Wish -To Be

Hello there, 

This morning, I started thinking what are the different emotions and tenses(time period) a 'Wish' is associated with as I was writing up for a word challenge in my other blog. Its funny and amusing at the same time how our thoughts flow in out of no where just from a word and this is exactly why I love the picture/word challenges. In short it is 'food for thought'.

On thinking about what anyone would wish for , I could broadly classify them into positive and negative wishes which again is sub classified into three categories.

1. Living in the past : This is where we all mostly wish for something or someone associating to an event that happened in the past. ex : ' I wish I did..' , 'I wish he was ....' , 'I wish my team won..' etc. It is mostly  associated with regret , desire, missing out and so on.
2. Living in the future : This category consists of wishes like 'All the best', 'Wish you succeed..' 'Wish to  do well' etc. which is associated with expectations , hope, looking forward to and so on.
3. Living in the present :  I just realized this is my favorite category of wishes like ' A very good morning!', ' Happy Birthday ', 'Congratulations' etc. I could not associate these with the past or the future. Could not associate these with anything else but Happiness and being content.  Through a simple good morning wish we don't only live that very moment, but share and make someone else's day too.

From ages, philosophers have been preaching and guiding all of us to live in the moment. Living in the moment devoid us from a lot of stressful feelings like regret, expectation etc. Best is TO BE. To simply be present to enjoy life. The word 'Wish' got me into thinking how important it is to let go, not to expect but just experience life right now. In this very moment.

I could associate the picture above to 'Good Morning !'  which has made to top in my list of wishes :)

-Bash

How I fell in love with LA!

So after living in three different countries and two states, I finally found the place I love. It was like love at first sight. Los Angeles!!! How I liked it more than San Francisco!! I was there for three days and loved every moment of my stay. There's something magical about that place. We stayed on sunset blvd in West Hollywood and that was the best place to be. It was so lively, a good blend of entertainment, food and amazing people.

Some of the places we visited were Griffith Observatory, Walk of Fame, LA county Museum, Rodeo drive, Downtown: LA live and we also did the touristy bus tour. What I like about LA or as much as I saw is a good blend of modern architecture and historical places. There is so much to do for everyone. Wait! Yes I would say that I have only seen the good parts of LA, but I'm so pleased with it that I don't want to know about the shady areas. Plus I was only visiting that place for 3 days. Just like how good things come to an end, there is always a next time. Until then, Goodbye LA! I heart you as a tourist 😉

Can loneliness lead to solitude?

Hello there, 

I  have lived in a metropolitan city of India for 26 years before I moved to UK and then later on to the USA. Everyday in my life back in India used to be very busy. 

I have a big family back there. My school, work, family and friends, hobbies, social life etc. always kept me busy round the clock. The city and people around me had a big influence in making me an independent  and bold girl  at a very young age. Never did I have a calm, lone time spent that I can recall of. Only time I would be all by myself most of the days were when I was dead tired and sleeping in the night. I was someone who thought I could never be alone all by myself as I never had to in the buzz of  a busy city .

But over the years after moving out from my comfort zone, culture, family and friends I realized ‘SOLITUDE' was different from ‘Loneliness’. In the past I never really experienced loneliness to begin with let alone be on a  journey in the path of solitude. At least in my case, to get away from loneliness I started exploring a whole new world where I spent hours doing something I love , all by myself.

And now I am at a stage where I enjoy cooking couple of hours with music being played out loud or indulge in a cup of tea sitting in my balcony with thoughts and memories flowing in or meditate in a dark space with a blank mind or paint something or go running outdoors alone or simply stroll around a new city or a place . I don’t know if this is solitude. But what I do know is it isn’t loneliness and I am enjoying every bit of it.

In the above picture, I am onlooking a frozen lake at a resort I stayed over this winter. Though I wasn’t alone when this was snapped,  I can relate how I feel about being alone and content with this picture. Hence sharing with you all with a question in mind ' Can loneliness lead to solitude if worked on it positively ?' 

