An Unexpected Journey!

Jungfraujoch

From the very first day of my professional life in Zurich, on the way to work I frequently used to see the ad ”Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe”. Since then it has been on my bucket list. Last Saturday when I was invited to my aunt‘s place for dinner, I never thought, 12hrs later I will end up on Top of Europe. She had visitors from UK and Germany and they were discussing about the possible day trip options for Sunday. Me being a chatty person, I was fully engrossed in the discussion. I had no plans to join them however the discussion was so persuasive, I ended up committing to the spontaneous excursion.

We started our journey around 8:30 in the morning and after a couple of hick ups, train changes and lunch we finally reached Kleine Scheidegg.

From there we take the final train, Jungfraubahn to reach the top. In other words the real journey starts at Kleine Scheidegg station (2061m above sea level). The cogwheel train takes almost an hour to cover 9km because the ascent grade is that steep (has to overcome an altitude difference of 1400m). The train goes through a tunnel crossing the mountains Eiger and Mönch. The construction of the Jungfrau Railway began over a hundred years ago with 300 men and lasted for 16 years. It is incredible how they cut these tunnels out of sheer rock by hand.

During these 50 minutes the Jungfraubahn makes two stops at Eigerwand (2,320m) and Eismeer (3160m) for 5 min. The Eismeer glacier sits snugly between these beautiful peaks. On each stops there are viewpoints,  allowing us to admire the breath taking view of alpine wonderland of glaciers, ice, snow and rocks. The thought of being inside a huge, gigantic mountain, gave me goosebumps and a slight adrenaline kick.

Eismeer

Cogwheel train is the only way to reach the highest rail station in Europe, Junfraujoch, which is 3454 m high. A bronze statue of Mr. A. Guyer Zeller, the initiator of the Jungfrau Railway, welcomes you to this stunning, overwhelming, heart-stopping wonderland.

It may sound silly but my top priority was to Go Live from top of Europe. Having that in mind, I headed to the Sphinx observatory, the highest point of the route, where you will get the best panoramic views of the mountains. While glancing through the direction board, I saw Bollywood on the sign post.

Oh boy…I felt like winning the biggest lottery – Can you imagine, how awesome it would be to meet Shahrukh Khan, Amir, Ranbir, Hrithik, Shahid & co on top of the Europe? For a moment I forgot about everything else and without hesitating I followed the direction to Bollywood! Guys, guess what? You won’t believe it; It was just a restaurant. To be honest I was a bit disappointed, but on the positive side the only restaurant (according to what I saw) on top of Europe is an Indian restaurant, how cool is that?

Finally my mind was back on track and without wasting any second, I headed to top eagerly to Go Live – I couldn’t go live because of poor reception☺. The view from there is worth a billion dollars. I have never ever seen something as magnificent as this. Lunacy took over me as I ran around the Sphinx to capture as many pictures as possible, before my mobile battery ran out for good. I felt like diving into the sugar coated mountains to take a big bite of it. The clean and crisp air was so addictive that I just kept inhaling more and more. I wanted to keep this freshness in me and so didn’t feel like exhaling. To be honest I don’t know the right words to describe what I felt there.

The Jungfraujoch complex

After spending nearly 1hour on the terrace of the observatory, I decided to go to the Snow Fun area. You can walk through the “Ice Palace” where a tunnel has been dug out of solid ice with beautiful ice sculptures lining the halls. Since I wasn’t carrying proper footwear, I couldn’t go there. As I mentioned before, it was a spontaneous trip so naturally we were running against time.

For more pics click here

It is undoubtedly an expensive excursion; the normal tariff is around 200 CHF per person. The Price of the train ticket includes access to the entire Jungfrau area.  I will definitely go there again and who knows may be I will be able to Go Live ☺ If you are planning to go there, these are my suggestions:

• Start early and plan properly
• Bring some snacks and water for the trip.
• Pack your lunch, as you wouldn’t want to pay for an expensive  mediocre meal.
• Check the weather report before booking! 
• Have your cameras & mobile Phones always ready for action.
• Don’t forget your selfie stick
• Don’t forget your power bank
• Dress in multiple layers as the temperature will fluctuate throughout the travel day.
• Wear good tracking/ hiking shoes.
• It is possible to get altitude sickness. Make sure to take things slow and drink plenty of water.

#PrayForFrance

Woke up this morning to horrific news from France.  My deepest condolences and prayers to the victims and their loved ones.

The most precious, valuable thing apart from the 4 elements on this blue planet are humans. The world we know wouldn’t exist if there were no humans.  No matter which religion or cult we are following,  they all teach us the value of a human life. None of them support killing people.

It’s just 14th of July and according to  Wikipedia there were already  more than 80 terror attacks reported (list of Terror attacks).  I am asking myself why this cruelty? What are those organizations/ individuals trying to achieve?  Definitely not peace and freedom. With this horrific, terrifying inhuman approach they just put their fellow human beings of same religious conviction, nationality, race, profession in jeopardy.

