Less is more.

Over the past few days, I made a list of things-to-do in my room(Yes..again!). There are cupboards full of crap which needs to be thrown out, space that needs to be made for new stuff and a bare wall that I desperately want to colour and decorate. Either am busy, or am telling myself that am busy.

There are pictures that need to be given for prints and empty photo frames that are lying covered in dust. I was supposed to do all this 3 months back. Every day I kept postponing thinking i'll do it the next day. And the most important of all, I need to make an art/painting corner in my already tiny room. I've seen many bloggers create their own work space, a creative corner, a personal niche and that's exactly what i need for some inspiration to start painting again!

Then there are new novels and books lying in heaps under my t-shirts 'coz my book-shelf is full. And so many other seemingly insignificant things that absolutely need to have their own significant place. I need everything to have a place of its own, its just that am too lazy to create that place. Oh! And there are shoes in their boxes lying on top of my cupboard 'coz i have no where else to put them. So most immediate need - a shoe stand or a shoe-something!!! Right now the only things looking neat and organized in my room are my clothes. (Thank God!)

So lots of work to be done here people! Somebody give me a deadline! 'Coz knowing me am going to postpone this forever with the excuse that am too busy. How did i turn out to be like this? I was always so organized and efficient. Well, time to bring back the old-me! And please tell me y'all are like this too. If that's not the case am afraid we cant be friends.

My last couple of posts have been pretty long so am going to keep this one short and not bore you guys.

You're welcome.

Usually I dont wear my hair up (as you may have noticed) but I thought it looked good this way, especially with this outfit. (I cut my hair yesterday after a gap of ONE YEAR! Its the logest I've gone without a haircut)

Oh and i almost forgot! I got awarded by Soumya from LOL:Life of Leo. Thank you so much Soumya!

Means a lot coming from a brilliant writer like you!

And the search results yield.... My blog!

The kind of search keywords that direct people to my blog are either hilarious or make no sense at all. Here's a sample...

Bummers -
Thats it. Its official. Google returns my blog name to anyone who types 'Bummers'. Its a bummer. My blog is a bummer. It bums people out. Sheesh! This is how you repay me google? After all the hours and days and years I spent on you? Hmph.

Is it OK to wear churidar to office -
Well, since you were so politely asking for permission, and google's response to you was to make you land on my blog, its only fair that I say OK to you. Yes its OK to wear churidar to office. In fact the HR people will be SO GLAD to see you in a churidar. They don't need to send you those 'This is how you dress according to the dress code of our office' mails (Along with pictures. Like I need visual aid to know what 'formals' means) early in the morning. Not that I received any *cough*

Grumpy morning -
Now this had to land you on my blog. I never write about grumpy mornings (liar!), I only think about it. Its like google read my mind! So welcome to my blog! To all those grumpy monday mornings, to all those grumpy tuesday mornings which seem as bad as monday, to all those grumpy sunday mornings 'coz the next day is monday! What a cheerful party we make!

Belted Umbrella -
*Thinks hard* Now I remember belting my outfits. I remember using an umbrella. But I really don't remember belting an umbrella. Unlike me it has never bought pants one size too big. So there. This is a genuine terrible mistake by you google. But I forgive you. Its ok to get confused by words some times. Seeing that you are fed so many every day.

Squiggly tree painting -
Miracles happen! YES they do! You remember my squiggly tree panting? The one I had to save from the clutches of my sister and hastily repair? No? Then click here. It was the ONE painting I haven't been entirely satisfied with. But now people are wanting it. Googling it! That is a HUGE deal. I don't need anything else from life. Except for some shoes.. I'll always need shoes. And a nice car. With a nice neat driveway to park it in. And a house to walk into after parking it. Oh and an indoor pool and a home theater. You know to relax from all that driving... or painting? What was i talking about? Anyway I am easy to please. That's for sure.

Little purple dress -
Bless you whoever you are! I even forgot I had this dress. This has been travelling with me all over the world with the hope that it gets to show its pretty face in some fancy restaurant for a not-so-fancy occasion.

