Solo Journeys. (Daily Commute #10)

Hello Readers! This is going to be the last post in the Daily Commute series. Quite honestly, I don't have any ideas & it feels exhausting to write something out of the blue when it comes to travelling & people. Plus, I hate every day 3 hours' worth of commute, so I have decided to just stop it.

So, here's the last one for you all, a poem when I went on a trip.

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Source

Noise blared from the loudspeakers.

People danced to the lyrics that made no sense to her.

Their bodies danced like music.

Her soul danced like travel.

They talked in word & language.

She talked with eyes & emotion.

Their eyes brightened with the sight of shops.

Her brightened with the sight of mountains & forts.

Theirs was a trip for enjoyment of each other's company,

Hers was a trip of unravelment of her own self.

People thought she was antisocial.

But, somewhere between the start & destination of the journey,

she couldn't care less about what they thought.

She was the girl in the window seat..

With a book in hands & headphones in ears..

For she was made for travel & travel for her.

Until next time,

Activa Vs Cycle. (Daily Commute #9)

Hello Readers! I cannot believe it is already the last week of October! The month has gone by really fast & to slow it down a but, here's a little commute post for y'all!

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Source

One of the times, I was coming back from college on my 2 wheeler (Activa). There was a lot of traffic on the main road. And habitually, I took to the leftmost lane where usually all the riders are. We all are just there for each other. We kept going ahead, slowly & steadily. It's always tough when there's traffic. There are people on the left while cars & trucks/buses on the right. You have to be extra careful. And, in all these calculations, there was an old uncle with his cycle. Yes, cycle.

It was 100 % irritating, because the pace of a cycle is different than that of an Activa or a bike! And, he was crossing lanes anyhow, not sticking to one path, getting down to walk the cycle with him, getting up to peddle when it was a bit clear. I kept going ahead & behind of him, but it was a cluttered street, so it was impossible to constantly stay ahead. After all, he could just lift his cycle & take it up on the footpath, for all I knew (at one point, he even did that!)

I was so committed to getting ahead of him. And I knew the point where the traffic would be cleared out, so overtaking him after that point was useless. Anyone would do that. I just wanted to overtake him while we were stuck there. But, of course, it was IMPOSSIBLE. He had 100 little tricks & no matter how many times I went ahead of him, he always somehow covered it up & went ahead to slow me down!

To be honest, at first it was irritating. But, after a while it became VERY amusing. Almost like a secret competition. He wasn't aware about it, so even if I lost, I wouldn't technically lose. Anyway, that was one fun traffic jam story!

Until next time,

Those Flight Stories. (Daily Commute #8)

Hello Readers! Hope you had an amazing weekend! We celebrated Diwali in the last week, so I had a really long weekend from Thursday onward! I got to do A LOT of things; read a book, met my best friend, caught up on blogging!

Now, it's Monday & time to hustle! Here's an airport & flight story for you all to enjoy!




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This is the story when I travelled solo by flight. I came back earlier than anticipated from the trip & so I had mixed feelings the entire time. It was about an hour's flight which was about to take off by 11:20 PM, but got delayed to 12:45 AM. So, I had a lot of time to kill at the airport. Unlike the Mumbai airport, there wasn't a lot to do at the Goa airport. So, I did what I do best. Observe people.

There were 2 girls sitting next to me, very chic. Updating their Snapchat story, while discussing about their next stop in Mumbai. They were too young to be on a Round The World tour, but that's what it looked like. They were probably American, I don't exactly remember. And, they had already been to a lot of places. Two girl best friends travelling the world! In any other circumstances, I'd have (maybe, but maybe not) talked to them. I wondered what they did. If they were students, how come they get to travel so much? If they were earning, was travelling their job? Did they have travel blogs that were insanely popular? I wish I knew their story & wish I could get these answers…..

