It was back in 2002 when Band of Boys first released the Meri Neend Song. I got to know that they were launching / performing (I don’t really remember what was the event, it was ages back guys) at Planet M in town. Excited I told my mother to take me to the event. We reached and it was super crowded. I was surrounded with college going students and people who were really into music and I instantly felt out of place. As soon as the event started and these guys started performing my awkwardness turned into awe.
Once the performance was over, I mustered up some courage and went to the host and asked her if I could get their autograph. Sensing my nervousness she smiled and took me upstairs where the band was waiting. I still remember I was so nervous; I was so close to passing out. Heart pounding loud, hands cold with nervousness and with a lump in my throat I went up to them and asked for their autograph. I think this is what happens when one gets star struck. They were super nice and signed my book immediately. As I turned around and started going downstairs there was a big smile on my face.
I needed this experience to understand that they are as human as I am. I never got star struck ever again and the fear of approaching someone and talking? Gone!
I was prompted to do this blog after the following incident.
I am sure you all have already noticed the rising temperature in the city. It’s just April and it is already unbearably hot. I just dread to think what the coming days have in store for us. It’s not just about going out of the house, staying inside is also not as cool as expected. I was just thinking about it today and reality hit me, till now, talks about global warming and how hot our planet is getting was something I would read about and then forget about it. However now it just petrifies me.
Little changes in our daily life can really help a lot and if more people start doing it, I am sure it is going to bring about a major change. I am just listing down a couple of things that would actually make a big difference.
Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
Recycling is cool these days. Use products which can be reused or recycled. There are a lot of DIYs available online so make use of it. Reduce consumption of things which are not eco friendly.
Walk, Cycle or Carpool
Using personal car leads to a lot of pollution. Walk if that is possible, cycle should be another good option. If the commute is long then carpooling is a good option. We anyway are so stuck up with work and our daily routine, carpooling will help you interact with new people and grow your social circle.
There are a few carpooling options in India. However if these don’t work for you, try to find people at your workplace who travel on the same route and you can then carpool with them.
My mother does this and trust me it feels good. After dinner she used to switch off all the lights in the house and then sit and catch up with all her TV shows. With all the lights off, it used to feel cooler. So when not needed, switch off the lights. Make it a habit to switch off all the lights before leaving the room.
Get off junk mail
Do you receive a lot of junk mail? Unsubscribe and subscribe to their online version. It would save a lot of junk at your house and also help lessen the use of paper.
Rain water
Although it is not monsoon now butthis is something to keep in mind. When it rains, collect the water and then use that water for routine uses. Watering trees, washing the dishes, mopping the floor etc.
Cloth bags are your bae
Always carry a cloth bag with you when you go shopping. I keep a cloth bag in my purse all the time! Avoid using plastic bags. These days you get cute cloth shopping bags with quirky quotes and prints, it’s fun to use them.
Gardening or House plants
I know that most of us don’t have enough space for a full fledged garden but you can have some indoor potted plants. I recently bought a cute plant pot online; it has really inspired me to plant some indoor plants in the house. If like me, gardening is not your thing, try to make it fun by using bring colors and quirky pots.
CFLs
Replace your normal light bulbs with CFL lights. They consume a lot less energy and are comparatively cooler than a light bulb.
Plan your errands
Drive according to the speed limit, it would help save a lot of fuel. Also plan your daily tips, try to cover up as much work possible. It would help save a lot of fuel and would also help you finish week’s worth of work in a day or two.
Studio NH 47, a Bangalore based band, has created a video and song for Earth Day that falls on April 22nd each year.Green Yatra, an NGO dedicated to conservation and protection of nature, is supporting the effort.
Summer is officially here and that means that going out in the day is going to be one task! I personally would love to curl up in the house with a nice cold coffee and a book. Most of the people complain that they don’t have enough time to read books or that they try to read but are never successful. I face that at times as well, it is difficult to find time to sit and read books and that’s why I am listing down a couple of things that I do to motivate myself to keep reading. I hope these tips help you too.
Your Space-
First things first, create your book-nook. A small place where you can sit comfortably without any distractions and read. It needn’t be a separate dedicated room or anything just a chair in a corner with a reading lamp should work. Throw in some comfy pillows and snuggle up. You can also set up a table and chair near the window and read away. Make sure there are no distractions around no Television, no computer not even your cell phone if you can do that (I personally can’t stay away from my phone)
Scribble-
This is something that I do very often. Whenever I am reading a book I keep a highlighter handy along with a pencil. If I come across something nice I highlight it. I also scribble down if a thought comes to my mind while reading. By the end of the book I would have few scribbled notes and highlighted parts making the books all the more personal to me.
Apps-
We live in a world which is filled with apps and websites, make good use of them. Apps like GoodReads help log all the books you have read and plan to read, you can also write reviews, track your progress, read reviews by others, share your progress on Facebook and Twitter and basically be book buddies with your friends. This really helps and makes reading a little more fun.
Reading Challenges-
Reading Challenges also helps a lot (Although I haven’t really completed any but it did help me read up a lot) reading challenges motivate you read more and helps you cultivate a reading habit. GoodReads has a book challenge where you decide to read a certain number of books every year. While you are at it, add me on GoodReads so that we could inspire each other. To add me click Here.
HTBrunch also conducts a #BrunchBookChallenge , you can follow me on Instagram and checkout books I am reading by clicking Here
There are many other challenges online, Check out the image for one of my favorite challenge.
