Karvachauth: A festival of love

I love my country regardless of how many bad incidents keep happening on an hourly basis. India is so rich in culture and heritage that every 20kms you can see something new within the inhabitants. Today is one of the most auspicious occasions celebrated in most of the Northern region of India, Karvachauth. You can say that, it's a proof of a woman being happily married to her eternal love, her husband. This is a rigorous fast where the women don't eat or drink for the whole day till she sees the moon in the night. The moon is a reflection of her husband's face and that's how the fast is said to be completed. In fact, while keeping fast, they still keep on doing their daily activities, and it still is a mystery to me that how can she do all the routine activities and not have a single drop of water. I guess, this is no logic, but a commitment of love and care of her love. Also, there are some men as well who keeps fast showing their love for wives.
Today, when I woke up in the morning, the 1st thing I did was to go to my mother, and see her mehndi. It looked beautiful. She is a perfect example, as per me, of an ideal lady who is a perfect mother, wife, daughter, etc. When I was ready to go to the office, I wished her, happy karvachauth, and told her to be happy and healthy and I'm definitely sure that I'm going to see a beautifully dressed up woman in an elegant saree in the evening.
On my way, my eyes caught dozens of ladies, dressed up in their best traditional attire, and lots of reds and pinks and greens and yellows, etc. were visible all around me with henna drawn in their hands making the scene so pleasant to my eyes. Some of them, the newly-weds, were looking like princesses and had their full hands covered in mehndi, It wouldn't be wrong to make a guess that, yesterday they might have spent so many hours in front of the mehndi designer. Some of them, in their 30's-40's were not so lavishly dressed, but yes, a nice expression on their faces showed their happiness for it. Not only them, but the aged ladies, take an example of my grandma, they always take care to follow and uphold an age-old ritual and sees if there's nothing being missed to perform the Puja.
Likewise, India celebrates all the 100s of festivals with the same excitement and vigor and that's what makes the country one of the most loved nations of the world.

Clear Your Mind..

The mind is a box. Either you can clutter it with stress and worries, or you can make it a basket of memories and good thoughts. Unwanted thoughts do rollover our minds and that makes us think, maybe more than required. A human mind is never quiet, I'm not talking about the exceptions, people, but in general, everyone has something or the other cooking in their small sized mind all the time. How did he say that to me? When will my boss have the next meeting? Did I leave open the stove in the kitchen? Why am I single? Why did he/she leave me?... Oh My God.. The list goes awry.
What are we doing? In simple terms, we are stupidly gathering a band of thoughts which holds no importance in our lives, and we keep on giving them priority when, instead, we must be concentrating on something more valuable, isn't it!
What to do? Clear your mind. Making the mind turned off for a while solves so many mysteries automatically. Why to complicate when things can be sorted without arms and ammunition. To quiet the mind isn't that easy, okay. People can't achieve that stage just like that, it's a matter of time and patience.
But, we all can't become Sages, right. What max we can do is just follow some easy steps to distract or calm the mind to make better decisions and stay healthy.
I have followed, am still following simple practices to quiet my mind and with my experience, it's really working well for me. Try it yourself and honestly, it won't take much time to follow them, and of course, it's for your own good.
1. While you are at workplace or at home, if you feel cluttered, just break it off and go out in the open air and take long breaths for 4-5 times. While you breathe in-and-out, you will feel light and peaceful within few seconds. Go back, and make things happen in a sorted manner.
2. If that's also not working, try to take 5-7 minutes of walk. In fact better would be to wake up early in the morning and go for a good minimum of 20 minutes of brisk walk and also feel the pleasant air around you because morning bliss is in the clean and unpolluted air.
3. Talk to your friend... Oh yeah! I do that each moment I am stuck up.. Without wasting a second, I pick up my phone, take her number from my speed dial number 5, and say, "Preeti, I need a word." And she understands that something's not right. You kind of feel calm when you discuss something you can't share with anyone.
4. If you aren't expressive, well, don't bother, writing is equivalent to talking. Keep writing down your problems or some questions dancing in your mind. Diary can become your best friend.. why not. Put all your dreams, desires, stresses into a journal and see that it works wonders with peace of mind.
5. Pursue a hobby. Are you going on a loop of disappointments or are you working like a pressure cooker? Hello, workaholics, get a life! Take a few days off and do something you love. Whether it is swimming, writing poetry, photography, etc. It'll really rejuvenate your body, mind and soul and will definitely help you to focus.
So, follow your instinct and get rid of the tensions and cluttered mind.
Peaceful mind is the best mind.