The moon is full; it reminds me of Karva Chauth. . .
At the end of the day, it\’s the rituals you embrace and make your own that matter. I didn\’t grow up keeping Karva Chauth or seeing my mother keep the fast. (Karva Chauth is a one-day festival celebrated by Hindu women in many countries in which married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the longevity of […]
Tell me an embarrassing incident you can\’t forget . . .
Orwell says somewhere that no one ever writes the real story of their life. The real story of a life is the story of its humiliations. If I wrote that story now— radioactive to the end of time— people, I swear, your eyes would fall out, you couldn’t peel the gloves fast enough from your […]
The best cure for a short temper is to keep the mouth shut. . .
I’m practicing what in Sanskrit is called ‘Mauna Vrata’ meaning, the vow of silence. The belief is that, if practiced from time to time, it will help master one’s tongue, which can kill as well as heal. In the ancient Vedas, it is said, when the tongue evolved, God ordered it to be kept locked in a cave-like fortress, and even so He was not satisfied so He provided 32 guards to watch it. Even then when it speaks it spits out poison.
I’ve concluded that I specially need to practice the art of ‘voicelessness’ around my 16 year-old daughter, the high priestess oflow tolerance. Just yesterday, I told her to get her applications for summer programs done and this was only because the pricey high-school counselor we’ve hired had sent me 3 e-mails, each marked “Urgent,” with the subject annoyingly labeled as “Needs immediate attention!!!”
My Adventures in Corfu, Greece. . .
The sleepy and rural island of Corfu is different things to different people. It is home to 4 million olive trees, thanks to intermittent but torrential rains from September to June. It\’s also a designated Unesco heritage site because the Old Town of Corfu, dominated by its fortresses of Venetian origin constitutes an architectural example of fortification. In addition, it\’s home to endless sandy beaches with stunning sandstone formations, as if the Ionian Sea moulded the sand like a potter. How many shades of blue can you count? Just sit back in your lounge chair and watch the waves breaking. . .
Eat Your Heart Out . . . Intermittent Fasting Works!
Let me begin by saying that I\’m a girl who loves to eat. Being East Indian, food has always been a driving force in my life.
Cookies with morning tea? Yes, Please.
Rice with beans for lunch. Yes, please.
Cookies with evening tea? Yes, please.
Chicken curry and Naan for dinner. Yes, please.
Hot halwa for desert? Yes, please.
But I\’m also a girl who loves to look good in my clothes. So, any time, the scale tips by even one extra pound, I either hop on a new diet or I\’m pounding away at the gym.
May 21, 2pm, Book Passage SF, Reading from Anoop Judge’s new unedited novel, \”Untouched Within\”
You’re Invited!
MAY 21, 2017
SUNDAY, 2pm
Book Passage
San Francisco
1 Ferry Building
(Bay side of the Ferry Building)
San Francisco, CA
(415) 835-1020
Monsoon Wedding, A Musical. . .
Looking for a way to feel upbeat and happy again? Seeking some humor in your life? Searching for fun and romance in a modern setting? Go catch the Monsoon Wedding musical currently running to packed shows at the Berkeley Repertory Theater.
It\’s been almost 15 years since the indie film Monsoon Wedding about a Delhi family preparing for a Punjabi Hindu arranged marriage broke records at the box office.
A Colorful Character. . .
It was always the rings I noticed on Lovely Aunty\’s hand. There was the huge diamond ring on her engagement finger. It could have been five or even ten carats. Had she told me that I would have believed it because it looked gigantic on her right hand.
Or maybe, it looked humungous because her fingers were short and stubby? That was my older sister, Gurpreet\’s unkind observation.
Then there was the emerald ring on her left hand. It winked and twinkled in the light from the overhead chandelier as Lovely Auntie looked at the deck of cards splayed in her hand. She curled her lip in annoyance.
\”I\’ll pass on this set,\” she\’d say with assumed delicacy like a mother would turn away from a child who\’d been too naughty.
MARRY ME, MARRY ME, MARRY ME. . .
Our deepest instinct tells us that joys are increased and pains diminished when we meet them two by two. . .like geese, like penguins we seem to be pair-bonding creatures. it takes four wings for us to fly.\” – Erica Jong
My friend who has two daughters in successful marriages gives me dating advice for my niece who at age 24, is considered of \’marriageable age\”. My friend is Gujarati but an emancipated one because one of her daughters is married to a Punjabi boy. Nearly two years into the marriage, the couple couldn\’t be happier, she says.
\”I tell all my Gujju friends, \’let your daughters dare men of all ethnicities. How else will they decide who they want to settle down with?\’ \”
What To Know Before Your Next Colonoscopy
Dr. Smucny orders a colonoscopy for me and my Pilates instructor who at age 28 has already had one colonoscopy and one endoscopy sniggers and states, \”Hah, I don\’t envy you that experience.\” Hmmm . . . I\’m curious and mystified as to what\’s gonna happen, but I think I can safely check off the box that states, \”Not going to be a fun experience!\”
6 p.m., the night prior: I start drinking the prep liquid as instructed, followed by two 16 oz glasses of water to be finished in the same hour. Whew! Why did nobody warn me this should be labeled \’Draino\’? In other words, once you drink your prep, anticipate incessant bathroom runs. Add to this that I\’ll probably still be having loose or liquid stools for a couple days after. . .yup, colonoscopy prep is the intestinal gift that just keeps giving!