Ishwarya's Blog, page 9
March 20, 2017
Prehistoric Park
For all you dinosaur lovers out there, if you haven’t watched this fantastic British TV Series, then you’re really missing it, trust me.
Prehistoric Park features Nigel Marven, one of the excellent zoologists to exist, where he goes back millions and millions of years ago to the times when dinosaurs, woolly mammoths and giant insects ruled the planet. While he’s off battling the dangers of those ancient forests and creatures and facing every challenge they put him through, the team at Prehistoric Park – including the kind head keeper Bob and compassionate head vet Suzanne – face incredible challenges of their own.
It’s not wise to think throwing creatures from prehistory into the modern 21 century will be a cakewalk. Especially not when you have two cannibalistic T-Rexes looking to rip each others’ throats out, a poor ice age Woolly Mammoth suffering from the tropical climate and a herd of troublesome Titanosaurs enjoying to trample on anything they come across, including their enclosure fences, and not to mention a gigantic Deinosuchus (a crocodile the size of a bus) that projects out of the water to catch prey at the slightest vibration.
Here’s the list of stuff that you can expect from Prehistoric Park:
1. Excellent screenplay.
2. Thrilling scenes to keep you on the edge of your seat.
3. Very well explained documentaries of the prehistoric creatures.
4. Award-winning music.
5. Feel like being right there with Nigel and going through every single difficulty, that you constantly route for him as well as pray he gets back safely to the park.
6. A great narrator with an entertaining sense of humour.
My brother and I have watched Prehistoric Park for God knows how many times ever since we were kids. It’s one of the best documentary series of the creatures that once ruled the Earth.
Below is one of the episode openings, the first one – T-Rex Returns
March 17, 2017
Smart Phones Are The Smartest Monsters
Every time I see a child handling (as well as demanding) a smart phone, I get more and more anxious of what the future is in for. The craze and addiction with that inhuman device of the present day already shakes the earth and I don’t want to imagine how these kids’ attitudes and behaviour will be once they reach their teens.
They’re fully qualified at a very young age to operate the YouTube app, get into the Whatsapp and Facebook app and God-Knows-What-Else app, along with discovering whatever password the parent locks the phone with.
It’s frightening, people, frightening.
One wrong tap of the finger on that touch screen has a high probability of scarring that child for life.
In truth, I don’t know much about parenting but I do know that the devil device with the sleek touch is not an amusing toy for a kid. The Toy Store businesses are seriously going to have a run for their money and that is not a comforting thought.
To calm a child down, the smart phone is thrust in front of its eyes.
To get a child to eat, the smart phone is thrust in front of its eyes.
To get a child to stop nagging the parent, said parent thrusts their smart phone in front of its eyes.
The poor innocent child is deliberately made to fraternise with something inhuman and forced to forget about the humans around it.
How many of you agree?
February 24, 2017
Get Over It And Hug It Out
Where there’s love, there’s anger.
So it’s no big surprise if you’ve ever had fights with your best friend(s).
I’ve moved around a lot of schools and so I’ve never had a consistent gang of friends in my life, but it’s been an absolutely wonderful experience, since from each school, there was one special girl who became my close friend. I’ve lost contact with the ones from U.K. after I moved to India, but the best friends I got gifted with from here are still in touch, right to this minute. Especially from year twelve and college.
I’m a person who hates fighting with my friends and never understood why friends sometimes have a go at each other so bad they’d want to scratch each other’s eyes out. The principle, the root, the reason, all of it has always been lost on me, until I finally understood them in the hard way when I had fights with one of my best friends from college. It rattled me inside out and every time we continued from where we left off, I’d be shivering with shock, horror and anger, both at me and at her for being so stupid that I figured it must be a different dimension of stupidity.
The fault of it lies with the reason.
Immense love and possessiveness over each other.
I was jealous she liked spending time with another girl – who I initially liked a lot and was the one to invite her to sit with us in the first place – and it lead to hissy cat fights that steamed with rage. The ridiculous part of it was that it was done over text messages, not verbally, which worsened things with so many misunderstandings. It was like having hell to pay for and both of us were so sure we were never resolving this, ever.
It went on for quite a handful of months, where we’d be okay for a while, though talking with the strain between us, and then we’d explode again with another reason. Then one big one demolished all the want to talk and we never spoke with each other into the beginning of the final year.
No exchange of look, let alone text messages, and I started hanging out with some other girls.
But it was a good thing, since the silence, distance and magic of time gradually cooled our tempers down. Sure, it took some weeks, but with each passing day, I softened and almost forgot why I was angry with her at all. I missed her, but hesitated to go and talk, knowing we’d probably blow up again. The girl I was jealous over was still with my bestie, and though I spoke with neither of them, the two other girls of our gang who I’m close with were really upset and repeatedly told me how they missed us all being together.
