Ambimama - India

Pongal went on well. In many houses though the “thai” tamil month was born at 3.30 pm during which Pongal was to be celebrated, the Pongal was done in early morning. This was due to practical difficulty of taking food, namely Pongal. Some years back Pongal had significance, as it was the day of New crops.

But now, in many paddy fields, sugarcane is grown in plenty. This was confirmed by my relative, whom I visited today. Tomorrow is the solar eclipse day and we should have any solid food before 8.30 am. We should take bath sometime in the afternoon, when the eclipse is over. Though this may sound irrational, we still follow the rules. Anything in the stomach, food might not digest properly and it would do harm. All is belief, we may argue, but this one might have a scientific meaning.

I have no doubt that homely food is healthy and suits our taste. The burden of making daily fresh food is a time taking affair. I will discuss here only the vegetarian mode - cutting vegetables, cooking rice, making chapathis, rasam and sambhar. For making sambhar and rasam monthly once we have to make powder. We have to buy vegetables fresh or keep it in fridge.
For breakfast we have Rice with sambhar, rasam and vegetable curry. And I forgot – we have curd or butter milk. For afternoon we have a nice dosas, idly, chapathi or something which is made from rice. All our South Indian dishes are made out of rice or a less percentage of wheat. Though less oil can be used, rice itself is harmful if consumed in a higher quantity. So what should I do? Consume more salads and less rice!

Got two books to read as suggested by my son, “five point someone” and “2 states”. At just Rs95/- each!
I have first started with five point someone. The reading is not like that of any Western author. All Indian words and no fantasy writing. It is all pure Indian and exactly suits the surroundings. I was once amused to take my relative to an IIT, Chennai. I have always wanted not to do at an IIT, but become more than an IIT did. Same with IIM.

I really pity the IIT and IIM graduates who have to undergo the study schedules and tortures and I have a view that they are slaves of knowledge and not the original. I had long back changed that attitude. They are really men the outside world cannot understand or appreciate.
And I am reading Chetan Bhgat’s novel and it needs a slow reading. To laugh at the real life situations and remember my college days in Loyola.

Days are going by and I am waiting. Though I have not been affected by the world economy directly, I hear lot of people saying this. I have no expertise knowledge to analyse what I see in Newspaper or I can say I do not search the net for the News about the current economy. The prices are soaring and people are just carrying on. There has been a drop on the real estate prices in Chennai.

I had a healthy discussion with my friend in Chennai. There were many topics about National and International issues main being the water problem. The rains have failed in Tamilnadu. We Indians, have no respect for environmental issues like the water wastage and the need to address the same. The real issue is being Selfish and not in co-ordination of the Nation or the World.

Mirra Alfassa, the Mother was born in Paris on 21 February 1878. Her early education was given at home. Around 1892 she attended a studio to learn drawing and painting, and later studied at the Paris Salon.

At the age of thirty-six the Mother journeyed to Pondicherry, India, to meet Sri Aurobindo. She saw him on 29 March 1914 and at once recognised him as the one who for many years had inwardly been guiding her spiritual development. Staying for eleven months, she was obliged to return to France because of the First World War. She lived in France for about a year and then in Japan for almost four years. On 24 April 1920 she returned to Pondicherry to resume her collaboration with Sri Aurobindo, and remained here for the rest of her life.

At that time a small group of disciples had gathered around Sri Aurobindo. The increase of disciples led to the founding of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram on the 24th Nov, 1926. From the beginning Sri Aurobindo entrusted the Mother with full material and spiritual charge of the Ashram. After almost 50 years of work at every level, the Mother left her body on 17th Nov. 1973, at the age of ninety five.

“I belong to no nation, no civilization, no society, no race, but to the Divine.
I obey no master, no rules, no law, no social convention, but the Divine.
To Him I have surrendered all, will, life and self; for Him I am ready to give all my blood, drop by drop, if such is His will, with complete joy, and nothing in his service can be sacrifice, for all is perfect delight.” - The Mother