After listening to the news and reading few articles I felt, totally disturbed and my eyes were filled with tears. There was a certain anger building up inside me because I felt so powerless and helpless . The entire day I was thinking about how can I / we prevent terror attacks?  Oh well , I know  you are rolling your eyes now and thinking, how can she stop something  which the greatest minds of our time couldn’t do.  I am not an economist nor a politician or a religious leader and most probably my IQ is below average. But I think, if we could wipe out revenge,  jealousy and greed from us there won’t be any terror attacks like this.  Furthermore I strongly believe it has to start within each and every one of  us. Find happiness in what you have and don’t be jealous about things which you don’t have. Be fare in everything you do!  Then apply the same logic in your family – between parents and kids;  then on your extended family members, friends etc.  If everyone is satisfied then there is no need for fight.

So don’t hesitate and let’s try to make the world a better place; You and I, we are the ones who can make this change!

Like I mentioned before, it’s just a humble thought which came up in my mind.

Easier Said Than Done

I just learnt the hard way that it is difficult to follow a plan. Around last June there were a few weddings i had to attend and until this Feb i was fairly consistent in my diet and workout plan. I could feel the results of my efforts and had energy to work on my blogs,  be socially active and had even planned a vacation. Everything was going perfect.  Spring arrived in march and i knew hay fever season will start soon, for sunny days had arrived.

One day out of the blue, I felt an itching sensation behind my left ear. I went to the pharmacy and they gave a cream. Next day, somewhere around noon I looked into the mirror, because the entire area from the back of my ear to the shoulder was itching. After work I went again to the pharmacy and this time they gave me stronger medication. Next morning I had rashes all around my upper body, and it was spreading. I thought,  I was having a serious skin disease. Fear of infecting others, had driven me to maintain safe distance.

Even though I  was terrified to death, I decided not to call my mom or my best friends mom. In my weird mind it felt like i was going to die. So I only  informed my brother and then went to the hospital. While I was sitting at the waiting room, I got more scared. I didn’t know whom to text or talk to and for the  first time ever I felt lonely. I could have asked my aunt to come with me or my neighbour. I could have phoned my  best friend or my mom. Or instead of just leaving a WhatsApp voice message, I could have called my brother,  but since I was certain I was going to die, I didn’t want  to worry my loved ones unnecessarily in advance.  After one hour of  waiting, the doctor came. He looked at me and started to  laugh.  With tears in my eyes and a frightened voice I asked him: “Why are you laughing at me? I am dying here.”  Only then he realised how scared I was and he said : “oh no dear; you are suffering from hay fever. It’s just an allergy.” He prescribed antihistamine and some other strong medications.

On my way back home, I felt like an  idiot for getting scared. From that day onwards everything went wrong. Due to my allergy I had breathing problems, so I couldn’t even jog for 10 minutes. Most of the time I was too tired and in less than 5 weeks I gained more than 12 kgs. Now my allergy is a bit under control but the gained kgs are still there. Since my lunges are not fully recovered, I shouldn’t do my EMS training. Instead of that, I should go for a walk or do 30 min on my elliptical trainer. I stare at my elliptical trainer every day and all I am thinking is: “Why should I do it? Each time if I am that close to my goal, something happens; and then I have to start again from scratch – it feels like being in a never ending loop.”

Clearly I am/was  struggling to find the motivation. I feel so exhausted  and have zero energy,  the fire in me is blown out,  and obviously I am kinda hiding from my social activities because I feel, I am unfit. I know I have to do something very soon.

Today I went through some of my old blogs and then realised, I am a hypocrite. I was asking my readers to take the responsibility for their actions and motivating them, while at the same time I was not following it.  Finding someone or something to blame is always the easier path.  Yes,  it is true that my weight gain was partially due to the medicine but also I was guilty of having delicious meals.  I guess as soon as I had an excuse to eat more I used the medication as an excuse to justify it. As I was not able to work out due to breathing problems and being weighed down with weariness, I gained weight. Since I felt like a rolling stone,  my unconscious mind made a decision not to meet with other people. I was embarrassed and considering the fact that I was not following what i was preaching. I felt ashamed and could not be bothered to blog so decided not to blog. Now the puzzle is solved.

So I am starting from zero again. Target for this week is  to publish one blog, cut out refined sugar and do 30 min of cardio.

What about you my dear reader, have you faced similar situations like this? How did you bounce back?

Transgender – Painful Prejudices

Yesterday I watched one of my favourite dance reality shows on YouTube. I was shocked and surprised at the same time when I got to know that it was the first time ever a transgender was allowed to participate on a reality show, which is telecasted on a national television. Considering the given history, I thought India would be one of the transgender friendly countries in the world. Listening to Jazz’s story made me really sad.

The fact is:   On 15 April 2014, in National Legal Services Authority v. Union of India, the Supreme Court of India ruled that transgender people should be treated as a third category of gender and as a socially and economically “backward” class entitled to proportional access and representation in education and jobs.

I think it is difficult to imagine what it must feel like to be transgender if you are not. Imagine what it must feel like to debate every day to use the men’s restroom or the women’s.

We all are born with sexual characteristic of either a male or a female. The term transgender focuses on individuals whose gender identity conflicts with biological sex assignment. Most who are transgender know they are different from others from an early age. There are different studies explaining the cause of being transgender. The fact is we will need a much larger body of research to reach conclusions about where gender identity lives in human.

I think at this point, it is very important to mention that gender and sexual preference are entirely two separate things. Sexual identification is who we to be intimate with while gender identification is who we see ourselves.

I am not intending to write a scientific blog about transgender with my limited knowledge. On the contrary I want to encourage you to wipe out your prejudices. Keep in mind that this condition might be caused by hormonal imbalance. It is definitely not their fault! Support them on their journey! Be nice and human next time when you meet a transgender.

