I Don't Intend to Burnout

I heard this line in one of Deepika Padukone's interviews and couldn't agree more with the core of this message. 

As a corporate employee, If I nod my head 'yes' to this line, I would straightforward be labeled as unprofessional or incompetent or as someone who doesn't want to work hard and still get paid equal to her other hard-working counterparts. 

OR

If I nod in agreement to this as a homemaker, I would be categorized as a non-dedicated and lazy woman who wasn't quite ready to be called someone's wife or daughter-in-law or even better, "run a home". 

It's as though our culture has evolved in a way that the most busy ones are the most respected ones. It is hard to establish exactly when the non-availability of time became synonymous with respect and success. I think it is time to shatter this belief, more importantly in one's mindset before anyone else's because with increased incomes, the number of anxious and depressed people between us has also increased, more than ever. 

If we start believing in the need of our available time where we take care of our home, our family, our grocery, our fitness, our hobby without being exhausted to the core, we would automatically start respecting other people as well for their leisure time. 

 Isn't deep down we all want to stay fit & healthy, get promotion & paid more, but the important question is - do we also believe in it? 

I say we don't because internally we all believe that if we want to become the apple of our boss' eyes or the darling of our home, we need to be constantly burning out, jump all the way from a PowerPoint deck to the whistle of our pressure cooker.  In doing all this, obviously, the toll is taken by our ever tired and slouched body. 

We have normalized the culture of working 12-16 hours per day during weekdays and getting sloshed with friends during the weekends. Even worse for the home-makers, where the concept of the weekend itself doesn't exist. Rather, should we not normalize the culture of eating, laughing, playing, or exercising every day with our friends or families or pets? 

If we are trying to relax by exhausting more during the weekends, it is further taking away our chance of replenishment for the coming week. This mode of living is ultimately leading each one of us to exhaustion; exhausted minds, body & soul. 

Is this the life we had imagined growing up? 

Is this even the life we must aspire for?

We had imagined far more than our occupied calendars. We had dreamt of a lovely partner to live our life every day, and not just those in-between vacations. We had imagined for a beautiful home to actually live and make memories in it, and not just consider it a place to crash in after a long tiring day. We had imagined for those cute little kids to unlearn & learn again with them, and not simply become their food or education providers. Money was simply the means to fulfill our wishes. How did all our wishes then turn into minting money? How did we forget the sole reason behind wanting money?

If you are also questioning your current way of living, let's join hands in promoting contended living for everybody and not raise questions about it. Let's make playing with our kids or pets every day the new normal, the way it was always supposed to be. Let's not judge people by the availability of time, rather question them by the non-availability of their time. Let's not call a bulgy stomach the sign of prosperity, rather a fit ab must be singing the tunes of our prosperity. Let's not take pride in not calling our long-lost friends because of the daily hustle, but take pride in retaining those friendships for life. 

Let's make NOT BURNING OUT the new normal, the way it was always supposed to be.   

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How Leftovers are Handled in Indian Homes?

 

We, as Indians, worship our food. 

And so, we also believe in not letting the food go to waste. 

Wow, one must wonder the planning and efficiency that goes behind approximating meal portions in a way that everyone in the house has had their share of food and none of the food gets wasted. 

BUT..............STOP!

Before you go on and on with admiring the above-stated fact, let me give you a sneak peek at how exactly leftovers are handled in The Great Indian Society.

We have a simple rule when it comes to handling the food and the leftovers. 

And that is - the male members and the kids of the home must eat hot and fresh food from the stove. 

Now, even if the rule looks simple, there are several categories in which food management is done. Let's take a look at the IF...ELSE in which the leftovers are handled. 

1. If the food is a day old in the fridge, it is totally safe for the women at home to consume it. 

Else, it goes to the next level. 

2. If the food is two to three days old in the fridge, it can be considered a little NOT safe to be consumed by the women of the home and so it gets passed to the next level, which is the maid of the home. 

Else, it goes further to the next level. 

3. If the food is still left after going through the above iterations, it goes to the street animals. 

Tada! I hope you learned a bit about how we worship our food and in turn our bodies. 

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Are you still with me?

Are you also thinking, "How EXACTLY Leftovers Should Be Handled in Indian Homes?"

I think the answer lies not in the management of the food but in the mindset that everyone should be treated equally in the home. Everyone's health must be given priority. And hence, if there is any leftover, it should be just distributed equally among all family members the next day. 

This has a two-fold benefit. One, the leftover gets finished maximum by the next day of meal preparation. Moreover, it also gives equal opportunity to each member of the home to eat fresh food. 