I think a month and half passed, before one evening I opened my mail to find my bestie had tagged me in something and with a swell of hope and anticipation, I sent her something back and a couple more funny exchanges later, we started chatting, talking about everything that happened and as I was wondering what to reply to something she said, my mother entered my room with a smile and held the phone out to me. I curiously put it to my ear and the second I heard my bestie’s voice through it, everything was forgiven and forgotten between us in the blink of an eye.
We talked for a long time and the next day, I was back to sitting with my gang again and the friend I was jealous over smacked both of us for being such idiots and all the anger and envy I had towards her reduced a lot. It kind of lurked silently but I didn’t let it get in the way this time, since the five of us enjoyed being together. Yet, the silly possessiveness reared its ugly head a few months later at an internship program, with a couple other new reasons related to the project, and we split again. This time, both of them – my bestie and her – and me and the other two.
This was the most heated yet the most funniest fight we’ve ever had. To start off with, we continued to sit at our table together back in college but we’d never speak. The other girls were like, ‘Seriously, you guys, you’re insane.’
And the other funny thing was, we’d find ways to make each other jealous. Like, the three of us would start to talk about or do something we know those two would like joining in, when they’re within earshot. And they’d find a way to retaliate, which we pretend to ignore and turn a deaf ear. The cat and mouse game went on for a month before one day when I was dictating from a previous batch record note, those two deliberately asked me to repeat sentences or words which I knew perfectly well they already understood. Resisting an urge to laugh and throw chalk at their heads at the same time, I did as they asked and the next day, with a few childish throws of crunched paper at each other during an hour when we we were supposed to check if our records were in order, we were back to being bosom friends again – permanently.
All anger, all of it, vanished into nowhere.
Had my bestie and I stayed with the stubborn or childish resolution to never forgive or speak to each other again, we would have missed every single memory we created as well as the beauty, love and insanity of our deep friendship. We’re texting and being crazy, the usual, as I type this out right now as a matter of fact.
How many of you have had fights with your best friend and still haven’t talked to each other yet?
If you raised your hand, put it back down, reach for your phone, dial your bestie and set things straight. If you don’t, you’re missing out on that wonderful feeling you have when you hear their voice, filled with warmth and love, directed at you and you know things are back to the way they used to be. As well as the feel of your heart swelling as the hole that resided in it till now closed back up.
Get rid of your pride.
Get rid of your ego.
Get rid of your stubbornness.
Win your friend and your happiness back.
Laugh about the silly fight together.
Get over it and hug it out, people.
~~~~~
February 11, 2017
Double Award
I got nominated for two awards recently, one by my best friend and another by a creative blogger I got acquainted with recently. So I decided to make it into a single post here.
BLOGAHOLIC AWARD:
The first one was the Blogaholic Award, presented by Aditi Singh of DIY Empress. Her blog is filled with colourful and handy ways to make your own accessories and they’re a real joy to see. I’m still yet to try out some of her clever ideas.
The Blogaholic Award is an award for bloggers addicted to blogging with creative, ingenious and inspiring posts. They mesmerise their followers with their posts, keep them captivated and riveted to their blog.
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Rules:
Put the above award logo/image on your blog
List the rules
Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog (it can be to the post in which they nominated you or any other post or you can even link to their “About” page)
Mention the creator of the award and please provide a link to The Recipe Hunter (Cook & Enjoy) as I would love to meet you! Follow this link to Esmé’s blog, she’s the creator of this amazing award!
Write a post to show your award
Share a link to your best post(s)
Share 3 interesting and different facts about yourself
Nominate 5-10 fellow bloggers, or more if you wish
Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.
Three Fun Facts:
I’ve already listed some fun facts on my About page but no harm in listing three more, I guess 
February 3, 2017
You’re My Favourite Deputy
I had a couple of major Toy Story addiction days recently. Nostalgia and childhood overcame me like a tide and I was binge watching the trilogy, choosing all my favourite scenes and replaying them over and over.
God bless Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and the rest of the Toy Story cast and crew for giving us a beautiful childhood with Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Slinky Dog, Potato Head, Rex, Hamn, Jessie, Bo Peep, Bullseye and all the toys in Andy’s room, as well as the sweetheart himself.
These movies will never be tired of and will retain their glory with all the future generations to come.
[image error]You’re my favourite deputy
January 31, 2017
Get Rid Of Sole Cracks – Simple, Easy And Effective
Cracks on the soles of your feet are a common hindrance, from the ancient times to today’s modern time. They ruin the entire beauty of your precious feet, courtesy of all the dirt that get stuck to our soles. While we bathe, we use soap to clean our bodies, but how many of us really soap our feet and scrub the soles?
