Onto thanjai

Ah, back from a trip.

This time it was the heritage/temple town of Thanjavur.

Having heard of it and having it my radar several times prior, I never got a real reason or chance to plan a trip to this place until now. The opportunity presented itself in the form of a marriage of a friend of my wife. Usually all these happen in their hometown of Chennai itself, whereas this time the bride was from Thanjavur. So I jumped at the chance of getting to see Thanjavur and the neighbouring heritage sites while also satisfying the demands to be taken to see her friends.

Many aspects make this trip a very unique and often strange one for me. It is been more than 3 years since I travelled by a bus, and even haven't used any of the mobile-based cabs for years. I have been doing my own driving ( relatively higher distances too ) in the past couple of years, owing to the pandemic mainly.

The very first step of being seated in the passenger seat of a cab, with my son on my lap, was in itself a very strange yet pleasant feel. I felt a mental itch for not having a seat belt on, which the short trip didn't exacerbate, thankfully.

The wait for the bus and the son's excited squeels at getting into a cozy sleeper bunk was all fun, until the cramped space and the constant background noises started getting on my nerves. I am after all accustomed to sleeping in the almost zero-noise zero-light bedroom, which comes with extra space to save myself from the rolling pin that our son is, in his sleep. So, the constant noise of co-passengers, vehicles, lurching movements, lights going on and off, and the regular landing of a feet or two on my face didn't exactly drive me to deep sleep.

Quite naturally, I was up at 4:30 AM officially by sitting up grumpily and wiled away my time by tending to the needs of my citizens and expanding neighbourhoods in my favourite city sim game. That part ended soon after the family woke up in a couple of hours and we firmly placed our feet on the soils of Thanjavur. Then we were off to finding the accomodation that the friend had arranged for us. It was a km away and we ambled slowly ( me, sleepily ) alongside cows, mongrels and early shopkeepers, away from the bus stand, into narrow alleys to find the room. Soon, I was sleeping happily on my room bed after helping ( or rather, coercing ) my son into getting himself cleaned up.

Soon, it was time to start the official tours of the ceremonies and our story in Thanjavur was just starting.. I better split this into another part to keep you coming for more carrots.. but you know..I am just plain lazy to type further than this for now. I am still groggy from the return bus trip you see... or maybe you are too far back in the past to hear about that yet..swalpa wait maadi pleej..

it still matters

 suddenly money looks like a different issue than it was earlier.

So investments and sales are in the mind to raise cash on one side, while investing on the other side.

I guess there is nothing new after all, and just the natural culmination of all the instincts and intentions being cultivated over time

money matters

 Money matters. Of course it does. Which dummy says otherwise?

But that doesn't mean the other things that money can overshadow are insignificant either.

Having a perspective of depravity breeds respect for anything. That holds good for money, food, fame, power, health, or anything that we can think of.

Being temporarily in a starvation state kicks up many evasive and reactive responses from the mind and body alike.

That marks a spot in the map which would definitely help when taking tough decisions as it just became an exercise in re-evaluating the priorities and the real value held by whatever  it is that we had perceived to be in deprived in.

food thoughts

PS: Fought off the temptation to fall for the easy pun that was possible with the title

The thoughts for food may not be from hunger.

But it might an escape from uncomfortable emotions.

Being able to identify what ticks inside will help with the intention to eat healthier and cut out the known junk food.

The compulsive behaviours can be changed to more mindful, and intentional actions.

That way you know it is in sync with what you aspire in other times. It is not just ht moment that defines us.

I need a space where I can talk abt the food and then still see that my health needs are higher than the craving. That is being responsible for myself, my family. A healthy me is more likely to survive, be happier, save more money, be a channel for more positive thoughts and actions that can influence the entire surrounding

Poles apart

 Oh hmm, something is broken  between this language and the language inside the head.

Or is it the heart that is really out of touch with the thoughts wandering in the head?

Or whatever it is that men call by the name of soul. Maybe that is the ailing one.

Somehow these words and fleeting moments of recognition of their meanings are poles apart.

Stillness

 Trying to grasp what it means to embrace stillness.

Many of the words do make sense and my own senses reflect some of those, but there seemed to be too many ways, options. These just tend to weigh down and slow the path...

Ok

Ok, just a test for the new blog.

Let's check how this looks.