Always carry a book-
Always carry a book with you and whenever you have some free time just start reading. eBooks are great as they don’t take up extra space in your bag, you can just read on your phone.
Everyday goal-
Dedicate some time everyday just for reading it could be 5 minutes or half an hour depending on your schedule. This would make sure that you read every day. The other way to do this is to decide number of pages to read every day. Decide to read at least 20 pages every day, you can do more if you have more time.
Keep a list-
Make a list of books that you want to read, you can use apps or make a handwritten list. This would make sure you never run out of things to read. There are many lists available online as well, posting some below.
This is my favorite, visit old used books shops! You get books at cheaper rate there and often find some good deals. You’ll end up buying more books for lesser money thus making sure that you never run out of books. If you are a regular customer the owner might also give you additional discounts.
Start with topics and genre you love-
If you are just starting then it makes sense to start with books on topics and genre you love. This will keep you interested and will make sure that you complete the book.
Longing for that personal touch I told him to send me locations on whatsapp. Google street view helped me get some real peek into his life (actually the street and the building he works in)
Then I tried figuring out the distance from his work to his home, funny how something like this actually helps me feel closer to him.
Phones are such important part of our lives. These days almost everyone is dependent on their cell phones. I don’t need to emphasize how we use phones for more than just making calls. Almost every few months a new phone is launched and then I go through the specifications to see if it fits my needs, the ones which fits my needs are generally over my budget. However ASUS Zenfone 2 hit home immediately!
It charges up fasts, don’t we all need this? In this fast paced life no one has time to patiently wait for the phone to charge.
Ultra-Thin Edges Zenfone 2 is just 3.9mm! I am not a sucker for slim phones, I mean that wouldn’t be a deciding factor for me considering that these days almost all the phones are thin. However 3.9mm is impressive. The first thing that came to my mind was that it would fit perfectly in my clutch. You know those times when you are attending a function and are carrying those nice little dazzling clutches and then your phone decides to be all rebellious and refuses to fit into that little clutch? Well I face that all the time, I hate that bulging clutch, this phone should solve my that problem immediately. Also, would fit snuggly in my jeans pocket.
Ergonomic Arc Design with Intuitive Rear Controls – It has REAR CONTROL!!! How cool is that? It has a physical rear key which helps in better control. Also tacking selfies are a lot more easy, so all you selfie obsessed people this is the phone you need to buy. Adjusting volume, navigating etc is just super convenient. I did have Motorola phone back in the day which had a track pad on the back and it was a very useful feature. I am glad that this phone as this feature, it really makes the daily handling super quick. Also plus point because it designed to be used by both right – or left- handed people.
5.5 inch Screen the phone boasts an a nice 5.5 inch screen. They have kept the bezel width to a bare minimum giving Zenfone 2 a remarkable 72% screen to body ratio. The screen obviously it the most important thing and good that they decided to keep that in mind. The bigger the screen the better really for me. I keep taking videos and pictures and at times watch movies on my cell phone and this just fits the bill perfectly.
Personalization Zenfone 2 has a variety of panels and colors available. Being a girl, I love to customize and change my phone covers almost every day. Everyone gets bored with the same old thing right? I love it when the back panels are readily available so I can change the look of my phone regularly.
See What Others Can’t See I have saved the best for the last, how can we not talk about the CAMERA!? Being a blogger and a new YouTuber camera is something that I use the most on my phone, taking pictures and videos have become a part of my life. This camera boasts a 13mp rear camera 5x leganlense and dual LED real tone flash. It has a 5mp front camera.
Time difference is another complex thing, although luckily here the difference is just of 1 and a half hour but it still becomes difficult to manage. By the time he is home from work and done with dinner and finally has time to speak to me, it’s already bed time here.
I really am amazed by people who are able to sustain a relationship where the time difference is more than 5 hours. It just means that one of them has turned into a zombie/vampire and is up at odd hours.
That happened today, four days down and we had our first long distance mini tiff. I think it has more to do with the fact that I don’t see him anymore. We had planned to video chat daily butthat has not happened yet, some internet issues. Whatsapp calls lags and it is frustrating really. What makes it even worse is that he is getting lousy at texting, he isn’t updating me what’s happening and it feels like I am the one taking all the efforts to try and speak to him all the time.
Long distance is anyway difficult; add all the miscommunication to it and it is going straight down the drain. He promised he would be more active in the textingdepartment let’s see how that goes.
It’s funny how people are so quick and inconsistent about their views these days, thanks to Social Media people are able to express themselves however the sad part about this is that sometimes people express without thinking.
Let me go a little off topic, I am so fed up with ScoopWhoop and BuzzFeed articles on my timeline and those over the top headlines stating that THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING/TERRIFYING/UNBELIEAVABLE THING ILL EVER SEE! I have stopped checking out those videos and articles but this My Choice video was shared by almost all my friends along with praises of course. So I saw the video, and honestly I liked it. Yes I was a little weirded out when she said that sex outside the marriage line but didn’t bother about it, it’s her choice right?
Two days later the same people who were all praises about it were talking ill about the video. I honestly found it very funny. Looks like a bandwagon effect, doesn’t it?
People need to understand that it’s all just PR! The bandwagon effect needs to stop and people need to make an opinion for themselves than just follow what others are saying.
Here’s the video, in case you don’t know what I am talking about
PS – Notice that the Red dot is repeated in this video and in Deepika Padukone’s upcoming movie Piku. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
