I went with AR for another round of drone trials early morning.
While the motor bird was flying, I was engrossed with some silhouette moments.
Stay tuned as we plan to roll in some visuals of this little guy flying around very soon.
“Let us take you into a deeper experience, make a moment a lasting conveyable memory. Let us help build your tribe.”
― Deep Immersion
I’m sort of a detail-obsessed guy and some photographs like this are only for enjoying the randomness and the little details in them. If we look at a leaf branching out, there’re these nuances of art and perfection in them. We see the function designed into them here. It’s not random or accidental, but we see purpose and intention in them. As Ralph Waldo Emerson famously put it, “Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop, a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole, and partakes of the perfection of the whole.”
(The photo is captured from a cafe in Istanbul, circa 2014)
Wanted a smile that melts you down right now?
This sweet little angel appeared when I was on a bus while on a visit to Istanbul in 2014 and this little one kept smiling at me. Subtleties and details such as me being in that bus seat at the right moment of time and for this cute one to be exactly there to smile back and to capture that exact little moment! I believe in Almighty’s magical way of delighting us with details unconceivable. Everything happening in our life has a reason and a purpose, regardless of whether we can envisage it or not. Let’s be somebody’s reason to smile 🙂 | God bless.
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh
This would be chapter 3 of our series – ‘Culinary Experiences’ for journaling some of the best ambrosial culinary experiences, be it the finest cordon bleu delights of a master chef, cultural intricacies discovered in a bowl of an exquisite delicacy or a cheesy experimental simmer at our little kitchen, we are trying to scribe it here.
In July 2019, we tried a variant of Armenian tea. Herbal tea is very popular in Armenian culture. Mkhitar Heratsi, the founder of Armenian Classical medicine is known to have proposed different herbs for several common ailments. In some of his works highly revered in Armenian history, he has outlined recommendations on using rose, violet, lily, nunufar, sorrel, watercress, basil, asparagus, among wild plants capers and thyme to cure infectious-allergic diseases.
The tea we tasted was very subtle and had a herbal feel to it. We had it after a heavy meal and it felt very luscious on the taste buds. There’s a famous saying in Armenia – “The higher is the mountain the better the herbs are”. Armenia is known for its mountainous terrains and these herbs predominantly grow on hillsides and they are used extensively for tea. I could find lot of variants in Armenian markets with some of them being thyme, chamomile, pomegranate flower, and rosehip teas. They have a rich and profuse tea tradition rooting back to thousands of years.
Netta, the first lady of this kingdom has her page released. Tagged as the “millennial experimentalist“, she’s intending to feature slices of memories from her alchemy of thoughts. She’s a trained scientific bio-researcher by profession and has an eye for exploring details and concepts beyond the novel subtleties. Can’t wait to explore, God bless.
This is Ep 2 of our new series – ‘Culinary Experiences’ crafted with an unpresuming intention for journaling some of the 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 here.
Although I had tried a takeaway before, this was my first experience visiting Nthree , a cozy cafe at University city, Sharjah. It’s a Kuwaiti restaurant managed by Chef Khaled Al-Saad.
They mostly serve Arabic food and have some Kuwaiti delicacies such as Al-Majabis, Mmoush, Educators, Mutabeed Zabeedi, and Al-Hamsat in their culinary arsenal, which we didn’t experiment with. We tried chicken machboos which has a slow-cooked chicken with sweet lentils and aromatic rice. We tasted Bechamel as well which is basically cheese with pasta, minced meat, and Béchamel sauce. A béchamel or white sauce is one of the classic French “mother sauces” that form the basis of much French cuisine. It’s used since the seventeenth century in French delicacies.
[ Location ]
Previous Eps.
A piece of happiness
Don’t force anything. What flows will flow. What’s meant for you will be for you.
Above photograph captured by Netta from Pondicherry beach, 2017.
Red mermaid Netta in the above one, Pondicherry, circa 2017.
A photograph of a world traveler that I took on a visit to Princess Islands in Istanbul. Remembering the words of Eliott Erwitt that “Color is descriptive. Black and white is interpretive.” She was delightfully surprised at the seagull glancing at her through the ferry window. The year is 2014.
“ Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but black and white films still hold an affectionate place in my heart; they have an incomparable mystique and mood.”
― Ginger Rogers
Almost two weeks went in a blink. I couldn’t pen anything for the past two weeks. My mind was overly occupied with other professional and personal stuff that didn’t yield the notes of composure and poise that I specifically need when I write at this place. It’s like a small personally curated garden of thoughts at the border of my mind. I put my heart and soul into every little word, graphic and theme that you find inscribed here.
While looking at some of the old files on the network, I stumbled across this old book I read at school. This came out somewhere in 2001. So we are talking about a book that I read circa 18 years old!
The publisher Plough summarizes the theme of the book as below:
“I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s. If I could choose not to have cancer, and continue my life as it was, I wouldn’t do it.” – Matt Gauger.
You’re twenty-two, in love, and just starting a career. The last thing you’re worried about is the purpose of life (whatever that means) and when you’re going to die. If you think about such things, you certainly don’t talk about them.
With his sociable personality and love of music and basketball, Matt had plenty of friends but didn’t really stand out from the crowd. Then, a month before his wedding, he was diagnosed with cancer. Six months later he was dead. But Six Months to Live isn’t really about dying. It’s the story of how Matt and his family and friends struggled to accept his suffering, and how it changed each of them. It’s about facing (rather than avoiding) life’s most important questions, and – instead of going through the motions – living life to the full.”
Among the books of similar themes, I’ve come across, what rapted me is how positively death was faced by the young man and the pragmatic and inspiring support system of his family and community he had embraced. The 13-year-old me who read it 18 years ago still remembers this takeaway. True stories like this truly inspire me. If we think about it, this sort of support system is what makes our lives truly memorable. That’s some real wealth and fortune if we are blessed with it.
