Life and Spirituality

Recently when my daughters visited they informed that they consume neither tea nor coffee anymore. However when I suggested a floral tea they agreed. They loved the cuppa. I explained to them how to create their own. This method is shared with all now in view of its usefulness. Dear reader you could create your own wonderful floral tea for free or very little expense in this manner Discovering suitable flowers: The first step is to make a list of flowers that are available in reasonable abundance in your area. These may be available in the wild in due season or in your own garden. Some dry flowers may be available at reasonable prices in your local market and you may add these to your list. Flowers from some trees are also great. Trees produce these in great abundance in season. Now note, not all flowers in your list will be suitable for tea. Some may even be toxic as for example larkspur and oleander. Discovering what flowers are suitable for a tea is the nex...

An older note in this blog ( here ) described how greed is at the root of much evil in the world. Perhaps it has always been so since the beginning of human civilization but its extent has varied with time and place. I am now well past sixty. During my lifetime I have witnessed greed grow exponentially in the countries that I have lived and worked in, especially over the last two decades. This greed is spread across the spectrum of society from corporations, crime networks and even governments. Everywhere the story may be summarized in this somewhat silly ditty, Gimme, gimme, more, more gimme from shore to shore In the gutter there is more like a pig, my hunger grows Many a corporation will use tricks and lies to trap customers into goods and services that they do not need. It is an unethical practice and customers must shun such corporations with all the contempt they deserve for when greed is unchecked it grows. As regards governments, citizens of democratic...

My daughters took some time off from their busy jobs and visited me with grand children. As the kids went for an afternoon nap, I snapped a picture of my daughters relaxing in the garden, enjoying the afternoon sun ever so pleasant in winters. Then my younger daughter snapped a picture of me and the older daughter. I posted some of these pictures on Facebook and friends commented that I have a lovely garden. Yes truly nature has been kind. However my response was, Mother earth has a lovely garden for all willing to help her a bit in some planting with their hands and hearts.  My own hands have planted and watered all the plants and trees in the picture.

Over the last century, planet Earth and condition of all life that dwells upon it has entered a completely new phase, vastly different from any that existed in the past. The first striking difference is the burgeoning population of humans on the planet. They have crossed seven billion and are heading towards ten billion strong in the coming decades. The invention of antibiotics and vaccines has contributed to this increase. The increasing population of humans and their needs has displaced not just much animal life on the planet but also the green side of it so that many species have become extinct or are on the verge of becoming so. The second huge difference is emergence of technologies that were once visualized only in fairy tales. Computers, television, mobile devices and nuclear devices are all inventions over the last century. They have changed human lives and behavior in drastic ways. Thinkers and philosophers wonder where humans and the planet they occupy ar...

Two little sisters in a fruit orchard and garden S ubsequent to retiring from active professional work in 2010, this author has spent time in campaigning on various issues to improve the planet and the life that dwells upon it. The issues have ranged from environment to spirituality, life style to child welfare. It is true that no one human can make a difference to the many challenges our world faces but all can make a little difference even by just a small act of kindness or just planting a tree anywhere they find ground for it. If one keeps at it, some of these efforts can make a huge difference in lives of many as a few of the posts of this blog have done including one encouraging a biscuit maker in India to replace trans-fats in their biscuits with a healthier oil. It is a biscuit that is consumed daily by millions of children across India because of its low cost and easy availability. On the issue of children, this author has personally campaigned much on social...

   A five-year-old god grandson of mine visits every month and has a new request every time. Usually it is colored pencils, sharpeners and eraser or little motorcars, a jeep or a tractor. He had also wanted a small plastic bat and a ball and all of these things I have been able to get for him. However last time he wanted a little dollhouse. Therefore I found a cardboard box, stuck some wooden color wrapping paper on it that had been lying around, cut a door and a window out from it. With a few stickers on it the house was ready as shown in the picture. We put in a few tree leaves in an empty medicine bottle to put in front because a home is scarcely pretty without one. The result is shown in the picture. The roof is a sloping one and removable. That makes placing furniture inside easier. So far we have only placed two beds and a curtain inside and are looking for more furniture. Another godson, Golu, described in some older posts of this blog is now ten years o...

O ur world has beautiful people and ugly people, beautiful places and ugly places, people with lovely characters and people with foul characters and the various mixes of it all. The beautiful people are not always those with lovely characters and there are ugly people with lovely characters. There are ugly people living lovely lives and lovely people living ugly ones. Once in a while, through it all, one finds a beautiful person with a lovely character living a beautiful life, but only rarely. One need not travel far and wide to see it all nowadays because of electronic media but when one does travel, one gets a better feel of it.   My younger life was full of travel around the country and around the world but after the age of fifty travels came down rapidly. The urge to travel as well as the energy for it was exhausted. Nevertheless, I still make brief trips every now and then as a recent one I made by train through North India. I met many people on the train an...