How to lose yourself in a book

I read. I never really write about it or talk about it unless it really speaks to me. Shantaram is hands down one of the best stories I have ever read. Up in the ranks of Khaled Hosseini - Gregory David Roberts is SO bad ass.

I found myself wanting to tweet every line of the book. So hard not to!

The last page of the book has these gorgeous words.

"For this is what we do. Put one foot forward and then the other. Lift our eyes to the snarl and smile of the world once more. Think. Act. Feel. Add our little consequence to the tides of good and evil that flood and drain the world. Drag our shadowed crosses into the hope of another night. Push our brave hearts into the promise of a new day. With love: the passionate search for truth other than our own. With longing: the pure, ineffable yearning to be saved. For so long as fate keeps waiting, we live on. God help us. God forgive us. We live on."

And my favourite line from the book:

"We Are Made Out of Stars, You and I"

How to bring in 2013.

Have you ever watched someone lose their health? It's the most heartbreaking feeling. My Grandma (Dama) has to be one of the strongest women on this earth to be able to take care of my ageing grandpa the way she does.

 I don't have much more to say in this post. I have been thinking a lot about my grandparents since I spent New Year's with them. It was a short, beautiful, bittersweet trip to Chennai. And it was the first time I bawled my eyes out when I had to leave.

Here are a few moments...



Mahabilpuram. This is an ancient rock formation at the southern tip of Madras and its absolutely gorgeous. Beaches for days!

This is a super old photo of my Grandma's side of the family. My grandmum and dad are the couple in the top left corner of the photo. My dad and his siblings are sitting in the bottom row (Second one from the left is Dad). Hilarious. I know....

 

This is kulfi (ice cream) in a clay pot. The pot has a lot of frost in this photo... the contents are basically creamy crack.

 

These hands were once so strong. They held me up and held me strong. They held me in a warm embrace everytime I saw him.

These hands are those of the only Grandfather I know.


Happy New Year everybody!

Here's to another year trying to make it.

xo

 

How to be inspired. Part 2

I just went for a long, slow, mind numbing run this morning. While I reaped every last benefit of each drop of sweat, I couldn't help but miss my yoga mat. Is there a defining moment when yoga stops being a way of fitness and takes over your entire lifestyle? It's happening to me.

When I say yoga is taking over my lifestyle, I mean it happened (is happening) very unconsciously. Everything I eat, say, do, relates to how it affects my practice and ultimately; life. This is hard for others to understand. Especially my parents, and possibly a lot of you. But then again, if you have found a comparable passion, maybe you do understand.

Generally speaking, I come from a carnivorous, booze guzzling, dancing, Bible quoting, over-educated bunch. You think I'm joking but my next post is about to explain. I hope they, and you, can remotely understand the necessity to break the pattern.

In other news, my yoga teacher is back from Mysore looking like a lean, mean teacup-size version of herself. Happier than ever and sharing with us all the love and light straight from the source of Ashtanga. And I've already caught the India bug. Okay, see? I already sound full-hippie. The fact that she lost 4kgs (10lbs) in a month is just a footnote at this point. How beautiful is this....

This is a photo shot by Christine Hewitt. She is an AMAZING photographer and I'm so inspired by her art. Check out her tumblr.
I can't wait to get my camera out and do this shit around Dubai. Get ready for some yogi-art coming your way :)

How to be vegetarian - Part 2

Omg - almost 2 weeks of no meat!! Not even seafood - and my favourite vegspiration bestie @leannemark just recently turned back to meat.

I think I need to give into some fish sooner or later. I've been finding myself consistently going cray on the carbs - NOT good. However, this Sunday afternoon vegetarian meal of mine just made my day brighter. #Rajdhani is an Indian restaurant in the slightly grimey-er side of town where the BEST food awaits. Seriously - if you haven't explored Bur Dubai, your losing at life. Read a review from @timeoutdubai here.

The best part was the HOT whole wheat roti with extra ghee and melting JAGGERY! - my favourite kind of sugar for my no-refined sugar lifestyle. It's to die for.

I know the pic makes no sense and does NOT look appetizing. But trust me - just trussssmeee.

xo

How to be RICH.

20 billion dollars worth of gold, diamonds, silver and any other shiney thing imaginable.

No, that's not my personal net worth - This is the latest most craziest archeological find in South India. Six secret vaults in a Hindu temple in South India is STACKED with chests of treasures dating as early as the 8th century AD.

Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

My FIRST question was: "how the hell did the Indian buggars not loot the place clean?"
Answer: 
1) Nobody really knew about it
2) The one guy who did find out in the 1930s; tried to get his hands on it but landed in a cobra infested vault and decided it wasn't worth it (LOL - I'm sure his reaction involved a "ah HELL nah, fuck this shit!").
3) The priests and the royal family guarded it with their lives

Now, five out of 6 vaults have been opened and they keep finding the COOLEST stuff. "Bags of diamonds, an 18-foot (5.5 meter) gold necklace, statues of Hindu gods and 19 kilograms (42 pounds) of precious coins" They say opening the vaults might be a bad omen (death by cobras?), but honestly, if I could get my hands on just ONE chest, or even HALF a chest, I would definitely take on the task. Obviously, I would immediately outsource the task to an Indiana Jones, Lara Croft or Jack Sparrow. And I'm sure my greedy friends would pitch in.

Wham bham, thank you ma'am. Job Done. PEACE OUT.

That's kind of what the Brits did to India while they were there for over 400 years. Greedily outsourced the dirty jobs and stored the treasures back in England. Today (August 15th), India marks 64 years of independence from the British. I just wanna say - HAHAH; you forgot 20 billion suckers.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!


Sources:
http://news.oneindia.in/2011/07/15/travancore-scion-puts-fear-of-god-on-supreme-court-aid0113.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-08/indian-supreme-court-halts-opening-at-cobra-guarded-vault-of-hindu-temple.html
http://www.sreepadmanabhaswamytemple.com/history-of-sree-padmanabhaswamy-temple-thiruvananthapuram-kerala.html