Mahesh Dattani’s three act played “Bravely Fought The Queen” is one of my personal favorite. An Indian drama that gives the glimpse of a hypocritical urban family (society) where patriarchs of the current generation are a result of the patriarchy they have learned from their previous generation. Fathers moulding the children in their image. The play encompasses the daily lives of the families that are broken, either due to domestic violence or incompatibility between the partners which leads to them leading lives that are together yet separate.
The condition of Baa, and her dependency on her daughter-in-laws is kind of a common scenario that we have seen in our families as well. The only difference being that in at least some of our lives, the elderly are seen as a source of “will” or just a mere old person that one has to take care of till they die- returning the favour of giving birth.
The Twin Houses is where the two sisters, Dolly (elder) and Alka (Younger) are married to two brothers Jiten and Nitin respectively. Both the marriages are only similar in the way that the husband shave the upper hand in their marriages. The intensity of the control over their wives as an inherent part of the patriarchal systems vary in their marriages.
Jiten is more alcoholic. He has a violent temperament and has a perverted mindset and desires that are almost acceptable in the society for men only. He whores around regularly, has had a episodes of aggressive outbursts where once he even beat his wife, the consequences of which suffered their whole marriage and more (do read the play for the whole story, it is worth a read I promise and short too). This shows a hypocritical aspect of the society where men are allowed to do such things consequence-free while women were not even allowed to speak to another man.
Nitin is slightly more composed in his temperament and is comparatively much more reasonable. He has not been as violent with his wife, and although there is no mention of him being ever aggressive with Alka except for when he threw her out of the house, we cannot assume he never was aggressive(It’d be a surprise).
Alka, although an alcoholic in Jiten and Nitin’s eyes ( hypocritically), drinks but only to what some may call a normal amount from the modern day lifestyle’s standards. She is more outspoken and confident and chirpier than her sister. She speaks what is in her mind, but being so long in a society that has been oppressive, she spring out way too much verbally when she is drunk. That has caused her to speak things that she did not meant and even cause some distress between her and her sister. Her character shows just a little bit of how much is suppressed within women in the society, who want to speak up but can not.
Dolly, the wife of Jatin, is a typical representation of an Indian housewife who is neglected by her husband except for when he has to have sex or to showcase her to the society. She is silent and sits alone in parties sipping cola being unable to (or unwilling) make friends, further increasing her loneliness and thus dependence on her husband for everything. Many housewives can empathize with her if not relate.
To conclude, the play has multiple lives woven together represented boldly and perfectly, showing much more than what I have told about.
Kanthapura, an Indian Classic in English Literature of the Indian Ethnicity, is a novel that gives a more realistic and closer look at the effect of Gandhi and the ahimsa movement in the villages. It shows the way the caste system worked in the villages, how zamindars were owners of lands much more than they needed while the poor, lower castes, “pariah”(in the novel) are left with little to no land, and how people of the upper castes resisted the Gandhian teaching for their self proclaimed purity was above humanity.
Without disclosing the plot, as it should be read (even if just in summary), the setting of the novel is in the village of Kanthapura in the southern part of India under British Colonialism. The village can be taken as a typical representation of the villages of those times. There are big houses for the rich brahmins and upper castes, and their sizes reduce while their numbers grow as we go down the ladder of caste.
In the colonial period, the caste system, class system, child marriage, and many more social evils were just like a normal part of the system. No one objected to it and no one thought of opposing it. That was till the oppressed felt the injustice and took it in their hands to speak up, learn and understand that what has been happening is wrong. This was happening through the works of people like Gandhi, Swami Vivekanand, Bhimrao Ambedkar and so many more. The novel gives a glimpse of the changes that were starting to happen because of Gandhi. The main character Moorthy leaves his foreign clothes, books, University teaching, and a future under the British empire which would have given him a higher social status, and starts to preach the Gandhian philosophy to the village.
