Bye bye 2016! You will not be missed (just kidding)

We are at the end of 2016, time to review the year. I can straight away say, without batting an eyelid, that 2016 has been the hardest year of my life. Not only has it been physically exhausting but it has drained me emotionally too. Even then, as you can see, I cannot bear to tell it off :D Let’s do a quick review of my resolutions. I think I have made enough, to last a decade :P

Financially, I have done well. I have managed to limit my shopping and the use of wallets and coupon codes have saved me a lot. I started investing in mutual funds too. Although I have not set up a separate vacation fund, I am saving up. Getting the documents on cloud storage is yet to be done. On the health front, my love-hate relationship with gym continues. I need to work on my diet and sleep schedule. I have definitely scored on the hobbies aspect with my monthly book review and felt crafts. I haven’t found a chance to volunteer anywhere and my cooking is still a bit rusty :P Looking at my Lifestyle goals, I am seriously thinking of rewriting them. I have failed terribly at all except setting up a business. The well-being part is the most neglected part of my resolution list and I feel that is what made my year so miserable.

The long trips to Bellandur has taken a toll on my body. I am too tired to work out, which means I lose all my happy endorphin. Work wise, nothing interesting has come up, creating a boring routine. My promotion has been postponed by yet another year, although I managed to get rank 1 in the appraisals. Marriage has become a huge question mark. My parents are very supportive but every time a proposal doesn’t go ahead, their worries multiply tenfold. Having done well in every aspect of life, I am reduced to a failure when I see my parents disheartened. Also, I realized that I am a recluse by nature. I don’t enjoy going out as much as other people, especially spontaneous outings. I have been pushing myself too hard to be outdoorsy. On the other hand, I do enjoy spending time with my close ones and get frustrated when they don’t plan anything :D I am such a paradox!

The up side is I ticked off an item on my bucket list by watching the IPL match. I explored my sewing and craft skills (I managed to make a never-ending card) and ended up opening my own shop. I got a tarot reading done, which is a first for me. I am the proud owner of a 70k phone (Yikes!!). I was able to take my parents out for a spiritual trip and managed to squeeze in a friend's wedding too. I am still coping with some disappointments but life is all about moving on, right? :) I almost ruined the new year for my sister when she suggested going out for a party and I was too self-absorbed to go along. Luckily, I came back to earth on time and we are now heading to a grand new year party with lots of performances, good food, hopefully Bollywood music and definitely fun.

I still believe I am God’s favorite child. 2016 has been grueling and cruel, only when compared to my younger days. I hope to learn and mature and get my foothold back. 2017 demands changes and I am up for the challenge. Bring it on!

The Reading Challenge 2016

I am not a very enterprising person. But my sister somehow manages to pass on her crazy ideas and gets me involved too. I still remember how she started playing a number of facebook games. Being a gemini, she quickly lost interest and moved on from one game to another. However, poor me got sucked in to those arcade games, always wanting to move higher up the never-ending levels and reluctant to leave a game half finished. This year she set me up for a reading challenge. Half way through the year, she called me from Germany and said she had seen a lot of challenges on pinterest. Given my epub collection and the fact that we are huge bibliophiles, a reading challenge was perfect for us. This seemed to align with my new year resolution too. So we drew up a list of genres we would like to cover. I even made this cute image, just because I could :P 

We created pinterest boards too so that we could track each other’s progress. Soon, my sister pinned her first book. Not the one to be left behind, I started looking for books from each genre and powered the challenge with full thrust. My OCD rejoiced, having found something to track and obsess over. Here is a list I maintained, so that I could tick off or rather star the genres I had completed :D

* Based on a fairy tale - Beauty
   Based on a protagonist having your occupation - Snow Crash
* Book transalated to English - In other words
* Award winning Book - Matilda
   Romance set in future - The Host
* Under 150 pages - Memories
* Book that is becoming a movie - The girl on the train
* Self improvement book - Unposted Letter
* Book written by a celebrity - Mrs.Funnybones
* Book at least 100 years older than you - A Christmas Carol
* Science fiction novel - Deception Point
* Book published this year - The scandal
* Murder mystery - Girl on a train
   Book written by a comedian - Bossypants
* Dystopian novel - Hunger Games
* Book with a blue cover - The Art of Racing in the Rain
* Autobiography - The Diary of a Young Girl
* Book about a road trip - A walk in the woods
* Book about a culture you are unfamiliar with - A Thousand Splendid suns
* Book that takes place on an island - Anne of Green Gables
* Book that is guaranteed to bring you joy - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Princ
* Satirical book - Animal Farm
   Book based on summer - The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
* Political memoir - Malala 

