I took this photograph from a place called Kuttikanam, a hill station in Idukki district of Kerala, Southern India. That’s my brother having a phone call gazing at that splendid view in front. Right in front of the place we stayed, there was a bridge damaged by heavy torrential rains and landslide, and the only road in the front was damaged. We stayed on the top of a cottage run by a family and there was a homely feel to this place. This place is special because the experience of meeting the family owning this place kindled in me the love for indoor plants and curating them. What I saw in their home was that they put plants in literally anything you could imagine. Damaged cans, throwaway bottles, coconut shells, wall mounts, iron cases, you name it and they’d have a plant inside. After returning from this place and reaching back home, I thought of setting up indoor plants and that’s how we started our moneyplant adventures. I’d be trying to write in detail on this Kuttikanam story. Stay tuned friends : ) Thanks for all the love on the previous writings and feedback. Looking forward to your thoughts. Write to me.
Author: Ajmal
slipping to the dusk
It’s one of my favorite divertissements to scroll through old Google Photos archives, spice up old photos and just wonder about the times back in those days. When I first started working in the Middle East nearly 10 years back from today, during some of my initial years, my work extensively involved being associated with designing and developing new engineering products in a factory (For example, Bridge Bearings, products used in offshore structures, etc ) and I used to spend a lot of time in a factory environment with some colleagues at that time for some prototyping and other work. I have vivid memories of returning back from work in the afternoon at that time gazing at the sun playing its magic of colors at the factory horizon. These are some of those photographs from circa 2010-2011. Believe me, old photographs are time machines for me. I can spend an entire day reminiscing in these old memories. Do you have such photographic memories from the past decade that you recollect? Share your thoughts. I would love to read them.
“There is a certain quality of light to be found only in midsummer in the South, as day, slipping into dusk, acquiesces to the filament, the bulb, the porch light; this seductive light is beautiful when it washes across dry cement, the sidewalk and stoop. The light spilling from the phone booth softens and cleanses all that it touches. It’s a forgiving and almost protective light. The Minotaur is drawn to it from across the parking lot.”
― The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break
Would you love to read more memories?
Dum Biriyani – Ep 5
I’ve been thinking of resurrecting our series on Culinary Experiences, in case you remember the existence of such a series : ) Since there are a lot of new readers reading me, let me put here once more. ‘Culinary Experiences’ is a series of visual stories that we started on our website for journaling some of our best ambrosial culinary experiences, be it the finest cordon bleu delights of a master chef or a cheesy experimental simmer at our little kitchen. We are trying to scribe it humbly here. This is not intended to be a recipe archive or a cookery show in case if you wondered. We’re only sharing the experience. Recently, we prepared a dum biriyani at home for the first time.
For my non-Indian readers, Dum is a loose translation of a Persian word for breathing. Dum Biriyani is basically blending aromatic spices, flavors, and herbs into a one-dish pot and slowly cooking the ingredients in a sealed heavy bottomed vessel usually for hours. In some culinary cultures, they are sometimes mildly heated overnight as well.
For a slice of history, from what I’ve read, the ancient dum cooking tradition is generally identified with Mughlai cuisine and is also assumed to have derived from Persian or Central Asian cuisine. There are many stories about its origin but the most popular one connects it with Nawab Asaf-ud-Daulah, who was Oudh / Awadh’s wazir or ruler in the late 1700s. In 1784, during a huge famine, the Nawab presented a beneficent activity for his kin with a nourishment for-work program. He needed to develop a Moghul design wonder – the Bara Imambara, which was one among the numerous structures that the Nawab wanted to work in the city. Many individuals chipped in for the activity, and to take care of the majority through day and night, the cooks utilized the technique for dum pukht, wherein meat, vegetables, rice, and flavors were assembled in enormous vessels or handis, fixed with batter and left to slow cook for a considerable length of time.
This arrangement of cooking ended up being the most advantageous strategy to give dinners to the huge number of laborers just as to make for them a flavorsome feast without utilizing excessive flavors, which were hard to come by at that point due to the famine situation.
