Men cooking for the family as a challenge

Lockdown and men cooking for the household 

Sri Sri RaviShankar ji the other day in satsang said hey one day let the women announce a strike and 

let men take a challenge to cook for the family.

I too participated in the challenge and as a family we undertook last week, first day of the week.

We had to plan the event for we needed  guidance form the Head Chef ,my wife. 

The two daughters also joined me and offered to cook along with me for the date decided.

You may wonder why. My wife hardly allows any one to enter the kitchen to support.

On a lighter vein it was her own territory and we had to get visas issued to travel and work in her country /territory 

We planned cooking seriously . One daughter took over the breakfast on the way. Second cooked rice and sambar. Sambar went with the crisp dosas for breakfast and also for the lunch with rice.

I was told making sambar is easy. I took on the preparation of dinner with Rotis or Indian wheat flat bread (chapaties ) For the accompaniment o took on Ocra made well sautéd with herbs and some spice. 

Cutting vegetables is an interesting chore . Storing the cut vegetables for the day was done a day before. I cut the ocra into small coin size and cucumber in bits for the raita -with curds 

Dinner had good comments from the senior daighter she felt it was made with lots “love from dad” that made her more hungry 

The challenge gave me some insights . 

Standing in front of the gas stove without a fan over head is a challenge. Washing the vessels is easy if it’s done instantly and no spoons thrown in to the sink. With a liquid soap  container near the sink spoons plates and other vessels is easy if some on the spot after breakfast lunch and dinner 

My wife could not resist taking over the night washing of vessels & I had to insist she enjoy her kitchen holiday 

Some days I plan to take on making chapaties and serving on some days of the week. 

Working as a team can reduce the pressure in the kitchen 

Laying the table images spoons pickles and other accompaniments on the table is one chore.

Washing the vessels and clearing the sink is also a chore Of high importance.

Thanks to sri sri the challenge opened up new options in family cooperation 

However the next day it  was  back to “I do the stuff here my way “ 

Thanks Sri Sri for OpenIng up the support system for the mother who cooks 

And thanks to the mother for giving us an opportunity to work in her country.

Muralidharan R Nair 

Day 13 14 of lockdown 

Bangalore murali04@gmail.com 

Challenge for dealing with women on strike

Cooking for the family in the lockdown 

Sri Sri has given a project to cook on Monday. Let the men cook and women supervise. If the man is the regular cook, then women will cook  This project is for the 6th April 2020 

I am busy preparing   for the Monday #womenonstrike challenge 

Some vegetables I have cut , like ocra or Bhindi and cucumbers. Got finally a good peeler that works in flexible angles. 

I will be making chapaties and sabji (ocra).Cut fine cucumber also ready for the event 

Younger daughter will prepare crispy dosa for breakfast and I will prepare the Chutney  

Senior daughter will prepare lunch as she has expertise in sautéd veggies and pulao 

My turn is to prepare early dinner (we have usually by 18:30 or even earlier ) 

I am fine with rotis, Phulkas made in Gujarati  style 

I learnt way back in my sixth standard preparing chapati dough and rolling it for daddy to prepare when mother was confined for the birth of my second bro 10 years younger to me.

Wonder would you all like see the quality of cut vegetables ?

I am looking forward to the great cooking challenge and hope my wife blesses the family for a day of total rest from the kitchen. 

In a lighter vein one may ask why three cooks, my wife would never allow any one to enter her territory or country should I say. We have applied for visas for the day to enter her territory and cook inside the kitchen 

Of course cleaning the kitchen, washing vessels and the gas stove are three areas of challenge 

Washing vessels and clothes on my own I learnt when I used to stay at the ashram for short projects of rural development. Staying  in ashram taught me austerity and the value of money. Many days have lived  without a penny in my pockets.

Now I am happy I experienced over whelming abundance for eight years stay in the Middle East. The story will be told in another write up soon 

Muralidharan R Nair 

For days 11,12 of the lock down 

5th April day of lighting a lamp for spreading the light of health safety and joy for all 

The way the world works just got altered

The way the world works just got altered 

Every morning before the shutdown lockdown was - wake up, do your morning ,Sadhana (practices ) , bathe , dress ,get ready, book an Ola/Uber and rush to office after breakfast or without breakfast 

This has now changed to take bath later , pray in between , breakfast after 9:00 am maybe and dress how you feel ,look how you like and no  Ola , just move from your dining , kitchen to the living in front of the TV or move to your bedroom for the second bit of rest or sleep 

Things are changing :

The morning walk is dead now ,the morning tender coconut at the traffic junction is no more possible as I can’t reach there and the coconut vendor has been moved out from there 

The morning walk in the park is now behind me and I remember the last week before lockdown I was locked inside the park in the RBI layout and I really learnt to climb over a railing and latch on to the transformer net to get out and jump over the garbage collected near the railing.

