This post by Mary Ann over at Desperately Seeking Serenity made me think.  She talks about maybe overdoing the introspection and self-improvement thing.  It so resonated with me.
I realised that I pay way too much attention on self-improvement, on becoming the 'perfect' me.  But then again, a person actually has complete control only over oneself.  There have been times in my life when I have felt that I had no control over many of the happenings in my life.  But I knew that I could always have control over me.
But , I so often wish my mind would be still, without the constant barrage of critical appraisal going on for each of my actions--'That was a dumb thing to do';  'What a stupid thing to say'; 'This is pure drivel' [:(] There are moments of 'That came out good' positive stuff too.   Sometimes I so desperately wish my mind would shut up and let me do something without any appraisal going on.
Anyway, at my age, there is one thing I realise, I have come to a pretty good acceptance of my physical self, which I probably achieved with all the self-talk.  So, in everything there's some good and some bad and moderation is the key I suppose.

There seems to be so much bad news in the News these days. There are floods in the North East of our country with really bad floods in Orissa, and not showing signs of getting better; the floods in Bihar have receded but people are still living in camps; there have been the cyclones that hit Cuba and the US; then there have been the terror attacks here in India and the one in Islamabad in Pakistan at the Marriott; then there is the financial meltdown in the US, which shows signs of imapcting the rest of the world and attacks against Christians in many states.
When I see the suffering on the TV of those devastated by the floods, typhoons and the terror attacks I feel helpless and depressed. I know that I am not the kind who will jump onto thenext train for Orissa to go and help in person. I can at the most donate (you can find out about donating for Orissa here). But I do know that I too am responsible, in whatever small way, for the climate change that has brought on such devastating floods and upped the frequency and strength of typhoons.
So, I can do my little bit to try and reduce my impact on our planet. I can also do my bit in not letting myself get into a beleagured mentality, where one, out of fear, typecasts all those who maybe of the same religion/ethnicity of those who have perpetrated incidents hurtful to others. That is such an easy mentality to fall into when one feels helpless at hurtful incidents perpetrated by other people, which then leads to prejudices and intolerances.


"Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
.................
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
domestic walls;"
Into that heaven of freedom, let our world awake!

Onam vacation

There are so many posts in my mind, that I don't know where to begin.
So first I'll start with my Onam vacation. It was good. Having my daughter and grandson around was invigorating. We had wanted to do all the traditional things like put up a rope swing and put an athappoo (flower carpet) and fly kites and I had even got a kite. But it just poured!
For the days of Onam (10th to 12th) we went to a beachside resort. As the monsoon hasn't completely gone, there was very little beach due to the sea erosion. But my grandson was happy with the pool. Anway at least from Onam, for a week after, it stopped raining and we were able to enjoy the traditional Onam nilavu (moonlight). Onam itself was on Friday 11th. But then daughter & grandson had to go to away on Monday to her in-laws and so, when the breezes blew, he wasn't here to fly the kite.
We grandparents had a lovely time for sure and I know daughter did too. Grandson certainly looked like he had a good time--he told me today that he had told his teacher at Pre-school, all about his trip to his grandparents for his holiday. So that should mean he had fun :) Only wish I had thought of taking a picture of him in his Onam finery--mundu and jibba--a miniature version of this picture but without the shawl around the neck.

Vacations are over

My Onam vacation is over and my daughter and grandson left yesterday. So I'm feeling a little blue, though we had a very good vacation. Now life goes back to the usual.

Onam vacation

Schools here are closed for the Onam festival. So I'm on vacation. Both schools I go to had their Onam celebrations before school closed. One was on Friday and the other one on Saturday. AThapoo--flower carpets are an essential part of Onam. These are flower carpets done at the 2 schools. Everybody gets together to do this and the children have a lovely time, because you pull the flowers and leaves to pieces and then arrange them. They enjoy the pulling apart!

It so happens that my grandson has his vacation at the same time, although he doesn't live in Kerala. It turned out that way because our Onam is very late this year. So, my daughter and grandson are here for about a week. It's been a very long time since my daughter has been able to come and stay for a week--in fact not since she had her son I think. So she's really happy to be at home and realx and take it easy.
But---I may not be able to post (not that I've been posting that often recently). But I promise to post some pictures after they leave maybe.

More night walks

The other day the power cut was at 8p.m. When I went for my night ramble, the stars were out--very rare to see during these monsoons. There was a patch of sky over in the South just full of stars. It was beautiful and as there was a power cut there was no light pollution from the street lights. How I wished I knew more constellations. Since I rarely get to see the night sky during this part of the year, I'm not familiar with many of the stars. But I did see Scorpio spread out over a large patch of clear sky that I could see. It was lovely evening.
Walking beneath the stars always makes me feel close to the infinite. When I contemplate the vastness of space and think that here I am, a tiny spot in the universe it meakes me breathless at the thought of how small I am, yet a thinking, sentient being, who can think about what I see. Somehow in this feeling of being insignificant in relation to this whole universe, which I still a part of, makes me feel the presence of the Almighty, the Infinite, so much more.

An Award.

You could have knocked me down with a feather when I saw that Usha, at Ageless Bonding, had given me this award---"The Brilliant Weblog award" - given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design.I am really touched and am flying Usha! Thank you so much.

The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere. The rules are:
1. Put the logo on your blog;

2. Add a link to the person who awarded it to you;

3. Nominate 7 (minimum 5) other blogs;

4. Add links to them on your blog;

5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.

Well, as had happened to Usha, happened to me too--many of my favourite blogs have already received the award, including Usha's :)
Here is my list then:

1. Annie Bluesky over at BlogU. She is amazing. She maintains 4 blogs actually, one a purely photgraphic blog, one a recipe blog, one of photographs and comments on her life in Florida and of course BlogU from where I got all the help in tweaking my blog.

2. Dot at Dot's Thoughts. She is one energetic senior! She maintains her blog as well as gardens, does carpentry, cooks and copes with life's difficulties cheerfully.

3. Desperately Seeking Serenity for her sharing of her personal growth and--in her own words--" Seeking world peace and personal tranquillity through words".

4. Beks over at Beks & Ro for so many reasons, one being that she is very special to me.

5. Deena at Can I be Pretty in Pink . She is a very brave lady, putting up a tough fight against the enemy of cancer.

6.Onedia's Bull Shoals Backyard Habitat for being a real 'greenie'. She certainly has beautifully designed blogs.

7. Rohini's Mama Says So, where Rohini shares her life as a busy working mother.

I am adding this blog of somebody dear who passed away a year ago, but was amazing in her ability to tackle new technology. She was almost 90 when she passed away.

Yet another brave lady's blog I want to add here is Literally Blind-sided and Bimbimbie from Australia--if you are interested in birdlife.

Hope the readers of this blog find these blogs as interesting--in content and/or design as I do.