This picture was taken last week. It’s summer here and it’s sweltering hot…and definitely no chance of rains! In fact, it is so hot that you could fry an egg on the pavement (no, it doesn’t happen actually but it really is very hot!)
Imagine our surprise when we saw this beautiful tiny rainbow on our way to catch up with the friends… Love the nature and it’s numerous ways to surprise, every single day 🙂
A perfect combination is clear sky and the fresh green leaves. Also, I love how the skies look more clearer after a rainy night.
This picture was taken on a weekend outing with friends and family. A small resort just outside of the City. Nestled in the mountains, away from the city’s hustle-bustle gave us all the much needed break from the routine.
Kabir started the day with his favourite track. He had set it as his alarm tone – a perfect way to set the tone of the day, he thought. He felt better than he had in the past few months and looked forward to better his life, one day at a time. He had just landed a fantastic job – a position that he had been eyeing for a long time. Finally, things have started to fall in place and he felt quite positive and motivated.
He made himself a cup of coffee and sat down to look at the papers that were occupying most of his table. He had planned in detail and made notes – notes about things/ habit that he should get rid of, to make place for the new and better things in his life. Notes about what he should do and the ways he could go about it. He had laid a life plan for himself.
Looking at the list and notes, he didn’t feel as happy and motivated as he thought he would or rather he should – he couldn’t tell whether it was the excitement or the nervousness! And as he tried to self-talk, he noticed that there wasn’t any excitement in his voice and he didn’t feel as confident about himself as he felt last night.
He was free now – free from a loveless relationship and a corrupt workplace. Then why was he not happy? What was it that was stopping him to be his new self? Feelings of doubt and desperation surrounded him once again. And he understood it will take longer than he had thought. He felt as if he was held a hostage in a fortress.
But he was locked – locked away in his memories of the past, present day dilemmas and in worries about the future.
It’s Okay….
To be nervous, to take time, to fumble, to lose, to make mistakes, to not know everything, to worry, to cry, to be angry, to be overwhelmed, to be imperfect, to be sad, to not look your best all the time, to follow what you believe in,to question, to fail, to be not sure, to spend time alone, to ask for love, to give love (even when not asked for),to put your feet up & relax, to let go, to sleep in…
In the daily hum-drum of our lives and in the constant rise of should be’s, must be’s and gotta be’s…
It’s okay to be yourself… It’s okay to be YOU!
A compulsive book buyer/ collector that I am, I often find myself in a book store when out to run an errand or if I have sometime to myself before I catch up with friends over the weekend. My husband often compares me with a child who is amused and excited to be in Disney Land or in a world class toy store – Hamleys. He says I bear on my face and in my eyes same excitement and enthusiasm as that of a child!
Although a murder mystery fan, I have recently started to explore other genres and books set in different time period. Emma, the book I am reading currently, is the result of that exercise. Another great book that I came across during one such trip (yes trip, coz going to a book store is like Narnia to me – a different world altogether!) to a book store is a book called “tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. What attracted to me was three simple words in the tag line – “an old man, a young man and life’s greatest lesson“.
While reading the third chapter of this book, “The Third Tuesday – We Talk About Regrets”, I came across a line – “we all need teachers in our lives” and it bought back that longing for a teacher in my life and is also the reason why I wrote this post.
Life has been very kind to me (Thank you) in it that every problem that I faced, I have managed to find a way out. And the help has come from various sources – be it books, long chats with my sister (who is also my BFF), talking it out with family and friends ~ they all have been a great source of inspiration and learning. I am very lucky to have a proper education (thank you my wonderful parents) and then as you grow up and start to do your thing, you come across various kinds of people and experiences in life and everyone and everything teaches you something – Life is the best teacher of all!
But even then I miss a teacher’s presence in my life. I have always wished that I too had a Teacher/Guru with whom I can talk to whenever I am confused, low, in doubt, anxious or just happy ~ a teacher who can show me the right path, help me understand the world around me and in me! Not sure if I ever will find any or maybe I have and I don’t know yet! (Told you.. I love mysteries)
What about you? Do you have a teacher with whom you can talk about everything? Somebody to guide you, help you? Do share your experience. Be glad to read about it.
When I am not writing, there are a lot of things that I do/ would love to do. Listing them below, in no specific order: –
I like to catch up on my reading ~ There is a long list of to-read waiting for me. Currently I am reading a classic by Jane Austen, “Emma”. It is totally different from what I read generally. I am a big fan of murder mysteries and needless to say, huge fan of Agatha Christie 🙂
I love gardening so when I am not writing, I tend to my plants and love to spend some time in my balcony garden. And am always ready to add new plants to my collection. Some of the recently added members in my garden-
I love cooking and I think it’s a very soothing exercise. I feel all happy and energized when I cook. Works like a stress buster for me 🙂
Listen to music – like to listen to various kinds of music be it Bollywood, Pop, Hip-Hop, Classic, Rock – not a very choosy type. It all depends on my mood.
One of my all-time favorite activity – planning and making lists and bucket lists. So when I am not writing, I get time to think about various things in life, my goals, dreams and ambitions. I get to measure as to where I stand as of now and what should be my next course of action.
Love to watch sitcoms. Imagine a day of doing nothing, sitcoms all day, a glass or two of wine, or maybe a bottle 😉
Travel shows – I am a huge huge fan of travel shows. It’s like you get to travel the City without moving from your couch. I mean, I would love to move away from my couch, all right! It’s just that you can’t just leave. But blessed are those souls who get to travel so much and gain wonderful experiences. Lucky them!
