MYSTICSPICE

When I was about 11 years old, my dad used to forcibly send me to a didi (young women older than me) who lived in our neighborhood to learn Hindustani music. My dad was very particular about his morning walks, he would wake up every day at 4am to go for walks. There were times when on his way back he would hear this didi doing her riyaaz (rehearsal/practice). He was totally mersmerized by her singing. So one day he went to her and asked if he could send both my sister and me to her, thinking maybe we could also learn to sing like her. Unfortunately, that didi agreed, as a result my sister and I had to wake up everyday really early to go for our music lessons. We both hated it, getting up early in the morning, taking bath and getting ready at 5am to go for music lessons was something we weren't too happy about. But then, no sooner would we start our riyaaz, than we would completely overcome our grogginess and get immersed in the moment. That didi was a well trained and a talen...

This is one of the incidents, or I would say accidents that is popular amongst my friends and family. As scary it was for me back then, it has never failed to make people laugh in surprise. You know how when you tell people something and they don’t believe you and then they exclaim –WHAT???!! and just go crazy laughing at it? Yes, this is one such incidence. I prefer to categorize it under the section ‘My adventures in the US’. I should also mention that I’m writing about it not because I’m proud of it, no, not at all, it makes me feel embarrassed and stupid, but the reason I’m sharing the story because it’s made a remarkable imprint on my memory and if at all you are new in the US and have come from a country that does not have such an organized traffic system, then this story might be a lesson for you.   So, I start with the description of the story as one of the scariest experiences of life... It was during my first quarter at OSU, Fall 2009. I was studying for the mid-t...

I wrote this few years ago and whenever I read it, it never fails to warm my heart, hence sharing...  This time Rakshbandhan was a very different experience, different in a very special way. It was raining very heavily so we (my sister, younger brother and I) hired a car to visit our relatives in town.  For those of you who are not aware of Indian festivals, Rakshabandhan is one of the festivals where sisters tie bracelets (Rakhi) around their brother's wrists, upon tying Rakhi brothers give gifts to their sisters. I've always loved this festival, and I'm certain that my fellow Indian sisters love it too! ;) Just like any other festival, Rakshabandhan too has a relevance, a meaning to it. This festival is a symbol of bond between siblings, of brother's vow to protect his sister and sister's prayers for the well-being of her brother.  Although its always been fun tying Rakhis and accepting gifts from brothers, for some reason while performing the ritua...

I returned from India this summer after spending six months collecting data for my dissertation.  My dissertation is on the role of local institutions in natural resource management. For data collection I was working in the central Himalayan region where I visited several villages to interview people about forest management activities that are conducted and coordinated by the local institution in the region. This local institution is called Van Panchayat (Forest Committee), it is a traditional institution that dates back to 1931. Since it was formed before independence (India got its independence in Aug 1947), it is significant in terms of rights of locals’ to natural resources. I collaborated with an NGO working in the region that helped me with navigating remote villages and also with arranging accommodations in the villages. Going from one village to another was a challenge, as there was lack of proper road network, driving was near to impossible, but thankfully there were ...

I went to New Delhi, India to attend a four day long workshop called Future Workshop: Resource Governance in 21 st Century (Jan 14 th -17 th , 2013), organized by Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBF), Germany and Center for Science and Environment (CSE), India.  There were 24 participants in total, out of which 10 participants were from Afghanistan and 14 were from India.  The group comprised of people from diverse academic and professional backgrounds such as lawyers, journalists, graduate students, researchers, consultants, NGO personnel, and social entrepreneurs.  During the workshop these diverse minds pooled in their experiences and creativity to discuss and resolve key natural resource management problems. There were several environmental issues/topics that were discussed, but the ones that generated extensive discussion were Biodiversity Conservation, Water Governance, Mining, and Power Supply. The participants worked in groups and cruised through three planning phas...

If you are reading this post thinking that you might be able to learn some tricks about mastering time, then you might be at the right place ;). I just came across a blog post about being 'Jedi Master of our own time', it is pretty entertaining and puts the point across the audience very in a very lucid manner. Although, I am breaking one of the rules by not 'focusing on the importance' which is work, and giving in to 'feeling of urgency' which is to share the article, there are good chances that guilt wouldn't last for too long as my presence on this page wouldn't linger for too long :) Be a Jedi! Source of following article is HERE .... The secret to time management is simple:  Jedi time tricks .  Imagine you were a  Jedi master  called Bob (your parents, whilst skilled in the ways of the force weren’t the best at choosing names). The love of your life – Princess Lucia – is trapped in a burning building as you hurry to save her.  You mig...