Banking- Another change is in the way Indian banks or for  that matter international bankers interact with customers 

maintaining the social distancing 

keeping the mask, gloves, nets to hand over the papers and vouchers 

 India will change for ever with work from home alternative teaching corporates that  it’s easy , possible and also more economical for institutions. 

The pressure on the roads and the  transport will vanish 

Worship from home in India has been imposed on some sections . The  country is  scared of one group that still insists on daring to oppose social distancing, gather  at congested mosques and places , risking police batons  on their backs or shoulders 

The liberals has proved that they can let forego the norms and rules for a group

One  group openly  disobeys and is willing to die for their religious beliefs and practises 

So work from home and worship from home

 ( zee news ) will become Indian corporate practise soon

Significant change will be the way so many of us in India dress 

 I firmly believe take a bath in time before prayers, practices , yoga , meditation at home and breakfast by 9 am  and dress well and look your best even if you are working from home . 

Some institutions would insist your coming online on Zoom or periscope or facebook live so that the HR knows you are working ( you might as well be well dressed perfumed and cheerful )

Changes are imminent and it’s already come . Learn to just  flow with new way you live , work , eat all at home 

Social distancing has brought families closer and sadly in some cases families have changed to fight and parents divorcing for small reasons . There is also the sad face of child abuse, violence and abuse against  women  in homes earlier spoken in whispers,  now on social media too .

The lockdown has resulted in fake calls of emergencies , storing of government doles to sell it later at premiums 

Hospital visits being costly with ambulances being offered at huge premiums for dialysis and heart issues and visit of the elderly to the hospitals

Good points - 

Some state governments have fared well dealing with their masses - top among them are UP , Haryana and Karnataka  just to name a few . 

The pits have been Delhi and Kerala and both  believe in strong PR that conveys fake achievements any way and with SM being strong the governments failed in their duties and stood exposed .

One  minister spoke of 2.1 millions served food when the top official of the state spoke of feeding 4 hundred thousand when the common man exposed them both of not having served any food live 

Wonder how can someone be served on twitter claims 

Probably soon work from home worship from home and if possible eat on twitter by downloading from home your claim for food 

India is surely now a country the other big nations are looking for leadership in  dealing with the CoVID19 also called Chinese virus 

Let’s wait for the end of the drama as new kits for treatments once sold will end this lockdowns. Any way America has not declared lockdown though social distancing is declared up to 30th April 

For Usa Money and  business precedes human life.  India prefers saving its people and they depend on police and doctors for saving the nation (zee news idea ) 

Let the state succeed as our population is too huge to die 

God bless this nation and I pray all initiatives succeed Let us welcome happy days soon 

 

Muralidharan R Nair 

Day 6 of lockdown 

Revised 4:04:2020 

The Ramayana specially interpreted by Sri Sri RaviShankar

One day someone got up in the evening satsang and asked Sri Sri, “Is it fair for a teacher to put one student at a disadvantage to favour another? Dronacharya asked for Eklavya’s right thumb to stop him from being better than Arjuna. Was that fair?”

Sri Sri said, “This is a natural question. Dronacharya appears to be very unfair to Eklavya. But look at what that sacrifice did to Eklavya. If this had not happened, Eklavya would have been an ace archer and a hunter who lived and died in the forest anonymously. By asking for Eklavya’s thumb, Dronacharya immortalized Eklavya’s name and in turn, tarnished his own. From this perspective, Drona made a great sacrifice for Eklavya.

Similarly, Kaikeyi in Ramayana. Just before going to exile, when Rama came to meet Kaushalya and take permission to leave, she said,

‘If it is your father who has exiled you, I can overrule him’ – in those days, queens had the authority to overrule the king’s word. ‘But if it was Kaikeyi, you must go. Certainly, she has your best interest in mind.’

Kaikeyi was the one who loved Rama the most; Rama was her very life. Everybody cursed Kaikeyi for sending Rama away, including her own son, Bharat, who refused to talk to her. The greatest character in Ramayana is Kaikeyi. She took all the blame from the whole world…”

At this point, Gurudev’s voice choked. He paused but not everybody noticed that he was holding back tears, including the lady holding the mic, eagerly waiting for the first opportunity to speak. She thought Gurudev had finished the previous answer and fired away her question. He began answering her as if nothing had happened but a few seconds later, wiped his eyes. Those who did notice all this were stunned first at the way he suddenly got emotional, then how he was interrupted and then the way he just continued.