Hats off to Mazhavil Manorama for taking the first step towards breaking the taboo and hopefully many will follow you.

Jazz, never give up! No matter if you are going to win 1^st prize or not. Consider yourself as a winner because through Mazhavil Manoramas D4Dance Season 3 the world is listening to you. Don’t pay attention to the Naysayers and ignore the negativity. Don’t be shy and don’t hide! Go Girl, Go Girl! Rock the floor, don’t forget Feet Must be pointed 🙂 .

I am fully aware of the fact that I don’t have neither a huge follower base nor a celebrity status. But If at least one among the few readers would change his/her mind and treat a transgender as a “normal” human being, then I would consider my blog, a worthy effort. Like Pearle, the anchor of the show said, we may be born with different skin colour, on different places as men or women. But we all are one and all of us are God’s creation.

There is no one “right” way to live a life. And no one should have to spend a life hiding who they are!!

XoXo

Darling, you make my day!

Oh my love!
You make me happy and alive.
You are always there for me, in good times and in bad.
You have got me addicted.
Your fragrance brings out the energy in me.

On a cold rainy afternoon, I wrap my arms around you,
your warmth soak into me.
Snow brings you even closer
I cant survive a day without you
Coffee Coffee!

I Love You Forever!

Doorway to your heart

When was the last time you looked into someone’s eyes? Or let someone gaze into yours? Since few days this question is haunting me. I don’t remember when it happened to me the last time! What about you my dear reader? When was the last time you experienced the emotional cocktail made of excitement, butterflies in stomach, nervousness and the spark you will feel when you look into your loved ones eyes or the person you would love to love look into your eyes?

You will find a lot of scientific studies online, where they explain the importance the eyes in combination with physical attraction, seduction and romantic love… And yes as usual within seconds my browser history was filled with articles about this particular theme. So if we are sitting on the same boat, then I think I know the cause of the problem. After spending days thinking about it, I came up with 3 possible reasons.

1. You are living with your life partner and you take everything for granted. You might say there are other important things to do than looking into eyes. Beside it’s something for silly people. So you are purposely avoiding it.

2. You are “too busy” and blabber A LOT. What I mean by this is, you will always engage yourself in some personal projects like weight loss, redo your garden, refurnish your place or you are a workaholic. So basically you don’t have time to go out and meet people and when you are with your friends you simply keep blabbering so that there is no silent moment. Practically everyone around you is in the FRIEND zone. In other words unconsciously you have a defensive shield around you, stopping yourself exploring new possibilities

3. You are scared. Letting someone that close to you means apart from the facial hair, impure greasy skin, thin lines/wrinkles, and that his person can see behind your retina. You are literally letting a person into your life, in other words you are not used to being vulnerable, comfortable and used to being alone.

I myself belong to the category 2 and 3. I hardly go out and meet new people. And when I meet people I talk a lot and most of the time I never notice any signs of interest. I am also very scared and I don’t want to put myself in a position where someone could hurt me.

Audrey Hepburn, a famous actress once said: “The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the door way to her heart, the place where love resides.” If that is true and eyes are indeed the doorway to the place where love resides, don’t be shy. Go ahead. Stare deeply into those eyes belonging to the other person and relight the flame of love.

Challenge the norms

What do you want to be when you grow up? Do you remember the first time you heard this question? I don’t. But most probably I said Mickey Mouse or some other cartoon figure with magic powers.

From my young school days, I had a desire to be a doctor. I think deep down inside me, I believed that doctors have some magical power to heal people. I was even considering  to pursue  with the med school two, three years ago. After doing the math -> years of med school + residency + specialize, I realized that it’s too late, by the time I become a heart surgeon, I might be facing retirement 😉 Becoming a doctor was just one of few dreams. Almost all the Indian kids growing up abroad want to become a doctor, lawyer or an engineer. And guess what, I am an engineer. Apart from becoming a doctor, I wanted to become a successful writer, adopt a child, build an orphanage in Kerala, do my Arangetram etc.

As kids our dreams are comparable to a bird with a lot of colourful feathers. We are not aware of the risks and certainly not thinking about the negative impacts, which might follow. Children are full of positivity. As we grow old like a bird loses its feathers, our dreams wither away. Dreams are indeed very strange, my dear friend! 

So what happened to that curious child? I was a talkative child; I used to ask so many questions and was telling stories all the time. Recently I saw an old video of mine and I couldn’t recognize myself. That 7 year old girl was full of energy and blabbering nonstop. As children we want to be so many things and the sky is our limit. An innocent 7-year-old explaining about her dream of becoming a doctor, catching thieves or becoming a fire fighter, certainly is a good party entertainer. Everyone listening to this kid is amused and will encourage her. Time passes by, in your early teens try to talk about your dreams, most probably you will face the first “NOs” and discouraging statements like:

 “You shouldn’t compare yourself with that person, You are not good at it .… Your primary focus should be achieve higher scores! …….Don’t ask stupid questions! ….Listen to us, we know what’s better for you! Don’t waste your time!”

In our early 20s most of us are usually finishing school/college, finding the first part/ full time job. If you mention about your dream now, then they will laugh at you and say:

”Oh common… don’t be silly… you are not a child anymore…don’t be a dreamer….Do you really think you can pull it off?.. think about your future…you don’t have much time to waste… get a job and get married!”

