LOL: Life Of Leo

Image Source July probably was the quickest month of this year for me. Also, probably the best one so far. July was a very good month in terms of personal projects. I worked a lot on myself and changed a lot of my habits and routines. I worked on time management too and this resulted in effective planning of hobbies, work and other household chores. Professionally, it was a pretty good month. We had a successful release and work is not as hectic as it was before. What I mean to say is that I have time to breathe now. Work is a very important part of my life and I need to make sure that I'm giving all that I have to it. At the same time, I do not want to compromise on my personal life. July taught me how to bridge the gap between the two. Personally, I have been the happiest this month. Nothing great happened, but somehow maybe I have found inner peace. I'm at ease and do not stress over petty things anymore. I spend a lot of time with myself and have been clear in the h...

Those who are familiar with the popular Netflix show 'House Of Cards' will understand the title of this post in one take. For the others, clean water initiative is a group of people coming together to provide clean water to children and families around the world, where clean drinking water is a scarcity. While in the show, it is a non-profit organisation, we here can make it a way of life. Water is a must for our survival. Now just imagine that you wake up and see no drinking water around. You are parched and there is nothing you can do about it. They say that a human can survive 3 weeks without food, but only 3 days without water. Drinking clean water is something that will keep you hydrated, make you look good and feel healthy. The dearth of clean water leads, directly and indirectly, to the outbreak of several diseases and water-related ailments. According to WHO, over 3.4 million people die annually from water-borne diseases and most of them are children. This makes wa...

PHOTO PROMPT ©  J Hardy Carroll The clear blue skies, the slight chill in the breeze, the chirping of the birds, the happy atmosphere - I was not the one to appreciate all this. I buried myself in the virtual world. You see, I was famous online. I was an fashion star with many followers. I kept myself busy by posting my pictures on all the social media platforms. I was addicted to selfies and my phone. One day, while driving, I took a selfie and ended up killing a pedestrian out for a walk.

Image Source On the 27th of June, 2017, I completed 9 years in the corporate industry. Also, 9 years in the same company. Roughly around ten years ago, I was placed in one of the biggest companies of the world as part of the campus recruitment. A day after the last exam of my Engineering ended, I joined the company. Looking back, I feel so nostalgic about the whole journey. My joining location was in Chennai and I spent the first four months of my corporate life there and hated every part of it. While most of my problems were with the city I was staying in rather than my job, I still did not get to enjoy the start of my corporate life. My peers were very different from the way I was. I was the odd woman out among a batch of local produce. There were a few others from different locations as well, but our frequencies were not even remotely close. During the first four months of my corporate life, I hated everything around. I was one of the lucky few to have been placed in a proje...

Image Source There once lived a puppet master This story dates back to the days of yore This woman piled on her vices For her greed, there was no cure She cast her charm while she was young Through her fingers she captured a man He surrendered to her from day one Inflicting melancholy on his own clan Together they cheated and stole From everyone and everything that came their way Turning into misers of the highest order They piled on their riches day after day

Image Source Title: Like Water For Chocolate Author: Laura Esquivel Publisher: RHUK (16 September 1993) Genre: Contemporary Fiction Price : Rs. 360 on Amazon Pages: 224 This book was touted to be a magical realism one and I was fresh from the brilliant hangover of ' The Night Circus ', so I picked this up gleefully. For a food lover like me, any book that revolves around food is a bonus hit. I had read and loved ' Chocolat ' and this one seemed to be on similar lines. It is a love story like none other and every chapter begins with a delicious recipe. I devoured the story, page after page. Tita de la Garza, 15 years old, lives on a ranch near the Mexico-US border with her mother, Mamá Elena, and her older sisters Gertrudis and Rosaura. It is the de la Garza family tradition that the youngest daughter must remain unmarried and take care of her mother until her mother's death. Tita was born in the kitchen and has a deep connection with food and a lo...

Image Source Tall and proud she stood strong Stripped off her every face Power still lingers in her eyes As she prepares for the race An unloved wife but a loving mother Deaths of her children she couldn't foresee She'll fight with all that she has Giving up is not a part of Cersei Married twice but no man by her side Dangerously ripped off her innocence Lost, unaware but finding her way Slowly, of the war she's making sense

PHOTO PROMPT © Janet Webb My uncle Bob was one of a kind. He was different in his own way, just like me. Probably that’s why we got along so well. “ We have just one life, darling. We might as well as sparkle ”, he used to say. He liked shiny things. He used to dress in bright colors and wore matching earrings. He was a happy person, positive and always smiling. But, the family hated him. Maybe they were not used to seeing so much happiness on one person.

Image Source What is the best part of a holiday? The destination and that awesome feeling. And the worst part? The planning, of course. Honestly, I am an avid planner and when it comes to travel I leave no stone unturned. My husband and I try to take a vacation every quarter and we plan our year around this. Traveling on a fixed budget is never easy, but if the planning is right, you may even get to save some money from the budget. What the first step in planning a vacation? Yes, choosing the destination. The next step is to decide how you would get there. Air transport has become so convenient these days that you can fly to any destination from any city. The one thing that troubles me as a traveler is the fluctuating prices of the flights. One day it is low, a few days later it is high and a few days later it is back to being low again. This sinusoidal wave of high and low always puts me in a pickle when I sit down to book my flight tickets. A few years ago, when we booked our...

Image Source Feminism is a word that came into existence very recently. Better late than never, one would say. But has one thought how it would have been had feminism existed right from day one? If men and women enjoyed equal rights right from the evolution of time, would there ever be a need for the very word? Today, feminism is considered a bad word. Most people don't know what it is and a lot of wrong and unnecessary things are also being done in the name of feminism. There is no denying that. Feminism is about having equal rights for men and women. It is not male bashing. It is not the elevation of the female on a pedestal. It is not about celebrating women's day. Feminism is not about all the million things that it is deemed about. It is only about one thing. Gender Equality. Still, most of us do not get this. There are quite a lot of women who call themselves "feminists" just to appear cool. These are the same women who succumb to husbands at home and th...

Image Source Ranveer Singh is someone who can never blend with the background. He was born to stand out and he did so right from his first movie! I did not find any of the current crop of new comers interesting, until Bittoo Sharma reached our screen. I loved him right from the word go. No, he's not that good looking. Nor does he have that sophistication. But one thing he has and that is charisma. He's like that roadside Romeo (in a good way) that you cannot ignore. He's enthusiastic and so full of energy. His antics are so adorable and you cannot not love him. But then again, people like him are not everyone's cup of tea. For me, he's the perfect and delicious blend. He turns 32 today and I'm here to wish him a very very happy birthday! Thank you Ranveer, for all that sparkle.

Image Source June was a very weird month for me. As much as I felt that it passed by way too quick, I also feel that it dragged in parts. Half the year is gone and here I am sitting and wondering what the hell have I done in the past six months. Am I the only one who feels that 2017 is not going really good? For some reason on which I cannot lay a finger, something doesn't seem to be right with this year. Based on the FB statuses I have been seeing over the past few months, there are many others who feel the same too.Well, let's just hope that the second half of the year gets better. June was a pretty relaxed month in terms of work. I had completed most of my projects and only the final finishing activities were pending. This meant that I had some extra time on my hands everyday. The extra me time that I got helped me relax to a large extent. I realized that I am a person who needs some time alone everyday. Else, I just lose my mind and get cranky. I need some time just...