Making Your Own Happiness

Here’s a picture from my walk last week. One day I want to live in a house like this, with French windows and cascading greenery around. 🙂 It has been a wonderful week. My morning routine is coming along very well.

Last weekend, I had attended the Art of Living Happiness Program. The breathing techniques therein was very effective and I decided to practice it everyday. It became my motivation catalyst and I began to find ways to use it and more, to make my life #happier.

So this is how my morning looks like.
I wake up and get fresh.
Go for a walk.
Listen to podcast while I’m walking.
Get back, light the lamp (A habit that started when my grandmother came to Bangalore)
Do the #SudarshanKriya
Have tea and write in my #journal.

The podcast I’m currently listening to, is one called ‘Happier’ by Gretchen Rubin on @spotify. One episode is for about 20 minutes and gives practical tips on being happier.

All this is making a wonderful impact on my life and my mental health. It is indeed a beautiful world and I urge you all to do something to give your mind the ability to see and feel all of this.
You don’t need to travel.
You don’t need to spend money on shopping.
Just decide to research on happiness and it will explode from within you!

Aina – The Mirror

When you look into the mirror, what do you see?

I sometimes see this absolutely flawless, independent human. At other times, the dark complexion, the grey strands of hair, the specs, the marks, discoloration and freckles are visible at full saturation level, completely highlighted! I could almost hear those grey hairs sing!

I am not asking you to look into the mirror and see a flawless, celestially beautiful, strong and independent person throughout the year. Nobody sees that. Not even your motivational speakers, no matter how strongly they emphasize that you see it.

I am asking you to feel really good about yourself when you do. Enjoy that feeling. Let it grow. And during those days when you notice the so called flaws, accept that they are a part of you, and then distract yourself. Because the more you brood on your flaws, the bigger they’ll seem to you until they take away your sleep. No good could come out of it.

I am dark complexioned. Sometimes, just sometimes that bothers me. Very rarely though. I have accepted that this is my color and when it begins to bother me, I distract myself. It works like a charm. Trust me! It does! 🙂

I’m participating in #BlogchatterA2Z

A Birthday to Introspect

It was my Birthday yesterday. A very important one as I am stepping into the last bit of my twenties. Before I get into the details, do you know that I am a cusp, and that too of contradictory zodiac signs? Yeah! If interested, just google Leo-Virgo cusp and you’ll see. I need a Nobel Prize for handling myself! 😛

So I have these mixed emotions coursing through me. I am excited to know how the next decade will be, but also, dreading it. The fact that I couldn’t accomplish the things I thought I would by the time I was 30, kind of puts me down. I do have one more year though. I am super relieved that I finally cleared CA, an ordeal in itself.

Be that as it may, either the life lessons have increased recently or I have begun to observe life more. There are a few things that the last few months, weeks and days including this day taught me. Let me share them here:

• If you have faith in The Power, your faith along with your efforts will give you what you need. Sometimes, ever so miraculously. (The way I cleared CA)
• Sometimes, our desires aren’t fulfilled. Not attaining our desires will encourage us to explore new paths and discover other potentials (I became a freelance writer and an entrepreneur as my CA course delayed).
• There will always be two kinds of well wishers in our lives – the ones that ask us to stay put/hang on until we die and the ones that ask us to quit/try something else. Either could be right. But Listen to your body, mind, heart and soul. (I was asked to quit CA as much as I was asked to keep writing. They were well-wishers, but they weren’t me.)
• It is difficult to take the path less trodden, but you will be one among the few who experiences life in a different light (Let’s just say, being 29 and unmarried is difficult, but interesting).
• Even if you feel worthless, get up and get some work done. If you just lay there, you will in fact be unproductive and worthless. (A reminder to myself to face those goddamn interviews.)
• Always have a hobby. If you don’t have one, start doing random things and find an activity you enjoy. It helps you clear your head, enjoy your own company and appreciate yourself better.
• Your Birthday is the right time to take stock of people in your lives. More often than not, you will see the difference in your well-wishers. (Between a Birthday filled with Chocolates & gifts and another with none of those, a close friend decided to leave.)

Now on a lighter, yet important Birthday note:

• HBD sounds like an official acronym sent by a boss who is too busy to sit down and talk to you, and treats you like a vending machine that dispenses work. If you want to send a Birthday wish to someone, take the time to type the words fully or simply don’t wish. That would be much better. Honestly 🙂
• Friends to whom I haven’t spoken in years, called me. That was heart warming. I haven’t spoken to them in such a long time and yet they decided to take out their phone, dial my number and wish me. I have never done that! I should. I will, from now on. 🙂
• I learnt today that I could use the FB Birthday reminders to bond with people. I could give a personal touch to my wishes so that they smile seeing them.
  I barely wish people seeing FB reminders because I remember the birthdays of the important people in my life. Besides, I always thought that FB wishes were impersonal and mechanical. But some wishes today genuinely made me happy. Most of them were simple Birthday wishes, but in complete sentences. They struck a chord because the well wishers had taken the time to type out those words and make them more personal.There were some others that made my day. Here are two of them:Though one-sentence-wishes, the personal touch in them is unmistakable. I will, from today, make a difference in the few Birthday wishes I send out.

