LOL: Life Of Leo

AI Generated Image There’s a quiet, beautiful kind of heroism in those who refill the coffee pot. Or the kaapi filter, for us South Indians. Or the Moka pot, for fancy coffee enthusiasts. Although the title suggests this, trust me, this post is not about coffee. It is about people. You know the type, those rare angels who, upon taking the last sip, pause, rinse, and refill so the next caffeine-deprived soul doesn’t suffer the heartbreak of an empty pot. It seems small, almost trivial, but to me, it’s a gesture that represents something bigger: the philosophy of “Make it easy for the next person”, something I firmly believe in. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately - how the people I admire most, both in my life and in the world, are the ones who turn around and smooth the road for the person behind them, instead of walking away like it’s not their problem.

Image Source One day when I was ready to leave from work and get home, I stopped by the washroom to freshen up like I do everyday. As I was re-applying my lipstick, a colleague walks in and smiles at me. She then proceeds to ask me if I was going out somewhere instead of home. I say no. She then tells me that since I was "dolling up", she expected that I would be going out somewhere. I was annoyed but held my cool. I know a lot of people who take care of themselves very well. I happen to be one of those too. On the other hand, I know of people who dress up only when they have a place to go to. I for one, am someone who is well groomed all the time. I like to look good and neat throughout the day. This means regular makeup touch-ups, deodorant sprays and checking the folds of my shirt, but I do it. It is important to me. Very important in fact. I'm very particular about grooming. I'm well dressed most of the time, with manicured nails and neatly done hair. Chip...

Image Source Last week during my break, I watched ' The Blind Side ' on TV. Again. I have seen this movie more than five times and I fall in love with it every time I watch it. This is the movie that won Sandra Bullock her Oscar and it was so rightly deserved. There is not a dull moment in the movie and every character is so perfectly cast. The plot is neat, tight and quick. And most importantly it touches your heart like nothing else has ever done. It leaves you feeling happy thinking that the world actually is a nice place. For those who have not seen it yet, please watch it as soon as you can. Released in 2009, The Blind Side is the story of Michael Oher aka Big Mike who has been living in a foster care with different families. He has a troubled childhood with a drug addict mother and a runaway father. He has a poor academic record but is good at athletics thanks to his big size. Burt Cotton, the coach of Wingate Christian School takes him into the school thanks to ...

Image Source This is something that everyone loves I absolutely enjoy moments in the rain But at times it puts an halt to all my plans Ruining everything, causing me terrible pain I love the sweet smell of the petrichor And the cold breeze that comes with it But when you are living in a city like mine Traffic is the first thing to get hit I love the memories that come with rain Causing me to smile, and at times to cry The thing that I hate the most about rains Is that the washed clothes never dry The mild drizzle is a pleasure to watch I love the sound of pitter patter on my window pane But once done it is so difficult to step out Due to the umpteen tiny pools in the lane The air around feels so cool and nice The perfect time for some hot coffee dash But when you decide to take a stroll down the street Someone is bound to spray you with a muddy splash I love the chirping of birds during monsoon They sound so happy, fresh and g...

Image Source I know I'm a little late in writing the reflections post, but better late than never right? April has been a wonderful month in more ways than one and this A to Z challenge sure made it a memorable one. When I took up the challenge last year, my theme was random and hence it was easy to write about everything that I wanted. But this time I decided to pep it up a little and challenge myself more. I chose a theme and me being me it had to revolve around love. Shades of love was revealed as my theme for the A to Z challenge 2015 . When I decided on the theme, I thought that it would be easy to write about love and its various shades. But as the challenge progressed, I began to run out of ideas. The worst part was that I was neck deep in work and hardly had any time to write or schedule posts. Every post was written on the same day and published immediately. I started off well. Awakening came out good as a stand alone piece, but it left lots to imagination in the...

Image Source So let's be honest, how many of you noticed that I had missed the action replay post for March? April passed by so quick, all thanks to the A to Z challenge. It was one hell of a testing month and I feel so proud to have completed the challenge successfully. I had zero posts scheduled and every post was written on that very day. Expect the Z one though. That I had to schedule, as I was travelling on the 30th and had no access to Internet what so ever. This A to Z challenge for 2015 has been very close to my heart as I wrote about a lot of things that are personal to me. I wanted to talk about a lot of issues and thoughts that were plaguing my mind and I managed to include it in my posts during the challenge. Also I managed to write quite a few sponsored posts that gave me some pretty decent additional income. But then again as always, I only chose to write about the topics that I seriously believed in. Now I see that I have more than 30 posts for the month of Apr...

Image Source He had been waiting for the answer for a quite a while now. It was about a week since he had proposed, but I needed time to answer. It was not easy for me as my last relationship had ended badly and I was not in the mood for love. I was not cynical about the feeling, but I wanted to be alone for a while and enjoy the tiny pleasures of life. I had made a list for myself about the things that I can do as a single lady and I wanted to have a check next to all of them. But then he came along and turned my world upside down. It was almost like every puzzle of me was now falling into the right place. It was love, oh yes it was. But was this the right time for it? I was not too sure . Both of us had just got out of failed relationships and now this was happening. We did not want this to be a rebound and yet the attraction was too hard to ignore. We spent almost every free time together. I had forgotten about the list, but he reminded me about it. He helped me check every...

