More than just curves and curls

At this time,you can see two types of women around you.

Women's day? Yayyy!!!

Women's day? Huh,Whatever!


Yes, it's that time of the year to see and circulate all those "Respect her", "Appreciate her"  and "Protect her" messages.

I can't help but laugh seeing these messages. "Respect her", seriously? And the reasons they quote are even more funny, "She does all the chores", "She cooks", "She works", "She brings up the kid", "She sacrifices everything"...

First of all, I don't understand a point. Why we demand for all these?
Why we demand that women should be respected?
Why we demand that women should be appreciated?
Why we demand that women should be protected?

Instead, why not live a life that it all comes to us, without demanding?
Want others to respect you? Then,live such a life!
Want others to appreciate you? Then,do such deeds!
Want others to protect you? Don't! Be brave and protect yourselves!

Lets not put-forth just gender as a reason to gain respect,appreciation and protection. Only if we had understood that there's more in life than just longing for an appreciation for the dish we prepared, we would take all things ease.

Every year on this, "Women's day" (as defined by the history), we scream on to the deaf ears on what we are to the world. Why not, we scream it to ourselves this time? At least then, we will fathom that we are more than just curves and curls.

 All that we do for vanity reasons don't define us.What is inside only defines us! It is what inside us,the women, be given to our family, it's what with our family, be given to the society, it's what with the society makes the world.

Let's be lovable!
Let's be respectable!
Let's be brave!

Let's spread love and peace and make the world so!

And here ends my break...

Repaired laptop...

Huh! Don't you think it sounds like a legit reason for my break from blogging?
If yes, thanks!
If no, you are really a shrewd to lean your ear on my lame reason!

I seriously don't know how else, on earth, would I justify my break from blogging in a single word or phrase. Although,  English thesaurus had got many beautiful words to describe a person like me -

Sluggish, Weary, Careless,Passive

Pic Courtesy : Google images

I was totally of all the above type for the past two months. The "new year, new me" stereotype motivations didn't fall on my deaf ears and blind eyes. This day, I was waiting for this kinda day to bypass my "repaired laptop" blah-blah-blah and dust off my blog. And tadaaaa, here I am !!!

When that "inner-self" gives a push, we can no longer stay idle. And, today I got a strong push that I have to fast-forward myself to fill my break. I apply my own post to my situation now :

Pull your socks up!

Yes, here I pull up my sock to run faster! My break is over ! And,I'm going to find the definition of me in the below words,rather!

Active, Alive, Efficient, Progressive

Pic Courtesy : Google images

Not rich to afford organic

With due respect to all my friends and family who have entered the organic food spectrum...

"I buy only organic food" is the new "I own a Ferrari".

The former has become such a proud statement given by all the "I'm-back-to-nature" kind of people. Lately,the obsession for the organic food had had a big boom.However, I'm no where in the organic food spectrum. I fear to step into the spectrum mainly because I don't understand what really is "organic food" (NOTE: bold,underlined). Also, I get a head spin when I look at the price tag of the organic produce and no doubt that there will be a big hole in my budget if I move into "so-called-organic".

When my son exclaims "WOW!! It's so beautiful" looking at those apples shining under the lights at Publix, a chill runs down my spine. Aren't the apples supposed to be healthy and not just beautiful? The wax wrapped around the apples, the orange color dye coming out of carrots, the creamy-thickness of the yogurt, the worm-free eggplants, the flawless-toy-like tomatoes... All these "conventional farming" products scare me. Having said that, the sky-racketing price and the concealed conspiracy of the organic food equally alarms me.    

Pic Courtesy : sujajuice.com

By "organic", we all think that it is "pesticide-free", but the truth is IT IS NOT! How many of us know that there are pesticides used in organic farming too. This is because of the fact that the use of pesticides will increase the produce. It was a jolt, when I came across the information that the pesticides used in organic farming can be equally harmful as those of the one used in conventional farming. And some may be  carcinogenic too.  This just a pinch from the "hidden" facts behind the organic food industry, to know more undisclosed information, check out this link - Facts about organic industry

I kind of feel deceived, when I think that once I bought the irregular-shaped carrots, cauliflower-with-worms, juicy tomatoes with seeds inside within my budget and now, I have to burn my pocket to buy the same. Thanks to the "information revolution" , which is throwing a hell lot of data within our fingertips and we are prone to know about many fancy words like "genetically modified", "synthetic pesticides", "carcinogenic". And we end up panicking about the food that we eat.

