Movies that have inspired me: Wild (2014)

Hello all you happy people. I am back after a long hiatus and it feels great to be writing again. As the title suggests, I am starting a new series where I talk about movies that have made an impact on me. I am starting off with one of my favourite movies of all time, Wild. It stars Reese Witherspoon and is based on Cheryl Strayed’s memoir of the same name. It is the story of a recently divorced Cheryl who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) for 94 days, all by herself. It is about her journey, her struggle before and on the PCT.  It essentially is the story about healing and rediscovering yourself.

The movie begins with Cheryl starting her hike from Mojave dessert. On the first day, she struggles with everything, right from her bag to the tent, to cooking a meal (she brings wrong fuel for the stove), to sleeping at night. For 8 days, she continues walking, but she is constantly thinking, “Should I stay (on the PCT) or should I go?” On day 8, she meets a construction worker who takes her home, helps her in getting the fuel for her stove and his wife serves her warm meal, which Cheryl hasn’t had since 8 days. On day 14, she meets other hikers at a camp called Kennedy Meadows. There a person named Ed helps her in decreasing the weight of her backpack, by throwing out stuff she doesn’t need. He also helps her with the shoes, which were a size smaller for her. After that, she walks through the snow for days, lost for direction. She still continues her trail, getting bruises here and there, losing her shoes, walking with floaters duct taped to her feet. On day 49, she finally gets new shoes. On day 58, she runs out of water, meets creepy hikers near a water body and runs away scared. On day 62, she reaches Oregon, there on the sea shore, she finally lets go of her feelings for her ex-husband. She writes to him saying, “Dear Paul, I woke up this morning and wrote your name on sand. I have done that on every beach I’ve been to ever since I met you. But I am not going to do it again. I am ready to move on.” She continues her journey meeting fellow hikers along the way who name her “The queen of PCT”. On day 80, she meets a child named Kyle and his grandmother. Kyle tells her that she is staying with his grandmother because his parents have problems, to which Cheryl replies, “Everybody has problems. But problems don’t stay problems, they turn into something else.” After this meeting, she finally breaks down missing her dead mother. On her final day, she reaches the ‘Bridge of gods’, feeling satisfied, thanking the trail for everything it had taught her and everything she couldn’t yet know.

In the flashbacks it is revealed that Cheryl had an abusive father, who her mother later leaves. Her mother, Bobbi raises Cheryl and her brother single-handedly, she takes classes in the morning and works in the evening. Bobbi is really the love of Cheryl’s life. She is happy, loves her children unconditionally and is full of life. There is a scene where she says, “We have nothing, but we are rich in love”. Bobbi is diagnosed with cancer and dies at the age of 45. And after that Cheryl goes into depression. She then cheats on her husband several times, does drugs and gets pregnant with some random guy that she sleeps with. While she goes to a store to buy the pregnancy test, she comes across a guide to PCT and it stays in her mind. She gets an abortion, breaks down before her friend and says, “I don’t know when I became such a piece of shit. I was strong, responsible. I wanted things in life. I was good you know. I ruined my marriage and now I am ruining the rest of my life. I gotta walk myself back to the woman my mother thought I was.” And that’s when she decides to go on the PCT.

Cheryl’s journey is so inspiring for me and quiet relatable too. I had a tough time growing up and I have been on my own, emotionally since I was very young, I mean yes I had my parents, family and friends, but I am a loner and an introvert. Last few years have been extremely tough for me. I lost jobs, I was failing at every single step that I took, all my decisions were turning out to be wrong, I didn’t feel like I was enough, insecurities crept in and my mental health suffered. Everyone around me was moving ahead and I was stuck at this dark place, carrying a burden of being a loser and a disaster at life. I had lost myself, trying to find a purpose and I didn’t know where I was going. I still am trying to figure out my best self, still trying to heal my heart but I know this for sure that I love my life too deeply to quit midway. I don’t know what life has in store for me, but I will continue fighting for everything I want, till the very end. Cheryl’s story restored my belief in the fact that if you keep going, despite of all the obstacles, you eventually get there, and it’s all beautiful in the end. There is this one particular portion of Cheryl’s monologue at the end that has stayed with me and I want you all to take away from this article. It goes, “After I lost myself in the wilderness of my grief, I found my way out of the woods. I didn’t even know where I was going until I got there”.

If you have any movies that have made a powerful impact on you, let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your stories. I take your leave here. Have a great week and I will see you all very soon.

How to motivate yourself

Hello all you happy people, motivating yourself every day to stay true to your goal is definitely a challenge. So here are three practical tips which will help you stay motivated.

