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Wow ! October is flying by and I can’t believe we’re already half way through the Ultimate Blog Challenge !

How have you been faring through out the challenge ? Are you on-track or perhaps behind by a post or two ? Did you schedule your blog posts or did you just set your mind to write a new post each day ?

I have compiled pretty much all the ‘quotes’ that I want to use for each day of the challenge; but with my current work schedule and the lack of network in the cities I will be visiting over the next week - I really hope all my scheduled posts go up as they should.

How many blogs have you been visiting through the challenge ? I've book marked about 2 dozen of them that I've quite enjoyed and also try to use the 'comment chain' on the UBC FB page to discover new blogs.  However I'm a bit bummed that I haven’t been able to push and promote my own posts as much as I would have liked. Also I've noticed that not everyone promotes other peoples posts over social media which I suppose is fine but it would be nice if everyone encourages others too.  I make it a point to tweet the posts that I've enjoyed with the #blogboost tag and the blogger Twitter handle so that others can also enjoy the posts I have discovered. 

So guys, if you are participating in the UBC, don't forget to share the love among your own FB and Twitter followers and give a fellow blogger a real #blogboost.  If you share my posts - I will be sharing yours =) 

Good luck to everyone of you out there who are blogging for the UBC – give yourself a huge round of applause ‘cos we are already half way through the challenge ! You can do it ! Keep Blogging ! 


Do you recall the popularity game in school or university ? The one where who was who was determined on how many friends one had ? Nowadays it's all about how many 'Facebook friends' one has.  

Through our lives we will encounter plenty of new people; school, university, work, friends of friends, and for the married couples - they will meet other parents through childrens' play dates .. and now thanks to Facebook we can pretty much be 'friends' with anyone.  BUT when it comes down to our actual close friends - the kind that you would call in a crisis or the one who would understand your rambling even though those around wouldn't be able to .. those friends you could count on one or both hands.

Today due to the nature of my business and largely 'cos of my personality - I actually 'know' over 2000 people (split into friends - school / university; family, acquaintances - some more than others - and even clients).  But when push comes to shove; I 'know' those that I can be certain of - they are the ones that matter.  These friends live in different parts of the world - I don't get to see them as often as I would like but I know they are there.  And for that - I'm grateful.

Just because one is surrounded by a flock of people - doesn't mean that they will follow-through when it matters.  Know who your 'real' friends are and keep them close.  It's hard to forge friendships as we grow older and we should value those that matter to us.  

This particular post 'quote' was not part of my original list of quotes but seeing that today 13th October is 'No Bra Day' I thought I'd tweak the content (just for today hehe) because I'm pretty sure most women would feel similarly on the subject. 


On a serious note, the first thing I do once I know I don't have to step out again is unhook the bra and take it off !! Sometimes I just feel almost claustrophobic in one - especially if I've had an early start to the day ! (then again I'm not a fan of having much clothes on in the first place so no surprises that I throw the bra off ) 


So to all my female readers, were you aware about No Bra Day ? Did you know that the actual point of it is to raise breast cancer awareness ? (how - I'm not sure but at least people are talking which means there's X amount of awareness right ?) How do you feel about your bra ? Are you a bra-abuser (the kind that throws it around and doesn't care for them) or are you a bra-fanatic (lots of colours, styles etc ?) 
Age is but a number and should never determine what you can and cannot do.  That's what I believe.  Why should you limit yourself because society has predetermined age brackets for everything including when one should 'ideally' finish their education or get married or have children (okay so the last two are specifically targeted at women but society does this and it irritates the hell out of me)

We have one life to live and we should make the most of it.  I know people who dread their birthdays and when they hit milestones they go into a panicked frenzy.  Not me.  I love my birthday and think of ways to celebrate in a bigger way each year.  I'm technically 31 but I have the same spirit and energy levels as I did when I was a teen and in my 20's.  

When people say random things that are age related I often wonder - why do we focus on 'age' ? How does it matter ?  Indian society puts this invisible pressure on young women to marry & settle down by a certain age otherwise they won't find someone.  If they are married - then there's the pressure of having a child by a certain age or else there will be complications.  It just goes on. (Never hear this being said to men - wonder how they would react to it) 

I'm happy to be living my life just the way I want.  I'm up for trying new activities and always ready for an adventure.  I'm always going to be my Mums' daughter and to her - that means I'm a kid (regardless of my age).  The thing about life is that we think we have time but really we don't.  So if we aren't going to live our life the way we want right now - when the hell are we gonna do that ?? Leave no room for regret is all I've got to say.

