LOL: Life Of Leo

Somewhere between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka - August 2019 While on a disastrous road-trip last year with the worst ever crowd, my husband and I were agitated and irritated. On our way back home, we stopped to take a break and we walked around this marsh land. Just the both of us. For a while, we forgot the group waiting in the car for us, the annoyance in the air and everything else. It was just us, hand in hand, comforting each other amidst nature. There was something so pure about this moment. I randomly captured this scene as a memory and it still invokes a smile in me today.

Title: Daisy Jones & The Six Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid Publisher:  Cornerstone Digital; 01 edition (5 March 2019) Genre: Historical Fiction Price: Rs. 268 for the Kindle Edition Pages: 335 This book created quite a stir last year and when Naba included it in her 15 best reads of 2019 , I knew I had to read it too. I picked it up sometime back then but only got to reading it this month. This book was showcased on every social media platform for months and everything about this book felt so good. Sex, drugs, rock n roll! What can go wrong, right?

Image Source It has been a little over three months since we've been in a lock down. On March 16th 2020, the day we were supposed to take off on our anniversary vacation to Spain and Portugal, we started the self-isolation process and have stayed put at home since then. We have been working from home and step out occasionally only to buy some vitals or meet our parents. It took us a while to get used to this "new normal". My husband and I are both people who hate staying at home or working from home. We like to be around people, have conversations, laugh and have a good time even at work. Even with both our companies allowing work from home since forever, we never liked doing it unless it was absolutely necessary. Since now it is the need of the hour, it took us a while to get used to it and we are okay with it now. But yeah, we cannot wait to get back to office.

Bangalore - January 2020 My husband and I are foodies and we don't mind going the extra mile for it. There is a breakfast place in South Bangalore that we visit often. We stay in the East so it is quite a drive, but we thoroughly enjoy it. Thanks to the lockdown restrictions, it has been a while since we visited this place. This tree is a sweet memory that reminds us of easier times. We park our car on this street and this tree provides ample shade in the blazing heat.

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka - March 2016 If Animals Spoke, Humanity would Cry. ~ Manuj Rajput

Title: Normal People Author: Sally Rooney Publisher: Whole Story Audiobooks Genre: Contemporary Fiction Price: Rs. 451.50 on Audible Listening Length: 7 hours and 36 minutes Narrator: Aoife McMahon This year I've read different genres of books and books that I would normally not pick up. It was about widening my horizons with respect to reading and once I tried out books by different authors, I knew I had made the right choice. Normal People by Sally Rooney was one of the books on the list of Barack Obama's best books for 2019. I have read 'Girl, Woman, Other' which was also on the list and loved it. What intrigued me the most about this one was the title. I read about the book and the story seemed very YA like and I wasn't too keen.

Image Source Another month ends and the situation doesn't seem to be in any control. Waking up to alarming numbers day after day is becoming the norm and all one can do is hope that the next day would be better. I never thought that our generation would have to see a pandemic like this. New found respect for people who have survived pandemics and epidemics earlier. I guess every bad situation does come with its share of lessons in one way or another. Apart from the virus updates, the news coming in from other countries or even within our own country isn't great. Racism, animals being mercilessly killed, the callous attitude of political leaders, cyclones and what not. Was all this always around and 2020 is bringing it to the foreground? One can never say. All we can do now is hope that the situation gets better and we find the strength in us to survive and come out of all this as slightly better people. May was a dull month. Looks like the monsoons have hit Bangalore ea...