The Year That It Was. Uff! Pretty Too Much.

Another year sets in and as it gives way to the newness in life, the illusion created over the years, in fact ever since we knew works well even today. While every new day is a beginning, the New Year thing has a defined charm attached to it, which refuses to fade away. What changes is the paradigm shift in our perspectives and aspirations. So without raising any further questions on the lineage of another upcoming year as I gaze on it from the sill of the soon slipping 2016, there’s a lot to brood about like always. Lessons learnt, drama unfolded, the parts we played, moments of sheer joy, pride, ecstasy and yes of course despair. My year going by holds bag of mixed emotions and madness like every year. I feel I am getting off a roller coaster ride which was fun to start with but very soon turned into the most terrible experience ever but culminating with a terrific swing. The blast of mix flavours in my mouth is still afresh and I can distinctively differentiate between them all. I shifted my anchor finding my strength within but at the same time found many new grounds to hook on, learn and lean on. Relating to the quotable quotes on life which define our present moment and emotional status is quite common on the social media platforms. We throw our life bare open like a book which we used to preserve earlier. Dawdling over our moments of despair and helplessness, philosophy becomes an easy subject to approach. But much easier said than done, their application is subject to Buddhahood whenever it strikes us all. And I had my share of sainthood too, preaching the wise words. It is so amazing. We grew up suppressing our deepest feeling and emotions but now we are so vocal about them and the popular sites keep providing us with more and more tools to express ourselves explicitly with a variety of emoticons. Although I never believed in connecting with someone in the virtual world but it happened this year and I lived a significant part of my year interacting with new friends, fellow artists online, competing with them and achieving a feat like NaNoWriMo.

The year started with a 12 week online workshop which was about unleashing our inner artist, an adaptation of this amazing book by Julia Cameron, ‘The Artist’s Way of Life’. This was one of the major events of this year which has not been talked about here. A lot of goodness came my way while being part of this amazing workshop where I connected with many fellow artists from different genres of artwork. We undertook this incredible journey of 12 weeks which spilled over to 16 weeks and we rediscovered the lost self as potent creators. Following the instructions of the author, we went through grilling session of numerous exercises and tasks but personally what did the magic was the concept of ‘morning pages’ which made us write at least 3 pages everyday like a journal. I have been a on and off diarist since my childhood but sitting down consistently to scribble 3 pages every single day was too much in the beginning. I felt blocked almost every day but slowly the spirit started flowing on those morning pages. It helped in many ways but the most effective part was the way it helped in declutter of thoughts. It effectively rested the chattering of mind. The changes were quite significant and another part which I completely loved was the idea of artist dates where I explored my interest in other forms of art work other than writing. And of course this workshop helped me connect with artists cross the globe.

But as soon as I flagged in after the workshop and also somewhere in between, life kept acting nasty and finally threw me into one of the most treacherous and tumultuous phases. It was almost life shattering. A little too personal to be shared here but it threw my life completely out of gear and I landed up on that chair from ‘Dear Zindagi’. There were days devoid of any joy. Life was filled with darkness, despair, loneliness and constant sadness. Losing someone dear in life can be painful but have you ever lost yourself amidst the wrecking of a personal loss? If you have, you will relate to it. It is as if you lose the very purpose of your life. I think as humans, leaning on to our loved ones comes naturally to us … at least to me it does and in the process I forget myself and make the other person the centre of my world, in fact all my world. But tonight I don’t want to write the saddest lines. In fact I want to rejoice at where the wave of this emotional tsunami has brought me … where I just want to bask in the glory of this newness in life and be grateful to the universe for shaking me up from a false dream. Life henceforth won’t be just about moving on but it has to get better and better every single day, every single moment.

And yes this is what I have been trying to stick on. Pulling myself up, making myself face new challenges, chasing them and winning. And the journey for past 4 months has been incredible and really exciting. I have spoken about them enough here. Like my successful blogathon, annual half marathon and of course my NaNoWriMo win. But apart from this I have quit the job which was not appealing me enough. One fine day I just got up with that feeling, ‘What are you doing? Why are you wasting your time and effort on something which you are not enjoying?’ and I called it quits with my job as a content writer and have started a journey which is at a nascent stage to share with you all but will do so as soon as I progress with it. The culminating days of this year have been a blast and I want to kiss the New Year with its passing energy.

