Plant My Apple Tree Today!

Sandy hits US and people are affected in India also. Where I am gearing up for my first Halloween party at a friend's apartment as posted in my previous post, I am feeling bad for families and friends in US. It has got difficult to talk to my husband and our usual Skype chats are not working either.

People around me are discussing that world is going to end in 2012. I have no thoughts around it. I believe in just a quote that drives me every morning. Even when I am depressed or happy, this is the first quote that I read to myself, every morning. I had been to a park 5 kms away from my apartment and spent an hour with myself, meditating. In every chant of the word OM, I could feel the vibrations till my navel sending positive vibrations back to my mind.

I clicked the pictures of rising sun playing hide and seek with me. I wanted to make the pictures as part of my purposeful images on my blog. Before, I get back to work and leave for my classes, I share the quote for all my readers, mainly in US:)

Even if the world ends tomorrow, I will plant my apple tree today....

Prayers and wishes for families and friends in US...

My First Halloween Party:)

Hmmm...actually a good end of my day. I have never attended a Halloween party and now our society is dominated by western culture. I made a new friend my morning walk buddy and he asked me to join him for a Halloween party at his apartment as we met for our night chats and post dinner walks.

I was confused what to do. I was thinking what should be my answer and I thought,'Archana, let's go for it'.

Maybe, God wants me to have fun and I said, 'yes' to him.

The best part is my lack of knowledge about this day so what will I do?

Oh common, I will google it. He is helping me in deciding the theme for my attire and we will be working on making his apartment a real scary place....after all...when will my creativity come to use. This week is a vacation week for me as no writing for few days and I am all set for my first Halloween party:).

I share the link here for many people like me who are not aware of this day and it's fun part.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Happy Halloween Day!

I Love Delhi Winters!

I just love Delhi winters. They are dry as you feel no moisture in the weather but it is fun to be in Delhi during winters. For the last two days, temperature has fallen and you need a shawl to wrap yourself or a jacket while you go for long walks, early morning.

I got up at 5 am and went for a long walk and it was so much fun to experience the very first ray of sun while you practice your 21 sun salutations. I was feeling so cold and I was actually rubbing my hands to heat myself. Though, I hate winters specially the ones I experienced in Europe where you cannot even breathe but Delhi winters, as of now are enjoyable.

Last night, I went for shopping ( like always, alone) and I was so thrilled to try woollen clothes. I have always enjoyed shopping alone and somehow I get confused when someone joins me for shopping. Gurgaon malls are decorated for Diwali and they are badly packed or crowded. I shopped some woollens and festive stuff. I am making candles at home for this Diwali and I will post the collection on my art blog soon. 

After 7 years, I got to see the winter peanuts, boiled corn and not to forget the baked sweet potato served with lemon.

My happy beginning has given me a fresh start for winters and I am having awesome time....

So pull up your socks and just shop today....

Happy Winter Shopping

Quotes on Courage : Osho

“Experience life in all possible ways --
good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light,
summer-winter. Experience all the dualities.
Don't be afraid of experience, because
the more experience you have, the more
mature you become.” 
― Osho

“Listen to your being. It is continuously giving you hints; it is a still, small voice. It does not shout at you, that is true. And if you are a little silent you will start feeling your way. Be the person you are. Never try to be another, and you will become mature. Maturity is accepting the responsibility of being oneself, whatsoever the cost. Risking all to be oneself, that's what maturity is all about.” 
― Osho

“Friendship is the purest love. It is the highest form of Love where nothing is asked for, no condition, where one simply enjoys giving.” 
― Osho

“Each person comes into this world with a specific destiny--he has something to fulfill, some message has to be delivered, some work has to be completed. You are not here accidentally--you are here meaningfully. There is a purpose behind you. The whole intends to do something through you.” 
― Osho

“Falling in love you remain a child; rising in love you mature. By and by love becomes not a relationship, it becomes a state of your being. Not that you are in love - now you are love.” 
― Osho

