Adventures of an extreme organizer

I've been OCD about cleaning for as long as I can go back in memory. I remember my friends laughing at me when I refused to throw a candy wrapper on the streets in India. I can more or less say the same about decluttering and organization. However, this is my first attempt at organizing my entire home in one shot. That's why it's been on my mind so much lately. There's another reason for it but I'll get to it at the end.

I've started such projects in the past only to find myself abandoning them midway. Not this time! In order to ensure that I stick with the fight to the bitter end, I've decided to start a focused blog on decluttering and organization. In other words, find an outlet to channel my OCD a little and at the same time, share my thoughts and learnings along the way. A few friends and family members expressed an interest, hence the inspiration. I recently discovered much to my own astonishment that I am capable of spouting organization/decluttering tips and tricks by the millions, many of which I haven't used myself. But I know for a fact that they will work. I dont know where they are coming from! Perhaps I'm a sleeper agent.....

Call me crazy but I've found a reasonably strong association between visible clutter and invisible (mental) clutter. Turns out I'm not the only one who feels this way. Whew! I've found myself being much more productive, positive and calmer when my home/work area is clean and there is a certain harmony in my surroundings. Clutter costs time and money, not to mention wasted effort and stress. Therefore, as I declutter and bring harmony to my home, somehow, I feel it will help declutter my mind and bring more focus. I could certainly use a dose of mental decluttering, given that I've been such a scatter-brain of late. That being said, I have yet to start writing my new blog. But it wont be too long now!

Got any good suggestions for the name of the blog?

Minimizing 'stuff'

It's funny. I've been thinking a lot lately about minimalism (I'll probably write/elaborate on that separately later). Then I read this article. Ok, let me make some things clear right at the start. I love to cook and don't think that eating out everyday is my cup of tea. I also love to entertain and have people over. Anyhoo, aside from all that, it still made me wonder.....how much stuff do I own?!

The smallest space A and I have lived in was a 640 sqft 1 bedroom condo, our first home. When we were looking to buy our first place, we knew we wanted to live in the city. The idea of a cozy condo close to downtown was very appealing (still is). We looked at numerous condos and none of those said 'home' like this one. Something about the condo itself and the location was just perfect. The moment we walked in we knew we wanted to live there. And so we got it! However, the first few months after moving there was something of a challenge, space management wise. In retrospect, it was the best thing that we did to ourselves. It taught us to keep our possessions to a minimum. We started going through several rounds of selling unwanted items, giving things away to Goodwill, throwing random junk, realizing along the way how much we own that is wasteful. We finally reached a point where everything we had pretty much fit inside our little closets and creative storage solutions. However, entertaining was a little tough...especially long staying visitors like our parents.

After about two and a half years in that little home, we moved just five blocks away, still in the city and close to downtown, to our 2nd place - a two bedroom condo of about 1016 sqft. We still live here and love it. Generally speaking, both of us gravitate towards living spaces that are just enough and a little more. The lack of a guest bedroom in the first condo was slowly turning out to be an issue. So we finally upgraded. While this place had tons of storage space of its own, I found after we moved and unpacked in this condo that nearly two of the closets were pretty much empty! I was exhilarated! But we've since accumulated some stuff.

So it's time to declutter once again. I've always liked the idea of living as minimally as possible. Luckily for me, A thinks similarly too. Of course, it's not possible for us to give up everything and go live in a cave...that's not what I mean. But the idea of consuming as little as possible, materialistically speaking, given your life's interests and style is very appealing. It's definitely a constant struggle but feels like a worthwhile one to pursue. Also, the second part of this equation is wanting less materialistic stuff and therefore buying less. Luckily, we're already pretty good about that.

Therefore, as part of my home organization project (that I mentioned in my earlier post), I will be decluttering our possessions once again. I can say with absolute certainty that I will be able to free up AT LEAST the guest bedroom closet completely once again. So may the decluttering begin!

Good start!

It's been a week and a half and I'm still at it. I'm in disbelief. This is the first time I've had success in waking up early without the use of jet lag for an extended period of time! ;-) I wake up at 6:30 am every morning, give or take 5 minutes. It is probably so small and unimportant a feat but I tell ya....I've been feeling absolutely wonderful! It's psychological but just the fact that I've managed to accomplish this little thing makes me feel like I'm so much more productive. Here are some direct benefits I've experienced so far:

