My picture in You and I magazine

Parasites, strange species

The world is full of bad. Bad people, bad clothes, bad lunches, bad experiences, bad weather, bad relationships, bad heartbreaks. On the bright side, for every Yin, there is a Yang. A good, amazing, fascinating, beautiful Yang. 

I remember Chuck Palahniuk saying: “Have your adventures, make your mistakes, and choose your friends poorly -- all these make for great stories.” Newsflash of the day? If bad friends make for great stories, good friends make for amazing ones!

So whatever happened yesterday, make a determined decision to wake up on the bright side today. Put on your best face & outfit, give a call to a good friend, and go weave an amazing story.

I know all kinds of species (some ridiculous ones too).
There is this girl I know- if one complimented her for anything- her dress, etc, her standard answer used to be, " This is 20 year old, or 15 year old".
While I do understand and appreciate vintage and antique, but what pride does one take by labeling EVERYTHING as more than a decade old? I used to wonder, did she stop shopping a decade back? Is there nothing in her wardrobe which is recent? And yes, her outfits were ridiculously old fashioned. They had frills like Madhuri Dixit wore, in her old movies. Those tailored kind of dresses. And she would say, "these girls of today have started using LV's now. I have been using it for more than 20 years". Good for you girl. But do tell me what were you trying to prove by saying that? I still fail to see the point of living in your past glory. Even if you were some king or queen in the past and owned some kingdom (which she certainly did not), what matters is NOW. Where are you today? Just someone very fictitious or maybe vicious. Even an actor, who gave one time super hit film, cannot live whole life with that one time success. He also constantly needs to prove himself. What matters is present moment.


This character who claimed to own some old C class Mercedes, would NEVER EVER take out her car even outside her gate. (I wonder if it was functional). She always used (and still does) people like me and others for thankless pick and drop service given to her.
I am an extremely independent person and I enjoy my independence. (Which is the reason why I drive myself). But the lesson I learnt was- not give such services to anyone. It takes away your independence. You move according to other person's mood and time. You own your own car, yet, become answerable if you are picking the other person late even by few minutes. You might have to run errands on your way back, but the other person would wish to go back or be dropped to some place which is exactly not a part of your route. You can car pool with your friends once or twice, but not on regular basis. And car pool means that both the parties, equally share the transport. When one party is constantly used as a chauffeur, it becomes cumbersome. You might have your own plans, you might not want to talk on the way, be quite, do some mental work. But such a person will be a parasite on you and chew your brains with constant banter.


6 months before me, this person used someone else, then me for 6 months and now has latched onto another one. There are serial killers. This person also has a set manipulative pattern/ modus operandi.
After 6 months, a person like me is dumped and back stabbed. There is a fall out. Then on a hindsight, one understands the manipulative pattern.


Bottom line- Do not let anyone be parasite on you and suck your blood. Do not ever do thankless jobs.
There are ample number of people out there, ready to use you like a tissue paper. 

Interesting

This can save your life. See it carefully. Maybe practice it too (shadow boxing).

These are some good core conditioning exercises.

Like my nail art, I am so tempted to try these. :) very wacko. So bizarre.

Nice idea for nail art.

Great vegan food. Bread has to be vegan (without any milk, butter), and milk on the side has to be either soya or almond milk.

This is my wish list.

We are a batch of Zoukers

Yoga for Cervical- Gomukh Asana

DIY- picture frame

Few days back I got this wedding card (invite). Since it was my favorite fuchsia color and my favorite print, I just could not throw it away and kept it, thinking, I will make something out of it. Today I gave myself, this "do it yourself" project and revamped it.

This is the cover from outside.

Inside, it was all written. I had to cover and hide it

And finally paste my picture on it.

My picture frame is ready. It is cute.

Lotus Temple, Delhi

 

These pictures were shot in Lotus temple (The Bahai temple) of Delhi. Lotus is the national flower of India. This temple is in the shape of Lotus. This is one of the major tourist attraction of Delhi and is very close to where I stay.

What I am wearing

Dress: Ritu Kumar

Heels: Bought in Tokyo more than 12 year back. I guess these are the only pumps I have. But they are very comfortable.

Necklace: Gift from a dear friend.

Bracelet: Gift from another friend. Actually she was wearing it. I complimented her and she just took it off and gave it to me. That was sweet.

Red stone ring: Bought in Spain

Round silver ring: Antique. Bought in Delhi

Glares: Escada

Thanks for unfriending on facebook

Few lessons I have learnt in life, that I do apply to myself:
Avoid constantly seeking approval of people. Because that makes them the masters and us the slaves.  Be the king and the queen of your own heart.
In my childhood, I was told the story, whose moral was, "A friend in need is a friend indeed."
In times of adversity, you get to know who your true friends really are and you can actually filter them. Hence, adversity is also a boon. In today's times we have facebook friends, party friends, real close friends, acquaintances. Adversity categorizes these friends for you and lets you know who stands by you through thick and thin and who shows their back to you.
These days, so called friends play kiddish games of unfriending you from facebook also. But there are others, who despite being told (read: instigated), to unfriend you, just stick to you because they have their own brains. Anyways, how childish is this to form teams and go around asking people to unfriend someone from facebook because of their vested interests. Does that really matter whether you stay with me or leave me? I would say at the end of the day it does. Because, that tells me/makes me extra conscious about my so called friend's true character and I can bracket them accordingly as mere acquaintance or friend. When you are climbing up the ladder, you see many people proudly standing with you. On the skids, you find handful of people with you. The adverse situations prove to be the touchstone which tests the real gold for you. Then one should be thankful to those contretemps which filtered out few friends from your friend list and what remained with you was pure gold. It is like rising up of phoenix, like you are detoxifying your life and getting rid of toxins. You should feel blessed. Because when you bounce back, you bounce back stronger and then those unfriended friends have no face to show, no place to hide. You have the last laugh then, at their expense.

Ardha matsyendrasana or Half spinal twist of Yoga

Chakrasana or the Wheel pose of Yoga

Sun Salutation or Surya Namaskar

Milonga in Delhi

Max it up

In my earlier post here, I promised to describe my fashion post in the next blog, which is this one. 

First lets talk about my vegan food and also let me urge you to withdraw your support of animal cruelty through your daily food choices. Once you are committed to making the change, you’ll find it can be easy, fun, rewarding and delicious. You can continue to enjoy familiar tastes you know and love, and may also be inspired to explore many new foods, opening yourself up to discover a new world of taste sensations.

Many familiar favorites and international specialties are naturally vegan – Italian spaghetti with marinara sauce, pasta with garlic & olive oil or a basil-pinenut pesto, minestrone soup, a cheeseless pizza piled high with toppings; bean & rice burritos smothered in vegetarian green chile, sizzling fajitas with peppers, onions, squash and mushrooms, tortilla chips & guacamole dip; Middle Eastern falafel, hummus, stuffed grape leaves and lentil soup; Indian vegetable curries, samosas, dal, and rice biriyani; Thai coconut curries, spring rolls & rice noodle dishes; Chinese stir-fry veggies in various sauces, sesame tofu, vegetable dumplings; Japanese vegetable sushi; and french fries! Notice the great variety of grains, nuts, nut butters, beans, rice, pastas, breads, fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices you may not have cooked with before.

Now back to my fashion pictures.

What I am wearing:

Maxi: Vero Moda

Bag: Hawaii

Peacock ring: Forever 21

Necklace and bracelets: Here and there.

Heels: Miss Sixty