There was a blogging prompt very recently which asked us to write about our most unpredictable life defining moment and I was even tempted to write but couldn’t find one. Once in school days I won the title of ‘The best sports girl of the year’ and that stays till date as the most unpredictable moment as I wasn’t expecting it that year but was of course not life defining.  Life has been a dreamy affair for me and about chasing them hard. Making every moment an unpredictable moment and I wish to continue doing that. I want to stay that incorrigible dreamer and a potent creator. So yes! Cheers to life and the New Year and a new me. Also wishing you all a very Happy and blessed New Year. Stay blessed… Stay Happy.

Wordless Wednesday - 14

Here is Wednesday once again and getting back to the prompting pictures. What do you think about this? Does it prompt you enough to say something?

And the previous prompt 

They said 

Parul : Parda hai parda

Indrani : The significant you and insignificant me

Riya : Don't just stand and stare ... summon forth your inner Budha.

Thanks for the participation.

To The Month That It Was - November.

Racing through the blog marathon in the month of October this year, I actually got addicted to putting up a post every single day on my turf here but then came November, the month of National Novel Writing and I plunged into it without any preparation, strategy and know how. All I knew was that I have to keep hitting the keys around a single story (Ideally) which I thought could be driven into forming a novel. Although I knew about the concept earlier but 50K in a single month always appeared an audacious target to be taken up as a challenge. As the NaNoWriMo prompt kept flashing in front of me, I dismissed it like previous years. But on 31^st Oct, there I was on the NaNoWriMo official site registering for my debut novel to be dished out in its first draft. I was there because of motivation and pushing from my friends in the virtual space but I am so glad I listened to them and made a start somewhere. Otherwise I had become a champion in procrastination. I started this blog four years ago but since then haven’t been able to take the next big step beyond this portal. I have been sleeping with the story ideas but never visited them in the broad daylight.

So this past one month which had put blogging again to a back seat had been quite an eventful one and once again while life kept throwing lemons, I churned out lip smacking lemonade. I was travelling, was on vacations with my kids, nursing them as they both went down with Typhoid, training for my annual half marathon and yes writing for NaNoWriMo.

To begin with, the Half Marathon (ADHM 2016) was a terrific experience like last year. When I tell people that I am running a half marathon, the immediate response after that big, ‘WOW’ is ‘What’s your timing?’ Running marathons has become such a people’s event that in big cities it is one of the most trending things and a competitive affair too but for me it is still another way of pushing myself beyond my limits. I am not a great runner but my endeavour is to train my body and mind in such a way that not only I finish comfortably without any injury but also recover fast. So this time I could achieve both my aims. Even my timings could have been better had I not got bogged down with knee and back pain but as I always say, ‘Every finish deserves a celebration.’ Here’s sharing my happiness after the touchdown and for my kids, they still think that the medal was for some ranking in the run because medal for a mere finish is beyond their perception. But yeah, the feeling is enormous and synonymous to a win.

And all this while, the keying was lacking behind, but then suddenly the Indian WriMos group was bombarded by an early finish. As the novel can be validated anytime after 20^th of November, the winning certificates starting pouring in and that is when the tempo actually picked up. The tapping became harder, the recorded WC(Word Count) per hour per day kept soaring high each day. The word sprints we did at the Indian WriMo group were amazing. Trying but pushing us closer to our win every day. Every single word counted and just when I thought that the finish is near and the target achievable, pop came up the challenge of kids falling ill and that too both of them together. With me playing the role of a single mom, the writing pace was thrown out of gear and when I rejoined the race, the average WC of 4-5K/day glared back mockingly right on my face. But then being so close to the finish, giving up would have been really meek. The final push came with pulling 10K in two days, finishing the mark of 50K a day prior. Yes! I became a NaNoWriMo winner in my first attempt and this month of non-stop writing left me in a mixed emotions ranging from an exhaustive mental state to that of pure ecstasy. With reddened eyes (strained and overwhelmed) when I looked at my winner certificate, I was stunned. I could not believe that I actually did it. Sharing another proud moment from the month.

