The Small Victories...

A day becomes awesome when a lot of good things that you have been waiting for happen, all together.

Flashback: From when I was a wee li’l thing I have been the type who gets hyper-excited about almost everything. Case of Illustration: Ma says we are going out to get chicken for the dogs and I’m already out, cap on and sneakers tied, even before she completes the sentence. You get the point.

The good part about such enthusiasm is that it’s almost laughably, foolishly easy to make me happy – you point a puppy/kitten/fields of flowers/chocolate bar out to me and I’ll gurgle contentedly for the rest of the day. I manage to pry happiness from almost everything (that makes me a very low-maintenance girlfriend. N, are you listening?:P) And the bad part? The disappointments. When even that small thing you wanted so bad and expected to get, is just out of reach. And the stupidly sensitive fool that I am, I bawl my eyes out every time, even now (ashamed as I am to admit it).

People say disappointment makes us cynical. I demand to differ. Though I have been disappointed n number of times, some big-some small- some life-altering, this enthusiasm to take on life and all it has to offer hasn’t dulled yet and even at times when the prospects seemed bleak and the future, uncertain, I never stopped dreaming about how I’ll make it big.

Not IF I make it big, WHEN I make it big (stupid, daydreaming Arian that I am:P)

When life handed me a big, fat lemon, I sat in a corner, had a good cry and then got up and made lemonade. Dozens of awards slipping away, positions denied, coveted objects deprived of and so much more. But, with the help of the amazing people I have in my life, I moved on to realize that they didn’t matter THAT much after all.

And it is because of those disappointments that I learnt to cherish even the smallest of victories.

Victories like people telling me that they love the way I write and that they look forward to seeing my updates on their dashboard (Anu Krishnan, I’ll always remember you for that), being recognized for my blog, the n number of likes and comments, a followers list that is growing every day; I can only say thank you from the deep crevasses of my wee li’l heart and hope that you all understand what a huge deal it is for me and how much it all means.

These small victories help me go on. Put one foot in front of the other even when nothing else seems worth it. They make me believe in who I am, what I can do. That I can reach out for my dream, catch it and hold onto it tight.

Cut To Present: Getting back to the point (I know, finally. Thank you so much for putting up with the senti rambling), today was awesome because I had two of those small victories and they have made me happier than ever.

1) ‘Love on the Rocks’ arrived (details on why). Solid proof that the Adda people think I am capable of a little more that utter nonsense. I hope I do justice to it. (Is it unforgivably wrong that I loved the bubble wrap as much as the book itself?)

The set, complete with a hand-written poem and autograph,
a letter from Adda and a couple of bookmarks.

2) I got a job as a freelance writer. Not at all a big affair but something that I have been wanting for a long time now. I can’t say much more than WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! (I know, juvenile. But I’m not ready to grow up just yet.)

Anyway, though I’m hardly living the dream, I have enough to keep me going on full steam for the near future and I’m happy being a happy person. Ultimately, isn’t that what all of us want from life?

Cheers! :)

P.S: Chandana, wish you a very, very, very happy birthday girl:) God Bless... And to all the beautiful and 'epic' (:P) things due to you in the years to come! <3
(I tried inboxing you, failed :|)


P.P.S: Spaceman Spiff's blog is a read you'll never forget, especially if you are a Mallu:D. Head over and make sure you go through the archives with a fine tooth-and-comb as well!

The 'Epic-ness' of The Social Network

Claimer: Intended for those people who think it is about them.

Unrelated Statement: I’m 94.86% sure that I’m possessed by Facebook.

Reason I Think So: I can’t seem to go three minutes without logging in and logging out (even though I don’t do much else). This month has been the most inactive-on-FB one for me but it still shows up on my most visited tab.

On an entirely different note, I admit to being a FB stalker.  I go check out other people’s walls, people on their friends’ lists’ interesting posts, notes that they might have written and such (if that’s what stalking means). I don’t get what the big deal is, we used to do that on Orkut and Myspace and all those other networks and we do it on FB as well. You don’t? Hah. Are those your pants that just caught on fire, liar?

