Ways to kill Boredom

"I'm so Bored" - This is something that you hear oh, so often! You stare listlessly about, look up at the sky, go "Arrgh! I hate my life!! It's sooo boring!" and do a dozen other such stunts blaming Boredom for all the things that seem dull and not-so-happening in your life. I have said these very same things myself and know of the pervasive gloom that takes over your soul and makes everything look so very bleak.

I have a quote for you guys from one of my favorite Authors' books :

“Death: Human beings make life so interesting. Do you know, that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to invent boredom.” 
― Terry Pratchett, Hogfather

It was like a bulb got turned on inside me - head , heart and soul. What I percieved as boredom is nothing but my inability and/or laziness to go out there and find something interesting - to make even a single minute count. The world is so big! With limitless possibilities and also, even inside our heads - there is so much to understand , to dig deep and recognise. The simple fact that we are alive is so amazing , so awesome that we shouldnt waste away a single second thinking its boring and dull.

Here are a few things you can do to alleviate boredom :

1. Read a book - anything that interests you. Try something different for a change. If you like Romance, go for a science fiction thriller. Some things might amaze you, if you let it.

2. Go for a walk - not with your headsets on , or playing with your cell phone. Go for a real walk. Look around you. See the beauty in nature, the people around you, the little things that we miss because we are so busy or distracted by technology or too caught up in ourselves thinking we are "bored"

3. Friends - they are always the best medicine for boredom . As long as you are hanging out with your pals, you'll end up being part of some crazy stunt or the other and wont realise how soon time passes.

4. Write - write all the random nonsense that passes through your mind- its gives you more clarity. You might amaze yourself - you might discover new things about yourself that you previously hadn't recognized. An individual is a complex mix - each so different from the other. It might be amazing the things you may find if you listen to your inner voices. ( No, don't listen to any crazy murder spree/other criminal activity inspiring voices if u hear any , rather get expert help)

5. Dance - yup! you may not be a great dancer, and if you are shy, you can just lock yourself in the bedroom , crank up the volume of some dance number and just "shake that booty!" Just let your hair down and dance. Its an amazing feeling to move in tune to music.

7. Start a hobby - paint, play with clay, take up gardening or bird watching , learn Spanish or German or Italian or French. Oui, les gens , do something different. There are so many things we have yet to see, yet to know, yet to learn - and so few years alive on earth to do it all . So do something. Learn something new. Fill your life with knowledge and skill . Think of things taht interest you and take it up

8. Take up a cause - and fight for it. Learn about its history, its reach, its pros and cons, learn where your heart is in the matter and support it.

There is so much more you can do. If you are feeling absolutely lazy and you have a laptop with internet connection within your reach, just Google. I know, i know! lol... but seriously. Google random stuff (To be absolutely clear - stuff other than porn). You wont believe the stuff you would "Stumbleupon.com" on the net . :D

Product Review : Lakme Absolute Matte Elegant Bloom (202)

Product Description:

This non-drying creamy yet matte finish lipstick gives rich color in just a single sweep. It is enriched with wheatgerm oil and vitamin E which keeps the lips hydrated and silky smooth. It is matte and light comfort wear.

• Brand: Lakme
• Type: Lipstick
• Quantity: 3.6 ml
• Shade Name: Elegant Bloom

How To Use:

Glide on lips and smack lips together for even application.

Price:

Rs. 375

Shade:

202 – Elegant Bloom.

My Take on Lakme Absolute Matte Lipstick – Elegant Bloom:

This is my first purchase from Lakme Absolute range as I wanted to try this range because its promotion advertisement was quite impressive.  This lipstick comes in a metallic grey case which looks quite classy. This shade is a pretty pinkish-plum type with very minor golden shimmer, but the shimmer is not at all visible.

For my lips, I just need two swipes to go.  It stays for around 5-6 hours without having any meal, but the colour does not disappear completely until you remove it with makeup remover.  Texture-wise, it’s a good matte lipstick and what I like the most about this is that its very light and you will feel as if you have applied nothing on your lips.  If you love matte lipstick, then go for this one.

