1. A sudden bout of bad moods have put me in bed indefinitely, moaning at how pathetic my life is. This is not a rare occurrence, very similar to a bout of fever for others, and does not make me pleasant company. As a result, lunch had to be ordered online, a wonderful meal of fresh salads, healthy pressed juice and velvet cake. When I answered the doorbell, there stood an upstanding man in aluminum foil burrowing deep inside a mountain of plastic for my box of healthy goodness. I thanked the man for my food and quota of plastic, and congratulated myself for skipping the cutlery, because as everyone knows, cutlery and hotel towels are the root of all environmental evil. 
2. When the cook kicked me out of bed and ordered me to get out of my blanket and buy some Idly batter, groggily came my reply, “Swalpa RICE GRIND Maadi Akka! PLASTIC WASTE beda!!!” She gave me the ‘I don’t have time for this privilege’ look, which is quite hideous I must say, before informing me that the Idly Wet Grinder had been broken for many months now, and was beyond repair. I calculated this as plastic generated every two days by yours truly and family, which is possibly the frequency at which I poop and felt my heart drop like unrisen bread: The thought of re-investing in Idly Grinders would set me back by 4000 rupees. “Upma?” I stutter, “Appam? Bisibele…?” (From the mouth of a mallu, the last is the sound of desperation). No can do. Everything came wrapped in plastic.
3. If you live in HSR and get a call from your land-owner, quickly turning down the music and shushing and hiding everyone is not going to work. Instead, check your garbage can…and see if you’ve (god-forbid) lined it with plastic or suffer from a segregation-handicap when dealing with food and plastic and sanitary in the context of garbage. Yes, HSR has a strong sense of community and a very noisy garbage truck that will awaken you with much whistling and morning chants of good garbage segregation practices. And if you are going shopping for groceries nearby, carry a bag or pay up for a cloth bag, because shops are in on it too! Read about the HSR Citizen Forum . One key point in this Zero-Waste Utopian community is they still struggle with sanitary waste. Go Menstrual Cups! (One Up for me!)
4. And to the topic of menstrual cups. I have successfully completed my period, and will deliver a selfie of me and my Rustic Art Menstrual Cup as soon as I am presentable. I went for the Rustic Art Large-sized Menstrual Cup, suggested by my geek writer friend, Anjali Torgal, a wonderful writer who is far from the ordinary as she claims on her website. It has been a good run people, with a few hiccups in cup extraction, but nothing a good warm shower couldn’t fix…one does have a tendency to forget the little chap is up there inside. And a lot of girls have the first-time fear that the little chap once in, will never come out. For all such folks I have one titbit: You aren’t getting married to it people, just shoving up a menstrual cup and the chap is a big shy, I agree, but a squat and a persuasive finger usually does the trick. I have sterilized and packed it away in the little cloth bag provided. There is even a cute little soap in the packaging, all for 850 rupees, although fancier stuff is available for over 1K. Buy it from Amazon, or drop by the HSR Eco store. Or try a disposable one. Boys, gift it to your girlfriends! I am listing a few points for those in need of persuasion.
5. 1. Menstrual cups are body-friendly silicone based cups
   2. You need to remove it once is 8-12 hours. You can then wash it and stuff it right back up.
   3. It makes you feel you aren’t even on your period.
   4. You need to sterilize it once before and after your period.
   5. After the cup is in, you will feel it open like a little flower….whooosh….
   6. Unlike a tampon, it does not expand inside and threaten to explode. This is why I guess it should work for swimming, surfing and other fun stuff.
   7. Spotting can happen only if the cup is full, which in my case is if I forget about the cup for two days (Not impossible). Since it was only 4 days ago I sat in Yoga class with legs spread open and a giant blot of embarrassment around the groins, the shift to menstrual cups has had me contemplating the possibility of returning to white pants. Now that is transformation.
   8. The cup has a yucky smell now. The suggestion to put a bit of soda and boil might work. Will give it a shot.
   9. I have a few disposable menstrual cups if anyone wants to try.
6. I have discovered Bare Necessities, a brand that gave me the Peppermint Party toothpaste, that tastes way better than tooth powder. The good thing about Bare Necessities is that it doesn’t make my Bamboo toothbrush black like the powder does. Here is a family picture:

Bye people. Planning to walk up to a salad bar today….