The story shows how an upper caste person, Moorthy, is one of those people who put humanity and equality above religion and caste. However, subtly Rao has shown that how deep the society’s casteism has been rooted that even the kind-hearted men trying to resist it are unable to adhere to their resistance in every manner. Moorthy’s not entering a temple after being inside the house of a lower caste person shows that even though he is learning and trying to resist his society-induced feeling of repulsiveness for the lower castes, he is only able to do it to some extent. Some may see it as a sign of hypocrisy, some may see it as a sign of the infant steps towards the desired equality. That is up to the readers to decide.
My suggestion, especially to students reading the novel in their course, is to know a little about Gandhian Philosophy, about the condition of the Indian villages and cities, the caste system, and other social evils, and then read the novel in the light of these and your understanding. See some images of a village from Bihar or Kerala and try to place your imagination based on them.
It is a theory that many literature students will come across, but even if you are not a literature student, this fascinating theory should be known to as many people as possible- especially if you are a book or arts enthusiast.
Modernism is the breaking away from the traditional norms and structure in art and architecture to, as Ezra Pound says about avant-garde, a movement arising out of the modernism, – “make it new”.
Modern is a term many of us have come across in our day to day life. If am not incorrect, it does give a sense of being modern in the sense that we know a little different from the people of the older generation. Some may even consider that we know better, but that is debatable. Nonetheless. being modern gives the image to a person that she is not bound by the norms of the society that are backward, not judged for her clothing or her occupation and so and so. You get the gist.
Modernism is somewhat similar to this, in the sense that it also encouraged not following the rules of the past. If a poem was said to be lyrical or follow a fixed metrical structure at the very least, modernism said “its okay, you can write a poem without rhyming, and you know what? You don’t even have to follow a fixed meter throughout the poem”.
In Literature, modernism encourages replacing the traditional things for new things like:
Closed Ending for Open ending. The previous plays for reference, like Shakespeare’s had a closed ending where you know what happened to the characters. Whereas in a modernist play like Waiting for Godot by Sameul Beckett the ending is not known, no one knows whether Godot ever arrives or not.
Coherent and chronological narration for fragmented and random narratives. Stream of Consciousness is a great example of it which writers such as Virginia Woolf and James Joyce make use of in their marvelous classics.
Fixed Narrative points of view for growing points of view of the characters that evolve with time.
Therefore, the experimentation and the shifts of the modernism gave birth to many new movements such as
Expressionism: it refers to a poetry or a painting that showed the artist’s expression. In that expression, the artist tries to evoke an emotion and so he wraps or distorts the reality to express the emotion he wants to express as better as he can.
Dadaism: a movement for the freedom of the man or the soul or the society. It made use of irrationality and randomness, and the spontaneous flow of thoughts and emotions that even juxtapose or contradict. To simplify, it placed things together that can never belong together to make something that does not make sense.
Surrealism: It showed the surrealism of the unconscious mind or the dream. It makes use of surrealistic imagery that is impossible in reality, but possible in the imagination and the unconscious as well as even subconscious. There is a juxtaposition that resembles dadaism, however it can make more sense than dadaism. The juxtaposition is between two things that are real at times, but can never exist together like a bird flying inside water, or a land where clocks lived. It gives the sense of dream.
avant-garde, formalism, Impressionism, Cubism, Futurism and others that are a resultant of modernism can be understood in the coming blogs.
For further understanding, refer to Peter Barry’s The Beginning Theory.
After studying several ages of History, of English Literature specifically, yet I take them as a standard model for general human history, with some sense of confidence I can call this age, the twenty-first century as “The Age of Super Conflict” or The Age of Super Confusion. Here, conflict stems from confusion.
This confusion is rooted in our subconscious. Not confined by the walls of class or caste or religion, there is confusion in every class, caste, or religion. As long as there are men, there will be these emotions, that began even before the Victorian Age. What is this confusion? How does it lead to conflict?
There is no certain beginning for the answer to this question. Peter Barry said “Ideas begin in a mist” So we can say that even intangible things take their origin in a place of uncertainty, of the unknown, of a clouded road. Take yourself as the prime subject for the study of what I want to explain. No matter how disciplined you try to be, were you always sure what you wanted to have for lunch today? Sure assuming you were, are you sure you wish to have the same thing tomorrow, or is it something else?
