How I am now an Aambal person!

So a lot has happened since my last blog, I got married and now a mom to a beautiful baby girl who is one year old now. So yeah many years have gone by in the blink of any eye; before you know it you have surpassed many milestones in life. I am happy with the way things are going now, a good husband an adorable daughter who keeps in my jogging shoes the moment she opens her eyes in the morning. But it’s all in the game; you need to experience it once, twice or may be even thrice in life.  I did not want to marry someone who has his own business and runs round the clock, who has to go to work even on weekends and does not follow a routine 9 to 5 office time…No…that was not the person I wanted to marry…But GOD…GOD is a very smart guy…he gave me that exact same guy whom I did not want as a husband…But then I am not complaining! You accept what GOD gives you with open arms and move on with life.

So there goes my life, I always liked a day job, get my very own salary, enjoy the weekends and work out a daily office routine….well that was the kinda life I loved and lived but life is very tricky and takes away your happiness for more happiness at times and sometimes leaving you confused, anxious and stagnant. But God has his way of surprising us, marrying a business husband does come with many perks and looking after his business and helping him out is one of the many. So now I live the life of an entrepreneur, still in the learning stage but. So what am I looking after……?

Well living in Fort Kochi, you can’t make a move without bumping into tourists and foreigners; they are in the city 365 days a year. So you can imagine the crowd flocking into this tiny little heritage city once invaded by the Dutch and later by the Portuguese. We are thankful to them for leaving back some mind blowing architecture and buildings that make you stare unreasonably for a long, long time. Shielded by a lot of shady trees dating back to centuries, a vast stretch of sandy beach, some amazing and unique heritage sights, villas, bungalows, peculiar houses, palace, museums, spiritual places, chinese fishing nets, antique stores, spices, sandy beaches, peaceful and serene roads that makes you want to take a long relaxing walk imbibing the scenic beauty of the city and its people, art, music, shopping, eateries and many more Fort Kochi never ceases to please its crowd.

So…more tourists mean more chance of them shopping and which leads to more monetary fund. My husband already owns a service apartment named Fort Beach Service Apartment, so he knows the crowd and their attitude which led us to think of opening a clothing store right next to the oh-so popular and commonly bought Fab India in Napier Street, Fort Kochi. No! they don’t scare us, coz we are something entirely different and unique from what they have in store. We or what I would like to call our quaint little shop, Aambal which means water lily is a clothing store with a difference. We sell clothes made from cotton, organic cotton, khadi, handloom and the like, hence we are an eco-clothing store selling eco-friendly and sustainable clothes along with other eco-collectives which does not bring any harm to mother nature and is made in the most chemical-free and natural manner. 

You may think we are plain old and boring but nooo…..we are all colourful, trendy, stylish lending more zing and zest to our customers. We have hand prints, block prints, ikat, floral prints, geometric designs, animal prints and more most or all of which are #madeinindia #madeinkerala #handmade #handwoven #handcrafted and above all unique. We have tops, dresses, shirts, trousers,jumpsuits, shorts, saree, bedlinen, scarfs, active wear, yogawear, clay toys, home décor, crochet toys, screwpine mats, vegan soaps, natural cosmetics, oils and more.

One of the many reasons we thought to open up this very kind a store was to promote organic clothes, sustainable fashion, an eco-friendly living but most of all provide support and a helping hand to the local artisans, traders, home-based entrepreneurs and a boost to local self-help groups, communities , weaving societies constituting of many weak, sick, disabled and  handicapped people and also not let the age old art and crafts die. This way we feel happy that we are helping them and the tourists also feel good that they are helping the needy. Yes! So not making you bored more…so that’s what I do now besides looking after my baby girl. Well! Life is not how we plan it but I like it unplanned too….Come by to Aambal, fort kochi…your organic and eco friendly store.

Skyfall Love

“What a waste of good scotch” about 50% of the people in the whole wide world must be familiar with this line by now. The rest of the 50% will have to wait till November 1 to hear this dialogue being delivered by  the devoted, focused, blue-eyed blonde bond; Daniel Craig in the new bond movie “Skyfall”. I must say the dialogues in this movie have been written by an impeccable brain head with a little tinge of creativity and humour. For an actionista and an MI6 agent, bond doesn’t do much of the talking; 140 characters or less. Guess, he is the person that follows this motto in life: less talk and more work! But that I would say have contributed to the film bagging a lot of titles, praises, aspirations and acclamations in just one week after its release like the 8.4rating by IMDb, critical acclamation of being the best bond movie ever, lotta realistic Oscar award hopes for director and Mr. Bond and many more.

