I strongly feel within the subject matter/ situation at hand. Otherwise I get short of words and ideas and cannot proceed forward beyond few sentences. I cannot write just for the sake of it. So what I write is what I strongly feel within.

I think and write, therefore I am -> “Cogito et Scribo, Ergo Sum”!

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In this ultra – competitive world, we run a marathon race after name, fame, wealth, fortune and status ignoring the little things which make our life beautiful. Of course, who doesn’t want the above. Even I do. But it is necessary to call it a halt sometimes.

You may have finished running the track. But remember life track runs straight and you cannot revisit parts of your life again. Do make a run but remember to take halts then and then and smell the roses that adorn the sides of the track. Count your blessings. Celebrate life.

Life is not just about work, money and worry. You may have attained your desired throne. Yet some vacuum may be thronging and nagging deep within you. You will then realize that you missed the real sweet small things that truly make up your life…your family, friends, loved ones and the world around you. They make your life complete. Stop and smell the roses before there are no roses at all.

Life goes at a frenetic pace that we don’t sit, idle, relax and observe/ appreciate the beauty and bounty around us. Many a times even I find it hard to just sit and relax. The following excerpts from Wayne Muller’s book Sabbath really opened my eyes…

‘We say this to one another as if our exhaustion were a trophy, our ability to withstand stress a mark of character. The busier we are, the more important we seem to ourselves and, we imagine, to others. To be unavailable to our friends and family, to be unable to find time for the sunset (or even to know the sun has set), to whiz through our obligations without time for a single mindful breath -- this has become the model of a successful life.

Yet the more our life speeds up, the more we feel weary, overwhelmed, lost. Our life and work rarely feel light, pleasant or healing. Instead, as it all piles endlessly upon itself, the whole experience of being alive begins to melt into one enormous obligation.

Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We miss the compass points that show us where to go, the nourishment that gives us succor, the quiet that gives us wisdom.’

REST IS NOT JUST A PSYCHOLOGICAL CONVENIENCE, BUT A SPIRITUAL AND BIOLOGICAL NECESSITY.

So its time to reshuffle our priorities?!

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