While growing up we probably hear a lot of NOs and undergo diplomatic brainwashes. The reason for this is because our friends and family are protective of us and they don’t want us to fail or get hurt.  All these Don’ts  and NOs creates a huge wall of fear inside us. This ugly, huge, dreaded wall is standing between us and our dreams. Instead of breaking down this imaginary wall, we project a fake dream on it. A dream which is approved by the society where we live. A dream that makes others happy and where you should be also happy because it’s what everyone else does. The average dream where you don’t get hurt. School -> Graduation-> Complete a professional course -> Job -> Marriage -> Kids -> Say no to your  Kids ->  A NEVER ending loop

From our mid 20s onwards it should be us, who decides if the imaginary wall should disappear or not. This wall is a projection of our insecurities and fear. Most of the time we are not aware of this and we subconsciously follow after a fake path. Until and unless some event  wakes you up. In my case it was Hanspeter, my former  boss. I used to work for a small international startup company. Back then we were like around 25 employees. Now it’s one of the world’s leading BPM venture companies. One day during our coffee break, I told him that I am going through some personal issues. That’s where he gave me the best advice someone ever gave to me:” Petsy, don’t be too nice all the time and do not say yes to everything. The world belongs to those who always ask questions.” As usual I didn’t understand the deeper meaning of what he said. It took me a while to digest but slowly I understood. In a polite way he was telling me to stand up and challenge; to get out of my comfort zone; to spread my wings and fly! That’s when I started to dream again, where I got my confidence back and started questioning. It was not easy, it’s a scary thought because you are on your own. You can’t blame anyone else anymore. Very soon I realized when you try doing things differently or follow a not so familiar/ common path, you scare and challenge the people around you. So forget about the Naysayers! Follow your dream!  You may fall quite often on your path. Each time when you fail, think about the bouncing doll you had, when you were a child. No matter how often, forcefully you hit on it, it always bounced back and smiled back at you. All the obstacles and failures will bring you closer to your dream.

We can’t undo the decisions we made or were forced on us in the past. BUT you can totally change what you are going to do while or after reading this blog. You CAN decide to fulfill your dream as of today, as of now, like this very second. If you follow your dream, you might have to say No, get out of your comfort zone and sometimes even detach yourself from the emotional dramas going on around you.

Common guys, be brave! Don’t neglect your dreams/ goals. Let’s pursue a life of fulfillment, and happiness. It took me a while to understand the importance of having a dream and to be truly myself.

Can I read your mind and say what you are thinking now? You are asking yourself what is this crazy girl dreaming of?  Oh well my dear reader, stay tuned, one day I will definitely share it here.  

And now STOP reading this blog;  Write down your dreams/goals; Save it on your device or pin it somewhere. Draft a plan and start your journey!

Xoxo

Let’s try to make the world a better place

14^th February, a day dedicated to express love, companionship and passion for our loved once. There are different forms of love. The love we share with our parents, Kids, friends, life partner and of course between lovers. There is no religion or nationality attached to this wonderful day. A pure celebration of Love.

Even though it’s a day for everyone, it’s more celebrated among couples. So all the pretty ladies out there, how did you feel when u wore that awesome sexy outfit you bought the other day? Did you find the right red lipstick? Finding the accurate red shade is devastating. And… Hey… you, Handsome what did you do? Did you buy nice red roses and chocolates? I assume you planned a nice romantic day for your Love from morning to night. Dinner at a nice romantic restaurant which plays nice background music, not too over powering just like a soft silk shawl carried in the breeze. Most probably you had a light Mediterranean meal with a smooth, balanced, velvetly red wine. I know it may sound cheesy and cliché; ultimately I am exceptionally girly and a hardcore lover of romantic movies 😉

In one way or other we all spent some quality time with our loved once. Unfortunately there is another group of people who might never be able to have this special moment. Who might never be able to express their emotions and try to hide their entire life. I am talking about victims of sexual assault and rape. I recently read an article in the telegraph about an Indian teenage rape victim, who was allegedly sexually assaulted a second time while in hospital receiving treatment for the original attack.

Headlines about sexual abuse and rape aren’t a rarity anymore. Few of the incidents catch more public attention and go viral but the majority remains untold and is hidden far away from the public. Blaming victim’s is another common behavior in our society. As soon as we talk about an incident the first few statements will be like:

“Victim was not appropriately dressed!”

”Something like this will never happen to someone from a good family!”

“Victim must have provoked them!”

Victims are silenced by a process that heaps shame, fear and guilt on them. The demoralizing experience is not alien to victims in India, who choose to speak out against sexual attacks.

Sexual violence is not only taking place in India. Since I am an Indian my focus is automatically set to “on what’s happening in India.” According to WHO recent global prevalence figures indicate that about 1 in 3 (35%) of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence in their lifetime.

Being a victim of any kind of crime can be frightening and upsetting. However, rape and sexual assault are particularly distressing crimes for the victim and the effects can last for a long time.

Let’s take action to help those instead of pointing fingers at them. Donate whatever you can to a nonprofit organization of your trust. Each and every penny counts. My personal choice is this project, which is started by Smita Sharma. She has started a Kickstarter page, where she is raising funds for two groups, including one based in London, which work in the community educating people to make people aware about sexual violence. There are many other nonprofit organizations worldwide, which helps victims to build a life after. Donating money is not the only way to help. If you know anyone from your circle, then be there for that person. Accompany the victim in their daily activities and highlight to them various institution where they can avail professional help. If needed raise your voice for them and protect them.