Keeping all that aside, I would say Skyfall had a more humane touch amongst other 49 bond movies. At least this time it was not all about Laser keys or exploding remote operated pens and even sophisticated Aston Martins and BMWs rather they went for a beast, a rusted  century old Digger!! This movie is all about him as a person, his feelings, his home, even his parent’s grave and his father’s stylish Double Barrel Shotgun with an AB stamped onto it. All of which was invisible in the previous bond movies or rather ignored for creating a gadget- filled, emotionless , thrilling, action packed, murderous bond movie I guess. Okkay…deviating alert!!!

The dialogues in the movie are outstanding and very hard to forget; for a person who only opens his mouth for planting a kiss as usual in all bond movies and to deliver power packed comments; this movie has done full justice. The villain, Javier Bardem has done a masterpiece with his role as Silva although kind of resembled Heath Ledger from Batman (A Joker effect). I have listed some of the dialogues that I loved in the movie, don’t remember it all though:

Person A: What comes to your mind when I say murder?

Bond: Employment

Silva: So what is your hobby?

Bond: Resurrection

Bond: 007 reporting for duty

M: Where the bloody hell have you been?

Bond: Enjoying death!

Person A: (Grabs hold of Bond’s gun and aims to kill him) (you will come to know more about this while watching the movie) 

Bond: Good luck with that!

Q: I am your new quartermaster

Bond: You must be joking!

Bond: “What a waste of good scotch!”

Silva : “Mommy was very bad” (referring to M)

Enjoy the movie folks!!!! you wont regret it!!!

The lucky one!

So here I was standing inside the metro on my way to the office in the morning, standing against the train wall supporting my back and putting pressure on my feet so that i do not fumble and fall down and make a fool out of myself. Bored of listening to the same music again and again on my mobile, I switched to the next best thing i like doing; observe. I passed away the time observing the latest trends and updates in clothing, accessories, footware, bags, mobile, hair styles; and looking at the cute little guys and the handsome ones in their all-tailored and covered up suits.

And in a nick of a time, I saw the red-head guy standing next to me flip open his purse for something to reveal a faded yellowish photograph of the most adorable living being on Earth. No..they were not his twin babies, not his girlfriends (guys are smart enough not to make that mistake), not his parents, or his siblings...too much thinking ey?..he he he..It was a picture of two adorable black and brown fusioned doggies (do not ask me the breed, I have no clue), man's best friend on Earth. He must love them so much to replace a humans picture with that of a living being, much better than these brilliant, intelligent (or so they call it themselves) homosapiens.

Such an irony! I guess the loyalty, the unconditional love and dedication towards his master, earned him a position to chuck the human and get into one place evry girl would dream off to be in a guys possession....he he...it was something to think about when i saw the picture.

I have now found the solid proof to support that dog is indeed a man's best friend, so close to even get into his wallet.

Cheers to all dog lovers & dog owners, I am so jealous thinking of you all who will get back all the love you have given pure and refined.

Dubai-I Love You

Dubai is one of those places you just cannot miss in the headlines. Be it building the tallest ever manmade edifice or the tallest hotel in the world, building a city inside Dubai or even constructing the whole world on top of the ocean, Dubai is a name too hard to miss. And when we are not busy building Guinness World Records, we are either entertaining the people of Dubai with smashing and electrifying live musical nights and concerts from some of the most popular and iconic artists in the world like, Chris Brown, J.Lo, Usher, katy Perry and Nicki Minaj to name a few.

We always have some of the best Adrenaline-rush and jaw-dropping entertainments in Dubai like the Formula One Grand Prix, World Parachuting Competition, Tennis Championship, horse racing and more. And if you are not a hard core sports fan but a little bit on the soft side, we have the best time pass that every women would go gaga over without stopping; ring a bell? Yes! Shopping it is! Being a host to the World's largest Shopping Festival called Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF), shopping is crazy in Dubai. With some of the longest, largest and busiest shopping malls in Dubai, shopping frenzies will shop like they never have amidst the striking, leading and popular brands from all around the world.

In Dubai you are never too late nor too early to try out everything and experience the best moments in life like going for a desert drive, standing right under the nose of the world's tallest tower and looking straight up till the sun disrupts your vision, the camel ride, the kebabs and hummous, enjoying the beach, the gigantic aquariums, the enormous water fountain similar to the one in Las Vegas, exploring souqs, devouring the oriental dates, clubbing, shopping and even more. And if you are coming from the coldest or the tropical part of the world then the Dubai weather will tease your skin, melt you down and soothe your senses.

