Chupke Chupke...Shhhh..

I definitely care enough for a person if I voluntarily choose to travel all the way from south bangalore, Kengeri to Whitefield on my day off, just to meet up with a friend for a couple of hours. If you are familiar with Bangalore, you will know that even with Metro, this is a good 1.5 to 2 hour commute. So why would I do that? I just wanted to have the whole day to myself and so I chose a place closer to my friend's home. That way only one of us had to commute a significant distance. I chose Metro purely because it was a holiday and I did not expect too many commuters - which usually would have thrown me off this option in the first place. Second, the distance made it automatically reasonable only to take the metro. So after cooking for my family, i got ready and off I went to the Kengeri station, bought a ticket and boarded the metro. It was one hour ride. I used that time to finish up "Never Lie" audiobook - just the last 20 minutes. Then I looked up and looked arou...

As I sat to write my end of the year impact statement at work, I wondered if it was a lot like writing my blog. I can't get creative about what I write. I have to call out what I have achieved in the year and what metrics I have managed to achieve, but that is pretty much what I am doing here on my blog in December. As I looked back at the accomplishments at work, I realized that I could not fit all of it in the 1000 character limit. It is in a way a reminder of doing what is really important and prioritizing my 1000 character limit. Letting go of what we cannot fit in really helps in leading life with purpose and priority. Even the 1000 characters do not make any sense if I cannot call out the impact of the actions. That is life, how much we do does not matter as much as how much we affect the people around us positively. And then I start to think about how small and insignificant that impact is in this universe and all of the universes. How we are all microscopic in the broade...

Today we were talking about a tamil movie, "Nayagan", starring Kamal Hassan. There was a scene where he was beaten up and I was screaming "They are beating appa up"(in tamil ofcourse). My dad had to take me out as I was distrubing others and embarassing my mom and him. I have no recollection of the movie or this incident but my mother would always narrate this incident to me laughing at my reaction to a movie. The next memory I retain of watching movie in theatre, infact my first movie experience that I remember, was on my parents' wedding anniversary. We went to watch the hindi movie, Saudagar. It was a cute Romeo-Juliet kind of a movie with lovely songs. Songs which we still hum with fond memories. I would have been 6-7 years old at that time. Then, my next memorable movie was Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. For most of the time, movies were an all-family event. This movie was the first one that was only mom-daughter date. I cried so much through the movie and Amma was...

At the onset of December, I had made up my mind to stay consistent with my writing. Writing atleast a couple of lines each day to get out of my slump. I have already missed 3 days, but I am not counting, because I have written far more than I would have written if I had not kept that as a benchmark. I have written more in these 16 days than I have in the last 2 years. It has been extremely satisfying. I had also kept up a goal to read 2 pages a day every day. Ofcourse I did not keep it up, but I did finish one book - The Lazy Genius by Kendra Adachi and 5-6 chapters of Chris Miller's The Chip War(which I keep calling Chip wars like star wars). I had one more goal to listen to 1 audiobook this year. I am already on to my second this year. One was non-violent communication and now it is a fictional one - Never lie. The next on my list was learning Korean words. I started with Duolingo last December and have been keeping streak since then. One letter and one word at a time. It has ...

It has been 3 years now since Appa and I started our morning walk routine. He does not miss a single day, and hence, I do not miss a single day either. It is nice to have that routine in my life when it is easy to idle away in the mornings instead of going out for a walk. The 2 rounds of 0.8 km around the lake near my home is filled with conversations, old and new. Some childhood stories from him, some updates on recent serials, sometimes sports updates and my office rants or news. I feel that time is very special because we are both without our phones and TV and hence have our full attention on each other. It is very nice to look forward to every morning where we could walk and talk. When I head to office, I do not join him, but then it feels like something is missing on days that I do not make it. Over the last 4 days, while I did not go to office, I could not still join him for a walk as I was still limping and recovering from my fall. I was conscious of my efforts to climb the ...