Life is all about pushing yourself to bring out the best in you. When you actually achieve the feat, it makes you realize how far you have reached fueling your dream and that impossible is nothing. You can either buckle down under pressure or outshine yourself. The choice is entirely yours. Stop brooding over why you can’t achieve what you dare. Instead give it all of you to win that smile.

KEEP DARING

My new mantra and the New Year resolution too. Be the CEO of your life and live it not just less ordinary but extraordinary.

An Evening Full of Love

An evening full of music, doodle art and of course love. Presenting my labour of love this evening. Hope you all like it. 

Love at various stages

And finally,

Please drop in words of appreciation if you like it.

Wordless Wednesday - 13

Bring it on. Some captions and titles for this photo prompt.

And this is what you all said on last week's photo prompt.

Smita: Rock on !

Durga Prasad Dash : My house is made of rocks. But my heart is not so.

Thanks a lot for your love.

Dear Zindagi.

Dear Zindagi,

We have been playing this love hate game fairly well I would say and I want to thank you for being with me as you are without any regrets. (I know I will be cursing you again when the tide is high and swim madly when things are fine. Ha Ha Ha but that’s the way it has always been and you know it too). The rules of the game are quite simple now. Churn out lip smacking lemonade when you throw lemons and laugh it loud when the days are all pink. I express my gratitude for all.

I feel blessed, you made me a dreamer. I dream, I weave stories for myself and my world around. I feel special in this way which makes me have a magic wand in my hand with which I create my own world. But there were times I felt my wand is lost. This was when my own happiness was governed by others around. When I felt that my world is shattered, you made me realize that my magic wand was not lost or stolen. You had made me an artist, a creator, but I chose to give away that power away to others who started painting my life in their own colours. Though you made me learn my lessons a tougher way, I am glad you did, before I lost myself completely to the tunes unknown to me. It seemed easier to lose myself to the tunes of the Pied Piper and follow him. But when he disappeared I found myself in the middle of nowhere. The journey back had to be made on my own and rebuilding my universe was the toughest task but it had to be done. Life is precious and can’t be wasted come what may. Now that I am learning to paint the canvas afresh, I know the painting will be marvelous with most vibrant colours.

I thank you for making me a fearless warrior who refuses to give up and continuously fights to walk on the self designed path. It has been a self learned and self made journey so far but it is time to express gratitude for giving me a world which could endure my rebelliousness. My journey to each milestone has been alone but I had cheerleaders at every victory of mine which kept me going. And you have been always there like a true companion. I have been called a defiant because I have always chosen the path less ordinary and refused to follow what the women ought to. I have challenged the rules and will continue to do so because they cannot be different for us. I know the journey has been tough but so be it.

You have been tough, you have been sweet. I have hated you for all those tough times you served me but now I know that it’s because I can handle them. I cry, I feel broken down inside but then I gather up myself again because I know how precious you are and how important my dreams are to me. My tough times have made me stronger every time and I know am once again ready to take a flight and it will be the most beautiful one as I have never been stretched this far. Love you Zindagi. You have made me an incorrigible and hopeless romantic. I know it is my blessing. It helps me to stand up, fall in love with you again and again. This zest for life has helped me to move ahead towards a brighter light and it will be like this always.

With Love,

Yours forever,

Kiddo

This post is in response to the Dear Zindagi activity at Blogadda.

“I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda".

#DearZindagi

Wordless Wednesday - 12

A picture speaks a thousand words. So what does this say? Inviting your words on this photo prompt.

On last week's photo prompt

This is what you all said

Jyotirmoy Sarkar: Welcome dears

Mridu: Welcome to extinction!

Indrani: Go green is the mantra

Parul: Gate keepers

Tanushree: Welcome to crocodilian merry land ...

Thanks for all the love friends :)

Day 31. NaNoWriMo It Is.

