Do it yourself!

I have already blogged about doing-it-yourself. It's one of those fascinations thats here to stay. Like watching a kid who is giggling. Like watching kodee (Amma's helper at home) sweep the room one stroke at a time. Like watching the barber at work one chop at a time. Like stoping to watch the snail cross the pavement.

Its entertaining, its engaging and its fun. It keeps my hands at work and that makes me smile. I read a piece on HBR about most people receiving satisfaction out of physical work. Think about it. Haven't you always felt like a star after cleaning your room? After going for a run? After watering plants? Its as if physical work is one full shot of happiness and energy boost.

It is a very interesting theory especially in the age of iPhones and banking. As more and more people are moving themselves from physical labour to intellectual labour how can we still keep our bodies useful? How can we create a life that engages all that we possess?


A very intriguing thought process I would think! So think about it and see how you engage your body in your everyday life :) 

Cereal Power!

I dont know if its the huge blob of juicy meat thats starring back at me, but I feel like writing about food again! Its probably just that I love anything yummy.

I managed one thing in the past sem very successfully. I started eating breakfast everyday. It was a huge struggle trying to keep up this habit through the first two years of uni. Finally I can say that its set, its a pattern, its clockwork.

I was never a fan of cereal. Never took a fancy for milk and Kellogg's back in Chennai. Like Bob Dylan said 'The times, they are changing'. I am a HUGE fan of cereal now. I dream of pouring milk into a bowl of crunchy dried up pieces of joy.

Part of figuring out the breakfast menu is running up and down the cereal section in the supermarket and picking a cereal for the week. I was on a search for the perfect cereal for several weeks. One bright sunny sunday, while I was walking the aisles of NTUC Fairprice, I discovered a particular variant of Kellogg's. NutriGrain. That's the name of heaven in my world. A big fat bowl of Meiji and NutriGrain makes my day like none other!

Make no mistake. If you try this out (which you definitely should!) you need to say the following things twice and cross your heart:

1) I will have only Meiji milk in my bowl
2) I will have only NutriGrain
3) I will not substitute the above holy ingredients

Done?

+

=

There. Your happy day is right in front of you (or in the supermarket aisle). Go grab it! Eat it!

A smaller serving

The concept of eating out of small plates not new to me. Mom always practices that and I can't even count the number of times I have thought it did not make sense. I am sorry Amma. Now I completely understand that!

Dan and Chip recommend the same path for controlling your elephant in their book 'Switch'. Two groups of movie-goers were given free but stale popcorn. One group however a bigger bucket than the other. So did these people eat their popcorn at all? Was there a difference in the amount they ate?

Yes to both the questions. Both groups did eat the stale popcorn. More over, the group with the bigger bucket ate more than the group with the smaller bucket. Moral of the story? When your supposed capacity is bigger you eat more.

The authors suggest a learning of 'change the situation to solve the problem' through this analogy. If we were trying to get these people to eat less popcorn, what should we do? We would simply give them a smaller bucket.

I have been trying to take smaller portions for dinner these days. So when I go for the second serving, my head knows that it is the second and hence tries to be content with a smaller portion at the end of the day.

I think this is also a part-reason, gourmet dishes are so fulfilling. Forget that fine dining is usually yummier/ more exquisite than regular dining. They come in such tiny portions! But after three courses you want to be done!

To changing situation and eating lesser! Hopefully this seed of thought will pave way for a flatter tummy..

Keep smiling!

Ever wondered what the woman who past you smiling to herself was thinking/reading/saying?

I ALWAYS did!

I have a fascination for that more-than-human power. I always try to imagine situations for a person I noticed on the road!

Some days I am just really not thinking about anything. Say, when I am walking to work. I am just observing people and dreaming up their life or their day.

It would be a killer power to know what is going on - on their minds would it not? Purely super natural stuff.

Especially when these people are smiling. I can just come up with a million happy things that would have happened to them just then. And somehow it makes me smile.

Powerful and contagious, Smile is!

Annoying Paper Clip Guy and Computer Period

I was reading 'Switch'. Lovely lovely book. So many tiny things and tweaks about life in general. A post is coming soon about all that. In the meanwhile, the authors mention 'The annoying paper clip' guy. I had completely forgotten about this dude!

It took me down a memory of computer labs in school. We were taken to the lab once every week, I think right from when I was 5. It was heaven on earth. Especially if you understand the coolness factor among your friends if you have 'Computer Period' that day! It multiplies by about 100 times than the non-computer-period kids.

Whats so cool about that? Firstly its an hour of aircon! Now if you ever lived in Chennai, India or spent more than 5 hours with 40 sweaty kids in one poorly ventilated classroom (My school was actually not that horrible. I am just blowing the facts out of proportion to intensify the story line!) you'll know the feeling of an hour of aircon.

Secondly you get to use the computer! At home, I was always allowed to use the computer only under adult supervision at that age. Mom/Dad would sit with me a let me learn something. Which is not as cool as, you sitting all by yourself and doing whatever you want with your computer (in an HOUR of aircon)!

Now to the paper clip guy. He was also a very ritualistic part of the learning process. The teachers encouraged us to use his help while navigating through the Office. Partly because they dint know what they were talking about, in my opinion! I used to take his help reluctantly cause sometimes there was no other way to finish the little tasks my tutors gave me.

I remember how he never left the screen. He used to keep unrolling from somewhere. I also remember the day I figured out how to turn that guy off. It was a very very epic moment making that discovery!