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If this did not satisfy you enough, then, imagine you are in love. Your lover, supremely bright like the sunshine, her eyes brilliantly black and astonishingly white. Imagine her face, black, brown or white. Now imagine you are young, as young as you can remember yourself to be when you were aware of these feelings. Now, you wish to ask her out, yet you have known her for some time now and fear that she might say no.
There is an uncertainty, you cannot keep your eyes off of her. yet you cannot look long enough at her. She shines so brightly that you cannot look her way. You want to touch her face, yet you always go for the handshake.
There is confusion, should you take the leap and ask, or should you let it be? This confusion leads to conflict, and this conflict leads to pain. It can lead to happiness immeasurable or pain that takes a lot of time, a lot, to fade away.
Confusion at a later age. Stuck in a job you cannot seem to like, yet unable to leave because you are not good enough to succeed in anything else in your life. Seems relatable, right? Not relatable? You are lucky then because many out there are not as privileged. Robert Frost has put it the best, this confusion, that started growing with each step we took in our lives, from making a small mistake, to deciding which subject to choose for our graduation, whom to fall in love with and who made us fall in love.
“I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”
Robert Frost
His sigh, is both, as the superposition of light, of relief and of pain. Purely depends on what kind of life you ended up leading through your choices, where you realized and mended your mistakes, and where you stayed just the same.
One step, however small, will always lead towards a new journey
I have a habit of talking for hours at times when I catch up with someone after long, I guess most people do that too. From gossips to the absurdity of life, I tend to fluctuate and switch topics almost subconsciously and maybe that is why the conversation goes on for long. Mind you, I do that once or twice a week or two at most, only when I have that much free time.
“One step, however small, will always lead towards a new journey,” a friend of mine said during one such conversation. And it struck me, that this is not just a phrase but also a small guide. It is quite similar to the dominoes effect, adding one bad habit will lead to more bad habits, but, the same theory goes for the fact that adding one good habit will lead to more good habits.
What Should I do?
Is this not what you are thinking?
Then is it, “Will just waking up on time make me a better person?”, or, ” I have tried eating healthy, but then I always fail after a certain time at my commitment”
I’ll cover these and a lot more in the headings below, so bear with me.
What All Can I Choose From to Add?
I’ll not make this blog too big by adding too much information here, so I’ll give you a list of things that you can add to your life, make them habits.
Wake up on time, but plan what work you want to finish or start the previous night itself. This will help you I swear. Just waking up on time on a whim will not bear much fruit, it is like planting a tree randomly in the desert and then saying “Oh the flowers didn’t bloom ” They WON’T! You need some planning and some preparations and a Goal. So plan ahead for that book you wanted to read, an assignment that you need to finish, or decluttering of the house that has been pending for so long.
Workout. I could have added this in the previous point, but I thought I will keep it separate. A healthy brain needs a healthy body, a healthy mind needs a healthy body to function at its best, otherwise either the mind will reflect the bad condition of the body, and you will start feeling melancholic or something in the negative spectrum, or, your brain will waste a good deal of energy in doing even the smallest of tasks. Do some light workout regularly, I’ll not tell what to do, you can decide that for yourself, but I’ll tell you what I do-
Skipping: Two Days a week
Pushups, Crunches, and Curls( Biceps and Triceps) Three days a week
Sit-ups: Three days a week
Prioritize Your Career, and make a flexible schedule. I have covered this, about how to plan a schedule. I’ll link the blog for that below
However, let us take a look at what you can do here. Make a daily and a weekly plan, set goals, and the goals should be career-oriented, college-oriented, growth, and oriented. Parties and such should be given time only when you have reached your goal of the week. If not, then either make a contingency plan to cover it up in the coming week or some holiday or as I prefer, just finish it all up this week if there is time.
The schedule should be in such a way, that you keep some extra time for some unforeseen situations that may arise, like a date with your crush or some medical emergency. I know the two examples juxtapose each other :3 That’s life fruenden.
Do Not Limit Yourself To Just The List I Gave
There are a lot more things that you can inculcate in your daily life. Like giving up smoking, or going for a morning walk, meditating, talking to your partners or parents, practicing empathy, and more.
The above link is to a blog, where there is a number of things that you can try for better health- physical and mental. Do check it out, and try.
