About the blog and the blogger... at some level, they are both but one!

Although I'm a lawyer and law student by profession, in my heart, I am just a spiritual seeker and a student and disciple of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I've taught Art of Living's Youth Program (YES course) and Yoga courses for the past 7 years and read almost all books written by or about Sri Sri. Before joining the first Art of Living workshop (at age 17), I was initiated into Transcendental Meditation at the age of 11 and learned yoga under a senior teacher from the Bihar School of Yoga from the age of 13-15. Although I never admitted it as a teenager, I have always felt a strong attraction towards meditation and yoga. My mind always wandered into the outer world beyond the Earth and the inner world - of our hearts and souls - can they ever meet?

My interest in cooking, particularly vegetarian, Ayurvedic cooking is relatively recent. While I was in the United States doing my masters program, the lack of good vegetarian restaurants around my law school in beautiful Concord, New Hampshire forced me to cook my own meals. This was in 2005. Following my masters, I moved to New York where I spent 2.5 happy years studying (for the NY Bar!), working (with IBM and later as a consultant), teaching Art of Living courses, and of course COOKING for my sister and for the students who I taught. During this time, I also did the Sri Sri Ayurveda cooking course and realized that I had a flair and instinct for cooking and baking. This was 2006-2007.

Realising that cooking helps in introspection, recognizing (unnecessary) personal behavioral patterns and overcoming them, living the present moment in its totality and experiencing deeper meditations came even more recently - just within this year in fact (2011). This realisation (which is in its infancy and hopefully on its way to progressive maturation) inspired this blog.

Through this blog I bring to everyone of us who has a creative heart and/or a love for trying new things (whether in the kitchen or elsewhere) my experiences with introspecting and meditating while doing something that I enjoy a great deal most of the time, and hate some of the time :).

As Sri Sri advises, I cook in the present moment and never make anything that tastes the same as last time. Most recipes here are either modifications of well known recipes or creations off the top of my head or a combination of these.

I hope you enjoy reading the blog! Please feel free to comment or criticize or suggest or praise. I offer and surrender it all to the divine.

With love... happy cooking and happy introspecting. :D