Monday, March 17, 2014

Of Mog♥n, Milo and Maalai Mangum Neram.....

"Subconsciously, it takes at least 6-8 months for the brain to process complete forgiveness for someone who hurt you emotionally....."

It's March now. 8 months since. Yes, I have forgotten a lot of things during this period. And, yes, I have forgiven a lot of people, too.

I had no intention to post today. But something popped up, out of the blue..... And, thus, here I am. Near to 15 minutes after 10pm. 

Monday blues. I had piles of work on my table. Moderate, though - in comparison with some days. Coming back from a long vacation to find only this much is a blessing. 

I skipped lunch. Wanted to clear the urgent stuff.
As I was doing my work, a close colleague, appeared, in front of my desk, with a cup of hot Milo. For me.
Yes, hot Milo.
And it brought back memories. 
And, tears gleaming in my eyes. 

Mog♥n.....
Mog♥n makes perfect cups of Milo. 
All the time. 
Yes, he does.....
I wish I could have one, now.

Milo, to me, is just not a cup of chocolate drink. I grew up associating it with love. 
Mom made it for me while I was still in primary school. 
She still does, until now. 
On days, when she thinks, I should have a cup. A hot one, that is.
My sister does, too. 
On Sunday mornings, she always makes one for me without hesitation. 
She knows, I will never say no to a cup of hot Milo. 
So, Milo, to me, brings thoughts of love and affection. 
It still does. Always will. 

Today, when my colleague did so, it just strengthened my ideology about this drink. 
Milo, is, made with love. And, relates to warmth.
Milo, is another way, to say, I care about you. 

I made myself a cup of hot Milo. A short while ago.
I am listening to Malai Mangum Neram from Rowthiram. Now.
It remains one of my favourite songs. 
And, Mog♥n..... 

I have posted this song plenty of times. Today, again.
Sorry, if it bores you. 
But, I love this song. More than ever, today.
The video is haunting.
The walk in the rain, under the same umbrella.
The motorcycle ride.

And, have you ACTUALLY listened to its lyrics ? 
It's simply beautiful. Mind blowing - beautiful.
Love is about remaining faithful - at all times - even in the hardest of situations.....

Good night. God bless.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

home SWEET home - I am FINALLY back

Yes, I am. Finally, back. In home grounds. In my favourite sanctuary in the whole wide world. 
My first weekend - back home. 
I wanted to write earlier but Mom had given me a moderate (:-P) list of household chores that I needed to settle, first and foremost.
The house was as dusty as the Thar Desert in Rajasthan.
I had to sweep - thrice. Mop, with plain water - thrice. And, mop with floor cleaner - thrice. And, the 9 time lucky chore took me near 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Pahhhhhhhhhhhhh :-(

My room is like a little Indian shop. From clothes to souvenirs to handicrafts. I have cleaned and arranged half. Another half to go. Need to do it by tonight.
Work starts tomorrow, and I expect it to be a busy, busy one.

It rained yesterday. Heavy. Which was a big blessing. My garden was in a sad state when I returned. It was no more green and growing. But, brown and barren. I need to do something about them one of these days. Hmm...

We are continuing to frantically search for our MH370. There are so many theories emerging. All of us have no clue which is the truth and which is not. But, we remain united in our hopes and prayers. Miracles do happen. 

It has been many days since I watched any Tamil movie. I am craving to watch some good ones. There have been a few, of lately, I believe. Plan to. Soon. And, yes, I have ones that I would recommend, you guys would be on priority list.

Flying is immensely tiring. That is a big lesson I learned during my last vacation. I flew six times, this time around. Penang - Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur - New Delhi. New Delhi - Varanasi. And return. The Malaysian flights by, Malaysian Airlines, of course. I am an Enrich member - the frequent flyer program for Malaysian Airlines passengers. In India, we flew Air India, which was, so-so. :-( So, if you are in the aviation industry, and fly more often than any of us, you truly deserve a big pat on the back. You guys must be super heroes, to have flying as a career. Stay blessed. 

I have thousands of photos. Really. A thousand in my camera. And a thousand more in my i-Pad. I have posted some. I am sharing it with all of you, via my google+ account. It can be viewed by everyone.
This is the link.
https://plus.google.com/photos/117957479703928411446/albums/5991372512569452513

Off to clean the room. 
Shabaaaa..... (Vadivelu style  :-P)

See you this weekend. Hopefully.
Meanwhile, take care and God Bless.

And PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell that person you so, so LOVE VERY MUCH, how much you ACTUALLY do !!!!! Life is too short. Love is too beautiful. 
A sms or email or Facebook message, if you are too shy.
Or a phone call, if you are moderately hesitant.
And, if you are Mr/Miss Braveheart, tell her/him over coffee. :-)
Deal ?

Stay blessed. 
Tata. :-)

Monday, March 10, 2014

Pray for MH370..... The missing Malaysian Airlines flight bound toBeijing.....