I don't say organic produce is bad, nor do I say conventional food is good.  I only say, that I have been forcibly dragged to a state of turmoil, where in the world screams to me like "You are eating the bad.Pay more, to eat the good". And my only reply would be "At least, I eat the bad within my budget. What if I spend more and eat the bad again?"

Pull your socks up!

Bang! Bang! Bang! System Alert: You have been found unproductive!!!
Bang! Bang! Bang! System Alert: You have been found unproductive!!!
Bang! Bang! Bang! System Alert: You have been found unproductive!!!

Now, you don't panic. This is the alert going on in my head daily. Nothing..Nothing productive I did for the past week... Leave the productive, nothing I did as per my schedule for the last one week...

No workout...
No tidying up...
Ate junk food...
Missed my target water-intake...

Everything collapsed for the last week! Such an epic unproductive week, it was! Congrats,me!

For the one who stays at home all day, hearing just the sound of clock-ticking,I understand that the world economy won't fall down by being unproductive! And, you may wonder, why do I blabber something about "productivity" , by being a stay-at-home mom. Its just because, an idle lifestyle scares me!

Now, this one week of  doing nothing, watered a big guilt in me! As a typical human living in the social networking era, I searched for the solution, not in myself but in the Internet!

 "How to be productive?"
Pinterest showed me a lot of productive planners.
WikiHow gave me ideas.
App store suggested me "Productivity" apps.

I saved the planners, read the ideas and downloaded the app. And sat behind in my pajamas, still unproductive, eating the cake frosting. The app in your phone, the reminders it sends for your workout or run, do you think, it will make you to pull up your socks until the inner-you punches you?Never! The so-far-sleeping-inner-me punched me today and I pulled my socks.

It's totally ok. Absolutely fine, to not workout, eat junk, stay lazy, do nothing. But when the guilt of being so, pinch somewhere in you, don't snooze it as you snooze your alarm. Bounce up with all the energy saved during the "did-nothing-phase" and do more.

This works with any context of life. Whenever you are down, don't feel guilt about being down until an instinct shows up in yourself. Once you see an instinct, bounce up higher and higher until the guilt turns to satisfaction, until the satisfaction turns to honor, until the honor turns to pride!

Pinterest, sorry, I don't need your planners, App store, sorry I don't need any of your productivity apps and their notifications,  my inner-me has awaken now.

My new found hobby

I hardly remember the last time I developed a new hobby. I neither had the time nor the interest. With books around me, I never had a thought to spend my time in another way.

A month back, when I met my son's teacher, she advised me to teach my son to draw little things like car, apple and so on. With a pathetic drawing skill, how can I teach my son to draw? I don't even know to draw a straight line, straight.

A rare "Buddha-under-bodhi-tree" kind of day enlightened me to try out drawing. And the result is what you see below. I, initially hesitated to share these,thinking, if it is worth sharing. Later, I gathered courage and posting it. With prior apologies to all the wonderful artists who had created these arts, I'm sharing here, my amateur work. I tried to just reciprocate the drawings which I found in Google. Any kind of comments are utmost welcome!

In Hindu religion, any new work is started with a prayer to our first God - Lord Ganesha. No wonder, this is my first try

If there is one reason for all the good happening to me, it is none other than Lord Sai Baba. How can I not try drawing him?

This little girl is fascinated by the view of the moon through the window, just like me. 

The wait under the umbrella 

She must, definitely be a cheer leader

P.S : All these pictures, have been googled and I try reciprocating the same. I don't owe any of these pictures. My respect and regards to all the talented artists who created these work.

