#100saladpact Story

#100saladpact Story

What started as a suggestion to make salads interesting and doable so that it eliminates the fear of people approaching raw food, ended with the #100saladpact.

"Akka, why don't you prepare some salads and share with meditators whose preparing for Samyama"? said, Swami Naksatra in one of the meet I had with him in Hyderabad. I remember Swami mentioning about it very casually, "It can be some quotes on yoga and salads''. I thought if I am able to put this together, it will be uselful for many meditators in the coming years who take up this sadhana. And thus popped the idea in my head to create 100 vegan salads which will not have any negative pranic ingredients ( like onion, garlic, chillies and hing)
At then I knew I had around 120 days to prepare for the sadhana which would be on 8th March 2019, so 100salads should be doable. Lil did I knew what mammoth task it would be to do the same, keeping in mind, the long hours of practices, a little one, chores and an unreliable household help.😀 The test had just began.

I tossed the first few salads somewhere in the month of Nov 2018, the initial days of the pact came along with the hashtag #100saladpact along with it I used hashtag like #saynotocutcucumber...hahahahaha
I was determined to make these salads not just healthy but also tasty and easy to make.
I used local produce which was made available during winters and some gourmet ingredients which are now readily available everywhere. From snakegourd to beetroot, from zaatar to homemade chaat masala, from fruits to nuts, from tadka to khakra...I used it all.
This journey taught me a lot about myself and my compulsiveness with food. I can happily say if I am served raw food now, I can eat it with as much delight as i would eat any other food.

Every salad had a story behind it, some I could blog some I couldn't. I had almost given up after tossing around 75 salads and thought I won't be able to do it before Mahashivratri. I remember having heart broken conversation about this state of mind with my friends cribbing about not getting enough inspiration to download any more salads from my being. I am just not able to make it.
(Note: For all my readers, I would like to tell all that, none of these recipes were ever taken from the internet or from any other source. These recipes used to just come to me everyday once I used to finish my practices😅 )
And the the following weekend, when I was done with my sadhana some force within helped me prepare 15 salads straight. I still remember that Sunday, we ate only salads-morning till noon☺☺

On 3rd March 2018, I tossed the last 5 salads of the pact and could humbly offer this offering on the eve of Mahashivratri at the lotus feet of my GURU.

This pact wouldn't be the same without mentioning about the fellow travelers.

#SwamiNaksatra: For sowing the seed of this pact, for silently backing me when I said, " Ye nahi hoga, kuch idea deejiye". For being the human you are, its through people like you, we know this path is just not for the chosen one.

 Lakshmi Vallabhaneni: She maintained the blog in the initial days which I never had any intention to do.

Last but not the least
To #Sadhguru: Words will never be enough to pay any amount of gratitude to you. You keep on peeling so many layers of my false self and still hold me in your arms when I lose hope. You are that string which has held me together in my worse times and laugh with me when I am childlike. You are my silent prayer answered . I bow down with reverence.