This was just a sample. There are dozens more each crazier than the previous one!

Moving on, the weather has taken a pleasant turn over the past few days. Also I dint feel like blogging or commenting on blogs (for no reason!) over the past few days. And I dint want to post anything until I could say with 100% conviction that I was NOT looking tired. So here I am! Refreshed and brand new:P

"Hey you!!!"

"What me? What did I do?"

[I tend to talk to myself while taking pictures. Makes for some interesting conversations]

Hate comments or Help comments?

*Disclaimer - LONG post ahead! But I assure you its interesting :P *

I see many bloggers getting comments from Anonymous sources - mostly hate comments, about the way they look, the way they dress, their life and so on. Until now I've never seen anyone giving constructive criticism although that's what they claim it is. If it really is constructive criticism, if you are genuinely interested in that person's welfare, if you really want to give them some sound advice, if you really feel they are doing something wrong or that they can do much better for themselves, then why hide behind that anonymous cloak? Nobody will pounce on you for doing a good deed, for trying to help and better someone's life.

Most of the comments stem from spite and jealousy. No one will ever admit that. They project themselves as people who are extremely happy with who they are and what they have. They write as if they know it all and hate the fact that you know more! I think that itself shows the kind of people they are.

But the way certain people handle such comments.. well that's another ball game! Its a subtle mixture of tact + confidence + holding your ground.You get to know more about a person from the way they handle criticism rather than the way they handle praise. Its easy to handle compliments from people (once you get used to it and stop feeling embarrassed and stop blushing). Its not easy to take criticism-bordering-on-hate into your stride. Most people (including me) get defensive or flare up.

Fine, I agree that people are entitled to having their own opinions on whatever I write just like how I am entitled to writing whatever I want on my blog about myself. Thats the key point here. I write about myself. As long as I am not demeaning you or making fun of you on my blog, I have every right to live my life the way I want to! And if someone wants to disagree with me there is a certain way of doing it - by being civil and polite.

Nobody can agree with you on every single thing that you say. What's the fun in that? Where is the learning process? Where is the intelectual stimulation if there is no discussion? If there are no individual opinions being formed? Granted that I haven't faced any 'hate comments' yet. Except where people said they dint like my belt or my shoes (Which I know for a fact is true. I have a lousy collection!). But after seeing so many such instances on many blogs, I just had to say all this!

And now that its out of my system, lets move on to lighter things! :)
Wearing - Dress as Kurta, leggings as errr.. leggings and a random black dupatta. I love it when seemingly un-related items form such a nice outfit! I was feeling very match-y today, hence the red earrings and red/black flats..

And this is my half straight, half wavy, naturally brown hair, and it looks like I coloured it but that's the way my hair has always been!

In the downpour

I look like a panda these days.. with two big black eyes. Its alarming because I've never suffered from dark circles ever before. For a few days I thought it was the result of using heavier-than-usual kajal and not-so-thorough cleaning at the end of the day. But its not. I was quite disappointed actually. It would have been a simple problem to solve. But now I need to stop thinking, stop worrying about my future, eat properly, sleep on time, not strain my eyes and all that jazz. Dang! I'd rather look like a panda that attempt to do all these. Might as as well put on more weight 'coz nobody likes skinny pandas. And learn kung fu along the way. Move over Po, I think am going to take your place as the next dragon warrior and fight a peacock or a swan or whatever it is that's going to come next.

Speaking of pandas, did you guys ever watch that video of a baby panda in a zoo cage that sneezes suddenly and scares its mother? Its got more than a million hits. I agree that its cute, but really.. million hits for a 20 second video in which a panda sneezes? I've seen much cuter things. Did you ever see me sneeze? If you did then you'll know what am talking about. Or you might just be disgusted. Depends on your definition of cute.