1. I eat a good breakfast everyday.
2. I read for at least 20 minutes. My current reads - The Dharma Bums (Jack Kerouac) and A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson). I read one book in the morning and one at night before going to sleep depending on what I feel like each morning. On some days I read up on photography (my new found hobby).
3. I get ready for work without a sense of crazy rush. 
4. I even saw dawn breaking over the horizon on a couple of days when it wasn't raining or grey! It was peaceful and lovely.
5. I've felt energetic all day long.
6. I'm able to come back home early because I get to work earlier. That gives me the benefit of additional time in the evenings as well. So I've been cooking more - satisfies both my craving for getting creative in the kitchen and healthy eating for both of us.
7. A side benefit of waking early and having more time in the day - I finally started my home organization project. I always dreamed of an immaculately organized home - and I dont mean just on the outside. Every closet, shelf and drawer must be cleaned out for getting rid of unnecessary items, i.e., be as minimal as possible in my possessions. Everything must have a dedicated place so we wont need to clean up clutter much. I dont like to accumulate too much stuff and hence dislike shopping (yea, weird for a girl I know). But I'd rather be as less consumerist as possible - as much as I can help it anyway. Also, strangely enough, my state of zen is directly related to not just visible clutter but also the kind that's hidden away behind closed closet doors. It really does affect my sleep. (My husband is convinced I'm not from this planet. ;-))
8. Finally, I've started planning my days better and getting more out of each day. As part of that, I'm also setting goals towards following a path of doing only what I love, not just on weekends, but all week long.

Anyway, I think that's the list so far. I'm quite excited with the progress I've made if I may be allowed to gloat for a minute here. ;-) And here's hoping for more....

Focussing on what really matters

I've been constantly introspective for most of 2009. What triggered it? Hmm. It could have been one of several factors or even all of them combined: I made a lateral move at work from engineering to project management. I hit the big 3-0 mark. I exhausted myself out mid year and needed a vacation big time. Increased baby pressure from the folks. The result - I turned into a negatively charged stress ball from the otherwise calm, positive and chilled out person that I usually am and I didn't like it one bit. I also don't do complaining. Yet I found myself complaining a lot and often. I've read more productivity and 'life' blogs this year than I can count. I've tried to read up on so many different topics that my focus was stretched too thin to make a difference in any one in particular. That's it. No more! I'm putting an end to the madness that 2009 has been.

Most people fail at fulfilling their new year resolutions. I've come to the conclusion that this is due to a few different reasons:

1. Too many resolutions. It's hard to focus on getting good at one thing when you've stretched yourself thin among too many. You've set yourself up for failure right there.
   
2. Each resolution individually is a drastic, cold-turkey type of change. "I'm going to start hitting the gym at 6:00 am every other morning." I hate to break it to you but it's just not gonna happen. Change typically happens gradually, especially when it comes to breaking old habits. Fact check: cold-turkey rarely works. Ask any smoker who's successfully broken the habit.
   
3. Expecting results too soon. You cannot expect to become an expert at something instantly. We live in a world filled with activities geared towards instant gratification. This cannot be applied to picking up a new skill for example. It takes passion, practice, more practice and patience.

I'm no exception. I'm guilty of all of the above. I've therefore decided on a few things:

1. I'm not going to align my resolutions with the New Year. It's a bogus way to convince yourself that if you start at New Years, you're going to stick with it. Nope, doesn't work. I've already started!
   
2. I'm going to prioritize my list of goals and pick the top 3-4 items to focus on. Everything else will remain prioritized lower and I will get to it when I get to it. 
3. I will focus on one thing at a time.
4. Perfection be damned.
   

The point of putting these thoughts out here is to create a web of accountability for myself. Somehow making it public seems to add 'good' pressure to me following my goals.With that said, my first goal is to start waking early. I've tried this several times before and failed miserably. But this time I'm going to approach this gradually and with incentives. So, what are my reasons for focusing on waking early? A few. Morning time is peaceful. I can start having a good breakfast every morning instead of munching on a Clif bar on my way to work or worse, starving until lunch. I can even set time aside to focus one any one activity that I really like to do which will count towards my other goals.

Alrighty, it's time to stop the talk and walk the walk. I am really thrilled to note that I woke up at 6:40 am this morning. Woohoo!! I fought that crazy little voice in my head talking me into going back into the warm, cozy comforter. I need to keep this up for at least 30 days to make it a habit. Wish me luck y'all.

Random thought

I've been sick for the past few days with the flu. Fever chills, body and head aches aside, it naturally gives me time to ponder 'life', jobless as I am while recovering. :-)

I am far from religious in the 'God' sense. But this something I've thought hard about through the blip of an existence that is my life thus far. I feel that there is no such thing as a perfectly rational or logical human. There never has been and never will be. We humans are inherently flawed and egotistical. We have been religious and always will be - whether that religion has something to do with a traditional 'God' or 'Science' or  your toaster or whatever else. We know so little about our own infinitesimally insignificant existence and have difficulty accepting that we cannot explain everything - that's the egotistical part. On one hand, this ego is probably what keeps us from becoming extinct (yet). On the other hand, it might just be leading us further that way... :-)

On the lighter side, how else would one explain Mac fanatics arguing vehemently over why Macs are the greatest thing since sliced bread? ;-)

When I was little....