What if I Fail?
You will. I did, Your successful friends did and everyone who tried did.
That is really great news actually because that means you tried. The only thing that matters is trying. You see there is a great deal of quotes over the internet about trying again, failing many times before finally finding success by great men. And I certainly know that just reading quotes or a blog does not make you feel like working harder or trying.
However, that is not your fault. Your body and mind have conditioned themselves to adapt to the current lifestyle for survival and comfort. Getting out of that comfort zone, and trying, being prepared to fail and face the pain of failure, and using it to get up again is what needed of you to lead a vastly better life than what you are doing now.
You can talk to someone and tell them that you are going to start something new. If you do not want to talk, then just make an ultimatum, that you will try it for three weeks, whatever it is that you want to. IF things do not change, feel better, or feels like it is not worth it, then instead of giving up on the whole idea of adding something good to your routine, Find something else to try. Do not give up.
If you have to give up, then just keep trying and give up on any results 😉
A Small Story
I will tell you my story, how I used this theory of adding one small step, in my life.
Being a typical this generation teenager, I was stuck in a loop of social media, laziness, procrastination, and blaming others for my failures. Even if I did accept my fault, I’d just call it inevitable and move on.
You see it was sort of like, I wanted things to happen my way, but, I did not want to do anything to make things work my way. However, I was tired. Love life not fruitful? Blame the other person, Bad Grades? Blame the schedule. Parents not letting me stay out all night? Blame them. Cannot see a good career ahead of me? Blame the parents and my choices.
As I was watching a creeper one day, in a place where there were a number of trees, their canopy covering the whole area in the way that it was shade all around, I found what I needed to think. I thought that had the creeper been me, it would never have tried climbing up the tree to get to the sunlight. It would probably have just blamed the trees, the leaves, and the sun. To get what it NEEDS it had to try. It could have died before even reaching, as I did see some dead ones here and there. However, my focus went on the one that lived, to reach the top.
The creepers tried, those plants are trying. They knew they needed the sunlight, not just wanted it. So I first had to decide what is my Need and what my Want is. Then I have to try. I have to fail and have to try. And finally, realize that what I need does not always have to be separate from what I want.
I added waking up early in my routine. When I was early, I had time. So I decided I’d go for a walk since I knew I was not in the habit of studying yet. Every day I’d wake up, and in time I’d have two glasses of warm water, a walk, and a novel in my hand.
As I got comfortable waking up early, I was sleeping earlier too, to help me wake early. This gave me more free time in the day time. I started using that time to study, do hobby work, take a nap, try cooking, and some other new things.
I started practicing gratitude, for the sun, the sky, life, my parents, and clothes and hope.
In time, I decided to eat healthily and follow a routine sort of for that, because I did felt lazy at times or less energetic than what I did when I was younger. Since I am still under 25, I should not have been feeling that way. Turns out, following just the four-hour rule, cutting down some sugar, and adding green vegetables and protein sources helped me enough. I did finish a book on Ayurveda and followed some things from there as well.
In not more than three months’ time, I was feeling lighter. I was ready to try at the cost of failing but in the hope of trying again to succeed someday. And here am I now, still trying, but better than I was. Trust me, it feels so better.
I cannot state it as a fact, but most of the people that I know only say that they read novels. They don’t actually do it. I just know it, and most of you will relate to it.
There was this incident in 3rd standard when I was having some random childish conversation about how came from a ninja school while Ajit was telling about his adventures in Australia. Obviously a ‘ninja school’ beat Australian adventures. Amidst all that, came a kid, who asked, “Have you watched that Harry Potter Movie?”. Now even if someone had not seen it, to say it out loud at that moment could have been an utter defeat for the Battle of Boasts we were having.
That’s when he said that movie is, and I quote, “Overrated”. “I’ve read the novel, and it has so much more DEPTH and DETAIL” This was my first encounter with the sentence, but not the last. Over the years I have met people who have read Midnight’s Children and not remember Amina Sinai, have read just the book I was talking about and saying “yes-yes, um, yes that chapter was good… Of course I remember it all, I have read it all years ago”.
Maybe I just started reading a bit late compared to such people.