There was another guy with his baby daughter whom I was intrigued by. He was fair, clean-shaven, wearing a beach-print shirt with shorts. He was too cool & too young to have a daughter. I saw this guy right from check in until I boarded the plane. He was continuously pacing all over the airport, but he wasn't tensed. I wondered whether he was a single parent? He seemed to be well off & dressed as if on vacation, then how come he brought his young daughter to Goa? Again, so many questions with no answers. Everything left open to interpretation…..

When I boarded the plane, I got a window seat. There was another guy sitting in the same row. One seat between us was empty. Another unknown story, perhaps. On the other side, I saw a girl, probably in her twentys. She was distraught & confused. She kept looking at her ticket & kept checking the time. Why was she so anxious? Until the take-off announcement, she was continuously checking her phone. Was she expecting someone to call her so that she could get off the plane? I saw her watch the city as the plane took off. Did she want to stay? Tears were constantly rolling down her eyes, which had become puffy as a result. She cried herself to sleep in that little time. I was left with a lot of dumbfounded questions at this incident. In some way, I empathised. But, I also didn't know what to do. Watching girls cry in trains was normal, but in flight? A bit unusual. Did she leave someone behind from whom she didn't want to part? Is she going to a place where she doesn't actually want to go? What was her dilemma in that moment? What was she expecting to happen? But, I know one thing, now that I think of her, I'm sure that incident only made her stronger.

Flights are way more interesting than trains or buses.

Airports are way more interesting than railway stations.

And so, I hope my flight story was way more interesting than my train/metro stories!

Diwali Is Here! (Daily Commute #7)

Hello Readers! There's an amazing happy vibe going on here in India these days. It's Diwali, the festival of lights! Unfortunately, it's still raining almost every day in Mumbai, which is unusual, but we all are still being very optimistic & super excited about our festival!

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Source: Archana

Follow her on Instagram

As you know, every day, I come home from Thane station on my Activa & I take the same route home. In the last week, I was totally drained out (when am I not?) I took a turn & came on the main road, only to see it completely buzzing! Shopkeepers hadn't closed their shops. Street vendors hadn't left either, because of course they're going to compete. Vehicles were everywhere. There were so many people on the road even when it was 10 PM! And, just watching this setting, I was left with a big smile on my face & I said to my myself, "Diwali is here!"

So, quick info. According to wiki, "Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year which spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair. Hindus across the world celebrate Diwali in honor of the return of Lord Rama, wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and lord Hanuman to Ayodhya from exile of 14 years after Rama defeated Ravana.

Many of the homes already had lanterns hung on their windows, while there were also a few huge ones on the streets. Many shops had their sale & discounts going on. They had decorated their shops with tiny colourful lanterns as well. There were street vendors with their carts selling rangoli. There were so many different colours. They also had these stencils to make ready-made rangoli in a way. Everything is made so simple these days. There are many lady hawkers who were  selling diyas (lamps) of many different varieties.

Credits: Apoorva Sahi

Follow her on Instagram

There's a custom of SHOPPING in Diwali. You have to buy & wear new clothes, so there's a lot of shopping involved! It's just another official reason for me to go shopping, other than Amazon ringing my bell at least twice a week. So, after a few taunts, I ordered a nice traditional dress online, which I'm probably going to wear to office. There's also another custom involving FOOD! We call it faral, which involves a lot of items like laddoos, chivda, chakli, shev & so on! There’s another custom involving CRACKERS. I hate bursting crackers & loud music. But, that has reduced over the years. So, yes, Diwali, is one of my favourites & it is here. So, I'm really happy!

This wasn't entirely a Daily Commute post, but when I saw that otherwise deserted street completely other way round, all these things came to me in the blink of an eye! So, I had to share it here! Happy Diwali!

Public Transport or Traffic Jams? (Daily Commute #6)

Hello Readers! Hope you all had a great weekend. To start your week afresh, here are some thoughts.

I saw an image on Instagram posted by a friend, Sagar Kulkarni. It was captioned, "Let's try & use more of the public transport, at least for everyday travel." And, I knew I had to share this little write-up based on the photo I saw.

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Instead of going through all 4 modes of transportation from office to home, I decided to book a cab one day. It was comfortable & less tiresome.