If this makes sense to you, can we take a pledge at managing the food properly, irrespective of the roles we play in our respective homes?

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Trend Setters OR Trend Slaves

We have come a long way from reading books to watching movies to watching those 10 minute YouTube videos to an even smaller form of content which is 1-minute Instagram reels or TikTok. Our attention span has steeply declined. Although the transition from reading books to scrolling on Instagram reels felt effortless, I wonder if the reverse would also be as smooth. It takes a great amount of concentration these days to go through an article without being diverted by the urge to check Instagram. God help the students who are actually trying to build their careers amidst such distractions. 

One recent distraction that has been doing rounds on Instagram lately in the name of "trends" is - making a song viral by the creators of the song by publishing an Insta reel with certain steps and passing it onto the audience as a challenge or a trend. 

Every time I see one such reel on my feed, I can't help but question the relevance of this content. The only way my mind comprehends this urge to create trending reels is - our inability to keep our mind free for doing stuff that really matters. We can't keep our hands away from scrolling and brain away from mindlessly wandering over the feeds, and hence following a trend is the easiest way to kill time and let our brain think that it's actually doing something good or something relevant. 

Another reason that I think aids in making us a generation of trend followers is the feeling of being left out, one that we commonly refer to as FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) in millennial terms. We feel so ignorant when we are not aware of the latest dance reels or the celebrity vacation updates or other such bla bla details that we feel quite left out when we are not able to contribute in such bla bla conversation with our friends.  

I have often seen people getting into the elevator and immediately start scrolling quickly through their social media feed in their 10 seconds of elevator journey as if checking out those 8-9 feeds are gonna make or break their lives. 

People who don't have enough time to cook as basic as their own food spend all the available time in learning the steps of the latest dance reel and then carefully curating a caption to go with the trend before the trend itself becomes obsolete. Why? Because of FOMO, my darling.  

We are the generation with a bombardment of information, relevant or irrelevant is a topic for a different post. But, we have become so engrossed with absorbing these continuous streams of information, that we have forgotten to differentiate the usage of such information in our lives. 

I think if we could just pause for a second before absorbing a piece of information and questioning ourselves about the importance of that content, we'd be halfway free from trend slavery. The remaining half of the journey can be covered by simply listening to our heart and head. If we feel that a particular content would add to our being in some way, follow it. If not, we are experts on scrolling further. Go ahead and find a trend worth falling for or better, set a trend rather than simply scrolling through a 1-minute dance reel which anyway is gonna fade in 7 days or until a new trend is published by the creators who actually mint money out of your precious time.  

Remember my folks, THINK before blindly jumping onto the trend bandwagon. 

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A Note to Dear Me in 2021

Dear Me in 2021,

It was you who thrived to achieve your best form every single day, grinding yourself and keeping an eye on everything that you put into that mouth. It was your consistent effort and pure dedication towards your body that you attained a fit & healthy body. You took care of it like a newly born and thus, you deserved every bit of love from your body.

But, don't blame it now for the journey from your best form to your not-so-best-form as none of it happened overnight. The pandemic situation made it tough for everyone to stick around their usual routine. Gyms got closed, badminton courts and swimming pools were shut down, motivation to workout at home was literally at Zero. On top of it, the pressure of your new job gave you innumerable sleepless days and messed up food routine. If only these causes were insufficient, you had that once-in-a-lifetime event to take care of – your wedding, that too in a really uncertain time where things changed every day like a kid gets his nappies changed. To top it all, you also became Covid positive just 20 days before the big day and recovered from it just in the nick of time.

After a long year of uncertain times, you finally got a few normal days post-wedding with your new family, full of fun, love, and food. You made delicious food and loving memories, so don’t blame those love handles baby.

It was you who did it once and it is you who will do it again, but not with a bitter attitude towards that beautiful body, but with self-care, dedication, and lots of love. Let's start phase 2 of our fitness journey with a warm smile and sheer will. 

From,
Your beautiful body 😊

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Book Review: The Kite Runner

 

“For you, a thousand times over!!” 

One sentence, multiple emotions. That’s how I describe The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

 

A simple line of 6 words is capable of carrying various emotions like shame, guilt, friendship, forgiveness, love, and regret. 

The Kite Runner is not a book written on the grounds of being morally or politically correct. Rather, it’s a book that lets you live through various conflicting emotions that a human being goes through in his life. How a decision shapes up a person or a person’s destiny is beautifully sewn by Khaled Hosseini.