“Sadness gives depth. Happiness gives height. Sadness gives roots. Happiness gives branches. Happiness is like a tree going into the sky, and sadness is like the roots going down into the womb of the earth. Both are needed, and the higher a tree goes, the deeper it goes, simultaneously. The bigger the tree, the bigger will be its roots. In fact, it is always in proportion. That's its balance.” 
― Osho, Everyday Osho: 365 Daily Meditations for the Here and Now

“You feel good, you feel bad, and these feelings are bubbling from your own unconsciousness, from your own past. Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy.” 
― Osho

“One thing: you have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is not so cheap, to reach to the ultimate realization of truth. You will have to create the path by walking yourself; the path is not ready-made, lying there and waiting for you. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don't leave any footprints. You cannot follow them; there are no footprints left behind.” 
― Osho

“I love this world because it is imperfect. It is imperfect, and that's why it is growing; if it was perfect it would have been dead. Growth is possible only if there is imperfection. I would like you to remember again and again, I am imperfect, the whole universe is imperfect, and to love this imperfection, to rejoice in this imperfection is my whole message.” 
― Osho

“To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.” 
― Osho

“With me, illusions are bound to be shattered. I am here to shatter all illusions. Yes, it will irritate you, it will annoy you - that's my way of functioning and working. I will sabotage you from your very roots! Unless you are totally destroyed as a mind, there is no hope for you.” 
― Osho

“Many people have come and left, and it has been always good because they emptied some space for better people. It is a strange experience, that those who have left me have always left places for a better quality of people. I have never been a loser..Osho

Happy Beginning!

I start a new day with my to-do-list.

I promised myself, not to expect from any relation and my happiness is solely my responsibility.

1)      I will work on controlling myself not to eat anti-depressants anymore. I am on 4 tablets each day and I will make sure that I am out of it in next few weeks. Somehow, I am dependant on them but I will get over them.

2)   I know my knee hurts and when I have pain, it affects my mind. I will make sure not to attend any pain signals. I have a trick to handle it. Whenever, I will feel pain that causes depression, I will walk out of my house and just engage into anything like gossiping, shopping, painting or gymming. But no more crying and being weak in life.

3)      The best thing, be with people and at the same time ‘value yourself’. I have always valued every relation but at last they all chose their ways without giving any credit to my contributions. From today, it is my promise, ‘I will value myself’ and ‘my life more than anything’. 

4)  Embrace people who love me not the ones I loved. Trust me, there is a huge difference. Those who loved me have never hurt me. Those I loved only used me on opportunity basis. I will ONLY love those who love me.

My all problems and humiliation have been around my medical condition – Arthritis. I will fight against this disorder. Either ‘A’ for ‘Archana or ‘A’ for ‘Arthritis’ will exist in my life. I will be strong and very strong.

So You Think You Are Living is about my feelings but your life is your diary and you can pen down your to-do list. Sometimes, we need to record our promises for ourselves to fulfill themJ

Happy Beginning!

Happy Dussera......

Happy Dussera to my all readers.

A day to celebrate victory of good over evil.  There are many things that are within us that make us the way we are in our lives. I just opened my eyes and realised the worst thing about my personality as a human being. The realisation to 'Expect' from relationships or people is the worst trait of my personality. I am not God so like all of you, I do expect small things in life. A hug, a smile, shoulder to cry or a hand to bless me, when I am just not happy. 

After few minutes, people in Delhi would burn the effigies of Ravana to underline the theme of victory of good over evil. Take this moment to realise the hidden evil in you and set it on fire. 

I decline all the feelings that make me expect from people in real and virtual lives. I close doors of my heart to expect from others and just 'move on' with a thought, ' I will live my best of life each day for myself and I am responsible for my sorrows and happiness, going forward'.

I set the Evil of my life 'Expectation' on fire.

Happy Dussera:)

Day 9: Dandiya Night

Last day of Navratri and this is a day for Dandiya night for me. 

