mundane monday - #36

every now and then, we have to stop and remind ourselves that beauty exists even in the smallest of things -  things which we dont give much thought about, things which otherwise insignificantly fade into the background in the bustle of everyday life.

and this was one of the major reasons which i had in mind when i decided to start on the mundane mondays - that you dont need to step out, or make a big effort to see that you are surrounded by nice things in life. you just need an open mind.

coming to today's post, it is one of those things that i grab without much thought everyday and put it away when my job is done. a spice box. a 'masala' box, which is a permanent fixture in any indian home. something that doesnt get much attention once the initial stages of cooking are done.

looks nice, doesnt it ? one added bonus for me is the teal, which is a colour that i like a lot. i didnt even go out and buy this one, it was passed on to me by my mom (who in turn had received it from someone, and she had her own already). talk about coincidences.


for those who arent that familiar with indian spices - the round cup in the middle holds mustard seeds. the yellow powder right above is turmeric, clockwise from there being chana dal, spilt urad dal, jeera (cumin), fenugreek seeds and chilli powder.

you can also check out an earlier pic of some spices i had taken in 2012, here .

mundane monday - # 35

so another monday had come and (almost)gone and i hadnt taken any pictures... was looking through some old albums to find something that i hadnt previously posted, and i found this ice-cream one. what better than ice cream, huh ? (that reminds me i havent had ice cream in so many days now :) )

this was taken sometime in 2011, when the mundane monday series had not even begun. so this had remained tucked away somewhere till now, unposted. 

somethings in life are a lot like ice-cream - so temptingly sweet when you have it around, but painfully sad when you think it'll be over soon. so should you enjoy it every moment while it lasts, or brace yourself in preparation for the moment that its no longer going to be in your hands ? 

as much as the optimist in our head will tell us to enjoy the moment, the realist in our heart will dread what is to come. havent we all got moments to relate to that feeling, however balanced we may be at other times ? 

.....

Cant believe i just had the lousiest possible ending to the week.

Last weekend and the first few days of the week i was so stressed out, but eventually the things over which i had stressed seemed to be panning out fine, so i was beginning to feel kind of ok, despite tired days and sleepless nights. But tonight it all blew up again, bringing back memories of the worst nighmarish days of my childhood that im always trying to forget.

Maybe i should have expected it, given that i had my share of blame too - though my heart refuses to accept more than a little of the blame for the cause.
But all hell broke loose, and i lost control of myself too, shouting, swearing in retaliation.

It was one of those days when you have a blind rage of helplessness surging through you, which wants to make you hurt yourself as well as throw or destroy or hit something. Well atleast luckily i didnt do anything so bad... no  physical damage but for words.

Im always thinking im the one responsible for my happiness, and try not to let other things take me down... i have issues with my confidence and self esteem and it takes such a lot of effort to build it - and then there comes something like a stone thrown at a glass house and so many weeks and months of efforts go crashing down... just ending in a very messed up me all over again, in a flood of tears and guilt. Its going to be so difficult to pick up the pieces again, im just praying for every ounce of strength to get through the next week or so.

Maybe i do need an anti depressant .or anger management therapy. Or both. I dont know. My head hurts. I just want Sleep. This too shall pass - i hope.

mundane monday - # 34

so many people collect so many things.... i wonder if i should start a collection of pens from hotel chains !

i'm so preoccupied the past few days that my head feels like its going to burst soon - absolutely unable to write anything or do anything significantly productive - i hope i calm myself soon before going totally crazy. 

chinese new year, and some rewind pictures from china town, san francisco

I didnt get anything posted yesterday for Mundane Monday - been feeling so drowsy and drained the past two days - if this spate continues for a few more days i might have to swap my morning tea with redbull, just to keep myself going.

anyways decided to make a quick post to give myself a break. last weekend (friday, jan 31st to be precise) was the chinese new year, the year of the horse. it made me go through some old pics taken in china town in SFO, in 2012. that was a whole sunny afternoon spent roaming the streets and looking at shop after shop of cheap chinese trinkets... made me want to buy the whole street :)

so here are the pics -

now this is a china sea -  literally ! i was drowned in there for ages :)

and oh, on a funnier note, check out this epic gaffe by bbc when it wished its viewers for the year of the horse !

have a good week everyone, catch up with you soon :)

mundane monday - # 33

today's monday pic is that of  a wooden box with little hand painted drawers. i havent really found a specific use for it, and its just eye candy on one of the drawing room shelves.

i first saw a picture of a similar one on pinterest long back, and had been coveting it ever since. was so happy when i found one last year in a crafts exhibition near my parents's home when i was visiting.

as you can see in the picture, its a wooden chest with three little drawers which are made of ceramic, and hand painted. the cheerful colours and the bright glossiness of the ceramic is a beautiful contrast against the wood.

the drawers are small, you could probably use it to put your earrings etc. the wood and ceramic make it quite heavy for its size (which was one of the reasons i had to settle for a smaller one, though there were other sizes available). since they are hand painted, each piece looks unique and you can hardly find two that are exactly similar.

i didnt exactly like how the pic turned out though, it deserves a better one - maybe some other time :)

being 'Karna' in real life...

One of the most famous characters in the indian epic of Mahabharata is Karna.

A fearless and brave warrior, known for his unparalleled generosity, his life was embroiled in controversy, confusion and curses right from his birth to his death.  (Having been born without a biologically consummated relationship, he would have been the poster boy of assisted reproduction clinics if he was living now. but thats not the point of this post.)

one of the curses on him, as a result of having lied to his guru Parasurama, was that he would forget how to use to the Bramhastra (one of the most powerful of weapons)  in the hour of his greatest need.

i was just thinking this afternoon that we all have our 'Karna' moments. not in our valour or generosity, but in the fact that we forget the most important things when we need them the most. how often do you try to recall a detail or remember where you kept something desperately, but cant in the least figure it out. nothing but a total blank.

had that frustrating feeling today, trying to find the data cable of the phone to transfer some pics and couldnt find it anywhere. despite one of those almost 'no-stone-unturned' searches, no luck.
the only consolation that makes you feel you're in a slightly better position than Karna is that you end up unearthing random stuff that you have otherwise long since forgotten or given up on.