“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” Margaret Atwood
There is a charming story that I read recently about two Buddhist monks. The younger one loved gardening and he spent every day ensuring that the garden around the temple was always lush green. He patiently tended to his plants, watered them, spent hours pruning and trimming the leaves, raking the soil, stacking the dry leaves. One autumn morning, he took extra care to ensure that his garden was verdant, with flowers blooming everywhere. He trimmed the hedges and picked all the fallen dried leaves and stacked them neatly in a corner. As he stood there, admiring the beautiful garden, the older monk smiled and walked to the closest tree. He shook it gracefully until the leaves fell on the grass below, creating a lovely carpet. Then he smiled again and looked at the younger monk and said, “ Now it looks beautiful, as it should be in its natural form.” The latter understood that real beauty did not lie in perfectly manicured lawns and landscaped gardens but in raw and real nature. The older monk explained that a little imperfection is required to make things really beautiful and that perfection is not always natural.
In the last few weeks, I have learnt to embrace my imperfect self and to accept myself just the way I am, with all the flaws and blemishes. I learnt not to look at myself with a critical lens and to stop being judgemental. Perfection is indeed a myth. So don’t wait for the perfect moment - be it to write or to get up and exercise or to send that email or to tell someone special what they mean to you. Go ahead and just do it.
And on that note, welcome to the 17th issue of Journeys and Jottings. As Diwali is around the corner, we share some tips to bring positive energy and prosperity in your lives from Manasi Thakkur, a numerologist and astrologer who is also a Vastu Consultant. A new workshop on travel writing and in People Make Places we meet the inspiring Mrunmaiy Abroal , a communications professional and a wheelchair wanderer from Bangalore who blogs about living with a spinal cord injury and travelling with a disability.
But before that a little update on what I have been up to. The cruise got cancelled and as we speak, I am travelling between two homes - Madras and Bangalore. However, I have been grateful to be a part of small meaningful activities. One of them was an opportunity to address students of Grade 3 and to speak to them about Responsible Tourism. An initiative of WICCI Rural Tourism Council, of which am a national council member, this activity called Green Buddies was conducted for 1200 students of Glendale by eight members of the council simultaneously, including me. And talking to a full class of eight-year-olds was quite an experience. Everyone was full of ideas and views, wanting to share their experiences and thoughts and the whole class was in a frenzied state of energy and excitement. And yes, I needed that ! WICCI Rural Tourism is doing a lot of initiatives and events and do follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube to know more.
A Diwali Special - Bringing in Positive Energy into your life
I met Manasi Thakkur through a friend and travel blogger, Abhinav Singh when I was going through a pretty low ebb in life. I was a little skeptical to take the help of a numerologist and astrologer, but Manasi I realized was more than just that. She helped me relook at life from a different perspective. She made me realize how I was trapped in old patterns as I learnt to see myself and the world around me in a different light. As Deepavali is around the corner, she shares some simple tips that we can incorporate into our lives to bring in some peace, prosperity, and most importantly, positive energy. Over to Manasi now.
WE all love and wish Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of prosperity) to be in our lives and to bless us with abundance. Here are two simple tips which will help in clearing negative energy and bringing in abundance.
1 . Declutter - Items that are not being used are storehouses of negative energy.
To welcome Ma Lakshmi we clean our homes at least a month in advance. But along with cleaning, decluttering is equally important. So it is important to discard any stuff which is not being used for more than six months or give them away to anyone, who may find it useful.
Items that are not used for quite a long time start storing negative energies in them which spread throughout your house and lead to stress and negativity. Remove any broken crockery, broken glasses and old spectacles and damaged electronic gadgets that are not working at all. You can Chant “DIVINE ORDER” while cleaning and decluttering, which will help in the entire process.
2. Cinnamon brings in abundance in life
Cinnamon is not just a regular spice but it helps in attracting abundance in your life. On the day of Diwali. take a currency note of any denomination and sprinkle cinnamon powder with a pinch of salt and leave it on an altar. It will help you to attract your stuck money. The day you receive money, remove the currency note from the altar and keep it in your purse.
Aroma has a very important role to play to welcome Goddess Lakshmi. To please Ma you can apply lotus oil on your wrist and on the area between the eyebrows around the third eye. This can be applied every Friday on a regular basis. Happy Diwali everyone !
Manasi is an Astrology, Numerology and Vastu consultant. She also does handwrite and signature analysis and psychic reading using various tools. She is a spiritual healer and a Reiki grandmaster as well as NLP practitioner. Her passion is to help and guide people. You can follow her on Instagram: and her website
Travel Writing - A Masterclass
“After nourishment, shelter, and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” Philip Pullman.
In the last several years, I have been asked several questions on how to be a travel writer, what are the opportunities out there, how does one begin and whether it will pay . So this master course on travel writing answers some of these questions and more.
What is Travel Writing - Types of travel writing
Ten Travel Writing Tips - The Three I's of Travel Writing
How do I become a travel writer? What are the opportunities out there?
How do I find travel stories? All about Pitching and getting published
Does travel writing pay?
Difference between travel writing and travel blogging
Tips from travel writers, editors, authors and bloggers.
Date November 13, 6 pm Price - Rs 799/- Duration - 90 mins
Register here https://lakshmisharath.graphy.com/sessions/travel-writing---a-masterclass/c56c7571-0e68-40df-83af-fe101ae038c8
And in case you register and are unable to attend the event, a link will always be sent to you as well. Looking forward to seeing you all there.
People Make Places
I met Mrunmaiy Abroal over a decade ago when she discussed a campaign with me for the brand (Opera) she was then working for. It was the early days of blogging and I was completely taken in by her enthusiasm and bubbling personality and her love for travel and blogging. And then all of a sudden I lost touch with her. That is when I heard of her devastating accident which virtually paralysed her. But Mrunmaiy was not going to let fate get in her way of life.