It was on one such day when a pot was left to slow cook that the delighting aroma and flavor from the dish found the Nawab’s attention and he immediately requested his shahi cooks to make a similar dish in the royal kitchen. The ace gourmet specialists utilized a similar procedure of dum pukht alongside royal artfulness and accordingly began an entirely different sort of readiness, which before long turned out to be monstrously famous in the courts and among the high society as more refinements were presented. It was later embraced by imperial kitchens in Hyderabad, Kashmir, Bhopal, and different districts also back in India at that time.
Other Episodes from the series:
Ep 4 – 32 – Netta’s First Cake
Ep 3 – Armenian Herbal Tea
Ep 2 – Nthree – Kuwaiti delicacies
Ep 1 – A Piece of Happiness
Shine.
Beautiful composition!
“They filled my path full of doubt
And wouldn’t hear me out
But still I chased my dreams
They told me to quit
But my heart could not resist
And from the darkness came a light
I will shine on tomorrow
Light the way for all to follow
From the darkness I will shine
Learning from the past I tried
To stare the world in the eyes
Find strength to pull me through
I saw through my tests and trials
A road that ran a thousand miles
At the end was only truth
I will shine on tomorrow
Light the way for all to follow
In the darkness I will shine
I will shine on forever
Take my chance now or never
In the darkness I will shine
I know I can if I believe…”
metaphor of sun
I photographed this with Netta from the Andaman Islands. What I like the most about this photograph is how the sun rising is spreading its light across everything. From the soothings waves to the rocks to the pebbles, we see its light on everything. This resonates with a theme that I read recently. On a particular note, the example of sun is provided where the sun encompasses numberless things with its light. It says that a comprehensive outlook is required to behold the sun itself in the totality of its light. For the sun not to be forgotten, its manifestation is displayed on every shining object by its reflection. Further I read that all lustrous objects have a refleciton of sun’s attributes such as its light, heat and the seven colors in its light (From the Words). The sun’s attributes is encompassing all things facing it. The same allegory is extended to divine mercy we find around us in several manifestations and specifically in man’s mirror like essence. From the food on our table, to the clothes we wear to our comforts, there’re manifestations of divine mercy everywhere.
Neon Gems
Have you seen Neon tetra fishes torching at you with blue lights? Well, now you can 🙂
Read: Story de’aquatics and Fluvial Zeal
Planted aquariums – How to make them last – A small article that I’ve put together based on my experiences with aqua-scaping a small tank & maintaining it.
perceiving time | ponder series
I couldn’t write for the past few days due to my frame of mind, not in the beautiful space I need to be in, to put my heart into what I do. Today, I’m planning to write about the perception of time and some contemplation on some of my recent thoughts on this theme. Welcome to another slice of our Ponder Series. You won’t be bored with a long read while we explore together on the wonders of time and its perception.
The perception of time and its intricacies are keys to several extraordinary secrets about the world we live in. A baby does not come out in a moment, but takes almost 9 months. A seed could have become a huge oak in a day, but it takes hundreds of years. We don’t eat the fruit on the same day that we plant a tree. Fruits of labor may not be seen right away. All things take time. There are certain things that cannot be fast-tracked. We often wonder about the magic of time and how it’s perceived.
In a wonderful article with regards to time on the brain, George Musser writes,
“It’s not that our memory is a glitchy wetware version of computer flash memory; it’s that the computer metaphor just doesn’t apply. Roediger said we store only bits and pieces of what happened—a smattering of impressions we weave together into feels like a seamless narrative. When we retrieve a memory, we also rewrite it, so that the next time we go to remember it, we don’t retrieve the original memory but the last one we recollected. So, each time we tell a story, we embellish it, while remaining genuinely convinced of the veracity of our memories.”