1. Set a goal:

The first step is to set a goal, a destination which you wish to reach. Set a goal that would make you wake up in the morning and say “Yes, I can do this”. It should challenge you and make you push yourself harder every single day. It should be something that you always wanted to do, but never had the courage to do so. Just remember, your goal doesn’t have to be the same as everyone else, it can as simple as fitting into that t-shirt. What matters is, that it should bring about positive change in your life.

2. Remind yourself:

          Setting up a goal isn’t enough, you need to keep checking on it from time to time. One of the best way to do this is keep a journal. Bookmark all your achievements, record all the hard work that you have put into to come this far. So if ever you stray away from your goal, you can look at it and that in turn will help you stay focussed. If at all you feel like quitting, you can go back and see how far you have come. Another way to remind yourself is to post pictures or motivational quotes or just about anything that will help you stay on the track. Post it wherever you can see it every day, at work, at home, just about everywhere.

3. Get the subconscious:

Even after putting in a lot of hard work, there might be some other factors which might stop you from staying focussed. So training your subconscious mind is the key here. Meet people who have similar goals as you, read articles and watch videos not only about the benefits of reaching your destination, but also on what would happen if you fail to do so. We spend quiet a lot of time on social media and there are so many pages and communities that will inspire you, follow those. The best way to get the attention of your mind is to visualize your outcome, what would happen if you actually achieved your goal, the happiness that you would feel for having come this far in your journey. That would make you work harder towards your goal.

Just remember that motivation comes from within, it’s YOU who has the ability to make a difference and change for good. So friends, if you agree with me or if you some other tips, let me know in the comments below. If you have any suggestions, feel free to catch up with me here or on Google+ or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AHappyGirlWrites) or Instagram (a.happy.girl.writes) or on Twitter (A_Happy_Girl2) or Snapchat (ahappy.girl) or Tumblr (ahappygirlwrites) or on We Heart It (ahappygirlwrites). Until next time, keep smiling and I will be back soon. Don’t forget to have a happy day J.

The perfect woman of his dreams

Hello beautiful ladies. Today I am going to talk, rather “rant” about the “perfect woman”. It is written with a hint of sarcasm, a pinch of exaggeration and whole lot of reality. Hope you enjoy it.

The perfect “woman” (and not a girl) is someone who is strong, independent, matured yet not above him. She is the one who wakes up early in the morning, does yoga (to keep herself fit), then cooks healthy breakfast for the family and leaves for work, while dropping off the kids to school. She works hard and doesn’t “bother” him with “unwanted” calls or texts during the day. She also packs his favourite lunch. Then she comes home in the evening and starts making a three-course meal for dinner, which is ready before he gets home. She looks after his ageing parents, not so much about her own. She goes on brunches with his cousins, playing the perfect “bhabhi”. And on weekends, she invites his friends and family for lunch and whips up delicious dishes one after the other.

She is caring, sweet, loving and dedicated only to him. She supports him in every single situation, without expecting anything. Well she does not have any expectations in general. She always makes right decisions, but only after consulting him. She puts him, his priorities, his dreams and his aspirations before her and her own.

She never ever gets tired or angry. She always keeps a smile on her face and never whines or cries. She laughs her way through PMSs, periods and pregnancy. She is smart, intelligent and professional. She is financially independent and super successful. She brings home a 6 figure salary every month and believes in saving it all. The only time she goes shopping is for groceries. She rarely visits a salon, yet looks nothing less than a Bollywood diva 24*7. She is just amazing in bed and puts her yoga moves to test when the lights go off.

Also did I mention that she is not real? What he wants is a combination of 4 “categories” of women, namely a Sati-Savitri types (totally lady-like for his family and rest of the world), Black Widow/Wonder Woman (because she is perfect in every sense), Priyanka Chopra (in terms of her ambitions) and Sunny Leone (at night). He might be couple of million miles away from being Ryan Reynolds, but she should be and must be no less than Blake Lively.

So girls, if you agree with me or if you think I missed to mention some “qualities” of the perfect woman, let me know in the comments below. If you have any suggestions, feel free to catch up with me here or on Google+ or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AHappyGirlWrites) or Instagram (a.happy.girl.writes) or on Twitter (A_Happy_Girl2) or Snapchat (ahappy.girl) or Tumblr (ahappygirlwrites) or on We Heart It (ahappygirlwrites). Until next time, keep smiling and I will be back soon. Don’t forget to have a happy day J.

This too shall pass…………

Hello everyone. I haven’t written since ages and I am happy to be back. Today I am going to share with you my story that changed me forever. I hope you get some positivity out of it. So here it is.