Well equipped with a lively and cool atmosphere and lifestyle worth dreaming off, Dubai is purely a vacation spot and a travel destination and a city to live your dreams. I am proud to call Dubai my country, even though I am an Indian, Dubai does provide me with all the safety and freedom to live and enjoy. I am proud to call Dubai my home town , even though I am an Indian, Dubai does provide me with all the safety and freedom to live and enjoy my life, which is of course my first priority being a 23 year old female. It’s disheartening to face the cruel fact that you long and yearn to come back to Dubai, two minutes after you touch down in Kerala (my home town) because of the affection and warmth the people and the place provide.

Well I do not know how destiny will turn out to be but I am surely staying where I am at my best and mostly feel comfortable in and that definitely is not Kerala (sad), Dubai it will be forever.

When interviews get a little too personal

So I happened to go for this job interview recently for a post which actually did not fall under my genre but, I was desperately in need of a job and it has been ages since I received an interview call, so I thought of giving it a green signal with just one thought in my mind, “Even if I don’t get the job, an interview is always a new experience gained”.  And so, I reached my point of destination a little bit too early only to find an apartment-roomed office decorated with stands, furniture and all sorts of lucky charms which made walking a bit too difficult inside the office. I sat there realizing already that, this effort might turn out to be a bad idea as the three-roomed office hardly had three people in it including the so-called boss. I have always had this ill-feeling about small offices containing just 3-5 staffs with a lot of people working elsewhere in the world (I don’t know but something never seems right there and believe me I have had experience, make it a plural form- experiences).

 So the person-in-charge of interviewing me came out and led me to his room and started with the usual “Tell me a bit about yourself”.  Well that went okay but, after that he started penetrating deep into my thoughts, it was kind of scary because I felt like he was reading my mind, (those same questions I was dwindling with for quite some time) it was okay, but I wish he knew where to draw the line between personal and professional talk. Asking too many questions about the whereabouts of my family and my past were quite irritating but I had to, had to have my good girl hallow on top of my head and be nice and answer him (respect for elders, you see).

Eventually the talk was heading nowhere except the postmortem of why I did not pursue my dream career and came for this particular job in this country  along with blaming my parents for it and holding  them responsible for my career drawback.( Excuse me! But what or who are you? Trying to create a rift within my family). I know I should have made him stop the interview and call it quits but then again, the respect factor was too tempting to not intervene. By the look of things, I could easily come to a conclusion that this was certainly not a place for me to work in and chase my dreams given the factor that he was demotivating me to take up this job and go behind ‘my dream career’ (May be he felt that I was not the right person for the job or he was too concerned about my career and a lot of other stuff).

But I had to be thankful for him for just one question he asked, that made my decision a bit more affirmative, “Do you think that you will be happy working here?”, my answer was instant and with that I left, though he still wanted me to take a written test (for what reason I don’t know), but at least I found the guts to say ‘No’ to it (I could not handle any more of the respect factor).

Some tips to play it cool :-) 

-Well, I left with a kind of uneasy feeling that now he knows what I am thinking and what is in my mind. But relieved that I do not have to face it in future, for one thing I knew that I should not reveal a lot of personal stuff in an interview, as it gives him more space to penetrate deep into you (which is not a good idea at all).

-Also never ever be vulnerable in front of any interviewee and stay strong with an open mind and be receptive. 

-Try to keep the conversation as friendly as possible even if he/she tells you anything making you feel offensive, take it in or deviate from the point of context.

-Never try to be aggressive as it will not help both parties (you might be feeling satisfied letting your thoughts out but he may be working in a network and that can do bad things for your career reputation).

Well that was one of an almost two hour interview experience I had lately. Next time I hope I can say the right words and get going instead of making myself transparent and weak. I hope you guys might have had similar experiences if not keep these tips in mind to save your time and reputation.

Some strangers are not all that strange rather sweet.