I decided to do the same thing on the day it was flooded. "No cabs available."

How did I reach home? Public transportation.

I remember the time I used to criticize public transport. I hated when trains were delayed. Hated it even more when they were cancelled for no 'reasonable reason.' I still get agitated when rickshawalas do their selective screening of customers. (I mean, hello? I'm a recruiter, leave the screening to me & just drop me at the destination.) I wasn't much of a fan of buses either. They kind of made me nauseous. So, you see the problem? The list goes on...

But, then I grew up & sucked it up. You start to realise that the importance stressed on public transport is really for reasons that go beyond an individual's immature likes & preferences. So, yeah, I decided to take 4 modes of transportation (bus, train, metro & rickshaw) to reach office from home instead of taking my 2-wheeler or booking a cab without thinking of carpool.

"A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars, it's where the rich ride public transportation."

I'm sure you must’ve read this quote too & it would’ve been just another underrated quote from among the many irrelevant hyped up ones you choose to overthink upon. Sad, isn't it? You'd rather sit in traffic jams for hours pondering over something as silly as commitment issues, while ignoring the one thing that needs your attention. The irony! And, let me tell you, I'm no different. I've had days when I craved personal space & not having people all around me when my life was falling apart. I mean, you can cry sitting in your own car, but if you do that in train, you'll get stares which you don't need at that particular moment. But, there's always home to fall apart & get back up. You just have to reach there swimming through a sea of people. Because, in the face of a calamity, they are the ones who will help you out. Not your personal space & definitely not your own SUV. Time & again, history has repeated. I witnessed it recently in the August rains, how you lean on public transport when you don't have an option. So, why do we wait for a disaster to happen? Why not take the last resort as the first? After all, we all know, public transport is the best option, no matter how much we want to deny it.

• I don't need public transport. But, I prefer it.
• It helps to do a lot of tasks on the commute while also saving time.
• It saves the environment, if you're bothered about anything else than yourself. (Reduces carbon footprint, gasoline consumption, congestion & saves fuel.)
• It could be funny watching random people & you might even make friends. That's what I'm doing with this series!!
• It is always reliable, unlike your car which might get a flat tire any time or worse.

And, the thing is, I stated these points only because the post kind of seemed incomplete without it. But, you all already know this, right? Because, you all are such smart people with your white-collar jobs or running your own business or something more badass! 

So, if you know this & are using public transport, YOU ARE AWESOME!

And, if you know this & are NOT using public transport, what are you doing?

So, public transport or traffic jams? Choice is yours.

Festive Spirits on & off the road! (Daily Commute #5)

Hello Readers! This post is going to be a little bit in sync with the festive spirit that's going on here in India! We had Navratri in the past week, which is a Hindu festival celebrated for nine nights to worship Goddesses. Here's a little commute story on that!

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There are so many festivals celebrated in India & the frequency is really high, so there's always something or the other coming up! Like, how in USA, the span from Thanksgiving to New Year is, it is like that in India throughout the year, I suppose! Crazy, right!? So, we had Navratri from 21st September to 29th September this year. The amazing thing about this festival is that on every day, there is a colour decided, so if you have that colour of clothes or anything else & you want to be in an all-festive mood, then you can get on with it & MANY people do it. Especially women!

So, one of the days, the colour was red & it was so ... I don't even have a word for it! I stepped into the train compartment & 90% of the ladies were in RED! Be it formals, dresses or even sarees! It felt like I belonged in the group & that I was a part of something. At one point I even thought that it was like a flash mob situation & everyone would get up & start singing & dancing. Because, I was that excited with that blood red!

On one of the other days, I was in train & it was decorated from the inside. There were garlands & those sparkly wires we use in birthday celebrations tied up on the walls & ceiling. There were a few posters with the photo of a Goddess with the text, "Happy Navratri." In the hustle & bustle of everyday commute, who would have even done that? And who would have thought of it in the first place!? It really baffled me how people can go overboard for festivals!