Do you live your life by your age or do you let yourself live the way you want to you ? Do you ever find yourself factoring your age into decisions that you make ? 


Fact - we don't actually know how much time we have.  And yet we just put things off for another day thinking we have time.  Why ? 


We all have a bit of a procrastinator in us.  It's only natural I suppose.  It could be about the little things or even the big things (and you need to be careful there 'cos that can cause some trouble!).  

I lost my Dad 2 months ago.  I always 'knew' someday it would come to this - but when it happened - it was like someone punched me hard in the stomach and knocked the wind out of me.  I was fortunate enough to be able to spend time with him in the hospital and tell him all the things I wanted to tell him ... but at that point he wasn't capable of speech so I never really know what he had to say about what I spoke to him about.  One of the things I did tell him was that I wished I had spoken to him more over the years and not put off having a chat with him for another day.  I had time to do everything else but sit down and 'talk' to him; that's something I realize now and I regret it.  

Life is short.  You need to prioritize all the things that matter to you and go out there and live your dream life.  Do the things that matter most to you.  Speak to the people you care about.  Write that email or letter that you've been putting off.  Tell someone how you feel about them - no matter what the response is.  Go on that vacation or road trip you've always wanted to embark on.  Take control of the time that you have and ENJOY it.  Do it with passion or not at all.  Seriously, life is too short to stress yourself ! Also, if you can't find the time to fit something or someone into your life - just let it go. 

I've always lived by the above but never really 'valued' the 'time frame' I have to do all that I want to do because I took it for granted that 'there's time' for that to happen.  Until I lost my Dad.  That's when it really hit me that time flies.  I mean really flies.  We get so caught up in our day-to-day routines that we forget to feel 'alive'.  We take it for granted that we will probably live up to the age of 60 and be relatively healthy - but what good is that if you haven't actually lived ?  One must learn to listen to our hearts and take all the chances we can get so that there's no room for regret. 

Thoughts ? What are some of the things you've put off doing because you think you have time ?  

The hours I have spent having random late night conversations with my closest friends (and every now and then with a stranger) have given me an insight into them that otherwise would have taken much longer to discover during our friendship.


My girl DA and I can talk for hours; and I really mean hours.  We've had marathon chats lasting over 4 hours and the interruptions are courtesy of bad internet connections. (She's in London, I'm in Bombay, and to avoid massive phone bills there's Skype & Viber).  During our last conversation, my eyes were gritty, and my wrist hurt from holding the phone and I kid you not, I must have even dozed off at some point.  You know when you can 'hear' everything the other person is saying and your responses seem coherent in your head but you can't quite get the words out ... Even though she asked if I wanted to go to bed - I told her I had to stay up talking to her ! Yup that's the extent of late night convos I've had.  

Years ago one of my best friends' RR and I sat on the roof of his 4x4 on the beach in the middle of the night and chatted until it was well past my curfew and I ended up sneaking back into the house.  We haven't had a chat like that in years now but THAT was enough to keep us going more than a decade later. 

I haven't been in a relationship in a while now but when I used to be - the late night conversations were always there (on the phone or in person).  I remember when I left for university, my then boyfriend would call me despite the 13 hour time difference and we would chat until one of us dozed off before cutting the line.  I don't know if people do that anymore - I hope they do because there's something really special about it.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that - if you haven't really spoken to someone well past the hours of midnight - then you haven't had a really deep conversation with them.  There's 'day time' chats / social chats at parties etc but the 'real' conversations only happen when two people have time .. and that tends to be at the end of a long day .. Believe me when I say this - but you will discover another side of a person whom you know ... Am curious to know your thoughts on this ... 
The more we wonder about the "whys / what ifs"  when it comes to our past - the more likely we are to do a quick u-turn and find ourselves in the same situation as if in a time loop. 

In order to avoid doing so - we must make a conscious choice to keep moving forward and not be dragged back into the past. 

I apply this thought process to pretty much everything I do - even when it comes to personal relationships with people.  If I don't think someone is right for me overall - I let go and just move forward.  I don't spend too much time dwelling because there's no point in it.  