I am very excited and all set for dancing in my traditional attire. I have got all fancy things to flaunt with my black silk saree and all girlie stuff....:).., women!I have not practiced anything to perform on this Dandiya Night and I guess it just happens once you get the right beat. 

I want my readers visiting my blog from different countries to know about this traditional dance form of India. Indeed, many Indians do not know the significance as well. Here is a Wikipedia link for all my readers.....Have fun reading it and those who are going for Dandiya night, Happy Dancing....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandiya_Raas

:):)

Day 8: Move On!

Day 8 of Navratri and I share a link from Art blog as below:

http://archanaartgallery.blogspot.in/2012/10/keep-moving-on.html

The best message on this day is ‘Keep Moving’. Conquer your fears and win over the challenges of life. After I completed this painting, I was thinking what could be the message delivered through it. My eyes as an observer could only see the ‘legs’ of all the three horses. I could only read the word ‘Move forward in life. Never look back’, while reading this painting.

To be happy, learn to move on……J

7th Day: I Deserve Respect ....too....

7th day of Navratri and I am not feeling very happy looking at the way things are in my life. I remember the discrimination I faced as a woman and the way I was denied prasadam. You endorse surnames these days like brands as they failed to keep one happy anymore, as a family. All I wanted people to understand was my medical problem and not to develop bitterness towards me as I am not able to do much for them. But I tried my best what all I could do with my means. But like always, I FAILED!

I wrote my book with the same idea but people have understood me like an author not like a human being. What I wanted out of it, did not reached me. It was not for fame but for family. Maybe, God wants me to write now and this is the only extract of everything that I understand. It feels bad but we have to start. I start afresh with a very inspiring poem by JAN BROOKS - A woman of strength.

The only message on this day is learn to respect people and their sentiments. Prasadam is meant to be distributed and even God does not give us right to discriminate as far as prasadam is concerned. I was told distributing prasadam to me is disrespecting it....(:

Strange, we preach different avatars of goddess all 9 days but we disrespect woman who is a part of your family. Then we say, we are religious and god fearing.....

A woman of strength,
Has courage to face the day,
And the confidence,
To handle whatever comes her way.
A woman of strength,
Has so much love to give,
And more compassion,
It gives her a reason to live.
A woman of strength,
Can face trouble with more hope,
Face adversity,
Always finding the strength to cope.
A woman of strength,
Can take the bad with the good,
And learn from it all,
With a sense of pride that’s understood.
A woman of strength,
Can conduct herself with grace,
Hold her head up high,
And dignity always has its place.
A woman of strength,
Can face almost anything,
And can look forward,
To what the future will possibly bring…

9 Days of Navratri and 20 Beautiful Quotes!

9 days of Navratri and 20 beautiful quotes by Mother Teresa that defines each day full of love and inspiration. Thank God, It’s Friday J.

1- Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.

2- Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired.

3- Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.
(This can also be seen a message not to wait for anyone to get things done. DO IT YOURSELF!)

4- Even the rich are hungry for love, for being cared for, for being wanted, for having someone to call their own.

5- Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.
(Smiling and being kind to people will get you further in life than being mean and rude.) 

6- God doesn’t require us to succeed; he only requires that you try.
(Trying is half the battle.) 

7- I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world.

8- I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.
(Don’t pray for things, act to achieve your goals.) 

9- I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.

10- I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.

11- I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn’t touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God.

12- I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?
(We are so busy in our day to day life that most people don’t even know who lives with them on the same block.) 

13- If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.

14- If we want a love message to be heard, it has got to be sent out. To keep a lamp burning, we have to keep putting oil in it.

15- If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
(I’ve read many spiritual books and this comes back again and again. Don’t judge people and just accept them for who they are.)

16- Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.

17- One of the greatest diseases is to be nobody to anybody.
(This is so true and i’ve know people that even their kids see them as nobody’s.)

18- The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread.

19- There is more hunger in the world for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

20- We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.