As for today, I feel good having spoken to a lot of old friends, and having met up with a couple of them from my innermost circle. It feels good to be remembered and to be loved. It inspires me to appreciate and love people better. 🙂

Happy Birthday to ME ❤

With Love,
~Myself ♥

 

Last Minute DIY Valentine’s Day Gift

Valentine’s Day is round the corner and glaring at your face. You really don’t have the time to order anything, online, that it would find your love in a day’s time. While A Few Handpicked Things frown upon you for being so late (just kidding, it happens :P), I have decided to help you prepare a much meaningful, last minute DIY Valentine’s Day gift for your love that he/she wouldn’t forget in a long long time. Besides, it will come in handy always. 🙂

You can also gift this to your siblings, friends or parents for their birthdays. I am including the pictures of the one I gifted my sister on her birthday. If you don’t have the time to make anything, you can look into this list for some inexpensive gifts too.

A Mason Jar with Everything Nice

Everything Nice:

• Open when notes that they can open during certain circumstances.
• ‘Reasons why I love you’ chits that they can pick up from once in a while and feel good about themselves
• Toffees! We all need them  😀
• Fairy lights, glitters and thermocol balls for some bling.

Points to be noted:

1. You don’t have to be artistic to prepare this.
2. It takes less than 3 hours.
3. You don’t have to use everything in the list. You could skip a few for ease.

Things Required:

1. A Jar (I used a 1150 ml storage jar.)
2. Good quality color papers.
3. Toffees (Colorful ones to add to the quirkiness)
4. Multicolored Thermocol balls
5. Tiny envelopes (Not mandatory)

Steps to prepare the DIY Valentine’s Day Gift:

1. Prepare a list of reasons why you love him/her. I made a gift like this for my sister on her 18th birthday. It was ’36 reasons why I love you. 18 for the number of years I have known you and 18 for the years you have known me.’ You could choose a number based on his/her age or maybe a definite number such as 50 or 100. Mind you! You should make a list of reasons you love them those many times. 😛

2. Make tiny chits from color papers, write down the reasons on each paper and roll/fold them. Here are a few I wrote:

Reasons Why I Love You

 

3. Prepare a list of ‘Open When…’ notes. I made 7 of them. It went like this: Open when you are Angry, when you want some appreciation, when you are having a bad day, when you are hungry etc. In this, you could keep chits with things you’d tell them when they were in the respective situation. If this is for someone you love, you will definitely find the right words. It needn’t be lengthy. Something short would do.

Open When Notes

4. Mix them all and fill the jar with these chits, notes, interspersed with toffees and tehrmocol balls. 😀

Sugar, Spice and Everything Nice

5. To add the finishing touch, I made tiny tags on which I wrote about the contents of the jar. You could do that on a chart paper, cover it with cellophane (Cello/Sello) tape for that glossy look.

Tags for the Jar clumsily made 😛

And voila! Our Jar of Joy and Happiness, The DIY Valentine’s Day Gift is ready!

Little joys of life captured in a jar

Some Observations:

•  I wanted to put rice lights in here too so that I could use it as a decor item. But the 1150 ml jar cannot accomodate more than 36 chits, 7 open when notes and some toffees. Don’t even think of rice lights! Use a bigger jar for more number of chits and rice lights.
• Don’t use chart paper or ivory sheet. Use papers from craft books with thin sheets that are easier to roll. You can use white thick papers too. But normal note book papers get spoilt easily. So avoid that.
• My sister found this very helpful when she was away from us. It helped her through many low times.
• For ‘Open when notes’, I made the envelopes. You can make them, buy them or simply make bigger chits and leave them in the jar so you don’t have to spend time on envelopes.
• Most importantly, gift this to people who appreciate handmade gifts, value your time, know how you mean every single word in those chits. In short, gift it to someone who’d treasure every bit of love you throw into it. 

The importance of gifts like this is, you actually convey what you feel about the person you love. They can resort to this Happy Jar when they are low. The nice things you write about them will help them feel better about themselves. It is always a solace to know that someone somewhere loves them so much!

Do let me know if you like them and definitely let me know if you make them. Include details of the recipient’s reaction too. I’d love to know! You can comment here, or send a mail to rangelzblog@gmail.com or inbox us on Facebook, Twitter or Insta. 😀

More posts on gifting –

19 Valentine’s Day Gifts for Men

Tips & Ideas for Inexpensive Gifting

 

 

Potatoes, Pickles & Grandma-Fairy dust

On some days, the moment I enter the gate of our apartments the aroma of food wafts in. Especially if it is lunch time. I can easily spot the Aroma from our kitchen because, well, I have known it for 27 years! My, until-then-quiet-&-happy stomach would start grumbling and the tap of my salivary gland would pop open.

My pace increases and I’ll ring the bell. When she opens the door, I’ll ask with excitement;

“What is on the stove? Is that Kaarakuttan?”

She’ll give a smile torn between astonishment, mischief & pride.

“Your nose is an evil thing!”

“It isn’t my nose! It is your gifted hands! I could get the smell from the gates!”

“Shut up! That must be from some other place.” she would pretend to not be affected by my compliments. 😛

I’d go straight to the kitchen, open the lid and inhale all the steam from the dish and Ammamma would smile, “Stop dipping your nose into the dish! Even your cousins have this habit.”

I’ll smile sheepishly and show my stomach the way to bliss 😀

*****

We always say,

“Ammamma should go for all these cookery shows & competitions and she’ll be first everywhere.”