I am sitting with my laptop and playing on my phone the End of an Era docuseries on 13th December, which is Taylor's birthday. I am a 40 year old who is fan girling and following everything that this amazing person is doing. I love that I got to experience the Eras tour in a movie theatre where I could enjoy it with popcorn. I am not one who like crowds, I am not someone who can spare so much time to go out and attend a concert live with so much energy all around. As much as I love the music and the energy, nah, it is not for me to attend live concerts. So when the movie came out, I wore my most expensive piece of clothing, my TS Sweater and went all alone to the movie theatre. My first time ever alone at a theatre wondering if it would be odd. But God, no. I had a lot of folks walk up to me complimenting my sweater and asking where I got it. I was surrounded by women and girls and kids who came in to experience the same magic. It was a safe space. So today, as I sit and listen a...

I thought I would put up my top 5 TS songs as of Dec 2025 because it will 100% keep changing. 1. All too Well - Like she mentioned on Stephen Colbert Show, yup , the 10-minute version is best to let out an emotional cry. I may not have a broken heart now, but I can imagine her hurt and I feel that hurt and I can listen to the song and feel the emotions and sometimes even cry thinking about heartbreak that is not there in reality, but an imaginary heartbreak just to let out a good cry. I dont know if you can understand that, but I would highly recommend being angry and sad at someone through this song. 2. Love Story - I think this was the first song I heard of Taylor and loved it and still do! This is the most romantic song as a young adult and makes you dream of all the sweetness in the world, waiting for someone to sweep you off your feet and be together happily ever after. She sold that dream and that fantasy. I still love the song for the time it takes me back to. 3. Anti...

This year I have invested in learning of all formats. I have taken up an executive learning course on Change Management. Then I went on to get 4 SAP Certifications. I have also taken up an Industry Certification. Had 2 Go-Lives on my project, started a new project. And if you havent looked through my earlier posts, you should know that I have extensively played around with GenAI on writing, image creations, videos and everything else. Absolutely loving how technology is evolving, so I have invested in learning, tinkering with these tools and absolutely enjoying the possibilities that it opens up. When I put up my vision board and called out innovation, I had not known I would be learning so much so soon. Make more money and spend well was part of my wi$hli$t while Taylor only wants "you". I am a very generous giver, to my family, friends and myself. So I can do that more if I earn more. The way I can earn more is by learning more and by doing more with less effort and les...

I had put up Travel in my 2025 manifestation list. The most I have travelled is my commute to office. A couple of work trips to Hyderabad. 2 cancelled trips to Mumbai and Kolkata due to different reasons. The other travel was to and from hospital, which I do not want to recollect or count in either actually. I did have a lot of leisure. So when I do get time like that, I like to do something. I know it defeats the purpose of calling it a leisure, but well, that is how I am. I like to DO. So the leisurely activities include a spectrum of non-related themes of activities - from cleaning shelves, painting, colouring, journaling, writing, watching a movie or series, reading something new or making a new craft to playing around with Generative AI, image editing and video editing normally and also with GenAI. This year, I have reached a milestone of 600 posts till date on my instagram. I have posted almost every weekend. The art there is also extremely varied in formats. These days, I ha...

I started writing about making more money and spending it well and then I was called out for a walk by the better half. Stepped out and as I walked out of the building, I sensed my feet slipping off the floor and before i knew it, I was on my knees and twisted my feet. At that moment, I feared being too injured to be unable to walk. Worse the replapse of my dislocated knee. My head felt heavy and I had to sit for a bit to calm down. It has been 30 minutes since the fall as I type now. Right knee and foot - All Okay. Left knee - slight discomfort. Left foot, iced on the sprained part, but I can walk okay. Phew. That's a relief. It is funny that one always fears being spotted while falling or post a fall. Thankfully the one who gave the idea of going for a walk was around, so he literally helped me get back to my feet. Every time I hurt myself or i accidentally cut my hand, I end up realizing how important each part is so important to us. My friend dislocated her ankle and has ...

