Merry Christmas!!! (Monday Moments #84)

          Holidays greeted everyone. Some people were excited about the gifts while some were exhilarated about all the decorations. Christmas is a merry time. And this time, it was merry for her too. Even though she was living away from her family, even though it was a foreign country and even though she was alone, she felt happy.

          She had relocated to a country where Christmas wasn't celebrated widely, like in the US. Nevertheless, she bought a beautiful tree. Along with it, she bought many sparkly and shiny things to decorate her temporary home. With more baggage than she can possibly carry, she went home. She set up the tree, fluffed it and then decorated it one by one until it was all glowing with lights, sparkles, stars, snow and glitter. She held up the stockings and arranged the gifts she got from office beneath the tree. For dinner, she had some delicious cake with wine. She sat by the fire place, looking at the tree and just being with herself.

          She wondered how so many people were surrounded by others and yet they felt lonely. On the other hand, she was alone and yet did not feel the loneliness. She had chosen a career that entitled her to travel widely. So, she followed her passion for travel while also embracing the solitude that came with it. She missed all her dear ones but she was happy having no attachments. She was happy that she had no roots that would make her to settle down. Instead, she was happy about the wings that helped her soar above.

Merry Christmas!!!

(‘Monday Moments’ is a blog series wherein I write about an incident or a moment in a short paragraph. It’s not a story, but just a short description to express and explore the most common joys and also the uncommon miseries.)

Worries of An Unstable Mind. (Monday Moments #83)

He was a student doing his masters part time while also working for a marketing firm. He had to tend to his family while also think of his own future. He also had to think about the commitment he had made to his girlfriend. There was so much going on on so many fronts that he was frustrated all the time. That day he called up his friends as he was in mood to drink. Unfortunately, no one was available. That really made his irritable. He wasn't addicted to alcohol but sometimes it seemed like a bit of drinking won't hurt him. So, because of the failed plan, he met his girlfriend instead. He was continuously snapping at her for little things. He had the most wonderful thought and in an instant, he said, "Let's get married right now!" She was more startled and all the more confused. That wasn't a proposal she had expected. She wasn't even excited as much as she had hoped. Then, she finally said, "Will you think about it practically? Your studies are only half way done. My career also hasn't started yet. We're too young to be married. And you know all this! Are you okay?" Then he realised how unreasonable he was becoming. But, after the cancelled plan with his friends and kind of a rejection to getting married, he felt very gloomy and alone. Even he knew that it wasn't the time to get high by drinking or the time to get married. But, he was just in such an unstable state. Nothing was going right. He was always on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Even when he had so many people around him, he always felt alone. He was happy with his job but e wanted it to mean something to him. He was happy with his studies but he wanted it to bring some significance to his career. He was happy with his relationship but he wanted something more soulful from it. He was happy with his life but he knew he just pretended to be.

(‘Monday Moments’ is a blog series wherein I write about an incident or a moment in a short paragraph. It’s not a story, but just a short description to express and explore the most common joys and also the uncommon miseries.)

Foodies Unite! (Monday Moments #82)

          The group of 7 friends decided to go on a little road trip. This was not just another adventure but something they had planned since half a month. Each one of them decided to visit their favourite cities and devour the most famous local food items over there. If one of them loved the street side pani puri, then another loved sushi from a five-star restaurant. But, no matter what type of food they liked, they all loved to eat. Since all of them were passionate foodies, this became the best idea for a trip.

They ate some of the best food in that week. It was such a wonderful tour with so much of delicious treats that they wanted all these distinct local specialties to come together at one place. Instead of going 20 kms for a burger, another 10 kms from there for a cheesecake or another 40 kms from there for pizza, they thought of diminishing the distance completely. And that's when the fun food road trip became a business venture. They decided to open a store wherein they could serve just one specialty from one place. They could partner with all the owners and make it work. And since most of the specialties were from small to middle scale entrepreneurs, it was also feasible. For the love of food and adventure, one road trip changed their life forever.