The story begins with my life falling apart. I never had a perfect life. But what I had was a good happy life. And then slowly things started changing for worse. I completed my education with good marks but failed to find a job and my family was falling apart. Every passing day was becoming a nightmare for me. Soon the problems started building and so did my anxiety and stress. The happy chatty me was turned into a sad, depressed me. I used to pretend to be happy old me, but from the inside I was broken. I tried to get up every day and face the reality but I just couldn’t. I just wanted the day to get over so that I could crawl back to my bed and lay awake crying. I had lost all the hope in life. I had forgotten how to smile. I was absolutely clueless about my own life and I struggled to take care of my family.

Those six months were the worst of my life. I felt like running away from all of the mess I was into, but there was no way out, I had to face what was put before me. That phase was the toughest test of my life and I could survive all of that because I had the love and support of friends and some of my family members. All of them listened to me silently and told me that it will all be fine. They did not sympathize with me but supported me just by being there for me. Their words made me stronger. At times all you need is someone to just stand by you and tell you that this too shall pass.

Some situations were out of my control so the only option I had was to gather up all the courage I had and face the reality. Slowly things started getting better and I was getting back to being normal. I might not be completely happy and my life is far from being perfect. But I am positive and hopeful of making best out of my life. Such situations teach you much more than a book can ever teach. I look at it as a tested my endurance, my strength which pushed me beyond my limits. Now I am confident of facing any problem with courage. I might cry, but I won’t give up, I wasn’t ever meant to. I came out of it stronger, happier and more positive than I ever was.

So if you are going through a bad phase, I would tell you that this too shall pass and the life will be rainbows and unicorns soon, never stop believing in yourself and never ever quit.

So friends, if you have such experiences to share, let me know in the comments below. If you have any suggestions or if there is anything you want me to write about, feel free to catch up with me here or on Google+ or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AHappyGirlWrites) or Instagram (a.happy.girl.writes) or on Twitter (A_Happy_Girl2) or Snapchat (ahappy.girl) or Tumblr (ahappygirlwrites) or on We Heart It (ahappygirlwrites). Until next time, keep smiling and I will be back soon. Don’t forget to have a happy day J.

Keep walking….

Hello everyone and I wish you all a very happy new year. Hope you have a great year ahead. Today I am going to talk about something which I have been experiencing for quiet sometime and even you might have experienced it at some point of time in your live. So here it is.

We say that life is a journey and yes indeed it is a special journey. Your path might seem similar to someone else’s path, but I believe that everyone has a unique trip planned. Also each person has a different approach on how to walk this path. There might be times when you feel that there is darkness all around you and you can’t really see your way around. Just remember that the night is the darkest right before the sunshine, so just keep walking and I am sure the glorious sunshine will greet you soon. At some point you might take a wrong path and it might lead to a dead end. This is really hard to deal with but, all you can do is take a U-turn, get back to the main road and find a road that is worth travelling. It doesn’t matter how many times fail, what matters is how many times you pull yourself up. Just keep your head held high and be the creator of your own destiny.

Initially your family and later onthe experiences teach you how to carry on with the journey, but it is always you who has to walk. You will always find co-travellers, some will stay for a short span and some forever, some will guide you and some will mislead you, some will cheer for you and some will try to pull you down, some will fill you up with light and some will leave you with darkness. It is up to you to decide whom to walk with, so choose wisely. All I can say is you cannot expect life to be easy, else how you would know your true potential. But remember that the rainbows come right after the rains, so just keep walking till you find the sunshine. And I am sure, there will be a day when you would learn to run J.

If you have such experiences or if you have some other views on the journey called life, let me know in the comments below. If you have any suggestions or if there is anything you want me to write about, feel free to catch up with me here or on Google+ or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AHappyGirlWrites) or Instagram (a.happy.girl.writes) or on Twitter (A_Happy_Girl2) or Snapchat (ahappy.girl) or Tumblr (ahappygirlwrites) or on We Heart It (ahappygirlwrites). Until next time, keep smiling and I will be back soon. Don’t forget to have a happy day J.

Multi-tasking women in the ghoonghat

Hello everyone. I hope you all are doing great. Today I have an incident to share with you all. I somehow always believed that rather being born with multi-tasking quality, we women learn it as we transition from being girls to women. These women mentioned in the title have actually made me believed that we women are born to be multi-taskers. So here I narrate this particular incident.

Few weeks ago, I was out with my mother and we came across four to five small shops selling unbreakable utensils. Those were just temporary shops set up outside small huts. There was quiet a large crowd buying stuff out there, so out of curiosity we went there just to have a look around. My mom usually takes a lot of time to shop even for a pin, so I had a plenty of time to observe the people around. The scene I saw there was quiet a life changer for me. All the shops had women were selling the utensils. Each of the lady had a little baby on her lap and one or two more young kids. The men of the house were busy cooking. What struck me was the ability of these women to handle the customers, feeding the baby and keeping an eye on the other kids all at the same time. Also the men were letting their wives take the lead and helping them to deal with just the “I am the best bargainee” kind of people.

