Fluky Wisdom

From my diaries...  It is a Monday morning, and I am not in Monday blues as I absolutely love what I have been doing. I had such an eventful weekend in Chennai at my guru's place sweating buckets for an upcoming ensemble show that I can't complain about going to work, which I already love. In the middle of my work, I give moments of contemplation to myself, which rejuvenates me. Today is one of such days. I want to journal little things that make me happy. Just like that. Because all the love and life lies in those little things. Kadak Ginger Chai - Preferable with loved ones and long conversations Early mornings Sunsets Heartfelt talk with loved ones/husband Random gifts/ Chocolates to my near and dear Dance class to my kids Dance class with my guru Gratitude Good books on my kindle Morning walks with inspiring podcasts on Spotify Being able to afford something for myself/ my family Cleaning house (Well sometimes :) ) Cooking for my loved ones Lazy Sunday mornings Sun Rise/ Se...

          "If You Don’t Heal What Hurt You, You’ll Bleed on People Who Didn’t Cut You."                                                                                                                            -Unknown                All the ruckus in the world is a result of not loving ourselves enough and not healing ourselves from what broke us. Anger, greed, jealousy, insecurity, lust, power are the emotions that we spill on others to meet our own shortcomings. This is because most of us run away from our emotions like grief, jealousy, insecurity and the like. We think that by running away, we can get rid of ...

“The Palace of Illusions” has been popping up on the feed of my good reads since a very long time. For my disinterest to read a fiction I did not choose to read it for quite a long time but we never know when and why we choose to read a particular book :) Finally I downloaded it and started reading two months ago in bits and pieces. I was fascinated to see the imaginary yet relatable perspective of Draupadi on the story of the great timeless epic Mahabharata.            While the story of the epic remains the same, the author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni gives a gripping narration of the story of Mahabharata through the character Draupadi herself. The book sets us on a journey from the superficial understanding to the deepest, darkest thoughts of Draupadi . Draupadi , who is considered as the most powerful, chaste, pure character of the epic Mahabharata, gives a detailed narration of her most vulnerable feelings. In the novel, she as...

Kevin to his worried teenage niece: "You know this whole idea of not knowing who you are deep down inside, that's my life story. But I will tell you one thing that I have learnt. I don't think we figure out exactly who we are all at once. I think it happens over a long period of time, like, piece by piece you know!  Take me for instance. A couple of years ago, I get close with your dad(with whom he had a strained relationship since childhood). And I find a piece of myself. And then when I meet your aunt (his girl friend), I find another piece of myself. honey that's how it works. I think we go through this life slowly but surely collecting these little pieces of ourselves that we can't live without, until, eventually we have enough of them to where we... we feel WHOLE." (Episode 18, Season 3)   In 2017, when I watched Khubsoorat (2014), I started admiring Fawad Khan for his charm and watched a couple of interviews of him on YouTube. In one ...

"Success occurs when opportunity meets preparation." This has been my favorite quote since my school days and had been my desktop’s wallpaper for a very long time yet I always say, “I am not ready”, “I need more time”. I end up doing performances that I think I could have done better. But it is only recently, after almost a decade, I have realized that life doesn’t work that way. Opportunities come to us all of a sudden when we are involved with something else, when we don’t want them or when we least expect them to come our way. It is up to us whether we want to say YES or NO. Past few months have been very busy, chaotic yet productive. Why I say chaotic is because, when we are in the middle of something and when we get a new opportunity, it’s a conflict in the mind. And we think that we are not doing well enough. But in reality, it turns out good and when we look back, it feels so good. Of course, there is always a scope for betterment. Looking back.. I have pe...

Unofficially I started teaching dance (Kuchipudi) five years ago.. in bits and pieces but to never more than ten students. In that way, 2019 is a very special year for me as I took up teaching more seriously and vigorously. I still consider myself as an amateur teacher as I learn every day while teaching my kids and hence I share my joys and struggles as a teacher in this series of "Amateur Teaching Tales".   My commitment to my students is only two classes a week, 8 classes per month. But as a person who walked the same path, I could feel the pressure of bringing improvement in them in the stipulated time and I am very emotional about their progress. In fact, I see myself in my students, my master in me and my parents in my students' parents. When my students don't practice, I yell at them saying, "You don't understand! I walked the same path hence please understand the importance of practice". Every moment I teach them, I remember my teacher on ho...

I and my cousins were in the theatre wearing 3D glasses and the movie began... Two young children ask their father to tell them an interesting story and the father’s narration begins in the form of a song... He sings… "Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place Where the caravan camels roam Where it's flat and immense And the heat is intense It's barbaric, but hey, it's home When the wind's from the east and the sun's from the west And the sand in the glass is right Come on down stop on by Hop a carpet and fly To another Araaaaaabian nighhhhhhtssss………" and with the Arabic music that followed this sentence, I got goose bumps (thanks to the extraordinary sound technology). From that very moment, I was all eyes throughout the movie, cried, laughed, and awestruck and was in another world for the next two hours. If you are a movie buff who never fails to watch a good film, you would have heard this article’s title recently in a spect...