The long and winding road

They were the kind of friends pinterest writes about!

Wild, Weird, Crazy, Funny, Impetuous,Rebellious and sometimes just plain argumentative.

They spent every waking moment living in the moment!

Laughter abounded!

They smiled with their eyes!

Then just like all other good things, this too had to come to an end!

Abrupt!!!!

Clean Cut!

There were tears, there were sleepless nights, pleadings.

The staunch silence hurt.

And just like all other bad things, this too did pass!

Though time healed the wounds, the scars were too deep to disappear!

Since that fateful day, words were not spoken,

The eyes had ne’er met….

Strangers to themselves and rest of the world!

The auto man was her doom!  

She steps out hoping today would be her lucky day!

No, he refuses her the change due to her!

She looks around, searching for someone to beg for change!

Looks like it is too early in the day for good Samaritans to  be walking on the road or opening cigarette stalls!

The security folks consider the change too small  for them to handle!!!!

16 Rs is not small to her!

The auto man too gets frustrated, its been 10 minutes too much , but refuses to budge to ask at the tea stall across the road,

Should she?

She takes a step across and sees a familiar green slowing down!

Familiar with the old ways, she knows what comes next!

Tea stall forgotten she tells the auto-wallah to keep the change and runs up the stairs to the safety of her room!

The eyes shall ne’er meet.....

A Dash Of Fun And A Heap Full Of Laughter

 “If you are too busy to laugh, you are too busy”- Ancient Proverb

The History of Laughter

Nearly three thousand years ago, there lived in China a saint named Hotai. He would go from village to village stand near a square or a corner and laugh full-heartedly and freely. Not stopping to talk with anyone, he would go on laughing. People would gather and seeing that Hotai was laughing, they would begin to laugh loudly. Hotai would go to far off villages and wherever he went, the Health of the people began to improve and therefore people of many villages regarded Hotai as a Divine being and went to invite him to their places. In those days, medical science had not developed and as the health of people began to improve, they began to regard Hotai as a Divinity and named him Laughing Buddha.

 

It’s not always easy to just “laugh it off” when you’re going through a difficult time.  

But, it can make a world of difference if you can smile and laugh aloud. Even if just a little. Next time you’re feeling down– or even when you’re not feeling down– laugh aloud! It is infectious.

Laughter therapy has even been introduced as a new corporate stress buster!!

The many benefits of laughter

• Laughter reduces the level of stress hormones in our bodies.
• Laughter provides both a physical and emotional release.
• Laughter can be a good workout for your abs, diaphragm, and shoulders.
• Laughter leaves you feeling more relaxed.
• Laughter brings the focus away from negative emotions.
• Laughter can give us a more positive outlook on a situation.
• Laughter connects us with others.

Laughter not only provides a full-scale workout for your muscles, it unleashes a rush of stress-busting endorphins. What's more, your body can't distinguish between real and fake laughter - any giggle will do.

Yes, It is ok to feel sad, it is normal to feel depressed and low and wallow in self-pity at times. But if the feeling won’t go away after a while, look for ways to change the situation!

My personal choice is a bar of chocolate, funny, happy people for company and loads of laughter.

Am as good as or sometimes even better than new!!!!

Did you know:
The therapeutic effects of laughter have been clinically studied since the 70s, but Dr Madan Kataria - who developed laughter yoga in Mumbai - is credited with bringing laughter therapy into the mainstream. Kataria set up the first laughter club in 1995. There are now more than 5,000 laughter clubs worldwide.

What can we do to chase the blues away:

• Turn on a funny movie or TV show or watch a funny clip of YouTube.
• Spend a night (or two) and watch a stand-up comedy show in action
• Comedy Central!!!
• Take a look at the comics in the newspaper. It’s funnier than the news.
• Peruse the internet for funny websites.
• Hang out with positively funny friends.
• Read a funny book.

Life is too short to live with a frown, so bring a smile to your face and spread the cheer!

What's your shoe story??

Happiness lies in the feet! And its encasement!

Shoes- my weakness!

