I Accept Wash Bucket Challenge

After a long busy day at work I reached home. Hoping for some peace and mind diversion from the hectic day, I headed towards the bedroom. From the drawing room, passing through the kitchen where wifey was cooking my favorite food - Rajma Masala, I landed in our dark struck bedroom. Switched on the lights and got my mind blown with the view in front of me. Even the horror movies didn't scare me as much as that view did. Being a follower of cleanliness, the last thing I would expect at my home is a pile of clothes. But there they were lying lazily, some on the floor and some peeping out of the laundry bag. My patience meter was falling and anger meter was going high. I rushed to the kitchen with all the power I had. But as I was heading the Rajma Masala did it's trick. With a loving voice I asked my better half, "so many clothes for the weekend? Weren't they washed during the week?" For which she replied "I hardly had the time after office hours. And I always wash clothes during the weekends. Didn't you know?" My eyeballs moved silently from left to right and I replied in a low pitch "No".

No, I never knew when the clothes are washed, when the floor is cleaned, when the dust is blown because I was never into these household chores. But today I raised my hand, kept it in front of a glowing led bulb and took an oath - that henceforth I will help my wife with domestic work. Washing clothes - to start with. I didn't wish to jump onto difficult work like cooking, so that we don't stay hungry for days. I instantly looked at our washing machine and challenged it "now onwards I'm the master and you are the slave". It stood there silently. So I assume it agreed to me.

Next day, as usual I got up on a Saturday morning to grab the newspaper headlines aiming to change the condition of my nation. the washing machine was staring at me. So instead of grabbing the newspaper I grabbed the laundry bag and opened the lid of my top load washing machine. But what next!!

The only time I used it was 3 years back. I am always excited to use new gadgets, new clothes, new energy drink, new restaurant and everything that's brought home for the first time. The washing expert was also like my new born love. I had read the whole manual, asked a thousand doubts to the person who had come home to explain its working. But today I felt like I am using a new machine minus the manual as I was in no mood to search for it. So my wife was the only answer to all my queries. From her, I quickly understood the method to operate it and washed the bucket full of clothes.

Taking up this job was not difficult for me but I always ignored it out of laziness and dependency. Today I know how easy life gets if the jobs are shared. Washing clothes was earlier a tedious task because of lack of smart electronics. But today its become easier, takes less efforts and is less time consuming. So there is no reason to deny from taking up the #WashBucketChallenge Choose a washing machine with good features, a good detergent powder and you're done. Aerial Matic has been our savior since years. I am prone to clothes without stains and Aerial Matic just helps us with that,  Here's me, Aerial Matic and my washing machine :)

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Look up for a positive life

Resting on our beach chairs, we #together looked at the clear sky. No traces of the clouds, the sun was shining mildly. In our minds we wished that the clear sky, turquoise water, smooth waves and pleasant climate of Mauritius could accompany us for life. Well somewhere in our thoughts we knew we were asking for something not possible to achieve at this stage of life. But one thing I was sure that will stay in my life forever, is my wife. With her, thousand such getaways and vacations were on the cards. The peace and enthusiasm I felt could never be achieved by me on my own. My mind was fresh and ready for any upcoming challenges. But it was not always this way.

Before this trip to Mauritius, I was totally a different person. I had almost given up on my abilities to tackle difficult situations. The work pressure had totally changed the way I used to look at life. Most importantly all the work pressure was simply not worth even my attention. Working late nights, being seated on the chair in front of the computer screen for hours, no time for relaxation, being tensed most of the time kept me away from family, friends and from myself too.

Photography was something which helped me release myself from any kind of pressure. But in this situation, even my favorite hobby couldn't help. Earlier I would go on streets of Mumbai, gear up myself to click the best picture and take the impressions of the scene into my camera. Even when I am resting on my bed, I would simply pick up my camera and take best possible shots randomly. This gave me peace and let me stay contented with my favorite pass time. But this time the work pressure and extra responsibilities had taken away my sweet time of photography too. The time left for myself would be just enough to catch up on some sleep. My camera which always stayed on my table smiling at me was now kept in a closet inside a box not even in my sight.

After all the efforts and giving my 100% into my job, I found that the reward I deserved was not even close to what I actually got. The negative remarks made me lose all hopes. Even after the work pressure decreased, it was difficult for me to take it off my mind completely. I started expressing my frustration on my loved ones.

My wife noticed my frustration and the cause of it. She secretly planned a leisure trip. The trip had to be special and not the usual one where we explored new places. This one had to rejuvenate my enthusiasm towards life and bring some peace to my mind.

The trip lighted up the optimistic side of me and motivated me to not lose hope at any stage of my life. It gave me the strength to keep investing full efforts into whatever I do. This was possible #together with my wife. Few days back I came across Housing.com which encourages you to be optimistic and look up to life positively. Do have a look at their website http://housing.com

Take A Bold Step & Start A New Life

Its a fact that taking up challenges brings the best out of you. The challenge just has to be the right one. But I never believed this fact, till I actually decided to take up one.

I have always lived with my parents. I have never lived alone or away from home even after I started earning. Reason being I thought that its not required for me to stay alone when I have a family who needs me. Many opportunities came but I had put down all of them when I got to know that I have stay away. But finally one day a similar opportunity came and I decided to accept it. It was not out of pressure or any other issue. I simply thought that this will increase my confidence to live by myself if I ever needed to.

