Friends- Aaaand Bala is engaged

What a moment to celebrate this. Bala and Veda got engaged. November seems to be Bala's month. On November 25 2017, Retro got opened and on November 19 2023, he got engaged with his love, Veda. It pains me a bit to miss these moments but, I'm trying to accept the life as it comes and be grateful for it. Happy for this adorable couple!

 

Movie- Silverlinings Playbook

Despite being an admirer of Jennifer Lawrence's acting, I postponed watching this movie a lot of times. I wonder why.  Bradley Cooper as Pat, has a restraining order and is hopeful to get back to his wife Nikki. He runs into Tiffany and the story begins. 

Jennifer, as ever, was at her best. Loved her acting. Would love to watch it again for JL

Thoughts- Poetry

Things I hear from others whenever I mention word, 'Poetry'

"I don't get poetry. For poetry, I think you need to have a calm mood and simple times."

"I need mountains, blue sky and then I can read some poetry."

Everyone have their way of liking something. Many atimes, people want to make sense out of poetry. We may not make a sense out of poetry, but, we can always use our five senses and sense it. Listen to a poem only as sounds. Close your eyes and let a reader read out a poem to you. See a poem and look how the shape of words flow. 

There are many ways to sense a poem rather than making sense out of it. 

It's difficult to find writer friends, poet friends. If you have them, keep them close. I'm grateful to have a few who always help me grow in life. 

Poem of the day- Mary Oliver

 https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=37174

Geneva Journals- La Farce and Book Haul

There are a few tiny things I look forward on a thursday. Book haul enroute La Farce and the orange juice at Lidl. This time, I got three books even though I was planning to treat me a lot as birthday gifts but, couldn't get good titles. The culture map by Erin Meyer. The Secret History by Donna Tart & A Class of Their Own by Matt Knot. Will pick to read one of these in near time. 

During La Farce haul, I found one person reading a book with a bright wide smile on her face. So happy to see someone getting lost in the act of reading. 

I saw you enjoying the book thoroughly, I siad, 'What are you readng?'

"Elegance of HedgeHog" she shared the book with a smile. Another title to look out for. 

I had a fresh soft waffle at LaFarce. Loved it. Thanks La Farce team for the yummy waffle and croissant. 

Good day. 

Geneva Journals- A Calm and Lively Dinner

Conversations over dinner table about everything under the sun are the memories I'm going to cherish the most. I'm positive that I'm going to be abundant with these memories in Geneva. 

This time, watching Miss Calm cook chicken, I was inspired and began to cook in her style under her supervision. Miss Lively walked in, wearing a smile and stories over the sleeves. She shared how carrots and coffee made her write a poem and recited it. As ever, a splendid one. 

A dinner with chicken sphagetti, carrot rice and my amateur chicken and rice, we shared our lives. Mostly through incidents and sometimes through memories. Knowing the grey weather we've in ourselves and around us, Miss Calm encouraged me to not miss out little things in life but also to take care of myself in the most possible ways. Miss Lively came up with brilliant analogies to pep me up. "If you've a mosquito biting you, the pain or experience may be present for 5 minutes. You can't avoid the bite to avoid the pain. The trick is to let the painful experience subside to 4 minutes, then 3 minutes, then 2 minutes."

As an enthusiastic listener, I was ambitious and said," at the end we should let the painful experience reaction to be under a minute." Miss Calm, calmly asserted, "we're humans. We're meant to have feelings. You can't intend to avoid everything."

Another tip I enjoyed receiving was way to find tiny little pleasant things in life. Miss Lively shared how she makes notes of tiny little things that brought a smile on her face. "Be it tiny, notice it!" she shared. 

Thanks to Miss Calm and Miss Lively who always regaled me with their stories, experiences and advices. I'm grateful to have you over the dinner and share a conversation. 

Thoughts- Writing & Sharing

Many a times, I do not speak what I little know of. 

About writing, poetry, education, language. I'm sure I do not know a lot about these but I've begun to learn a little bit about all of these. I was glad I could be of help when a few old friends reached out to me to know a bit about these. I should start myself to share if it's gonna help anyone, anywhere, in anyplace. 

Interesting Story- Books and Gifts

 https://sadhanablog.blogspot.com/2019/04/as-you-live-life-stories-happen.html

I feel immensely joyful to read this story. Lovely journey of a book, 11 year old daughter who turned designer and a mother who sow seeds of love and in return is only filled with love, love and only love. 

Memories - A.R.Rahman and I

I'm humbled by the journey and the way I got a chance to share the space for few moments with A.R.Rahman who's been there with me, through his music and words.

Thoughts- Love over anything

All of us always have choices. Choosing Love over anything is the best thing that we do to ourselves as well as the world. Love drives compassion, kindness, empathy and all that brings peace in life. Choosing love is tough but, that's the right thing to do. 

Movie- Monalisa Smile

 Over several lunches and dinners, I managed to finish watching this movie as I found this movie too overwhelming to watch it in one go. I got introduced to this movie by Jeet Bhai. In one of the educational courses, Jeet bhai uses this clip on the role of a teacher. What does teacher need to do? If teacher's job is to tell what's in the books then, what value a teacher is adding. 

The movie is exactly about this. How does Miss Katherine Watson makes her students think! Think about art, life, and everything that pushes themselves to be a better self. I cried at the end looking how a teacher can touch many lives and got reminded of teachers who taught me to think and shaped me the person I'm. 

To name a few teachers who impacted my life in one way or the other  Jyothi mam, George Prakash sir, Masood sir, Kiranmayi mam, Anil sir, Satyanarayana sir, Sunita mam, Bala sir, Sister Anitha, Ajith sir, Mani sir, Vijay sir, Ratnamala mam, Padmaja mam, Radha krishna sir, Devender, Prof PSP, Shivraj, Subhanand rao, Kiranmayi, D.N.Rao, Harry, Kiran Chakravarthula sir, Kanchana mam, Satvir, Bade Bhaiya, Dyu, Hitesh, Arddhendu, Sunil Bisht, Navneet Bedar, Krishna, Anagh, Shubha, Sameeksha,