Ashwin is always amazed (and amused) at the number of 'when I was little' stories I tell. He asks me how I remember these things in such minute detail. I'm not sure myself. In any case, here's another one. :) It's not so much a story this time though, rather a fond memory. For several years, Sunday lunch used to be my favorite meal at home and Sunday afternoon my favorite time of the whole week. This was due to several reasons:

1. Mom was home - she didn't go to work on Sundays. :-)
2. I used to come rushing back from my early morning dance class to catch the last bits of my Sunday morning cartoons followed by other tv shows and watch them with the whole family. I lived in an extended family back then and was one of 4 kids, the youngest. :-)
3. Sunday lunch (most often) automatically implied a special and fully North Indian menu (most other days were a mix of South and North Indian). 

It's not that I didn't like South Indian food but at the time the Sunday meal was my favorite. I would return from dance class in the morning welcomed by the aroma of frying puris along with chole and pulav. It was the best thing in the whole world to be fed puris by mum! Life was simple from my perspective and all of the world's problems could be fixed with puris, chole and pulao. :-)

When I started cooking during my undergrad years, I never cooked pulav much. Not exactly sure why. I think I made it a couple of times. The first couple of times I probably couldn't replicate the taste as I remembered it so I gave up on making pulao for the most part. Then I started making an Indian style fried rice I learnt from my brother which was pretty good. That gave me more courage to try other pulao dishes. A couple of years ago I made my own version of a methi pulao and it turned out pretty darn awesome. Ashwin liked it too and he actually asked for it again. :-) Those who know him know that him asking for veggie food a second time is worth a mention. :-) Since then I've been trying various rice based one-dish-meal recipes off and on.

My latest is a mixed vegetable pulao. We had this pulao at a friend's place recently. My friend's mom was visiting and she made it for lunch with spinach raita (which was also delicious btw but I haven't tried that yet). I got the recipe from her and tried it out with a couple of my own tweaks. It turned out truly fabulous and reminded me of the mixed vegetable pulao I used to have "when I was little". :-) I figured I'd share the recipe. This one is pretty easy. Only the assembling of the ingredients might take a little while, but not too bad. So dont be afraid of the long list! Here goes.

Ingredients:

1 tblsp butter/ghee
1 tsp oil

1/4 inch piece cinnamon
1 green cardamom - remove the outer covering
2-3 cloves
1/2 of a bay leaf crushed into little pieces

1 medium onion chopped
1 inch piece ginger grated
2 big garlic cloves grated
1 medium green chilli chopped fine

1 medium green bell pepper chopped
1 medium red bell pepper chopped
10-12 green beans chopped

2 tsp dhania powder
3/4 tsp jeera powder
1/2 tsp garam masala powder

1/2 cup of finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 cup of finely chopped mint leaves
2 teaspoons of kasoori methi

1 cup basmati rice freshly cooked

Salt to taste

Method:

Wash/rinse the basmati rice and put in a rice cooker (or whatever else you use to cook rice). Let it cook while you prep the veggies. I use a 1:2 ratio for rice:water and my rice cooker turns out perfectly fluffed basmati rice.

Chop the onions, bell peppers and green beans. I usually chop into smallish pieces and of equal sizes since they cook evenly and faster that way. The total amout of chopped veggies I used added up to about two cups worth.

Grate the ginger and garlic. Alternatively, you could use ginger-garlic paste. Chop the green chillis, cilantro and mint leaves into tiny tiny pieces.

Heat the oil and the butter/ghee in a pan. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and crushed bay leaf. Saute the spices for a minute or so until you get an aroma.

Then the green chillis. Stir for a min. Next up, ginger and garlic until light brown. Be careful not to burn them. Then add the onions. Saute until light golden and add the rest of the veggies. At this point also add dhania, jeera and garam masala powder and salt to taste and mix thoroughly. Cover and let it cook on medium heat until nearly done, stirring occasionally so the veggies dont stick to the bottom. The steam generated from covering the pan should be enough water to cook the veggies. If you feel they're drying up too much, you can sprinkle some water.

WHen the veggies are nearly cooked, add all the leaves - cilantro, mint and kasoori methi. Stir for a couple of minutes while the flavors sink in. The veggies are now ready! Now add in the cooked rice and mix thoroughly. Adjust salt if you need to at this point and let it cook covered for a couple of minutes more. Turn off the heat and voila! Your pulao is ready.

Feel free to experiment with other veggies (cauliflower, carrots, peas etc). Also remember that my quantities are approximations.

We had this with a cucumber, mint and cilantro raita. Yup, you guessed it: mint was the overarching theme of our dinner that night. :-) Do let me know how it went if you tried it!

