Pledge to #ShareTheLoad – #WashBucketChallenge

After making it into the top 15 in the #IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob, I was inspired to write for the second phase as well. BlogAdda has launched this awesome initiative in collaboration with Ariel to promote gender equality, sparking that little fire in men to #ShareTheLoad and take up the #WashBucketChallenge.

I clicked on the register button without hesitating even a little bit because I knew that my brother was going to get stoked when I hand him the Ariel Matic packet. Usually, he gets to rip open the package before I even get to it, but luckily, I was home when it came along and I hid it to surprise him the next day.

Since my mother is out-of-town for almost a month both my dad and brother are like fish out of water without her. My dad is equipped with a meager knowledge of cooking skills and barely survives a day without the aroma of her perfectly cooked food. And now my brother has taken up charge in the laundry department, running up to the terrace every night to collect his washed uniform. He has learned to compartmentalize his clothes on the sofa the night before he goes to school.

I handed the packet to him this morning and grinned hopelessly. After all, I was going to take pictures of him doing the laundry and I could not contain my enthusiasm.

“Today is your lucky day, bro. You are going to be the star of my #WashBucketChallenge post!”

He simply frowned at me and snatched it from my hands. But I knew that he was thrilled to use the powder as we love getting stuff from BlogAdda. He shoved me aside with the laundry basket and said, “Now if you will excuse me, I have some real work to do.”

He dumped the clothes in the top loading washing machine and sprinkled the Ariel Matic powder into the detergent slot. I clicked a few pictures as he meticulously did the laundry like a ritual, much to his infuriation. But I know him better than that. He was enjoying all the attention he was getting. He even posed for a few snaps.

 I made him smell his school shirt after taking it out of the washing machine just to add that extra effect, but mostly because I was having a lot of fun making him do the work.

I knew that mom would be proud of me after reading this post! And that was how my brother took up Ariel’s #WashBucketChallenge to #ShareTheLoad.

I nominate the following bloggers to take up the #WashBucketChallenge :

Pooja Sathyanarayanan

Fahima Mohideen

Swati Shenoy

Teny

Proactive Indian

This review is a part of the biggest Sponsored Review Program for Indian Bloggers.

What makes me happy!

Life is full of surprises, but we don’t give it enough time or thought. We don’t have the patience to stop by and smell the flowers. On a constant race to please others and what they might think about us, we forget to live our life for ourselves. We forget that we need to please ourselves first. What happened to that time when grandmother’s samosas would be cracking in the frying pan and our hungry tummies would hum along with it? What happened to that moment when we would munch on those regal green mangoes after dipping them in a mixture of salt and chilli powder?

No one knows what is in store for us in the future and we miss out on living our lives to the fullest. We miss out on living in the moment. It does not necessarily have to be a surging amount of joy that might drown you in it. A little thing that might make you reminisce about the good old days, when you can travel back to your childhood in a fraction of a second and grin like an idiot.

Remember that time when you blushed when your crush might have caught you staring at him, or when you daydreamed about him for hours together and still never got tired of it. It all seems like a stupid dream now, but it still brings a smile to your face when you think about it.

Try not to forget what you are passionate about. Try not to forget what makes you smile most. I still love the thrill of facing the gaze of hundreds of people upon me when I am on the stage and about to deliver a speech. It reminds me of who I am and what I do best, and that makes me happy. It makes me brave because even though my nerves freeze up a little bit and my palms might get twitchy, I know that I love public speaking.

A similar feeling occurs when I erratically scratch onto a paper and a poem just magically falls into place. I love how it constructs itself robotically as I play along with the words. That is a simple joy amidst of all the crap that I might be going through at that moment, mostly when I have an assignment due the next day.

But today we forget all those small things that brought a smile to our faces. We forget what actually made us happy because we give importance to things that might not even be of actual relevance. Go down the memory lane and recollect that moment when you actually smiled, it is never too late. We fail to do that the most as we strive to make a better future for ourselves. Be happy now, so that you can travel to a better tomorrow.

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Experience the Virtual World – #ChooseToStart With Moto E

Imagine you have never had a smart phone in your entire life and you don’t know how to use one at all. Why would you choose the all new Moto E? Well, I’ll tell you why.

Don’t we all want a smart phone that fits perfectly in our back pocket? Don’t we all want to browse videos on YouTube without the phone slipping out of our grip, well, no worries because the all new Moto E is here! Its classy features have been blended into one little window. It uses the latest version of the Android OS called Lollipop which allows you to experience the smart phone world extravagantly.

But the real question is why would you want to associate yourself with this phone? What is so special about this phone that the other smartphones do not possess?

This phone is an economical option when in comparison to the other phones dominating the market. It focuses on a cost-effective way to experience a smart phone and we don’t have to shell out a lump sum amount too. With a speed of about 4G LTE, the phone zooms into images, games and videos, aiding smooth browsing on the all new Moto E. The Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with a 1.2GHz quad-core CPU and advanced graphics which helps you to swap back and forth between multiple apps without slowing down the phone’s system. Now who doesn’t like to multitask in today’s world?

The need of the hour is to have all-day charge on our smartphones, because it is basically fodder for our lives. Can you imagine a day passing by without using your phone? Be it clicking an image of the food you eat and posting it on Instagram to selfies in the loo, the two camera feature on this phone supports all that. Beautifying the phone with its sexy and colourful grip tags not only helps you to hold your phone without it falling out of your hands but also gives off a trendy whiff.