Have a great weekend !

-Bash

Confessions of a bar(re) lover!

Barre? Yes. Barre lover? Oh yes! I am the type of girl who gets bored so easily by monotonous gym equipment and constantly long for variety and human interaction for work outs. For those people who has relentless urge to stay fit and doesn't care how may not really understand my point. To me, fitness is 50% obligation and 50% fun, grin.I am happy about inheriting a lot of things from my bloodline like wheatish skin tone, love for food, kanchi saris, gold, stringed jasmine flowers, etc. There's one thing I totally hate is inheriting stubborn fat in my love handle. Hi-5 to all those who agree.

So under the "obligation" I started working out in 2008 and I must say I loved the way I felt after shedding a few kilos. But the "machine" routine got me boring. I should give it to my grandma who used to wake me up every morning at 6 am to get me going to gym and when I refused to wake up she will start yelling from the kitchen complaining about how I'm wasting the money I paid to the gym. Grandma problems I say. I then spent more money and enrolled in a gym which has variety of group exercises like aerobics and yoga which really thrilled me. I remember waking up with extra energy to attend those classes. Later I moved abroad and explored many more types like Zumba, Insanity, Tabata, Spinning, Kick boxing, Boot camp and Body Pump. All these I have listed are really great alternatives to the regular routine and they vary a lot from each other. Zumba, Insanity and spinning are great cardio routines by building the stamina. Body Pump helps in building and toning all the muscles . Tabata, Kick boxing and Boot camp are killer routines which is a mix of cardio and strength training. I really mean it.

I don't have a great health record and I struggle a lot in the above mentioned killer routines where my trainers would constantly be calling out my name to motivate me. Recently, I got introduced to Barre workout which is based on ballet moves. I have 2 different instructors and one is manageable while the other one challenges us. After doing this for about 6 weeks (twice a week) I definitely see noticeable difference in my legs. The first class was really funny where I heard the terms plea and releve for the first time. For starters, these are ballet moves/positions which I had no idea about and still trying to understand. Most of the moves are done on tippy toes which is called 'releve' but we always have an option to stand on our full feet. The class starts with warm up exercises which is then followed by arm using weights and leg workouts using the bars. It usually ends with a couple of core exercises after which our body pleads for rest. But again, having a great instructor is the main motivating factor for any activity. I look forward to my Friday morning ballet classes mainly because of my instructor who has a son (18+ years old), an amazing body, stamina, personality and knows the art of teaching. And I have an additional advantage of a good company, my colleague who motivates me as well. Both of us cry in pain when we do those pleas, oh god. But at the end of the day we feel really fresh and good for doing something nice to our bodies. So what are you waiting for?

Love, 
Bri

The Queen in me!

Have you watched the movie Queen? The movie in which Kangana Ranaut played the role of a young woman from a small city who goes on a lone trip to Europe to get over the trauma when her ex-fiance calling off their wedding. Well if you haven't, go read the remaining plot on Wikipedia, :-D 

Anyways my point is travel really has the power to heal and transform. I was born in South India and I have toured 3 other states apart from mine, thanks to my parents. I was going through an emotional trauma when my parents were refusing to accept my then boy friend (now husband) into our family like any other orthodox middle class Indian parents.Cant blame them, honestly. It went on for about a year and a half and nothing was changing except my father was becoming more stubborn and so was I, after all same blood huh ?!. It is then I got the opportunity of traveling to London for work. Omg, that was the best thing that has ever happened to me (only next to my husband, cheesy). 