On second thoughts, I’d say,

“No! I don’t want anyone judging her! No one has the right to. No one is good enough to judge her! She is the best and there is no need to prove it. I do not like anyone telling her the food she makes has flaws because the flaw is in their taste buds. Ammamma’s cooking is just perfect!”

 

Ammamma’s Potato Curry

 

And that brings me to her Potato curry which is my all time favorite and tops my list. There are distant relatives who reminisce her potato curry and keep telling how yummy it was when they had it years back. She also makes this tangy Vendakka Pachhadi and Mulakoottal. I am a sucker for her Kaarakoottan; again so tangy and spicy that I finish almost half the quantity made for the entire family. Oh! And the avial! She makes cheera avial and the traditional Kerala Avial which I eat for lunch, snacks and dinner. Ya! She makes it in a pressure cooker up to the brim! She has spoilt our taste buds by cooking such yummy food that I just CANNOT have Vegan food from outside. There are always something so many things amiss when the Vegan food is made by someone else. And hence I restrict myself to Paneer in Vegan restaurants. Always a safe bet.

*****

Sometimes, I’ll be sitting with her and she’ll start narrating how certain dishes were made during ‘those days’. As she hops from one dish to another, she’ll describe the preparation of Lemon pickles. Listening to her description, my salivary glands salivate like broken taps!

“They soak these lemons in hot water so that the juice within loosens. They then dry all of them using a towel and make a cut through the centre in such a way that the pieces don’t fully detach. They grind Asafoetida, Fenugreek and dry red chillies; add salt and turmeric powder to the mixture. This mixture is then stuffed well inside these half cut lemons.”

“They then arrange these lemons inside huge Bharani (Ceramic jars used to store pickle). They arrange them tightly together. Now, they heat Gingelly oil and wait for it too cool down a bit. This is poured into the jar in such a way that the oil fully soaks the lemons. They seal the mouth of the jar using wax and leave it in the Garret for 10-15 days. Once in a while, someone would go up and stir the pickle.”

As I sit there imagining tantalising Lemons emerging from orangish-red pickle mixture dripping with oil, my tongue drowning in my saliva, she concludes;

“One tiny piece of this pickle would suffice for a meal!”

Pickle in a Bharani. Image Courtesy: Framed Recipes

When the coffee we make do not come in par with hers, we’d say,

“Ammamma please tell us the last ingredient you use. You definitely do something else that you don’t tell us.”

“I don’t. This is all I do.”

And then, my sister & I discuss.

“Well, then we know what it is. It is her Kaipunyam (Similar to Gifted hands). It is as though there is this taste enhancer oozing from her palm.”

“I know! Maybe she just dips her finger inside the coffee, the taste enhancer enhances it.  That must be it! There is no other explanation!”

Yeah! There is no other explanation! 😀

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You can read the stories about Ammamma under the Category ‘Grandma Tales’ which you’ll find on the right side of this page. (Scroll down! Scroll down! ) If you don’t find it, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. If you love my ‘Grandma Tales’, again please leave a comment and I’ll be grinning ear to ear and replying!

I am taking my alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter

 

Grandma Tales

 

“Whom do you like the most? Your father or your mother?”

This was (and is I guess) a cliched question people asked children. When they used to ask me, I used to think just for a moment and say,

“My Ammamma.”

That is what I call my Grandma. I had been thinking of starting a section on my Grandma in my blog for a long time. But I just didn’t know where to begin. The other day, I posted something relating to her on Facebook and my friends Neetu and Smisha requested me the same thing.

This was the very same day when the Bloggers’ friend Blogchatter announced the #MyFriendAlexa campaign and I was looking for a theme for the campaign. The requests and the campaign were well timed and it seemed like an opportunity to make my wish come true; Starting a section on Ammamma. And so, here I begin The Grandma Tales section!

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Grandmothers are visible angels with invisible wings, silver hair, and oodles of cuteness. Have you noticed how stories with Grandmothers are always heart warming?

Ammamma is this adorable surprise package with stories galore! She is funny, smart, hardworking, charming, lovable & a cleanliness freak!!! Ahh… She is much more. She has a painful past, yet the twinkle in her eyes never fades. She has been a strong woman and even in her old age, she stands tall and fights her back pains away! It goes something like,

“Ammamma, stop doing all these unnnecessary chores!”, I’d say. She has to keep doing some job all the time. She can’t sit still.

“I don’t like seeing things like this!”, she’d point at a pretty well arranged cupboard in the kitchen.”

“I am the one doing it. What is your problem? You go study!”, she would shoot.

And that is how she fights her pains 😀

As far as my memory goes, she has been a silver-haired, huggable angel always smelling of Vicco turmeric, Mysore Sandal soap, Ponds talc and home. She is this fuzzy feeling you get when you see babies, puppies and everything loving, nice & cute.

My Tranquilizer

When I am with her, I forget all my worries and I know I am alright. She is like a walking tranquilizer. One hug and there is peace. It is as though she has the power to ward off all my inner turmoils.

Some nights, I go to her room, climb onto her bed and there is a space on her bed that is mine. I find that space, lie down, curl up and snuggle up to her. She’ll either tousle my hair and tell me how I never tie my hair and how bad that is for my hair or run her palm on my hand, find a rash and admonish me for not applying oil on my body. And those few moments are enough to just flush out the entire day’s stress. I always feel I never do enough of that these days due to my studies.