I was asked to stay in the outskirts of Bangalore city. But I was also warned that the place is isolated from rest of the city. It had the least transport facility and least connectivity to the main city. I accepted the offer and packed my bags with all necessary items. Within 2 days after the decision was taken I was on my flight to the destination where I will be staying for the next few months.

The place was just as per the warnings and suggestions given to me by my colleagues and acquaintances staying in Bangalore. Being in a crowded place in a city like Mumbai, I have been used to people around me, a general store and restaurant after every few steps, crowded malls with people wandering around, vehicles with loud horns, traffic signals and so much more. But all this new place had was empty roads with few people and even fewer vehicles, 1 roadside eating place and 1 smokers shop which sold cigarettes, toffees and biscuits. I bet his maximum income came from his smoker customers.

I used to stay in a house which was pretty decent one. Way back at home, even a hot glass of water was given to me by one of my family members, whereas here I was responsible for all my work. As days passed I got used to the lifestyle there and actually started enjoying it. The peace and calmness could never be found in a city like Mumbai. I got to meet a lot of new and different kind of people.

This stay taught me to cope with difficult and unknown situations and accept challenges as they come. It taught me to stay independent and not rely on anyone for my daily basic needs. It gave me the strength to interact with different people and gain knowledge from them.

Housing is a service which gives a chance to #StartANewLife. Do have a look at it: http://housing.com

Hey Happy Baby!

"Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms"
- Thomas Gray

What makes us Happy? There are lots of things, situation, and people who make us happy. If we ignore the materialistic world, it’s when our baby smile that make us happier than any other. We play with our baby and we forget about the stress in office.  A small cute smile will alter the environment of the home.

And when a baby cries we do so much of funny things to calm down and get a smile on his/her face. We play around it, we start making funny noise. Enact animals, dance like never before, and sing to get a smile on his /her face. These small efforts to get the smile back make us happy again.

I play around with my brother in laws daughter who is just two months old. Adults speak and communicate to others while we are in pain. But babies cannot speak and they express their feelings either by smile or by crying loud. Mother is the best person who comes to know why her child is crying. But sometimes it’s very difficult to know whether it’s crying due to hunger or some other issue.

My niece is very small and cute. And suddenly one day while playing with her, she started crying. I started to calm her down. I tried making faces, created different noise, moved my hand around and showed her soft toys but she did not stop crying. Then I called her mother and told she might be hungry. But she was not hungry. Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt her by mistake? Finally got to know that she has urinated and that made her cry. Hence it’s a signal for us to change the diaper. Most of the time we do not come to know the reason and we unknowingly make baby cry.

New researched products have now come into the market that gives a helping hand to the working parents. Pampers has launched baby dry pants. They claim that it can keep baby dry for 12 hours and this would help baby to smile always. And when a baby smiles it automatically brings a smile on our face. This would be very useful during night time, wherein baby will have a sound sleep and parents could sleep tense free. People can try this as a sample product for free and is available at Reward Me http://www.rewardme.in/tag/Pampers.

The Baby Dry Pants promises dryness from inside since its magic gel locks in moisture keeping baby dry and healthy from inside. This is really a boon to the parents

So lets go smiling with the baby.

I Look Up to - An Enthusiastic Life

There are many people and many things that we look up to. It brings positivity and optimism within us. Even in the most difficult times of our life, a ray of hope and positivity gives us the courage to face the situation. The problem which used to be like a burden on our mind, after being optimistic, it becomes as small as a matter which doesn't even bother us. Life gets so simple and worth living that we feel gratitude towards our source of optimism and we tend to return to it whenever we get stuck in frustrations or problematic situations.

One such ray of hope is Housing.com. as the name implies, it is a website you can look up to when you are in need of a house. We all know that buying a house has nowadays become just next to impossible with the rising prices. A common man with average income cannot afford to buy a house. Housing.com is a platform for the most common to the richest man. Any size, any location, any price, you'll find it here. From the most crowded cities to the least populated ones, housing.com is someone you can look up to. For more information about it you can click on the following link: https://housing.com/lookup.

My ray of hope which I look up to on daily basis is music. The soothing rhythm helps me forget all my worries and problems instantly as soon as I hit the play button of the music player. My mobile phone is loaded with collection of my favourite music. Most of them are from Bollywood movies and by my favourite singers. I hardly listen to the lyrics, all my attention stays on the music, rhythm and voice of the singer. It gives me the ultimate peace that I and my mind needs. Some of my favourite songs are from the movie Yaariyan - Is dardè dil ki sifaarish.., Bachna e haseeno - Khuda jaane... Apart from Hindi movie songs, Marathi songs as well fill up the joy within me; like from the movie Balak Palak - Harawali paakhare, Timepass- Mala ved lagali and many more.

It has happened many times that i get frustrated or irritated because of work load or clashes at home or just feel lonely. Also sometimes the routine day to day life gets so boring that we need a break from everything - May be a weekend trip or a weeklong vacation. But because of our commitments we often do not get the chance to go for such outings. Still I try my best to plan out at least a short trip so that I can forget all the pressure and give myself a soothing break. It could be a leisure holiday or a medium level trek or just exploring some new place.

So when I feel low or lose my enthusiastic mood, I look up to music and vacations. What do you look up to? Let me know in the comments below.