And lastly, how can I forget about yesterday! There are many places in the city where there are stages placed & an idol of goddess is there for people to pray. While I was returning from work at night, I saw this one place. The entire street was decorated with colourful lights hung from trees. There was a band playing as well. I saw the idol of Goddess there & it was really beautiful. Even though it was around 11 PM, I just stopped for a while & waited there to pray. And again, in that moment, as I was looking at the Goddess, there were people in some distance praying, there was devotional music playing & in that moment, again, I felt that sense of belonging.

I might not be as devoted as others when it comes to festivals.

I might not follow everything religiously all times.

I might not know all the words to the prayers.

But, I do know what it means to believe in something & I'm grateful for that.



Source: Suruchi Kulkarni

That Awesome Auto Ride. (Daily Commute #4)

Hello Readers! I'm enjoying writing some of the random, funny & unexpected situations that happen on my daily commute to work. I observed that I covered my metro & train story, so I thought I'd share one of the short thoughts about an auto ride in Andheri.





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One day, I reached the metro station near my office. I was a bit late & I had to take an auto rickshaw from metro station to my office. After a lot of usual rejections & waiting, I got one. From the first look, I had an "Oh no!" in my mind. That was because an old man with a white beard, wrinkly face & white clothes was driving the rickshaw. I thought that he will drive slowly making me even late for work! But as I didn't have an option, I sat in. I was rummaging through something in my bag, and there he took off!! He was speeding, better than most other drivers half his age. He was driving the vehicle like he had years of experience in it. He was such an expert. There we went cutting through traffic with songs blasting from his phone.

Then, I observed the insides of the vehicle. They were neon yellow & green. In the front, he had a few logos in metal which were golden in colour. There was a king logo that I could recognise. There was also a little pouch to keep his phone. He also had charging points! I mean, how rarely do you find that in a rickshaw? There I was sitting in this old man's rickshaw thinking that this man is cooler than I am!

First impressions really aren't anything, are they? Perceptions, imaginations, thoughts, judgements.  We continue with all these things, knowing how little they matter & understanding the consequences, yet there we are not able to control our own mind while it controls us...

Kidding Around. (Daily Commute #3)

Hello Readers! I hope you're enjoying the Daily Commute series as much as I am! Just like Monday Moments, it gives me something to look forward to on a Monday. If you have any funny or weird or awkward stories to share, feel free! This one's about a naughty kid I saw the other day in the metro!





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It was another Friday evening. I wonder how my stories revolve around Fridays so much? Probably because I have to post on Monday? Perhaps! So, as usual, I was hustling my way on the metro. Usually, I don't like to stand in the doorway. I go all the way in. Unlike railways, it's really difficult to observe people in the metro. They are brightly lit. Population is less savage & more civilised. So, you can't just stare at people under the pretext of observation for a lit blog series!

Anyway, inside, there was a lady with a small child sitting. I stood in front of them as there wasn't any space elsewhere. The girl was around 5 or 6 years? I have no idea, I can never guess the age of children! She was fair & had the most beautiful curly hair tied into a ponytail. But, her hair around forehead was kind of loose & looked gloriously messy! She had large black eyes which hinted a sense of mischief, no doubt. She was wearing a two-piece pink top & pink leggings, which she totally rocked! Children these days have the most fashionable clothes! And, there I was wearing another All-Black outfit; black tee with black jeans! (I love it, though.)

Once the crowd in the metro cleared out, I got space to sit next to the little girl. But, what she saw was an open stage. She began to run up & down in the tiny space. There's this pole at multiple places to cling to for support. She clasped it for dear life & didn't let it go until the ride was over! She was swinging round & round it! Giving all of us tired folks, her best moves. She was one action-packed entertainer, I'd say! She even hit her head, but nothing bothered her. She enjoyed the attention. All eyes were on her! It was such a blast!

On days like these, I try not to think whether I was such a cool kid or shy even then. I try not to think whether she will be this happy when she grows up & this bold to live her life to the extent. I try not to think so much, because you never know. So, just for once, I enjoyed the little girl having fun, in that little moment. I made myself happy by watching her happy, on the commute, for a matter of few minutes and that's what it takes!