My Naughty Teddy Bear

Do you know what makes her beautiful? Her wrinkles. They are these lines of perfection that make her, her! I can’t imagine her without them.They are so soft, I can’t resist hugging her and kissing her. Man! She hates that. The moment I’m out of eyeshot, she wipes her cheeks. If I see, she’d say,

“I don’t like that, with a sheepish smile.”

Um… she doesn’t do that anymore, though. Maybe that’s because I kiss her and wipe her cheek for her. 😀

I also pull her cheeks and say “Ammamma kuttyyyy!” in a high-pitched voice. She loves that, but never admits it. She’ll feign pain and say, “Even though you’re thin, you are too strong. My cheek hurts. Stop doing that!” and sure enough, there will be a smile that she’d be trying to hide.

It took us a while to understand that she was in fact secretly enjoying many of the things we did for her, while denying them all. She could be a puzzle sometimes. But that is what makes her, her. All those pranks, pretences, love and the care she gives us. Knowing the value of Grandparents, I’d say go spend some time with them today. I’ll do that too. And for those of you who miss having grandparents, I hope you enjoy these posts and that they fill at least an inch of that space. Until next time;

Love.

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You can read the stories about Ammamma under the Category ‘Grandma Tales’ which you’ll find on the right side of this page. (Scroll down! Scroll down! 😀 ) If you don’t find it, just leave a comment and I’ll get back to you. If you love my ‘Grandma Tales’, again please leave a comment and I’ll be grinning ear to ear and replying! 🙂

I am taking my alexa rank to the next level with Blogchatter

My current Global Alexa Rank is 22,06,315. Gotta lose them like losing weight. 😉

 

Letters, Rains, Books, Conversations – A Friendship

100 Happy Days – Day 88

Happiness is friendship in rain, with book, through letters and conversation.

It was 6.50 am. The queue began from the first floor, stretched through the staircase to the ground floor and out. I was on the staircase closer to the first floor. I heard Carnatic music emanating from the room filled with 50-60 youngsters; CA students. A guy with curly hair and sacred ash on his forehead emerged from the crowd, took out his phone and answered the call, cutting off the Carnatic music.

I walked into the classroom after my registration. A friend gestured me to come forward, for he had saved a seat for me. As I took my place beside him, I looked around to get acquainted with my neighbours and there he was, right in front of me. I glimpsed a drawing in his notebook. A rough sketch of Lord Shiva. There was a Shloka written next to it. I asked him about it and as he explained it, I made a mental note to read more on it. But soon, I forgot. I must ask him again. Or maybe, he’ll tell me if he reads this. 😉

*****

In a while, Gopikrishnan, the guy with the Bhasma on his forehead and immense love for Carnatic, and I became friends and then, there was no looking back.

We have these deep conversations at times, but we could easily talk silly too. They happen very rarely; maybe twice or thrice a year. But, it doesn’t matter. It is easy to pick up from where we had left. But mostly, we don’t have to pick up from where we had left. We could simply start a conversation with absolutely no back history.

During one such conversation, we realised that both of us loved writing letters. From then on, we started exchanging handwritten letters. (Heck! That was when I realised that most of the post boxes never functioned.) Whenever I saw the blue inland letter waiting for me in the hall, I knew where it came from. Sometimes, I’d tear it open right away. Sometimes, I’d keep it safely and opened it when I could read it peacefully.

Each of your friends add value to your life in different ways. Gkris, as he calls himself, prods my inner consciousness through our conversations and letters. The things he says, give new perspectives to my thoughts. His words have the power to make me see new things, take me to a new world where things needn’t really work as per a set of rule books.  There is a spiritual connection underlying our friendship and this is what makes it special.

While we spoke about so many things, bonded over books, music, movies, poems, quotes, ideologies and TV shows, we couldn’t meet. When I was free, he never came to my place. When he came, I wasn’t here. And so, after  three long years, it was time to meet.

*****

I picked him up from a common point and we stood there and spoke, oblivious to the place and the time. After a lot of discussions, we decided to go to a mall though we preferred a peaceful place amidst nature. On our way, the rain beat down from nowhere. Though we took shelter initially, the next time we were on the road, the rain couldn’t stop us. Both of us being rain lovers, decided to embrace the drizzle and continued. After a while, I heard him laugh ever so softly.

“What is it?”, I asked.

“You don’t want to know.”

“Now I do. Tell me!”

“Your hair brushes against my face every now and then. Um… and the smell. It smells so good.”

“I know”, I said.

“What is it with Women’s hair really? What smells so good? It isn’t Shampoo.”

“I don’t know. But I agree, it does smell good.” 😀

(The conversation ended there. It was later on that I got to know about Pheromones and remembered this conversation we had.)

Mall is a sad replacement for these rains, I thought. But not after we entered the mall and veered into the crossword book-store. Time flew as we bonded over books. Well read as he was, he showed me the books he liked, he suggested me some, he narrated some of the stories, his eyes twinkled as he described his book-shelf; a mini library.

During the conversation, he picked two books that I hadn’t read and asked me to pick one for myself. I was over-whelmed for that was the first time someone was gifting me a book. I asked him to choose since I had no clue about the two. He gave a gist of both the books and asked me to choose. Since both seemed interesting, I picked one randomly.

