1. A few minutes in the front portico of my house, everyday, morning or evening, doing nothing – absolutely nothing. Just walking around, or sitting simply and letting my mind wander without any motive – it’ my ‘absolute’ time, it’s my way of letting go!
2. Paying my bills. Taking care of my needs – being independent. I’d feel the pinch when I’m broke, and learn to be more responsible then. Plus when I splurge on myself, I’d feel less guilty.
3. Reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. My favorite book of the series – it gives me a joy like no other. Though I LOVE ALL the books of the Harry Potter series, this one remains my favorite.
4. Reading Enid Blyton’s, Roald Dahl’s and William Wordsworth’s works – they calm my soul and give me the peace I yearn for. They were a huge part of my childhood, they still are and will be, a big part of my life.
5. Listening to Mandolin Srinivas’s, Pandit Ravi Shankar’s and Zakir Hussain’s music – They soothe me, slow me down and steady me when I freak out and fidget.
6. Listening to Suchitra Karthik Kumar Speak/RJ/Sing. She is such a delight to listen to.
7. Listening to a few of my favorite singers and the most amazing songs in their voices – Benny Dayal, Harshdeep Kaur, Neeti Mohan, Shreya Ghoshal, Shalmali Kholgade, Jubin Nautiyal, Kailash Kher, Hariharan, Arijit Singh, Sonu Nigam, Madhusree.
8. Watching Shah Rukh Khan – his charisma works like magic on me. My playlist has Baazigar, My Name is Khan and Dil Toh Pagal Hai, among the few of the other SRK songs on repeat mode – not just because of the amaze music, but more because those songs feature him. I find myself watching his films over and over again – just to see him on screen. Yes, you got me – I’m literally obsessed about him.
9. When I’m ticked off for something unnecessary, when people yap nonsense at me, bark at me for reasons I don’t care about, or try to depress me, I do this. I try and imagine my favourite people (people I drool about :P) talking to me. (Erm, to be read as Barun Sobti and Namik Paul). Try it, people. It works – firstly, you get transported to a different world, and secondly, you always, involuntarily get to sport a smile on your face, without you knowing it.
10. Eating dried and delicately fried garden huckleberries. And Ladies fingers. And Pani Puri. Instant depression repellents.
11. Book hoarding, book shopping, book hauls, book mails – whatever you want to call them. Buying books and reading them make me happy.
12. Participating in contests/competitions and winning them all. It doesn’t matter to me how small or big the prize is – a prize is a prize, and it always brings significant delight to me.
13. Seeing my name in print – This has given me unlimited happiness in the past, and I’m doing my best to experience the same again, and again; until I die.
14. Talking to my real friends – friends who don’t judge me, who accept me for who I am, with all my flaws.
15. Blogging – My first go-to, every time I feel the need to express, or share what I think. Much gratitude to the source that helped me discover this awesome experience.
16. A trip to Bombay, even if it’s for a day. ‘Tis where I belong, Tis where I learned to smile, literally.
17. Reading Calvin and Hobbes, Blondie and Peanuts comics – I make it a point to read their comic strips each day in the newspapers. It’s amazing how all my stress ebbs away when I read them.
18. Binging on dark chocolate. Lots of them. Anytime. Every time. All the time.
So far, just this. Will keep updating the list as I hit on or discover more 🙂
Emotions That Matter. 