Srishti Kumari

Tag: joy

  • Tea Without Sugar

    Not a tasty choice though!

    Photo by panchanok prem on Unsplash

    Hot milk tea with just the right amount of sugar, with my morning breakfast, has been my favourite for so long now that compromising on that feels really bad. And despite all the love in this world for that morning tea, I have not had it for the past 15 days. Thankfully, tomorrow is the last day of my “tea without sugar” or no tea at all phase.

    Suddenly, I had to stop sugar, rice, potatoes, maida, bread, and packaged food from my diet because of one of the medicines I am taking for my nerve pain. Rice is not a very big thing for me, and I don’t need it to eat every day. Potatoes I can do without for a few days, and maida and processed food are not in my everyday staple diet, so it was fine.

    But my morning tea! The tea I am used to having for the past many years with my morning breakfast, sometimes infused with the grated ginger and crushed cardamoms in the regular milk tea with sugar, and more recently with brown sugar instead of white sugar. But no sugar at all? I can do without all those sweets, laddoos, rasgullas, even my favourite chocolates for a few days, but chai…I am honestly telling you it was difficult. And I am so, so, so happy that tomorrow is the last day of my “tea without sugar” phase.

    You know, when I was younger, and someone used to say that they can’t do their work unless they have had their tea, or they feel tired and have a headache if they don’t have their tea, I didn’t understand. Though I don’t understand the real correlation between these things till today, one thing I’m sure of – tea is an emotion. We chai lovers love to have our chai, like we have it, every single day. Period.

    Maybe chai is the one thing that gives us the feeling of “some things don’t change, and they don’t need to change” every day, amidst the ever-changing seasons of life. I don’t remember exactly when I started to hold onto my morning tea, but I guess it’s fantastic. Because sometimes I have to hold onto life with that cup of tea in my hands – one sip at a time!

    Yeah…that was my tea tale.

    Holding onto life. One sip at a time!

    Do share me yours.

  • Succulents Keep Sanity Intact

    And that is what we need, right?

    Photo by Virginia Marinova on Unsplash

    If there is one thing for me in this world that can bring me a sheer amount of joy, bliss, happiness, peace, serenity, and sanity – without preaching any sort of gyaan – then that has to be the greens.

    The greens – the plants, the herbs, the flowers, the balcony garden, the park, the forest, and the succulents on my table just beside my laptop, and a few on my window.

    I believe they are the purest form of souls and beings on this planet. They are complete in themselves. Nothing like them is rooted in nature. They are the symbol of nature, creation, evolution, change, acceptance, beauty, patience, colours, joy, happiness, peace – and a whole lot of happy feelings, just by being there.

    Their mere presence is precious enough to make your moments beautiful.

    There are studies and research that show that plant gazing, forest bathing, and keeping succulents around your workspace lowers your stress and boosts your productivity. And you know what, you don’t need to go through any of those researches, data, or statistics if you don’t want to. It’s completely fine. You are not missing out on anything important.

    You just have to do one thing. Make space for these beautiful greens in your life. Go to the nearest park, walk on the morning dewy grass barefoot, look closely at the different shades of green the trees have, go to the nearby nursery, convert your balcony into a balcony garden – one step at a time.

    Sit in your balcony with nothing but your presence, and see, watch, and gaze through the beautiful green tribe you have managed to accommodate. Sit for hours to gaze at the beauty, go for forest bathing, and release every ounce of negativity with each inhale inside you. Make succulents your room partner, your workspace partner, and let life come to you peacefully, slowly, steadily, and sanely.

    You will lose nothing. You won’t miss out on anything. You know what will happen? You will see life like never before. You will see them growing, flourishing, drying, and dying. Then, you will see seeds germinating, leaves broadening, plants growing, trees beautifying, flowers blooming, and greens beautifully thriving – by accepting, adapting, changing, growing, and blooming – all while staying grounded and deeply connected to their roots in front of your eyes.

    They have taught me, and continue to teach me, the lessons of peace, sanity, serenity, growth, humbleness, beauty, and life like no book on philosophy has till now.

