Voice, not an Echo.

True stories.

Holding on to a sticky jelly leaden wrapper. When you need a candy you need a candy. I can’t wait to get down and toss it where it belongs. Just when I'm about to disembark, I see a girl, all of 19 i guess. With a backpack resting on her shoulder, a phone potentially crushing vain candies, tosses out a empty bag of chips.

I Clearly am a fool to hold on to this dainty little wrapper with sugar syrup ruining my 500rs manicure. I have two options, I can join in the party and do a little tossing of my own or I can chose to oversee the whole episode and do my bit. But I, being ME, go for the third option. Give that so called "educated girl" a piece of my mind. When am angry, you cant hold me back. Am sure that day the entire compartment heard and heard it well, that how big a problem tosses’ are to the society.

How long can you put your feet up and play the blame game. Sure the government is doing its job. May be they are inefficient,  may be they are corrupt. But you are no super star yourself. The only problem with us Indians is that we lack a conscience. A conscienceless state where people have zero accountability. India is the way it is because of WE THE PEOPLE. Period! 

For instance, I was on a kids play date with a bunch of up class women from my sons school. While coming back home we were in a carpool with the little Miss Eclass. At a traffic light she asked her son to check out the airplane in the sky, the little 4yr old tied hard to spot one, while he was distracted she tossed a little snot filled tissue out the car window. Aghast. I gave her mean disapproving looks in the rear-view. “What?” she said, I can’t let him catch me littering, what sort of an example will I be setting. Sure I could roll my eyes and keep quite with a fear of being cut out from the coveted circle. But I, being ME, had to give her a piece of my mind. 

“Don’t you think is funny how people have double standards,” I told her. If you were in Europe, then am sure you would have shoved that booger tissue in your oh-so-expensive bag and would have waited till you spotted a trashcan. But since its India, your own country, why give a damn, right? She turned red and not cause of the layers of Mac she was wearing, but  because of the embarrassment I had just caused her. Post that confrontation, I never really got invited for play dates again. But it's not like I missed hanging’ out with consciously challenged people. 

Sometimes all people need is a little reminder. A little reminder "that you need to be the change you wish to see." Speak up for to ones who have forgotten. Speak up and speak up loud so that the next time they contemplate tossing, your face haunts them from doing it. Carry a small bag. A bag that is your on-the-go trashcan. Don't treat your Country like one!

Be a voice, not an echo.

This post was inspired by the #AbMontuBolega campaign endorsed by Strepsils. You can connect with thousands of people across platforms who come together to voice their opinion about a better India. if it bothers you, speak up, or for ever shut-up and don't complain. TO CONNECT: http://www.abmontubolega.com/, Strepsils on Facebook and Twitter.

Have I Told You Lately #BringBackTheTouch

Happy Anniversary,

Their social media went berserk.

“Ten years, great achievement. Am surprised you haven’t murdered each other yet” Karan.

“God bless you with all the happiness in the world” xoxo Neah.

“Any fool can have a trophy wife. It takes a real man to have a trophy marriage” Love Dad.

   

  Trying to access his to-do list but the messages just won’t stop. Wiping a sirk off his face, Sid walks off to get ready for work. Just before he walks out of the house he calls out, Riya, “make sure you are ready on time.”

  A party, am not sure what they were celebrating, but this was something they did for others. For them, they put on a show, a show where they masquerade their feelings and play pretend where everything is fine.

  Everything was fine. But something had died. They were caught up in nuances of life. Juggling different characters but they lost touch with love that bought them together in the first place. Contemplating all this, a tear rolled down her eye.  The least he could do is wish me. But neither did she.

  She was tired of this stagnant relationship. There was concern, there was trust, there was respect, but they had just stopped working on love. “Every marriage needs work, the moment you stop working on it I slowly but surely starts to disintegrate, hope you never stop working, till the very end, Happy Anniversary beta .” Read a message from her Mother.

  The house is buzzing with guest. The Masks have come on and Sid and Riya play perfect host. They both are looking stunning, but I doubt if even one of them has noticed each other. Their social round’s keep’s them chatty with everyone at the party, but they haven’t exchanged a word since evening.

  With the free flowing wine and  endless rounds of  hors d'oeuvres, they here a song playing in the background. It’s Raj at the console. He knows their little secret. It’s their song. A song that they both slow danced to on their first date. His eyes look alive and start  searching for her. It is the first time since the evening he laid eyes on her.“She looks like a dream tonight”, he thinks to himself.

  The crowd encores for a dance. Playing perfect hosts, they take center stage. Reluctant at first, just like their first time. They wrap their arms around each other, something they haven’t done in a long time. She lays her head on his shoulder, she wants to freeze and he is in no mood of letting go. Swaying to the music they look into each others eyes, all the hurt, all the pain and all the anguish melts away.

“Happy anniversary”, he whispers. Her eyes light up. They masks have come off. They are 19 once again. He grabs her tighter, swirls her around and sings along,

Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one else above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away all my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do.

#BringBackTheTouch  - Sometimes all it needs is a little spark, to rekindle, to reconnect.

In association with Indiblogger and http://www.pblskin.com/

Straight out of a magazine my #PorcelanosaHome

My cousin owns an Italian brand of furnishing and wallpaper. He caters to the top A'listers of the country. From filmmakers to business tycoons, he’s seen it all. Every time I meet him he shares pictures of projects he's been working on. They look surreal, straight out of a magazine. Someday I tell him, some day I too might have a home that is fit to be featured on a cover page.  Dinner with him is always fascinating, the numbers are enough to blow your mind. Million's spent of couches, wallpapers that cost a couple of thousands per square-foot. The good life I tell you.

During one of our discussion's I remember him telling me about this swanky little Spanish brand  Porcelanosa that he used for Karan Johar's project. So when an prompt opportunity from Indiblogger arrived about the same brand Porcelanosa it my my chance to explore it for my self.

The play!
I get be 5 all over again and play house. A pin board, a little reference page where I have picked everything I love from the website that catches my fancy. So here goes, a virtual tour of Mi Casa.

First up, lets start up with my favorite room in the house, the kitchen. It's where we spend most of our time as a family. It is here where me and my son bake, it’s here where I enjoy my morning coffee and it’s here where we cherish our evening dinners and bond. So I’d like to keep this place clutter free and as open as possible.

I love how the dining area is just an extension of the counter top. Keeps the lines clean and the flow of design is pleasing.

I always wanted of these. Seen them at restaurants.
With the hose extending forward , backache will not be an excuse anymore for the dear husband to escape the dishes.     

Next up is the birth place of all my creative ideas. Under the shower for a good 10 minutes helps me gets geared up for the day. It’s the only time that is mine, without zero interruptions. So nothing lesser then a lavish bath will do..

I love the little over the top cabinets under the sinks, and how everything else is underplayed.
 Come look at me, just like the Leo in me. 

This is where I get my daily roundup of the world and would love to sit on a throne that looks like a piece of art.

p.s. i don't mind that view along with the pots.

The bedroom is my go to place where I can leave the chaos behind and unwind. A place where I keep my treasures and a place where drams are born. Minimalistic and clutter free is how I’d like to keep it.

Reminds me of those vintage trunks from the titanic. This will make organizing so much more chic.

The living room, is where I’d like to let myself loose. This is a place where we entertain and would like for the world to get a peek of the diva in me.

The carpet, the fireplace and the quirky little book shelf, great conversation starters. 

 

If you too want a taste of Spain in your home , then check out http://www.24kliving.com/.

All the about design ideas were picked from  Porcelanosa.

Happy redecorating u’ll