25 Things that Every Person Should Do!

1. Read. Read a lot.

2. Write. Write everything. Write about every moment that you experience, write about every memory that is awesome, write about every moment that is not-so-awesome, write till you are lost in your words. Write till you are exhausted. Write till you know you cannot write anymore

Or even better, write a book.

3. Travel. Maintain a journal. Write down everything. Take pictures. Make memories.

4. Fall in love. 

5. Get hurt. Fall apart. Cry out loud. Push everything away. Make yourself numb and immune to all the crap happening around you.

Experience the pain. And write down how it feels! No, really.

6. Write a song. Compose it. Refrain from singing it out loud. Or may be, you should just sing. You never know!

7. Go on a sabbatical.

8. Take a break from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Quora, Whatsapp, and of course, your mobile phone. It is easy. Try it.

9. Sleep a lot. Take a break from work and sleep for 48 hours straight. You know how awesome it feels?

10. Eat.A.Lot.

11. Sleep under the stars with your friends.

12. Wake up early in the morning and let the sun-rays play on the face of your loved one. Well, do you need anything more than such a beautiful sight? No, you do not!

13. Make a difference.

14. Spend a day eating a yummy chocolate cake and try not to feel guilty about the calories and all.

15. Go back-packing. Alone! Yes.

16. Quit your job. Find a job you love the most.

17. Spend all your money. Be broke.

18. Learn something new each day.

19. Slap all those idiots who ask you to 'move on.' It is so easy for people to say that. Obviously! They do not put themselves in your shoes and think, right? And if you have ever asked someone to move on..well, you know whom to slap first!

20. Talk about yourself to a stranger and let him judge you. Brutally!

And accept the criticism. Or the good stuff. ;)

21. Make promises. And promise yourself that you will fulfill every promise. After all, promises are meant to be fulfilled, isn't it?

22. Take a leap of faith and do the things that you badly want to do in spite of knowing and sensing the repercussions.

23. Shop till you drop.

24. Figure out what you need. Figure out what you want. Make a plan and make sure that everything happens according to your plan.

Make every effort to get what you want. What is the use of making plans and all when you cannot fight to achieve them?

25. Make some friends who love you. Love them back and do everything to make them happy.

So Much For A Happy Ending!

IT HAS BEEN OVER A YEAR NOW. I AM TURNING INTO A MISERABLE WRECK. CAN YOU HELP ME? My friend shouted over phone. She was moping over her long distance relationship with this wonderful guy and she asked me if I could help her. Well, really? Those were the days when I was in college, I had no clue how these long distance relationships worked out. But still, I chose stupidity over silence and gave her all dumb ideas to help her come out of the misery.

For once, I should have put myself in her shoes, and understand the trauma she was going through. I could not! 

SUNAINA, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BADLY I MISS HER. A MAJOR CHUNK OF MY LIFE IS MISSING AND I AM HELPLESS. I WANT TO BE THERE FOR HER, TAKE HER SHOPPING, BUY HER THE THINGS SHE LAYS HER EYES ON. I JUST WANT TO BE THERE FOR HER LISTENING TO HER TALKING ABOUT ALL THE RANDOM THINGS UNDER THE SKY. It was that wonderful guy who was smitten by the love bug and was equally suffering like my friend. It was strange to listen to a guy going all mushy-mushy yet it was amazing. I was happy for my friend. But I could not fathom why things were not working out for them. I hallucinated long distance relationships to be awesome. You know you get a lot of space, you do not have to put up with too many tantrums. Like, no drama, no trauma.

And once again, I chose stupidity over silence and lectured them on how awesome it is too be far away. Let alone long distance relationships, my knowledge in relationships was pretty slim back then. Though I refrained myself from suggesting drastic ideas, I gave them lame ideas which nearly killed them. Of course!

I still remember the bubble of joy on her face when she received his letter one day, the longing in her voice, and the disappointment in her voice when she read it. He wrote to her saying it was not working out. He told her it was to end. Both of them convinced themselves that it was meant to end. They put on strong faces, ignored friends and acted wise. They never ignored me..probably because I never asked them anything about their relationship. 

And then, one day, he spent a lot on an International call to his angelic friend (Read, Sunaina) and that probably is the best call he ever made to his friends. Says he, not me!

"I cannot stay without her."

"Umm. Really? I thought you were happy. Weren't you the one who thought it was supposed to end?"

"Let me tell you how unhappy I am."

"Do me a favour and spare me the drama. Tell me what you want to do."

"I want her back. Blah, blah. blah this, blah that, blah, blah all over again."

"Have you been listening to Avril Lavigne? Why are talking like a moron?"