These people might not have read about or learnt or even heard about the word “multi-tasking” or “gender equality”, but they were so good at it that. There are times when we complain that we have so much to do and we have so little time to do that. But for me, these women were epitome of being the multi-taskers. There was so much to learn from these not so privileged women and men as well. If these women could do everything so perfectly, why not us? We have more facilities than them and we probably should stop complaining about too much work. I always believed that, if women are given chance, they can accomplish anything in this world. These women were just an example of that. I wish there were more men in our society who supported women and watch them succeed. This incident did leave an impact on me which is why I decided to share it with you all.

So friends, if you have any such incident to share with my friends over here, please feel free to write that in the comments below. If you have any suggestions or if there is anything you want me to write about or you want to share a picture of your recreation of this recipe, feel free to catch up with me here or on Google+ or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AHappyGirlWrites) or Instagram (a.happy.girl.writes) or on Twitter (A_Happy_Girl2) or Snapchat (ahappy.girl) or Tumblr (ahappygirlwrites) or on We Heart It (ahappygirlwrites). Until next time, keep smiling and I will be back soon. Don’t forget to have a happy day J.

Every “wrong” person is a lesson

             Hello everyone, I hope you all are doing great. Today I have a slightly hard hitting article to share with you all. As you might have guessed from the title that I am going to talk about the realities of life as taught by some people who in my opinion, no one should come across. Being a 25 year old, you kind of have seen “not so good” people. That in turn teaches you to distinguish between the people you want to be with and whom you never want to see ever in your life. And that is how we make the friends who stay with us forever. Just want to give out a disclaimer here that this article might be too much for some people, but I am just pouring my heart out so I hope you understand. And I truly believe that not everyone you meet will be the “wrong one”.

1. People might treat you like a “Use and Throw” object:

Many people stay with you until you are useful to them, but as soon as your usefulness diminishes and you are no longer useful to them, they start showing their true colours. They are the ones who start following the sign that is written at the back of most heavy vehicles, that reads “Keep safe distance”. In short they will start avoiding you in every way possible. If you ever have to deal with such a person, learn to be practical and not let him/her affect you in any way possible.

2. People might be your “Pretend friends”:

          Some people will always pretend to be your friends and try to show you how much they care for you. But the reality is completely different, they are just not your friends. They fall in the “Fake and Selfish” category of people. They will never truly care or love you no matter what. So you my dear, must learn to identify the Ron Weasley amongst the Draco Malfoys.

3. In your hardest time, you are almost alone:

          I can write pages after pages about this scenario, but let me keep it very brief. Trust me when I say that very few people actually want to be with you, when you are at your worst, not everyone is Dobby. No one wants to be with a sad loser, that’s the fact. So hold on to every soul who has supported you in your toughest time. Never let go of your family because they will always be there for you, no matter what.

4. People might take you for granted:

          A good person is most often taken for granted. So, some people will always want you to be good to them, no matter how they are. But we are all humans, you can be good to a person until other one is nice to you. But if the other person is on the opposite side of “good”, how can you be nice to him for long. These people take advantage of you and never ever return favours even in the smallest possible way. I would probably want to cut myself off from such a person.

5. People notice your faults first:

          Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that very few people actually like good things about you, most of them are usually busy finding out your faults? These people are toxic because they make you feel bad about yourself, because they are just perfect (sarcastically of course). No one is perfect, so people should just stop judging others and the world would be a happier place to live.

          So friends these are some people that have shown me the not so bright side to life. But I believe that every good person is a blessing and every bad, teaches you something. Always remember that life might be a thunderstorm sometimes, but wait for the rainbow. If you have any such experience, let me know in the comments below. Finally I would like to say that I wrote this article very impulsively, I hope no one gets offended.

If you have any suggestions or if there is anything you want me to write about, feel free to catch up with me here or on Google+ or on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/AHappyGirlWrites) or Instagram (a.happy.girl.writes) or on Twitter (A_Happy_Girl2) or Snapchat (ahappy.girl , even though I am very new to that). Till next time, keep smiling and I will be back soon. Have a happy day J.

Turning 25………………

Hello everyone, I had been away for a long time but I am back with an article close to my heart. Today I write this article that is about me turning 25. It is quite difficult for me to believe that I am 25 years old because I don’t feel any older than 18 (wink). But here I go with my story of turning 25.

                   25 is a phase where many of your friends are getting married or getting engaged or at least hooking up with some one. Others are having a great professional life and spending all of their money however they want to. You see the pictures of their amazing life on the social networking sites and can’t help feeling jealous about them. Then you look at yourself and you have no clue as to where you went wrong in life. You are single, with no idea about your career, you have no money and you live every day with a constant fear in your heart ‘What if I end up like this for the rest of my life?’ Life in short is just like the plot of an integer number, it is constant. You are just existing without a single idea about the motive of your life. But you know what? This might not just be my story, it might be the story of every other individual who is trying to figure out the meaning of their life.