Pros of Lakme Absolute Matte Lipstick – Elegant Bloom :

• A single sweep required to give maximum color
• Great for any occasion
• Light and rich in color
• Gives a feel good matte finish
• With wheat germ Oil
• Rich in vitamin E
• Keeps the lips silky smooth and soft
• With a unique non drying formula
• Color lasts longer and keeps lips hydrated
• A must have for all occasions
• Long lasting color
• Good color payoff
• Glides smoothly on lips
• Does not smudge or fade easily
• Comes in a convenient and easy to carry packaging

Cons of Lakme Absolute Matte Lipstick - Elegant Bloom :

• Not for chapped lips
• It is not a long-stay kind of lipstick . It stays on max upto 3 hrs and wont stay at all after meals.

My rating : 4/5

Remedies for a Cold

Cold or Influenza are horrid nasty lil things that just is too "Arrrghh!!" for words. You cant breathe , you are irritated always, everything tastes like sawdust and the world just seems bleak. The set of symptoms for Common Cold normally includes things like a runny nose, sneezing, coughing, "chills" and a headache.

Here are a few tips to help you through this :

1. Two words -  Chicken Soup. Have it with as much pepper as you can tolerate and voila! your nose is no longer blocked and you can breathe easy. It is also a good cure for fever and sore throat.

2. Steam - Let the vapors chase away those viruses. Hold your head over a pot of boiling water and breathe through your nose. Be careful. If the steam burns your nose, breathe in more slowly. You can buy a humidifier, but the steam will be the same as the water on the stove. Moisture from a hot shower with the door closed, saline nasal spray, or a room humidifier is just as helpful to ease congestion.

3. Here's the eww part : Blow your nose often, but do it the proper way. It's important to blow your nose regularly when you have a cold rather than sniffling mucus back into your head. But when you blow hard, pressure can carry germ-carrying phlegm back into your ear passages, causing earache ! The best way to blow your nose is to press a finger over one nostril while you blow gently to clear the other.

4. Stay warm and rested. Staying warm and resting when you first come down with a cold or the flu helps your body direct its energy toward the immune battle.

Some of the external over the counter medicines that have helped me through this phase are : 

Octrivin nasal spray and tablets (the nasal spray is awesome because it clears up my nose in 2 mins , and I use this before I go to sleep and its effects last for approx. 12 hrs, but you can use it only upto 2-3 times a day and only for max. 10 days) , A Panadol ( cold & Flu ) or crocin, Vicks Vapo rub ( Apply vicks and take steam and you'll feel as good as new ;) , strepsils or Vicks honey for my sore throat ... and oh!! Gargle with salt water - this eases the soreness ) also drinking two spoonfuls of honey diluted in a glass on lukewarm water soothes your throat.

Hope this helps!! :)

Ebooks Vs Paper Books

There has been a lot of debate over ebooks and paper books and which is the better of the two. So I thought I'd share some of my thoughts on the subject here :

I would always choose a paper book over an ebook. I like the feel and smell of a hardcopy/ paper book - new or old. Somehow I find pleasure and pride in having a well stocked old fashioned library (with a physical presence) with lots of good books in all shapes and sizes with their unique story to tell, well thumbed and personal and rather feel that ebooks are cold, distant and indifferent (- I hope this makes sense  ) 

Ebooks are ok when you are traveling or at night when you don't need a night light or anything and of course there is the thought about cutting down trees for paper to print more books/hardcopies which isn't really eco friendly so considering that and ease of use and space and portability it is practical and feasible to read an ebook. Also some of the pros of reading an Ebook are that I love that I can finish a book and immediately start another one without having to go to the library, or go out to buy a copy or go to my book shelf. I also love the plethora of free e-books available. It's definitely opened my eyes to books I never would have read before. I've read some great free books thanks to Amazon. Current e-readers can carry 1,500 titles or more. What more could a person ask for?whether you are stuck in a long waiting line or having a long train commute or just lying around on a lounger, you can just whip out your trusty Nook or Kindle a read a good book. 

Still, practicality aside I have a nostalgic connection to hardcopies/paper books and would opt it over ebooks anytime.  I just love the tactile feel and smell of a book and the sound of pages turning. I love reading in bed and balancing the book on every which way - i even don't mind the cramp it gives me .. lol. I love turning the pages and seeing the progress. And I hate reading off of screens anyway. I don't care how close they think it looks like print, but it never truly does. To me, the type is just that--computer type. I hate the idea of using a button to turn a page. Or the risk of a battery running out. :P 

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is one of my all time favorite classics. 