If something isn't working out for you - regardless of the situation i.e. work / personal life / education etc chalk out your options / alternatives and strive forward.  Once you've made that choice - don't dwell on the past.  This is when applying the 3 C's of Life will help you : make a choice to take a chance to change your life ! 

How do you stop yourself from looking back ? How do you stay focused on the future and not linger on the past ? 
Have you ever found yourself wondering 'what if' ... Whenever I find myself doing that I remind myself that at that stage in my life - it was my conscious choice to follow a certain path or to make a certain decision.  It was all in my control and I chose to do whatever it was that has eventually bought me to where I am.

I believe in speaking my mind - I don't believe in holding back.  I have had some interesting adventures over the years.  I've made life altering decisions by packing up & moving from London to Bombay and shuffling my life like one would a deck of cards.  When it comes to dating or pursuing relationships; be it confessing about a crush on someone or even connecting with a stranger on a flight  - I've taken those chances just so that I'm not wondering 'what if'.    

I'm living life on my terms.  And hopefully in the process will leave no room for regret when I look back at where I am.  The next time you find yourself wondering 'what if' - just stop and if it's something you really want to do; just take baby steps towards it.  [On a serious note if you're depressed and / suicidal - please talk to someone and don't do anything you will actually regret] 

If you have a goal - strive towards it because it sure as hell isn't going to swagger over to you.  If you see someone attractive or wearing amazing clothes - just say something to them and make their day - who knows what a compliment can lead to.  

Do you regret any chances that you didn't take ? What about all the things you did that you wouldn't change if given the chance to ? 
I've never been one to listen to music with 'lyrics' or 'words' - and my friends tease me immensely about this.  But when I do listen to music with lyrics - I can relate to it .. and I mean really relate to it. 

 Have you ever come across a piece of music of really touches you ? I mean to the core ? Leaves you with goose bumps or even slightly teary eyed ?  Have you ever felt that a song captures the exact feeling that you wish to convey or captures your emotions completely ? Please do share your favourite track so that I can have a listen too ! 

 So why not put aside a few minutes today (after all it is a Monday) and just lie down & listen to good music :) I'd like to recommend Deepak Chopra feat Demi Moore - Desire ; Wolfsheim - Dream of You and Deep Dish - Can You Feel it 
Can we really manage our expectations of those around us ?  This is a subject that has been on my mind for a while now and I really went into it last year during the UBC where I wrote a post titled 'To Expect or Not To Expect?'

I really feel that nowadays people just don't value those around them and hence everyone has sort of let their personal expectations just fall atrociously.  

I've always believed that if you want to get something done - then you ought to do it yourself for the best results (unless of course it's something you realistically cannot do e.g carpentry work in my case).  I've also learned over the last decade or so that people will somehow disappoint you if you don't manage your expectation levels of them.  

I tend to be hard on those around me because I know without doubt that if they asked me for something - I would do it to the best of my ability with no room for complaints or disappointment; and the reason I'm hard about it is because if it was the other way around - I'm more than likely to be disappointed by the outcome.  It's not as if that person is doing wrong intentionally - it's just that somehow we've all let our standards drop. 

To make my life easier - especially when dealing with the work culture of India - I've learned to just lower my expectations to ground level.  It saves me drama and time wasted on the phone giving the other person grief for just not doing their job.  When it comes to people - as harsh as it sounds - I'm the same.  My closest friends aren't included in this because we have an understanding that has developed over 2 decades.  I have no expectation from the new people in my life to avoid being disappointed.  Every now and then it's only natural that I do have some form of expectation and then I get a reality check and I'm back on the right path. 

Maybe this outlook works for me because I'm quite realistic about what goes on around me.  Maybe it's just too cynical.  I don't know - but what I can say is that ever since I have lowered my expectations of all that goes on around me - I'm in a better place.  I'm not getting annoyed or pissed off and my personal ranting sessions have definitely reduced according to friends. 

What are your thoughts on this quote ? Can you relate or not at all ? 