DIYs – When I am not writing, I work on my projects. Presently, I am in the planning phase [my favorite phase 😉 ]… I wish to hand paint a couple of chants from the Hindu scripture and I am deciding upon various factors like – what form would be the best one? Should I go in for color combination or a single color would look best? What size it should be? et cetera et cetera…. Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Catch up with social media – Twitter, Pinterest et cetera. Apart from the fun part, there are so many wonderful thoughts and ideas that keep pouring in on these social sites, they work as my constant stream of motivation.
What gets you all refreshed and rejuvenated?
Do share or feel free to get in touch to provide feedback, to collaborate or just say Hi!
If we were having coffee right now, you would really love the combination of hot piping coffee and wonderful weather outside. It’s been pouring since morning and its noon now. Absolutely love the rains, winter is my another favorite season. View from my balcony 🙂
Some soulful music to go along – Sukoon Mila
If we were having coffee right now, I would tell you how I wish sometimes if I had superpower! There are times when I feel strongly for and helpless at the same time – nothing much I can do about, if only I had a superpower I could help both human beings and animals. I feel quite sad 😦 …You turn on a news channel or read a newspaper, there are only bad things to report! Sole reason I have stopped reading newspaper or watching any news channel in the morning – at least that lets me be enthusiastic and cheerful and I can do my bit to spread the cheer around.
If we were having coffee right now, I would tell you how I am planning to get serious about working out and get back in shape. I have put on a lot in the last one year and that is totally not acceptable. As they say, health is made in kitchen first and then at the gym or at yoga class.
If we were having coffee right now, I would talk about my worrying habit and how I need to stop worrying. I have a serious case of “paralysis by analysis” ~ and it certainly doesn’t help me or work in my favour. I would often wonder how I come across to other people and whether I am doing something that I shouldn’t have or said something that I shouldn’t have or in some cases.. should have! You understand what this does to me right? Total waste of time…
If we were having coffee right now, I would talk about my resolution for the rest of the year ~ to be less of a perfectionist and idealist. While I understand life is a journey and that we constantly evolve and learn new things, there are times when I don’t do certain things or take that necessary step just because things are not what I expected them to be or like them to be… bad! And this is one of the reasons that I am not able to post as frequently as I would like to – such a harsh critic of my work that at times I end up rejecting my posts and stories…how mean can I get, no?
If we were having coffee right now, I would tell you how excited I am that I am working on my novel and I hope to get it published soon! Wish me luck 🙂
If we were having coffee right now, what would you like to share?
Surprising how this one word can bring out two exactly opposite feelings in two different people at the same time. While at one hand, it is a source of surprise and excitement, building anticipation of what would come next; on the other hand, it is a sure shot way to send your nerves into doldrums.
We all want to be certain of our lives, want answers and expect to know the outcome beforehand even before we get into an agreement, when we buy something, when we invest, even in a relationship – we all want guarantee, an assurance that things will go a certain way while we carry in our minds the outcome we expect of a situation. But does it work that way? I wish it did, it would take off so much pressure off me. But the answer is no. Life loves to throw googly at us every once in a while and it is up to us, just like a batsman, how we play it.
Me, I love making lists and plan elaborately for a lot of things in my life. I make lists for daily activities (prioritizing them and put them in order), monthly goals, bucket lists, vacation plans, shopping (what I need for my wardrobe and my beauty supplies) only to change it few days later and in some cases on the same day. My daily to-do list is most susceptible to change. Since I am a freelancer now (an outcome of an uncertainty in my life), there are days when I have to change my priorities if one of the clients I work for need something urgently or before deadline, ruining my otherwise perfectly planned day.
While we don’t mind uncertainty when we travel, sometimes even adding that spontaneous plans are the best, why do we get all worked up when it’s about our daily lives? Don’t you think even life, just like travel, will be better if we were to be more spontaneous in responding to the changes rather than worry about the outcome? Just let go and enjoy this journey as well, one that contains beautiful moments, important lessons, strong relationships, enhanced knowledge.
I know, you might be thinking not everything in life can be spontaneous. It is easier said than done and I couldn’t agree more. There are things that need proper planning to ensure that we and our families lead a good life – things like education, career, finances et cetera. But while we are at it, let us not get bogged down by all these.
Be spontaneous, cheerful and embrace the uncertainty in your life. You might be pleasantly surprised!
Here is a list of things I have learned over a period of time. Although, everyday is a learning opportunity and there are some lessons to be learnt, some consequences to be faced, some actions to be taken…. but these are the lessons which, if you live by, I feel it becomes a lot easier to deal with the world, its people and of course, yourself 🙂
I write because… well there are a lot of factors at work and I can’t put numbers saying which comes first. There are days when I write because I came across a beautiful quote, a great article, a thought, a movie, I saw something happening …… and then there are days when I just want to write.
I could say writing is therapeutic – for me! What food is to the body, reading and writing is to the soul. Reading is traveling to a different era, a new city, getting to know different cultures and languages, getting introduced to the local mannerisms. And when I read, it’s not just a boring page turning activity that I do just because people around the world do so… it’s an animated affair! I imagine, live the characters’s life and think what I would have said or done, I laugh and cry, feel sad and get overwhelmed ~ an endless array of emotions.
And that is exactly what I would like to give to my readers, not just a story but an experience, an emotion that they would carry with them, ponder over it, feel it, discuss it – something that people can relate to. And I will not lie if I say I am being a bit selfish here – writing will give me a chance to converse with the readers in the form of comments and feedback and most importantly I look forward “to Inspire and Get Inspired!”
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