Anyway, moving one from my psychological-ownership-status and my creeping-people-out skills, have you ever noticed that people’s behavior changes drastically on FB? Like suddenly the world is filled with awesome, super-cool people with such happening lives going on such politically correct holidays with their perfect family/amazing friends. Even their problems are hep and makes you go ‘ooooh, I wish I had that one’. And all the girls have that perfect pout that makes you wonder if you missed The Pout Revolution. There’s a trend pattern, I suppose.

I have decided to make a list of the top five actions on FB that peeve me out so much that I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. So here goes:

ChickLits... Aargh.

I have been feeling a little guilty this past month, since all my free time has been directed towards writing and not much towards reading (the original reason I started to write). And hence a hurried visit to the library had me picking up an assortment of books one of which was Isobel's Wedding by Sheila O'Flanagan. I fell for the pretty chick on the cover and the blurb at the back. 

Looked like a chick-lit, read like a chick-lit and felt like a chick-lit. 

The back cover read:
Four hundred and twenty pearls hand-sewn on to the wedding dress. The Mediterranean honeymoon booked for months. A pile of presents bigger than the Everest. And her lovely Tim, with his jet-black hair and navy-blue eyes, the most perfect bridegroom a girl could wish for. Except, two weeks before the wedding, he changes his mind... Isobel's wedding is off. Her world in tatters, Isobel turns to Spain, a new job, a new life, and as many men as she can decently manage. But part of her knows she has to go back home some day. And that, despite all that happened since she left, she still has unfinished business...


...BULLshit.


Not that I have anything against chick-lits (am I saying chick-lit too many times?:P). They are good timepass when you are sitting in a bus, bored to death of staring at people and your ear phones have decided to go on a holiday. They are light, easy-on-the-brain and mostly fun (if you can ignore the wafer-thin plots). They don't masquerade as something that they aren't either. Literature written by women for women about (what they perceive to be) women. As simple as that. I have even enjoyed some chick-lits like Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin and such.


But this? This is 600 pages (599 to be exact) of pure rant. Granted that even rant can make sense and be fun (Like Poulomi Das's random rants:P) but this.. *shudders* First it's agonizing over the dumping. Then it's agonizing over the break up. Then it's agonizing over going abroad. Then about sleeping around. Then about the new guy. Then the old one yet again. And the agonizing doesn't stop till the very end. Ms. Flannagan could have wrapped it up in a crisp 250 pages and made life easier for everyone concerned.


Apart from wasting one whole day of my life (I have the unfortunate habits of not resting till I finish a book and not leaving ANY book incomplete, however boring it might be), I gained nada from this book, not even a new word to my vocabulary*sigh* The best part? *note the sarcasm* It is supposed to be 'The Number One Bestseller". Wow. 
It also made me wonder if we, women, are like that in a relationship... over-analyzing everything, clingy and weak-minded. I hope not *shudders again*


And we wonder what guys/men have against chick-lits and why chick-lit authors are not take that seriously. 


Moral of The Story: Next time you reach out for a chick-lit (for alleviating-boredom purposes only) make sure it has no more than 300 pages, max.


In other news, I have been selected (YAY!) to review Love On The Rocks by Ismita Tandon Dhanker by BlogAdda. I haven't been big on Indian authors (except Chetan Bhagat, of course) and I can't wait to change that. The plot sounds interesting, looking forward to the read. 

15 Day Challenge: Day 13

5 characters I love from T.V shows

1) HEROES

Peter Petrelli (Milo Ventimiglia) 

Sylar alias Gabriel Gray (Zachary Quinto) 

2) THE MENTALIST

Patrick Jane (Simon Baker)

3) F.R.I.E.N.D.S (Oh, how I love them!<3)

Rachel Karen Greene (Jennifer Aniston)

Monica Elizabeth Geller (Courtney Cox-Arquette)

4) CSI: MIAMI

Horatio Caine (David Caruso)

5) SMALL WONDER

V.I.C.I alias Vicky (Tiffany Brissette)

Ok, ok I cheat. But I can't just ignore some and be grossly unfair na?:P

13 down, 2 to go:)

15 Day Challenge: Day 12

"Would I Rather"

1) Live without music or live without T.V.?

Without T.V, gotten used to that in the hostel.