Why You Should Read Novel
Being done with the background story( If you want me to share a few more in this context, lemme know), let us come to the topic, why reading a novel is actually good for you(If you already didn’t know that).
It actually improves your reading skills
Whether you read an English or a Hindi Novel or in any other language, reading novels makes you a ‘faster’ reader. Now faster reading might not be looking so appealing or big of a reason to start reading that 300-page story. Well faster and better reading means, you analyze stuff faster. The words will enter your brain and be comprehensible faster.
Improves your vocabulary
You will learn new words and sentences. Even if one tries not to pick up the words or sentences from a novel, just like watching a web-series you pick up some words and phrases or even speaking style, you will definitely learn something new. This will help when you are having a conversation with someone on a personal level or a professional. You will have better words to express yourself better.
Is a good eye exercise
Your eyes deserve a workout too. Besides just watching digital screens for hours should harm your eyes, no matter what blue lenses you wear or what night light filter you use.
There is a plethora of worlds you can live in
It might not happen outright, but before there were these movies and such, books were the way to live in a fantasy or another world created by someone else. Whether it is Hardy’s Wessex or R. K. Narayan’s Malgudi. You can walk through Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, or feel the gothic air in Wuthering Heights.
These reasons are brief, yet enough to tell some of the major reasons to start reading a book, a novel.
What you wear matters, from the shirt to shoe and tie, the glasses and the watch, all of it will tell more about you than you can think of.
me
Just do not go yourself bragging about the brands and price of your 1,000 $ Shoes, that is not what I mean. It will just make you look petty, for if you invested in your clothing, let them speak for themselves first, and when and ‘if’ the situation calls for, sure go ahead and tell all you like about your Airforces and Armanis.
I am here to just give my opinion on what all shoes one can have at the very least to be prepared for most occasions, if not all. I’ll try to cover as much as I can about the colors and types of the footwear that a man or boy should have, be he in college or a working professional.
SNEAKERS
The most versatile shoe category I must say. It can be worn daily for college and casual work and even parties. For that go for the most versatile colors:
Black
White Sneakers
Blue
I find converse’s sneakers best, but then again there’s Nike and Adidas as well. If you are looking at Adidas, Superstars are real good.
See, try getting an all black sneaker that has canvas material, at the very least if you have a tight budget. You can use black polish and a brush to keep them black for a very long time, I mean it. So, if you avoid rough use, they can last more than a year at the very least, and will even last as much as 5 years.
Similarly, go for white canvas as well, or a leather, and keep them clean, use bleach for the canvas shoes, and they should last long.
Rest, there’s just so many unique designs, alternatives to choose from, go spend all you like on what you like.
Some more colors that you can try are grey and red.
FORMAL SHOES
Well, just go for an all black Oxford if nothing else. The shiny one, and take care of them a lot.
However, if you want to get something specific for your Formal Wear, then you can choose from the following
Loafers
Derby
Monkstrap
As for colors, Brown and Black, both are versatile. One styling tip is to match, that I use, is to match the shoe color with the tie, or the blazer/coat that I am wearing, or the Shirt/tee. This works almost all the time.
Socks! Do not forget to wear socks with the tie or belt, or just get the white or grey ones (or black) they’ll work nicely. Just don’t wear black on one feet and white on the other, please.
Sport Shoe
Well, they are also versatile like sneakers. You can wear them almost everyday in any scenario, except for offices I suppose, if there is a dress code there.
Running shoes are a must. Why? Because you should move that booty a little, and it ain’t gonna cut in those formals or sneakers, nada.
Get any running shoe, just make sure if you are planning to wear them casually, get a color you are comfortable in, because I’ll be honest, if you are comfortable in what you wear, it is going to show in your personality and on your face. That way you’ll look great no matter what you wear or how you wear.
However, if you are not comfortable enough, then again, there is black and white ;). You can get more, when the budget allows, for sneakers and for sports shoes.
What You Like
The ones that I mentioned above will cover your daily needs as well as occasional formal needs. For color and design.
