The colours of Bell peppers!

What is your idea of coloured bell peppers?

Well, untill today I felt that the colour of a bell pepper was associated with its seed and depending upon the types of seeds sown , you get the required colour- green, yellow, orange, red!

But to my utter surprise, yesterday when I went vegetable shopping with Mamma, I found a yellow bellpepper which was not completely yellow- some portion of it was green and it seemed as if it was gradually developing a yellow coating over it.This was an eye-opener!- I never thought that yellow bell-pepper is also green at some point of time...

This thought triggered my curiosity to know what's the actual difference between all the coloured bell peppers.

Throughout the way back home, I was thinking and could only gather these thoughts:-

1. The first question that struck my head was that- whether all of these coloured bell peppers are natural or only green is natural and other coloured bell-peppers are a result of using genetically modified seeds? 
2. Secondly I thought- May be the colours associate with different phases of the plant growth-i.e. first it is green , then it turns yellow and so on...I thought if it is so, then there must be some interesting phenomenon responsible for that! My curiosity to know the right answer was growing stronger and stronger.I discussed it with Mamma and Babba and their guess was my guess number 1.

Then I thought of asking our "Know it all!" Google Uncle! :-)

And then upon some search and research , I found that :-

• The various coloured bell peppers all come from the same plant but differ in their level of maturity or we can say the harvesting time.
• The green bell peppers are harvested before they are fully ripe. This is one of the reasons for they are less expensive than the other  varieties.
• The green bell peppers will continue to first turn yellow, orange and then red if they are left on the plant to mature.
• The green bell peppers have slightly bitter flavour and the yellow, orange and red are sweeter.
• The red bell pepper has the highest nutrient content.

So isn't this information , interesting? The colours of bell peppers are associated with the different phases of their growth.So next time when you eat a red bell pepper, remember that  there was a time, when it was green and yellow too! And when you eat a green bell pepper, remember there'll never be a time when it will be yellow or red! :-))

Death : Facts and Beyond

Yesterday evening while I was busy preparing my lecture notes , I got a message from a dear friend.It said-"Yesterday my mother passed away, Bhavya."..........This one line message shook the ground under my feet...gave me a shivering attack...I was in complete shock...completely heartbroken that I couldn't think of anything...I couldn't believe what I read but the message was straight in front of my eyes!Just the day before I had exchanged few jolly good words with him.Yes, I knew his mother was undergoing dialysis, but things were not this bad...He is a very dear friend of mine (He considers me like his sister).His mother was suffering since a long time and I have seen him taking so good care of his mother along with managing his studies and other worldy affairs with such an inspiring attitude that only few can manage to adopt at such testing and challenging times.I literally salute him for all that he did for his mother-That was nothing but PURE LOVE! I can't even imagine myself in such a situation- Nor would anyone even want to and Neither did he ever wished to experience it , but circumstances forced him into it.He had no other choice but to go through this ordeal which ultimately resulted into his mother's death...! Yes, Death- the most unacceptable truth!

I am terribly sad for my friend and so shaken from within that I couldn't sleep last night, so took a leave from work and went  to visit him along with mamma.Mamma has also met his mother during our M.Tech admission.She was a very jolly natured person.That was the first and the last  time both mamma and I met her.

As we went there ( to his place), we got to know that on friday his mother received a call from her niece informing her that her sister has passed away (it was a sudden heart-attack!).Her elder sister also stayed in Bombay.She was so shaken from this shocking news that she couldn't sleep the whole night and was in much discomfort because of the pain of the sudden loss of her dear sister.

But still, she was stable.Had proper food the next morning before leaving for her regular dialysis exercise.She had planned to visit her sister's place after that. But who knew, there was death waiting for her at the hospital.

In between her dialysis , she felt unconscious and collapsed and that was IT!

Well , Death is a fact of life- we all know it.It's the most unacceptable truth, in fact.His mother's death led me to contemplate once again on life and death and here are some thoughts that brought me closer to the meaning of life and death:-

If you think of the larger picture, think emotionlessly, then you will agree that death is in fact a necessity because as a matter of fact life is a temporary affair.Who is born has to die.In other words we are born to die.Otherwise, one can't find any meaning in life.