PS: I was planning on writing about our recent travels (referring to my previous rather abrupt post) to distant lands but decided to abandon the idea because Ashwin has been writing. He's finished about 3 parts so far. Check it out @ http://ashwinsheadchurn.blogspot.com.

First impressions of Paris

What's my first impression of Paris? If Bombay were to be cleaned up, this is what it would look like! :-) More later.

Been a while...

....since I read any books. I don't know why but I go in and out of reading phases. I've been in a non-reading phase for at least 3 or 4 months now. Not picked up a single book and it bothers the hell out of me. But the year has generally been a crazy one so far. Work has kept me busier than ever the past few months. Combine that with dance rehearsals for our annual day show in June and house guests, I'm left with wanting to do absolutely nothing and just 'be' in the remaining time. The older I get, just 'being' makes me feel like I'm running out of time to do and experience things. So I want to give myself no time to rest. I tell myself there's plenty of time for that when I get old and retire. But after my little visit to the ER in June, if I've learnt one thing this year it's that you need to allow your body and mind to slow down and rest from time to time. Those 'do nothing' periods are as important to your body, mind and soul as the doing and experiencing. Nothing is worth deteriorating your health for no matter how much you love it. I used to be pretty good at pacing myself but lately it's been something I've been struggling with, primarily because of work. As I get more comfortable in my new role at work though, I'm learning to push back, understand how full my plate is and not take on too much at a time. As an engineer the focus was usually on one to two reasonably well defined projects and taking on too much never came up as much of an issue except occassionally, not *ALL* the time. But as a PM it just makes me go to the ER. :-) Speaking of pacing myself, it's time for me to go to bed now.

Humbling moon

I never cease to be amazed by the full moon. Last night it was *giant*, orange and breathtakingly beautiful, hanging out over our downtown view. Tried to capture it as best as I could with my pocket cam from our living room patio before it became smaller. Why I love my condo reason #23. :-)

Too fast, too much....or survival?

Human civilization has been aligning itself to an industrialization model for years now. I feel like we are at a point where our schools, colleges, entire education systems are oriented towards finding a high paying job and teaching you to climb 'corporate ladders'. Perhaps not directly so, but that's definitely the underlying theme. Public exams mean make or break for several kids, especially in developing nations. The fight for survival is much more real here and makes the competition in the education system almost a matter of life and death. Once you claw your way through the maze of exams and grades, you enter the "real world". You worked hard, prepped for and went through stressful interviews and made it in one piece...whew! You got that job you wanted in your dream company. From that point on it's even more complex. Deadlines, insane schedules and performance reviews determine your worth from here on out. Now it's all about 'growing' and becoming bigger and better than everyone else *ALL* the time.

Now, there's a certain amount of survival instinct that plays into this. I've noticed that people who are generally poorer or have seen more hardships in life tend to want more and make more of their lives - the more being defined by said corporate ladders. Naturally. But think about this: if everyone is educated in a world where the education teaches alignment with a 'corporate' way of thinking, what happens to something like agriculture? Or arts? Shouldn't we be thinking of ways to better our lives with more options than typical corporate jobs? Shouldn't we create more opportunities to make an equally comfortable living with farming for example? Hmm.

I can't help but wonder, are we simply fighting for survival of the fittest? Or are we really making our lives more and more complex?

Jodha Akbar

We rarely watch Indian movies these days unless it comes *highly* recommended by a million people! This wasn't the case for Jodha Akbar. But we are both huge history buffs. So we recently watched it anyway. It was certainly not a bad movie. Though I wouldn't say it was phenomenal or anything. The pacing was good and songs few in number (which we forwarded of course). Hrithik Roshan did a decent job of playing Akbar. Aishwarya as usual was her pretty self without much to offer on the acting front. Seriously, for the Rajput she played, the woman wouldn't sport a sword convincingly. Overall not a bad movie although mostly fictitious.

So naturally, the trivia girl within me got curious and I went searching for articles on Akbar the Great. I remembered very little about him from my history books. All I could recall was that he was the most tolerant of the Mughal kings and quite successful in uniting large parts of the Indian subcontinent into a single kingdom under his rule. The first article I came across was, of course, a wikipedia entry. As A & I read along, it became increasingly evident that it was either written or edited heavily by a Hindu fanatic. It portrayed Akbar in a rather anti-Hindu light. After browsing through several other articles, it was quite clear. Sad.

Akbar was known as an intellectual. He had quite a collection of artists and learned men in his court. He was apparently very fond of intellectual debates on religion and spirituality. He expanded his mind beyond the borders of his own religion and even tried to start a new one garnering the hope of a united civilisation. Though that didn't get very far. I would love to read and find out more about him. I'm still looking for a good book though. Hopefully, it will confirm my (and many many others') suspicions about the biased wikipedia article. Aah, humans!