It is a beautiful love story written with wit and sarcasm and filled with clever conversations and likeable characters. Here is a short review : 

The story revolves around the bennet family. Elizabeth Bennet is the main character and potragonist here.The Bennett family are living a calm and quiet life in Longbourn.  News enters the house that a certain Mr. Bingley, a young man of good fortune, is going to become their neighbour.  Mrs. Bennett assumes this is the perfect opportunity to get one of her five daughters married off well. She is troubled considering things like - Will it be her eldest, the beautiful and charming Jane, who gets all of Mr. Bingley’s attention? Or is it going to be her less beautiful, but very sensible and witty sister Elizabeth, who will make the big match?

With the arrival of Mr. Bingley, his proud and mysterious friend Mr. Darcy, and, later in the story, clergyman Mr. Collins and Officer Mr. Wickham, Mrs. Bennett finds herself surrounded by desirable suitors for her daughters. With embarrassing simple-mindedness and not exactly subtle advances she tries her best to get those men’s attention for her daughters. And except Mr. Collins, she succeeds in having each of them married to one of her daughters by the end of the story: Mr. Bingley finds himself attached to Jane, while Mr. Darcy turns out to be the perfect husband for Elizabeth, and Mr. Wickham, the villain of the story, finally has to settle for Lydia, the youngest of the girls.

Mr. Collins, an unintentionally funny pastor and a cousin of Mr. Bennett’s, who is to inherit the Bennett estate after the death of Mr. Bennett, firstly sees it as his duty to propose to one of the Bennett girls. But after being rejected by Elizabeth, he finally turns his eyes on her good friend Charlotte Lucas, and marries her instead.

Looking at Jane, it seems predictable that she is going to have the least trouble with her man, because Mr. Bingley immediately falls in love with her, and she, too, is very fond of him. But due to her mother’s silliness and stupidity, and unfortunately also to Jane’s reservation, Mr. Darcy gets the impression that his dear friend is only being liked for his money, and that Jane’s only interest is to be married to a wealthy man. For this reason, he gives his friend the advice to leave her. Mr. Bingley follows this advice, and Jane remains heartbroken. But due to fortunate circumstances and the intervention of Mr. Darcy himself, they finally get together.

Talking about Mr. Darcy, there seems to be nothing that he and Elizabeth have in common at the beginning of the story: She has an uncomplicated, funny and witty nature; he is rather snobbish, proud and reserved. Almost each time they meet, things end up in a quarrel, and Elizabeth hates and teases him frankly. But her eyes open when Mr. Wickham, the former centre of her admiration, turns out to be a liar, and she has to admit that she had done injustice to Mr. Darcy, who is willing to forgive her. They finally get married and live happily ever after. So thats the gist of it. Now what exactly is my opinion about the story? Well, Pride and Prejudice was a good read though Jane was kind of feeble minded and weak, and Mr. Darcy is brooding enough to be sufficiently interesting. I must agree Lady Catherine de Bourgh was a really...interesting character .Elizabeth Bennet I find to be very relatable as she is quick witted and intelligent but she isn't perfect - she has a very sharp tongue and hastily jumps to conclusions. The other characters - a tiresome mother, a detached father, two badly behaved younger siblings, and several snobbish, antagonizing women - all make the plot a good read.

What Inspires you?

I write a lot of stories and poems that I would someday like to share with you all. I was thinking of my writer's block and wondering of ways I could get inspired. This gave me an idea for my next blog post. So here goes...

A lot of random things inspire me to write  But to classify it under a generic heading I would say - Life. Life and various experiences It gifts us. I get inspired by stories that people have to share - their memoirs, their dreams , some silly fun moment that they'v had. I get inspired by simple things like passing clouds. lol. The little things in life sometimes nurtures your imagination and lets it grow every which way!

Some other random things that inspire me are : 

1-Nature
2- Observing people
3- Coffee 
4-Rain accompanied by old classical music or other old slow songs
5-Media
6-Good books
7-Music
8- Dreams
9-My husband, family and friends
10-Kids and pets

Jane Austen or the Brontë sisters?

I was just going over my Classic Literature collection and suddenly a thought struck me - Whose work would you rather read - Jane Austen or the Brontë sisters, if asked to choose between the two ? Both are England's most famous female novelists of the victorian era who popularized romantic fiction and their books are popular classics.