However, be it cheap or expensive, you can always get yourself some extra sneakers and formals, and sport shoes. I’ll just post some photographs for you to look at, and hey, if you want to get me one, feel free to contact xoxo
In the end, whatever you wear with confidence, if it fits well, and looks maintained, then you will look good. You see you need to maintain things, because that just shows how responsible you can be to others, about things and maybe even relationships and at work. Not just for shoes, but for a cheap shirt or a watch, it you keep it as maintained as you can or as clean as you can, then even if a stain remains,
at least you will know you tried your best, even if a wrinkle remains, you tried your best, so that will be a part of your trait which will help somewhere down the line.
There are just so many options popping in front of you when trying to buy any gadget. Online or offline, there is always a relief in knowing which ones are worth investing and. If you are also one of those people who want to get their hands on the recently launched OnePlus Buds Z, or as I call it OnePlus Buds Mini, but are confused whether to spend your money on it or go for something else in the same price range. Then I am here to help. For all those with a budget of somewhere between 1,500 INR to 2,500 INR ( 35$to55 $), this is the best one to go for.
Value for Money
Priced currently at 2,299 INR or 49 $, these are a highly value for money earbuds. The design and the build quality is good, with a sturdy feel in hand, it is very durable. It comes with a 1 year warranty, but you won’t even need to avail it in most of the cases. Most earbuds with the features close to the ones these have are priced for 4,000 INR at least.
Fast Charging
OnePlus devices are also known for the fast charging support. The company does not remove this thing in its low-end earbuds as well, making it one of a kind in its price segment. It can give a 3 Hour playback time in just a 10 minute charge, and that is insane for a TWS earbud.
10mm Drivers
The 10 mm drivers give a balanced sound, with a goodbass. It is not as ‘bassy’ as the Boat counterparts, but the way it manages the highs and lows, and its overall volume coupled with the bass that it has, it beats all of its counterparts when it comes to sounding the best.
IP55 Rating
It is sweat and splash proof. What else do you want? The fitting it has and the IP55 certification make it a comfortable earbud to wear during workout sessions.
10 meter Range
With a 10 meter range for the Bluetooth, thanks to the latest Bluetooth 5 technology, it will give a seamless connectivity throughout the house no matter how far your phone might be.
If you can go as much as 3500, then I’ll suggest go a little higher and get the OnePlus Buds ( I’ll post a review here, but there are many already out there by some famous youtubers).
I am not going to tell that my advice will make you feel healthiest, or cure you of a chronic disease or a mental illness. But it will surely help in even those things, and prevent many physical and mental issues that can surface in the foreseeable future.
Mind I tell you; physical health is very much related to your mood and mental well-being. I read somewhere, which I have tried and tested and actually felt the truth in it each and every time,
“If your body is moving the way it moves when happy, or excited, your mind cannot be sad, at least, for that very moment.”
Somewhere I read.
See, I know some of you want to feel better, better right away and stay the same forever. Tell me, is it possible that Something that did not develop instantaneously, or overnight, should have a quick and long-lasting fix? Leaves taketime to grow, and to wilt as well; once wilting, if you water them, they take time some time to regain the turbidity as well.
Skipping/ Walking
Yes, I know, you walk every day for your chores and more, here and there in college, office or school. No, it is not necessarily enough. Exhaustion from your work makes you feel like you walked a lot.
For walking, try to aim for 10,000steps each day. Take deep, wholesome breaths, put on your music.
I recommend that you do try to be aware of your surrounding while walking and such instead,
Forcibly remind yourself of how grateful you are, because words become thoughts just like thoughts become words. It is not a trick that will make you feel better instantly, to be honest, it might not even work the first time.
Try jogging a little if you can, and see a better result quicker.
Have patience, you gave time to your bad health, now give time to the healing process as well. Give time.
I think
If you can, I strongly recommend Skipping, because it moves your body more, just the way you did when a young you jumped and laughed watching cartoons, or make your heart pound the way it did after a race. I guess you will not see yourself jump and cry.
Benefits:
Better Mood
Increased Stamina
Reduced risk of heart diseases (Stronger heart)
Better Lungs Capacity
Possibility of healthy weight loss/gain
Better Sleep
Practice Gratitude
I briefly mentioned gratitude previously.