Maybe its all this panda talk but i felt like wearing an (almost) all-black outfit today. I say almost because unless I mention it or unless you have extraordinary observation skills you wouldn't notice that my pant is a dark brown and not black. If you've noticed then 10 points to you! I added the bright yellows in the last moment because my sixth sense said it would rain. And I like to look bright in dull gray weather. Also pops of neon are useful for spotting people through the heavy downpour. BUT, the way it rained today.. Oh dear lord! You couldn't have spotted me if I was covered head to toe in fluorescent bulbs and waving flags! An instant river had formed through the whole city. Seriously, anyone who wants to know what rainy season is all about should visit a tropical country. None of that European rain... Its more like an annoying mist than rain!

Good that I dint get washed away! And please ignore the almost disappearing mehendi on my hands. (The one and only thing that I hate about it. Urrgghh!)

Vacation of sorts...

If you thought all vacations meant relaxation, then you thought wrong. It also involves walking endlessly, standing a lot, not sleeping, working and moving around a lot. Especially when there is a wedding involved. Then throw in another couple of family functions and its a recipe for exhaustion.

Interesting vacation discoveries :
1) A good book in hand is enough to distract me from all the scary, loud noises our plane was making.
2) I realized I cannot fight sleep no matter how interesting my day is going.
3) Going to the beach at 12 in the night for ice-cream is a brilliant idea.
4) Forgetting to inform people that we were going out is a very bad idea.
5) One night of 'no sleep' is enough to keep me cranky for three days straight.
6) Street shopping when you are unable to drag your feet even to the door - terrible idea.
7) Messy bedroom, dirty sheets, people bustling all around - nothing matters as long as i get to sleep!
8) Wearing heels for a lawn wedding, after it has rained spell disaster for your shoes.
9) Good food - best cure for my crankiness!

The moment I came back home and entered my room, I feel on my bed and promised I would never leave it alone. I missed my bed! I missed my clothes, my laptop, my bag, my cushions, my books, my paintings, my toothbrush. Oh wait, I think I took that along with me.

I am a weird traveller. I cannot go to the same place twice. I always want to visit a new place. Something that I haven't already seen, something different, something new. Its the opposite when it comes to home. As much as i love traveling, I miss home, I miss my room and all the little things that connect me to it. No place like home!

I would love to show you all the photos from my mini vacation....if i had any. I was too busy having fun or being exhausted to take any pictures. It was the latter most of the time. So here's a quick look at what i wore (one of the outfits)

(p.s - Its actually a lehenga worn as a saree. I just swapped the lehenga blouse with a saree blouse!)

Break

Packing up for a mini family get-together + vacation!
See you in a week's time! :)

So.... what now?

"Left or right?"
"Job or business?"
"Blackberry or iphone?"
"Grape juice or pineapple?"
"India or US?"
"Forgive or teach a lesson?"
"Black or Red?"
"Lie and make them happy or tell the truth and disappoint someone?"

Argghh!

I hate taking decisions. Actually its more about the kind of choices I am presented with than the actual 'decision making' part. Why can't you just ask me to decide between iphone4 and iphone5? 'coz obviously i'd go for iphone5 (its a different matter that I cant afford it). Why can't there be only left turns to take?

Human beings are difficult creatures. Extremely difficult to satisfy. You cannot live on just grape juice your whole life. If you start doing that, you'll start hating it and crave for other choices. And when you have ten different bottles of juice staring at you, you cant decide which one to have. A bit of all maybe? Some practical souls would probably taste a few and then get the one that they liked the most. I, on the other hand, would have tasted all and not know which i liked the best.

Like I said, am not good at taking some decisions. Which is weird because most of the time I have a crystal clear idea about what i want. There were times when i had a dream about a particular shade of dress and hunted it down and bought it for myself. If only that happened with everything in life.

