Category Archives: My Point Of View

15 things that make me happy!

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Yesterday, I got a sudden idea of writing a list of 15 things that make me happy and this is what I wrote: (in no particular order)

  • Getting a new book: holding a new book in my hand, smelling it, reading it and just letting the fact that I got a whole new story to explore through this book sink in, is an amazing feeling.
  • Eating cold watermelon in the summer: just the fresh juiciness of cold watermelon bursting in my mouth after a sweaty bicycle ride in the hot sun is so soothing.
  • Dancing in the rain: I love the rains + I love dancing = I love dancing in the rains! I really enjoy the feeling of raindrops on me and rhythmic sounds they make. Usually when it rains, I belt out old hindi songs and just dance!
  • Swinging: swinging is so exhilarating! It makes me feel like I’m soaring. And especially after I watched a Disney show called Andi Mack, (swings are a vital part of it) I’ve fallen in love with swinging even more.
  • Petting dogs: dogs are such beautiful animals, they’re so faithful and kind and everforgiving; bless their hearts. Petting them while they wag their tails is so wholesome.
  • Lying in the grass and stargazing: we don’t have a lot of grass in Mumbai, let alone stars, but whenever we are out of town, I always sprawl out on the grass and look at the stars. It’s really calming. Even in mumbai, I make it a point to look up everyday and count the visible stars and shout, “HI ORION!” if I see him.
  • Eating maggi/drinking sugarcane juice: these ones are two of my most supreme favorite foods. Eating/drinking them gives me a lot of joy.
  • Making an artwork that I feel proud about: After I finish an artwork, it feels incomplete. I feel I can do so much more in my art, do so much better, make so many improvements in it. But once in a while I feel proud of it and that feels good.
  • Curling up in a blanket to read a book: that, and having no one to interrupt you, and getting to go on a journey with your favorite characters while sitting in a place, it’s a wonderful thing.
  • Cycling/Skating with the wind blowing in my face while I sing songs to myself.
  • Making up stories in my head.
  • Hugs.
  • Getting genuine appreciation.
  • Getting surprise gifts.
  • Jumping on a trampoline

You know what, it was so fun to think of things that make me happy, it made me smile a lot. I think you should go ahead and make your own list of things that make you happy! Have a nice day! Bye!

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That feeling of getting a new book.

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I just love getting good new books, you know? It’s so fun, I just get so hyped up while looking for the next few books that I want to order to read, surfing on the net, reading book reviews, and then ordering them. And then the wait starts; days stretch ahead… but then this message pings on the phone: your order will be delivered today.

And I sit there in anticipation and excitement, waiting for it to arrive. Then the doorbell rings and I run to open the door and to me at that moment, the mailman seems just like a celestial messenger bearing precious gifts in his hand.

I always try to hold my excitement in, but I end up grinning so hard, my cheeks hurt. As soon as I sign and stuff, and the door closes behind me, I let out a squeal of joy and go and hug my parents and thank them for ordering the books, then rip the packaging apart and turn the book around in my hands, smell it, run to my bookshelves, put the book up in my bookshelf (colour coded+mood coded) admire it, run back to my family, tell them I’m reading it so they’d better not disturb me, find a corner in the house, fill it with pillows and then sink in to read the book.

That is, if my mom doesn’t take the book away and tell me to finish all my tasks first, because she knows that I wont do anything if I start reading, and that usually ends up in me begging and wheedling her to give me the book. She sometimes gives in and sometimes doesn’t. I just have to hope she does.

I’ll need to write a seperate blog about the actual reading of the book, and one about finishing a good book and one about people interrupting me when I read, that’s just so ugh! Well anyway, stay tuned for that!

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Book Review: The Remarkable Journey Of Coyote Sunrise

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Whenever I sit down to make a big art piece, I always like having to listen to audio books, as it makes it even more fun. So, when I sat down to work on a big drawing, and was surfing through Scribd, looking for an audio book, I saw The Remarkable Journey Of Coyote Sunrise, written by Dan Gemeinhart. They say, don’t judge book by its cover. But when I see a funky and/or beautiful book cover, I gravitate towards it, ignoring the others. Which I shouldn’t, but I do. So, when I saw a girl with sunglasses sitting on top of a school bus with a kitten, I just had to listen to it. So, I plopped on my earphones, got my pencil, and hit play.

Coyote Sunrise has been living with her dad on a school bus for 5 years, driving around the United States, ever since her mom and sisters died in a car accident; never going back to their home. never looking back.

Until, Coyote finds out that a park in her neighborhood was getting grazed down. She had buried a memory box there along with her mom and sisters and she just had to get it back before it got lost forever. The only problem was that she had to make her dad drive all the way across the country to the park without him knowing it. As she hatches plans and goes on this one heck of a journey, she is joined by an array of quirky yet amazing strangers, all going through something in their lives.