I am still in New Delhi. It's raining outside. And the weather is chilly. Despite me, wearing a long sleeve shirt and a black bomber jacket.
We are all still hoping. Still praying. Still waiting. For a miracle. 
For MH370 - the Beijing bound plane which never reached its destination. 
God has his way of knocking sense into our brains. We are so caught up with fast growing technology and high tech gadgets and a career centered life. 
It's at moments like these that we take time to appreciate how short life can be. 
And, how we rarely take time to TRULY cherish and treasure loved ones. 

I will be flying back soon. 
I am not afraid. There is no phobia. 
No pteromerhanophobia. 
Pteromerhanophobia - otherwise known as a fear of flying. 
Really? Yes. Really. Maybe 0.05%. Tiny jitters. That's all.

Why? Reasons, a few. 

Mom is with me. We are flying back home - together. She will be by my side, throughout the journey. 
She carried me in her womb for 10 months. She was my saviour then. She is my saviour now. She will be my saviour, always. 
An infant feels safest in the embrace of their mother. 
A crying child feels consoled when their mother carries them. 
At this point of age, just holding on to her hands, calms me wondrously. 
If I were to return to the Almighty, then, so be it. I have her with me. Having her beside me in the last moments of my life, would be a perfect ending to the beautiful life I have lived so far. 
Mothers are God's greatest gift to us. The human form of the Almighty. They will never hurt us, even if we do them. That great, they are. 
Adore them. Cherish them. Love them. A mother is God's way of telling us, He is always with us, no matter how unruly we get.
I have Amma with me, and this itself makes me safe....

God gave us this life. He has all right to take it back. I accept whatever fate He has in store for me. Bathing in the Ganges and touching the holiest Shivlingam in Kaasi Viswanath temple has tranquillized my soul. Varanasi has totally changed my outlook on life, and love. 

I am still at the hotel room. Glued to our TV. BBC has been playing day and night. Nothing has been confirmed. We are all hoping for a miracle. 

The massive search mission has grown to 45 ships and 34 aircraft, more than 48 hours after the plane first disappeared off the radar. 239 passengers and crew on board. Nearly two-thirds of the 227 passengers on the plane are from China, with others from the US, Ukraine, France and other countries.

The entire nation is praying. The world is, too. 
Collective prayers can create wonders. Read about it, somewhere.
It does not matter that they are strangers. 
Praying for the well being of another, is a good deed.
Please help us, fellow Malaysians, pray for the safe return of all these 239 people. 
Your prayers and thought, will be of much help.

Hail - the power of collective prayer !!!
Have them in your thoughts for a millisecond.
Hold them in your prayers in a minute of silence. 
Prayers do wonders.....

Take care. God bless.

With love from New Delhi,
-Shalu-

p/s - reading this to console and appease the worried heart. The 12 noon Malaysian time press conference confirmed that no sightings of air plane debris found. So, let's continue to pray for the miracle. God bless. God bless. God bless.




Saturday, March 8, 2014

With love from - from Jaipur, Rajasthan.

Hello everyone. 
Hope you are all doing fine.
I am fine, too.
A little flu and sore throat. 
But I am looking at the brighter side, and making the best of the remaining days of my vacation.
New Delhi was freezing cold when I arrived. We were shivering when we visited the famous Akshardham Temple. The winter jacket was not of much help. 
Guess, we are summer people. The ones that love the sun and it's shine.
Varanasi was a dream. Found immense serenity and tranquility, while I was there. It was an out of the world feeling. 
I bathed in the Ganges River. It was clean - unlike the scary tales, that many tell.  
I went to the revered Kaasi Visvanath temple and touched the sacred Shivlinga. It was one of the greatest feelings ever. 
I also watched the Ganga Arti.
Varanasi is pure beauty. Really. It is. 
Do not be deceived by the stuff you read or see or hear. You have to feel this city for yourself. 
Go when you are young and able. When you can experience and sense it's true charm. 
We also visited Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal. A monument of love ? I do not know. 
But, I was amazed by its architecture. It is a marvel. Paying INR750 as entrance fee, is minimal, in comparison to their maintenance charges. 
And - Jaipur, Rajasthan. 
Jaipur, the pink city, is whimsical. There are forts everywhere. And they are all magnificent, huge and beautiful. Amer Fort, is one. We spent about 3 hours there and it was still not enough. 
I will post the pictures soon. There are lots of them. Sharing is always beautiful.
My sister took this picture of me. I love its openness. 
It was taken yesterday in Amer Fort. The white arches and the green steel chairs go hand in hand. 
I am still on vacation. Writing this in the hotel room. It's still very cold outside. I have a grey sweater on but it's not helping much. Want to make a hot cup of coffee. The rest of the family, are enjoying a Tamil movie on tv.
Take care. God bless.
Will be back in home grounds real soon.

Love from Jaipur, Rajasthan
-Shalu-