From depressed to determined

Those days when I got low grades at my school
Those days when my seminar failed at my college
Those days when I roamed jobless
Those days when my appraisal didn't go well at work
Those days when I had a dispute with my loved ones
Those days when I had temper tantrums

"Frustration", "Depression","Emotional outburst", "Feel-low", "Stay aloof" - all these words and phrases would turn BOLD,Italics and underlined in my dictionary of life, at those times. Everyone would have gone through similar kind of phases. After all, life is not a cake walk and the tides won't always be up. The way, how we handle those hard phases and come out, is what makes us all strong.

At times,anything or anyone can bring you down and make you feel low, but it can be one and only you who can make yourself stronger in spite of of all the circumstances. As we age, things might never get easier, we must get better instead. There can be no defined step-by-step process that can be practiced to overcome our frustrations. It's all up to an individual how to face it. Yet, here I list the things what I will do when I feel low. If you think, that any of these might suit you as well, my job here is done.

~ A long prayer

The first thing I do, when tears start rolling down my cheeks out of frustration or depression is to go for a long prayer. I strongly believe that the almighty is the only one before whom we can place all our emotions at our hard times. I sit in my prayer room,prepare for a soulful connect with God and pour out all my hard feelings. I have never, ever asked "Why me?" instead, I will ask for help to face my hard times and to make me stronger. After a long session of such soulful connect, I come out with my heart lighter and mind stronger.


~ Count the blessings

You know, one of the worst consequences of being frustrated is to come up with the list of all the things that went wrong, worry about it and getting depressed more. This was the biggest fault I use to make often. I had arrived to a point of realization as how bad it was and now , I start to list up my blessings instead. If my blessings can  make me happier, my hardships have the power to make me stronger.


~ Start the work now

This is nothing but a "Disaster Recovery". Though my long prayer and my "counting-the-blessings"  would help me feel better, if not, I start the work, my jump over my frustrations is just half--way through.  Start the work to clear either the cause or the consequence of the depression. Either way, if it isn't worked up, it will stay stagnant.

Pic Courtesy : Quote Addicts

Let us develop an attitude to see our hardships as opportunities to build a stronger-self. When life throws you the things labelled "Get frustrated out of this", make the things up and throw the same back, with the label as "I became stronger out of this". Triumph doesn't lie in being undefeated, the real triumph lies in , being defeated and raising back again more stronger. So, if something turns up wrong, be strong!

5 motivational quotes which inspire me always

I'm a "cup-half-full" kinda person!

I'm addicted to the positive vibes lingering around me...

This positivism is what drives me, even in my blue days...

It's nothing less than a bliss to dwell in something,be it a place or relationship, that diffuse positive vibes. A pinch of positive, good vibes in our daily "EAT-WORK-SLEEP" schedule, will help to keep our souls alive and energetic. Every morning, I would love to start my day by reading those motivational and positive quotes flooded in my Instagram and Twitter news feeds. Here are some of my favorite "boost-up" quotes, which inspired me the most.

5. Whenever my flabby, sluggish body bothers me, the below saying makes me feel that, "How I look is not who I actually am"

4. Be it work-related or workout-related, the below quote suits well.

3. That moment, when you feel like giving up, think of all who is waiting to see you give up. Then , you will work to prove them wrong.

2. This is the "master stroke". Whenever my mind turns evil and start comparing as "How successful/happy I am" versus "How happy/successful others are", it totally turns me down. The first time, I came across this quote, this has pinned strongly in mind and from then, I'm bothered about how green my grass is than looking at other's grass.

1. This is my most favorite. Whenever, I'm best at killing time, this quote runs before my eyes in "marquee" and I quickly, get upright to work on the next thing in my bucket list.

We, all need such extra push, in form of quotes, which help us to pull up our socks and keep running, whenever we feel tired or about to give up. Only a novice would see such quotes, to stimulate their work towards - "How can I be successful", "how can I be fit" , "how can I be richer". It's not a fault but it's their perspective. If you are not a novice, you might know that the ultimate purpose behind such motivational quotes, is to keep you, stay positive. Don't just read and pass through, instead try sticking it in one of your brain nerves. You, sure, won't regret.

Be positive, spread good vibes!

P.S: Images shared in this post are from sources like google, Instagram  and Twitter pages. I could not find the source in specific and so, couldn't mention the picture courtesy. So, I declare that, I owe no ownership for the images shared in this post.