(‘Monday Moments’ is a blog series wherein I write about an incident or a moment in a short paragraph. It’s not a story, but just a short description to express and explore the most common joys and also the uncommon miseries.)

Words of Wisdom from 'The Spy'. (Book Review #23)

Paulo Coelho is one of my favourite authors. Not only is he a brilliant story teller but his words touch the soul. Even if it is a biography kind of a novel, he puts in such brilliant insights that leave you pondering about the many mysteries of life and of course, life itself.

'The Spy' is the life story of Mata Hari. It is based on her real life. She was a dancer. Later on she was convicted of being a spy and working for two countries at war. And Paulo Coelho really made the story interesting to read. Her life is portrayed in a wonderful and colourful way because of which you cannot keep the book down. Even so, I did not like it as much as his other books. But, some of the words in this book became my favourite the moment I read them. I’ve given it 2/5 stars on Goodreads.

Anyway, here are some of the parts which I liked the most. They’re really worth thinking about. 

"My first piece of advice is the hardest, and it has nothing to do with your performance. Never fall in love. Love is a poison. Once you fall in love, you lose control over your life - your heart and mind belong to someone else. Your existence is threatened. You start to do everything to hold on to your loved one and lose all sense of danger. Love, that inexplicable and dangerous thing, sweeps everything you are from the face of the earth and, in its place, leaves only what your beloved wants you to be."

"Are we never to be able to see the true fave of love? And I understand what the Greeks meant by this: Love is an act of faith and its face should always be covered in mystery. Every moment should be lived with feeling and emotion because of we try to decipher it and understand it, the magic disappears. We follow its winding and luminous paths, we let ourselves go to the highest peak or the deepest seas, but we trust in the hand that leads us. If we do not allow ourselves to be frightened, we will always awaken in a palace; if we fear the steps that will be required by love and want it to reveal everything to us, the result is that we will be left with nothing."

"It is a shame that what happens today already happened yesterday, and will happen again tomorrow; it will continue to happen until the end of time, or until man finds out he is not only what he thinks, but mostly what he feels. The body tires easily; but the spirit is always free and will help us get out, one day, from this infernal cycle of repeating the same mistakes every generation. Although thoughts always remain the same, there is something stronger, and this is called Love.

Because when we truly love, we know others and ourselves better. We do not need words, documents, minutes, statements, accusations or defenses."

Hope you liked it! Have you read this book? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!

Little Diary Escapes. (Monday Moments #81)

          Being a loner in the teenage days is difficult. She knew that very well. It was just another day at college. One lecture was over. And then, she opened her diary. 

"Accounts lecture just got over. The next lecture is Economics. The professor will come in about 10 minutes, I think. These 10 minutes between the lectures are more torturous than the lecture itself. Why do people have to talk so much all the time? If everyone just kept things to themselves, wouldn't it be better? Well, who am I kidding? I'd never be writing this non-sense if I had any friends. I never thought college would be this hard. And now I've just become this girl who's a loner. So, yeah, just 3 more years to go. Maybe if I continue to write like this between lectures, I'd have a novel until the end of the third year. Here comes the professor. Bye, dear diary."

          After an hour, the lecture was over and she went on again.

"Which professor does this stupidity of randomly asking students to come in front of the class and explain their thesis? I made a complete fool of myself. Okay, I know I wasn't completely stupid. I did speak something because I had done a thorough research. But, come on, my hands and legs were practically shaking. Whatever."

A girl came up to her to tell how amazingly she spoke in front of everyone. She said how she herself wouldn't have been able to do it. They had a great conversation. She finally got one friends who liked her. And then after the next lecture, the diary remained closed and her mind became more open.

          At the end of the day, she opened her diary and wrote.

"I made a friend today. She's really great and I enjoyed doing something else than writing, for a change. From the past I know that people come and go. And I know only I will be there for me. And I know you'll always be there for me too. Thank you for the little escapes."

In that moment, she embraced the joy of being with other people without losing herself.

(‘Monday Moments’ is a blog series wherein I write about an incident or a moment in a short paragraph. It’s not a story, but just a short description to express and explore the most common joys and also the uncommon miseries.)