So don’t hesitate and let’s try to make the world a better place; You and I, we are the ones who can make this change!

From Being Catfished to Real Chat with a Script Writer …

After watching the movie Rockstar, I spent some time to know more about the cast and crew. It was just matter of time, that my browser history was filled with, Wikipedia entries, YouTube interviews and Facebook pages of the director VKP and the lead actor Siddarth Menon. I felt really bad for not knowing that Siddarth Menon is a famous singer from India. A  very talented musician with a mesmerising voice, who has a huge fan base and girls in India are going ga-ga over him. He reminded me a little bit of Justin Timberlake.  He is a member of a music band called Thaikudam Bridge and I pretty much love their music.

Few minutes of browsing, I ended up sending pms and friend requests to VKP sir, Rajashree Balaram and Siddarth Menon. It was a spontaneous reaction, like a fire and forget event. For my surprise a few minutes later I received a reply from Siddarth Menon. OMG… I was jumping up and down; He started texting me and then to top it all, he called me via FB messenger. OH GOSH … I couldn’t believe it. The first question I asked him was: “Why are you calling me? You are supposed to be busy”.  With a gentle laugh he  replied: “I never disappoint my fans”. Somehow an inner voice was telling that this guy is fake. To verify the authenticity with whom I am talking to, I asked him to sing a song! So he sang! I was spellbound!! End of the day I was thrilled and unable to believe that this happened to me.

Next day my sleep was disrupted by the annoying noise of FB notifications. Are you familiar with the feeling, when you wake up and you just want to smash/destroy your Alarm/Mobile phone? knowing very well it was you yourself, who forgot about the mute function? Flushed with anger I checked my mobile and guess what, it was his messages which woke me up.  This time he gave me his private number and asked me to add him on WhatsApp. How could I reject this nice gesture, right? By the way in the meantime all my anger just melted away. Thank God it was a weekend because on that day we talked a lot. About the band, music and how he ended up accepting the offer. During the entire conversation he was sharing personal information with me. I was a teeny tiny bit leery. After 2 weeks of small talk here & there, he succeed in convincing me that he is real. One day he told me that Thaikudam Bridge is going to Sharjah for a program. On that exact same day I saw a FB update about another program conducted by the same Band in India. From that point onwards the hide and seek game started. I insisted on having a video chat, which he refused due to some citing security issues. The other time I asked him for a selfie. A Selfie, which he has to take with his left hand and the index finger of his right hand should touch the left side of the nose 🙂 Oh well… I presume the poor guy researched online for it. 4 days later he admitted he was fake!

I hate being lied to and can’t understand why people are creating fake accounts. Look at this guy, what did he get out of this? NOTHING! What was he hoping to get out of this conversation?  The disturbing fact is that his fake account is pretty active and number of his friends are increasing day by day. I reported it to the real Siddarth Menon  (who I think) as well as to Facebook (How do I report a fake account?).

Now to the pleasant part. One day, completely out of the blue I received a reply from Rajashree Balaram and yes as you guessed it correctly, I was literally jumping around. She is such a nice person. Extremely  friendly and humble. During our small conversation, I told her about the above mentioned incident and she said to me that she will convey my message to VKP sir and Siddarth Menon. That’s so sweet of her, right?  Anyways I am eagerly waiting for her next work in a way I am waiting for the next season of Game of Thrones.

I pretty much enjoyed the whole experience and who knows may be one day I might talk to the real Siddarth Menon 😉

On this note I wish you all a wonderful day!

Xoxo

It’s all about YOU!

It’s been a really long time since my last blog. A lot happened in the meantime which I might mention here on the blog one day. Hope all of you had a wonderful start. Jan is almost gone and how are you guys keeping up with your New year’s resolutions?

I have started this  year full of energy and excitement, determined to enjoy each and every day. Do things which would make me happy, experiment a bit and basically not worry about what others think about me.

So ….

• If you think you are fat and unfit then lose weight, change ur diet and exercise more.
• If you are unsatisfied with your job, then go and find another job
• If you are bad in managing ur money then learn how to control ur expense
• If you want to be a model/ singer/actor then go and explore ur options
• If you love to travel then DO it.

Keep in mind that you are doing something which YOU want to do, NOT because you want to please someone else (parents, friends, children, coworkers, society …).

In my entire life I never felt this much of positive energy. I got inspired by the first movie I watched this year. Like most of us, I was also very tired on the 1st of Jan, so decided to stay home and chill.

After little bit browsing  and checking FB,  I ended up on an online movie portal and  chose  the latest Malayalam movie they uploaded. Malayalam is a language spoken in India to be precise in Kerala.  Watching  movies online gives me a guilty conscience, but sometimes you don’t have any other choice if you are abroad.