Being competitive by nature, I devoured books one after the other. But I was also careful to ensure that I was not carried away by the challenge. I tried to understand the book’s intent and what I was taking away from it, often writing reviews here debating the pros and cons. As December approached, I realized that I will not be able to finish the challenge with five more books remaining on the list. I shared my sorrow with my sister only to find out that she had made only one more addition to her board!! Now you know how sisters torture their younger siblings :(

Although I have made a mental note not to do any more challenges with my sister, I am glad I did this one. We handpicked genres for the challenge, including the ones we were not very fond of and some that we hated. For example, it is very unlikely that I would have picked up a travelogue and a satirical book was definitely not on my list. I finally read books such as ‘Matilda’ and ‘A Christmas Carol’ which I meant to do since a long time. I even found gems such as ‘Anne of Green Gables’ and ‘A Thousand Splendid Suns’. A pleasant surprise came in the form of ‘Animal Farm’ which proved to be much more engaging than I expected. I also discovered a latent prejudice in me, which I knew existed but in much more magnitude than I thought. India and Pakistan share a strained relationship. However, I got to know how strained when my mind refused to read ‘I am Malala’ for the political memoir just because it was written by a Pakistani. I think my annoyance also stemmed from the fact that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 was shared between her and Kailash Satyarthi from India, which I thought was unfair. I boycotted the book for quite some time before realizing that even Kailash Satyarthi may not be as bothered about this issue as me. Good sense prevailed and I started reading the book. I have found it interesting so far, occasionally smiling at Malala’s showing off, which she deserves to do BTW :)

So, that’s the story of our great Reading Challenge. 20/24 is not a bad score I guess. I don’t know if I will ever complete the challenge. Chances of my OCD taking over are huge, but my laziness is a powerful opponent by itself. So, what do you think will happen? Who is betting against what? :P

Snips n Strokes

Hello people, I have really exciting news to share! It's been one of my ambitions to be an entrepreneur. I have toyed with the idea for a long time, considering various options. Anything involving physical labor is hard. Not only does it demand a lot of time, the logistics are going to be a pain too. Thanks to all my pinteresting, I came across journals and planners. Especially, Project Life journals and Erin Condren planners. Trust me, people take these very seriously. And I can understand why :) Being an insufferable planner myself, this seems the perfect way to combine work and fun. Also, it takes away the pressure of making those too good to be true scrapbooks!

So, coming back to my business idea, I thought why not journaling cards and planner stickers? I can create digital files and sell them on an online platform like Etsy. And that’s what I did :) The fruits of my labor are now elegantly displayed in my online shop *drum roll* ‘Snips n Strokes’ *claps and whistles*. Here, I plan to sell digital art such as pattern papers and scrapbook elements too. It is like my first born baby and I have recorded the date and time of it's entry into this world - 24th December 2016, 7:15 PM.

I have always believed that it is necessary to have a backup skill. In case I happen to lose my job or suffer a burn out, I wanted to have an alternative source of income. Some means of financial stability. Granted, this does not pay much. But it does a lot to my confidence :) Also, it provides the much needed creative outlet I need. I hope to keep working on it as much as I can. I have not started out with huge expectations, but the day I make my first sale will definitely be one of the biggest moments of my life!

Book Review: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The last book review for this year! *wipes corner of eye* Tears apart, I am quite happy to announce the finale with “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins. It is a dystopian trilogy and I have only read the first book so far. Dystopia is a conceptual view of a society characterized by a drastic change in environment or government, towards the negative extreme. Living conditions are pathetic due to deprivation or oppression. “The Hunger Games” takes place in post-apocalyptic North America called Panem. It is divided into thirteen districts identified only by numbers, governed by the Capitol. Each of the districts is assigned an occupation like 11 for agriculture and 12 for coal mining. District 13 dares to rebel against the Capitol and is wiped off the map. As forethought to quell any future thoughts of rebellion, the Capitol designs a competition in which a boy and a girl, aged between 12 and 18, are chosen from each district, to fight for survival by killing off each other. They call this ‘The Hunger Games’ and turn it into a televised event, like the reality show these days, with mandatory participation from each district. The underlying message – we are in control of your life and you can do nothing about it.

Although I found the language a bit simple, the writing is fast paced and engaging. Things happen quickly enough to keep the adrenaline pumping and yet this works against the book too. Sometimes a bit of high tension drama is needed to get the readers curious about how things unwind. Katniss is a very strong female character and I have to admit I kept imagining Jennifer Lawrence in every scene :) She has been taking care of her family since her father’s demise by hunting for food in the forests and cutting deals in the black market. This gives her a strong background, defines her no nonsense personality and makes her a tough competitor with the much needed survival skills. I also love that she is not a damsel in distress. Rather she takes care of Peeta, her companion from District 12, and is openly shown to be more capable than him owing to her brought up. She is sensitive towards the people she loves and does not appear shallow or self centred.