Women Power, No Really! (Daily Commute #2)

Hello Readers! Welcome to the second post of Daily Commute! I thought I'd tell you a story about a Friday to kick start your Monday! So, this one's about the Women compartment of the Indian Railways and what comes along with that --- > Women Power!

Go ahead & read the fun!

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There I was, standing on the crowded Ghatkopar station, waiting for a train at 9:30 PM. It had been the longest & not to mention toughest day. But, finally it was a Friday so I was looking forward to the weekend to get some rest! But, there was still a lot of time for that as I still had to reach home. I was standing on the platform. I never know where exactly to stand. On the left or right of the door & so I end up standing in between the doors & land up boarding the train after everyone else, or sometimes get left behind. A lot of things were going through my mind... Work things.. Personal stuff.. Which book to read or TV show to binge.. Weekend plans: social meetups or hibernation? To be or not to be, as I call it!

I glanced at all the ladies around me. One girl was busy taking pictures of the moon. She sure had some great app on her phone that I ALMOST asked her which app was it. Another lady was busy keeping her kid from petting the street dog & also not losing him anywhere. Most 30-40 aged women were either on Whatsapp or Facebook browsing through stories or recipes while the younger population were on Instagram or Snapchat. But, almost everyone was hooked on their mobile phones, like it was mandatory! I felt estranged & took out my phone, just because!!! Can you imagine!

Soon, I realised, I had been waiting for the train for over 10 minutes! It had become too crowded by then & given my little experience of public transport, I became irritated & began to lose my patience. It felt like I'll have to leave that train & that meant postponing weekend for more minutes!

After some time, the train was there! I don't know how, but this time, I was standing exactly at the proper spot & even if I wouldn't have wanted to get in, all the women pushed me in any way! So, somehow, I got in on a Kalyan train (which is the MOST crowded train, in my opinion.) Inside, it was so chaotic, I got inside & just chose to stand, giving up my hopes & dreams to ever get a seat. And the thing is about 90% people go on asking people with seats where they are getting down & I HATE to do that. I'd rather stand than do that. Call it stupid, but whatever, times are not that worse! I wondered how do these elder women travel 1 or 2 hours by train standing up, when I can't do it for 20 minutes! Some of them are such professionals! They immediately understand novices like me & I almost laugh about it like, "Okay woman, you got me there, now don't make me ask you for your seat! Give it to me instead of some other professional commuter!" 

Now, I am all in for feminism & all the way #WomenPower , but this women power, in trains is at a different level!

If you stand at the door when you don't want to get down at the next stop,

you'll know what's Women Power!!

If you sit when someone leaves & they've offered it to someone else prior,

you'll know what's Women Power!!

If you don't shift & give someone space for that fourth seat, boy,

you'll know what's Women Power!!

All Indians out there, is it similar with you? Or have you gotten used to the hustle & bustle of Mumbai life?

Flooding Through Life! (Daily Commute #1)

Hello Readers! This is the FIRST post of Daily Commute!! Needless to say, I'm beyond excited! I had a lot of thoughts about what the first post in this series should be, how it would go, what would be the most interesting. And a lot of thoughts came flooding in until actually the Mumbai Floods came in! So here goes, first post of Daily Commute with an adventure!

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It felt just another day of monsoon on the morning of 29th August. Instead of wearing comfortable formals, I decided to wear Indian clothes (a long kurti without pockets, leggings & new bellies.) Unfortunate choice on the day of flood, but little did I know. At 10 AM, the trains were delayed by around 15 minutes. But, given railways, that's more or less normal. So it still felt all right. I took the first train from Thane station. After the usual time, I got down at Ghatkopar station to take a metro to Andheri. As I went up the escalator to the Metro platform, it was gloriously chaotic. It was raining since morning, but at that time, I realised the intensity of it! Since the height between platform and ceiling is huge, there is no cover from rain as such, so the rain just comes flying with the wind to splash against your face leaving you in either a smile or a frown. Fortunately, I had it in me to smile as I got in the metro a couple of seconds later. I reached Andheri and after many rejections from autowallas, I finally found one who took me to my office; safe haven for the day! Or, so I thought...

