Published articles

Finding milk https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/finding-milk/article65503554.ece   Being happy with what we have leads to satisfaction. The process of making ghee at home is one such instance, though it involves patience. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, cows were brought at dawn in front of our home. Family members, both young and old, would be out there to witness the milking. A few years later, however, it stopped and cow milk came to be delivered at the doorstep. The milkman knew us all, and if it was me at the doorstep to collect the milk poured into our vessel from a huge can, he would ask, “Is Amma doing allright today?” I would in turn have asked why his little daughter is here with him instead of attending school? Phew, how much we knew about each other’s family, without the help of Facebook. When warm milk in the vessel is boiled on the stove, a layer of cream is formed — if the cream was thicker, the assumption was that the milkman mixed less water. The question then...

Simple living, high thinking https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/panorama/simple-living-and-high-thinking-925561.html Happiness is what mortal beings strive for in life.   Simple living-high thinking leads one on the path to happiness.   Many people define simple living as highly complex process.   An antithesis of sorts, since the very essence of simple living is to break down complex aspects into smaller and decipherable parts with simplistic approach. The first step is to recognize that this life (samsara) is complex leading us in a multitude of directions; straying us from achieving the end result, happiness.   Next step is to identify the unwanted things – list them and the ensuing attachment, from what is already in our possession that leads to derailment of progress.   Because unnecessary things introduce clutter to cloud one’s vision.   Final step is not to accumulate undesirable and needless things.   We strip ourselves down to bare mini...