I've realized that it when it comes down to being able to participate fully in a blogging challenge - not only do you need some sort of 'theme' or thought process but your capacity to complete the challenge depends on the content of what you write (and in an ideal situation you would be blogging about topics that you actually LIKE) 

I'm pretty chuffed with myself because I've managed to put aside about 40 or so 'image quotes' that have caught my attention; and I intend to use  them through the course of the challenge.  High five to me for outlining posts up to a week in advance ! Woohooo !  If you don't already know my theme for the challenge - it's using 'image quotes' that make you stop & think. 

So my question to you fellow bloggers is ... what are you writing about during the challenge ?  Is the content similar to what you already have on your blog or is it something different ?  What do you enjoy writing ? How are you finding the challenge so far ? 


This quote is so me ! The thought of letting an outfit go to waste at an occasion that doesn't warrant it - is just frustrating ! That means that particular item of clothing / combination of clothing gets put into the back of my closest for at least a few weeks (if not months as has been in the case with some of my outfits). 

I'm the type of person who doesn't really like to repeat my outfits - particularly my evening wear.  This stems from the fact that I'm labelled 'paparazzi / paparazzo' by those nearest to me and tend to upload at least 75 to 100 photos from every day / night out.  This means that my 'outfit' has been seen by pretty much everyone I know - and this lil' diva isn't about to be caught in the same outfit twice with the same crowd of people (yes I'm that finicky about repeating my clothes) and within a time frame of 3 months. That's the minimum break any outfit needs if one socializes on the levels that I do.  

 I reckon most of the women reading this post will agree with me on the above quote.  Don't get me wrong - I have no qualms repeating my regular day-to-day attire; it's all my party attire that I get paranoid over.  What about you ? Have you ever worried about wasting an outfit ? Gents - I'm sure it may have crossed your mind at some stage.   Thoughts ? 
Last year during the UBC I wrote a post titled 'Stop Complaining' and it's no surprise that this particular sign / quote appealed to me. 

I have noticed that from the time I returned from my mini-hiatus in London last year - I've definitely improved when it comes to the amount of complaining / bitching I do about living in India.  Every now and then I will have a massive outburst because I've hit my bullshit tolerance level - and then it's all 'wooo-saaaa' again.  

I wouldn't say I enjoy my life in India 'more' because I'm bitching less - but it's definitely much more tolerable and I'm less disillusioned by it all.  I've come to accept certain things about the society and how things like idiot drivers on the road; and lack of professionalism are somethings I cannot change (and I will probably end up giving myself a stroke if I tried).  Besides, when it gets over bearing for me out here - I can just pack up and leave for a much deserved break.  

What about you ? Have you ever found yourself bitching about situations and somehow missing out on the moments that pass you by ? What are the steps you have taken to consciously not moan about things ? Do you notice any changes in your life since taking that step ? 

 p.s I will admit that I bitched like a cranky kid tonight at dinner at San-Qi at the Four Seasons Hotel tonight 'cos I was just not impressed with the meal (although not surprised, since I have the worst luck when it comes to eating out - my meal order always ends up wrong !) 


Where would we be without our hearts today ? How often do we really listen to what our hearts want ? Are you following the path that your heart wants you to go in or are you just going down a path hoping it leads you to where you eventually want to be ? 

The majority of the time - I do what I want to do as it stems from the heart. Every now and then I find myself blocking what my heart wants because my head says to think better.  It's a delicate balancing act - following your heart and mind.  It's during those times I am reminded that something is missing (and it's clearly what my heart wants) ... but it doesn't always mean that it is right for me.  It could be - but as we all know - the heart is full of emotion and the mind is logical.

How often do you find yourself battling between matters of the heart and the mind ? 
I thought it was only appropriate to start off the challenge with a quote that goes very well with my challenge theme which is 'Think About It'.


When it comes to participating in something like the Ultimate Blog Challenge - whilst it seems 'all good' and 'doable' when signing up for it - the trouble most people have is actually 'starting' the blogging process.

From the moment I saw this - I knew - that if I had to get out of my blogging rut; then I'd have to start somewhere.  Even if it meant getting back to regular blogging by participating in a challenge.   So for all of you out there taking part for the first time (and even those who are regulars) - we all have to start somewhere - and luckily with the UBC you have the support of thousands of other bloggers who are participating to keep encouraging you throughout the month. 

Are you following a theme for the UBC ? Don't forget to share your blog link in the comments below so I can come over for a read :) 

Happy Blogging Everyone and Good Luck with the Challenge !