Now don’t you want to #ChooseToStart with the brand new Moto E? I know I do.

 

This post is a part of the #ChooseToStart contest by the all new Moto E in collaboration with IndiBlogger.

Late Night Movie Marathons

My husband and I were watching the philosopher’s stone, part one of the Harry Potter series the other night and I could not help but hark back to the time when I used to do the same with my brother. It was this weekend ritual, one that we upheld for quite a long time. It comprised of not only the Harry Potter movies, but also The Lord of the Rings trilogy as well.

My father had this thing for curfews and he loved to throw them around. We could not stay up after eleven pm on a school night. But we somehow got him to agree to let us do our late night movie marathons during vacations. And trust me when I say that it is not an easy thing to get my dad to agree to something that he never really believes in. It is just that he has the same nocturnal tendencies and he doesn’t want his kids to catch his fever. We knew that we had inherited our love for movies from dear old dad and that was his biggest regret. He gets very particular about the specifics sometimes, scratch that, ALWAYS. His biggest fear is that it would affect our academics and he could not risk that!

We would sneak into the kitchen at night, knowing all too well that mom would kill us if we screw up her baby. That’s right, the kitchen was her third child. I would get the popcorn popping on the stove and my brother would pour drinks into large glasses that could knock off pigeons. Let me not forget the large glass bowls filled with London Dairy Double Chocolate ice-cream topped with cashews and almonds, and finally, some chocolate sauce harboring all that sweet goodness.

The best part about watching these movies with my brother is that we would get in sync with the dialogues and enact the scenes straight off. There is this one particular scene from the Lord of the Rings which we love to enact, the scene where Lord Elrond presents Andúril to Aragorn so that he can command the ghost army that dwells in the mountain and claim the throne as the rightful king of Gondor. My brother would play Lord Elrond to perfection and I would struggle to keep a straight face after seeing the depth of his acting skills. It is funny how this sibling bond works like magic. We would perfectly deliver the dialogues, automatically claiming the characters in the movie without clashing! There would be this ridiculous moment when we would spot something on-screen at the same time and burst into a fit of laughter like maniacs and my dad would scream at us from time to time to reduce the volume.

Even though we never get along and we cannot stand each other, I love spending time with the little kid. I hate to admit this but after moving out of town, I miss him the most. That kid has seen all of my phases and knows about each and every obsession of mine. He still insults my obsession with certain fictional characters from T.V shows and films and I wouldn’t hesitate to break his nose. No one dares to mess with him when I am around and I love that powerful feeling. Now, I tell him that I miss beating the crap out of him the most after getting married and he just smirks at me. We can never stop fighting or hurting each other because that is just how our universe works and I am perfectly fine with it. That is how we bring positivity and optimism into each others’ lives mutually.

I know that I can always tell him anything, despite him being six years younger to me. I am proud of how he has matured into a thoughtful young man and I cannot help but pat myself on the back for having done a splendid job. We keep each other grounded and flash the reality of the masks we put on in our daily lives to one another. He is someone who can help me keep my sanity in check or drive me nuts beyond recognition too. But it is a good balance and I love our bond.

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Flicker of Hope

Pregnancy can be a tricky period. There would be this one minute when you are joyous beyond your comprehension and the next minute you would just want to bash your husband’s head on the wall, especially when mine has this annoying habit of breaking into a song. Trust me when I say that HE CANNOT SING. Now that I am in my third trimester, I have somehow overcome throwing silly temper tantrums. But the worst part is that I would never know what is going to make me angry. I cannot predict when the she-hulk would just pop out and make a mess.

There were times when I would just lie on the bed, waiting for the day to end. And I mean literally lie on the bed and wait for the day to just pass by, because life was so meaningless. Of course, I had miraculous moments when I felt the baby’s first kick and I incessantly started to feel it moving around in my body. It was weird and cool at the same time. I don’t think I can explain how I feel every time that happens. I guess you just have to experience it.

I live in Sweden with my husband and it gets lonely here. You would think that I have all the time in the world to do what I want and do it when I please. But I miss the schedule and the people. Most of all, I miss my mom’s food. One of the cruelest things is that I cannot eat a single meal cooked by my mom. Sometimes I would just lose hope and shut myself in the house for weeks. I know that is selfish of me to deprive my baby of fresh air and the sun. (Which never comes out unless it pleases!) And I would buck up for my baby, who constantly conveys wise words to me. I would just rant away my thoughts and problems to it and I would feel better all of a sudden. It would feel like someone is there to listen to me, someone actually cares.

I know I can always talk to my husband, but like I said, pregnancy changes you. I got to discover a whole new side of me. It was bizarre in every way, but I knew that I could handle it, because I had this someone with me, who would relentlessly be my company without my asking for it. It felt nice, it felt like I am loved and wanted. I realized that my baby is the key to my being happy and healthy. I know that it is foolish to acknowledge that my unborn child is my knight in shining armor, but to hell with it, it is what it is!

Hope can be given to someone in many ways. Sometimes, it can be a thought, sometimes it can be the smile of the person you love the most and sometimes, it can be a simple nudge of your baby from within you.

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This post is a part of Indi-Happy Hours in association with Housing.