Sometimes we are aware of what exactly can hurt a certain person. That moment when you feel hurt or cornered, the easiest thing is to do is say it and hurt that person in a knee jerk reaction. The temptation is high. But there is magnanimity in not saying it. You are doing yourself a favor exercising that much of self control. The regret that happens after saying it is high and totally not worth it.
January 29, 2014
January 27, 2014
Captain Philips...
A couple of days ago watched this movie - Captain Philips, based on a real life incident. Tom Hanks plays the captain of an American cargo ship which is being attached by Somali pirates. The captain, with his presence of mind manages to save his crew from the pirates, but himself gets caught as a hostage. What happens next makes the rest of the movie. Tom Hanks plays as real a captain could get, and the way he talks to the pirates is interesting - he is afraid at times,vulnerable, but he is a man with a mission and that comes across. Engrossing. Would recommend the movie.
January 16, 2014
Araku valley coffee house...
Had been to this nice coffee shop in Araku valley, near Vizag. With Araku valley in the backdrop it is a nice place to enjoy some filter coffee(they serve many other kinds of coffee, I had the filter coffee, so would recommend that).
Chocolates are also available in the coffee shop. I tried the Arabian coffee flavored chocolates, strawberry and almond chocolates. Arabian coffee chocs were my favorite. There were several flavors available including "paan" flavor! I did not feel like trying it though.
If you happen to visit the beautiful Araku valley, go to this coffee house and enjoy a nice cup of brewed heaven! :)
Chocolates are also available in the coffee shop. I tried the Arabian coffee flavored chocolates, strawberry and almond chocolates. Arabian coffee chocs were my favorite. There were several flavors available including "paan" flavor! I did not feel like trying it though.
If you happen to visit the beautiful Araku valley, go to this coffee house and enjoy a nice cup of brewed heaven! :)
January 13, 2014
Emapthy and other peoples' shoes...
Empathy is when you can put yourself in someone else's shoes. But what if you get it all wrong, as in, you think you can imagine being in someone else's shoes while in reality you are not! :) Funny right.
Say, you imagine a person - X, to be angry about a situation because of your understanding and then it turns out that X did not care as much and was not affected by that situation at all.
So in order to be empathetic, you first need to understand the situation completely. It is not about looking at the world through your lens and imagining your reactions in that situation. It is about developing insights into how other people feel and think in those situations.
This, as you can imagine, is not an easy task. For a person like me, I would recommend not to try and get empathetic in the first place. I mostly think from the "heart" as opposed to the "mind" when it comes to people I am fond of. And I mostly think the world is made of people like me, which is so not true.
There is one more thing. You need to remember nobody is helpless. People have their own mechanisms to deal with situations and difficulties. If people need your help, they will let you know. If you develop more trust in this basic rule of life, you would go easy on yourself too... :)
Say, you imagine a person - X, to be angry about a situation because of your understanding and then it turns out that X did not care as much and was not affected by that situation at all.
So in order to be empathetic, you first need to understand the situation completely. It is not about looking at the world through your lens and imagining your reactions in that situation. It is about developing insights into how other people feel and think in those situations.
This, as you can imagine, is not an easy task. For a person like me, I would recommend not to try and get empathetic in the first place. I mostly think from the "heart" as opposed to the "mind" when it comes to people I am fond of. And I mostly think the world is made of people like me, which is so not true.
There is one more thing. You need to remember nobody is helpless. People have their own mechanisms to deal with situations and difficulties. If people need your help, they will let you know. If you develop more trust in this basic rule of life, you would go easy on yourself too... :)
January 10, 2014
Food and thoughts...
Am fond of good food. In this "avarekai" season(Wikipedia says avarekalu is called hyacinth beans in English), tasted a lot of avarekalu dishes - avarekalu usli, averekalu uppittu, avarekalu chitranna and what not made of avarekalu! Enjoyed. :)
Yesterday happened to have some yummy sea food. Have you tried squid before? It tastes somewhat like prawn. I was initially hesitant to lift the lid of the dish and see how it looks (lol!), then it looked quite good :) It went well with appam. Try it sometime.
I have been having sea food for months now. Having been a vegetarian all my life, and taken to eating seafood(I cant say meat so easily, btw I eat only sea meat, so seafood is surely a better word! :P) from about a year or so, I still have a lot of hiccups seeing it like plain food. I went to this Matyadarshini Aquarium in Vizag recently, there were many kinds of fishes on display - they were quite beautiful.And after that, I could not bring myself to eat fish for a couple days! Funny, isnt it!
Yesterday happened to have some yummy sea food. Have you tried squid before? It tastes somewhat like prawn. I was initially hesitant to lift the lid of the dish and see how it looks (lol!), then it looked quite good :) It went well with appam. Try it sometime.
I have been having sea food for months now. Having been a vegetarian all my life, and taken to eating seafood(I cant say meat so easily, btw I eat only sea meat, so seafood is surely a better word! :P) from about a year or so, I still have a lot of hiccups seeing it like plain food. I went to this Matyadarshini Aquarium in Vizag recently, there were many kinds of fishes on display - they were quite beautiful.And after that, I could not bring myself to eat fish for a couple days! Funny, isnt it!