Yes, yes and yes … I know you are waiting to hear the name of the movie. The movie is called Rockstar.  If you understand Malayalam then you have  to watch it. I have  never ever seen a Malayalam movie like this. The movie is about a young independent woman and a young musician.  Oh well.. I know what you are thinking now and can imagine how you are rolling your eyes… A man sees a woman, they fall in love, jumping around trees in the alps, singing and dancing Benny Lava style and live happily ever after.  Sorry guys, I have to disappoint you. It is a romantic story which portrays very deep and intense emotional drama. The real star of this movie is the Story itself.  I loved each and every dialogue in this movie. My favorite dialogue is when Eva responds in a conversation to her mum and maid: You don’t have to get married to have children. It reminded me a conversation between my mum and me.

The script writer Rajashree Balaram beautifully captured the independent thoughts of today’s spinster professionals. The continuous fight with themselves to be independent,  to be different than the older generation, the confidence to express to the world what they think and confronting the conflict between fact-based  judgments and moral values.

Such a brilliant story in the hands of, one of the most renowned directors in the industry, VKP sir, it  certainly  created magic on the screen.

After watching this movie, I was so excited and decided to pm (private message) VKP sir, Siddarth Menon and Rajashree Balaram. The experience I made there,  will  be summarized  in a separate blog because a lot happened there.  Got catfishes,  had a real small chat …

End of the day watching this movie inspired me to set goals for this year. My New Year’s resolution is very simple: enjoy the life to the fullest and not to be worried about others.

I even came up with a nice romantic story. A good friend of mine and me even thought about filming it, me in the lead role. HAHAHA…. all my friends who are reading this, is most probably ROLFing. Yeah me in a Movie ***@@@@???!!!!

On this note I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

Xoxo

The Holy Cow – #BeefBan in India

Last Friday after work I went to an Indian family who lives across the road, joining other friends who were also invited. During the evening we covered a lot of topics. They started to talk about the Beef Ban in India. My contribution to this was: “I too saw the FB posts. It is really funny and I admire the creative mind behind it.”  All of sudden everyone stopped talking and there was a weird silence in the room, everyone was staring at me. I broke the silence by asking them: ”it’s just a joke, right? No one was really killed, right?” Apparently it was not a joke.

I don’t want to mention any names or take sides. This blog is  about the frustration and disappointment of a young Indian, of origin.

In the past few months, political parties are abusing each other and taking decisions on what one should eat. Everyone has given ridiculous  statements about consuming beef. The intolerant society even ended up murdering an innocent man who was blamed for eating BEEF, which by the way turned out to be false after the investigation. In other words the current Indian politics are killing its own people.  Keep in mind that we are not talking about a country/state governed by a dictatorship. On the contrary, we are talking about the biggest democratic country on the earth. 

Government of an Indian State banned beef citing, it is hurting the religious sentiments of the Hindu community. Seriously guys…are you kidding me???!!!  Does the Hindu community feel better after a man was killed?  How would the Hindu community feel, If they were forced to eat beef somewhere else in the world?  I don’t believe the community or a common man’s religious spirit is hurt when others consume beef.  Everyone is entitled to practice their own religion and has the rights to decide on what to eat or not. I think the politicians are using this to cover something else, much bigger. Who knows  what they really want.

Abandoned cattle is a common thing in India and people don’t think 2s before hitting a cow found in the middle of the road.  A lot of cows die because of eating  filthy waste (plastic bags, etc.). How about introducing a government policy to keep them safe?  How is this ban going to protect the Holy Cows?

You murdered  a man because you assumed  he consumed  “holy cow” (beef).  You go to temple and worship  Goddesses, but as soon as you see one in front  of you, you just rape her to death. A Nation which  worships Cow, is willing to go to any extend to protect the Holy Cow, what are you doing to protect the women, your goddesses? How many girls did you protect this year? How many  abuses were reported? Which actions did you take? Did you kill all the rapists?

While  browsing  I came across a very interesting blog.  Where the blogger’s friend,  a Secret Advisor(SA) to Prime Minister (PM) of India, explains  the real reason for banning beef was to protect India and the WORLD from the water stress. According to the logic mentioned in that blog, the government of India is also going to ban butter, cheese, milk etc. Basically anything which is very water intensive.

If you want to read that blog please click here, it’s incredibly amusing.

Jealous of trees, am I stupid?

My Birthday is in 22 days and it frightens me. As a child I was looking forward to this day but now I am looking for possible ways to postpone the day.

My parents never failed to organize the perfect Birthday party for me and my brother. We received a lot of presents, mom always prepared our favorite dish and obviously new clothes. As a student I wanted to have one of those surprise parties, where your friends plan everything and u go to a club and simply get wasted. That never happened but my parents were still organizing the big one for me. It was really sweet of them. In the next phase of my life I was fancying about wakening up next to a handsome boyfriend, having breakfast in bed, red roses and a small present ideally from Tiffany&Co. Guess what, this never happened either. This could still happen because you never know when the Mr. Perfect is gonna knock on your door. Instead of fancying about this or being excited about what is going to happen next year, I am scared about getting old.

When I look around and compare myself with other women in my family & friend circle of my age group, I feel like they are having a very boring life. In other words I think something is wrong with me because I stand out from the crowed. Sometimes I even think, I shouldn’t be this active on social media because this is what teenagers and students do. I tried to convince myself saying: “Age is just a number and I am as old as I feel.” Oh well this didn’t work out the way I wanted. The increasing number of grey hair (by the way I have 10 of those shiny bitches now) and hair thinning are clear signs of getting Old.