What can put a smile on an average woman’s face? Yes, I am talking about all of us, we are 18 and above making us adults and so woman; employed or unemployed woman. Is it the fact that she has her own personal, customized, long-term/short-term boy friend? Or is it that she just had a hot dark lava chocolate cake with cold vanilla ice cream atop it? Or is it that she bought a new handbag and not just any bag, that will not make an average woman happy; tag in the word ‘branded’ and she will be over whelmed Or is it her new designer shoes or a new Forever 21 top or Ray Ban aviator sunglasses? Well these things and mebbe even more (listing out everything will make you bored for sure, so I stopped) have something in common, they all have I, ME, WE, MINE,OURS labeled over it. It’s either your actions or your friends, families, relatives, boyfriends, colleagues move that end up giving you a smiley face.

What about the other lot who does not have the slightest idea about you or your life, your tastes, your whims and fancies.  Strangers to be precise, complete strangers who by chance have made you smile or rather made your day. Check out some instances I encountered in life:

-       - The person who just opened the door for you to enter or leave, either ways.

-        - The person who abruptly gave you his taxi seeing that you are desperate, alone, scared and its past rush hour.

-      -   Person who just stood up for you and gave you his seat in a public transport during the rush hour.

-       -A random guy who just gave you a 10% or 20% discount on an item that you bought from his shop (smiling part comes when the handsome guy says “Just for you madam”; I know sometimes girl fall for that trick; I did too)

Well the list is endless but many a times I find its MEN who are being loyal, polite and helpful (not the whole of MEN-kind but may be a select few who have been raised by a princess…the social media way of putting it) Its true!!! Just go out and you will understand that only a handful of woman open door for others be it any gender, stand up to give you her seat or even lend you a cab.

Guess that is why woman are more attracted to the opposite sex because they are beautiful in itself; mind, body and soul. Well one of the many reasons…:-P. So for those people who think that you have no one to make you feel wanted and valued, open your eyes and think again. Even if it was for a second, a minute or even an hour if they have achieved to make you smile it is because they think you are worth it. Sometimes when you are down and low and innocent and sweet act like the one mentioned above can make your day and sweep you off.

P.S: This story idea was inspired by a very handsome gentleman in a slick crisp suit who just opened the door for me yesterday while leaving my office along with very many other personal scenes in my life. And when I signaled him to take leave he replied with “No, after you”.  

Have you had any similar instances where any stranger helped you out and made your day.

Take a moment to say THANK YOU!

We homo sapiens, meaning us humans! are the most greediest creatures on earth, we always want more and are often never happy with what we have. We desire, wish and crave for a lot of things which we feel will make us happy! but inside we are still battling and unsure if these "must-needed" things in life will actually make us happy.

 I was just pondering over this thought. We or our kind think a lot; about tomorrow, our past, our future, even our silly dreams and discussions. Let me list out a few thinks which i always wish i had and still try to make it happen (but i am too lazy and come to a halt half way through the line) like a flawless and fair skin, shining, lustrous and long hair, an athlete body structure (well, these are the few important ones, the list is endless)

Well from my list you can witness how much importance is given to my physical appearance. I care about the way i am presented before others (Well, this is the facebook era, i am positive that every one thinks the same and  no one is different). Check out the list, I am sure all of you will have had these few thoughts pass over your mind be it a "he" or a "she".

• A body like Deepika's
• Parneeti chopra like hair
• John Abraham's 6 pack or is it 8 (I aint sure)
• Christiano Ronald's Hairstyle
• Kareena Kapoor's skin tone

Well don't consider the celebrity part of it but at least all of you wish for great hair, great skin and great body without doubt! And if you are gonna say "NO", then i will have to shower you with questions like: why do you spend a lotta time in front of the mirror, at the gym, at the parlour, at shopping malls and many more.

While thinking of perfecting myself, i also happened to think of the few unfortunate ones who are mandatorily separated from society in the name of " Physically Disabled". What do you think they will be praying when GOD send them into this world taking away half of their body parts and half of their confidence? Having to be born with lifeless limbs, defamed body, a mangolian face,ears with no audibility,eyes that cannot see, autism...

We simply do not have answers to why they were chosen to live this way? Why God sent them into this world for others to look upon them with empathy and sympathy?

I don't know! No one knows! God alone has all the answers!

So next time you ask God for a perfect body or wish for an awesome skin, devote that time to "Thank God" for sending you into this world perfectly without any imperfections. We have been very lucky and blessed by Him and never forget that somewhere someone in the extreme corner of the world  has paid the price for what you are now.

I said my Thankyou first! Contribute yours as well :-)

Just a thought my dear fellas, let me know what you think about the same!

Love yourself, love your body because you are perfect in your own way, high time you realize it!

Cheers to a happy life you are leading now!