Please visit my other blog for a story

Dear Readers,
By mistake I posted a story, The story of Mushkil Gusha to my tax blog. Please do go here to read it. Sincere apologies.
Best,
Lubna

Counting your blessings

Dear Readers,

Sometimes it is so easy to slink away and sulk. To say over and over again, why me? It is a phase difficult to get out of. You can get angry, you can get sad, but you cannot stop asking why me! Even small issues then begin to seem like unsolvable problems.

Now this is a tried and tested method, for coping with such occasions.

1) Take a day off work (Don't think you will be able to deal with your emotions over the weekend). Go ahead, just take that day off.

2) Sit in the favourite corner of your house, with pen and paper in hand (or your trusty lap top) and fill in all the things that you should be grateful for.

3) After having done that, see how you can help others - given your own problems and limitations. It can be something as simple as sending an email to a friend who is sick and lonely.

4) Whenever you feel down and depressed look over your list again.

5) If possible, go for a walk, meet up friends, call up friends, force yourself to wear a bright coloured dress and to smile. Or if all your friends are tied up, go down alone to your favourite eating place (I've done that, its fun).

Unless you really take stock of things you should be grateful for, you will never realise how blessed you are, no matter what your difficulties are.

Have a nice Sunday and a great week ahead.

Warm regards,
Lubna

PS: This photograph was taken several years ago of gulmohour blossoms dipping gently into the lake at Lalbaugh botanical gardens, Bangalore. But it makes me feel at peace every time I look at it.

Saturday rambling

I hate malls. I can't begin to tell you how much I hate malls. But, shopping for the weekly groceries was unavoidable and the grocery store is located in this very mall, a hop, skip and jump away from my residential complex. So off I went.

The good thing that monsoon brings with it is corn. I found fresh corn was available in plenty. There are a few vegetables which are so versatile, such as potatoes or even corn.

So I am thinking, spinach and corn, corn soup, corn salad, corn in the vegetable pulao, or just boiled corn to munch.

But somehow, while fresh corn is yummy and versatile, nothing quite beats the roasted bhutta (Corn on cob) available near Marine Drive. You can munch on this as you watch the sea lashing in all its monsoon fury. (See photograph. Not taken by me. I have provided the source of the photograph. I saved my photographs on Flickr and am having some trouble retrieving them. I will replace this photograph as soon as I can access mine. I just wanted to share the fury of the sea during the monsoons.)

Yes, monsoon brings with it slush, bad traffic, cold and coughs, but also provides Mumbai with water all year round and ushers in the corn season.

Source of the photograph