Friday 6 September 2013

Discovering the Unseen Joy in Simple Things

Life, we so often take it for granted. We fail to recall enjoying simple things which are free of cost. It gives us wholesome joy. Living life to the fullest is what we can give back to our life. One fine day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it's worth watching. If you love life, it will love you back. If you're reading this, Cheers! You're alive. If that's not something to smile about, then I don't know what is. Feeling grateful is an essential part of living a happier life. My life is by no means is perfect, but it's my life and I'm happy. Below listed are some 200 reasons I find happiness in.



  1. A Perfect High-Five sound with your best friend
  2. An unknown baby giving you a sweet smile
  3. Accomplishing a difficult task with ease
  4. Admiring your own hand writing
  5. Applying mehndhi after many years
  6. Arranging your bag for an excursion
  7. Be the chief of mischiefs, but still retains to be the teacher’s pet.
  8. Being confident on your exam results
  9. Being In your best friend’s profile picture
  10. Being the first one to wish your loved one on their B’day
  11. Being the very first person to applaud in the crowd
  12. Being told that you look beautiful.
  13. Breezy night
  14. Buying a new mobile for your parents
  15. Buying a new perfume
  16. Buying a new watch
  17. Buying chocolates for your younger ones
  18. Calling friends by nicknames
  19. Carrying heavy burden but still retaining that smile in your face
  20. Changing your hair color
  21. Changing your hairstyle
  22. Changing your wallpaper frequently
  23. Cleaning your room
  24. Clear and traffic-less road
  25. Clearing your first interview
  26. Counting days to get back home from hostel
  27. Counting the days for a festival
  28. Cutting a cake for your loved one
  29. Cutting a paper with scissors for no reason
  30. Cutting nails for your parents
  31. Cutting your B'day cake with friends
  32. Dialing a wrong number unknowingly
  33. Doing all your crazy things with that, one stupid friend
  34. Doing something for the very first time (milking cow)
  35. Drawing with your finger on a dusty surface
  36. Drinking tea without brushing the teeth not telling it to others
  37. Drinking water
  38. Driving a bike in the rain
  39. Dropping a visit to your relatives, after a long time
  40. Early morning bath
  41. Early morning beach sun
  42. Ears plugged in with headphones with no reason
  43. Eating ice cream on a sunny afternoon
  44. Eating ice cubes from the freezer
  45. Eating your favorite dish with your loved one
  46. Emptying your friend’s tiffin box
  47. Enjoying the sound of water
  48. False Fighting with a kid
  49. Feeling the breeze by standing in front of the fan
  50. Feeling the warmth from a coffee mug
  51. Feeling the wrinkles of grandparents
  52. Fidgeting with your fingers
  53. Finally arriving at your destination after a very long trip
  54. Finding the dress, in your choice of color
  55. Finishing your exam and leaving the hall as the first person
  56. First filling air in the balloons and then filling in water
  57. For no reason, removing the batteries of television remote, and putting them back
  58. Getting a hug from a long-time-no-see friend
  59. Getting a window seat in the MTC
  60. Getting to see your old photograph from somebody else
  61. Getting wet in the rain
  62. Getting your first job’s employee ID
  63. Going for wedding of an old friend
  64. Going through old emails
  65. Going through old photographs
  66. Going through old SMS conversations
  67. Gossiping with your best friend
  68. Guessing your friend’s password
  69. Helping an old age person, to cross the road
  70. Increasing and decreasing the TV volume for no reason
  71. Increasing the TV volume to gain attention
  72. Inserting smileys in a chat
  73. Jumping on the dug of sand squeezing it with hands and feeling its going from hand.
  74. Keep looking at your watch for the lunch bell to go
  75. Knowing that your being missed by somebody
  76. Laughing all of a sudden, remembering old funny incidents
  77. Leaving from work early
  78. Leaving your hair loose for a photo
  79. Letting way for the ambulance while driving
  80. Licking the chocolate wrapper
  81. Lighting a birthday candle
  82. Like and then unlike a post on Facebook wantedly
  83. Logging into Facebook account on your B’day
  84. Long sleep on a Sunday
  85. Long warm shower after heavy workday
  86. Looking at old notebooks
  87. Looking at somebody & having a feel of knowing them earlier
  88. Looking at the watch for no reason
  89. Looking at your mobile phone for no reason
  90. Looking at yourself in the mirror
  91. Looking deep to motion of a swinging fan
  92. Looking for your loved one in a crowd
  93. Looking gorgeous on a normal day
  94. Loving your life without reasons
  95. Making a popcorn & get excited everytime it pops out
  96. Making a perfect signature
  97. Making faces at unknown people
