What’s Your Plan for NYE??

It’s that time of the year, when the first question you are asked whomsoever you meet or chat with, is , “So, what’s your plan for the New Year Eve?”.

And the best part is that, this question comes with a lot of expectations. You are ‘expected’ to have an AWESOME plan for this grand evening.

So, your AWESOME plans could inclide:

• The High and ‘Dry’ Parties : Hosted by the Hotels and Resorts with a HIGH price tag, for the Mostest-lavish spread of exotic buffet with unlimited mocktails and cocktails, live band with a big or a small star attraction, fireworks et al to enthral you. This is that kind of place, which you would love to talk about with your friends. But actually, all this does not enthral you as you desperately ‘try’ to enjoy the party and secretly wish for the clock to strike 12 and make a dash from the place. Here you, bring in the new year with a few friends and loads of strangers!
• The No Plan Parties : Yes, you actually have no plans for the gala evening and so does your bunch of friends. So, you all dress up for the occasion, pile up in the vehicles and make a dash for the nearest party. Since almost all the hotels, clubs and resorts in the city host the NYE parties, whichever place suits your budget or taste or wherever the bouncers allow you in, the place becomes your party zone. There could be some disappointments, but mostly it’s fun!
• The Cozy Comfy Home Parties : A few close family and friends, along with lots of home made or catered from outside food, free flowing alcohol of your choice, games and anecdotes, music and even TV, half reclining on the sofa or wrapped up cozily in a blanket, it’s a comfortable way of bringing in the new year, right in your home!
• My Parents Type of Parties : For a couple of years now, this is how my parents welcome the new year. Dad goes off to sleep at his scheduled time of 10 pm, while Mom would watch TV sitting snugly in her quilt. A few minutes before midnight, she would go to the kitchen and warm up the ‘gajar ka halwa’ which she would have made in the afternoon and then wake up Dad. With the sweet dish and phone calls to family and friends they sweetly welcome the new year!!

So, what is your plan for this New Year Eve?? Whatever, it is enjoy it thoroughly and be safe.

Wordless Wednesday - 72

Wordless Wednesday - 71

40 Today!!

Ten Things about Turning 40 Today!

1. I know, meri twacha se meri umr ka pata hee nahi chalta, thoda bahut hee pata chalta hai but the fact is I am 40 years old today!! While many are not comfortable with this thought, I am kind of happy on entering the fourth decade of my life on this earth.
2. I can see 3-4 grey strands of hair and the son can see 5-6 more, I have decided that I am never gonna color or dye my hair, despite umpteen suggestions by friends and hair stylist.
3. A friend asked today, “So you are 40 today, do you feel old? The answer is NO. “Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” And this is what I want to follow, each day, each year!
4. They say, “At the age of 20, we don’t care what the world thinks of us; at 30, we worry about what it is thinking of us; at 40, we discover that it wasn’t thinking of us at all.” Yes, it’s so very true and I have realised it for a long time now!! :)
5. Helen Rowland said, life begins at 40 – but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times. While the first three have not made their presence yet, the last one is beginning to show it’s head at times!! LOL
6. At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty the wit; at forty the judgment, said Benjamin Franklin. Yes, the maturity is kind of coming in, or so I like to believe.
7. There’s a joke which reads, at 40, you get two invitations to go out on the same night, and you pick the one that gets you home the earliest. True, I prefer to come back and settle snuggly in my comfort zone!
8. 40=24+16 years of experience!! And, this experience makes you tell stories, share tips, give suggestions very frequently, much to the chagrin of some!
9. Being Fit @ Forty is important and vital. So it’s time to say hello to regular exercise, healthy habits, nutritious diet…
10. Well, they say age is just a number! And you are as old as you feel. And there is no denying the fact that I feel good @ 40!!

Life’s Lessons from My Maid

Last weekend, our new and temporary maid got her 7 year old daughter to work. A sweet looking lil’ girl, I asked her generally about her class, school etc. During the course of our little conversation, her mother explained that since she was not satisfied with the studies in the Government school, she has now enrolled her kids in a private school. The schooling is a bit expensive for her to manage, but she wants nothing but the best for her kids. I was impressed at her progressive thought process.

