Someone said, “When things mean a great deal to you, exciting anticipation just isn’t safe”. I have had multiple doses of this anticipation in the past couple of months and am now mentally exhausted. I have made so many lists and crossed them out so many times that now when things seem to be falling into place, I just do not have the energy to be jubilant. We had planned for my parents and parents-in-law to visit UK. It was envisaged as a wonderful get together. A summit in the line of the G-8 or G-20s!!. The preparations were on similar scale. Countless conference calls, strategy discussions and research went into it. We pored over various visa forms and worked at deciphering what an innocent question like ‘who would pay for your food and accommodation’ in visa form might imply. I day dreamed about all the days out, restaurant visits and shopping trips. After the initial impediments of documents, visas and tickets everything was set. Then things started changing. Programs and schedules changed with the speed of light. Everyday there was breaking news similar to the umpteen news channels on air. I felt like a yo-yo..this anticipation was not safe at all for my mental sanity. In this state I managed to achieve what I have tried a lot of times earlier and failed. I managed to ‘let go’. I actually asked God to decide what was best and not give him a multiple choice option. And believe it or not, it worked. Things fell into place in their own time. He does know best. It is beautifully illustrated by a story from the book Vedanta Philosophy by A Parathasarthy.
Once upon a time two friends while walking came across seeds of a fruit. Each took a few and planted it at home. One of them, prayed to God for rain. Colossus clouds benevolently spilled over the land. He then prayed for sunshine. The sun shone in all its brilliance. A few months later, his tree looked limp and only had few fruits. He went to visit his friend to find out how his tree was. He was astonished to find it laden with fruits swaying in the breeze. Curiously he asked, “What did you ask God for, that you tree has borne such good fruits”. His friend replied, “Nothing, I just prayed, do what is best for this tree. After all God created the seed, he should know what is best for it”. This is such a simple yet important thing to realize.
It is not an easy thing to practice. Especially when from childhood itself, we are shoved in front of various God and Goddesses and prompted to ASK, please let me clear this exam, please let me come 1st in class, please let me get good placement, please give me a good husband. While it is important to assimilate the lesson of managing your expectation, it is equally important to work towards a goal.
Like all such things, religious teachings can be misunderstood. There is no scarcity of people who are so lazy, they would rather blame everything on fate than put in an honest effort first.
Here again I remember my thammi (Paternal grandma). I would ask her to request God to grant me good marks in exams. She would say, “Yes, I can pray for that, but then you have study every evening in my room. Only when I see how you study would I forward your request to God”. So I would gather my books every evening in the preparation leave and sit on her bed and study. I however could not resist a few sly glances at the small pedestal in the room for all residing deities to check if it was making any difference to them.
Anyways, things are better now and I am looking forward to welcoming my parents tomorrow. With so many things to do at the last moment I went for the quick fix today. Pesto pasta. Both AS and me we love pesto sauce. It is unlike anything we have ever had. So fresh and tingly, yet so few ingredients. I will admit I make pesto sauce at home very rarely. There are so many varieties available in stores. You could pick every day for a month and not tire of them. The type of pasta is also based of our taste rather than prescribed for pesto. We generally like the linguine. Mostly we have garlic bread with pasta, but today I added some roasted vegetables to this.
1 packet readymade pasta (either linguine or fusilie)
7-8 tbsp of pesto sauce
Olive oil to drizzle
Garlic (2 cloves)
Peppercorn (7-8)
Vegetables for roasting
Baby carrots (5-6)
Baby corn (3-4)
Tomatoes (small 2, sliced in half)
Onions (2 sliced in half)
Peppercorn (10-12)
Olive oil for drizzling
Boil about 6 cups of water. Put the pasta in the boiling water for 6-8 mins. Meanwhile take the readymade pasta sauce in a mortal and pester and add the garlic and peppercorn. Grind it. You can totally give this step a skip if you are happy with the taste of your pesto sauce.
Pour the boiled pasta in a colander and drizzle a few drops of olive oil and mix well. This will keep the pasta from sticking to one another. Now serve the pasta in a bowl and add the pesto sauce. This should be done when the pasta is hot. Because the idea is that the cheese in the pesto sauce melts with the heat of the pasta.
If you have time stem the vegetables. Else you can directly spread them out on a baking tray drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle a bit of salt and peppercorn and bake it for about 15 mins. I have a gas oven and I put it on gas mark 5. After 15 mins turn the sides and bake another 10.
Serve on top of the pasta. And that is it!!
Once upon a time two friends while walking came across seeds of a fruit. Each took a few and planted it at home. One of them, prayed to God for rain. Colossus clouds benevolently spilled over the land. He then prayed for sunshine. The sun shone in all its brilliance. A few months later, his tree looked limp and only had few fruits. He went to visit his friend to find out how his tree was. He was astonished to find it laden with fruits swaying in the breeze. Curiously he asked, “What did you ask God for, that you tree has borne such good fruits”. His friend replied, “Nothing, I just prayed, do what is best for this tree. After all God created the seed, he should know what is best for it”. This is such a simple yet important thing to realize.
It is not an easy thing to practice. Especially when from childhood itself, we are shoved in front of various God and Goddesses and prompted to ASK, please let me clear this exam, please let me come 1st in class, please let me get good placement, please give me a good husband. While it is important to assimilate the lesson of managing your expectation, it is equally important to work towards a goal.
Like all such things, religious teachings can be misunderstood. There is no scarcity of people who are so lazy, they would rather blame everything on fate than put in an honest effort first.
Here again I remember my thammi (Paternal grandma). I would ask her to request God to grant me good marks in exams. She would say, “Yes, I can pray for that, but then you have study every evening in my room. Only when I see how you study would I forward your request to God”. So I would gather my books every evening in the preparation leave and sit on her bed and study. I however could not resist a few sly glances at the small pedestal in the room for all residing deities to check if it was making any difference to them.
Anyways, things are better now and I am looking forward to welcoming my parents tomorrow. With so many things to do at the last moment I went for the quick fix today. Pesto pasta. Both AS and me we love pesto sauce. It is unlike anything we have ever had. So fresh and tingly, yet so few ingredients. I will admit I make pesto sauce at home very rarely. There are so many varieties available in stores. You could pick every day for a month and not tire of them. The type of pasta is also based of our taste rather than prescribed for pesto. We generally like the linguine. Mostly we have garlic bread with pasta, but today I added some roasted vegetables to this.
1 packet readymade pasta (either linguine or fusilie)
7-8 tbsp of pesto sauce
Olive oil to drizzle
Garlic (2 cloves)
Peppercorn (7-8)
Vegetables for roasting
Baby carrots (5-6)
Baby corn (3-4)
Tomatoes (small 2, sliced in half)
Onions (2 sliced in half)
Peppercorn (10-12)
Olive oil for drizzling
Boil about 6 cups of water. Put the pasta in the boiling water for 6-8 mins. Meanwhile take the readymade pasta sauce in a mortal and pester and add the garlic and peppercorn. Grind it. You can totally give this step a skip if you are happy with the taste of your pesto sauce.
Pour the boiled pasta in a colander and drizzle a few drops of olive oil and mix well. This will keep the pasta from sticking to one another. Now serve the pasta in a bowl and add the pesto sauce. This should be done when the pasta is hot. Because the idea is that the cheese in the pesto sauce melts with the heat of the pasta.
If you have time stem the vegetables. Else you can directly spread them out on a baking tray drizzle some olive oil, sprinkle a bit of salt and peppercorn and bake it for about 15 mins. I have a gas oven and I put it on gas mark 5. After 15 mins turn the sides and bake another 10.
Serve on top of the pasta. And that is it!!
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