I worked on an urgent requirement for a few hours, not knowing when time flew by. Soon, I started to hear all sorts of news, checked my phone, which later ringed continuously with calls from family!

"Central Railway has stopped working."

"All roads are jammed due to water logging."

"Power cuts to be expected if it continues to rain."

"Holiday declared on 30th August."

I realised that it was time to take some action if I wanted to reach home today, but I had no idea what to do! My office is far too away from home. I had only one colleague who lives nearby. So, finally, finishing off important work, we both left as early as 4 PM. We were trying to book an auto online from our office for 10 minutes with continued failed efforts. While it poured outside, we decided to just take off with no plan! Only after we reached the main road, we understood why we couldn't get an auto. The entire road was filled with traffic as far as we could see! Metro station is about 15 minutes from our office, so we started walking. And as we walked, it was like walking on a beach, the level of water kept rising and rising! After one point, vehicles weren't allowed to go further, entire area was water logged and you wouldn't believe, but water had reached up to my knees! The umbrella had proven useless as I was already COMPLETELY wet; given my poor choice of outfit. And yet, for no apparent reason, I still kept it open. Soon, some volunteers asked us and a bunch of other wanderers to cross the road unless we wanted to swim through it!

A rope was tied connecting 2 ends of the street..

Water had reached till above my thighs..

One hand holding the upturned umbrella and other clenching my bag..

Flow of the water combined with impact of rain and wind..

I was wading through the force of the water with the help of that rope..

And then, I was finally on the other side!

As much as risky it was, I was totally ENJOYING it! After all, you don't get to live such experiences often! After this adventure, nothing really surprised me. Along with my colleague, I reached Andheri metro station. We breathed a sigh of relief to have tackled one mode of transport. Thankfully, we got a metro immediately and reached Ghatkopar by 6 PM. Once we stepped down, we knew it was only going to become much worse and we were right. Central railway was CROWDED, in the worse possible manner! There were no trains! There were only people! They were awaiting for trains since 2 or 3 hours. I did not understand what was the point of it at all!? I took an easy way out and decided to stay at my relatives' place in Ghatkopar. So, my part of the adventure ended there! But, I can tell you what happened to some of the people I know. And 'adventure' is the opposite of it.

My colleague with whom I came till Ghatkopar met a friend there and they luckily got an auto which took them home by 11 PM. She reached after 4 hours of painful travelling; a journey which under 'normal circumstances' takes 25 to 30 minutes!

My father just stayed at his office for the night and came home the next day!

My nephew, at whose place I stayed for the night, had earlier stayed at his company guest house, but he came home by 2:00 AM!

Another friend of mine had to walk one entire station on the railway track because the train didn't move for hours! And had to walk many more hours until she reached home!

My brother, too walked on the water logged track and reached home with few of his colleagues who stayed at his place for the night!

While some took advantage of the situation to have fun, some had to deal with a lot of hardship. On my part,  it was a memorable experience. Not too good, not too bad. Things could have gone haywire for me, but I'm very sensible. Many of my friends and family members called to ask if I was okay. That really meant a lot to me. This is when you realise your worth, I suppose.

After 26th July 2005, this was another day when history repeated. Probably not as intense, but still it sucked. There are many things we could do on an individual level to prevent a few matters, so lets just do our part, at least for ourselves. Because we sure have established the fact that we're all too selfish when we're not stuck in a calamity. In this disaster when we were left bereft by all transport channels whom we blindly trust, not forgetting my personal favourite cab services, I was alone, and I had to find a way on my own. The only ones who were there for me in this disaster in Mumbai were other Mumbaikars as I'm sure is the case with many of you. So, here's to that! Let's keep that spirit alive, Mumbai!!

What was your #MumbaiFloods experience? Tell me in the comments below!