Personaly, I love both authors but I think Jane Austen is a bit more "reserved" somehow - although she is clever and witty. The Brontes are more passionate in their writing, I believe. Jane Eyre is my all time favorite .

Jane Austen at times comes across as too "prim and proper" and kind of shallow. Her world is limited to social interactions which can get superficial at times. The Bronte sisters have definitely been more successful at capturing raw human emotions and desires, they aren't afraid to lay open the souls of their characters to be judged by the whims of readers. Jane Eyre is a personal favorite of mine and the love the protagonist feels for her Mr.Rochester is something that is simply beyond the emotional spectrum of Elizabeth Bennet.

Finally I came to the conclusion that  I have to go with the Bronte sisters. Austen's writing is beautiful and has so many good ideas involved. Those ideas were revolutionary for her era. Still, I love the way the Bronte sisters write, especially Charlotte. To me, writings seems even more of an art form when reading their books.

Do share what you all think in the coment box . :)

My Favourite Quotes

"He drew a circle that shut me out -
Heretic, a rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle that took him in." - Edwin  Markham ("Outwitted")

‎"Say you love me every waking moment,
turn my head with talk of summertime...
Say you need me with you now and always...
Promise me that all you say is true
that's all I ask of you"
Christine - The Phantom of the Opera

 "All my life, my heart has sought a thing I cannot name..."
Hunter S. Thompson

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. - robert frost (the road not taken)

On a less serious note I love Barney Stinson quotes like:

“Jesus waited three days to come back to life. It was perfect! If he had only waited one day, a lot of people wouldn't have even heard he died. They'd be all, "Hey Jesus, what up?" and Jesus would probably be like, "What up? I died yesterday!" and they'd be all, "Uh, you look pretty alive to me, dude..." and then Jesus would have to explain how he was resurrected, and how it was a miracle, and the dude'd be like "Uhh okay, whatever you say, bro..." And he's not gonna come back on a Saturday. Everybody's busy, doing chores, workin' the loom, trimmin' the beard, NO. He waited the perfect number of days, three. Plus it's Sunday, so everyone's in church already, and they're all in there like "Oh no, Jesus is dead", and then BAM! He bursts in the back door, runnin' up the aisle, everyone's totally psyched, and FYI, that's when he invented the high five. That's why we wait three days to call a woman, because that's how long Jesus wants us to wait.... True story.”

 “Think of me like Yoda, but instead of being little and green I wear suits and I'm awesome. I'm your bro—I'm Broda!”

Then the other favourite quotes are-

"Anybody can exercise... But this kind of lethargy takes real discipline."

"Avoid fruits and nuts: after all, you are what you eat."

"Love me, feed me, never leave me."

-Garfield

An Anthology of Poems

Hi people!  I'm passionate about reading and I especially love poetry. Poetry is something that soothes my mind and gives me something to think about. Those of you like- minded people out there who are looking for some good poems to read up on, here are a few suggestions.

If you haven't read " My last Duchess " by Robert Browning yet , please do! Its an amazing poem with so many hidden innuendoes all in a soliloquy. It is one of my most favorite poems of all time. 

My other favorites are :

A River - A.K Ramanuja

Our Casuarina Tree - Toru Dutt 
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot 
The Walrus and the Carpenter by Lewis Caroll 
A Poet to His Beloved - W.B Yeats
When You Are Old - W.B Yeats
The Wild Swans at Coole - W.B Yeats
Home Burial - Robert Frost
 I Have Loved Flowers that Fade - Robert Bridges

If you love Shakespeare you'd probably love "Those lips that Love's own hand did make" - if you haven't read it yet 

Also here are some "Dark Poems" that are really a good read :

Dark (Not Quite Horror)
"The Bells" by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe
"The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes

I love William Blake's poems too , especially his " Auguries of Innocence" 

"To see a World in a Grain of Sand
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 
And Eternity in an hour."

Here's another :

“He drew a circle that shut me out-
Heretic , rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win:
We drew a circle and took him In !

From the poem " Outwitted” by  Edwin Markham

Its amazing how beautiful literature is , and adds to our intellectual growth and feeds our Soul. Hope you all found this collection interesting! 

Have a good Read!