After satsang, someone asked Gurudev about what had happened. He said, “The story itself (Ramayana) is such that it brings tears to the eyes. Kaikayi was a very strong-willed and capable woman. She was the force behind Dasaratha. It was she who was actually running the kingdom, not him. Nobody knows that it was Goddess Saraswati who asked Kaikeyi to send Rama away. The Goddess asked her to do it for the greater good and also to get over her attachment to Rama. But she would be blamed by the whole world for doing so. There is a Saraswati Gita in which She gave knowledge to Kaikeyi but nobody knows about it.”

What we heard from Gurudev that day turns the whole story that we’ve known all our lives. If I’d heard this explanation second hand or read it somewhere, my reaction would’ve been, “Oh, come on!” All this time, for me Kaikeyi had been a symbol of the notion that ‘at the top, only money and power matter in this world.’ It’s not that there is no goodness in people and while I appreciate Gurudev’s talks on human values I still felt that when the stakes are high, it’s all about power and money. And this notion was supported by other examples from history – Mahabharata, Bible, Buddha’s story and many more. Over the years, I had come to terms with this ‘reality’ about the world but it did harden my feelings about people and relationships.

But that day I saw him sharing this story really feeling Kaikeyi’s pain, what she must have gone through to force herself to turn into a villainess and not be able to tell anybody why. Her heartbreaking predicament was revealed only by the manner in which he shared it, in that moment when his voice cracked and the tears that welled up in his eyes. I could never have imagined that such a sacrifice was possible. How much love must have been there behind it and how much love was needed to see this side of the story and empathize with her. It softened me.

I didn’t need anyone to tell me that ‘life is all about power and money’ – it was an easy conclusion to draw. But to know that despite everything, in the end, life is about love and sacrifice, I needed my Guru.

Reproduced from a authentic post on a WA group 

I have cried watching tbe Ramayana episode for the  gems of knowledge related in each section of the Telecast Amazing and how deep  is the only word I can think of.

New India will be seeing The Ramayana as historical

Ramayan becomes the highest watched TV serial in Hindi general entertainment category ever by garnering 170 million viewers in four shows over last weekend in its new avatar, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) said, describing the viewership figures as surprising.

@DeshGujarat Tweet dated 2nd April2020

Reading this message gave me immense joy and happiness for the simple reason new  India is due for major transformation and growth of human values as never experienced before .

I have seen the TV serial Ramayana in its first transmission in 1987 and hardly got the depth of the intense dialogues on human values ,love ,sharing , caring and human emotions and feelings related to jealousy ,ecstasy and sadness grief and more 

This timing of the telecast has been a great boon to the Indian audience 

Day one of the telecast saw zero Ads and instantly day 2 had sponsors like Amul LIC of India and Ghadi Detergents 

The ads would push the end timings of the show at night to beyond 22:20 hrs 

What makes me more happy is the fact that I am sure the new millennials are part of the audience. They are exposed to Indian traditions and values and the dialogues conveyed in simple language what is love , jealousy , anger , brotherly love ,motherly and fatherly love ,the unshakeable character of Sree Ram and his father Dashrath.The lyrics and rendition by Rabindra Jain has a rustic charm in the language and represents  the ethos of India. 

Soon I am sure when the millennials would have Sree Ram as their new hero instead of the ones like Spider, Bat and super man .This would surely get new readership for Bhavan’s Journal publications like Ramayana and Mahabharata authored by C Rajagopalachari .

This is a publication of 1982 which gave me the first glimpse of the Ramayana Priced then at Rs 12

What the commies who designed the distorted history of India with Distorians like Romila   Thapar and Ramchandra Guha called these great writing of history as mythology

Rama is a historical being who has a date of birth duly  documented based on the references to the sun and moon positions related to the date of birth of Rama 

Let the viewership of this episode and the values shown in the screening become a new learning for the millennials  of India . I am happy  there will be a surge of learning what Dharma Truth and key values of life mean. There will be more courageous Youth who will be proud to be Hindus soon and stand tall and tell the world their identity.

The telecast of the Upanishad and the Mahabharata is a huge blessing for the Indians as a whole and the Hindus who were fed fake narratives in the name of History by professionals who were finally silenced by none other than the Supreme Court in its judgement on the Ram Janam Bhoomi in 2019 November 

With the Ram temple sure to manifest soon the future will be a bright return to Indian values dharma and more 

Happy to see these days. Thanks to the lockdown the time to see the serials is now available for the family.Many parents will have to answer questions on the knowledge delivered in each episode 

Muralidharan R Nair 

murali04@gmail.com

Day 10 of the lockdown 3rd April 2020

Spitting, pelting stones and firing on Doctors and health providers

Disturbing phenomenon in the lockdown 

A strange and disturbing phenomenon has manifested in a special group of people who live in  India.