Today I was enjoying the view from my office window. All the trees crowned in leaves, different shades of yellow and orange. I love autumn, its simply alluring. Since it was a bit windy, a lot of leaves were falling. All of sudden I was JEALOUS of trees. Trees lose their leaves like us losing our hair. But leaves come back in Spring/Summer, but there is no come back for our hair. This is so unfair 😦

Seriously folks, I am jealous of a Tree! Can you believe that? I mean a tree???!!!!. OMG what is happening to me? Am I crazy?

Are you afraid of your birthday? Do you have similar crazy thoughts like me?

Till then Keep Calm and Stay Healthy!

Bengal grams, Oats, Quinoa & Co

M y last blog post was 25 days ago, where I shared my excitement about becoming an almost vegan. Now after 1 month of being sort of a vegan, I would love to share my experience  with you guys. First of all I never thought I will be able to follow it for such a long time. I never did any sort of fasting before and never avoided non veg. Chicken was an inevitable part of my meal, couldn’t even imagine life without chicken. It may sound a bit weird but I always had some sort of chicken almost every day.

I haven’t visited my aunt for months, so yesterday I paid her a visit. As soon I entered her house the appetizing smell of perfectly spiced, delicious, mouthwatering chicken curry welcomed me. Oh boy, what am I going to do? I couldn’t resist the smell. So I decided to have chicken curry and fried rice for lunch, after all it’s just this one time I thought. Trust me guys, I couldn’t wait to mix  fried rice with the thick gravy and enjoy the perfect symphony of spices in my mouth. You won’t believe what happened next . As soon as I saw the chicken piece on my plate my appetite was gone. I simply couldn’t bite into the piece of meat. I was shocked and surprised at the same time. End of the day I just had rice with some vegetables. I was so proud of myself and said myself:  “You passed the toughest test, very well done my dear“.

You might be wondering what a lazy person like me eats these days. Like I mentioned in my last blog (Almost a Vegan), started with quinoa… now pleased to add almond mil, oats and Bengal grams. I am getting good in preparing vegan food, still have to go long way. Once I master few recipes, I will definitely make a  vlog about it.

Transitioning to  a vegan is difficult. Each time if I mention I am a vegan, people raise their eye brows, or make jokes about. This weekend a friend of mine told me something like this. “Now it’s anyways too late. You are not going to look better”.  I know he meant it in a funny way and his intention was not to hurt me.  Most of the time you find less support from people around you and because of that your social life might suffer a little bit. But hey , all you need is a strong will power and then everything is possible. End of the day it’s your life, it’s your body and YOU decide what you want to do.

Becoming a vegan means to me  eat clean,  consuming minimally processed  food, increasing fiber consumption and final adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to my regular diet. By doing so my digestion is perfection which means no bloating and I feel more energized during the day. And I feel young, fresh and vibrant. Oh well I think that’s coupled with my fear of aging and my birthday is in 28 days.  Most probably I am trying to convince myself no matter what I am doing, it’s good for staying young.  Anyways I hope you guys  are not worried about grey hair and wrinkles.

Till then Keep Calm and Stay Healthy!

XoXo

Almost a Vegan

I met an old friend of mine last week, and it’s no surprise we talked about weight loss. After all she was in good shape compared to the last time I saw her, where she had gained a lot of extra pounds due to constant business travel and bad diet. All she did was modify her diet. She is a Vegan now, oh well a 95% vegan.

After our conversation, I realized, with minor tweaks to my current diet – I’d  be a vegan too. Her story  totally inspired me.  So I decided to cut out chicken, eggs, honey and butter. Now I’ve completed 1 successful week of being a vegan, I mean almost a vegan.

A vegan doesn’t eat anything that originates from something that walked, crawled. Flew or swam, but that’s not all – a true 100% hardcore vegan shouldn’t wear leather, wool, silk or down. That’s why I am calling myself ALMOST A VEGAN. I love silk and I can’t say no to my bags and shoes, could  you?

My body accepted the change pretty well. Off lately, I am free from digestion issues, feel quiet energized and am loving it. Explored Quinoa and made my first dish with it. I hate to cook and  that’s because no matter how hard I try, I end up burning stuff. All I know is how to make chicken,  basmati rice, sausages and of course instant noodles. Now I am trying new recipes and  for my surprise I am not burning them. And the shocking fact is, that they come out well. My body seems to like this change and I noticed that I love chickpeas, okra , quinoa etc. Have even come up some really interesting cooking ideas. If I should continue this journey then one day I might do a V-log about my new favorite recipes.

I know all this sounds really promising and very easy to follow, but it isn’t. Yesterday night all I could think about was my favorite Pizza. Hmmm… the crispy thin pizza crust, the melted Mozzarella topped with the finest spicy Salami, garlic and black olives ( oh no….I am  thinking about it again). I almost dialed the number, thank god somehow I managed to control my cravings. I am quite sure one of these days I might fail and opt for a treat. Then again I guess it’s a slow journey and I have to take persistent baby steps.

My next weigh in is on next Saturday and I am eagerly waiting to see how my body has changed. There are so many questions popping up in my mind like: How much fat percentage I have lost? Did I gain on muscle mass? Am I following the right diet? Do I need to increase my Activity level? Do I need to decrease my sugar( carbs) intake? I guess in my next blog I will have answers to this questions. And keep in mind, with baby steps as long as I don’t gain – that’s fine  🙂

Till then Keep Calm and Stay Healthy!

