Monster Bookmark!

        Of late everything except studies seem interesting! Such is the charm of study holidays. When exams are stretched for more than a month, you reach saturation level before the last exam and try to find ways to ward off boredom. While I was busy on one such quest, I found a super cute book mark made by Rajlakshmi, who blogs at Destiny's Child. Being an art lover, I just couldn't wait to try it out. So I took papers and scissors and started off with the bookmark. After 10 minutes, this was the result.

       That is the cute monster and here it goes sinking its teeth into my book!

       Fun isn't it? This is the exact replica of the book mark Rajlakshmi made. Now that I have done this, more creatures are going to emerge soon. Stay tuned for them. And if you want to know how to make one for yourself, here is the tutorial posted by Rajlakshmi. I owe you for this one dear. I am totally loving it!

PS: Linking this post to the Ultimate Blog Challenge July 2014 and NaBloPoMo.

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)

Birthday Bash!

        It’s strange how time flies by when we are happy and drags on when we are sad! It feels like just yesterday when I stood shyly on the dais when all my classmates sang ‘Happy Birthday’ song and I blushed furiously as they clapped and shouted my name. It was like I was the star of the class, the only one wearing a colour dress when everyone else wore the same monotonous uniform! I felt happy as I went to each bench distributing chocolates, one each to all my class mates and two to teachers. Friends were being extra nice to me so that they can earn an extra chocolate and I felt like royalty when they kept on hovering around me.

       Sigh! That was the memory of a seven year old. This was all fine when I was kid but as years passed and I grew up, all these seemed silly. I desired to celebrate birthdays with a big bash as they show on TV. Parties! Oh how I wished I could host one. But no, I never did. My parents were of the opinion that these were not how one celebrated birthday. Birthdays are meant for visiting the temple and seeking Lord’s blessings. Every year I would whine about parties but nothing changed until I finally gave up trying. I had resigned to fate, treating birthdays just as any other day.

       But that isn’t how happiness works. Its finds a way to you when you least expect it. And thus when I had finally given up the whole celebration thing, I had the best ever Birthday of my life. Yes, yesterday was my birthday and it was so far the best one. The day started with surprises with my little brother staying up till 12, wishing me with an awesome gift. I loved it. Phone calls started from 11:30pm itself with my friends competing with each other as to who would wish first. I was talking on two phones simultaneously. Of course I was enjoying the whole thing. Morning brought in more surprises with gifts from mom and grandpa, collages and a video of memories from my childhood made by friends. 

  

         My darling friend Nibha made my day with a sweet post which had me smiling ear to ear. She asked me to write a guest post about some memory associated with birthday but I didn’t have any. As I mentioned, I rarely celebrated them. So I wrote a post about another childhood memory instead. Read it here. Thanks a lot Nibhz for making me feel so special.

        Once the initial excitement waned, I started getting bored. Since it is exam time, my friends had declined coming over and I knew that as usual this birthday was going to be super boring. Or at least that is what I thought. Each of my friends pinged me asking when the party is and when I asked them to come by, they stared saying “I will come after exams” Seriously! What’s the point in asking if they don’t have the intention of coming? I was getting frustrated! I kept mobile aside and started watching TV.

       When I was in the middle of watching some boring serial, my brother called me. I go outside cursing him for not letting me sit in peace and I stop dead in my tracks! There were my friends, waving at me and shouting ‘Happy Birthday’ and laughing as they saw my shocked expression. I was the one who usually planned surprises and here they were surprising me. I was told that my brother and they had planned all this months before! My mom knew about it too it seems! I wondered how she had hid the secret from me! I was still in shock when I cut the cake they brought but all the shock wore off when I was given a full facial of the choco truffle! (Girls that was so bad!) Yummy chats followed the cake cutting and we sat there chatting happily without realizing how the time flew by so fast!

       Like all good things come to an end, the day ended too but I have loads of memory that will make me smile whenever I remember this day. I feel lucky for having such amazing friends. Thank you Minhoz and Sudhi for making me feel so special. Love you people :) 

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)

Earning Respect

         There is a saying which we all might have heard - ‘If you give respect, then you will earn respect!’ Though I had understood it (or rather thought I did!) I witnessed it recently, which made me believe it is true indeed.

       Few weeks back I and my dad were going to market. I was enjoying the time alone with him, chatting and sharing thoughts as I rarely get such time with him due to his constant travelling. In the middle of our conversation, he received a call and I stood listening to the conversation. I didn't know who was on the other side but dad kept addressing him ‘Sir’ and so I figured it must be his boss, calling as dad was on leave. When the conversation ended, I casually asked him who it was. I was told it was his colleague and friend. I recognized him when dad mentioned his name. I felt quite strange and I kept quiet for the rest of the time, lost in my own thoughts.

       “Why are you quiet all of a sudden?” dad asked and I couldn't hold back voicing my thoughts. “Why did you call him Sir?” I asked. “Is there something wrong with that?” he asked surprised. I didn't know how to say exactly what was bothering me but I made an attempt to describe it as best as I could. “You mention every one as ‘Sir’ and I don’t really understand why you do so. I mean its good you are respecting them but why that word? Isn't being polite enough? I am not against respecting others but dad I hate it when you bow in front of others. It’s fine during office hours but why all the time? You address everyone like that” I said, feeling totally like an idiot but still wishing to convey what I was feeling.

       A smile crossed his face as he understood my emotions. He chose his words carefully when he answered. “Every person has his own self respect. We usually recognize people based on their designation but that is not a right thing to do. Even maids and servants have as much right to be respected as we do. Have you ever thought how much important each of their work is? And about the addressing, calling someone Sir/Madam doesn't make you inferior to them. It just means you are good enough to respect them as individuals. It will only earn you respect in return, not disgrace” he said.

       I was still silent processing what he had said in my mind when one of the Shop Keeper waved at him saying “Sir, how are you? Long time, no see!” he said smiling. I had come to this shop many times and from experience, I knew that he was one of the grumpiest person in the locality. He is short tempered and is known to snap at his customers all the time. If I had any doubt about what my dad had said earlier, seeing this person smile and chat friendly with him, had cleared it all. I finally understood his message.

PS: I am writing about #MyRoleModel as a part of the activity by Gillette India in association with BlogAdda.com.

Until the next post,

Keep Smiling :)

Love,

Swathi :)