  98. Meaningless talks with your loved ones
  99. Meeting your school teacher after years
  100. Missing your bike keys and searching them with your buddies
  101. Move your body with rhythm of a trees movement with wind
  102. Night stay-over with your friends
  103. Opening a notepad and then closing it again
  104. Peeling off the price label in your new dress
  105. People looking at your eyes and speaking
  106. Playing the games again that we had played as kids, and again feel the excitement of losing & winning
  107. Playing with the torch light
  108. Polishing your nails
  109. Positive feedback and appreciation for your work
  110. Preparing coffee for the first time
  111. Proving a smart person, a fool
  112. Putting on a new pair of slippers which is perfect for your foot
  113. Putting the alarm to snooze
  114. Rahman’s voice in the early hours of your day
  115. Randomly landing in an exciting website
  116. Reading your Facebook status multiple times before posting
  117. Rearranging your books
  118. Remembering your first meet with your best friend
  119. Removing and wearing your watch for no reason
  120. Restarting your phone for no reason.
  121. Reward for your hard work
  122. Scribbling on the bus seats
  123. Scribbling on the walls
  124. Scribbling with two pens at the same time.
  125. Scribbling your name in a paper
  126. Seeing a baby laugh
  127. Seeing grandparents holding each other hands
  128. Sharing a chocolate with your siblings
  129. Shifting things from their usual place
  130. Shopping with no reason
  131. Signing on a paper & imagining it to be an autograph
  132. Singing for your loved ones
  133. Singing while in the shower
  134. Sitting all alone, and observing the sunset
  135. Sitting alone in the terrace
  136. Sitting down after standing for a very long time
  137. Sitting in a crowd silently
  138. Sleeping in an open space at night and counting the stars in the sky
  139. Smell of a new book
  140. Smell of the new dress
  141. Somebody complementing that the dress looks good on you
  142. Somebody playing a song matching to your current mood
  143. Somebody recognizes you on your first phone call
  144. Somebody remembers minor details about you
  145. Somebody telling that your assistance was really useful
  146. Somebody telling you that they wish to be like you
  147. Somebody tells you that they were waiting for your arrival in a get- together.
  148. Songs that remind you of your early life
  149. Speaking to friend who was once your enemy
  150. Splashing water on face without counting it.
  151. Standing in the balcony during rain
  152. Standing in the sea and getting your feet wet.
  153. Staring at the roof
  154. Succeeding at the first attempt
  155. Successfully untying a knot.
  156. Swinging as high as possible and then jumping down from it, to feel those two seconds which feel like eternity
  157. Switching on the TV and completely forgetting it
  158. Taking a picture of yourself with your mobile phone
  159. Talking about your hometown to a new friend in a new place
  160. Talking to a co-passenger
  161. Talking to your family friend after many years
  162. Talking to your friends and realizing how much life has changed
  163. Tasting a new dish
  164. Teaching your favorite subject
  165. Teasing a unknown kid
  166. Thanking your parents without a reason
  167. The clock strikes 12 on your B’day.
  168. The first drop in the roller coaster ride
  169. The smell of your shampooed hair.
  170. The sound of a Cool drink makes when you open it.
  171. Those encouraging words from your loved ones
  172. Throwing a stone in the river, and counting how many jumps it makes before drowning
  173. Touching the feet of a new born
  174. Typing fast on the keyboard just to hear the sound
  175. Typing your password without a mistake
  176. Unknown person warns you while driving
  177. Ur SMS coming back as an WhatsAPP status
  178. Waiting for a weekend
  179. Waking up in the night just to watch the rain
  180. Walk through the shops without buying anything
  181. Watching a bird move freely in the sky
  182. Watching a feather floating with slow wind
  183. Watching a happy ending movie
  184. Watching a horror movie alone
  185. Watching a movie more than once
  186. Watching your favorite movie with your loved one
  187. Watching your favorite star’s movie FDFS
  188. Watching your school days video
  189. Wearing your friend’s specs and posing for a picture
  190. When your idea is accepted and appreciated.
  191. When your mobile shows “Fully charged”
  192. Whispering during a strict staff’s period and somebody else getting caught
  193. Writing a post card instead of an e-mail
  194. Writing on your palm with a pen
  195. Writing your first poem :)
  196. Your first day at your first job
  197. Your first salary
  198. Your friend trusting you to keep a secret
  199. Your friend’s parents appreciating you
  200. Your loved one giving you his/her first piece of the B’day cake :)