XoXo

Fear of Aging

This weekend I made a shocking discovery – found 3 grey hair strands. Now I am convinced I have more, not yet visible. We often hear statements like “aging gracefully” or “with age comes wisdom”, which should make us happy. To be honest I am scared of getting old. I am horrified about the thought, being categorizes as OLD.

My immediate reaction after noticing grey hair was to check my skin condition. If it’s already saggy at places. Within minutes my browser history was filled with, how to stop aging articles and YouTube videos. I don’t know how you guys are dealing with this situation. For me this has been one of the most depressing weekends.

How come our childhood movie stars are not aging? Even though I don’t understand much Hindi, I love watching Bollywood movies as well as Hollywood movies. Madhuri  Dixit , Kajol and Aishwarya Rai, Jennifer Aniston and  Drew Barrymore,  are my favorites. Once I looked up to them and tried to follow their fashion. Now I feel like their aging clock run out of battery and spared them from aging process. Even though I am much younger than them, I look much older than them now L.

Why is it so difficult for me to accept the fact, that it’s a natural process? What is the reason for my panic attacks?  My mom is in her mid-sixties and she started complaining about saggy skin just few months ago. Until then she was not even aware of it. Oh well, I could say she aged gracefully. She is still gorgeous.

There are so many anti-aging products out there. I know these products are not going to stop the aging process – merely conceal reality!

Did you know an increasing proportion of the  world consists of  elderly people? People live longer  and longer.  Is it so bad if I say I want to live only until 50?

Daily Prompt: I Pledge Allegiance. Are you patriotic?

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “I Pledge Allegiance.“

My initial reaction to this question would be to say “no” because the pictures coming up in my mind are of War, Soldiers and a lot of blood. So I thought today’s blog will be a one liner something like: No, I am not a patriotic.

My mind couldn’t rest. These two questions haunted me for couple of hours. I decided to ask my best friend Google about it. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Patriotic means

Oh well this was not a great help. In fact I got more confused because I was thinking about all the people with dual Nationalities. Suppose both countries are competing against each other, which country one should choose? Country of origin or where you was born?

Even though I am no longer an Indian, at least on paper, I was deeply saddened at the sudden demise of the former president of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. It felt like someone in my family died.
When I watched the documentary “India’s daughter”, on BBC, it left me feeling very angry. Words are not enough to fully express my grief and anger. The fact that Indian government officials banned “India’s Daughter” made the situation even worse. Though I am not an “Indian”, I felt ashamed.

To shed some honest light on this, When Austria wins a gold medal in Winter Olympic, I will be jumping around like a child and say: “Look we did it, WE won” :-). I guess what I am trying to say is, we are evolving or progressing to being global citizens.

Here’s another complication. How should we feel about the country we choose to live? In my case that would be Switzerland. You won’t believe how often I say to friends:”…and you people put your money in OUR banks.” or “WE have the best chocolate” etc. While those listening to me, clearly see that I am not of European decent. Still, I choose to speak this way, they accept.

On the other side I don’t consider myself patriotic in the sense that I’d be willing to die for any of these countries. I have huge respect to all the brave men, who fight for us and protect us threats. I personally would never do that, you may call me “Chicken”. There are many ways to express patriotism, I’m afraid I’d be more of a burden, rather than add value – if I joined the armed forces of any country.

Now back to the original question: Am I a Patriotic? I am considering myself as a citizen of the world and I love my world and I am willing to engage myself in activities which will make my world to a better place. What do you think dear reader? Am I Patriotic?

Concluding today’s blog with a famous quote of Albert Einstein: “Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.”

Day 4 – Keep Calm and Stay Healthy

Today’s assignment is to publish a post I‘d like my ideal audience to read.

Once I gain experience in blogging and improve English writing skills, I will certainly blog about fashion, travel experience, violence against women, restaurant reviews and random thoughts.

For today’s assignment though the first thought that came to mind was Healthy Weight loss. For more than 2 years I am trying to get back in shape. By now I am an expert in Do’s and Don’ts of weight loss. As we all know talking about something and giving advice is very easy, but to convert theory into action is very difficult. Yes, I am guilty of preaching water and drinking wine.  It’s not like I haven’t made any progress, indeed there are some visible changes. One of the biggest problems I am facing is staying focused and motivated. It’s like 5 steps forward and 10 steps in wrong direction.

There are so many diet programs out there, from starving yourself to 24hr of diarrhea. Somehow I am not a great fan of diets. The little Smurf inside my head is telling me, it’s the wrong direction to go. I guess everyone needs to find their own path.

Along with healthy eating habits and regular exercise, I wanted to achieve my goal. I love Pilates and EMS training. I don’t want to brag, but I have the BEST trainers in town. These young, vibrant ladies are just awesome (Oh well, I will blog about them another time). Unfortunately I decided to take a break.  Remember 5 steps ahead and 10 backwards.

2 things I love the most are bags and sunglasses. So I said to myself, if I manage to have a healthy life style and reach my target weight, I will present myself a Louis Vuitton and a trip to New York or Dubai on my Birthday (btw. It’s on 30^th Nov).

Falling back and losing motivation, are very common problems, and I am sure there are other people fighting the same issues. I want to address this blog to them, come and join me on my journey to a better and healthier life style.

Until next time, me signing off – Keep calm and stay healthy 😉