Later, as I was sipping a cup of tea, he spoke of his wanderlust, his experiences, and experiments during his journeys. He suggested places I’d like and he described beautiful sights. His plate was empty and yet, I was sipping my tea. He took the book he gave me and scribbled something in it. As he handed me the book, he said, ‘I have underlined some sentences in this book. Don’t read it beforehand.’ and I kept my word.

I returned home that day with the satisfaction you get only after you meet a close friend. When some people say goodbye and leave, we feel low. But when I dropped him off, I didn’t feel sad. Our bond wasn’t made through meetings. It was through words, letters and conversations. As long as the letters were exchanged, the conversations continued and music prevailed, this bond would exist.

While there are those friendships; the ones with lots of backstories of trips, heartbreaks, jokes, pranks and much more, there are some friendships that are subtle yet deep in their roots. One isn’t better or worse than the other. As I mentioned earlier, every friend adds value to you. One need not meet them or talk to them often, face tough or funny situations with them or go on trips. Probably, there are just a few silent moments together, just a few stray words exchanged. The bond speaks for itself.

This post has been written in association with Chaayos & Blogchatter on occasion of Friendship Day

Spread Smile Series # 3

Gratitude

There are many things we are thankful for. There are many people to whom we are grateful for very many reasons. If they are our colleagues or acquaintances, we thank them out of formality. While, when our close ones do us favors, we know that formalities aren’t necessary. They should know that you love them and that you are grateful to them.

Yes! They know! But have you noticed that the smile on the face of your loved ones are so brilliant when you openly acknowledge them?

You don’t have to make it formal and say ‘Thank you’.

You could say, ‘I knew you would do this for me’ or

‘I knew you would be there’.

or even

‘I didn’t expect you to remember that’

‘You always remember what I like’

They are all words of gratitude and they will definitely put a smile on their face. Especially if you are a person who barely express your gratitude to your loved one in words.

On this note, here is to my fellow bloggers and friends – There have been times when I couldn’t read your posts or leave my thoughts on them, yet you all never left my home (this blog). You all kept pouring in your love and friendship here. During my long gaps of studies, I thought my blog would be forgotten, but you all were there feeding it and keeping it alive. I couldn’t have asked for more. Thank you so much for being there. 🙂

So, run and thank your Mom, dad, sibling, friends. Let us spread smiles together. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Meanwhile, hope you are still appreciating whenever you find something nice. If you don’t know what I am talking about, click here.

If you want to be a part of this series, you can take this up, write a post on the same, spread the word and feel free to use the image above. Let us #SpreadSmiles together.

Stand Up Comedy Live – Kenny Sebastian

100 Happy Days – Day 85

Happiness is watching Stand up Comedy live

Kenny Sebastian. It hasn’t been too long since I came across the name. I was browsing through FB one day, when I came across an article about his video. It revolved around how Indians had a ‘paavam mode’ that came on at times, specially when abroad. You can watch it here. It is barely 7 mins.

I was on a laughter riot after which I began to dig for more videos. I kept talking to my sister about him and then we watched a couple of videos together. I wanted to watch one of his live performances and even tweeted once saying I wished he would perform in Kochi.

Later some day, I came across his tweet that said he was performing in 8 cities and that Kochi was among them. I immediately checked the site, venue, rates, date and time and realised that the performance would be from 8-10 PM at place quite far away from my house. The place is busy until 9PM, but 10 PM was too late and unsafe for women. Kochi lacks night life. This meant that someone had to accompany me. So, I put off booking the tickets until the last moment.

When the day approached, there was no one who could accompany me and I sort of felt bad. My folks were fine with me going out at any hour provided I had someone to accompany me. I had the freedom, but was unable to exercise it because of the society. I totally understood them.  It was one of those moments when I wished that I were a guy.

The thought made me all the more miserable. I didn’t mind not having any company. I wanted to go alone. I wanted to enjoy stuff by myself. I gave it a lot of thought and then, feeling very dejected, did what most of the people do. Lament on twitter. 😛

Missing @knowkenny‘s show 2day as it ends late(For Kochi stds) & my family thinks I’m too dangerous to go out at that time 😛 #Heartbroken

— Ranjini S (@RanjiniSkr) February 6, 2016

I went about my moaning and moping for a while and the next time I checked my mail, I had a reply from Kenneth Sebastian himself. I hurriedly opened my twitter and to my utter disbelief, he said:

Kenneth Sebastian

It ends at 9pm! It’s from 8 to 9! Come on convince your folks! Pleezzzzzz @RanjiniSkr

— Kenny Sebastian (@knowkenny) February 6, 2016

I sat there smiling broadly for the next ten minutes. I didn’t know what was more overwhelming; that the show ended at 9PM or the fact that Kenny had decided to reply. How could anyone not go for the show after receiving a tweet like that? Pleezzzzzz he had said. 😀 9PM made it easier to convince my folks, book tickets and take off. For the next two hours, I couldn’t wipe that smile off my face.

After an hour of awesomeness, we were told that we could take pictures with Kenny. I was dejected because my phone was ‘hospitalized’ and I didn’t have any with camera. I requested a bunch of girls if they could take my picture and send it to me. They agreed. I had a quick chat with Kenny, took a picture and was on my way home.