I think we are spoilt for choice. Which is both good and bad at the same time. Its great that we are exposed to new things and that we have such a great variety to choose from. Be it your career, or a hairstyle or clothes - the choices are abundant. The key is to not get overwhelmed by all of it, which of course is not at all easy. The first time that it hits you, the feeling of having endless possibilities - is all-consuming. Its easy to get carried away, to get confused, to live in a bubble of ecstasy. So here's what i (try to) do to simplify any decision-making process -

1) Weigh the balance -
Every decision has its pros and cons. List them out, in your head or on the paper and see which out-weighs the other. If you are trying to decide between two people or two jobs just don't leave the list lying around ok? Or else you are going to get dumped and fired respectively.

2) Left or Right? -
There are always more than two ways in which you can reach your destination or goal. If you are not entirely satisfied with one particular route, search for another. If you are not satisfied even then, lay the road and make your own path.

3) Rephrase the question -
Still unsure about what to do? Rephrase the question. Think about it from a different angle. Try writing it down (it works better). Force yourself to think of it differently so that its easier to come up with different solutions.

4) Listen to your instincts -
We evolved instincts for a reason - 'coz they work really well. If your gut feeling tells you something, dont try to fight it.

5) Make the damn decision -
Are you deciding your career or what breakfast cereal to eat? Not all decisions are same or equal. So don't waste precious time. You dont need to follow steps 1 - 5 every time you sit down for breakfast.

6) Pour in the concrete -
Just thinking it in your head doesn't make the decision concrete. There is no end to analyzing and re-analyzing what you've decided. Stop thinking and go ahead with it. Once you actually start doing it you'll feel much better and you can move on to other things.

Enough philosophy? That's what I thought.

Look Of the Day -

The woes of being the youngest...

Being the youngest in the family definitely has its advantages. You can be assured that you are going to be spoilt rotten by everyone. Any special occasion or festival at home that calls for making special dishes, your favorites are taken into consideration, and you are given the first choice. When you are hungry but not supposed to eat anything until the puja is over, there will definitely be someone who'd smuggle a couple of sweets for you to gorge on. Aunts and grandparents keep giving you cash as a gift even when you are 24 just because you are the youngest. Basically you become a spoilt brat and you have no regrets about it at all...

Its great except for one thing. Everybody older than you thinks that its their right to boss you around. It starts with 'Go get me a glass of water' or 'Switch on the light for me' and before you know it, some one yells for you when you are upstairs, in your bedroom, busy working and you rush down thinking its something important and urgent and you discover that you need to hand over the magazine that is lying (not even) two feet away from that person(Especially common when you annoying elder sisters or brothers).

Next you are made to look through the fourth drawer in the second cupboard, which is beside the computer desk in the bedroom, and search for a blue file which has a yellow envelope and bring it, while your sis/bro is sprawled on the couch with a laptop.

Because you are the youngest, you are supposed to be the most energetic. You are made to run up and down, left and right. Until you get dizzy and go backwards instead of forwards and all this with a smile on your face. No grumbling unless you want to face a lecture on how to behave. The moment a slight frown appears on my face or even the slightest sigh of exasperation escapes from my lips - am dead. 'Am just asking you to help that's all. Can't you do that much?' and it goes on and on and on until my brain switches off on its own.

I wonder how it would be to have a younger bro/sis. Although I have three cousins who are younger to me, I have no idea how to delegate tasks on boss them around. It doesn't strike me until after I've finished the task that I could have asked one of them to do it. But then being pampered by one and all and getting your way almost all the time, is totally worth all this!

Look Of the Day :
The 'belt' was actually attached to another top which i hardly ever wear and it seemed too good to waste, so in my excitement I tore it off the other top (literally). Now I want the same belt in at least five different colours! Am still thinking if its possible to somehow make it.. ideas???

*Pictures have been removed due to personal reasons. Sorry for the inconvenience*

The sleepover

Three friends. A whole night of endless fun. A lot of crazy laughter. Yummy cake and food and more laughter. That's the best way to sum up my weekend! The next best thing to a spa weekend is a sleepover! It refreshes you like anything!

