Life and Spirituality

An iron wok W hen one has lived in a home for near twenty five years as I have in mine, and when the home has store rooms, attic, closets etc. one ends up collecting a lot of stuff that one does not need every day or even for years. Over the last several years it became so that if we needed something for an odd purpose suddenly, it was found somewhere in the home itself. As a result I had begun avoiding going to the market to collect more. Nevertheless, when one visits a market for a stroll, one spots something aside from daily necessities that would make one’s living more comfortable or healthier. Today I chanced upon a small iron wok from a traditional gypsy iron worker by the road side and snapped it up. The woman wanted five dollars for it but with a bit of bargaining brought it down to three. We have a large one at home used on rare occasions but not a small one that is useful for regular cooking. There are smaller aluminum ones in the kitchen but fearing that they ma...

by John Singer Sargent . Oil on canvas, "The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous" George Orwell   Y esterday I watched with much interest a debate that took place in the British Parliament on whether to bomb in Syria or not. I also visit twitter frequently and had noticed that there were many tweets against any such bombing and the polls too seemed to indicate that an overwhelming majority of the good British people were against any such adventure. The experiences of similar ones in the past have been sad and disastrous and the public is wary of the arguments politicians put forth in favor of more. A completely new concept has been invented for the war in Syria - ‘degrade’ and not ‘win’ as has been the case with wars through human history. Some politicians have explained, this implies a war going on for a generation or more, perhaps because then it produces a steady stream of income for a long, long time for the military- industri...

  Kanji, the vegetable drink H ere is a wonderful drink made from a few select vegetables. It is a great accompaniment for lunch. It shall contribute to good health while adding a sparkle to a meal. In North-Western India it is called Kanji and in West Asia it is known by a different name that I forget now and once when a friend from Poland visited he said that they make it in Eastern Europe too. I have not found it in Western Europe or North America though during my travels and it is time they learned about it because it is very simple to make. It has a pungent acidic taste that is pleasant with a meal once you acquire the taste and that does not take more than a couple of glasses of it. There are several variations of the drink but here is the recipe from my home: Ingredients Four liters drinking water Half kg turnips Quarter kg Beetroots Quarter kg Carrots (The darker the better) A finger of Ginger A few bay leaves and sticks of cinnamon (optional...

https://twitter.com/BEAUTIFULPlCS/status/634229660528869376/photo/1 T he majority of humankind now lives in cities around the world but some also live in farming villages scattered around the globe. While cities offer opportunities for modern services, they lack green and open spaces and also suffer from poor air quality. On the other hand, while farming villages offer green and open surroundings, they lack modern facilities. Many farmers, when they move to cities rarely want to return. This author applied his mind to the issue and tried to visualize urban and rural designs that overcome both these drawbacks so that mankind may achieve a much better quality of life than is possible now for most. Existing farms and villages can not be changed easily but whenever new cities or farming villages are conceived it would be wise to refer to these postmodern concepts. For ease of reference they have been termed as AM village or AM cities. AM Farming Villages https://twitt...

D ear readers, today’s blog post is on the design of a country cottage. It is a simple design with a living room, bed room, bath and kitchen separated by a passage. However, there is a large verandah in front that is a must for country living. It serves as a place for aging persons to read the newspaper, children to play, to entertain neighbors in daylight hours and to just sit and watch the rain or the rising sun. The entire plan fits in approximately a thousand square feet area and it is thirty feet wide. The Bathroom is spacious enough to have its own closet for dirty laundry and other things as well as to stick in a clothes washing machine while the kitchen is spacious enough for a small kitchen table next to the fridge. The bed room has been made large enough to have place for arm chairs and a desk. No staircase is shown but if desired the place for it on the side or back from the passage. As with many other designs in this blog no side windows have been left so that...

 children shoes captured during refugees crisis.  Budapest, Hungary, Central Europe,  2015. CAUTION: This article is deeply emotional and discretion is advised before choosing to read it. Please scroll to end of note for a new Xmas song being sung by some I saw an image that has touched me deeply on TV. It was a small boy. It was a fleeting image that has appeared more than once on BBC World service in a collage of images that are used as signatures before and after programs and many thoughts have   gone through my mind as I have tried to imagine what the full story of this sweet little boy of less than five might be, not very different from my own grandson at that age. Little children everywhere are so much alike especially when they are less than five. The image touched me even more than that of Aylan Kurdi of about the same age lying face down in the sand on a Turkish beach, because this boy had not yet left for heaven. https://pbs.twi...

W hile most humans focus on earning and accumulating wealth in their journey through life or at least try very hard to do so, there are a few amongst them that do not make this a prime focus of their life. It is not that they do not like or value wealth but they are either distracted with other things that life has to offer or consider other pursuits far more important. Saintly persons are some from amongst these latter. People like Gandhi when they became saints gave away everything they owned. The word saintly is not used here in any religious sense but in the sense of persons bearing a consciousness close to the divine or universal consciousness. The saintly lot of humans do not worry so much about accumulating wealth because somehow deep within them is the unshakable belief that the Lord or Universe would take care of their genuine needs as and when they arise and that accumulating much wealth in a life time is really not worth it except for its temporary use, tha...