"You won't understand. When you go through all this na, you will. You will no more listen to your Green Day. You will be the one listening to Mandy Moore, Avril and Kelly Clarkson. I will make fun of you then. Alright?"

"You wish, my friend, you wish."

And after all this friendly banter ended, he called her. It was one heck of a conference call and well..gulp..umm..you know..I had to put up with too much of well, you know it. And later, way too many things happened in their relationship, too many complications that I could never decipher, too much of drama that stoned me, too much of love that irked me.

It has been five years now and they are together and going stronger with every passing moment. Congratulations on getting engaged! I am so efffffing happy for you guys. XOXOXO

And anyway, aren't you like too young to be engaged? Yes, whatever!

P.S. I have been threatened and tormented horribly to write this.

Being Broke!

It is just the second week of the month and we haven't hit the weekend yet. But I am broke! Yes, already. I am always broke. I feel happy when I receive a text from my bank saying my salary has been credited. Who doesn't? And even if I am in a deep slumber drifting into a fairy-tale world, I wake up. I wake up and plant myself in front of my laptop. I order all random stuff online and convince myself that I would use them. Obviously! Why else do you buy stuff?

And well, you get the drift. I am broke by the end of the first week itself. The remaining days are, clearly, spent in misery. Sometimes, I wonder if my bank is stealing my money. Sometimes, I wonder if my wallet has a massive chunk of hole that makes my money fly away and then, like always some sense creeps into me. I open my closet, I open my shoe case, I look at my cup-boards and I understand where my money flew. And of course, there are times when a set of bills and all fall into my lap from my wallet. The 'souvenirs' as I call them. 

And now, I know how being broke feels. It feels hungry, it feels horrid, it feels like 'you need to buy every piece of shit but you cannot because you spent a greater deal on other shit in the first week of the month', it feels miserable and it feels like..umm..you know..a Mango dress with a pair of matching Steve Madden.

But on the other hand, being broke has its own benefits. For instance, let us see the following:

1. When I have money, I have this inane urge to buy useless things. And I buy them. And throw them away once expiry date comes closer.

When I am broke, I do not have to stress my brain on what to buy and what not to buy. 

2. I do not have to worry about buying things anymore. Because I let my father buy them. Ha! :D

3. You turn responsible. No, really!

But if you are a person like me, then, you don't. How sad!

But anyway, I tell you what? Your early twenties is the phase in your life when you can be irresponsible and get away with it. You do not have to think a lot, save a lot or worry a lot. Let us just save all the trauma for the post twenties and have a happy (and should I say extravagant) early twenties right now?

Hello, mommaa?? Are you listening?

Five Things I've Learned The Simple Way!

My previous post was quite crappy. In my terms, I would call it as depressive shit. You know everyone goes through that phase--the phase where everything you do seems to be right and everything the world does is so wrong. That phase makes you act illogical and lame. No, really. The problem with that phase is there is no problem at all but you look at everything like it is a problem. And that, my friend is what I did. 

Then, it dawned on me. I was being so lame! And I am glad I realized it. Better late than never, nay? So, after that crappy post which I so loathe, I have decided to write something better and cheerful. I decided to not to remove that much hated post from my blog because I want it to remind me of my silly acts and 'the delusional phase' each time I open my blog.

So, well, here are the five things that I have learned the simple way:

1) Count till twenty when you are angry. Honestly, it is better to count till hundred instead of taking hasty decisions and regretting later.

2) There are people in our lives who do things for us. Those things may not really match our expectations but that is the maximum that they can do for us. 

I have realized that it isn't a nice thing to crib about this. You know it is simple to be happy instead of cribbing over the things that they haven't done for us and spoiling everything.

3) A writer needs to practice. We need to write everyday. To write a 800 words a day is not a very difficult thing. And you know what happens if you don't write? You will end up writing crappy posts like this and the previous one.

4) I think and do things better when I sleep. Yes, I do!

5) I got rid of those frenemies, didn't I? And I am glad I did.

Ten Things I've Learned The Hard Way!

1. The corporate world can make your life bizarre and give you a massive head-ache. No matter how awesome you are (or you were), you will turn into a person with too many complications. 

You miss your crappy college and the person you used to be!

2. There are times when people change drastically and you end up looking like a deluded fool having no clue of the situations and of course, the repercussions. 

Accept the change and move on! 

3. A person can do a lot. Like, a lot! 

All that we need to do is, prioritization and hell yes, get rid of the damned procrastination.

4. There are moments when little things can irk you. There are moments when your brain can create all lame stories about 'those little things'.

Gimmeeee a break!!! Those little things do not even matter, you demented brain.

5. Have a little faith in yourself! 

6. There are moments when we are so into some crappy work and ignore our friends, life and  all that and turn into a replica of a person we once hated.

