I was at the terrace, sitting and sorting something, which is when the idea popped up that I should write about it. In the next minute, I remembered that it’s the last day of the first month of 2026—and what better way to celebrate than to take stock of this month!
But no matter what, the details of this blog should begin with the stuff that inspired me to write ✍️.
Any guesses??
I mean, how can someone be as busy as I was with the things I was dealing with! So idiotic!
I was drying my hair and also pulling sticky banana residue from each strand ๐คฆ♀️๐. It’s almost the end of my day, but the residue is still there, glued like the pain of a broken heart! But I am laughing at myself :).
Now, let’s quickly dive into what my Jan was like...
1. Travel & New Beginnings
Ringing in the year at my most favorite tiny corner: Pondicherry. Travel to Chidambaram, a nearby lake, kayaking, etc.
2. Naturopathy Classes and "The Lab" (My Kitchen)
A lot of barefoot walks by the lake temple, near trees, and at AOL. On Saturdays, I've been attending weekly mastermind classes. I’m trying substitutes for milk (coconut milk) and even tried making curd with it. I'm also testing out stone cookware—two Kalachettis to start with!
It's been a month of homemade food, skin and hair care, sleep routines, handwritten journaling, and homemade bath powders. I even enrolled my family into it!
Visiting 'Raagi kana' for the more trusted sourcing of groceries.
Experimenting with zero oil cooking. A lot of hunza teas and black coffee too...๐๐. I can see myself soon getting an title of kitchen scientist - Ru ๐๐ฐ♀️
3. Binge-Watching
Can This Love Be Translated?—I am in love with it! I asked myself what struck me in that series, and I think for the first time, I came to the acceptance that I needed the love and understanding that Cha-Muu-hee was seeking and that, which Hoo-jin was capable of. I loved the cast as well... beautifully acted ✅.
It also made me reflect that I personally had this deep seated belief (almost unconscious to me) that I can't be loved, I don't deserve to be loved and that lead me to push away love that came my way, possibly that was also which wasn't meant for me...
Without my knowledge, I seeked and attracted complications in a relationship, I lingered in to it believing it was my truth but the other side to it was - I was satisfying my deep belief thru my actions.
4. Work
On and off with triggers from work stress, a feeling of stagnation, or peers (so-called friends) that are like hawks and insensitive. Or maybe I am just overly sensitive to words and actions... I am still sorting out in my head what actions I need to take to ease this aspect of my life.
5. Reading
Completed: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Started: Let Them, Stretching (as part of Naturopathy), and a pocketbook, How to Stay Stress-Free (the only book I am willingly reading for the second time, one tip at a time).
6. Amends & Delhi Travel
Visited an old friend and their couple after ~11 months to meet their first kid ๐ and her ailing Dad.
7. Art
At last, the painting... which was long overdue (Coffee 2026).
8. Farm Growth
I've been busy discussing and expressing my plans/vision with Dad and learning a bit from him. I'm also consulting friends in business to help me design a model for a second line of income.
9. Mental Space
Allowing and reminding myself that I can indulge in things that bring me joy: movies, theater plays, painting, cooking, grocery shopping, sitting with my plants while listening to a specific rhythm, and decluttering my wardrobe. Something to make space for rewiring the brain.
๐ The Great Banana Tragedy
Well, let’s get to the hair pack that I applied today.
This big raw banana that I had bought five days ago slowly turned yellow and fully ripened. I personally don't like to consume that specific breed of banana once it's ripe, and I couldn't make it the way I had planned when it was raw.
Naturally, it being the weekend, my mind told me to make a face pack... but then it was a big banana, not the tiny ones we get in tambulam. That was that! I mashed the banana, mixed it with honey, and applied a large portion to my long hair and a little to my face, letting it dry naturally.
Meanwhile, I finished making dried orange peel powder, partially arranged materials for lunch (planned for 4:00 PM), mopped and cleaned the house, made a rangoli, and then headed for a head bath—with the water being infused with orange peel powder.
Now what? The whole banana pack had dried on my hair and face. I gently soaked my hair with warm, running orange water using a mug, trying hard to get rid of it... but...
I could only get rid of the thin film of banana paste, not the gluey, starch-like residue—which was now also attracting the fluffy granules of soaked orange powder from the running water.
I was starving. I hadn’t had lunch and by the time I gave up on the "Banana Tragedy," it was 5:00 PM. Later, I gulped down the food which, thankfully, I had put on to cook just before my shower.
At 5:30 PM, I rushed to the terrace to dry my hair in the westward rays of the sun. One after the other, I tried to pull out the sticky substance... which damaged quite a lot of my hair and stiffened my neck! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I won't lie—I missed my neighbors and my home all at the same time. I even missed the maids back in my hometown; they could have helped me! ๐๐คท♀️