My "first ever" visit outside India and I was filled with mixed emotions like anxiety and excitement. I got to stay with a Srilankan (by birth) family who rented out one of their bedrooms in their beautiful house. Loved everything about the house starting from the rectangular sash windows, subtle hues on the wall papers and that apple tree on the backyard. They welcomed me like their own family and made me feel at home. I had to cook for myself on regular basis which I was not used to, started making simple dishes and found comfort in having them with wine. It was July I believe so the weather was just perfect. The first weekday morning I reached my office with a colleague of mine. My desk at workplace was overlooking River Thames and the O2 arena located on the other side of the river. I met some really interesting people at work, to quote a few - one female who wore a nearly perfect make up daily, a female who dressed like a bombshell, an old man who kept staring at everyone and asked me out once. 

I had to get on tubes to reach my office, which was pretty bad during peak morning hours. People literally pushed fellow passengers just like the scene back home and some even tried to open the automatically closing doors so that they can squeeze in, hahaha. Otherwise it was fun being on the tubes with the map in my hands. I started exploring the city on my own, with some input from my landlord and the tube map. No, I dint use google maps at all. I never felt lost or scared in the hustle, rather I felt confident and super good. I did visit places like Tower Bridge, House of Parliament, London eye, etc but my favorite was Oxford street which was adorned beautifully around Christmas. It was a white Christmas, my first ever snow which was mesmerizing to watch. The city obviously had umpteen number of food and fashion choices which most of the times intrigued me.

I must say my daily rides, my cooking stories, my lovely landlords, my colleagues, random people I met, the city as it is played its role in transforming me into a confident woman and gave me all the strength to face the challenges life has for me. So here's to the queen in me, Cheers !

Love, Bri

Friday Fun!

Hello there!

Friday is fun day! The day most of us look forward to. So keeping it short and simple today and sharing my wedding anniversary shopping haul with you all. 

I am so eager to try on all my new clothes( tags are the proofs), sometimes even wear them for the entire day. I have a lot of friends who reserve new clothes for occasions. I am too hyper when it comes to new clothes and cannot help  but wear them as soon as they arrive :) 

Bought the distressed jeans and the white canvas shoes from  American Eagle  for about $100. The top, dress and the faux leather pants from HnM. All of them together for only $45.Its a steal for 3 clothes.   Happy with the fit  and the quality. Cannot wait for many more Fridays to wear them all one after another :)

-Bash

Write will never go wrong!

Hello there, 

Its been only couple of days that I started blogging but its bringing back to me so many fond memories. So, today, thought of sharing few things that I wrote about in the past and it kind of stayed with me forever. And the best part is after effects and laughter that came along with every experience.

1. Novelist in me came alive when I was bed ridden due to a ligament tear. To kill my boredom, I ended up writing 20 page long imaginary story :P. No, I wasn't crazy but just high on painkillers. 

After effect : Reading this 20 page long story to my friend is what stays with me forever. The laughter, teases, embarrassment that  followed the narration was simply priceless :)

2. Almost 9 years ago, I started dating this not so expressive, angry young man. Being a short tempered and sensitive person myself, I did not want to lose my cool and regret it later as most of the times I was the one being silly or over reacting. So I jotted down all my complaints in a book. The book only had curses, disagreements and nagging statements. 

After effect : Over the time we were in a long distance relationship sorts of arrangement. Before moving out of the city, I handed the book to him to read and have a good laugh at how silly I was .(Imagine someone getting to read a book full of  complaints about oneself)  I am not too sure how he felt about it till date. Few things are best if kept unknown.......or hell with it, I will ask my husband today how he felt 9 years ago. Yes, we are married now and nothing can be a secret anymore :P

3. I used to get these scary  dreams during the most stressed out period of my life. these dreams lead me into buying a book on dreams to understand what dreams mean. In this book I learnt how it will be useful if we jot down our dreams , first thing in the morning. Guess I took it too seriously and jotted down a small book full of dreams.

After effect : No matter how many times I read it, it doesn't make any sense to me. But awestruck about the  world we enter  in our sleep. Its crazy, complex, impractical . Yet feels so real.