I was so invested in that story; I loved every single character in it. Coyote. Rodeo. Salvador. Lester. Val. Ivan.  EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM. I was rooting for them and smiling and chuckling and tearing up and sighing throughout the whole audio-book. You should definitely read/listen to it.

Written from Coyote’s point of view, this book discusses everything from slushies, kittens and good books to friendship, love and kindness.

Some quotes from the book:

“Losing something can sure make you realize how much you loved it, even if you knew you loved it all along”

“Maybe we’re all a little broken. Maybe we’re all a little fragile. Maybe that’s why we need each other so much.”

“I just wanted everyone to be happy. It’s hard, though, when everyone carries around a heart inside them that is so loud and so strong and so easily broken.”

“Sometimes trusting someone is about the scariest thing you can do. But you know what? It’s a lot less scary than being all alone.”

“And every book ever written is about love, really, whether it knows it or not. So, yeah, I know a thing or two about love.”

There were way too many beautiful lines in this book, which I’m probably going to do note down and put up here someday, when I get a hard copy of this book.

This is the kind of book that makes you happy and sad at the same time, you know, and obviously it made me laugh out way more times than I can count. So yeah, if you are into contemporary fiction, you should DEFINITELY read this book. Its brilliant.

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15 Book I LOVE! (updated version)

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So… I was reading my blog ‘20 Books I LOVE!’ and I was like, “my list of favorite books has changed so much, I need to do a new one!” So, here’s an updated version of 15 books I LOVE!

I like reading preteen/teen realistic fiction, the kind of ones where the recommended age is 11-14, you know?

  • Just Like Jackie
  • OCDaniel
  • When friendship followed me home
  • Touching Spirit Bear
  • Inside Out And Back Again

These ones right here ☝ are my absolute faves. They are my TOP 5 picks for my favorite books, and tying very closely with them are these ones right here ?

  • The Night Diary
  • When You Reach Me
  • Moon Over Manifest
  • The Ghost Of Spirit Bear
  • What Not To Do If You Turn Invisible
  • Ms. Bixby’s Last Day
  • Sadie (this ones a full on YA!)

And these right here ? are the books that I’m including from my last list because they are still in my favorites:

  • Wonder (I’ve read it at least 20 times!)
  • Books by Dr. Suess
  • The One & The Only Ivan

Also, I felt like including some books in here because I enjoyed them and didn’t want them to feel left out, so here you go: The list of books that I like:

  • Framed, Vanished, Trapped
  • Summerlost
  • The Zain & Ana series
  • Your Turn Now & YTN 2
  • Soar
  • Ruskin Bond’s Children’s Omnibus
  • Let’s go time travelling
  • The Railway Children and Five Children & It
  • Auggie and me

These ones are great for fun, light reading, and I like taking them along with me on a train rides and stuff like that.

If you’re like me and like reading preteen realistic fiction, then do give these a try and let me know your thoughts about them in the comment section below.

These were all the books I love, I’m going to write separate reviews for them, (the post would be too long otherwise) so stay tuned for that!

 

 

 

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Rain!

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I’m the kind of person who loves rains.

I love the coolness of it.

I love how it washes the dirt away from the trees and makes them look so glistening and new and green.

I love the pitter-patter sound it makes.

I love all the muddy puddles that it brings with it. I don’t care if people say I’m too old to jump in puddles, I still do. It’s so fun!

I don’t get the term rainy day blues, or why people complain about the rain so much.

The rain doesn’t make me grumpy, instead it makes me more joyous, it makes me want to sing raag malhaar.

And to all the people who hate the rain, come on people, have you ever smelled the smell of the earth after it rains? It’s so blissful.

Thank you for reading my banter about the rains.

I’ll go now, bye!

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DhOoM DhAdHaM DhAd!

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There’s laughter and festivity in the air; people are greeting each other, taking selfies in groups, or dancing on the streets. A truck with the idol of the huge Ganpati follows. It’s the day of visarjan and there is traffic all around. A tempo with a huge megaphone blares while the drums beat loudly along with it.

The noise is a bit too much for me, so I back up a bit. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a dog crouching near my building. ‘Buddy!’ I think, and cross the road and go up to him. He’s a very skinny and malnourished dog, his bones visible from under his skin. He seems very apprehensive. I reach out to him and pet him. He doesn’t wag his tail like usual and barely glances at me. Instead he’s crouching low, shivering.

Dogs can hear way 3 times more better than humans and it’s pretty evident that all the noise is bothering him. I squatted down next to him. I stay there with him for about half an hour, whispering to him over and over, that I’m sorry, and you’ll be okay, and you’re a good dog. Buddy moans and lies down. “I know, I’m sorry,” I say to him apologetically. The sad look in his eyes makes me feel so bad! I don’t have money or else I’d at least get him biscuits like I do whenever I see him.

