Colour Me Mauve

Mauve in all its shades is a colour filled with life and joy. Fabrics, lip colour and nail paints of this colour look pretty with regal elegance. This flower here is one of my favourites as it brings liveliness to my garden.

Quotes For Today

Here are some more quotes and thoughts I have composed today:

1) Hopes are like little heels to tip toe to your dreams.
2) Can I believe I am perfect when I am criticizing somebody?
3) All living beings live for themselves, the selfless few who try to live for others are the real human beings.
4) Politeness conquers where anger is unable to reach.
5) You may avoid a celebration but you must never avoid being with someone in his/her grief.
6) Life is limited by years so make it worth remembering.
7) Imitate the real and genuine but do not copy the negative traits of others.
8) Work fills the gap between weekends.
9) Am I abnormal if I think differently from others? Or are others abnormal as they think differently from me?

My Quotes

Here are some more quotations composed by me today -

1) The wise know there is limited time while fools believe it is in abundance.
2) Being away from home brings you closer to it.
3) Upbringing lives with you till the end.
4) Daring to stand up for the right is a virtue of the courageous.
5) I met myself the day I chose to be different.
6) To think of changing the world without changing yourself is hypocrisy.
7) The best results come from having been through the worst.
8) Those who cannot create have no right to destroy.

Forward But In The Right Spirit

I had been thinking of writing on rules for forwarding mails for sometime but had not done so. I recently got a mail that spoke about email rules. This reminded me to write on the art of forwarding mails. I know that a lot of people do not want to receive such mails and especially the ones that want you to forward them to more people. This adds to work. To forward a mail one must try to make the mail as concise as possible so that the receiver’s inbox is not clogged. One can zip large attachments in a mail before forwarding it. I find it best to forward the main content of the mail from the forwarded mail and not just forward what I have received. This makes me bring down the size of say a 4 MB mail to as less as 0.25 MB. Names of all the people who have forwarded and received the previous mails is not required by those whom we want to forward the mail to. Nobody likes reading names of people whom they do not know. Caution and judgement are required in forwarding mails as to the age of the audience. There are times when mails have adult content that might need censoring if the mail is meant for a larger audience of mixed ages and tastes. Forwarding mails blindly is like acting as a post office. One thing that I would be implementing in my mails is to write the email ids under Bcc and not under To. This will help in non disclosure of personal email ids to others who will get the forwarded mails at a later date and it will also keep the mail content clean and crisp for my mail recipients. One must check with the mail recipients in advance if they like receiving global mails. I know I have not done this as I assumed that my friends and relatives would like the mails. I should have ideally checked with them so that I do not offend anyone. Greetings and language of the mail should be proper and polite. Non official mails should not read like official circulars or memos. Adding a personal touch to personal mails would be surely appreciated by the readers. Giving credit to the mail originator or the person who sent you the mail is also a good gesture. Another point needs to be noted while replying to a forwarded mail that had attachments. It is good to thank the person who sent you a nice mail but this should be done by deleting the attachments from the original mail so that the sender gets a 1kb mail instead of a 2 MB or 4 MB mail. Imagine having sent a big mail to 5 people and all 5 replying with attachments. In most likelihood four of these replies will bounce or get lost in the server. A separate thank you mail can also be sent to avoid replying with attachments. I can think of these main points as of now that I have noted in the forwarded mails that come to me. I will add to these rules later in case I notice something worth sharing.

Little Faces

Don't these flowers look like little children looking up to you for appreciation and affection.

The Trespasser

There was an eerie silence that whispered to him that someone had been in the room. His things were not in their place. He knew that his books had been touched. The album that now lay on the floor had been on the table in the morning. The pillow was out of place. He did not leave it in that corner that morning. Something was amiss!! He quickly reached to the drawer where he kept his money. He thanked God as his money was lying secure in his drawer. But he knew that his room had been searched. The feeling of a stranger having been in his room was unwelcome and horrifying. He wondered why anyone would walk in here and go through his possessions. It was unbelievable and disturbing. He was frowning and groaning at the same time as he was not ready to accept the fact that he had been robbed of his privacy. It was his room and its possessions belonged solely to him and he would not have anyone else close to them. He was slowly coming to terms with the situation as he got up from the bed and tried to walk towards the bathroom. He was petrified on reaching the door to the bathroom. He saw something glowing in the darkness, eyes of a Dracula!! It made a dash at him before he could switch on the bathroom light. A black cat ran out of the bathroom and headed out of his room to the terrace. “Ah”, he said heaving a sigh of relief, “So, that was the culprit!!”

A Rose

A rose by any other name would be as pretty ....................

A Nice Way To Say Good Morning

Blog Pictures

I have not had the chance to talk about the pictures on my blog till now. 97% of pictures/ photographs on my blog have been taken by me. All the flowers seen here are from my garden that we cultivate with the help of my gardener. These photos have been captured by me through the eyes of my camera.

Tiger

"Tiger" was our pet who stayed with us for fifteen years. He became a part of the family within days of his coming to our home. It was a great experience to have him with us. People were always scared of him as he had a loud voice. His bark was thunderous enough to rattle the window panes and make people tremble. But he was a gem of a dog with a heart of gold. I spent most of those fifteen years in his service - food, walk, bath, medication, veterinary visits, etc. Having a pet is a big responsibility as they are like infants who never grow up. You need to serve them food, give them a bath, take them for a walk and be with them when they are at the vet's. He had tantrums of the world and a very sensitive nature. It was a joyous feeling to watch him waiting in the balcony when I returned from college. He loved car rides. He proudly had his snout high up in the air when he went for a car ride. He was never left alone so I had to baby sit when the family attended parties and functions where Tiger was not invited. He did accompany us to our relations who were outstation but not all relatives could be comfortable at the sight of a huge Labrador Retriever in their home. He died on his fifteenth birthday. It was a very sad time. Tajinder helped us carry him to the graveyard where we buried him. Mummy had a prayer (puja/hawan) held at home for him after the burial so that his soul rests in peace and he finds an even better life in his next birth.

Nature As A Stress Cure

Stress can ruin both physical and mental health alike. Spending time with nature relaxes the stressed muscles. The beauty of nature takes away the focus from our worries as we start appreciating the natural surroundings. Taking a walk in the garden is refreshing and rejuvenating as the fresh air brings a soothing effect to the body weakened by stress. The pretty flowers usher in joy to not just the body but also to the soul. There is no harm in trying to cure stress by coming closer to nature.

Beautiful Stitches

Embroidery has varied styles and forms across the world. There are manifold embroidery types in India itself. Every State of the country has an art form of traditional embroidery to cherish. There is immense beauty in this art whichever State it may originate from. The cultural heritage of this art is a treasure to be preserved.

Traditional and modern embrodery work combined together produce exquisite pieces of art. The embroidery styles are innumerable but to name a few we have, Kantha, phulkari, zardozi, parsi, neemzari, goti patta, aari, chikankari, sitara, dabka, kundan, resham, shibori, kashmiri/kashida, dori, shibori, mirror work, beads, meenakari, booti, sequin work, stone work, zari work, cutdana, etc.

Chikankari, kantha, parsi, kashmiri and zardozi are some of my top favourite emroidery styles.

Purity Of White

White is a colour that is so serene and pure and can enhance the beauty of any colour if placed on it. It has the grace of a swan and the calmness of the expanse of snowy mountains. Even white flowers look so amazing and stand out if placed with coloured flowers. Pure white crockery looks more attractive than its competitors in varied colours. White table cloth can put even pastel shade ones to shame. A white flower vase can add beauty to any colour flower that it holds. White is the colour of peace, purity and joy.