Yesterday was special in many ways:

• That was the First Live Stand up comedy I attended.
• It was the first time I tried so much to watch a show.
• I had a celebrity replying to my tweet. (He replies to pretty much everyone.)
• I ventured out alone for something. I am the kind of person who looks for company whenever I go out. The reason being, when I am alone, I feel like I’m easily spotted while I’m with someone, I sort of feel invisible. Sort of like, getting drowned in a crowd. I should learn to be comfortable alone. It is on my bucket-list 2016.

If you liked the video, do watch rest of his shows and if you want to watch a live performance, you might just get lucky. And so ended a beautiful Saturday for me. How was it for you folks? 🙂

Images from Kenny Sebastian’s twitter handle.

Spread Smile Series # 2

Smile

There she is! With her rocket science!

If that is what you are thinking, I wouldn’t blame you. All are aware that smiling is the best way to spread smiles. But how many of us really smile? Oh no! Not at our friends, but at people in general?

An Anecdote

I was once waiting for my sister on my Lavy. The road was narrow and there was no place to keep my scooter. So I had kept it as close to the wall as possible thinking I’ll move it when the need arises. As I sat there, a car came and by the time I could move my vehicle, the honking had begun. The impatience was at the highest when the men inside started screaming at the top of their voices, shouting obscenities. I have a soft voice. I can shout but it will not be heard above the average voices. Reasoning with them was impossible. I somehow used all the energy in me and shouted back asking them to speak with respect and that I was anyway moving the vehicle.

People learn certain things from home, some from neighborhood and the rest from what they see around them. Here, during circumstances like this, I have ALWAYS noticed that people behave very rudely. Where a conversation or a request could easily get them through, they use abuses, make things complicated and then get their things done.

Why this hostility?

I, at times used to speak rudely to strangers and I realized I got this habit from people like them. They must have learnt this similarly and everyone thinks this is how you speak to strangers. Because, we have been taught from childhood to be careful with strangers, to keep them at bay and that we don’t have to respect them!

I appreciate the sentiments behind it. Do not give sensitive information to strangers. Be careful while striking conversation with strangers. But a simple smile, gives nothing away. Just smile. When people begin with smiling, the warmth will spread. How will you shout at a person when you are used to smiling at people? Now, I wouldn’t say it is easy. Here are some things you might need to keep in mind:

• If you are not used to smiling at strangers, it will take time to give your genuine smile. It’s because you are already wondering what others will think. They are strangers! It doesn’t matter what they think. Keep up the smile. The genuine smile will come with practice.
• When you smile, ensure that they have made eye contact with you and then smile.
• Many aren’t used to smiling to strangers. So, when you smile at them, some of them will be in a state of shock. Some of them might look at you suspiciously. They may not smile back. Don’t get discouraged. I used to get discouraged and went back to my rude mode. Again, I resumed trying. 🙂
• Some people think that if you smile at them, you probably know them. If they ask you so, don’t panic. Simply keep smiling and tell them you don’t. (Er, if you don’t know them, that is)

So what do you do from today?

Keep up that smile of yours forever. Let us spread smiles together. 🙂 🙂 🙂 Meanwhile, hope you are still appreciating whenever you find something nice. If you don’t know what I am talking about, click here.

If you want to be a part of this series, you can take this up, write a post on the same, spread the word and feel free to use the image above. Let us #SpreadSmiles together.

Spread Smiles Series # 1

To know about the series, click Here

Appreciation – An Anecdote

I read a book named ‘How to Make Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie around 11 years back. Among many useful things, I learnt that ‘Appreciating’ people was important.

I walked into my workplace and saw someone wearing a nice shirt. I went to him, smiled and said,

“Hey! Nice shirt! It looks good on you.”

We were mere acquaintances until then. But from then on, we became friends. I wasn’t bluffing when I said about the shirt. I felt so and said genuinely.

Why Appreciate?

Many of us see something nice and think to ourselves about how beautiful it is. Something stops us from voicing out our feelings. We know that it gives them immense pleasure when we appreciate them. Yet, somethings like ‘Will they think I’m trying to attract their attention? What if he thinks too highly of himself?’ refrain us from saying it aloud. How will you know the person if you haven’t spoken to him yet?

Besides, the point is to appreciate without expecting anything in return. We do not lose anything by appreciating. So, let us do it. Whether we gain a friendship or more, we will know with time.

Later…

A month after I began to appreciate, I received them in return. People began telling me how I looked beautiful that day, how my dress looked good, how they liked my hairstyle and never to wear that top again, it sucks! 😀 Yeah that too! For, a strong bond had formed.

The place rang with appreciations and mockery and we had become one huge family. I don’t take all the credits. Surely not. But, the appreciation part, the difference was right there before my eyes. 🙂

If you want to be a part of this series, you can take this up, write a post on the same, spread the word and feel free to use the image above. Let us spread smiles together.

Adding this to my 100 Happy Days Challenge – Day 83 because happiness is doing your share to spread smiles. 

Some Rare Sunrises

Happiness is watching Sunrise

Last week this day, I witnessed one of the most beautiful Sunrises. It is amazing how the same Sun sets and rises everyday. Yet, he manages to astound many people in many ways from many different places, Every – Single -Day.

I have never seen the same sunrise or sunset twice.

 

This is in Nandi hills Bangalore. If you haven’t been there, you must go at least once in your lifetime, specially during winter. It is quite cold, but the view is worth it. It looks like the Sun just woke up on a bed of clouds. Doesn’t it?