A few years back, I was like Lorelai Gilmore,I'd be fuelled by Coffee, Coffee, Coffee. And then during Covid, when i started drinking 6 cups of strong filter coffee. I was getting more jittery and anxious. My stomach was constantly grumbling and I was rushing multiple times to the restroom. Embarassing, painful and very uncomforable but I could not get rid off the habit. Then there was a constant altercation at home about the thickness of the coffee decoction. I wanted it thick and strong while everyone else at home wanted it watery and light. And in one instant, i vowed not to drink coffee anymore. The only other option was Chai. I am not a Chai-drinker. We do not even keep tea leaves at home. So the next day, ordered some tea leaves, a tea strainer and I was good to go. The effort to make chai for one person is high. The time to make chai is also higher, so the frequency automatically reduced. Infact, if I was too lazy in the evenings, even that 2nd cup would get missed. Rememb...

The year I turned 40, I was supposed to make a trip to Dubai with my best friends as we all completed the 4 decade mark in the same year. Two of us lost a parent-in-law and have a lot going on and so put this up on pause. I say Pause and not cancel because I am still hopeful that some day we will manage to take it, hopefully before the next decade milestone. I did plan for very elaborate celebrations on that day itself. Well, that again had a slight hiccup with health of a family member and we resorted to a lunch at Phurr. A nice, elevated dining experience and mainly vegetarian only place. The ambience was perfect and every plate of food that was served there was stunning and tasted good too. Sometimes a simple lunch is also a luxury and a grand celebration. Given the circumstances, that was the best that we could do and it was enough. Gifts and wishes from family and friends made the day complete with happiness. Everyone says something changes when you turn 40. They say there is ...

In case you noticed, I skipped 3 days in my December series - I have good reason for it. I was part of day long trainings followed by party. I did want to still manage to write and then I decided not to do it because i was exhausted and I could not think clearly. Now that I have cleared that, let's get back to the manifestation topic #1 - Driving. #1 because it was the most important manifestation I had for myself. I wanted to drive confidently. I wanted to be able to drive on my own. I set down a target of 1000 km because I was not sure I would stay consistent to hit anything above that. I then started noting down the kilometers I covered evey time I took the car out. Jan 1 - Start of the year, my husband and I went along for a temple visit, just 2 km from home because I wanted to start the driving from Day 1 of the year. Enroute , a bike was speeding on the opposite direction and skid away right towards my car. There was no one ahead of me and behind, so I stopped. Wheeeeeee, he...

December - Day 2 Last year, I decided to follow the path of manifestation. Yes, it feels cringe and too predictable, but hey, what is the harm in trying, right ? So there I was, on a workshop with a friend to build out my vision board. The image you see here is an AI generated image of what I put together on paper. Pretty close I would say! Interesting to note that i first created a prompt on Perplexity pro to describe the hand drawn vision board and then used that text on Canva to generate this image. I must say, it is impressive. Now back to the vision board, I plan to double click(yes, the impact of my work calls) on each of these over the next couple of days. Now I have content lined up over next one week! Yayy! 2025 did bring expected and unexpected twists and turns in my life, but this vision board kept me grounded. Havingit right in front of my workstation at home helped me reinforce the year's goals. I also went through an executive coaching program which was instr...

The first day of the last month of the year 2025 is here! What a year this has been! When we started the year, GenAI had not shot up in fame yet. We were still writing a lot on our own, yes, I did stop posting here as frequently as I did earlier too! I am an enthusiastic user of all things AI, but that has also prompted me, ironically, to start writing once again. I am more inclined to write for fun. I am more incentivized to write original stuff to stay close to my core self. I used to write for the fun of it. I used to write because I loved it. I still do, unfortunately to my work colleagues and clients only. Well, I do write up interesting prompts too and get very original outcomes as well. There's just something about writing that is liberating. For the last 5 years, I have been writing in my journals. I have been able to express emotions which I cannot do on an online platform. I have poured out my feelings of betrayal and abandonment as much as my joys and achievements. I h...