Tuesday 3 September 2013

It's time - Reinvent Yourself.



Every organization and corporation from small to large scale invariably goes through a cycle of change over a period of time, it is only natural. A cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline and eventually death, that is unless one is willing to embrace a new vision, idea or prototype and be ready to implement. This is where the business must reinvent itself and adapt to change to stay alive and ahead.

Marketing agencies know too well that markets can be unpredictable. The law of supply and demand is never constant and has its ups and downs. When a product or concept is going through a decline, in other words if sales of Kit Kat chocolate or Surf Excel washing powder seem to be dropping, then that is the most crucial moment to inject new ideas into these products in order to hold onto current customers and attract new ones. Even if Kit Kat is only just a bit chunkier, or Surf Excel now contains red flakes and not just blue, this will be enough to keep consumers demanding the product! Failure to introduce something new at this moment may see the death of the product, together with a loss of the market share.

The same change cycle is also applicable to individuals. We may find ourselves in the same sort of job and position for years, or even decades and although it provides security on the one hand, on the other it can stump our growth as we become stuck in a rut. This sort of scenario is not healthy for either the individual or the company. This is a very definite sign that we need to reinvent ourselves and change by choice before circumstances force us to change.

Change cycles help us to understand that nothing ever stays the same because change really is the only constant. We can be hired and fired, promoted and demoted within seconds! Praised today and defamed tomorrow. If we remain rigid and unyielding then we will crack when situations get tough. However, if we are willing to reflect inwards, be open to ideas and different perspective and most importantly, be flexible and fluid we may have a better chance of surviving the inevitability of change and coming out stronger and wiser.

Have you ever noticed how the cycles of time are gathering speed? Time is moving so fast that we cannot really hold onto anything! Our days feel shorter. The pace of the world in which we live is getting faster and faster and our to-do list gets longer and longer. In our current age we have indeed become time watchers hoping time does not run out and we either stagnate, a metaphoric death as we struggle to survive, or we adapt. How can we transition from being those who survive to those who excel in this new world order of fast pace change on so many levels; economic, social, environmental, political, technological and spiritual? From being time watchers or even timekeepers to creators of time, those who embrace, adopt and/or adapt to change?

The first lesson of who I can help here, when we remember that we are a human being vs. a human doing. With our preoccupation with action we lose sight of our being-ness, the true wealth of our humanity. We begin to redefine success.

Take moments every hour to just mentally step away from your present reality, breath in, reflect on perspective, purpose and meaning and experience yourself as a being.

Secondly, if we can make our work interesting by finding a deeper meaning and purpose, then our whole attitude will change because we will want to go to work and not be caught in a rut of having to work. Our work should be inspiring and not a cause for our expiry! The way to ensure this is to focus on a spiritual value or principle every day. In an atmosphere that is competitive and hard- core, practicing these spiritual values and principles will deepen our foundation, keep us anchored and help us adapt while we maintain our self-respect.

Values are deeply linked to our purpose. No matter how many cycles we go through as a corporation, or how high the individual climbs the corporate ladder our values and principles will always keep us in check and balanced. Even if our external reality seems a storm of the worst things we believe can happen to us such as being fired from work or sales targets unmet, with these simple steps we know our inner foundation of our values and principles will help us forge ahead.

Its time to reinvent yourself. Let spiritual values and principles form the bedrock of your life and let work remain an inspiration and not a cause for your expiration!
And most importantly, don’t forget to add, to be onto your to-do list!

Sunday 1 September 2013

Sleepless nights - Exhausted looks



Are you constantly looking exhausted?
Almost all of us are victims to a deficiency of sleep. In fact, there is nothing worse than starting your day looking tired and sleep-deprived. Pale sallow skin, dry and dull complexion, puffy and dark under-eye circles, can reveal your level of fatigue.

Aqua effect:
The best way to get your skin looking fresh as a daisy is by splashing cold water on your face. The cold temperature helps by contracting blood vessels and making your skin look smoother. Splash some water first thing you wake-up to feel fresh and alive.

Bye bye dryness:
While you are sleeping, your skin tends to get dehydrated. Using a good moisturiser can help plump up the skin cells. All the signs of dry skin, such as lines which make you look older will reduce with the use of a moisturising cream.

Kitchen remedies:
If you are still looking pale and sallow, try using a combination of milk and ice cubes. Dip a napkin in the mixture and then place on your face for a few minutes. This will help to instantly brighten your skin, the Cleopatra way.

Reduce puffiness:
While most of us opt for eye creams in the night before sleeping, using one in the morning can help. Keep your cream in the fridge the night before and use it in the morning. The gel-based formula (opt for a water-based one) can help get rid of the puffy look.

Go slow on make-up:
If you haven't slept much the night before, it's best to go easy on the make-up. While you do want to cover up the tell-tale signs of sleepiness, you don't want to look like a caked-up monster. Go slow on heavy foundation or powder. Try a tinted moisturiser with SPF protection instead and use a light coat of concealer.

Eye openers:
They say the eyes are our windows to the world. No greater reason to ensure that they look their brightest best. Use an eyelash curler to open up your eyes and then apply a light coat of mascara. It will do wonders for your complete look.

Add some colour:
Get rid of the sallowness from your face by using some pink or peach coloured cream blush. This will instantly transform your complexion and take away the attention from your under-eye. Creamy formulas work better than powder blushes as they blend well and can add just a pinch of natural - looking colour.

Night care:
How well you take care of your skin the previous night can make a difference as well. Ensure that you use a good cleanser to remove all the make-up, dirt and grime stuck to your face.