Of all kinds, colors, styles.

I love buying them, looking at them and taking care of them!

I love them!

Some folks have a penchant for fancy clothes, bright nail colors, flamboyant bags.
Me… I love shoe shopping!

I remember having a pair of slips- on’s while in school – multicolored- it had red, yellow, green straps.

I loved them, they were a gift from my aunt who used to do a bit of traveling across the country on work.

I guess that is what got me hooked onto shoes.

Heels, stilettos, platforms,flats, pumps,flip-flops, mary janes,sneakers, wooden shoes( yes, that too!!) reds, whites, greens, purples! Oooh, they made me the talk of the college!!

Sometimes when am shoe shopping, if l like a particular style, I buy them in every color I want them!

My dad, looking at my collection, got me a 4 shelf steel rack to keep them organized!

Wearing pretty shoes have therapeutic properties.

Days that I feel low, I find my prettiest pair and feel like a queen.

I know am in deep depression, if I have been wearing the same pair of sandals; however much I love them, continuously for more than 3 days!

 

I even have this unhealthy habit of judging people by their shoes!

 A well-dressed man with scuffed shoes- a definite No-No! A Jazzed up woman in footwear that looks like is been dragged across town- a disaster!

For the first time, I did my shopping online yesterday!!

I know my size and for people like me, the online store even had a shoe chart which I could print off and check my size before I placed the order.

Not one to lose out on a good deal, I bought the one color I was looking for- a bright orange, then I found some greens with a good discount, a red, some blue and a brown!

During the sale season, I scour the shoe racks for my style and preference.

 I admit, of late, I have become conservative and stick to flats and wedges most often!

Unfortunately my feet size are the commoners and gets sold out easily and the one thing with shoes- Do not buy if the shoe does not fit!

Well, it was like my lucky day to find all the colors in my size,

So the order once I was done, read 7 pairs in such lovellly colors!!

It said 2-5 days for delivery!!

Well, I paid for it, now anxiously waiting for the delivery and the eruptions from my mom!!

What can I say….

One can never have enough shoes!!

Age shouldn’t affect you. It’s just like the size of your shoes – they don’t determine how you live your life! You’re either marvelous or you’re boring, regardless of your age. 
Steven Morrissey

Different strokes for different folks!

The common chant on  a Monday would be

“What did you this weekend?”

Why is it important to “do something”, what is the “something” that others expect you to do?

Is it considered boring to do some cooking, cleaning, washing, watching TV, shopping, playing and just lazing??

Also as time goes by, every weekend when I say the same, am considered  “boring”

Everyone expects the response to be “went rafting, did bungee jumping, traveling,  play watching, pub hopping, partying……”

So I answer “ I did nothing”.

In reality, I did so much, and enjoyed myself thoroughly doing it all!!

We cooked and baked and experimented and overcame fears! We did fail in our experiment though!

We cleaned and dusted till the house resembled a dust cloud!

We studied for tests, did our homework!

We did loads of laundry, taking advantage of the sun playing peek-a -boo

We shopped for grocery for the week! all the junk we wanted to:)

We skipped, ran and cycled!

We watched the most improbable movie- 10,000 BC and stayed up late till it got over!

We watched the hyped about ShahRukh Khan Deepika starrer and laughed at his antics!

We drank hot soup, bit through frozen chocolates and hurriedly stuffed  veggies in to have more time to savor the yummilcious lunch!!

We tried reading books!

We got hooked to Comedy Central and found re-runs of Mind your language still worth talking about! And laughing aloud!

We laughed till we actually fell of our couch.

We rolled in bed, we lazed around.

The “We” made the mundane much more fun!

What I did not do is

I did not leave the kids and escape to meet  friends..

I did not talk to people who made me regret many decisions from my past..
I did not log into my office network and end up surfing the net aimlessly...

I did not leave the kids to go on a long run by myself or biking down trails!

          
Yes, I had a wonderful weekend !!

Try my weekend menu, it does so much good for your body and soul!
and keeps you looking and feeling young!!