Happy Weekend…J

God as an E-mail:)

Mind generates positive and negative thoughts. I am sharing my first ‘Emboss Painting’ on Foil with a message – ‘Emboss only POSITIVE THOUGTHS’ in life and you will see a completely different world of happiness and peace. I posted this painting on my Art Blog as well. This is not the final version of my painting. I clicked at the second stage and could not resist sharing it J.

Today, it was just not my day. Lot of negative energies around me and even 21 sun salutations failed to make me feel good. I practice Tratak Meditation, when I am too depressed due to any reason J.

“If you keep the door to the past open too long, the present will eventually slip out without even being noticed…”….a meaningful quote as ‘thought of the day’J

I was so negative that I went few kilometers away from my apartment to sit and cry J.

It is a strange thought but at times, it really helps to be alone and to cry. You feel lighter and much better after doing this J.

I just checked my emails and I saw a good email with a project that made me feel, ‘I have so much of work and why am I wasting my time?’

Maybe, God has his own ways to make us feel responsible towards life. I realized, my both projects are supposed to be completed by Feb, 2013 and I really have to pull my socks. 

God wants us to look at things that need our attention and forget things that distract us from our goals J

We lose focus when we lose our objectives. Third day of Navartri, work onto things that make a difference to you so that you leave an impact on others.

I thought, let me stop crying and focus on my work now.  When there is nobody to wipe your tears, God comes as an email to make you feel stronger and responsible J

I title this post as ‘God as an E-mail’. :)

Day 2: Just Make a Wish..Amen!

I was little unwell and I was watching Kejriwal’s press conference. It was sad to know the real facts and the dirty image of politics. I felt restless (:

Anyways, it is second day of Navratri and I thought to share a small exercise before I hit the sack J

Close your eyes for few seconds. 

Take a deep breath. Hold your breath and make a wish. A wish for someone you have seen sitting in a metro next to you; a wish for the guy who serves you coffee at the Cafe; a wish for someone you do not know as friend or family; JUST MAKE A WISH….

Release your breath with a word ‘Amen’!!

Let us make a wish for everyone to be healthy and happy. A wish that we will do good to others as we are only accountable for our actions. 

A wish that the world becomes a better place to live with love and humanity. J

I just did my exercise and now it is your turn:)

Good Night!

Navratri Starts......

First day of Navratri and being in Delhi is a different experience. It has been 7 years; I have not seen ‘Navratri Celebrations’ in the northern part of the country J

My mother calls me an ‘Agnostic’. As I do not fast even for a day and am always least interested to visit religious places with her as I do not see God in idols. I do not worship idols BUT I respect them. Yes, visiting religious places help me to connect with myself and seek inner peace BUT chanting mantras in front of idols with a thought to impress God and ask for a wish in life never gets into my head.

I see many people around me who fast all these 9 days of Navratri and organize lavish puja at home followed by buffets as ‘prasadam’ (‘prasadam’ is prepared specifically for God and offered to His deity). This is not being closer to God. Pray, engage your mind in puja BUT rather than serving people at home, why not feed hungry children or spend few hours with old people at old age home. It is not being ‘philanthropist’ but being ‘kind to yourself’.

This Navratri, I want to celebrate few good elements that we are given by God on my blog rather than impressing my family, friends and God.

First day of Navratri starts with a good thought – ‘serve to mankind is service to God’.

Here are few quotes that I share as a part of this post.

”You are never giving, nor can you ever give, enough service.”
– James R. Cook

”You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for our own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful.”

– Madame Marie Curie

”When you see a worthy person, endeavor to emulate him. When you see an unworthy person, then examine your inner self.”
– Confucius

The more you learn what to do with yourself, and the more you do for others, the more you will learn to enjoy the abundant life.”
– William Boetcker

”To serve is beautiful, but only if it is done with joy and a whole heart and a free mind.”
– Pearl S. Buck

”How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because some day in life you will have been all these.”
– George Washington Carver

Money is not the only means to serve to mankind but a gesture of love, hug, acceptance, patience, help and spending time with people can do wonders. 

