The Value of Self-Worth

Ever wondered why we've always felt the need to be a little taller, little fairer, little slimmer, richer, more beautiful, have that perfect set of teeth, perfect hair, company of that perfect gang of friends, the need to always have someone to vent out with, someone to constantly assure you're doing well, or that one person who you've always eyed on? 

Ever wondered why every day is not a happy day, why that one off day feels so terrible? It's because we don't acknowledge our worth or try to be "good enough" to match our expectations of a better person. Know your worth! Work on the kind of person you fancy to be. What you invest on others might get wasted, but the efforts you put on getting better never will!

Above all, respect everyone and respect yourself. Being modest is good but there's a fine line between being modest and being an idiot. As much as you appreciate your fellow acquaintences, ackowledge the hard work and dedication you put into making something work. Confidence begins with self-respect. Encourage others to do well, and work twice as hard to be better than today. 

Be positive! Sounds so common, but it's as hard to practice. Not every day gets a good start. Some days are bad for no reason! Eat right, love yourself enough to notice the changes in you with your mood. Smile through it, for it releases cortisols and works toward signalling your brain to release happy hormones. Our body and mind are connected, so the effects of one aspect reflects on the other. Hence, triggering a stimulation to feel the way you want is possible. 

Align yourself with the miracles you want to witness. It's true that if you want something with all your heart and soul, the universe conspires on making it work for you. But what's it like to want something so much! That kind of passion doesn't come with everything we want. Inherently we somehow know what we want with all our capacity, yet we tend to be diverted what we think we want the most. But some part of our mind always tells us if something is not worth trying for or wasting time sulking over. All we got to do is to listen to that instinct. 

Don't get hung up on one thing and waste your time. Something works for you? Great! Something doesn't go well? Still great, because it adds clarity on what's not going to work out for you and what you can channelize your energy on. Remember, no matter how your day goes, how you start the next day is always under your control! 

Not a Sadhguru follower, but this made sense to me. Don't let others control over how you feel. If you let others be the reason why you feel happy, sad, or angry, that's the ultimate slavery.

If you aspire to be in a certain way, living it that way to the best of your capacity is the best way to start with. 

Strike a balance between dream and reality. At the end, not achieving or going in the best path assumed also causes frustration. One good step at a time is a great start to pick up from.

Live to Eat or Eat to Live

It's food we all need to get the essential nutrients to keep our body functioning. It's the basic necessity that made all creatures different causing a perfect balance in nature. Earning and fighting for food has been a part of every creature's life. But is that all about it? Given how developed we humans are in the hierarchy of living organisms, food is definitely something that controls our lives. 

Our emotions change with the state of our hunger and taste of food, not to forget the newly named emotions hangry and foodgasm. We give up on things when we are too hungry to fight for, we get all happy and go blessing around when we have the most prosperous meal with the taste, timing, and craving well-coordinated, thanks to the release of our happy hormones seretonin, dopamine, endorphin etc at the sense of food and the memory of a good-food experience.

A mere thought of lemon pickle gets us drooling in no time. The smell of freshly baked cakes in birthdays and weddings makes the moment memorable. The smell of food we grew up eating makes us feel nostalgic of our childhood and mom's and grand mom's exceptional cooking. The memory of hot and fried bhajji we ate while walking on a rainy evening, the ice cream we gulped watching rain drops roll over the glass while sitting in an ice cream parlor, the food our family members cooked together at the backyard during family gatherings talking endlessly are etched in our minds for a lifetime. 

Our day is sorted if what we eat for the day is sorted. A bad day just gets better with good food. It gets even better if we happen to go to a nice place to eat impromptu. Food also breaks the awkward silence as a sweet and sour conversation starter. It makes every place special making us want to go back to that place just to relish the good times we would have spent there. 

Only true food lovers can understand the importance of a perfect place to have every dish. It could be sea food by the beach, pop corns in the movies, beer in a brewery, fresh fruits just picked and had in the farm, bamboo-smoked food in the ghats, steaming hot Idli just out of the cooker by the highway, on a drive. All-in-all, as a food lover, I can say it's food-life integration😋.

A Ride to Chikmagalur

Chikmagalur, located in the Western Ghats of Southern India, is known for its beautiful hill stations, coffee plantations, and the best eye-soothing view all along the place. The hill stations certainly make it an amazing place to trek the Kemmangundi Z-point, Mullayangiri, Kallatgiri, Rani Jhari, Kudremukh to name a few. I've visited this place a lot of times, mostly for treks. Nevertheless, there's a whole other side to this place. Many beautiful falls, Hebbe falls being the most visited; many places to just visit, chill out, and experience the heavenly feel of looking around and getting lost in the middle of nature. Best part is no other phone networks are active except for BSNL, which adds to the beauty of a perfect break away from phone and internet. 

Ours was a ride planned and coordinated by ARMC-Acclaimed Riders Motorcycling Club. A pure Royal Enfield riders club. The ride started by 5:30 in the morning from the Royal Enfield showroom Yelahanka. We stopped at Parle G factory for a quick tea and to let the riders who were to join midway catch up. Having the target time of 1:30 pm to reach the resort Jhari in Chikmagalur, our next stop was instructed to be only after 120 km at a breakfast place. As decided, we stopped at UpSouth to have breakfast and had a good one-hour break. So far, I sat in Thunderbird and after breakfast I switched to Standard (Bullet). Once we started here, the next stop was after we reached Chikmagalur entrance. My back went numb and I feared my jeans would catch fire caused by friction against the leather seat. Gladly, our lead made up his mind to stop for a quick tender coconut drink. The resort people had started calling for lunch from 10:30 in the morning and we also had an off-road stretch to cover. Without wasting any more time, we left the place, and the last 12-km distance was the best of the whole ride. The riders were pro and went ripping the curves. The footrest of their bikes scratched against the roads and sparked. After reaching the off-road path, all pillion riders got off the bikes and took jeeps arranged by the resort.

