Musing: 10 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cats

Okay, so I have been planning to write this post for quite some time now. I have been sneakily photographing the little beings who help to keep me motivated and who have always shown me how to get back up again every time I crash and burn. They have taught me invaluable life lessons.

So here are the 10 Life Lessons I Learned From My Cats: 

1. EXERCISE

Pippo Darling 

Of course Pippo likes sitting on my static cycle, conveying the silent message of "healthy bodies and healthy minds." He likes to do numerous stretches too, just to show off how fit he is. And then stares at me - as though daring me to be able to follow in his paw steps. I used to glare at him initially. Then I gave up and now fit in 30 minutes of free hand exercises and 30 minutes of the static cycle. 

Guess what? He was right. I find I function better and for longer hours on the days I do exercise as opposed to the days I don't. 

2. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE 

Rambo (Motu) & Me

This picture clearly says it all. I really did not know how much I could love someone until I met these beloved cats. My love for them helped me realized the kind of love and the power of love my mother has towards my sister and I. I honestly never thought my heart could be filled with so much of joy, love and laughter - till the day Pippo walked into my house. I believe it is because of them I have learned to be kinder and more compassionate. I like looking for the good in people. Because my cats have taught me how most people are just severely misunderstood. 

Musing: Of wishes, realizations and Motivational Mondays

Dear People who believe I write really good advice,

This post is completely dedicated to you. :) 

I turned 26 this Saturday and I had at least 5 revelations that would love to share with you guys. Of course you might not agree with me. But remember I look at life through my personal experiences. I do not wish to see it the way you see it, and I would never allow you to judge life from my experience. 

Every single human being is absolutely different from each other.

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1. Let It Go! - Whether it is a person, situation, memory, if it does not serve you and does not make you happy you have to just let it go. Holding on to things because they had been a huge part of your life once upon a time is just holding yourself back from growing. Time is not a measure of friendship no matter what the psychologists tell you. You need to surround yourself with people who will love you and help you grow. Not with people who are stuck ten years into the past. Neither should you entertain Negative Nellies. Imagine having won a freaking Oscar trying to share that happiness with a friend who only has something very negative to say. Do not listen to someone telling you about all the bad things that has has been happening to them and how they think they are victimized. If you believe in the law of attraction you already know that they are the root cause of all their problems. You do not need to get sucked into their pointless drama.

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Musing: Things To Remember Part 2

The common misconception about life is that it's too hard, too short, brings too much trouble, and too much of unhappiness.

But it's not.

Life is honestly however you choose to look at it.

It's filled with little miracles throughout the day. But you are too busy to take any notice of it. Have you ever noticed the sunrise? Or the sunset?

Have you ever noticed the smell of the Earth before the first drop of rain hits the ground?

Have you ever noticed that some people love you enough to do anything for you? That they really care about you. And no, they do not necessarily have to say, 'I love you', to convey those feelings.

We do not seem to listen enough. What we do hear are people trying to be overly protective; or just too concerned. But life's a busy thing too. If someone makes the effort of making sure you're safe and sound, appreciate it. 

The problem is: we are so used to people telling us what is wrong with us, we never seem to hear the ones screaming themselves hoarse trying to make us see what is right. We believe the naysayers so much that when we finally meet someone who believes in us more than we do - we believe they must be lying. 

They are not. They are trying to make you see who you really are. Who you should be. And how you stopped becoming that person being surrounded by all the people who bring you down. Remember that these people are NOT fighting with you; they are fighting a battle with themselves and they might be losing. 

Musings: How Life Got Better Since 2013

COUP d’EAST

Back in 2013 when I wrote a year review I had mentioned how things had become ten times better when I’d discovered the world of blogging. There was this site called Write Up Café (which I am not too sure exists right now or not). Anyway – they decided to have a competition among the Indian bloggers by dividing them up into North, South, East, and West Zones. And we were a part of a larger group of bloggers who represented the east zone. Hence the name, Coup d’East. ( I forget who came up with the name. But we’d all voted and this name stuck.)

I used to not like talking to strangers and was not very comfortable with having to talk to people over the internet on a daily basis. To make matters worse, I got an eye infection right before the real competition started. Of course our points of contact, Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay and Sudeshna Thakurta, was not impressed by the lack of enthusiasm from other members. I still remember the scolding we got. And I still remember writing the first messages to them both explaining my silence.

With Debi Di & Diptee Di 

Little did I know that later on, Debi di (as I call Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay) would go on to become my go-to person for book recommendations, book promotion, fellow YA fiction lover, John Green fan as well as the woman who inspired me to take up Tarot card reading. She has also oscillated between teaching me how to bake to inspiring me to get myself an OTG and take up cooking seriously. She and I went pandal hopping last Pujas. I already adored her and that meeting made me love her even more. I’d gone to watch the screen adaptation of The Maze Runner with her before that. It was the first time I’d ever met her.

She would share little anecdotes of her life with us; and I always admired how she speaks her mind. It’s nice to see someone call spade a spade and when I’d voiced that I wanted to be exactly like her – someone close to her and remarked, “I want to see this girl. She must be mad to even consider becoming like you!” Debdatta di runs the extremely popular book blog, b00kr3vi3ws, and she’d helped me understand the Indian English book market when I had been working on my thesis earlier this year.