2) Eat a bar of soap or drink a bottle of dish washing liquid?

Drink the dish washing liquid. Ugh. Still, got to be easier than munching a whole bar down.

3) Be called a racist or a traitor to your country?

Definitely racist. I'd never live being called a traitor to India down. 

4) Be trapped in an elevator with three fat men with bad breath or with wet dogs?

     Why isn't "getting stuck with Milo Ventimiglia" an option, disappointing.

The dogs, I have 5 wet, dirty ones all over me all the time at home anyway.

5) Have a beautiful house and an ugly car or an ugly house and a beautiful car?

Beautiful house and ugly car. I don't like cars much in the first place unless it's a Ferrari.

6) Always say what’s on your mind or never speak again?

Never speak again. I would hurt too many people otherwise.

7) Have it all or know it all?

Know it all, then I'd know how to have it all too, right :P

8) Be forgotten or hatefully remembered?

Be forgotten, any day.

9) Be able to read everyone’s mind all the time or always know their future?

Mind reading is a superpower I have always prayed for:D

10) Eat a handful of hair or lick three public telephones?

      
YEWWWWWW, gross. handful of hair? No, the licking.  
Er, the hair. Ok, the licking.  
Oh God, how about neither :|

Ok FINE, the hair then *choking noises*

12 down, 3 to go:)




P.S: THANKYOU, BlogAdda for the Tangy Tuesday Pick!! <3

15 Day Challenge: Day 11

If I could only live off one food and one beverage for the rest of my days,
what would they be?

I'm too busy cooking up some more stories and thereby am not too keen on elaborating this out - you can breathe easy...for now :P

Unrelated note: Writing stories makes me happy = less stressing out on HOW to get rid of frequent writers' block => bolt of realization.

Getting to the challenge question:

1) Food:

:P You thought chocolate? You thought wrong *smug smile*

(Not chocolate because I am not sthupid: 

I have chocolate everyday => I get sick of it => I get over my obsession => blasphemous => sin => burning in Hell! I don't want THAT now, do I?)

It would HAVE to be the Gourmet Pizza (wahi, hamra Dominos-wala) with extra corn, tons of olives, a whole load of jalapenos, three sachets of oregano and great, big dollops of cheese on it. Apart from the cheese-burst crust, that is. And I can't stress on the 'great, big dollops' enough. 

Did I tell you I am a sucker for cheese? 

Well, I am. A BIG one.

2) Beverage: 

HAS to be coffee. For two reasons actually:

- It's the only fix which ensures a perfect day ahead (during normal days) and makes sure I remain awake (during exam times). 

(The fact that I STILL manage to fall asleep by midnight after 3 cups of coffee while I remain awake almost the whole night otherwise, says how awesome my exam-preparation skills are)

-  The sheer variety of the concoction you can whip up in less than ten minutes!! Cold, hot, frappe, mocha, cappucino, whatnotino... You get the point. 

So to sum up, I adore my coffee.

Pepsi/Coke come a close second though.

So, thank you Repubblica italiana for pizza and República Federativa do Brasil(?) for coffee.

I love you both theeeeeeeeeees much.

11 down, 4 to go:)

P.S: Have you heard King of Anything by Sara Barielles? I'm addicted.

The Bike Ride

Ting! My message tone.

“Vaa di poratheku” (Come outside).

I see him outside my window, on his black Karizma, aviators on, completely drenched from the rain and a huge grin on his face. My first thought was that he had had fever yesterday and now this; but I knew there was absolutely no point in reminding him of that or asking him to get back in somewhere warm.. He was just like that, a major pain in the ass. This man drives me crazy.

15 Day Challenge: Day 10

A Place That Gives Me Wanderlust

Picking one place would be blasphemous for me: like any true Arian, I want to spend my life and a fortune in travelling everywhere from the sun-kissed beaches of Florida, the tiny pizzerias near Sorronto to our own Janpat, Delhi, Chowpatty in aamchi Mumbai, the ice-floats of Reykjavik, the dark jungles of Central Africa and the fierce deserts of Queensland and New South Wales. Sigh, if only it were that simple.


