I floated a paper boat on the lake-like puddle formed by yesterday’s storm. The boat sailed tall and upright for a short distance and then gradually tipped to one side. A drowning ant climbed onto the boat, and when the boat filled in with more water, the ant climbed higher and higher and was in no hurry to die. That […]
In most families, one person’s taste dominates. Almost always, meals are sampled first by the person who is preparing the food. Or the partners, over time, adapt and adopt some sort of neutral taste. As new members grow to become adults, the foods expand in quantity, but the items on the family menu remain the same. Since our taste buds […]
(India Ink illustration, Anu Jayanth) In one popular legend, which I have heard at least a billion times, mankind enjoyed the same powers and privileges as immortal beings. Before long, their incurable greed and treachery prompted all the smaller gods to complain to Brahman, the godhead. Brahman decided to hide immortality from the undeserving. To each one of the suggested […]
STRONGER THAN CAFFEINE A hundred or more years ago, the people in Peking (present-day Beijing) must have known the exceptional health benefits of the n-ng rhyming sound and perhaps adopted it in their everyday speech. (Pekingese, I understand, is a designed dialect) Compare the Chinese yin-yang to the Sanskrit n-ng which also has a very pronounced y in front of […]
(India ink illustration Anu Jayanth) We are bombarded with health and beauty fixes every day on top news sites. There’s organic food awareness and a lean towards pesticide-free products. People are freely sharing super-food recipes on the internet. Every kind of spice from every part of the world line the shelves of most grocers. And vitamins and supplements fill several […]
(India ink illustration – Anu Jayanth) Tilling the mind was to intentionally tilt the mind to depart from the paved path of normalcy, which meant raking our thoughts and turning them over and over and exposing the raw, vulnerable insides. To expose one’s innermost feelings is an essential quality of the creative. But before we go into this rather obscure […]
We look at some of the great masters of the past and hail them as geniuses, but many lived unnoticed and unrecognized in their time. Often, even paupers. Rarely did they call themselves a genius, and instead shrugged off their brilliant works as coming from a genie, a spirit. Was it humility, or did their pursuit of excellence prevent them […]
Smooching gurus say deep tongue kissing helps you choose the right partner. For a rich and long life, your mate is an important choice. A wrong match may send you and those around you sooner to the grave. The miseries at home are far-reaching, but of course, you can always resolve quarrels with the old adage, kiss, and make-up. In […]
Nothing like love and passion to get the creative juices flowing. Go ahead, fall in love. Perhaps it’s the kind that lasts forever. If not, every one of those heartbreaks could become powerful art, poetry, and song, so don’t worry, enjoy the roller coaster ride. All the great songs and paintings and literature had their roots in a great romance. […]
In a recurring dream, I am in a car with the seat pushed so far to the back as if I am driving from the rear seat and I’m just able to reach the brake with the tip of my foot, but I’m unable to step on it, and I cannot see where I’m headed because my eyes are glued […]