Stream of Life: A thought for Monday:)

‘So You Think You Are Living’ is a blog dedicated to a very simple but complicated word, LIFE. Two years back, I started with this blog as an idea to inspire myself and live a worthwhile life. I was never aware that we have blog stats and my blog was a public entity, as I am not a techie. But it helped me to explore and learn many things.

Few lines of a poem, Stream Of Life by Rabindranath Tagore

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day 
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures. 

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth 
in numberless blades of grass 
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers. 

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth 
and of death, in ebb and in flow. 

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. 
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment

From a woman of leisure for some and a bored housewife for many, this blog opened doors for me to write for many different streams of writing – product portfolio, corporate newsletters, magazines and a book. People who are close to me know that I had nobody to vent out my thoughts, when a laptop screen was more comfortable than a mother’s lap. It was a journey of fun, fiction, inspiration, emotion and transformation.

It connected me to many people from different parts of the globe and I could see things from a bigger platform. Sometimes conversing with mind and at times with my heart, my life was moving or flowing through the posts of this blog. I must confess my blog helped me to ‘move on’ in my life and does not stop for ‘no reasons’!

It has thought me that when life is moving in a forward direction, you will always appreciate the route taken. A journey is covered when you move forward and look back to cherish some of the most fantabulous moments.

Today, it is Monday and let us start this week with a wonderful thought, ‘Life has been so kind to us and let us be kind to Life as well’. Live it, Love it.

Let it flow like a river so that you can feel the freshness of each milestone that you accomplish.

Happy WeekendJ

Take Challenges: Back to Swimming Sessions

Life is about risks and challenges. There is no fun when you have nothing to look forward in life. For some people, God has given a family, children and many responsibilities around them to live the word, ‘LIFE’.

For the rest of them, God has left the opportunity to challenge themselves at different stages of life. Living with arthritis and painful joints is no more a challenge for me. I call it as ‘Being Alive’. I do not know the feeling to live a painless dayJ. Indeed, the days when my knees don’t hurt, I feel ‘something is missing in life’. It has become my habit or maybe ‘I have learned to live with it’J.

In short, God has given all of us our set of responsibilities and challenges. Where ‘responsibilities’ tie us under ‘restrictions’; ‘challenges’ makes us feel ‘free’ and enjoy our liberty. ‘Responsibilities’ make us feel worth for others and ‘challenges’ make us judge what all we are worth of doing in life.

‘Responsibilities’ are given by our ‘relations’ and ‘commitments’ whereas ‘challenges’ are to be taken. I just started my coaching classes for swimming and it was not in my mind or plans, when I landed at Delhi.

The idea to take it was completely intentional as my student is 97kgs in weight and she was facing trouble in being trained by her trainer. She approached me and I decided to train her as this was a challenge for me. I am happy as in 5 sessions, she lost 2 kgs and she is really doing good J.

Set challenges, take them forward and enjoy the feeling of accomplishing them. Every challenge sets you free of your mental or physical blocks and you experience the real sense of ‘liberty’.

A quote that compliments this post –

“I walk the city, 
through its crush of people 
and its smells:
body odour, rotting food, 
vomit and urine. 
A cocktail of oppression and freedom.” 
― Emma Cameron

Life is a challenge - Gurjas Singh Narula

Life is a challenge - meet it
Life is a gift - accept it
Life is a sorrow - over come it
Life is a tragedy - face it
Life is a mystery - unfold it
Life is a opportunity - take it
Life is a promise - complete it
Life is a struggle - fight it
Life is a goal - achieve it
Life is love - love it
Life is adventurous- have fun
Life is a duty - perform it
Life is a game - out smart it
Life is a beauty - praise it
Life is great- make something good of it
So life is a celebration –eat, laugh and do meditation. 

Happy WeekendJ

Cheerio!