And then when your mind is flooded with all of these thoughts, you message a friend (or that’s what you feel) and that person just makes you feel so positive and so loved and so important. But all of this is short lived and you are back to reality in no time. Trust me when I say that you don’t need a friend who makes you feel important temporarily. And then finally, when your stress levels shoot the peak, you pick up your phone to message an old friend whom you don’t talk to regularly. You pour your heart out to that friend and somehow you feel a little more relaxed and just a tiny bit more positive. Or maybe you just take a walk with a friend who has a life as f**ked up as yours and both of you share your problems with each other and that makes you feel better, thinking that you have someone who is walking on the same road as yours.

Believe me guys, life is tough but being an optimist is the only way out. Maybe someday you will get into an institution that you always wanted to get into. Maybe you will meet the man/woman of yours dreams or maybe you won’t, maybe you will end up alone. But one thing is for sure, you won’t end up unhappy. There is so much love and happiness in this world, I am sure we all will find happiness in something or the other. Someday your life will be close to what you had imagined it to be. Maybe not on your 25th but certainly on your 30th. So let’s be hopeful and let’s live our respective lives one day at a time and we all will get there for sure. Until then keep working hard with nothing but a smile on your face and I am sure we will find out the meaning of life in the most unexpected way.

So friends I hope you liked this article. Do share your experiences with me. Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2). If you have any suggestions or questions, please do comment down below.

OMG On Spot Beauty!!!!!

Hello happy people. I hope you all are doing great. Today I am going to share with you my experience about the most dreaded thing in this world (not really) PIMPLES & its scars (scream!!!!!!). It’s not really about pimples or its scars, but it is about people and their reaction to a girl with not so perfect face. So here I go.

My skin was perfectly normal until these little monsters started popping up on my face. They tried their best to make my life miserable, but could they????? Read on to find out ;) . When the pimples started appearing on my face, the people around me were little shocked. Then, the number of pimples started increasing and everybody was like “OMG what happened?? Are you okay???” Some comments that I received included “What did you do to your face??? It looks bad (Read: You look ugly)” That happens a lot when you are a student of all girl’s college :P . And then everyone around you becomes a Skin Specialist/Beauty Guru and they think that it is their fundamental right to suggest me some cure for my problem.

My experience at shops and malls was even better. Every salesgirl was trying to sell me some so called anti-acne products. I don’t buy such products because I know my skin and I know that it loves just natural products. I would like to narrate one such incident that happened while I was doing my regular beauty products shopping.

Salesgirl: Ma’am are you buying that facewash??

Me: Yes. I buy it every time. It kinda suits my skin.

Salesgirl: You have acne on your skin. Why don’t you try this facewash by so & so brand.

Me: No I am on medication for my acne and I can’t really try something new.

Salesgirl: You are taking medicines??? But it doesn’t look like that. I mean your face has sooooo many pimples. Try this facewash and they will disappear in a week or so.

Me: Sigh. I can’t really buy it. Thanks for your suggestion.

Why would I buy an overly priced (priced around 200 rupees) product from a so called famous company when my trusted friend Multani Mitti priced at 20 rupees does a better job??

I am not against people suggesting me cure for my problem. I am just against people constantly reminding me that my skin looks terrible. Who likes a face full of pimples??? No one. That includes me as well. But somehow due to some problems my skin doesn’t look perfect. And the best part is I am totally okay with it. The reason behind it is ‘Nothing lasts forever’ (definitely not my pimples). They are just there and I am trying my best to get rid of those. Even my doctor has advised me to use just natural products and of course her prescribed medicines.

The pimples won’t go away in a day or two. They need time to heal. Until that I just expect little co-operation from the people around me. I can’t really expect the salesgirls to stop selling me the products. But I can expect just a teeny-tiny bit of co-operation from the people around me. But then I forgot that we live in a society where outer beauty is everything. What people fail to realize is that being beautiful is all about having a beautiful heart and not just a beautiful face. I have experienced this about pimples, many of you might have experienced something like this about some other imperfections within you. But I genuinely feel that nobody is perfect and as Marilyn Monroe has perfectly said “Imperfection is Beauty”. So, my funda is “Put a smile and ignore the negatives”. I would like to conclude by saying “Yes I have pimples and I am pretty much okay with it” #Confidence

So friends I hope you liked this article and if you did, do comment below. But before doing that please try to change your outlook because if we need a big change, we need to start with yourself. Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you on Tuesday with beauty article. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2). If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

P.S.: If you have experienced anything like this, do share your experiences in the comments below. 