Have lovely Sunday 🙂

PS – I don’t always witness sunrises. But when I do, I ensure that it is Legen -wait for it – dary! Legendary! 😀

16 Tips to Make Your Year Productive II

Fed up of making resolutions and dropping midway? Then chuck resolutions and prepare a set of achievable and interesting goals. By goals I mean, all those one time things you have always wanted to do.

The list is not exhaustive. You can read the first part of the post here and after reading the rest, decide on how you wish to make a difference in your life this year.

8. Own a Pet – I know lots of pet lovers who have always wanted pets, but never really got to owning them. I love dogs. But due to certain personal reasons, I can’t have one right now. So I have decided on owning a fish once I get a job. It took me a while to realise that this was an option. And here I am telling you, if you can’t own a cat or dog, you have other options – birds, fishes, a beautiful flower bearing plant. I know that the last one isn’t a pet. But keeping one in your room, watering it and watching it bloom isn’t a bad idea after all. A friend of mine did it last year with a marigold. 🙂 You know what? You should so name the plant!
Guys name her Cameron Diaz and say, guess who is waiting for me 😉
Girls name him Dwayne Johnson and say, Oh! The Rock needs me. Gotta go.
I bet you, the Harry Potter fans will name the plant Mathhew Lewis (Neville) or Tom Felton (Draco) 😉
Or they could name him Dobby and whisper threateningly, “Dobby! Get out of my room, now!”

Er… I got carried away. Moving on…

9. Take up a Charitable Activity – There are many kind-hearted people who wish to do something charitable and make a difference. Some do not have the time, some forget, some fear that their hard earned money may be misused. I’d say that we cannot understand the joy of doing something that makes someone happy until we do it personally.Go to an orphanage and mingle with the children. Go to an old-age home and give those aged people your time. Instead of giving in cash, give gifts and most importantly love to the aged and they will see their son/daughter in you. If you feel up to it, add this to your goals list so that you feel a bit more happy at the end of the year.

10. Go Somewhere Alone – I barely do this and I want to do it. And so, I have reason to believe that there are others like me. If you really wish to try this out, start with a place nearby. Go and spend some alone time there and then try a new place the next time. If you still feel like experimenting, do it as many times as you want until you are convinced about yourself. You will learn that you either despise the alone time or that the alone time is growing on you. 🙂 This is how you know yourself.

Walk with Yourself

11. Write Letters –  Have you experienced that surge of happiness when you find a hand written letter delivered to you? There are no intimations that say ‘typing…’, there are no blue ticks involved, no pressures to reply asap. You never know what or when or from whom you’d receive a letter. It is a piece of paper touched, held, and sealed by the writer personally. It carries his smell, the fingerprints, the imprint of pen & ink due to the pressure applied by him, and it is written earnestly since there is no hurry to reply asap. No blue ticks that urges him to write because the recipient knows that he has read the latter’s letter already. Write letters without forcing the recipient to reply fast. :)Sometimes, it will become a habit and this will be the year you began writing letters

12. For Creators – Whether you are a painter, writer, musician or a creator in general, you will have plans to create more this year. But it is possible that after a while the urge wares off and then you leave it. Make it a point to create something every month. At the end of the year, you have twelve of your masterpieces.

Hang a planner in your room and decide on what you will create. Carry a notepad around and jot down the ideas as and when they appear in your head. When you have free time and lack ideas, refer the planner & the notepad and create something beautiful. Don’t let the moss drown your talents.

13. Invest in Something You have Always Dreamt of Owning – If you aren’t interested in traveling, reading or shopping, point 1 could be used here. Is there something really expensive you have always wanted? Expensive things take time to reach you. You might be waiting for ‘some day’ when you will have all the money to own it. Instead, start now. Be it your dream house, car, instrument or an expensive course, start saving for it now! Let the dream turn into reality starting 2016.

14. Experiment! Body Art, Piercing, Hair Highlighting, weird hair styles – We have our body to experiment on. As long as it isn’t anything harmful, experimenting is fun. I’d like some ink, purple hair highlights & a couple more of ear piercings. What about you?

I know many friends who want to get tattoos & hair colors but refrain from them due to pressure from home. The most common reason I get is, ‘What if the guy I’m to get married to doesn’t like it?’

Here is what I have to say. If you want a tattoo, get one. If you don’t want, don’t get one. If someone else wants, it’s their right, let them have it their way.

15. Waiting for Someone Else’s Happiness – All the while, I was talking about our own happiness. There are those wonderful moments when something lovely happens to someone else and we are as happy as they are; A friend finally getting married or committed, a sibling or friend becoming a parent, someone getting a new job or their first salary, sibling graduating and much more. If this is the year that brings happiness to someone special, make note of it. Look forward to it. By the end of the year, you will definitely have some wonderful things to look back to.

16. Finally, For Those Who Cannot Find Enough Time – This is for really busy folks. I suppose you can find some time twelve times a year. Make a minimal & practicable list of things you’d like to achieve. Preferably twelve of them. If you have reading a book, traveling, meeting a friend in your list, according to your schedule, allocate a month for each activity and make it a point to stick to them. Even if you change the order of the plan, ensure that you keep doing something different every month. You will have a memorable year in the end. 🙂 For those who cannot afford twelve things, you can settle for six goals to be achieved over two months each.