Subsequent conversation, that we had, reads like this….
Me: Where does your husband work?
She : He doesn’t work.
Me : Is he out of job and needs a job?
She : No, he doesn’t want to work.
Me : What does he do then?
She : He sits at home and smokes some pot along with a pack of beedi a day and does nothing at all.
Me : Why?
She : He wants to go back to my village. And I don’t want to go. He has severed ties with his own family. He will be a burden on my parents and brothers, so I don’t want to go back to my village. As it is, we will have to pay the rent etc there, which we are anyways paying here too and most importantly, there would be limited work opportunities for me. And knowing him, I have my doubts if he would work in the village too. So, I am supporting him and the kids.
Me : Doesn't he realise his responsibility towards the kids and you?
She : Whenever I have tried to talk to him about this, his response has been physical abuse. I have tried a lot and now I don't try any further. I work and earn for my kids. It doesn’t bother me now,

She said it with a smile. There was no pain, no frustration, no anger or bitterness at the life’s trials and tribulations thrown her way!

I could see that she was at peace with this difficult situation.

How could she achieve this?? Didn’t this hurt and betrayal led to pain, anger, holding grudges, resentment, negative feelings… Didn't these negative feelings threaten to shatter her whole being??

But here, I see a very cheerful and a positive woman.

I believe, she must have forgiven and forgotten. I know, it is easier said than done. But it’s true that forgiving, not only heals you emotionally and but also makes you strong mentally.

Or she must have accepted her situation and made peace with it. Rather than going through the daily turmoil or getting worked up or having arguments with her non-supporting husband, she has come to terms with the hard facts of her life and directed herself in something positive and is trying to give a better life to her kids.

But accepting a situation and forgiving and forgetting, does that mean she doesn’t care anymore. I guess, she must, but she has learnt that the situation will no longer pull her down or drain her energies.

I believe she has learnt to Move On…

I believe she has learnt to Let Go...

Wordless Wednesday - 70

Building Brainpower : Dilip Mukerjea

Title : Building Brainpower : Turning Grey Matter into Gold
Author : Dilip Mukerjea
Publisher : Westland
ISBN : 978-93-80032-49-8
Number of Pages : 320
Price [INR] : 750
Genre: Self Development


Review : Some time back, while I was preparing my plan of action for a project, a colleague peered over my diagrammatic representation of the action plan and asked, “Are you into Mind Mapping?”  A “No” from me and an urgent call on his cell phone, killed the conversation in this direction, but my curiosity was sufficiently piqued. I googled about Mind Mapping and got some insights. When Blogadda announced about review of Building BrainPower, I simply grabbed the opportunity.

Seeing a big fat book scared me a bit initially, but a cursory glimpse, I knew that it sure is a goldmine of information and knowledge and a LOT can be learnt and implemented from the strategies and suggestions given in this book, in our daily lives.

The initial chapter gives in depth  insights about our brain, it’s evolution, history and even the biology part of it, which honestly, I just flipped through! (I am a Science graduate!)

And then comes the most interesting part… Mind Mapping. The author explains, in detail all about this wonderful tool. He says that Mind Mapping is a dynamic brain skill that dramatically enhances your capacity for learning and remembering. The thing about this book, is that there are so many diagrams and illustrations that make this so simple to understand and comprehend. The author prods you to create your own Mind Maps of Your Likes and Dislikes, Your Goals, with suggestions and tips, which certainly ensure that you learn all about it practically.

This is how a Mind Map looks like!

What amazed me is that one can use Mind Maps to learn everything. Yes, even the Parts of Speech and for Vocabulary Development too. A 2-page description on Singapore was transformed into a Mind Map and a single diagram has the entire summary of the 2 pages!! It sure will speed up the learning and retention process. Seeing this particular diagram, has given me the inspiration to help Aaryan learn his lessons using this technique. It sure is/will be a boon for students!Subsequent chapters showcase Mind Maps on various topics viz Religions, Languages of the world and then there are Do-It-Yourself exercises.