Yipee I did it. The month long blogathon comes to an end today only to lead me to another commitment. Yes friends, I have accepted another challenge and NaNoWriMo it is. Another month long writing challenge which is much bigger than doing a Blog Marathon. For those who don't know about NaNoWriMo, it is a writing challenge which is taken up in the month of November every year by the writers all over the world. 

But before I speak about this challenge, I want to extend my heart felt gratitude to all my dedicated readers who showed up on my portal the entire month and helped me keep going. This year the blog marathon was a much better experience with more readers visiting the blog than last year. I hope I didn't disappoint you. I took care in crafting each blog post barring a few which couldn't come up that well due to unavoidable reasons as mentioned before. But overall it was an amazing month and I hope to bring up the Blog Marathon month figure to two next year. So cheers to that :)

So what's the NaNoWriMo challenge? You commit to write an entire novel in the month of November with word count of at least 50,000. You not only get the drive to finish an enormous writing task but also get connected with like minded writers from all over the world. For me the second one was more alluring. While I used to think about taking up this challenge every year, it never came into being. But I finally said 'Yes, let us do it!' because I enjoyed my blog marathon journey this time and wanted to continue my creative pursuit. I have connected with few writers online and believe me it is like a symphony when your soul finds solace in like minded people. And the joy doubles up when we are in the company of artists. So uniting with writers beyond the boundaries of country and race was in itself quite motivating. But still the credit goes to my writing group on Facebook and few members who were taking up the challenge. And quite interestingly our group there is called 'Kick my ass and make me create' so this is what I am going to do in the upcoming month. Kick my ass and write at least 1660 words per day to reach the audacious target of 50000 word count. So wish me luck friends. And keep visiting the pages here. Blog marathon is over but the blog will still be active. C ya friends.

Day 30. Mere Tumhare Sabke Liye Happy Diwali.

It’s Diwali today and I wish all my readers a very happy and auspicious one. May this Diwali fill your heart and life with inner light and wisdom. 

I kept thinking about a special post befitting the auspicious occasion but as the day progressed, time kept slipping out of my hands like dry sand. So in the evening as we got over with the auspicious Diwali celebrations at home, we went around the society to enjoy the brightly lit up society. Also on display was a wide array of colourful display in the form of rangoli which was beautiful and quite innovative also at places. I come from a fauji background and this was after a long time I was celebrating Diwali in a non fauji set up. Diwali is the most widely celebrated festival in India and rangoli like all important festivals is its significant part. Though this society culture is still new to me what impressed me was the efforts put by the residents in adding festive splendor to the common areas which can also be termed as the ‘No man’s land’. We all take efforts to decorate our homes and surrounding but not many take part in the collaborative efforts like these. So here is my 30^th day post dedicated to those people, their art and most importantly their zest in spreading happiness around.

 And this one I loved, the geeky light arrangement :)

Hope you all also had an amazing day today. C ya tomorrow on the last day of the Blog Marathon.

Day 29. Popular Comics Shop - Part II

Catch up with the first part of the story here.

“What is happening here?” One of them shouted without even giving reaction time to the boys and moved ahead to twist the ears of Rishi. The other one had also held Sameer by then. The curious eyes around turned wider with astonishment due to the recent development. Harsh knew what went behind the scenes for his friends to receive this treatment. The boys had not taken permission from their parents for their maiden venture. But the three of them were not prepared for this reaction. At least not so soon.

“What is happening here? What are we listening? You are taking money from your friends to share your books?” Sameer’s father took turn holding him by his collar. The crowd sensed the impending danger and started sneaking away. Some took along for what they paid while others quietly kept it back. They gave a look to the raided boys conveying that we will settle our scores later.

“Sorry papa.” Sameer blurted out the safest answer. But even that could not pacify the agitated parents. The idea of renting out books to their own friends was far beyond any explanation.

“What sorry? Have you bought the books from your own money?” Rishi’s father spoke twisting his ears harder.