The bug bit me when I was doing a travel assignment: I had to prepare an itinerary for a person travelling around the world, touching every country and visiting at least fives tourist places in each one. As you can imagine, it was a HUGE amount of work, but the best part was that I enjoyed every, single, tiny bit of it. I have never had more fun collecting pictures, making route maps, deciding on the spots and the rest of the whole deal. I fell in love with the world and wanderlust had my heart in its steely grip. 


That was also when I promised myself I would somehow, someday go visit at least a third of those places in my lifetime. 

Anyway, one place that gives me an urge to damn the rest of the world to the Devil and just take off is South Africa. Grandpa, Discovery and NatGeo have done their duties very well indeed: the images of the powerful black panther, slinking just beyond eyereach, the colorfully eerie tribal dances, the tongue-click that is part of African names and the strange accents, all haunt my dreams. So much to do, so much to see. Night safaris with the lions' eyes gleaming in the headlights, gazelle running, or rather flying, past, the deserts of scorching days and icy nights, the people engulfed by poverty, death and disease yet a part of a culture so intricately woven into their lives that they come second only to my own, the scores of rapids that take you right into the heart of mysterious Africa.... I can go on. 

Not even the most enlightened man on Earth can dare say that he has understood Africa in it's entirety. 


The craving was only stoked into a raging fire by Williard Price's Hal and Roger Hunt series, Joy Adams' Born Free and Living Free, innumerable magazines, documentaries, the FIFA '10 and Shakira (Waka, waka).


And for SA, wanderlust is an understatement.   


10 down, 5 to go:)

15 Day Challenge: Day 9

10 random things I remember from school

1) 'Bond' sir's roll call going Friyanka, Frafram (Prabhuram) and so on.

2)Hearing desperate noises from desperately hungry stomachs before lunch hour.

3) 'Watching' volleyball matches from the balcony.

4) The post-lunch-Mentos-buying from the canteen.

5) Dog-biscuits xD

6) The million gazillion after-school (for lack of a better word) sessions at Gaya's place.

7) All the commotion about The Relationships.

8) Horsing around in Hindi class, crying in Business Maths class.

9) The movie after the boards.

10) The conversations Lyndz, Rosie and Frankie had on those top steps.

....can I go on?

I miss school :'(

9 down, 6 to go.

Aaaand here they are :)

I have finally got around to putting up the awards.


This past month has given me the time and inclination to become the regular blogger that I have always wanted to be and delve more into the fascinating world of blogs. I'm sure I barely scratched the surface though.


And of all of those that I have come across, these are the ones which have provided me with a lot of things, from inspiration to widget ideas.
I think they really deserve a mention somewhere, everywhere.
I really admire these blogs for all they are, all they bring to my life and the absolutely awesome people behind them. And this is my small way of showing you that.

In no particular order

AnjaLi

Anjali, from Knots and Spaces, has been a constant source of appreciation and I hope you like this.

The 'Paavam' Ashwin Ramachandran

You have put up with so much of my nosiness, I really do feel sorry for you xP Born wet, naked and hungry is a blog that is most refreshingly genuine and interestingly so. Waiting for more from Chacko ;D 

Coconut Chutney

Blog walking is a laughter pill when you happen to drop by Coconut Chutney, I still have a LOT of fun going through the archives when I'm having a bad day.

Poulomi

Take one peek at Musings of Just Another Girl and tell me that it is not the cutest thing ever!! 

Farzana Khan

The day I landed on Bits and Pieces was the day I attained blog-nirvana. I love your blog and every single thing about it.

The Girl At First Avenue

The Girl At First Avenue has the most creative mix of fashion and random thoughts. This award is especially for your awesome style statements.

MSM

    This is for Mystical Skeptical Me and her wonderful fiction of my favorite kind, The Happily Ever After's. 

Ms. Red

Maybe smile is the wrong word here, not one of Red Handed's posts have gone by without me literally holding onto my stomach and laughing my head off.

The Xeno and Ms. Red

Sarcasti-Nation is one the way to becoming HUGE. I like the way The Xeno puts himself and his thoughts across, to say the least.

And Red, what can I say, the award speaks for itself.

There they are, I hope all of you like them:)

P.S: No rules for this and no compulsory linkbacks.