FIND YOUR FAVOURITE HAPPINESS THERAPY – AND DO IT!!

 Occasionally there are phases when days and days go by and we aren’t happy.. we aren’t SAD.. but we’re just a little “cranky” and not enjoying things as much as we normally would.. SO.. What’s the matter with us? Are we going into a depression? (The number of people who diagnose themselves and others to be going through depression is SCARY!!) Why don’t we feel like meeting our friends? Why don’t we want to spend time with our families.. or read that book.. bake that cake we’ve been wanting to for so long??

The reason is simple.. because we’re lost! We aren’t spending enough time with ourselves and therefore we don’t know what makes us genuinely happy or sad anymore.. Another reason is because we don’t use specific words to qualify our feelings.. let’s try using words like energized.. motivated.. lonely.. instigated.. instead of the insipid and generic “good.. psyched.. blah.. etc..!!

The encouraging news is that it’s relatively simple to come out of the “crankiness”.. all we need to do is be consciously aware of the moments when we’re “top of the world happy” and remember WHAT WE 9or someone else) DID to make us feel that way! Replicate the task.. or the experience.. and.. zip zap zoom – there you are.. floating on cloud 9 once again!

Speaking for myself, I call it “happiness therapy” and it’s fluid.. there are a few that I practise.. and am happy to share them here..

·       Spending half an hour daily with MYSELF.. mobile phone switched OFF.. not on silent.. and have given instructions that I am not to be disturbed for any reason but a dire emergency.. Am either listening to music.. reading.. or just “being”.. it’s becoming my all-time favourite therapy!

·       Watching my all-time favourite movie “The Sound of Music”.. such an uplifting story.. and the songs are just beautiful.. 20 minutes is all it takes to put a big smile on my face!

·       Another super option is making a “to do” list! It just helps me to gather my thoughts.. understand what needs to be done.. plan it and do it! Absolutely LOVE crossing out the tasks as they get done one by one!

·       It could be as simple as playing 3 or 4 back-to-back games of “blood” Ludo (as we call it) with my best friend Sumit.. It’s great fun.. highly competitive.. we “growl” “snarl” “grumble” and are in the happiest of moods when we finish!

·       My ultimate one is tidying up and organizing cupboards! I Am strange and weird.. right? Have been told that umpteen times and am kind of immune to it now!! Will stand by my words and this is why..

I have realized and understood that when my “outer space” is in a mess.. my “inner space” is in a bigger mess! I cannot function in chaos and need order in my life! Those of you who know me well will testify to this and know that when I say I’m cleaning up my cupboard.. all is NOT well in my world!

Impossible to believe but true.. half the year is over already and the pandemic ensures that we still have plenty of challenges ahead.. but staying happy in the head and heart should be on topmost priority every single day!

Most importantly, remember that only YOU know which therapy works best for you.. and WHEN you need it! Spend some quiet time with yourself.. analyze and understand what YOUR special happiness therapy is.. and make sure you do it.. and overdo it.. as much as you can! Do feel free to share it with others too.. just keep spreading the happiness!!

 

 

 

Dabbawallas in the 2020 pandemic

Hello everyone! This is the video shot and compiled by my immensely talented cousin Viraj-Sushi Karnik when we went to distribute grocery staples to the dabbawallas last Saturday!

Thank you once again to each and every one of you who supported this cause with money.. care.. concern.. time.. advice.. and most of all.. kept the faith that this WOULD definitely happen!

MUST make a special mention about my grocer Tinubhai.. when I went to his shop to collect the hard copy bills for the provisions.. he gave me a sealed envelope and told me to go home and count it! Believe it or not.. he returned ₹30000 saying it was left over and that I should use it for my next good cause! Hats off to him for such strong integrity and faith in my good intentions!!

Am truly blessed to have the most generous and wonderful people in my life who are with me through thick and thin.. projects.. causes.. good times and bad.. heartfelt gratitude to the universe and all the incredible people in my life!!

DO watch the video.. it's rather nice!!

https://youtu.be/snoANoVjn6g

FEEDING THE HUNGRY – A JOY & A PRIVILEGE!!

Mahatma Gandhi once said “There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.” 

A simple truth of life is that it always looks better on a full stomach.. right? YES - for us who are fortunate and blessed to have an abundance of food on the table.. however, everyone is not as lucky! When scruffy little children with endearing smiles (or unkempt and desperate adults with anguished eyes) come up to us at traffic signals or in the middle of Bhaji Galli with outstretched hands saying they haven’t had anything to eat all day (or for a few days) we hand over some money or food OR ignore them as we see fit.. but.. there are others..

There are a number of people who can NOT walk the streets and beg for food or money.. simply because they were once upon a time the backbone of our beloved city Mumbai.. and have fallen on the hardest times ever thanks to the pandemic.. It is the epitome of irony that the people who have ensured that our entire city was “fed” should now be suffering hunger pangs almost constantly! This is a cruel injustice and shockingly, the government is doing absolutely NOTHING to help them..

It was distressing to read a newspaper article about their plight and made me feel that I MUST do something about it! It’s also the time of year when I start thinking of my birthday project (which deserving cause to help) and hence I adopted this forthwith.. it’s been a crazy number of telephone calls and chats but finally it is organized.. Ritesh (who is the head of the Dabbawallah’s Association is a young man of 25, qualified as an MBA and who is coordinating relief supplies for them) and I have connected with each other and spoken at length and it has been decided that we (my friends and I) will provide rations to 800 dabbawallahs who live on the Western Railway line..