Harsh didn’t want to face the wrath from his friend’s parents so he also moved away quietly leaving Sameer and Rishi. As he struck out of his gang, the wind gained a sudden momentum which shook one of the poles collapsing the flagging comics. A tear rolled down Sameer’s eye but he quickly wiped it away.

“Come home and I will teach you what it is like being a businessman.” Rishi’s father dragged him to their house. Sameer and his father also moved out of the scene as the dust storm gained speed and got accompanied with thin droplets. The white bed sheet and left books fluttered in the strong winds washing away the dreams of the young entrepreneurs. 

Day 28. Popular Comics Shop - Part I.

On a rustic summer evening when the children were still contained in their refuges, the trio was busy transfusing life to their dream project, ‘Popular Comics Shop’. Summer vacations had just started and it enraged the ‘Rajpura Colony’ with the increased chaos in houses due to its young inmates. Mothers yelling on top of their voices, siblings bickering, the loud animated sound of cartoon channels shrieking through the closed window corners, the day came alive in parts. The hustle bustle of the ‘Rajpura Colony’ during these months faded off as the days sobered down by the end of it. The central park of the colony was outlined by single row of houses on all its four sides. Mornings and evenings wore the same swollen up look in the park. There were the usual morning walking club types, who showed up religiously 365 days and then there were these free souls uprooted temporarily from their morning anchor.

The blazing sun was trying to hit frivolously on the lamenting souls peeking occasionally through the dense clouds and the sky was groggy with a muddy demeanor. It felt dull and lifeless impregnating lethargy even down below. A sand storm might hit before it starts pouring. At least it will bring some respite from the raging temperatures. Sameer, stood in his usual grey shorts complimented with a bright yellow round neck T-Shirt and black loafers, examining the makeshift stall from a distance. Something was amiss. It didn’t appeal him much despite of their fastidious efforts since morning. The shop has to appeal to bring in business. The books collected from the three houses were neatly laid out on a wooden table covered with a plain white table cloth. The shop looked alluring with pierced inverted books on a thin rope flagged over the book stall, secured by the two wooden poles. The structure where the books were placed was assembled together employing spare furniture from Rishi’s backyard. The table was topped with a wooden bench resting in a metallic frame. The overall arrangement was sheathed in a flawless white bed sheet, pinned on edges and embellished with latest editions of the popular children books, comics. The idea of having a comic’s book rent shop was conceived to make some extra pocket money and invest it into buying the latest comics.

As the day progressed, the brand new shop started alluring its curious probable customers even before the entire stock was laid out. The hovering wide eyed children checked out the latest edition of their favourite comics characters. While some of them placed hands on their pick and reserved it, there were others who ran home to get money for their indulgence. And soon the word about the comics shop spread like a wild fire in the Rajpura colony and excited kids were seen rubbing against each other’s shoulders to pick the book of their choice.

The proud owners of the stall, Sameer, Rishi and Harsh were now having a tough time attending to their customer turned peers. The rates were reasonable. One book for ten rupees and that too for three days! The deal was good. Money started pouring in the tin money box and it certainly lifted up the spirits of the trio. The hustle bustle next to the grocery shop gained attention of the passing by people who tried to pierce through the thick blanket of kids who were still waiting for their turn. There were only few books left when the stall was approached by some unwanted visitors. They had a furious look on their faces which was accentuated by the raised brows and they tore through the crowd to face the much in demand trio.

“What is happening here?” One of them shouted without even giving reaction time and moved ahead to twist the ears of Rishi. 

Day 27. Lets go vroom ....

Yes, we went vroom today starting our Diwali break. A ten day long break which started with a long long drive from Pathankot to Delhi and driving was such an incredible experience with excellent road and route full of some amazing food joints. Travelling by road comes almost naturally to us faujis and is always the first choice as far as I am concerned. Whether going on posting or chutti, driving down to our destinations is something we love. And for my kids, its now in their blood as they have been dragged into it by their fauji parents ever since they were lap babies. Well this is me and my babies.

