SOULspace

The Herb Society of America has this to say about Mythology: Mythology is the handmaid of literature, and literature promotes happiness. Myths were told or sung to people at least 5,000 years ago. They were told to explain dreams or reasoning for certain happenings or to understand their gods. ://www.herbsociety-stu.org/Mythology.htm The website gives a brief outline of many herbs and also the myths/stories behind these herbs But the story I find most fascinating and filled with Jungian interpretations is the story of Mint... Minthe or Mentha was a beautiful naiadian (naiad), a water maiden who lived near the river Cocytus. The lord of the underworld Hades (otherwise known as Pluto), falls in love with her and seduces her easily, as she is completely mesmerized by the handsome God and his golden chariot.  Hades has committed great folly; his wife is none other than the mighty Persephone. The spurned wife captures the hapless lover and has her crushed. Hades unable to sto...

n. the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk. Poetic indeed... Another meaning  The realisation that every random person is living a life as vivid and complex as your own... . This word (or non-word) is a relatively new entrant into the world of words and has not been actually accepted by any Dictionary of repute... It was used on a blog on Tumblr first and was created by "The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows" The origin is interesting and so is its meaning.... "As she...

Life is a series of accidents...You can either agree with me or disagree. On one side you have the Achiever, who plans and plots his path, sticking to goals and getting there or  striving to get there. On the other hand is the Achiever who walks a path, that he/ she is willing to take as it comes and goes; the inadvertent adventurer. I fall into the second category... So as I found a definition for events that unfold in my life by virtue of accident, I also found something else by accident... Some words in the dictionary have beautiful stories to tell!! So my first word to you readers is "Serendipity".  It comes with such a rich background, I am truly stumped at how it has landed on my plate, and embarked me on this journey... Sir Horace Walpole created this word after reading the story of  "The Three  Princes of Serendip". It is a Persian fairytale of 3 princes who embark on a journey and make many discoveries by accident; discoveries of w...

I am always on the look out for stories to perform...and  Anansi the Trickster spider is a great story to perform especially in Tandem. This character of Jamaican origin, is a spider, but upto all kinds of tricks as he tries to become a human in many ways... Anansi and How wisdom Spread is a great story, with multiple versions available, each ending in a different way. The story can be performed with a nice African chant to begin with... These stories can also be adapted as sensory stories..."Why Anansi has Thin legs" is a great story to tell with sensorial material Enjoy!

Story : The Great Vegetable Race Story characters: Miss.Baingan; Mrs.Khadu Khadu, Yo Carrot; Oye Onions and the winner is Runner Beans   Story Line: A simple story, where the veggies are excited over a competition, added flavor is the fact that Miss.Baingan thinks it is a beauty contest! They all come prepared...but eventually the race is won by Runner Beans!! Applause!! Applause!! A great way to have children participate in this story is have them bring vegetables and dress it up for the story! Best suited for the little ones... But I had fun, doing up my veggies...take a look.... Story: The Enormous Carrot Story Characters: Any animal that you can find, people too Story Line: Based on the story "The Enormous Turnip", I adapted it to use  a carrot as children are familiar with it and the veggie is also one that throws shoot out, which can be pulled out.. So Grandfather and his family try to pull out the carrot, but fi...

There I have said it... I have actually wanted to write about this for the past 4 months, but just don't have the discipline to put pen to paper, or as the case here, finger to keyboard. What have I disclosed? Hmmm...my daughter fits into my clothes!! (Picture me with a wry face!!) How does that make me feel? Proud, happy, awestruck Bemused, sad, and a wee bit scared... Whoa...I thought the first time it happened... is she that big?!! Well, let me set the context here. My daughter learns Carnatic music and till 4 months back she was allowed to wear long skirts and tee for classes. I guess the long became too flowy and unwieldy and definitely distracting for some children, so the rule now is to wear kurtas/ salwar to class. So she picked out her only kurta and legging and wore it for class. Then the next class came and the absent minded mother that I am, I had done nothing to enhance her wardrobe. So she started scouting....conveniently in my cupboard.  Lo and b...

Where do I begin to tell you of all the wonderful things that have been happening? October started with a bang...with a great storytelling session for the Picturing Change event at Thalam Gallery in Domlur. Let me rewind a bit to tell you that I met a wonderful soul called Mathangi in a theatre workshop. Somehow in spite of the age difference we really clicked!! We kept in touch, and I happened to keep bumping into her from time to time. and so it happened....she invited me to do a story session for children from the Anganwadis that she was working with, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. But the request was to do it in Kannada! That is a challenge, as I can tell in English and Tamil, but have never tried Kannada. Luckily for me, Aparna, who I work with at Kid and Parent Foundation is fluent in Kannada, so we accepted the invitation to do a session in Kanglish (if you will pardon my typical englification of Kannada!) Picturing Change is a wonderful idea, conceptualized ...