What the ladoos taught me.

All the information in the world is useless unless someone heeds it…not necessarily because they need it, but because they choose to listen and apply it.

I was quite proud of my ladoo-making skills, until I burnt the besan. The recipe called for microwaving the besan and ghee mixture for eight minutes total, broken into two-minute cycles. Simple enough, or so I thought. Since the ghee had wintered up, I decided to warm it a little. That small tweak wasn’t mentioned in the recipe, but I assumed I knew better.

I did know better right after I caught the burnt smell. It was too late. The besan was charred, and so was my wishful thinking. Thankfully, I had extra ingredients and an undeterred mission to redeem my ladoo-making endeavor.

This time, I proceeded with extra care. After almost an hour of cooling, I began rolling the ladoos. But they wouldn’t hold their shape. They plopped. My mind did, too. It was close to midnight. With each failed attempt, frustration grew, but so did my determination. After several trials and tweaks, the ladoos finally began to form.

Eventually, there was sweet roundness to it all.

At that moment, the information had turned into knowledge. Knowledge blended with experience became wisdom. And nestled within it all were insights like specks of sugar, making the experience whole.

Some lessons cannot be taught, only learned. And sometimes, it takes a little burnt besan and a lot of patience to shape something worth savoring.