These are few of many times I decided to write. Till date I have always enjoyed it every single time and it just occurred to me that every time I actually 'Wrote' in a book. No typing or editing involved like blogging. Yet, 'Writing never went wrong' literally or metaphorically :)

-Bash

Been there Done that!

Hello , its me!  I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet me as a teenager? (Did you try singing it like Adele's Hello song? :P )

Well, back to the topic. I was wondering what happened to Orkut (Popular social network during my teenage) in today's Facebook era. So here I google and landed at http://www.orkut.com/index.html. 
To my surprise this opened up a letter written by the creator of Orkut. He has now started a new social network http://www.hello.com/en/index.html .Yes, that's right a new social network which works with 'loves' and not 'likes'. 

By the way, 'love' reminds me of the topic I wanted to share. So back to topic, I promise.As a kid from early 20's I , just like many of you wrote testimonial to my boyfriend then (my husband now) . I had for some reason copied it and saved as an email draft. Have no idea why. I had to struggle to reread it today and it reminded of the unnecessary dots, short forms and punctuation used just like today's  teens. Copy pasting it yet again . Who knows if gmail will be taken down after  a decade.

(Lets call him Slash for time being)

'SSSSSSSlash...is "THE NONSENSE" ...i ve met in mah life.....most practical...highly insenstive.....he does feel for some stupid thing which z happenening far across sumwher...bt nt near by him:)....How  can i 4get to tell tat dont mess with him when he z HUNGRY !!!!! Animal..  !!!!!
100% trust worthy , faithful, honest, Gem of a kind :-).......hottie too :-)....don u get flattered nonsense!!!!....n yeah.....all u gals out ther STATUTARY WARNING :  "When everythin z so perfect in sum one...ther ll definitely be a BUT "....keep guessing this BUT ;-)
Must say a hard core fan of JIM n,Foot Ball.. n..Rum.....forgets world 4 em...(hardly remembers anyone or otherwise ;)........But All in all...its wonderful  n amazingly awesome to ve known you....
n yeah , Slash..u better watch p.s I LUV YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'

Funny how I conveyed 'I love you' indirectly on Social network. LOL. So carefree, immature and cliched. All  at the same time. Today, when I look back I cannot believe its me back then. So annoying at the same time funny to read . Also, reminds me yet again 'Been there, Done that' just like teens today.

-Bash

What color is the Milkshake ?

Hello ,  Jotting down a short funny conversation we had yesterday . May be down the line we will reread this and have a hearty laugh at good old day. Yes, preserve memories for future. That's the plan :) .

Girl-1 has almost all of the makeup products under the sun. Girl-2 and Girl-3 believe so. If you see makeup blogs here, its from Girl-1.  Girl-2  and Girl-3 own some makeup but very limited. Both use makeup minimally.

Conversation :

Girl-1 : Found good lip plumper. Got it in Sephora box.Too faced lip injection gloss in milkshake.

(Girl-2 and Girl-3 almost forgot about lip plumper and started imagining milkshakes I think. At least would like to assume so as both are foodies!)

Girl-2 : Is this the name of the product? Or Injection of some milkshake? 

Girl-3 :  Too faced is a brand. and they have lip plumper called lip injection. Its not an injection. Its a gloss and milkshake is the shade.

(Girl-2 and Girl-3 almost fainted )

Now, you tell me who names something that's not to be injected as injection? I know a milkshake can be brown if made of chocolate or pink if made of strawberries. Now what the hell is the  shade of milkshake just on its own? Can somebody explain what is the color of the milkshake?

-Bash

Money well Spent !

I love trying out different clothes from different stores as I am a big time online shopper.Off shoulder and sporty looks are trending this year. Huge sized t shirt with a pair of leggings is always I blindly opt for from grocery shopping to the mall attire! 

Got these from http://us.shein.com/ for the first time and love the fit and quality of the clothes for the price I paid for these.

In short money well spent  and I am simply  excited and happy about  the buy :)

-Bash