Today's drive was comparatively shorter with just around 500kms but the excitement was no less. Well good food is obvious when we talk about land of Punjab and Haryana but even our Uncle Mc Donalds is also such a welcome change whenever we hit out of Pathankot as we don't one here. So eating en route to Delhi, which is a frequent affair with us, is always a mix of Junk and finger licking Indian spread. While the entire route has both International food chains and desi brands, our stops are generally fixed depending upon the distance. So even today our first stop was Dasuya food and fuel terminal which is 55kms from Pathankot and our first Mc Donalds stopover. This place also serves the options of Subway and Cafe Coffee Day. Mc Donalds is our kids favourite food destination because of the happy meal combo and even I don't mind them indulging as they prove to be the sturdiest of their entire toy lot.  Mc Donalds... I'm Loving it :) and today's toy was cool.

I'm Loving It

Mom Son Duo Posing With Happy Meal Toys

The second stop was the Rajpura Miles mall which offers the a wide range of factory outlet options also along with food options of Mc Donalds, KFC, Subway, Dominos and the famous Rajpura Haveli which is a local chain of multi cuisine eating joint.

Does It Double Up The Fun Too?

And the last one was the Haldiram food joint before we hit Delhi outskirts. Our menu here used to have one fixed closing order every time, pipping hot desi ghee Jalebis. But we were quite disappointed today as our favourite jalebis have been scraped off from the menu :( 

Food Here is Gooood 

After this break we soon entered the strolling and maddening Delhi traffic. The frustration was toned down with the FM tunes which is one thing we look forward to whenever we move out of Pathankot and reach some place where FM channels are active. The rest of journey till Noida was spent tossing and dodging the traffic blues. Here are some more clicks from the day.

The Lady Chauffeur With Her Geeky Passengers 

My Chariot

Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. Have a Meethi Diwali

Hope you liked the glimpses in a nutshell. I shall cover this travel extravaganza in a wider perspective and much detail next time but I am almost dead after this day long journey. See you all tomorrow. 

Day 26. Wordless Wednesday - 11

For this week's photo prompt, I chose this picture which I clicked sometime back in a party. This one amused me as well as made me smile. What do you think about it? Please send some quirky captions/ titles for this one.

For last week's photo prompt which was this,

This is what you said,

Smita: Perfection cloned 
Katherine: No poke go

Linking this post to Wordless Wednesday.

Day 25. Terribly Tiny Tales - 01

Starting the Terribly Tiny Tales series. Hope you like them. If you like them please drop in a comment.

#Infidelity, #Terriblytinytales

Day 24. Be A Guiding Light To Your Little Sunshine.

Hello friends. It’s already day 24 of the Blog Marathon month and I feel time is slipping out of my hands at a very fast pace. I was thinking about what to write today and I realized that this month I have not written anything about my world around my kids. My core inner compass of life. I am sure most of us have a long list of Do’s and Don’ts for our kids and also a self designed paradigm for them. The list might be different for all of us but I know for sure that there will be quite a lot of bullet points common in every list. And one of those is inculcating habit of reading at an early age. For me also, it is one of the key habits I want my kids to pick up. While we were kids, our parents made it a point to get us some of the famous children books and magazines of that time, including inspirational true stories of some of the greatest legends. Reading books was part of the afternoon ritual for me and my brother. It was an integral part of my life but somewhere I lost track only to get back around 15 years ago. Although I do read a lot but I have a very strong feeling of loss that I have missed on some precious time in my life. Every age has its own reading preferences and now I can’t go back in yesteryears and clear my backlog. And for my kids I don’t want them to go through this. I wish they pick up reading and enjoy it too because then only it will be embedded in them. So how do we do it?

1.    Well if you or your spouse already have a habit of reading then this is where the first stepping stone lies. Children brought up in book laden houses are more likely to pick up reading naturally. But even if you are not one of those reading types, you can start by reading bed time stories to your kids. World of books is certainly magical but to start with, it has to fascinate our little sunshines. So get them colourful story books and read to them every day. Take tiny steps to establish a connection between books and your kids.

2.    If you can have a reading hour in the house, then nothing like it. If you are not into reading then you can pick up newspaper or any magazine of your choice but try to get that atmosphere into the house where this habit can breathe and grow.