On a serious note, why do you need anything else when you have no peace, love, happiness and in this process, your life turns crapper. Doesn't it?

7. Appreciate the people you have in your life and be glad that you have them before it is too late.

Yes, before it is too late for everything! ;-)

8. Promises are broken, scattered, twisted, forgotten, and in few cases, they are thrown out of the window. 

Well, I've learned that you can do nothing about them. Seriously,what can you?

9. SHUT UP and mind your job. No, really!

10. Yawn! I am glad the final one is here. I ran out of ideas already. :D

Music and books can pull you out of any distress. One should always depend on them for comfort.

Five Relationship Myths!

It is strange how we read books, watch novels and hallucinate that every relationship is perfect. You know it is just the same story in fiction--Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, they exchange looks, books, texts and bam! They are so into each other, ignore the world around them, run around the trees and creepers and run into the sunset. And most of these books and movies seem to be interesting. Obviously! But they display so many myths. For instance, let me list them down.

1. Relationships survive and happen only to the good-looking people: God! This is such a common one, right? The protagonists in the book are always like Tom Cruise and Angelina Jolie. Of course, most of us will abandon the books that have ugly protagonists so, I won't talk like a saint here.

The thing I am trying to point here is the stories that portray how a boy ignores the girl, the girl sits and cries, and it suddenly dawns on her that things can change and turns from drab to fab overnight. Chi! 

2. Fights are a proof that a relationship has reached the saturation point:

Duh? Shut up! It isn't like that.
Ages ago, my uncle told me that the moment we stop fighting with our partners is when the relationship has reached the saturation because you simply do not care. You just let them be.

3. People with similar nature and perceptions are the best for each other:

Oh yeah? And get bored of the person in two months? Because you are just too similar and you feel like you are in a relationship with yourself. Or may be, not. 

But hey this is just my perception. It is my blog. I rule. :P

4. Couples who are in a relationship for a very long period are the happiest couples:

Of course! The others are the sad, demented ones who are probably in a delusional phase till they attain the veteran status and they automatically turn happy and joyous. Sweet, sweet life!

5. Awesome couples do everything together:

And scare the crap out of people around them. You know what? You aren't Siamese twins. Awesome couples need space and have individuality. Demented couples act clingy and do things together.

P.S. If any reader finds these points similar to their life, I am sorry. No pun intended. No, really!

That Nostalgic Childhood!

Childhood-The very word drifts us into a sweet world of memories, goof-ups, foolishness, fun and you know..a lot more stuff. How many of us want to revisit and relive those days? Those days when little things mattered! Things like playing in the sand, going around your colony on your tricycle, going to school with many toffees in your pocket, attending birthday parties gave you a lot of joy.

The joy of walking home with a Tinkle in your arm, and occasionally an Enid Blyton's book would just make your day. The pocket money you receive from your grandparents, the warmth of your grand-mother and her amazing stories, your play room, playing silly games with your cousins, listening to Michael Jackson and ABBA, waiting for Disney Hour, and CatDog were a part of your childhood.

I vividly remember every part of my childhood. Summers were always awesome.I spent my every Summer at my grand-mother's place in Calcutta. Summers to me meant holidays, shopping, ice-creams, a visit to the library in the evenings, lying in a bath tub, long evening-walks with your cousins, short night walks with your grandpa, a visit to the closest Pani-puri center. Those were the days when we had time for family and those were the days of epic fun. And today, amidst this hectic, monotonic life, we have regular bouts of our childhood and how pretty they were!

These days, we see kids struggling to spend their Summers properly. Thanks to the corporate schools and our crappy education system for they are thrown into rigorous IIT coaching during the Summers. How on Earth can a twelve year old decipher IIT syllabus? But well, who cares? There were days when every kid in the colony would go play in the evening and these kids would make a point to drag the kids who wished to stay home. And today, kids prefer staying home to complete their homework which happens to be more complex than my engineering assignments. No, seriously!

And do I need to mention the cartoons? Yes, the anime cartoons! We had simple cartoons like Tom and Jerry, Scooby Doo, Captain Planet and well, you get the drift. I am really sorry for the kids now for they have to put up with such terrible cartoons that tend to give me a massive head-ache. Books were a major part of our lives back then. R.K. Narayan, Ruskin Bond, Satyajit Raj, Enid Blyton were our stars (and still are); Tinkle, Archies were such a delight. And most of the kids today..umm..read nothing. How unfortunate!

Everyone paints a rosy picture of their childhood. My grand-mother did, my mother does, I do. I just hope that every kid makes their childhood memorable and a period that would bring a smile on their faces instead of sulking at IIT coaching centers and spoiling the best part of anyone's life-the childhood!