The problem with reading books from a specific genre is to constantly remind ourselves to look at things from the perspective of the target audience. In this case - young adults. May be I have had too much of Game of Thrones, the book seemed too tame for a dystopian world. However, I am not talking about the violence aspect of it. An oppressive government is all about mind games. The whole point of taking in kids is to create terror in the minds of the people. But everybody in the book seems to be indifferent about it, almost accepting it as a way of life. Even within the game, I expected situations that would push contestants to extremes, thereby bringing back the primal instincts of mankind – kill to survive. The competition is ironically named ‘The Hunger Games’ but there is never a lack of food. There are man-made calamities like fire and thunder but no real predators or reptiles. Water is almost always found. Although, I’ll say the wolf mutations made to resemble ex-contestants was inspired.

I am okay with the violence toned down. What about moral ambiguity? The author plays way too safe by justifying every one of Kat’s kills. It is garbed as an indirect insect attack, served as moral justice or simply treated as mercy killing. The other contestants are conveniently wiped out and we do not even get to know how. Kat is extremely lucky being saved twice. My heart went out to the quick witted and elusive Foxface who met an unfortunate death. I have no second thoughts about Kat’s capability, but I would have really liked to see what she would have done, had she been forced to choose between Peeta and Rue or between Rue and herself. At the end of the day, I would like to take away something from the book that will compel me to think beyond my comfort zone.

Despite the above, I was still with the book. But the climax was a huge letdown for me. A faceoff between Cato and Katniss would have brought home the point that we have conveniently forgotten through the course of the novel. Be it utopia or dystopia, children are pure and innocent, and using them as sacrificial lambs is inhumane. Will the survivor ever be able to live a life weighed down by the deaths of 23 others like him? Add to it, the totally unnecessary love angle. How do spectators even connect with the idea of love when kids are being murdered so brutally? I would have liked to see Kat as an independent girl who fights for a cause, rather than be reduced to a Bella Swan whose priority in life, after witnessing cruelty at such close range, is choosing between two boys. I got to know that the district gears up for a rebellion after the sequel. Yet, what a shame that the first book ended on such a low note.

Secret Santa Mystery

So there I was, cribbing to whoever had the patience to listen to me about how much I missed playing secret Santa. Our hectic schedules and long travel did not allow these luxuries. Imagine my surprise when I come to my desk to find this.

Gift #1 - Bouquet

Yep, there is this lovely bouquet of orchids sitting on my desk along with a sweet note! :D I couldn't believe my eyes! Who could have sent me such beautiful (and expensive) flowers? I had four main suspects - my sister A, my partner in crime M, my seedha saadha friend R (yes, the lucky guy who got the felt toys) and the monkey C. C is in the US and went straight out of my list. R did not have motive and M did not have opportunity, since she was in a meeting with me. A doesn't have access to our office. So whodunit??

The curious me tossed and turned through the night but did not get any more clues. The next day, work pushed the flowers out of my mind.  Post lunch, M sat down to have a quick skype chat with her hubby and I went to meet A. When I came to my cube, hidden below my desk was this.

Gift #2 - Red Velvet Cake

My favorite Red Velvet Cake!!! And look, there was a secret message on it. But to add to my woes, that message was smudged :( R was not at work that day and M seemed to be skyping. A was with me! So who kept the cake? I had serious doubts on M and gave her a taste of my interrogation skills :P She came out clean and said she had nothing to do with the cake. Then an idea struck us. We called 'Warm Oven' who had delivered the cake. Initially, it looked like my luck had run out but then the voice on the other side of the phone said a name.

Guess who, guess who?

Bingo! It's my sis!! Lol! Had to be her right? She has always been so indulgent towards me. Nothing but the best for her chotu. She had enlisted Agents M & R to carry out her plans, which they did excellently. But they couldn't outwit me :P I think A was a bit cross at me for playing Sherlock, however I managed to mollify her :) I have always got my way with her. She loves me a lot and wants to fulfill every wish of mine.  My week had not been going well and she wanted to cheer me up. Am I not the luckiest person ever? :)

Wait, this is not the end. There were more gifts to follow. My sis had planned a whole week of surprises for me :D Unfortunately I couldn't get pics of everything and I did not want to delay this post anymore. I got a wonder woman bag, cinderella shoes, couple of books and a very cute panda which looks just like me :P

Gift #3 - Cinderella shoes

Gift #4 - Angry panda

Psst: In case you were wondering, the message on the cake said "Ho ho ho..". Would have been an awesome hint, no? :D

Those four shades

I wish I could write as well as this..

https://sahajapatel.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/those-four-shades/