This group have been pelting stones on our health workers, doctors , the law enforcement officers and staff 

Is this some pervert display of intense hatred towards a nation that they have been born in?

In these times requiring great care this group of apparently  scared or is it disgusting people have harmed the culture of  this great nation 

When the richer and advanced nations also were brought  to their knees, India with its committed leadership ,announced a total lockdown early ,with a varied bunch of measures to protect the people of the country and to flatten the curve in four weeks time once the lockdown is adhered to very sacredly .

What scares me is the utter disregard for the serious consequences, the newly identified master spreaders have been hiding in mosques darghas and locked homes. They have violated the visa norms and have spread and travelled illegally to various corners of the country and spread the virus to innocent people at large .

Divine interference is one last resort for the safety of this nation 

The liberal sick and sold out media has supported the ruin of this sacred nation 

The government at the centre has in some way been weak kneed in dealing with organisations who have executed the dangerous plans. Spitting and pelting of stones and injuring the doctors is surely not a civilised way . It appears to be a criminal designed plan to ruin this country and its population 

Let us pray things stabilise soon and the health care staff and in-charge are protected by the law agencies or in an extreme situation army may have to be called to save the doctors and health and other service providers 

Let’s pray for the good of all concerned and let good sense prevail in the politician government police and the army to take stern impartial strict action to bring sanity in the population that appears to have stuck in the past and live in an era that has passed 

Muralidharan R Nair

Day 9 of lockdown

2:4:20 

Dressing, Grooming and time management during lockdown days

Dressing and grooming in these days of lockdown 

With the lockdown and shutdown ,in some cases, the issue of choosing a dress for the day has become complicated 

I firmly believe that keep your mind focused on your grooming and dressing as if you have to work at the office 

Sitting at home and dressing well makes the mind believe that you are busy working thinking and doing work .

How do you dress and groom without going to office ? This could be a question in many minds 

Trust me take a bath early do your stuff breakfast before 8:30 and plan for a departure by 9 am for a 9:30’office in a taxi 

This will keep you focused on what is to be done inthe day 

Another benefit of being groomed and dressed early will keep your mind sharp for work in the day and not be like getting ready for a regular Monday when you do feel lazy after the Sunday when you lazed around the whole day 

In the lockdown you could easily choose being casual or dressed casually 

This would put you behind times when suddenly markets open and work starts 

Another advantage of looking Fresh and groomed is you will prompt your mind to respond to a quick phone from office as if you were in office not at home 

Plan your seat and laptop kept open for work before 9:00 am 

Another missing link is carrying food to office Now you just walk to the kitchen from the work space in the living room 

Let me remind you be happy smart well dressed each day so that you don’t miss out on using your best T’s or shirts 

Well I won’t ask you to wear your tie at home if you used it in official days

Some offices  have a rule of wearing the jacket for meetings with senior bosses 

Keep your schedule active for thinking,acting ,writing and eating or taking a break all in serious acting at home in the same way as you would and usually do at office 

My wife , daughters all go about as if they are all working 

I support in the kitchen and the younger daughter has plans to shift to a two diet plan for the day - one at 9 am second by 6 or 5:30 evening 

Trying the  two  meals is not recommended for the seniors above 60 Sticking to a three meal pattern with the lunch being one of fruits may reduce risk of any complications of dehydration or weakness 

I have lost a kilo in the 8 day period may be as I have stuck to one breakfast lunch of just   khichadi and kanji of red rice and strictly no snacking during the day 

I do tend to be hungry by 7 am and have to wait for the 9 am slot for breakfast 

So many changes have been implemented just because of the lockdown 

The saving grace has been two planned guided meditations of 30-40 minutes by Sri Sri every day at 12 and 19:30 

Today I had one additional meditation of devi kavacham for 14-20 minutes 

I miss one qualification and that is I did not learn Sanskrit though I can listen to chants in Sanskrit. Convent schooling did not strengthen the knowledge of the Ramayana 

And the Ramayana serial on T. V - Doordarshan channel has refreshed my knowledge of who is Rama who is Sita and Laxman.  Dashrath I know more than what I knew when I say Ramayana for the first time on TV in 1987

Today I sit and tears flow endlessly watching the touching scenes in Ramayana and I am happy time is well spent refreshing knowledge of Indian  Scriptures (morning 9-10 am and evening same time )

Day  schedule in the morning includes me-time for sadhana in the form of Sudarshan Kriya and pranayam all for keeping the  mind cool calm and sane 

Thanks for the wonderful schedule This season hope things settle down soon and world starts spinning soon 

Pray the lockdown is over soon and life moves ahead 

Muralidharan R Nair 

Written day 8 of locked down 

Published 2nd April 2020