by Sha Najak, poet/artist

5.29.2008

Food Journal : May 29 2008

Breakfast : Watercrest soup, potato and carrot salad, coffee

Lunch: Rawa thosai, veggie mix, tea

Snacks: Tomatoes and raisins

Very low mood today. Went to work at Serangoon Plaza and was dancing. The traffic at Cuff Road in the morning was low. I have low morale and feeling tired most of the time. Meet Debi for lunch and had a good chat session about remittance services for workers. Last night, the egg sandwhich made me fulfilled.


5.28.2008

Food Journal : 28/5/08

Breakfast
Time: 11:00am
Tomatoes, tien's veggie mix of vegetables I can't name. Nescafe. Grapes.

Lunch
Time: 1:30pm

Fuck. 2 pieces of garlic naan with mushroom mutter at Gatanjali. A glass of sweet lassi.

Dinner
Time: 6:30pm
Watercrest soup. Pieces of garlic bread (thanks to glenn). At home i made a piece of egg and lapped it in between two pieces of wholemeal bread and a cup of Nescafe.

Did you find any meal in particular to be a problem area? If so, which foods can you exchange for a healthier alternative?

The garlic naan left me filled and bloated. I hate that feeling altogether.

Did you eat anything today when you weren't hungry? What were you feeling before you ate it? After?

In between work, I would munch on the salad pack. I felt kinda good putting food that is good into my mouth. It's almost like a satisfying B_o_j_b.

How could you have handled the situation and/or your feelings without turning to food?

If I don't turn to food, I turn to cigarettes. Or perhaps being talkative to others or sleep. Sometimes, even reading but the problem is, I hate seating too much.

List at least one alternative activity you will use tomorrow instead of eating in response to feelings:

Send out those proposals for funds.


5.20.2008

Elamurugan


Roja” which means rose in Tamil. In school, Elamurugan was taught how to draw by the “Oviam” master – a term he mentioned is used for art teacher. He studied at “Putokode” district (note, spelling may be wrong) till standard 10 before moving to *Tirupur and entered training. He dosen’t really enjoy studying and out of 142 in his class, only 7 passed.

Before working in Singapore, he works at a garments factory cutting up cloth for 9 years. He has a father who is 75 years old, a brother who is 44 and unemployed plus 4 sisters. His elder brother has 4 kids and he is working to support them. Elamurugan is 28 years old. His father works ad-hoc jobs sometimes.

Socio-economic background of Tirupur:
from wikipedia:

*Tirupur is the Capital of Tirupur District. Tirupur (Tamil: திருப்பூர்) is a textile city and one among the 9 municipal corporations in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is an important trade center of India. Tirupur has gained universal recognition as the leading source of Hosiery, Knitted Garments, Casual Wear and Sportswear. It is a new district. Tirupur is the Seventh largest city in Tamil Nadu and is one of the fastest developing cities in the state. Tirupur has emerged as the knitwear capital of the country in three decades. Exports from Tirupur, which provides employment to over three lakh people has crossed the Rs.12,000 crore mark last year.

He shared he did not like the chalk pastels used to draw the pictures above because it is thick and the paper small. We then used normal paper and a pen to draw the next one which is a peacock. I learned from him that the peacock is a symbol of Lord Murugan which part of Elamurugan’s name came from.

A description of Lord Murugan from Wikipedia :
Murugan or Muruka
(Tamil: மு௫கன் ) is a popular Hindu deity among Tamil Hindus, and is worshipped primarily in areas with Tamil influence, especially South India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia. He is not quite so well-known in other parts of India. Like most Hindu deities, He is known by many other names, including Senthil, Saravaa, Kārttikeya (meaning 'son of Krittika'), Arumugam or Shanmukha (meaning 'one with six faces'), Kumāra (meaning 'child or son'), Guha, Skanda (meaning 'that which is spilled or oozed, namely seed' in Sanskrit)[1], Subrahmaya, Vēla and Swaminatha[2]. He is the God of war and the patron deity of the Tamil land (Tamil Nadu). According to the Tamil devotional work, Thiruppugazh, "Murugan never hesitates to come to the aid of a devotee when called upon in piety or distress".



5.05.2008

A Day's Banter
I can't figure out what makes a day go bad
Too much communication dysfunction going around
Repeating myself is frustratingly agitating
I'd really like for someone to get me instantly
without me having to repeat myself

FREE
She skates through thin ice with arms wide open
To the skies she looks, eyes lit up
Imagines herself flying to a destination unknown

He looks at her from across
With her ragged pants and stained sweats
He wished he knew what it felt to be free like her