It is something I read about it in a book on psychology as well as Ayurveda. Counsellors will tell you about it, spiritual people will, religious texts will. If all of these are talking of it, there must surely be some strength in the word, right?
I know you all like to come straight to the point, instead of beating about the bush. So, just do one simple thing every time, every day, you feel bad or sad, be there a reason or not. Sometimes melancholy clouds the heart for no reason, in those days, remind yourself at least three things you are grateful for in your life.
Remind yourself about those things again, try to find new things you are glad for. You see, like when you speak, the words come from inside, from thoughts subconscious to put things in simple terms.
When you are sad, sad words take birth in your subconscious thought, and surface as well when your try to express that sadness, that melancholy.
Me
So, when you practice gratitude, you send positive words to fight the negative ones in the back of your head, send some more lighter words to fend off against the darker ones lurking in the back of your head. So, it may take time to feel the effect of this thing, because at times the negative words that you are fighting are more than you can fight in just a day. Many a battle need to be fought to win the whole battle.
Diet
Well, you really didn’t think that I am not going to attack your food while talking of health now, did you?
See, I am no saint, who can go all gluten-free and vegetarian, neither do I or you have to. However, somethings will have to be cut-down from the diet, but for the better. I mean, you need to make space in your stomach for a healthier diet.
The first thing that will show you great results is a combination of the following things done together, and the results will be felt within weeks.
Eat like a Kind in the morning, like a prince in the afternoon, and a beggar at night.
Eat a carbohydrates and protein rich diet in the morning, a balanced diet would be perfect. I am from the Indian subcontinent, so here morning diet is quite heavy, and the concept of breakfast is almost non-existent. So, for diet tips, refer to google. Just be sure to eat plenty, and fresh.
Have at least four hours of gap between meals. Your digestive system needs time to digest the previous meal, so if you eat early, the excess food will not get digested properly because your stomach was using previously produced acids for digestion. It’s like adding more clothes to the wash without adding more detergent, it will cause incomplete washing. This can make you feel a burning sensation in your stomach and chest at times (although that can be due to some other reasons as well; try avoiding sour dishes or juices for a while and see if that helps)
Same is the case if you drink water right after eating. Having a little bit to wash down the food from the throat while eating or after is fine, but having a glass or two right after easting dissolve those acids that were supposed to digest your food.
Have plenty of water, two glasses of warm water right after you wake up, and eight glasses of water the entire at the very least. It will make all of your organs healthier (F.Y.I skin is an organ too, and it will glow if you have plenty of water).
Have fruits and green vegetables. I know most of you must have forgotten to even think of getting an apple, banana, pomegranate or a cabbage, but trust me they are full of micro-nutrients that your body need and will be grateful for.
Why eat less at night?
First reason: Eating gives you energy, so eating at night means extra energy to spend, and you will likely not want to sleep unless you are in a habit of sleeping every day on time, or unless you spend that excess energy.
Second reason: Even if you sleep on a full stomach, your metabolism is lower at night than during day time. This means if you are trying to lose some weight, or at least not trying to gain any more, sleeping on a full stomach will not be of help.
Third reason: You will wake up hungry. You can guess what comes next, more space to eat like a king for breakfast or lunch. More energy consumed to spend the entire day, which means less dullness in classes and office: You’ll active for longer.
A healthy diet, will give a healthy body, which will be a vessel for a healthy mind. I’ll talk a little more on mental health care now.
Me
Mental Health Care
First of all, if you feel like you are worse than ever, get in touch with your loved ones or family, and tell them, and see whether you should go to a counsellor or not. Talk to someone or anyone, or me, you can leave me a comment and I’ll get in touch very soon I promise. Otherwise, just go to a Counsellor alone, and see what he/she has to say.
Till then anyone can try the following:
Meditation:
Think, breath and be aware of your body, its each part and surroundings. Just let the thoughts come, thoughts are meant to be thought. See not in just one try or maybe even five, will you feel anything significant, your mind will run loose, go wild and thoughts will be always out of your control. And that is exactly why you have to try it. To give your intangible thoughts- an intangible infinite space to run wild, while you watch them pass by here and there and here and where, all in your head. Just try to console and control one of them each time.