“I’m Good Enough- even if 90% of my body is paralysed. At the end of the day- I am the same person inside. We are not our disabilities “ she said.
Mrunmaiy inspired me with her story. “Acceptance - thats everything,” she said. She got back to work and travel and now lives life with a feisty zest. In People Make Places today, she shares her story and inspire us with it.
Hi, I’m basically from Nagpur, moved to Pune for my post-graduation in mass communications. I then worked in Mumbai for many years. Starting as an executive in a public-relations firm, went on to become director of communications for South Asia at Opera, and currently, I am leading PR for Amazon Alexa.
As a communications professional, my work involves engaging with a lot of external stakeholders and travelling. I have always been an outdoor/ adventure-seeking person. And I’m not saying this because I enjoyed living in Mumbai so much – hanging out of the local trains while wearing high heels, crushed between women in the ladies compartment :) When I mean outdoors, I mean out and about with nature. I have trekked on a lot of mountains. I loved driving, have participated in car rallies and so on. Travel solo to a lot of Indian and global destinations.
The reason I bring this up is because I have lived independently - By myself, for a big chunk of my life - to be specific 30 years. But today, I have a disability which makes me dependent on my helper for daily living activities such as turning in bed, dressing up, getting ready, even combing my hair or sitting on my wheelchair. This is the extreme opposite of how I was used to living my life.
I had an accident some years back and I got a fracture in my neck. This is called a spinal cord injury. Because of this, I’m paralyzed below my shoulders. The disability is called quadriplegia-which means paralysis of all four limbs.
This incident was life-changing. I don’t have any memory of the accident. But when I woke up I could not move any body part except my eyes and eyebrows. I thought maybe this is God’s way of telling me I need to rest. Initially, even the doctors say you will get better soon. It’s only when I came to the Indian Spinal Injury Centre in Delhi for my rehabilitation that I got to know more about my injury. And that it’s permanent.
It was shocking and depressing when I first got to know. But there were so many people like me in the rehab centre – that I never felt alone In my journey. I also got to meet a lot of people who had injuries years before me and saw how they are going about their lives.
Mental health Focus
In the last 10 years, I have had the good fortune of having access to mental health and coaching professionals at different stages of my journey as a person with a disability. My first interaction was with a rehab counsellor at ISIC. I was new to the life of dependence on others for daily living activities, not having control and hated that state of being. She helped me see through it that once I accept and understand my situation I will be able to live and design my life the way I want it to be.
I joined the office three months after my accident. The company I was working with -was very patient with me. Initially, I would work for a few hours then increase it to half a day, and then ultimately I was able to work a full day. It has been a gradual process.
In the initial years, there were many occasions when I compared myself to my previous version without a disability. I would question my working style before and after. Now I had more dependence on the team for physical activities such as events. This impacted my confidence and my perception of self. That's when I started to work with another counsellor who taught me to watch my thoughts. I was able to separate my thoughts about my feelings to thoughts about what needs to be done next and so on. It is a life skill that I am still sharpening.
The way I look at working with mental health professionals is not like some medicine/ treatment that you have to take regularly, but something as simple as choosing to refer to a dictionary. I have hugely benefited from having a bouncing board in the form of these professionals and would recommend for you also to give it a try if required.
I think it took me around two years to be comfortable in this new way of life. Get back my confidence that I’m Good Enough- even if 90% of my body is paralysed. At the end of the day- I am the same person inside. We are not our disabilities.
Getting back to life:
Slowly and steadily I’ve been able to enjoy most of the things I used to do earlier. My most favourite of those is travelling. I’m glad to be in a profession that lets me do that extensively.
I had to make a lot of changes in the way I travel. I invest a lot of time in planning and checking before any travel. Since I use a wheelchair I have to check about the accessibility status of the place I am going to. This is not just about the places I am visiting, but also the hotels and the mode of travel too. Inaccessibility in most parts of India limits the heritage sites, monuments and tourist places I can go to. I also have to look for premium hotels because only they have rooms with an accessible bathroom. Except airplanes, I cannot travel in any form of public transport such as trains or buses or auto because there is no provision for a wheelchair user. Despite the challenges, I push myself to go out of the home and visit these places on my manual wheelchair. It is a chicken and egg situation, unless people see wheelchair users like me wanting to go out nobody will realise the importance of accessibility and ramps. I blog about my travel experience so that other people with disabilities can also feel comfortable getting out and exploring.
I was also recently introduced to para-sports i.e. sports that people with disabilities can play. I wish I would have discovered this earlier but it's never too late. I have recently started exercising to strengthen my upper body and practice a sport called club throw. My goal is to represent India in international tournaments and maybe the next Paralympics. The one thing I have learned after my spinal-cord injury is anything is possible if you keep trying.
You can read Mrunmaiy’s story on her blog and follow her on Instagram where she inspires everyone with her spirit and zest for life.
Travel News and Views
Singapore to allow Indian travellers to enter country from Oct 26
Machu Picchu is now the world's first carbon neutral tourist destination!
No visa needed from mid-October for Maldivians travelling to India
First tourist village launched in J&K’s Udhampur with homestays
Varanasi railway station gets an all new Executive Lounge for travellers
Feedback Please
I do hope that you enjoyed reading this issue. Looking forward to your feedback as always. We are going to keep the flow of conversations going and I would really appreciate it if you will share my newsletter with your friends and family.
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See you soon! You can also read my travel stories on my blog and follow me on my social media
Blog - www.lakshmisharath.com
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