And the Mind Maps on “Planning a Party”, “Planning a Vacation”, “Plans for Living a Balanced Life”, I am sure concerns all of us and creating these ones will surely help us.

A section on communication is fascinating and the author has saved the best for the last! Yes, the last part is Braintertainment, which has memory exercises, dot problems, general knowledge crosswords and brain quizzes. Here’s one for you, from the book…
Without lifting your pencil from the paper, draw six consecutive straight lines that cross through all the `16 dots. You are not allowed to repeat a line once it has been drawn.

Can you solve it?? Dp share your answers!

The key learnings and take homes from this book:

• .Brainpower is the bridge to the future, it is what transports you from wishful thinking to willful thinking
• Our education focuses on three R’s : Reading, ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic. If we learn HOW to study and not hust WHAT to study, the Three R’s should be : Revision, Reinforces Retention. And this is done via Mind Mapping.
• Communicate with your brain, constantly, and your genius will emerge.

If you are looking for some some self development reference book on Brain Power which has loads of activities and exercises, diagrams and illustrations, go for “Building Brainpower. A must read for parents!


Rating : 4.5/5

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Ten on Tuesday - 16

Ten Things about 2 Contrasting Incidents During 2 Journeys

1. Last week I was travelling from Jaipur to Delhi by bus… LCD Volvo to be precise. The scheduled departure of the bus from Jaipur was at 1 am!! Yeah, at that ungodly hour. As usual, I reached much before the scheduled time.
2. To kill time and divert sleep, I was reading my book. A few minutes later, a newly wed couple occupied seats nearby, in the waiting lounge. The girl was wearing the Punjabi Choora … I loved wearing it too and that was many years ago… how time flies!! Oops, I digressed…
3. After giving them an attention span lasting few seconds, I returned back to my murder mystery! And next moment, I hear giggles from the newly wed bride. I look up to see and find that the guy was sharing something in her ear! I smiled mentally and was about to check out what the Investigator in my book was doing, I hear another peel of laughter. And after that I ignored whatever clues the Investigator was unearthing and focussed on the couple.
4. They seemed to be so much in love and were just not able to keep their hands off each other and they had so much to talk and laugh with each other.
5. This continued even while they were in the bus. Incidentally, they were seated behind me. And at 6:10 am, when I woke up, their playful banter was on at that hour too!! This time, I actually smiled.
6. On my return back home from Delhi to Jaipur, another newly wed couple occupied the seats adjacent to me across the aisle. The girl had a serious look (and my first impression about her was that she would be the shrewd variety!) and had the cell-phone glued to her ear. It seemed there was no response from the other end. The guy had an innocent and lovely face!! Yes, the ‘Good Boy’ kind!!
7. The girl occupied the window seat and continuously looked out of the window. Her husband, the good boy, tried to talk to her, but she never once looked at him. My curiosity was piqued and abandoned reading the tweets on my phone and tried to observe them surreptitiously.
8. Soon, they started showing “Phas Gaye Re Obama” in the bus. Now this is one funny and entertaining movie. While the husband tried to enjoy the movie, the wife, never looked at the screen. The husband offered her some chips, she refused to take that. He was pretty persistent, but the lady never budged from her previous decision. Soon, she fell asleep and the dear Good Boy, lovingly wrapped a shawl around her. It was such a heart warming sight!
9. Then at Mid-way, while she was combing her hair in the rest room, an attendant, asked her, if she was married recently. It was just a simple talk on the attendant’s part and our lady didn’t respond to her too!
10. It was time for the bus to leave the Mid-Way, and their seats were still unoccupied. After honking for a few minutes, the couple emerge from the restaurant, with the guy holding coffee, a sandwich and her purse!, while madam tried to walk daintily in her sari!! This was the last straw!!

Two newly weds and two contrasting behaviour… different strokes for different folks!!