Women’s Empowerment

Hello beautiful people. I hope you all are doing great. I know I am little late for Women’s day special article (apologies!!!) but better late than never. So here I am with an article which was supposed to be collaboration between me and one of my very talented blogger friend but I guess I am little late in publishing my article (Link for his article is at the end of this post). So here I go.

‘Women’s empowerment’, this word has really being in focus ever since the interview featuring Mr. Rahul Gandhi was aired on a news channel. But the real question is, are women in India really empowered? The answer, unfortunately is NO. In our society, the position of a girl is still lower than a boy. We worship goddesses but even today, many girls are killed even before they can come into this world. In many families, a girl is not treated equal to her brothers just because she is a girl. A girl deserves love, care, education, respect and most importantly freedom in every possible way. She deserves to grow and become successful, doesn’t she? She is strong enough to fight for her rights & freedom, but why does she have to?

I am the only child of my parents & my parents were always proud of the fact that they are parents to a girl. Me and many other girls like me are blessed to have such parents. But not every girl is given a chance to enter into this world, study and become independent. Just yesterday, one of my friends was eve teased on the roads. Is this how women’s day is celebrated?? Celebrating women’s day will actually make sense when every girl is gets her right, right to live and be free.

All I can say is that a girl needs to be respected not because she is someone’s daughter or sister, but because she is a human being. So today let us salute the spirit of womanhood. Please feel free to leave your thoughts about Women’s empowerment in the comments down below.

Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below. The link to my friend’s post (where he talks about the history of the position of women in India) ishttps://engineeringmescopehain.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/this-will-enrich-your-knowledge-and-thought-process-about-the-status-of-women-in-the-society-things-that-we-dont-know/

Being Happily Single on Valentine’s Day

Hello happy people. I hope you all had an amazing week & I wish you all a very happy Valentine’s Day. I dedicate today’s article to happily single people like me. I have a rule which goes something like this “If you have a valentine, it’s great. But if you don’t, then you are your own valentine :D” So here I present to you few ways to have an awesome Valentine’s (that is to feel good and feel loved) even when you are single. So here we go.

1. Fall in love with yourself all over again – Today, my dear friends, be a little selfish & fall in love with yourself ;) . Follow the song Matlabi... from the recently released film Roy for more inspiration :D

2. Do something that you love – Don’t you feel awesome when you do something that you love to do? I mean I feel on the top of this world when the words flow out of my heart. Shopping, writing, cooking, dancing, whatever is it, just do something that you genuinely enjoy doing.

3. Go on a date with your equally single friend/s – If you have friend or a group of friends who are truly, madly & deeply in love with only him/her or themselves (just as you are ;) , then you are going to have a rocking Valentine’s day for sure. No need to elaborate why ;) :D

4. Spend some time with your family – Even though you do love your parents & rest of the family, it’s not every day that you actually say I love you to them. So take some time out of your busy lives to call your family members & say the three magical words “I love you”. Trust me, this would make you feel loved.

5. Grab a box of chocolates or a tub of ice cream & enjoy your favourite movie – I know ice-cream & chocolates aren’t really healthy but sometimes you just got to forget being healthy and just enjoy yourself. So go ahead cheat your diet routine & enjoy your favourite movie/movies with chocolates & ice-cream or whatever you love to eat because it’s all about loving yourself :D

At last I would just say that there are all kinds of loves in this world. Feel the magic of love in whichever form you can. Single or committed, doesn’t really matter, keep spreading the love. And I love you all my dear readers aka my Happy People because you are meant to be loved. Leave me a comment telling me how you are celebrating this Valentine’s day.

                Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comments.

7 ways to “Be happy”

Hello all you happy people. I hope you all are doing great. Today I am going to share with you my views about “Being Happy”

Before writing this article, I went around asking few of my friends and colleagues what made them happy. I got varied answers ranging from enjoying with friends to doing what they love to getting surprised and so on. Some even remarked that making others happy made them happy. Some of my friends didn’t even bother to reply to my messages. I think that is their idea of being happy. Sorry I am just being sarcastic.

So friends here I present to you some of my tips to “Be Happy”

1. Do what you love – This is the sure shot mantra of being happy. If you are busy with something that you love doing, you are bound to be happy. I have seen so many people those who are frustrated with their job. Happiness is short lived for such people. So it’s always better to do what you love than being stuck up with something that you don’t enjoy.

2. Be optimistic – I know it's hard to look at the positive side of any situation, especially when the situation is not that good. But if you try to be an optimistic, you will be happier.

3. Learn to let go of the past – Let go of the past, live in the present and hope for a happier future. These are three easy steps to being happy. You need to remind yourself “Come what may, I am going to be strong and happy”

4. Enjoy little things in life – I believe that money can’t buy all the happiness in this world. Of course it can buy you stuff that you love [Did anyone hear me say lip glosses & nail polishes (wink)]. But there are some little pleasures like dancing in the rain or watching a baby laugh and many more things that can make you happy. I am a child at heart so little things make me happy.

