Book Review: Wonder

A friend recommended me this book: Wonder by R.J. Palacio and I cannot thank her enough for recommending it.

It's a wonderful book and I had tears in my eyes throughout, as I read it.

It is not sad kind of book. Rather it is beautifully and thoughtfully written. It is about a boy, August/ Auggie. He is extremely intelligent, sensitive, loving and warm kid. He has been born with some abnormality in his face, which makes him look ugly. His eye is in the middle of the cheek and he does not have ears. He can hear though and later in the book, needs hearing aids. Apart from that, he is a normal kid with the most loving parents, a sister and a dog. Everywhere he goes, people stare at him and are sometimes shocked to see him. He has been homeschooled by his mother till class 5. The book is about his journey in class 5 when his parents decide to send him to school. How the children treat him. Some treat him like "plague". They avoid him, do not touch him, do not sit with him, talk behind his back. Very few befriend him. How this sensitive kid deals with all this and comes out a winner in the end.

The book has a strong message about being kind. 

In this world, we judge everyone with their outward appearances. We are fixated to being beautiful. Fat, thin, dark, fair, tall, short, all this matters to us. What really matters is a good human being, a kind heart. All through this book, my heart went out for the kid. To me, he was so beautiful. I wanted to reach out to him and hug him. 

I highly recommend reading this book.

It is a sister time

Now, it is a family time/ sister time/ best time. Time spent with my niece, nephew and sis. Time spent dancing, posing and exercising and chatting.

Check the little one in the middle.

Massi trying Tango with her niece.

Check my nephew climbing aerial silk in the video below.

Massi with her nephew.

(Massi is an Indian word for aunt/ mother's sister).

This is the best one.

Girls just want to have fun

Monsoon is here in Delhi. Most of the people are travelling for holidays. Some of us decided to catch up in Friends Club. We sat for hours, eating, laughing and chatting. Girl talk is always a big stress buster. 

I wore a dress from Play Clan that I have worn here before.

Bag: Desigual

Review: ABCD2

Recently, I have seen some good Bollywood movies. Dil Dhadakne Do was very nice. Typical Delhi, high society movie.
Then I saw Hamaari Adhuri Khaaani which was..yawwwn. Nothing great.

But today I saw a movie, worthy of writing a review- ABCD 2.
It is a dance based movie directed by ace choreographer Remo. It stars Shraddha Kapoor and Varun Dhawan. The movie is for dance lovers. It is grand and will be best enjoyed in 3D. This is one movie that I can watch 2-3 times. The depiction of passion and dedication of the dancers is infectious.
The hard work of the team is visible. Salute to Remo for making a movie of this magnitude.
It is a true story of a team from Mumbai who reached Vegas to participate in a Hip Hop competition.

Review: Mac Relentlessly Red Lipstick

Mac Relentlessly red is pinkish coral colour lipstick which has a matte finish. It is a retro colour. Many people find it very drying but for me it seemed to glide well. It comes in regular Mac packaging. It is one of the loveliest red/pink colours I have ever used. Currently, for me, it is my second top favourite lip colour after Cosmo. It is not too jarring red, nor too subtle pink. It is bright, yet, not 'in your face', kind of bright. It is elegant and cool colour. It stayed for 6 hours and left the lips pink stained. It is a very opaque colour that covered the lips completely. There was no need for a lip pencil. The colour did not bleed at all. I am highly recommending this colour. If your lips are too dry, you might have to apply prep and prime. 

My rating: 5/5

It is priced at Rs. 1490/-

Review: Jimmy Choo Flash perfume

I saw this perfume with a friend. I have never tried Jimmy Choo perfumes ever. I was so fascinated, I asked my husband to get it for me. He dutifully did. It has been lying packed for almost a year. Recently, I inaugurated it. 

The perfume comes in a flashy, silverish glittery outer cover box. I must say, I was disappointed to see small bottle inside. It is nothing fancy or flashy. The perfume is "nice" but not OTT fabulous. It does not stay very long either. It has certainly not made it to my list of 5 must have perfumes. It comes in my list of ordinary perfumes along with this, this, this and this.

I am not going to buy it again.

Book Review

The latest book I read-  "Those pricey Thakur girls" by Anuja Chauhan. 

What I liked about it is, that the book and its characters are set in Delhi. I could relate to it- the places that have been described- Hailey road, CP, Modern school, etc. 

It is set in the years when there was only Doordarshan channel and no other channels. When a news reader was famous and recognised by everyone. When there was no coke but campa. When PM Indira Gandhi had been assassinated and many Sikhs were massacred. 

 There were some Hindi words thrown in and some typical Delhi mentality. I enjoyed reading the book thoroughly.

Happy International Yoga Day

 Today is the International Yoga day. Prime Minister Modi was there at Raj Ghat with thousands of participants who did Yoga together.
Despite, being summers, the weather was excellent. When Yoga finished, it started raining. Perfect timing. There is lot of positive energy all around.

There was Yoga session also well organised in Greater Kailash, where I stay. It had refreshments, low calorie breakfast, health drinks and wonderful yogis and teachers doing Yoga together.

Delhi gets ready for International Yoga Day

Preparations are in full swing at India Gate, for International Yoga day tomorrow. Delhites be there from 6-8 am. Yoga is a way of life.

Shabeel in summers

Delhi is very hot during these months. People put up shabeels (free food and drinks for poor people). 

Few years back, me and my husband decided that instead of only one day of shabeel, we should do it every day throughout the summers. So, this is put up outside the house for all the passers by every day. It is a drum full of milk, ice, water and Rooh af za. Every day, this drum is prepared and everyone who is passing by, stops and relishes it. Few children also come running to have it.

Do feed water to birds. Keep bowls of water for birds. 

Indian culture says, that giving water to thirsty ones is a very good deed and karma. Keep pots of water outside your house. Distribute food, water, biscuits, blankets to needy people.