Health, Spiritual, Spirituality

The Only True Reason to be a Vegetarian

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Here are three popular reasons why we adopt a vegetarian diet. Go through them…and then I will tell you the only reason why you should become a vegetarian!

REASON 1: Being a vegetarian is healthier for your body 

Even as a junkie I stayed true [to vegetarianism] – ‘I shall have heroin, but I shan’t have a hamburger.’ What a sexy little paradox. ― Russell Brand

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. ― Jim Davis

This is probably the number one reason most people take to a vegetarian diet – to lose weight, to become healthier, to reduce cholesterol and so on. They equate a vegetarian diet as healthier than the non-vegetarian one.

HERE COMES THE VEGETARIAN DIET CAVEAT:

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Inspiration, Rave Reviews

Qayamat Se Dangal Tak – Movie Review of Dangal

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If people are not laughing at your goals, then your goals are too small – Azim Premji

Ask Mahavir Singh Phogat what his dream is and he will reply – ensure that his daughter wins a gold medal for India in wrestling. And assuredly, everybody considers this the joke of the day. As villages roll over themselves with laughter, Mahavir Singh scolds and disciplines, taunts and derides, as his two daughters prepare to be wrestlers in a tiny hamlet in Haryana.

And just as the villagers wipe their tears and catch their sides, Mahavir’s two daughters go to the next village to compete in a wrestling fight. With boys. And predictably, his daughter loses. But not before everyone has been shocked out of their stupor.

As they say, the rest is history.

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Books and Reading, Rave Reviews

Book review – Paulo Coelho’s The Spy

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Heard of Mata Hari? The dancer, the spy and the traitor? Well, so-called traitor? Paulo Coelho creates a magical narrative of Mata Hari’s life, written in the form of a letter to her lawyer. She holds nothing back as she relates her life story from the time she is raped by her school principal when she was sixteen, to the time she is shot down by twelve men from the French army.

But first let’s get the basic details out of the way.

Name of the book: The Spy

Author: Paulo Coelho

Translated from Portuguese: Zoe Perry

Published: 2016

Pages: 186 pages (Hardbound edition)

The basic story:

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Rave Reviews, Travel

Why I fell in love with the Gardens by the Bay, Singapore

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In my previous blog, I listed the basic information, including some tips and suggestions that will come in handy when you visit the Gardens by the Bay in Singapore. Now that I have got that formality out of the way, here goes why I fell in love with the Gardens as I spent close to eight hours across a weekend exploring it.

Day 1 at the Gardens: Spectacular. Immense. Incredibly well-thought, well-planned and well-laid out. I have only superlatives to describe my over 3 hours walk that first evening. And by that time, I had barely covered one-hundredth of this entire park. I ended that evening with the lights show (at 7:45 PM) at the Supertrees Grove that was simply spectacular. Yes, this word will occur a few times in this blog!

Light show

The sound and lights show at the Supertree Grove

Day 2 at the Gardens: After wrapping up the remaining business formalities the next day, I had close to 6 hours before I had to head to the airport to catch my flight back to India. I headed back again – the call of the Gardens was too strong! This time, I did both the Flower dome and the Cloud Forest (at least 2 hours each in both these exotic domes), explored the Indian, Chinese, and Australian heritage parks, and sat down to just stare and take it all in. After that, I had to simply say goodbye to this park, and head to the airport.

What was so special about the Gardens?

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Rave Reviews, Travel

Singapore’s Gardens By the Bay – a must-visit attraction!

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I traveled to Singapore on business during the third week of August to kick-start Suyati’s operations in that island country. The first step – to incorporate the company and open the bank accounts. Since it was a business trip, I did not expect to spend any time sight-seeing. I had already traveled to Singapore on vacation a couple of times before and had done the typical touristy stuff – the Merlion, Night Jungle Safari, Jurong bird sanctuary, the Singapore Flyer, Sentosa islands, the river cruise, Clarke Quay shopping  …yup, the works.

As I was talking to my CPA, he asked casually if I was planning to get some sight-seeing done. When I replied in the negative, he asked me to check out the Gardens by the Bay (GBTB or the Gardens) – a park constructed by the Singapore National Parks Board and dedicated to the public in October, 2011. I half-heartedly said yes, sure, if I find the time.

After the business formalities for the day were over, I did have time from 5 PM onwards. I hailed a cab and asked him to take me to the Gardens. 10 minutes later, my love story with the Gardens started.

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Rants and raves, Spiritual

The Stalker

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He watched as the bedroom curtains parted and she looked out, inhaling the fresh scent of the new day. She wrinkled her nose a bit (the garbage man did leave his imprint!) and he saw annoyance creep on her delicate face. Poor darling. He hated her to feel anything less than perfection.

He watched as she left the window. Even if he did not see her, he knew exactly what she was doing. Brush her teeth, check on her kids, walk down to the kitchen, boil milk, light the lamp……he knew. He inched forward, hoping to hear her sing her bhajans. Lovely voice! Anything his beloved sang was lovely indeed.

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Spiritual Rants, Spirituality

My 25 Gurus for Life

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As I struggle through life I realize

That I need teachers varied and wise

To teach me how to live my life

Without too much mental strife

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Humor, Rave Reviews, Writing and Editing

How do writers write? The journey of an idea from conception to completion

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People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it. – Harlan Ellison.

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