5. Surround yourself with positive and happy people – Just as a rotten apple can rot all the other apples in a basket, an unhappy person can make everyone else feel pathetic and unhappy. So why take chances, better be with a happy and crazy person. You can’t be anything but happy when you are with a bunch of crazy friends :D

6. Smile more often – Life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows. Everybody has some bad days but smiling never hurt anybody. I always say that a smile can change your life. Smiling can’t solve your problems, but it surely does give you strength to face those problems. So please do smile in order to be happy.

7. Chocolates – Yes my dear friends, it’s scientifically proven that chocolates make you feel happy. So the next time you are unhappy, just grab some chocolates and eat away as much happiness as you can (wink). Happiness increases by leaps and bounds if you share it, so I don’t mind getting a piece or even the whole box of happiness from you, my dear friend :D

So friends these are some of my tips to be happy. If you have some more tips, please do share them in the comments. Also I would like to know what makes you all happy.

Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

New Year Resolutions

Hello all you happy people. I hope you all are doing great. New Year is just around the corner. So why don’t you & I, like many other people make a few easy New Year resolutions. So here we go.

1. Smile more – Yes my dear friends I truly believe that a smile can change your life. Well not only your life but it can change someone else’s life as well. So go ahead and flash your pearls more often :D

2. Start a healthy lifestyle – Not only starting but maintaining a -body, it will love you. And healthy lifestyle is the way to a healthy mind as well.

3. Exercise more – If you want to maintain a healthy lifestyle then exercising is very important. Take time out of your busy schedule and go for a jog or a walk, join yoga class, dance class, in short anything that gets your body working :D

4. Spread more love – Spreading love is equivalent to spreading happiness. The three magical words I LOVE YOU are very precious. Use them as much as you can.

5. Gain more knowledge – Knowledge stays with you forever. So follow Baba Rancho and just gain knowledge from wherever you can.

6. Make new friends – Meeting new people is always fun. People come into as blessings or lessons. In order to experience both, make new friends.

7. Enjoy every moment – This is my sure shot mantra to be ‘A HAPPY GIRL’. Enjoy every moment of your life because only moments stay with you for lifetime. Enjoy every moment of your life and you will be happy.

So friends here are some of my New Year resolution suggestions. If you decide to include some of them in your list, do let me know in the comments below. If you have any more suggestions, do let me know in the comments below. I hope you all have an amazing, healthy and happy New Year. Thanks for reading.

Goodbye and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark) and follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

The power of Thanks

Hello all you happy people. I hope you all are having an amazing day till now. I wrote an article called “Being Thankful” sometime ago and I am practically experiencing the amazing effect of being thankful. Continue reading to know how.

I have been telling you all in my previous articles that I moved to a new city nearly a month ago. As I am new to this city, I decided to explore this city. The best way to do this is by public transport (read buses run by local Municipal Corporation). I have two reasons to travel by the bus. Firstly buses are lot cheaper and secondly you find the real local people in the buses. I obviously do not know the bus routes so I ask for directions from the people standing on the bus stop, the bus conductor and the person sitting or standing beside me in the bus. Because I believe that real people are better at telling directions than Google Maps. I ask many questions to the person at the other end and I usually end my conversation with a simple word Thanks or Dhanyawad.

I never really knew the significance of this word until now. But now I guess I do. I believe that “Thanks” is a magical word that puts a smile on people’s face. The amount of smile might differ from person to person though. Like the middle aged ladies (whom I refer to as Maushis) and school going kids are the happiest whereas the Uncles (whom I refer to as Kakas) and the people of my age group give me a faint but noticeable smile. I think that people yearn to hear this simple word thanks. Because it makes you feel better, it makes you feel that you really are an important person. I feel so happy that I could put a smile on someone’s face and that I could make them feel important. I know the smile might last for a very short period of time but that just makes me feel good. I believe that happy people are beautiful and I just want everyone to be happy. And if I manage to make someone happy, I feel blessed.

So the next time you take even slightest bit of help from someone, don’t forget to thank that person. It might just make his/her day a little better. If you agree, then let me know in the comments below. And I take this opportunity to thank all my lovely readers. You are the reason that I am a much confident writer now. I hope this puts a smile on your face.

Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you very soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark), follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

P.S.: I hope you like this talented THanks.

Life Lessons from a Money Plant

Hello all you happy people. I hope you all are having an amazing weekend till now. Today I am going to talk about my dear money plant. It has a name by the way. I named it MadhuSudh (Combination of my amazing late grandfathers’ names viz. Madhukar and Sudhakar). If naming a plant is considered as weird, then I am proud to be a weirdo :D, anyways happy reading.