The plot unfolds against the backdrop of Afghanistan and is a moving portrait of Afghanistan's glorious days to Afghanistan under Taliban Rule. It takes the readers through a country, which is more than just a troubled land.

Hassan, a pure and loyal servant cum friend said the above-quoted words to Amir who is conflicted and unsure on emotional and moral ground. Hassan and Amir, who were fed from the same breasts, who learned to crawl together, who spent their entire winters flying kites, who taught each other to ride a bicycle, and yet Amir never considered Hassan as his friend in the usual sense. This is an accepted equation between a master and a servant in our society, which is based on history, ethnicity, or religion, be it between Amir’s father and Hassan’s father or between Amir and Hassan. Still, that one incident in the winter of 1975 changes their point of view towards life. Hassan’s soul dies a painful death and Amir searches for redemption through Hassan’s son, Sohrab’s eyes.

 

Hosseini’s writing is simple, with no added glitter which lets you live the story and not just read it. It puts a personal face on Afghanistan and drives the readers through the sufferings of the flesh and bones living in the conflicting, troubled land.

 

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Rating: 4.6 out of 5

 

Plot: 4.5

Language: 4

Character Building: 5

Reader Engagement: 5

Ending: 4.5

 

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How to efficiently plan your day as a working woman in 9 simple steps?

If you are born into a woman's skin, you probably already know that life is not going to offer much of that physical rest to your body. Most of the time, you would be the first to wake up in the house and last to hit the bed.  

If you are a homemaker, you are expected to be on your toes and fulfill the needs of your family the entire day. If you have children, you have added responsibilities of your kid's development into responsible human beings. On top of that, if you are a working woman, be prepared for a roller coaster ride. The feeling of guilt to not be able to give sufficient time to your family becomes constant with an added struggle of trying to be the best employee in your capacity. 

No matter how hard you try and plan your day, you end up feeling exhausted and a feeling to plan your day better from tomorrow. But, isn't that a vicious cycle that we all go through every day, only to find ourselves stuck again in the cycle by the end of the day. 

Certainly, I can't plan your day as every family's needs are different at different points in time. But I can help you with some super handy tips that would be useful for almost all you ladies out there. Let's dive right into it. 

1. Start your day 10 minutes earlier than your scheduled time. Don’t forget to make your bed, comb your hair into a neat bun and drink a glass of lukewarm water. This gives you enough time to knock that sleep off your head and get back on your toes for the rest of the day, with a calm and happy mood. 

2. Sort the clothes for laundry and put them in the washing machine. By the time you freshen up and prepare breakfast, your clothes would be all set to be dried under the sun. 

3. Park the elaborated meal for your weekends. For weekdays, prepare a 5-day meal plan and put the sticky notes in a frequently accessed place, say your refrigerator. Choose the menu such that it’s easy and simple for you to prepare along with being healthy & fulfilling for your family. Here is the list of easy and healthy recipes that you can use for your 5-day meal plan. 

4. Chutneys are an essential part of an Indian meal. If you or your family are also fond of chutneys, prepare a batch over the weekend and store in jars. This will save you from an extra task every day as chutneys can be easily stored for a week.

5. Make sure to boil and store some legumes like chana or chickpeas in the fridge. There are various ways you can use legumes as part of your meal. It also makes sure that you are not letting junk seep into your meal if on a rainy day you are running short of time.     

6. Divide and Conquer might not be the best policy always. But, it’s a great policy when it comes to keeping your house clean. Set aside 15 mins every day for dusting and cleaning one particular area and put a timer for the same. This will make sure that you don't lose track of time while cleaning and you won't have to spend the entire weekend just cleaning the house. 

7. Clean the gas stove, kitchen platform, and utensils before sleeping. It might look like a hell lot of task after a hectic day but surely works like meditation. It’s such a satisfying feeling to see the dishes getting cleaned up slowly and going back to bed with a clean kitchen. Also, it's not a very good feeling to enter into a smelly kitchen as soon as you get up. This will save you from the morning hassle and also keep your mood uplifted to prepare those amazing dishes for your family. 

8. Once your clothes are dried up, make sure to fold and keep them in the wardrobe. This might take 10 mins extra but would definitely save you from the heap load of clothes waiting for you during the weekend. 

9. Before switching off the lights for the day, follow the 2F rule. i.e. cleanse and moisturize your face and feet. It relaxes you from the core, ensures a night of peaceful sleep, and lets your skin breathe and rejuvenate in the night. 

 

Image Courtesy: YourStory 

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