(Photo Credits: Patricia Galea. She has an amazing sense of photography! Thank you for sharing your click! You can follow her on Instagram)

3rd Blogoversary + Announcements!!

Hello Readers!!

Day after day, month after month and another year has passed. And here we are! It is Mindscape in Words' 3rd Blogoversary!! I am beyond excited for this one for so many reasons. Lately, I had really less time to write & blog. I completed my masters and got a job, which left me only with weekends for blogging. And for most of the weekends, I ended up lazing around. There was a lot of backlog which left a lot on my mind about getting back at it, but I wasn't sure how to do it. Because with blogging, there's always so much you can do and so the decision to choose the right way is tricky.

So, it all started with just a little thing. My friend messaged me that she can make a logo for my blog since she had some free time. I was super excited. One thing led to another and now Aishwarya Deshpande, my childhood friend, is the official Blog Designer for 'Mindscape in Words'. She is designing the blog's logo, cover photo as well as cover photos of all current and upcoming series! Thank you so much, Aish! If you guys are thinking of a redesign, you must reach out to her. You can follow her on Instagram & Twitter. If you message me on Facebook, I'll be happy to message you her contact details. #GirlPower

Talking about series, this is THE PLAN! Here goes the big unveiling...

I will be coming up with 3 new blog series for you guys. You may say this is to compensate for my little to almost no blogging for the past few months, and it kind of is. As much I lost myself completely due to it, I am 100% committed to blogging now that I feel so optimistic about myself and my life at this point in my life.

1. Daily Commute Series

One of the new blog series is 'Daily Commute'! My new job is about 1.5 hours away from my home. I have to take my 2 wheeler or auto rickshaw or bus, train and metro daily. I leave my home at 9:30 AM and I reach back home at 10:00 PM. But, what I realised is I could make some use of those 3 hours. So, in this series I'll just put my observation skills to work. There are so many things happening during these everyday travels. Many hilarious stories, few awkward stories, some intense stories, countless fights, weird connections and what not! I thought sharing them here would be quite fun! I hope you enjoy them! I'll be posting once a week and we'll see how it goes! This series will be open for Guest Posts as well! So you can share your Daily Commute experiences too and we can all have a great time together.

2. Diary Logs

This series is the most less thought after series and the one I'm looking forward to the most. Diary logs series will be short stories, written from the perspective of any random person. It could be any person, any story, any emotion, anything. And I think that's the beauty of it. It's a diary so it is limitless and open to interpretations. Because the other series are fun and exciting, this one will be the one which will give you all the feels! I'll be posting once every week in this series as well!

It would be kind of like these posts:

Tiny Box.

Why Me?

It will be like Monday Moments reinvented. So, those readers out there who enjoyed MM, you know you have this!

3. Mindscape Reviews

Mindscape Reviews will have Book Reviews like I always did and additionally I am going start TV Show Reviews too! This will be in collaboration with Omkar Vaidya, who is the King of Binge! So, we have always been talking about shows, giving each other suggestions, discussing theories and so on. And, so I thought how amazing it'd be to publish the opinions of us binge watchers to you all. How would you like that? We are starting off with two reviews a month. And you can always give suggestions for us to review for the next one!

As for book reviews, I am trying and failing, but nevertheless trying again to read as much as I can. I really love doing book reviews almost as much as I love to read those books. So, yeah, I am going to get back at it. I have one book review for you all! I'm pretty sure you already know if you've been keeping tabs on my Instagram. Everything considered, I'll post 2 reviews per month! Suggestions for book reviews are welcome as well.

You can check my recent book review:

Jane Eyre.

So, apart from all the new exciting series, I have redesigned Mindscape in Words, as I'm sure you must have noticed! I finally have an amazing Logo! How cool is that? Stories about the whole blog redesigning for another time though! I will definitely have a whole other post for it. I'm sure I'll have to take an appointment from Aishwarya for that! I'm glad to be back, y'all!!!

Happy 3rd Blogoversary to Mindscape in Words!