January 03, 2014
Random thoughts...
- Have been reading obituaries of Farook Sheikh in the newspapers last few days. I admired him for his acting skills and became a fan when he was anchoring a show called "Jeena isi ka naam hey" on TV.
Have been wanting to watch his movie "Chashme Badoor" for a while now. Hope to catch it sometime soon.
- It has been a slow and quiet day and I am liking it that way.
- Had a proud moment - my mom has started playing su-do-ku on my Google Nexus tab! I thought she wasnt so keen on getting technologically updated. Pleasantly surprised. :)
- Have been wanting to write a few posts of my travel experiences from the Odisha and Vizag trip I did in the last week of December, but some kind of a block! Its not a writer's block for sure since am writing other stuff! :P I dont want to miss out on details and so the procrastination bothers. Right now, cant help. Hmmm
- After reading a bunch of chick-lit books, I wanted to read something "worthwhile" (I am this hypocrite who doesnt think very highly of chick-lit but thoroughly enjoys them! I have this fancy thought that if I keep reading chick-lit, I may end up writing one, and dont want to be writing chick-lit, not sure why! )...so started reading "The sweetest dream" by Doris Lessing.
It is interesting that if I think of the actual story there is nothing great or interesting about it, but when am reading I thoroughly enjoy. I havent been able to put my finger on what makes it so absorbing a read. I wonder. But then I left the book in Bangalore. All evening whenever I thought of reading I wanted this book! Whims, I tell you!
-My weight is optimum, but my tummy seems annoying. Need to do some ab crunches. Point noted.
- Had a long gossipy chat with sibling. Rarity these days. Hmmm feeling good.. :)
Have been wanting to watch his movie "Chashme Badoor" for a while now. Hope to catch it sometime soon.
- It has been a slow and quiet day and I am liking it that way.
- Had a proud moment - my mom has started playing su-do-ku on my Google Nexus tab! I thought she wasnt so keen on getting technologically updated. Pleasantly surprised. :)
- Have been wanting to write a few posts of my travel experiences from the Odisha and Vizag trip I did in the last week of December, but some kind of a block! Its not a writer's block for sure since am writing other stuff! :P I dont want to miss out on details and so the procrastination bothers. Right now, cant help. Hmmm
- After reading a bunch of chick-lit books, I wanted to read something "worthwhile" (I am this hypocrite who doesnt think very highly of chick-lit but thoroughly enjoys them! I have this fancy thought that if I keep reading chick-lit, I may end up writing one, and dont want to be writing chick-lit, not sure why! )...so started reading "The sweetest dream" by Doris Lessing.
It is interesting that if I think of the actual story there is nothing great or interesting about it, but when am reading I thoroughly enjoy. I havent been able to put my finger on what makes it so absorbing a read. I wonder. But then I left the book in Bangalore. All evening whenever I thought of reading I wanted this book! Whims, I tell you!
-My weight is optimum, but my tummy seems annoying. Need to do some ab crunches. Point noted.
- Had a long gossipy chat with sibling. Rarity these days. Hmmm feeling good.. :)
January 02, 2014
January 01, 2014
Gratitude for the year gone by...
Thanks for all the love and affection - the newness in the family.
Thank you for all the travel opportunities - visited Leh, Ladhak, Jammu, Vaishno Devi, Amritsar, Vizag, Araku Valley, Hyderabad, Puri, Konark, Bubhneswar...
Thanks for all the wonderful books I read - read the fattest book ever - "The suitable boy". Read close to 25 books this year! Yaay to me! :)
Thanks for all the wonderful movies and TV series (I got hooked to Sherlock! :P ) that I watched!
Thanks for the new people that came into my life when I needed them the most! Thanks for the old ones who stuck around and supported.
Thanks for the optimum weight I have managed to be! Feels good. :)
Thanks for the good health, wonderful friendships, work, life, the right attitude and of course the peace of mind.
Thanks for all the new experiences, travels, memories created, for the positive energy and thoughts. And thanks for teaching me the power of gratitude! :)
Happy new year to all! :D
Thank you for all the travel opportunities - visited Leh, Ladhak, Jammu, Vaishno Devi, Amritsar, Vizag, Araku Valley, Hyderabad, Puri, Konark, Bubhneswar...
Thanks for all the wonderful books I read - read the fattest book ever - "The suitable boy". Read close to 25 books this year! Yaay to me! :)
Thanks for all the wonderful movies and TV series (I got hooked to Sherlock! :P ) that I watched!
Thanks for the new people that came into my life when I needed them the most! Thanks for the old ones who stuck around and supported.
Thanks for the optimum weight I have managed to be! Feels good. :)
Thanks for the good health, wonderful friendships, work, life, the right attitude and of course the peace of mind.
Thanks for all the new experiences, travels, memories created, for the positive energy and thoughts. And thanks for teaching me the power of gratitude! :)
Happy new year to all! :D
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