Once we reached the resort, we had a quick look around. The resort, Jhari, was constructed near a waterfall and hence the name Jhari. We were so hungry, we just got every dish from the buffet spread on our plates and ate to our heart's content. After some rest, we got into the falls and the water was coolest imaginable. After gathering some courage to get into the waters, I had to have some more courage to fight my fear of suffocation in water and standing right below the waterfall was the next big thing to conquer. Fortunately, I got some helping hands to get there and some survival tips :D. Once into it, we were in no mind to come out. We got chairs and sat beside the falls in the water and had hot tea there. Duh! If only I had special effects to express my experience. To add to the bliss, it rained hailstones for quite some time. After the rain stopped, we had a camp fire, surprisingly most of the riders danced like they didn't ride for 300 and odd km, fully energetic. I was so lost in the nature and sound of the waterfalls, my limbs just didn't move to dance, but I quietly enjoyed the food and music there. 

Next day, I again went to the falls with my friend and sat right in front of the falls. The experience was much more than meditation. We usually try to stop having mixture of thoughts in mind and have a quite mind, which is barely possible and we end up constantly talking and thinking about random stuff. But in this place, I realized I was just listening to the sounds around and was really living the present. This experience was really priceless. Very soon, other members of the group woke up and we went on a quick 45-min hike followed by breakfast. Now guess what! we got into the waterfalls again! This time, I directly went and stood below the falls and just didn't move for almost an hour. Finally, when I came out, the pressure of waterfalls hitting my back, the best massage I can say, had stopped and I could feel my heart beat. I can say that was the moment of inner peace. I can also say having no phone network added to the experience of feeling alive every moment. We quickly changed and had lunch, as we were running out of time to leave the place to match with the set journey time.

On the way back, I sat on RE Himalayan. This rider gave a little piece of advice before getting on his bike or I can say terms and conditions on how I had to hold on and not put pressure on his arms or his bike. It took a while to get the rhythm, but I picked on it soon. The view on the way back was again amazing. The rider even taught me to stand with him on speed breakers while riding and we soon stood on all types of speed breakers, the continuous ones, in my rider-naive language. We stopped at a place for tea and photo shoot of the team, and after reaching the last toll, we stopped to talk about our experiences. After some casual talking about the ride, we signed off. We departed to our respective routes and that's how our amazing ride came to an end.

Dilemma

The word itself is so confusing .In fact, most of our thoughts begin with a confusion. This happens because of the fight between desire and provision. We most of the times don’t get what we actually want , hence we compromise.. but the question is to what extent can we compromise !!! When we get hung up with things can we put our self satisfaction to toss??? This is where Patience of mind plays is role for time is the only answer for our biggest confusions .. when things don’t come our way its better to stay diplomatic and just go with the flow.

Zootoxins

Zootoxin – most commonly uttered as ‘venom’, a very much known term used in the field of biology dealing with its usage in medicinal purposes. Venom is a compilation of multifarious toxins produced by particular organisms for their defensive purposes; the injection of this poisonous liquid into the dupe, through a bite or a sting, can lead to the death of the victim.

When dealt with the constituents of the venom, we gather information about elements like several proteins, different enzymes, certain substances with cytotoxic effect and neurotoxic effect and coagulants. Venoms differ in their effect according to the preponderance in them of hemotoxic, hemolytic, or neurotoxic agents. Hemotoxic elements perforate the blood vessels, causing hemorrhage; and hemolysis dissolves the red blood cells. The venom of that of the rattlesnake, thecopperhead, and the moccasin is both hemotoxic and hemolytic. Neurotoxins produce paralysis, often of the nerve centers that control breathing, thus causing a quicker death from suffocation.Cobras, coral snakes, scorpions and spiders produce neurotoxic venoms. The venom of the Gabon Viper is both hemotoxic and neurotoxic.

Venom attacks can range in severity from a simple localized inflammation of the skin to almost immediate death, depending on the animal involved and the potency and mode of action of its venom. An attack’s severity also depends on the victim’s age [children are more severely affected than are adults] and the location of the injury [a venom wound on an arm or leg is usually less serious than a similar one on the head or trunk].

As every single object [though living or non-living] has its own merits and demerits; venoms too have their merits and demerits. The only demerit of venom is that when it is injected into its target, the ultimate disaster is that this act has all possibilities to turn out fatal to the target. Apart from this, venoms no longer stand in the category of demerits raised. The venoms of various snakes have been used medicinally, according to their specific properties, as painkillers [in arthritis, cancer and leprosy], antispasmodics [in epilepsy and asthma], and blood coagulants [in hemophilia]. The venom of Russell’s viper has been used as a coagulant in tonsillectomies and for bleeding gums. Poisons are produced by animal species of every phylum; examples include the poison in the rounded warts of the skin of toad; the venoms of spiders, scorpions, bees, and other arthropods, and the poison of jellyfish and other coelenterates.

Venoms have an unbeatable magnitude to learn about, to understand it, to have research fields for it and to enjoy its usage for medicinal purposes. Yet the enigma in us remains unrevealed, that is, even particular smallest species of living organisms possess the defensive mechanism through injecting venoms into the target.