Image Source Life takes its own course we know. It just moves forward in a sinusoidal wave sprinkling us with ups and downs and other perks in between. I for one have had one hell of an adventurous life. The course of my life has had more twists than the most scariest roller coaster in the world. Be it lost friendships, heartbreaks, professional lows and what not. But the Lioness in me survived all of it. Being independent does that to you. It makes you fierce and you want to sort out everything for yourself. You preach about how independent you are and how that gave you the strength to surpass every negative phase in life. Well to a certain extent it sure does. I'm a stubborn person who doesn't want help from anybody and strangely until now I have managed to get past everything just by myself. But the problem of being a strong person is that people know that you shall do it all, without any help. They also know that you will not go weak. But when you do, there is no one...

Image Source Blogging has become an excellent medium to make money these days. Be it with reviews or with contests. Almost every post we write these days reaps some benefit. Be it in the form of a consolation hamper or a participating voucher. The recent ' Happy Hours ' by Indiblogger is like a honey pot. It not only tests the writing skills but also the agility of the writer. I myself have sat for minutes looking at the ' Submit Now ' button, hoping to make it to the 100 or 200 list. It happens you know, all of us need the extra cash/vouchers. A little extra never hurt anyone after all. But going all crazy and maniacal over it is something that is purely unethical. Write, there is no problem with it. But write about what matters to you and what you can connect with. That is how I function. There are so many contests and happy hours that I choose not to be a part of, because I not agree with the theme or I have no clue about it what so ever. The latest happ...

You only life once, so it is better to live life to the fullest they say. I cannot agree more. With the evolving times I'm glad to see the lifestyles of people changing as well. Yes, there are a certain few who still prefer to be the frog in the well. There is no point talking to such people. They shall dwell and then die in that well in ignorance. It is a beautiful world out there, it needs to be explored. There are so many things to learn in this world, it needs to be learnt. There are so many feelings in this world, it needs to be experienced. And for that you need to want to do it. Nobody else can do it for you. Such passions come from within a person and such passions need to see the light of day. Life is really short, and there are still so many things that I need to do. If I know that I'm set for life and no other tensions, then it is about time that I make my own bucket list.  So these are the things that I want to do before I kick the bucket. 1. Travel the...

Action Figures by Edith Vonnegut It is not about how you look It is all about how you feel Love is known to break you apart It is also known to heal This emotion can drive you nuts As well as bring you extreme joy It can consume you totally It also has the power to destroy They say that love is blind It can rob your other senses too While you are basking in the colors You will never notice the impending blue Every form of it is precious You may not realize it now But you sure will be lucky If cupid finds you with his bow You cannot escape this feeling It is present all around Be careful whom you share it with You do not want to feel all bound You can hide where ever you want Lock yourself inside with a pet What you do not know is With his arrow, cupid is all set With colored wings it shall come It shall strike only a few You can run, you can abscond But one day, love will find you Written for Magpie Tales: Ma...

Image Source Valentine's Day is just two weeks away and I'm going out of my way to make the day special for my man. You see, we are moving into a place of our own soon and this would be our first Valentine's in this place. Movies and dinners are so passé, I want to do something special that shall leave my husband spellbound! I want to make this day the best day of our life by doing everything that he wants to. Most often than not, it is always about me during celebrations. But on this day I'm going to make it all about him. Oh yeah, everything single thing is going to be about him and only for him. And how would it be special for him? Because I'm going to read his mind and do all the things running inside it. Yes, this Valentine's Day I'm blessed with the super power to read minds! How awesome is that. Its midnight and he is thinking about some dessert and I get him the most yummiest chocolate lava cake that I have made specially for him. He is st...

I am me, just let me be. I am the younger of the two daughters born to my parents. Apparently when I was born, my grandparents cursed my parents for giving birth to yet another girl child. Everyone looked down upon my folks for having two daughters, wondering how will they get us married. Today both my sister and I are in very good positions at reputed companies and taking care of our parents very well. The same people are now forced to eat their own words. Being a woman has never held me back from doing anything that I wanted to do. And by anything, I mean everything. I refuse to be labelled as the weaker sex. We live in a country where we are forced to use words like equality and feminist. Suddenly 'feminist' is a bad word and any woman who calls herself one is labelled as bold. Every one has a right to stand up for themselves. This applies to both men and women. I have lived all my life being proud of the fact that I am a woman and it definitely takes more than one w...

Image Source A dear friend of mine is soon going to be relocating from Hyderabad to Bangalore and I'm thrilled. I visited Hyderabad last year and I found it to be a very beautiful city. I stayed in Banjara Hills, one of the most poshest residential areas of Hyderabad and the place was excellent. And so was the weather. We visited during July and the weather was uber pleasant. It reminded me of Bangalore in more ways than one. So I want to make sure that my friend doesn't miss her city much when she moves here. I'm sure no city holds a candle to Bangalore. For me, without a doubt Bangalore is the best place to live in. This city has everything that one could need and experience. And I will do everything I can to make my friend's stay here as smooth and comfortable as possible. She is shifting here for a year or two, so, everything needs to be sorted for her as quick as possible. She would be staying with me until she settles down, and she needs everything for h...