Believe in it and yourself
While meditating you can also use some words, to guide your hyperactive mind.
Take a deep breath, and chant “Om” and feel the vibration, let it flow throughout your body and visualize your body getting lighter and BRIGHTER. If some thought tries to interfere, let him come and sit, talk to it and console it and let it go, tell it that now you have to move on no matter what, that it has taught you and you are always grateful for that. Hug that thought and then say a bye, no goodbyes, because he is a part of you, so it is only natural that he might visit you someday again.
Rewriting your stories and Isha Kriya: Just google these because there are people who can explain these, way better.
Love YOURSELF.
Take yourself for a walk, a dinner, a reading session, a hobby session. Talk to yourself and see what you say to yourself. If there were no light, the scars would just be a part of the body like any other part, so love them nonetheless. Try I mean to say, try it again and again till you love even a bit of yourself. Giving up on loving yourself might cross your mind, but then trying is just as hard as giving up, so choose your hard wisely is what I’ll say.
Sleep
Sleeping at night is not an easy task for those who are dealing with stress, a hyperactive brain or a bad routine. Still, a good sleep will flush out a lot health issues, mental and physical. Your body needs time to recover from all the mental rush it dealt with, and the exhaustion physical and mental.
Try to sleep at the same time every day. I have written another blog with some tips on how to sleep better as a part of surviving college routine, I’ll link it below.
I had no plans to rub workout and major lifestyle changes, yoga and what not on your face. I wanted to just provide the most basic things, that are entirely possible to do, and will yield good results under a span of few days you trying. Just be patient and regular.
However, if you do feel better, and want to have more tips to be even healthier, let me know.
Bear with me a little, this one is not a blog that is informational or for entertainment, it is a note to myself and whoever reads it. I thought I’d at least tell it before I begin so that whoever wants to leave can do so.
So, You stayed. I’ll thank you for that soon enough. I have been living in the not-so-rural parts of the world for most of my life that I like to remember, some were cities while some were close to towns. Still, I have been to the rural areas more often than I intended to, and there are things, that I can’t help but notice about the two.
I’ll talk about the cities today, the rural comes tomorrow. It’s always crowded, the places you would have grasped hold of a moment of peace alone is always shared with strangers and prying eyes. Even if no one is paying attention to you, you can end up being conscious about the hypothetical prying eyes over you.
The city breaks you, breaks your heart and your mood, in ways you can not express but just feel. Alienation, I used to think that it was something like you become an alien when bitten by an alien when I was a kid. I would have loved to learn about the real meaning, but not the way I did. You can walk together yet be alone, there are so many songs, in so many ways telling you the same stuff all over and over again.
I mean I know, it is the people that break you sometimes, and they can be the same anywhere else in the world. However, trust me on this, there is a strange nostalgic kind of smell in the cities that you feel when in pain, that you cannot feel at the outskirts. It is a comfortably cold warmth, like your own blanket that has cold air seeping in from somewhere, making your feet cold but your body warm at night.
You find better opportunities and worse expenses. You earn more and spend more. That’s just how it is. There are so many motivational speakers, who are motivating to make money, friends that you pay for friendship, guides that guide you till you have a thick wallet. You cannot make money without money in most cases. How is that so? You need money for education, to get a job, to make money, I’ll leave it just at that. There are so many doors to open, that you forget to open any and stay where you are if you are not prepared enough. That is why they say, it is better to be prepared before an opportunity comes that to be not prepared and prepare for it when it arrives. It is not all bad, I am just stating what is the first thing you notice apart from the pollution, buses, cars, and masses.
Yet, the city makes your heart feel loved, in ways you can never imagine as well. when you decide to not give up, to just try more and try different and accept that your chance may not come yet, but it will come nonetheless. What I believe is that the toughest thing in the cities to do is survive till your inevitable chance comes. The inevitability depends on your assessments of yourself, of accepting the reality, learning, and adapting. Nothing comes on its own, even the earth pulls down the clouds for it to rain, so your life will change when you keep learning and try.
” They WON’T! You need some planning and some preparations and a Goal. So plan ahead for that book you wanted to read, an assignment that you need to finish, or decluttering of the house that has been pending for so long.
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