And one more fact is that nobody wants to die and neither can we imagine so for our loved ones.Why so?

Because we are so attached to each other and to our own forms that we just cannot even think of leaving all these behind.This again reflects nothing but our LOVE for each other and our human form.

But then it is a clear-cut fact that this form is impermanent.It is sad, but such is Life! You enter only to exit.The gap between your entry and exit determines your life span.But then on a second thought, because  it is limited it is precious, otherwise we all have a natural tendency of taking things for granted.Would you value life, your loved ones and your body if you knew that it would just go on and on and on and never end.No one will care...The fact, that it is limited , adds value to its meaning.

But then our longing for a "forever" existence still persists.And I am sure that death is not the end.It is only that the body dies, the soul doesn't. Because it's hard to believe and accept the death of a loved one, because we are bound by an unbreakable bond with our loved ones which even death can't break or shake.

This feeling of forever in our heart makes us believe in Eternity.I am sure, we are all inhabitants of Eternity.In the Holy Gita, when Arjun questions Krishna on the meaning of life and death , Krishna tells him-" Remember there was never a time when you were not there, I was not there and these kings were not there.And there'll never be a time when you will not be there, I will not be there and these kings will not be there."  This is indeed a striking statement because do you ever feel that there was a time when you were not there? No, we know that there was a time when we were not there, but our parents were...but it's unbelievable to feel that because we all have a feeling that we are here since ever.

My feelings convince me of the existence of Eternity.Life according to me is just a game.Well what kind of game, why a game- Let me reserve my thoughts on that for a different post altogether.

Anyway, thinking of death , there is no doubt that it is a painful affair- more so emotionally! and it will remain so...till there is LOVE between US.

Till now we have only talked about the pain of death for those who are left behind by those who depart.The pain is equally intense for the one who departs too.Nobody wants to die...after all- for the same reason of love.

Let me tell you , I saw death most closely when our pet, Eskimo departed.I remember it was late at night when the doctor came to see him...his left leg was paralyzed actually and that day he couldn't move...A week before he had started limping and then slowly- slowly his movement reduced to almost no movement.But Eskimo, didn't give up till the end.He had a habit of urinating in one of the bathrooms and he literally used to drag his body to the bathroom for that purpose.We so used to request him to urinate wherever he was resting, but he had a desire to move, to walk on both legs once again.Only the day before his death, he couldn't move at all and it was then that he completely surrendered after trying his level best.

The doctor gave him few injections and life saving drugs and told us to continue giving this to him till the time he lives.I literally shrilled with a NO! at the doctor...and that night around 2- 4 am...while i was studying as i had my final exam the next day...we heard a heavy breathing sound...and mamma said -"ye akhri saans hoti hai"...I got so scared...Eskimo was struggling for his life...it felt as if the breath wants to leave but the body is restraining it to leave...We were sitting next to Eskimo and  were constantly crying , praying, caressing him with our hands and asking him to Go ahead bravely!...This lasted for around 2 hours and then suddenly the breathing normalized.We felt this was a ray of hope and probably now there's nothing to worry.But he didn't leave his body only for me, because he knew if he died, I won't be able to write my exam the other day although i was constantly telling him that i'll be strong , that he'll be my strength even if something happens.But he knew the truth.So he departed while I was writing the exam the next day and at the time he departed ,I felt some sensation in my heart for a flash second only to confirm later that my baby has departed....

It's too difficult to bear the loss of your baby. For that matter I would  say any loved one- It's an irrepairable loss.

But the thing that disturbed me more was why did he suffer with the breathing the last night and i somehow realized that it was because even though death was knocking on his door, but he also didn't want to leave us and when we finally asked him to go, he got the required strength...and in the end he died a peaceful death.

So this remains a fact, that death is painful- both to the one who dies and to those who are left behind- all because of the reason of LOVE.

But it's FAITH that keeps us going, faith in eternity, faith in our unbreakable, unshakable, "stronger than strength can ever be perceived " kind of bond with our loved ones, faith in the feeling of their continued presence.Those we love are never gone! They just leave their body.

In one line all I have realized is that- Death is not the END!.

May peace be with all of us! Amen.