You can have goals for anything below the sun, above the Earth and beyond. There is no end. I have prepared a very tiny list that pretty much accommodates the most common goals. It is just to give you an idea. Hope 2016 brings with it a lot of experiences and memories. Hope you keep yourselves busy, peppy & productive throughout the year; And when you look back in the end, I hope you have most of the items ticked from your ‘To-do’ list.

So what are you waiting for? It is already 15th of Jan. Convert your resolutions to goals. If you have more vibrant items to be added to this list, please let me know in the comments. We have many more years to come and I could do with more ideas and goals. 🙂

The Year in a Capsule

100 Happy Days – Day 75

Happiness is A New Year! Happy New Year!

31st Dec 2015, 11.49 PM

I hear a lot of activity around. The dogs are barking mad since the fireworks have begun. There are a lot of vehicles on road and an ambulance is rushing past. I pray that whoever is in it gets well soon.

As 2015 comes to a close, here I am doing what I love the most; writing. I cannot help but remember where I was 365 days back, at this time. I was on my Lavy (Hero Pleasure) with two friends, exploring the roads of Cochin on New Year Eve. The roads were heavy with traffic and we were wished a Happy New Year a thousand times by random people. We passed through a street whose walls were entirely adorned with lit candles. Later, we had ice cream and reached our room by around 2 am.

And now, I sit here, by my laptop. Look at the difference. The year has been similar too, with its highs and lows.

Blogging

• Won a couple of contests and a really big, unexpected one. I still wonder how that happened.
• Two of my poems were published in the Magazine Writer’s Ezine. You can read them and let me know if you like them.
  – Tresses
  – One Lie
• Ventured into freelance writing and wrote for half a dozen entities. I learnt a lot from each experience. Also, rejected some due to exams and I regret that deeply. This is how we learn, right? I know what to do next time I get a lot of work amidst exams. Go for my passion. 🙂 It isn’t as easy as said, but I’ll fight it through.
• I completed the 30 Days Book Challenge where I discussed various aspects of different books I have read.
• I began the #100HappyDays challenge, recording my happy moments in my blog. I couldn’t finish it in 100 consecutive days, yet I decided to complete it as and when time permitted. This is one. 🙂
• Lastly, I changed my ‘Shades of myself’ page. I have been intending to write a proper one for a long time. I made it by the end of 2015.

Career

Not much progress on the CA front.

 I attended my first interview, got the job in one of the hot shot companies. With time, I realised that the corporate life alone would kill me. I realised that more than earning in lakhs, I preferred earning less and having more of ‘Me’ time where I could rejuvenate myself with some art and writing. I learnt what sort of job I shouldn’t take up. 🙂

Random Acts of Kindness

I came across the Flower Granny and with the help of some lovely friends in the Blogosphere, gave her some money to pay off some of her debts. You can read about it here.

I also came across a group of students from USA who decided to buy a toy to a child who was running around in Marine Drive. I stood their watching the kid’s reaction, the students clicking pictures with the kid and when I had the time, I too took a picture. He was very happy. So were we. You can read about it Here.

Family

• A cousin of mine whom I have never met, visited from US this year. His wife, knowing me through Facebook, gifted me a queer diary. It has 365 leaves with a question on each page to answer every day of the year. There are 5 slots to answer the questions for 5 years and finally compare the answers and see the difference. I absolutely loved it!
• Another cousin who is of the same age as me stayed at home for a couple of weeks. As children, we have craved to be together a lot. But it was never possible. But this time, we enjoyed like never before. This time, I got to know her better and moved a hundred steps closer to her.
• I was sleeping one evening and my little sister ordered pizza for me from her savings ❤ What more can I say? It was a big moment for me 🙂

Miscellaneous

• Went on a trip to Ezhattumugham & Thumbormozhi
• Explored my very own Kochi and even now, I feel like going back there.
• Read Divergent, Insurgent, Life in the time of Cholera and half of Book Thief this year.

This were just a few among the hundreds of things that turned the hands of the clock this year. How can I not mention the lovely friends I found here? There is one thing about friends from blogging. You could know them too well because they write their hearts out. I have been wanting to know more and become closer to some of them here. I wouldn’t mention names here. Let it happen with time. Hopefully, 2016 would help me with that.

Here is to writing more, making more friends and laughing more. Here is to living! Wishing all my blogger friends and readers a mind-blowing New Year! 😀

Do let me know how yours went by.

Love,
Rangelz

PS – The image with the red fireworks is from a compilation of pictures of New Year from celebrations around the world by The Telegraph. You can see the compilation Here.

I’m sharing my #TalesOf2015 with BlogAdda

A Gift that Returned a Smile

100 Happy Days – Day 74

Happiness is finding something you had created many years ago, preserved.

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the gifts you give away? I gift things to see the smile on people’s face when they receive it. I did not know that some day, the same gift could make us smile.

In my previous post, I wrote about my visit to my friend’s place. I had put up a picture of the card we had prepared for her birthday in our college. There was another card given to her in the final year. I decided to keep that one for a separate post. Because, meeting an old friend is a happy memory. Knowing that your gift is preserved carefully by her is another unexpected happy memory. Right?

We painted the chart paper first, drew the pictures in another paper, cut them out and stuck them on the painted chart.

That is all I remember. I had forgotten about this one. But she had preserved the card along with her engagement album. 🙂