I sit there stroking him and thinking: ‘I don’t think Ganpati likes it that so many stray animals are suffering because of the noise we make. He certainly wouldn’t want us to make so much noise and pollute the rivers because of him.’ Then I think: ‘ugh, and Diwali; I absolutely hate all the bursting crackers in Diwali. I just sit at home, trying to channel all the phat phat phat of the crackers away from me, it just gets on my nerves. And all the pollution! Does nobody think about all the animals, the planet belongs to them just as much as it belongs to us, and we’re ruining it for them and for us! Plus, the smog and all the diseases. please people, can we have a Diwali without crackers?’ then I get mad thinking about how a kid once threw a water balloon on this dog and it hit his eye and how the dog howled. Then the pictures of the dead birds, tangled in the manjas from the kites we fly in Makar Sankranti crosses my mind. I look over at the Ganpati in the truck which treads along slowly. Ganpati’s smiling expression suddenly look sad. I no longer feel joyous anymore. I whisper some more to buddy, promising to meet him tomorrow with biscuits, then I come back home and write this.

Can’t we not get eco friendly and celebrate our festivals by making sure we take care of our environment and the animals? Festivals should be about meeting each other, having fun and spreading joy, not pollution and harm.

Please, please say no to things that can harm our environment and the animals living around us. Instead celebrate happy, pollution less and safe festivals.

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Pages From My Travel Journal: Trip to Ganpatipule

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I recently went on a trip to Ganpatipule with my family. I obviously took my travel diary with me and jotted down all my memories from the trip. So here they are: Pages from my travel journal: Trip to Ganpatipule.

Day 1:

I was so not ready to wake up at 4 in the morning. After I finished splashing cold water on my face to wake myself up, brushed my teeth, got my bag; we headed out the door and got a cab to Dadar railway station. Off to Ganpatipule! Our train arrived on the station and I was like ‘whoa!’ it was a really nice train; it was a chaircar train with big comfy seats and small screens with movies and songs to entertain the passengers. Papa watched Mughal-e-Azam in the on the screen, I watched the starting of the movie with him but then I got bored. I slept for most of the journey.

After we reached Ratnagiri railway station, we took an auto to our resort: Greenleaf; which is an associate of our beloved Club Mahindra. After checking in, we relaxed for some time and then went off to explore the resort. After that, we went to Ganpatipule beach for a brisk walk. We spent some time there and then had dinner. I could see loads of stars in the night sky and was so thrilled.

Day 2

We just chilled out at the resort today. I borrowed some books from the fun zone, we played carrom and foosball at the fun zone and mamma and I sang songs on the karaoke. I clicked some pictures of flowers. We splashed around in the pool and at night while mamma papa played with cards, I read the books I had borrowed. I also had a crazy tickle fight with bhaiya (my brother). I had a lot of fun.

Day 3

Today was one of those rare days when I kept my hair open. I kept it open the whole day long except when I was in the swimming pool. Can you believe it?  Anyway, today we went to the Malgund beach. There were only a few people there. The sea water was really clear and there were loads of shells on the beach, so of course, I collected them. I picked up a small shell and saw something moving inside it. It was a tiny crab! I quickly put the shell down and ran away, startled. After that I made sure to check each and every shell that I picked to make sure there weren’t any crabs in it.

Mamma spotted this jellyfish on the shore ☝

 

Seashells!

After spending some time on the beach, we headed off to find lunch. We stopped at this place called Mehendley’s and ordered thalis. I ate some aamras and amrakhand (mango shrikhand) it was amazing. After eating we went back to our room. While the others rested, I read the books that I had borrowed from the fun zone library. At four we all headed to the swimming pool to have some fun. We were the only ones at the swimming pool so it was really quiet. Bhaiya kept coming to pull my leg from behind, trying to drag me underwater ? and then we also played catch with a ball in the water. It was pretty fun.

 

Day 4

Today was our last day in Ganpatipule. We took a tour package to visit all the tourist places today. First, we headed off to Ganpatipule mandir and beach.

Saw this mermaid at the beach ?‍♀️

After that we went to the Prachin Konkan museum, it was all about the lives of people of konkan from medieval times. There were many life sized statues of the people. Here are a few:

Then we visited Aarey Waarey beach. It is a very beautiful beach, the water is a beautiful sea green color and there are pine trees besides the beach.

Look at that sand! ☝

We visited some more places:

The childhood home of Bal Gangadhar Tilak:

The temple build by Veer Savarkar:

Thibaw palace, home of king Thibaw:

After the tour ended, it was time for us to go catch our train. So we headed to Ratnagiri railway station to get on our train. The train was off schedule so we had to wait there for some time. The train arrived and we quickly boarded it. Off to Mumbai. Goodbye Ganpatipule!

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Poem: Stargazing

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I gaze up at the sky,

And heave a soft sigh,

As I see the stars shining bright,

Flooding the sky with light,

Hundreds of them, up so high,

I can’t count them, even though I try,

These dazzling, shimmering lights,

Look so beautiful in the night,

As I lie on the grass, taking it all in,

Watching the stars twinkle and gleam.

-Adhya Bhatnagar

 

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