3.     Cut down on the TV hours, both for yourself and kids and invest this time into reading. For me this comes easily because I am a total no TV person and have managed restricting television gazing time for my kids also. Sorry no offence but please get off your own habit of being a slave to the daily soaps. They drag you to this time killer even if you don’t want to.

4.      Once in a while arrange a story reading session for the kids and their friends. Don’t worry. We are not professionals but we can try and practice to put up a show in the larger interest of our kiddos. But if you are still vary of this idea; you can take your kids to some story telling sessions in the city. These days it is a regular feature in big cities. If this also doesn’t work then you can discuss with other parents and organize it collectively.

5.      Be a regular visitor to book fares and exhibitions. The world of books is self alluring. You have to just take an initiative. But don’t force kids to pick up books of your choice. Let them read what they want to in initial years to build a connection. Once the bond is strong you can guide them into reading good literature and classics.

There can be endless and innovative ways of doing it but these are the few tested and tried by me. I feel blessed that gradually I have been able to achieve this feat in my elder one who now reads on his own and bed time reading is a ritual with him. I am so overwhelmed on days when we have a rather long and tiring day and even when I insist him to sleep, he tells me, ‘mama can I read just one page’. Believe me there is no bigger happiness than seeing your kids moving ahead in life and on the path you have shown them.

So as I sign off for the day, I wish all the parents reading this post very best for this venture. Be a guiding light to your little sunshine. Believe me; time here is worth an investment. And also if you have some more valuable tips to add, I will be glad to hear.

Let me share my happiness with you as I received my copy of ‘Inner Engineering, A Yogi’s Guide To Joy’ by Sadhguru today. 

It was a long wait of one month since I ordered this one and can’t wait to start reading it. Probably immediately after I post this blog. Cheers to that :)

And I will see you tomorrow. Good Night.

Day 23. Happy Blogiversary Preeti Shenoy.

Hi friends. Hope you had a great weekend. Well for me the weekend fever starts only sat eve as both me and my kids are working even on Saturdays. And Sundays are definitely fun days. But for today it was a mix of work and play as my kids start writing their exams tomorrow plus we went out for a long awaited kid’s fun zone date followed by dinner. So back home after I tuck them to bed, here I am reporting for my Blog Marathon commitment.

October 23. The date is special to me. Not related directly though but this is when my blogging ideal, favourite author and person, Preeti Shenoy started her journey into this blogging world. Hers was the first blog I read and got addicted to the extent that I would start my day checking her portal for any new post. She inspired me through her writing. I related to her posts and every time I would read her posts, there would be a desire to start my own blog. And after being a regular visitor at her portal for about three months, I stepped into this world of blogging in 2011.

Today Preeti Shenoy is celebrating her 10 years of stepping into this world of blogging and I dedicate my 23^rd day post of this blog marathon to her. Cheers for completing these amazing 10 years Preeti and here’s wishing you all the very best for another many decades of successful but more importantly good writing and a wonderful life, with your family and friends.

I think it is important to have an ideal in life. Someone, who you can look up to. Who inspires and drives you to proceed in a positive direction in life. If you are a passionate person, you will always want to succeed and be an achiever. Having an ideal or role model helps you in your flight. When I was aspiring to be an army officer, my motivation was Kiran Bedi and till date, she is one iron lady I admire. And when I was looking for a second innings in life, I happened to discover Preeti Shenoy. What makes her a sensation all over the country is her openness to life, her charismatic persona, the way she allows a sneak peak into her life as a journey. If you follow her blog, you will get a feel of togetherness. I guess here the kudos goes to the growing wings of social media as well. But she has touched many lives through her blog and her writing. And I am certainly one of them.

If you wish to check out her blog, here’s the link

http://blog.preetishenoy.com/

I wish if I could give a link to my favourite posts from her blog but the list is endless. So take your time and explore her world. It’s always good to know a pleasing personality like her.

See ya tomorrow. Till then sleep tight and don’t let bed bugs bite. ;)

#PreetiShenoy , #10YearsOfBlogging