We realized slightly late that it was friendship day yesterday. And for old times sake we an impromptu plan to have a sleepover, a much needed break from our hectic routines. What started as a simple plan went on to become one of the best-est nights of my life. It has been days, no scratch that, months since I've had this kind of fun. Well, if you throw three girls (who have known each other for years) together, with the whole house to themselves, and the whole night stretching ahead with endless possibilities, you can only expect one thing - craziness!

I literally had to drag myself out of bed today. Mondays! Urrgghh! There are only three things that can get me out of bed on mondays. A paycheck.  New clothes. A strong cup of coffee. But today even these refused to work. Thats how awesome last night was.

But I must say I do feel charged and refreshed! No sign of the usual Monday Blues! 

Back to regular style blogging from tomorrow! Until then.. have a nice day! 

Craving for a holiday...

Whether its sitting at a beach and losing myself to its beauty, or exploring a new city with a map in hand, or strolling around a tiny European village or getting drenched in the rain in Venice, I've had an amazing time in each and every place i've visited so far.

Now that I am trying to plan for my next trip, I was tempted to go through all the photos from my previous trips. And it has only increased my urge for a vacation. How I miss having summer holidays! I wish I could go away for a month and come back and discover that my life has somehow miraculously moved in the right direction. A girl can dream you know.

Am hoping that planning for my next trip will help me get through all the stuff I need to finish in this month and the next. And then I can have a guilt free, relaxing, fun holiday! But the tough choice is.. well.. choosing a place!

These are few of my favourite outfits from my recent trips. Unfortunately all the pretty dresses and skirts and cute tops that i carried with me were of no use. Because of a sudden weather change, it was either freezing cold or raining in every place we visited. And it was only the beginning of Autumn! So I had to make do with whatever I had. And it was the first time that i realized I was lousy at packing.

Florence, Italy

Venice, Italy

Salzburg, Austria

Stuttgart, Germany

Interlachen, Switzerland

Sydney, NSW

Sydney, NSW

These are just a few. Will try and do a whole series of holiday posts when I have time and if anyone is interested!

p. s - You can check out my Guest Post for Priyanka from Confessions Of the chocolate obsessed here.

Semi-Monsoon is all we have...

Oh hello semi-monsoon weather! Do stick around for another month. And lets give second-summer a good kick on its butt. I think I've had enough of it.

When i woke up today morning, I couldn't remember the day or time. Or where I was. But what worried me even more was I couldn't understand what season it was. All I knew was that I was on a cozy bed, warm and comfortable and I could see it was cloudy outside. I depend on the weather outside to wake me up. It acts as a natural alarm clock and a very effective one for that matter, because i cant hit snooze.

My bedroom faces East so every morning whether I like it or not, am woken up by glaring sunlight with its reflection bouncing off all the mirrors making it seem even more brighter. But today it was cloudy and perfect. When the sun hasn't come up, you don't have to be up. Thats my thumb rule.

So after getting ready and having a very late breakfast, I still had time to sneak in a post. Or thats what i told myself.

Other interesting news this week -
-> My shoe heel broke at the same time when i was avoiding stepping into a puddle. #disaster
-> Met an angry run-away buffalo on my evening walk. Luckily it was running away in the opposite direction #scary #it happens only in India!
-> Gorged on chocolates after a gap of 3 months. #high on sugar
-> Made friends with a squirrel that lives on a tree near my balcony. #newfriendships
-> Cleaned out my wardrobe #happiness
-> Selected a few paintings to start soon #eager
-> Visiting my cousins later this month #can't wait

Look Of the Day -
Sadly my shoes din't make it. In the pictures I mean.

Where all wishes come true...

Often I find myself escaping into another world, one that exists only in my mind where every tentative rule can be broken and re-built. And then I resurface back into reality, albeit refreshed.

Sometimes its also possible to escape physically... And that was exactly what i was doing when the pictures were clicked. Riding off into the sunset where all your wishes come true? Doesn't hurt to dream you know. Twilight is my most favourite time of the day(And not because of the movies.. Not really a fan of them)

Its almost impossible for me to watch a sunset and not dream.