This is very profound. What we know and perceive as “past” is really a smattering of impressions we weave together as the author articulates it. All the experiences, events happening truly runs as “stories” in our minds and we only have impressions of them as they pass us. When you read an article on my website, for example, that’s a story weaved in your mind when you think about it later. We “perceive” time by usually comparing a “story” or a “moment” with a previously known moment or event if we think about it. When you’re reading this blog on your phone or on your computer screen, just clap your hands once and you’ll hear a sound. If you clap once again, you’ll hear another sound. Now, we call this interval between these two claps “time” by thinking that there’s an interval between them. When you clap the hands for the second time, the first clap sound you heard is only nothing more than a memory that’s formed in your mind, sort of like an imagination. You see, this comparison of moments and events and correlating with each other is what we perceive as time in our lives.
Before reading this post, let’s say you came to the room that you’re in now from a different room and let’s say you sat on the couch/chair or on the bed that you’re in now and once you sit and read what you’re reading now, the images of how you came to the room before opening this website are now only information in your memory. That’s how we perceive time. Hence, the perception of time is heavily tied and if not only tied to the sequence of memories and stories running in our brains. It’s sort of like a movie being loaded with us being the actors in that play. Without these correlations of memories, there wouldn’t be any perception of time. I turned 32 recently. I determine it so because I have my mind being accumulated with memories and events related to those 32 years. If my memories do not exist, then I wouldn’t have any clue of a so-called “preceding period” and would only be having an experience of the single moment in which I’m living. In case if you haven’t thought about it before, pause for a moment and ponder on this reality.
Reels are being played in our brains and stories and perceptions are weaved on and on. That’s a true wonder only for minds who think about them. Deep thought is the key to gratitude. Thank you for reading. I’m planning to write some other chapters on the same theme. It’s actually one of my favorite topic that I can write on and on with a hot cup of tea. Do write your thoughts to me.
Some of the chapters from the Ponder Series that you can read on :
> Ornate Blossoms
> Visual Narrative – Ponder Series
> Reflecting on Shadows
> Stumble over Pebbles
> Ethereal Quality | Petals
> Golden Ratio
> Vision – Pondering on the intricacies
> Ruminating on Bird Nests
> Living Embellishments
> Pondering on Birds
> Perceptions
If you are reading this series for the first time, have a look at the intent post.
realizing roots.
Illustrated by: The Border Of a Mind.
There are many intricacies that often stay in the realm of thoughts that is yearning our awe. Think of the trees with their branches spreading through the air and producing fruits. With the ease of them growing and diverging into the air, their roots also spread and diverge through hard rock and earth beneath. Seeds and grains bear huge trees within them. Thinking casually about them takes into a realm of an unexceptional everyday sight. At the same time, pondering deeply lifts this curtain of blindness from our eyes and opens the windows of realization that these are indeed spectacular miracles. There’s kind of a solace on realizing that everything, be it a new leaf forming, an old leaf tumbling down the branches, things happening to us beyond our plans are under a divine command. Realizing bounties is key to a state of remembrance, gratitude, and reflection, the key themes that I’ve thought of today. The illustration you see in inspired from an image in my mind around a cottage garden in Ooty, South India.
dormant cobwebs
A beautiful cobweb style rooftop that I found somewhere near Abudhabi many years back (atleast six!). I’m unable to recollect the exact place, but I remember how the sunset hues diffuse through the roofing. I was returning from a site visit and found this on the way. Nema Al-Araby writes in Remnants and Ashes:
“And the cobwebs of time
would surrender,
dormant, so that the rainbows
of new eras can emerge
Despite the hollowness
of you.”
nurturing dreams.
illustrated by The Border Of a Mind Studios.
“Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream. Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream.”
―
In line with our vision, I’m planning to author a series of illustrations with some of the most inspiring stories and allegories that I’ve come across. Let’s blend wisdom and art. Write me your thoughts.
Some other artworks to explore:
Undream
Build with the mind
“forsaken steps” in objet trouvé concept.
Humble Life
Paint with Light
Choosing the Circus
Mind Vessel
Dreaming Beyond
Mirror
Done in Love
Enigmatic
Tranquil
Parallel worlds
Book of beautiful moments
Swayed In
About the storm