So the story begins with me planting a tiny money plant in a small water-filled bottle. I planted it just to enhance the appearance of my room. Little did I know that it would teach me so much about life albeit silently. It didn’t show any signs of growth initially but I kept on watering it regularly and waited patiently for the signs of a new leaf. After about a month or so, I saw a tiny leaf enclosed in a sheath, sprouting from the stem. I was the happiest person on the earth. My darling was actually growing up. I had somehow developed sisterly feelings towards it because I have forever been an elder sister to so many little cousins.

Watching it grow was so soothing to my soul. My academic growth had almost stopped during that time and all I wanted was to be successful. But that little guy taught me that you cannot reach ginormous heights in a short period of time. You need to take baby steps every day to be successful. This was the first lesson that it taught me.

When I moved out of my parents’ house, I wanted to take it with me. But I was unsure whether the little guy would be able to handle this 18+ hours journey trapped in a Ziploc bag. But we were meant to be together and so it did survive. It is still with me, still growing little by little every day. This was its second lesson. No matter how many hardships you face, you are capable of handling them all because you are meant to be a winner.

Another characteristic of the money plant is that a new leaf grows from the stem attached to an old leaf. And the new leaf is firmly attached to its parent leaf. So this is a lesson for every one of us. No matter how successful or independent you become, you should never forget your roots. You should never leave your parents. I mean you might move away from your hometown and settle at some other place, but you should never leave your parents alone. Always stay connected with them emotionally. The happiness of your Mom and Dad should always be your top priority.

So friends I hope you enjoyed reading this article and if you agree with the teachings of MadhuSudh. Let me know in the comments section, whether you liked this article or not. Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark), follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.

What is real beauty????

Hello all you beautiful people. I hope you all are having an amazing weekend till now. Today I am going to talk about a topic that is extremely close to my heart and that is real beauty. I wanted to write this article ever since I started blogging but for some emotional reasons I had been putting it off. But finally it is here. So enjoy reading.

Few days ago I read an article titled “This will change your perception about beauty” or something like that. As soon as I read this title, my mind drifted back to my teenage years. I was never BEAUTIFUL or PRETTY by “normal standards”. The reason was, I was dark with no sharp facial features, had bad acne, and was short and plum. Back in those days, many people used to tell me that I am not good looking and that it will be so hard to get me married. This was the reason why I had a really bad inferiority complex when I was teenager. I was also surrounded by BEAUTIFUL friends and family members and this in turn made me feel even worse about myself. The only thing that I ever wanted in life was to be fair and slim, in short beautiful by the standards defined by our society.

But that was ages ago. Cut to the present, the condition is different. I somehow became a little fair and the acne just disappeared and I also lost weight. So now the same people, who had labelled me as UGLY, refer to me as OKAY-LOOKING. But the most important change in me was that I decided to love myself for what I am and soon the inferiority complex disappeared. As for my heart, that very few people noticed. Well, all I can say is it is still the same or maybe it became better with age. This is the reason why I feel beautiful from within.

I never really understood why people just look at the outer beauty and label you as BEAUTIFUL or UGLY. Why can’t they see a beautiful heart? Why an intelligent, educated and caring person regarded as ugly just because he/she is dark or fat? Is this kind of discrimination really needed? My answer is no. In my life till now, I have seen so many good looking mean people as well as not so good looking but amazing, lovely people. Now-a-days there are dozens of brands selling so called fairness cream and weight reducing tablets. (This does not mean that you should be overweight or unhealthy) And then there are CELEBRITIES whom we idolise. Every girl wants to look like Aishwarya Rai, Katrina Kaif or Deepika Padukone. But little do we realise that they are made to appear BEAUTIFUL to us. But this is how the society works. We can’t really do much about other people but what we can do is to change our perception about BEAUTY.

I always believed that the real beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. And your eyes are the reflection of your soul. So a person with a beautiful mind/soul is BEAUTIFUL. So even if the society labels you as UGLY, it’s fine. They don’t really understand what REAL BEAUTY is. Just be yourself because you are amazing and most importantly you are UNIQUE. So love yourself for what you are. So friends this is my story as well as my perception about beauty. I did defeat the inner demon called inferiority complex and I did arise as a confident girl. If I can anyone can. So share this article with anyone who needs a little help. If you agree with me, then do tell me so in the comments below.

Goodbye my dear friends and I will see you soon. Until then Keep Smiling. Please do follow my blog, like the facebook page. (https://www.facebook.com/pages/A-Happy-Girl/292903830872974?ref_type=bookmark), follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/A_Happy_Girl2) as well as on Google Plus. If you have any suggestions or questions, please comment below.