M.O.B - 27th June

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.

~ Upanishads

M.O.B. - 18th March

Just realized that we haven't had our 'Moment of Beauty' post in aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaages, so here's a quote that made me feel positive....

"Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at will change"
- Dr. Wayne Dyer

M.O.B. - Aug 14th

M.O.B. - Aug 13th

Here are some more pics of Zaara:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=136430&id=572157728

M.O.B. - May 25th

Who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles...
To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,
Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,
Every square yard of the surface of the Earth is spread with the same;
Every spear of grass - the frames, limbs, organs of men and women and all that concern them,
All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

- Walt Whitman

M.O.B. - May 19th

Today's Moment of Beauty is my 14 week old puppy, Zaara....doesn't just looking at her make you smile?

M.O.B. - May 16th

I've been neglecting my Moment of Beauty posts lately. But the fault is not entirely mine. The 44 degrees Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature in Delhi is not particularly conducive to my roaming the outdoors with nothing but a camera in my hand and a dream in my heart.

As a result, I have decided to adapt my definition of 'Moment of Beauty' somewhat. The M.O.B.s will now include Words and Descriptions.

So, let's hear it for our very first non-visual M.O.B.:

"Grant yourself a moment of peace, and you will understand
how foolishly you have scurried about.
Learn to be silent, and you will notice that
you have talked too much.
Be kind, and you will realize
that your judgment of others was too severe.
Hasten slowly,
and you will soon arrive."

- Chinese proverb
(taken from 'Buddha is as Buddha Does' by Lama Surya Das)

M.O.B. - Update

Some of you may have noticed that I've not been keeping up with my 'Moment of Beauty' posts very regularly. The reason for this is not that I can't things worth posting - in fact, it's incredible how much beauty I've been seeing in the most unexpected places now that I'm looking for it.

The reasons I haven't been blogging abt them are:

1. I haven't had my camera with me (this has happened a couple of times)

2. I haven't been quick enough to capture something in motion - a hummingbird outside my window last week, a gull landing in water.

3. But the most common reason is this - I look out of the same window , walk down the same path with Lola everyday. And everyday it looks different, beautiful in a unique way. Sometimes I see a single ray of sunshine hitting the water just so, other times I look at the raindrops falling on the same water, and still other days I concentrate on how the clouds in the clear blue sky are reflected in that very water.

And though I see a different beauty everyday, the actual place is the same and I'm not a good enough photographer to capture it's myriad moods.

I hope that those of you who do actually read my blog are still taking a moment out of your day to reflect on the beauty around you - it doesn't matter if you can't photograph it, or even describe it. It doesn't matter if it's the same flower - once a bud, now in bloom. What matters is that you feel that rush of joy when you see it, that it brings a smile to your face and a feeling of wonder to your heart. That it makes your day just a little bit brighter than it was.

M.O.B. - Feb 6th

Outdoor classes today?

OK, this is more funny than 'beautiful', but still...

M.O.B. - Feb 2nd

Today's Moment of Beauty:

Lola & I walk down this path every day, but it looked specially beautiful today.

M.O.B. - Jan 31st

Single duck enjoying the first sunshine of spring

M.O.B. - Jan 30th

These flowers are by the door of my building - I never noticed them before today.

It's amazing how little I really "saw" until I made it a point to start looking for my daily MOB (Moment of Beauty)

Just yesterday I was worrying about how I would find an MOB everyday. Today, I'm finding it difficult to just choose one from all the beautiful things I see around me.

Sorry abt the poor pics - I've never really been into photography. But for the first time I find myself wishing I had a really good camera and some basic photographic skills, simply so I could share all the beautiful moments with you.

M.O.B. - Jan 29th

Today's Moment of Beauty:

Last night, when I took Lola out for a walk, I came across this perfect yellow floor lying on the gray concrete:

Daily Moment of Beauty

I came across a lovely blog today: Five Pieces Of Happiness

This reminded me of when I first went to England to study. I was quite lonely - I had left all my friends & classmates back in India. Everything was new for me - the place, the people, the accent, the weather...oh specially the weather!

I had come from a place where it's sunny 350 days in the year...to the grayest place you could imagine. The sky was gray, the buildings were gray, the clothes were gray and, to top it all, the Prime Minister in those days was John Major - the ultimate 'gray man'!

Well, I joined school, I started making new friends, settling in, but something was still missing. That's when I came up with my brilliant idea - every day, I would look for something in nature that was beautiful. It could be a flower, the color of the sky, the layers of an onion, anything. but I would take a moment out of my life to appreciate it's beauty. At first this was a bit of a joke with my new friends, but soon they started looking for things to show me. And it became a daily bonding moment.

I don't know when or why I stopped doing this. But after reading Five Pieces Of Happiness, I have decided to get back to looking for my daily moment of beauty. And I will include this in my daily blog posts from now on. I'd love for all of you to add your own daily "moment of beauty" in the comments - even if it is just the perfect layers of a sliced onion :)