The “relief staples goody bag” contains all this and is priced at Rs.1500..

·       5 kgs rice

·       5 kgs wholewheat flour

·       2 kgs tuver dal

·       2 pouches Sunday oil

·       1 kg Tata Agni tea

·       3 kgs sugar

·       1 kg Tata salt

·       100 gms haldi powder

·       100 gma dhania powder

·       100 gms red chilly powder

Needless to say, this would have been impossible without the tremendous support of my friend Tinubhai who owns and manages the wonderful Welcome Supermarket in Bhaji Galli, Grant Road (West).. He has coordinated with wholesale dealers in Navi Mumbai.. negotiated the best prices possible.. and is coordinating EVERYTHING.. delivery from Navi Mumbai.. sending the smaller goods from his shop to the godown in Dadar.. sending his boys to do the assembly line packing of each jumbo bag.. AND sending them to help with distribution as well! A very big THANK YOU (in advance) for all the help received!

Another big thank you goes out to my friends Sangeeta and Uday who have made a generous donation towards this worthy cause as well.. and of course my dear friend Kavita who couldn’t take the Rs.1500 out of her wallet fast enough as soon as she heard about the project!

As everyone knows, I have stopped ALL gifting and this is one of my pet projects, so if you would like to reach out and help the dabbawallahs, it will be a special and meaningful “birthday gift” to me! My accountant Rajesh has said strictly no bank transfers to be made so you can send me the cash or pledge it now and give it to me whenever we meet next! This is the biggest donation I have ever committed to (Rs.12,00,000 of which Sangeeta and Uday have given Rs.50,000) so anything else that comes in will be very welcome!

A number of you who read my blog always tell me it brings you tremendous joy.. and now this is an opportunity to bring a little joy to the people who really need it!

P.S. Do post your names along with your comments.. it’s lovely to read them!!

 

LIGHT – IN DIFFERENT WAYS.. AT DIFFERENT TIMES.. AND FOR DIFFERENT REASONS..

 “When the sun is shining I can do anything; no mountain is too high, no trouble too difficult to overcome.” – Wilma Rudolph

 Am sure that Wilma Rudolph’s quote must have resonated with a number of you.. and you must have smiled and/or nodded your heads while reading.. and thought to yourselves “this is so true!” We who experience a true Indian summer in all its might and glory (including me) DO grumble about how “it’s too hot.. it’s SO sunny.. the sun is “biting” me..” etc.. Having said that.. we all still accept and acknowledge (including doctors) the light of the sun has amazing healing and helping properties!

So this is the reason for today’s blog..

The building I live in is undergoing major structural repairs for a while now and all my windows had been boarded up for close to 4 months.. it was maddening to have to use electric light during the daytime and there were days when I was really grouchy! It was also extremely disorienting to be in stygian darkness at night.. thanks to which my waking up time and morning body clock went beserk! I was waking up at 5 am one day.. 9 am another.. and once as late as 11 am.. when my helper came to check on why I wasn’t awake YET! (I suspect she thought I had finally swiped my one-way ticket and gone to meet my maker!!)

 When I came out of my shower yesterday, something immediately struck me as different and beautiful in my bedroom! I stepped into my room to see it brightly bathed in a beautiful golden light (also thanks to the yellow sacking material covering the scaffolding) and what a gorgeous uplifting sight it was! Even though I had to look THROUGH the sacking, at least I could see the trees and clouds outside.. people walking on the road.. and THAT was a truly magical feeling! There was this incredible sense of “lightness”.. joy in the heart.. an ear-to-ear smile on my face.. and true happiness!

Every one of us needs light from the sun.. it gives us energy to work.. play.. see.. grow.. survive.. live.. thrive AND see rainbows!! Let’s not forget that sunlight is the key component in photosynthesis which is the process by which plants convert energy.. Electric light helps us to cut through darkness.. be innovative.. stay awake longer.. watch television.. and makes it possible for us to have longer daylight hours.. travel.. use machinery.. and the list is endless!

Light enables human beings to be magicians as well.. and much has been written about this.. let me explain what I mean here.. Right now.. more than ever.. there is a tremendous amount of “darkness” in the world.. the darkness of people losing their jobs.. of not having food on the table.. of friction with the family.. of being confined to the house (because of age or health reasons).. of not being able to travel (that’s me!!).. each one is facing their own challenges.. and THIS is the time to awaken the magician within you.. How do I do that you ask? This is my answer..

You can do and/or be any or all of these things..

Be “all sweetness and light” with the people you love..

Go light on someone.. be gentle.. try not to be critical..

Hide your light under a bushel.. be extremely modest..

Be the light at the end of someone’s tunnel.. be the solution to their problem..

Light a fire under someone.. motivate someone to take action..

Be a ray of light.. bring hope to those who have none..

See something or someone in a new light.. understand something or someone in a new positive way..

Light up someone.. cause them to more cheerful.. animated and excited..

Have light-bulb moments.. generate great ideas!

MOST IMPORTANTLY.. be the light of someone’s life!!