India's rescue operations intensify in Nepal.

After the initial reluctance shown by Nepal, to accept India's rescue efforts on offer, that country has relented and the Indian rescue and relief teams are working at many places.

India has deployed tunnel engineers, doctors, paramedics and forensic experts as rescuers race against time to reach people feared trapped in hydropower tunnels on the fifth day of the disaster.

India has so far provided 68.5 tons of relief material. A fourth Indian flight carrying 11 tons of assistance reached Nepal yesterday. The latest consignment included :-

    * a tunnel technical team

    * equipment for search-and-rescue operations

    * forensic equipment for DNA analysis

    * essential relief supplies like :-

       - blankets

       - sleeping bags

       - tarpaulin

       - plastic sheets and

       - hygiene kits

The rescue effort is focused on the Upper Trishuli hydropower complex, where authorities received information that around 350 people could be trapped in a tunnel.  

"Amor Fati".

It's an invitation to meet life as it comes.

A delayed train, a rejected application, a broken relationship - life regularly hands us circumstances we would rather not have. Amor Fati, Latin for 'love of fate', offers a different response : instead of merely tolerating what cannot be changed, embrace reality and work with it.

The phrase is most closely associated with Friedrich Nietzche, although it has affinities with the ancient  Stoic attitude towards fate. For Nietzsche, it meant more than resignation - it called for an active affirmation of life, including its difficulties. To love one's fate does not mean believing that everything that happens is good; it means accepting what has happened without becoming trapped in resistance to it.

A failure can become a lesson; an unwanted change can reveal a new direction; a difficult person can become an exercise in patience. When something goes wrong, instead of asking, 'Why did this happen to me?', ask, 'Why did this happen to me?', ask, 'What can I do with what has happened?'

The challenge is not to love every circumstance but to meet whatever comes with the freedom to respond wisely.

Courtesy. The NIE of 30 Aug.

Something to ponder upon!

I cried after reading this.

* One day your parents will become your children. Not in age, but in need.

* There will come a time when they forget things you just told them.

* When they move slower, ask the same question twice and need help

   with what used to be easy.

* Don't see it as a burden, see it as debt of love being paid back.

* Call them more, visit them more.

* Speak softer while you still can.

* Because one day the phone will stop ringing.

Love them today, tomorrow might be late.

The real luxuries.

 (a) A good night's sleep.

 (b) Slow mornings.

 (c) Freedom to choose.

 (d) Time for fun and play.

 (e) Listening to birds singing.

 (f) Long walks.

 (g) A good book.

 (h) Favourite home-cooked food.

 (j) Colourful sunsets.

 (k) Ability to freely express yourself.

 (l) A good nap.

 (m) A good conversation.

My take 

Life only gets to be very interesting with experience of any or a combination of the luxuries, cited above.   

Nepal's disaster.

160 killed in deadly Nepal deluge; at least 133 Indians among 844 missing

Water rose 30 feet and at least 160 people were killed, while hundreds of others, including scores of Kailash Manasarovar pilgrims from India, remained missing after a flash flood and mudslide of unprecedented scale in Bhote Koshi and Trishuli rivers tore through a part of Nepal-Tibet border yesterday morning. It was a glacier break up!

It swept away settlements, hydropower units and the pilgrim route.

My take

A tragedy of unimaginable magnitude! My prayers for Nepal and its people!!

A quiet Thiruvonam.

Got up at 5, sent the messages, opened up the house for the day, lit up the puja room lamp and switched on the hymns on the home theatre.

It was pitter patter rain right from early morning!

Walked within the house, recited my prayers, carried out my exercise routine followed by bath.

Wore the onakkodi got from the Kuthaampulli received as complimentary from the weavers' village when we'd gone there shopping a few months back! Lekha had also done that!!

A great Thiruvonam sadya - a wonderful effort on the part of Lekha and the maid.

Had a siesta while Lekha watched the Malayalam flick, "Mohiniyaattam".

The evening chores.

We saw Drishyam 3. Good movie; the suspense was maintained till the end.

We, also, saw the grand finale of the children's reality show, "Top Singer Season 6" on the Flowers channel.

  

Wise Zen Monk Once Said....

1. When you walk, walk fully - rushing makes you miss the journey.

2. Eat with gratitude, every grain of rice carries unseen hands.

3. Own little, for possessions quickly begin to own you.

4. Speak only when your words are better than silence.

5. Anger is like hot coal - you burn yourself first before anyone else.

6. The mind becomes calm when the body learns stillness.

Tailpiece.

A great lesson!