Gandhi and Apple Pie!

Today is Gandhi's birthday and a good time to re-examine and understand his values of non-violence in a world torn by strife. Thats exactly what the church service this morning dealt with; the all importance of dialogue without the easy recourse to violence and war. My reflection for the day is: Gandhi after his relentless efforts at bringing freedom to the sub-continent abstained from the Indian Independence Day celebrations as they were marred by the riots and violence that followed the partition. Ironic.

My grandmother (who is a terribly smart woman!) was a little girl during partition and to this day she has vivid, horrid memories of how they had to leave "in whatever they were wearing." It is indeed interesting that years hence, while she was in Cleveland, OH (my uncle was there in the 80s) she adopted a Bangladeshi Muslim woman. I find great solace in this story and have learnt that sometimes the best way to heal wounds is not by taking revenge but by compassionately giving of oneself.

On a slightly different note, its been a beautiful weekend so far. The trees are a riot of colors and there is the smell of harvest in the air. I went to the farmer's market yesterday and got a dozen apples. Organically grown, some of them even had worms in them... delightful! Then I spent all afternoon baking an apple pie. It turned out pretty well. The crust was a trifle too crunchy, but if you don't mind a crumbling crust, its delicious. Now the house is smelling of apples and cinamon.

Drop by if you want a slice of the pie. Its sitting on my kitchen table :)