    They don’t demand anything. They just need your presence. Can you give that? They will give you a lot. Sanity is just one of many gifts they have for you.

    Think about it. And it’s never too late to go and meet one of these friends ever. Go visit them. Take them home. And love them. They won’t cheat you. I promise!

    Wishing you all the greenery, sanity, serenity, peace, freshness, beauty, growth, and mindfulness.

    Go get your greens.

  • The Magic of Creative Living

    By Renuka Gavrani

    Picture by Srishti Kumari

    I must say I have read something really fresh, rejuvenating, soft, simple, inspiring, and authentic after a long time in the genre of self-help. And this has been truly a lovely reading.

    “The Magic of Creative Living” touched me in ways not many self-help books could before. The honesty, simplicity, and authenticity of the author make it an absolute gem.

    Thankfully, someone writing a self-help kind of book talked about the myths and shit we feel trapped in so openly and loudly.

    I loved this book. Loved each page, each chapter, and each paragraph a hundred percent.

    Renuka has shared her life experiences, her problems, her struggles to live a life that finally feels a lot softer, meaningful, simple, yet successful, with all the fulfillment our soul craves silently. She nudges readers to sit, to question, to journal, and to basically pause and check if they are living the version of their lives they are really proud of from the bottom of their heart, or is there something missing? And if something is missing, then how to actively start participating in our lives instead of running away from it and scrolling for hours.

    She has nudged throughout the book. It is a non-preachy read. You will feel the honesty. You will surely relate to the reality she is talking about between the pages.

    For me, it has been one of the best, most refreshing, and simplest possible books in the self-help genre. I liked the writing style and the content of the book as well.

    If you are fed up with to-do lists, how-to guides, early morning alarms, scrolling endlessly, mediocre performances, and a sense of fear and loss in life, then go read this book. It can be your saviour. I mean it. If you are ready to change, the author has your back.

    Give it a try. You will get it.

    Happy reading!

    Take care.

  • Shaam ka Naashta

    Rare no?

    Photo by Raghavendra Mithare on Unsplash

    I remember, back in the school days, when I was in an all-girls residential campus, shaam ka naashta, I mean our evening snack was the more or less regular thing just like our breakfast. It didn’t matter what the snack was, be it a fruit, nuts, rusk, packet bhujiya, or sometimes noodles, dhokla with our sometimes not-so-good tea.

    It was a thing back then. When I shifted to Delhi for my college studies and started living with my parents, mealtime just got too erratic. Of course, college timings and late classes were the obvious reasons. Some days, I used to have my breakfast after 11 am and my lunch after 5 pm. It was bad. But that was it. My college years were far from perfect in any sense. Those years were haphazard throughout.

    So yeah, evening snacking wasn’t a specific thing for me then. And after that, I spent many years at my home doing self-study and exam preparations, coaching, etc., and breakfast, lunch, and dinner were the norm. Evening snack became occasional. And it is still now.

    For the last few days, I was asking Abhi(my partner and hubby) to make a chiwra snack for me. In bihar we call it choora ka bhujja. It is the regionally grown flatrice which is then shallow fried in much less oil until it becomes crispy, and then we add finely chopped onions, chilies, and during winters, also fried peas and groundnuts. It can be made in different variations according to taste and the way you want to relish it. We had everything at home that we needed. Abhi knows very well how to prepare it. But. But but but but but, for this particular thing we had to have a day when we both would be free in the evening, and we will have enough time in our hands. In short, you need evenings for an evening snack.

    Thankfully, today was that day. Abhi came home a bit early, and on my request, we managed to finally have our choora ka bhujja with fried peas, finely chopped onions, chillies, groundnut, and a bit of salt for flavour in our shaam ka naashta. Finally!

    I hope that this occasional snacking or shaam ka naashta remains in our lives. I don’t know why. I just want it to be. Maybe because it still reminds me of my childhood, my hostel days, when I used to look forward to it alongwith my friends. Maybe. I don’t know.

    Well, our naashta was really good. I liked the taste. It could have been crunchier, but it’s so sweet of Abhi to just make it for me within minutes. And I loved it that way.

    Happy Snacking!