In due course of time, this ends up putting cracks on the edges, darkened with all the accumulated dirt *cringe* and creating that forlorn look on your face as you wonder what to do to get your pretty feet back. You go for endless pedicures, fish massages and use specialised foot cream to tend to it.
But is it really worth all that money when you have the cheap and best products available for you right there in your house?
All you need is:
Soap.
Water
Oil
Scrubber (Note: Optional)
Okay, so while you bathe, wash your feet with soap and if you own a scrubber, rub it against your soles and the edges or if you don’t, rub your feet on the tiles. Then wash it off. Repeat this before going to sleep at night too.
After completing both processes, don’t dry your feet. While it’s wet, apply oil onto it, making sure you spread it all over the edges of your soles, wherever there are cracks. You can use any oil you have – coconut, almond (which are most common in all households).
Plus, every time you come back home from going out somewhere, wash your feet just with water. And even while staying at home too, you can just wash it every two hours or so.
Do this continuously for a week and you’ll see a vast difference.
One of my cousins personally benefited from this method so I decided to share it with everyone who undergoes this problem.
Please try it out and see the difference!
Have a great day ahead 
January 21, 2017
Tips For Writing Your Story
As writers with brains in constant search of fresh ideas for blog posts, the same creative brains wish to pen a story one day or already have an idea but are lost in what to do with it and how to move forward. We read a lot of great books and when your thoughts are about how wonderfully the story in those pages are written and how you can possibly do great as a job as that author, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Every single author out there have felt insecure about their pens in one way or the other but the difference between them and the people who wish to become authors is that invisible line you step over to do the job or not.
When I use the term ‘author’, I’m not talking about those people who have their names printed on covers alone. The moment anyone successfully completes a story, whether it’s a short one or the length of a novel, they are an author. Do you have a finished manuscript sitting typed out day after dedicated day on your desktop? Give yourself a round of applause. You’ve done an amazing job.
Many people begin on an idea but then drop it a few pages through, either feeling sick of it or deciding it isn’t good enough.
The first tip I’d recommend is to never feel negative about the idea that popped into your mind. The reason you twist your mouth at it is you either feel it’s dull or lose interest after that first rush of excitement, or you read something similar to it in another book. With regard to the latter concern, the truth about books is that one is always inspired by something of another. But that doesn’t mean you plagiarise or copy an entire story. That’s offensive. The backbone of your story is how you look at it and how you’re going to develop it. Write what you want to read. The first audience, reader, reviewer and critique for your book is you, the author, alone. So you have to make your book enjoyable for you first before wondering whether it’ll be a good read for other people.
The second tip is that while writing, don’t ever give second thoughts as to what other people will think. Worrying your lips over a scene you’d like to include is serving yourself injustice. Remember that you’re enjoying what you’re doing. So don’t deprive yourself of any wishes while writing your story. Give your beloved characters what they ask for.
Which leads to the third tip. Talk to your characters. Assess them. Have conversations in your head. Your protagonist involuntarily becomes your best friend the moment you breathe life into her/him.
And since your characters are alive and have minds of their own – Yes, they do, don’t be surprised – you’ll find yourself thrown in the back seat of the car while they take control of the wheel and gear shift. Your surrender to them is your story’s bread and butter.
When you hit writer’s block, don’t freak out. Take a deep breath, press the pause button, and go work out. Read books. Listen to music. Read more books. Go to the movies. Spend time with your family. Spend time with your friends. Go on a holiday. Give yourself all the time you need before sitting back down with your book. You would have gotten over your block.
Choose your most favourite spot to sit and write, whether it’s your house or outdoors. For me, my best place to write is the desk in my room, the desk in the verandah in my grandparents’ home or the dining table there as well. The table’s quite large so I like confining myself to the corner where no one can disturb me. And recently, I found spreading a mat out on the warm sunny terrace and sitting under a large umbrella, watching the pigeons, is really a lovely place to write too. So choose your perfect place to get the best out of your pen.
This doesn’t necessarily apply to all authors, but playing music in the background can really help push you forward. I love sweet melody music, ocean sounds, piano covers and BGMs – Disney, mythological shows and Harry Potter (all eight). These inspire scene after scene.
Once you finish your first draft, don’t give it a second glance for another month or so. Do all activities suggested above to overcome writer’s block and when you sit down to edit, you’ll have fresh ideas storming your mind and will be able to polish it better.
If you have a really trustworthy and very close friend (excellent if that person is an author in writing progress too), feel free to confide in them about your story. Talk about your characters and discuss all the stunts they pull. It’s fun to talk about them as real people and complain or gush about all they do. In this way, you give as well as receive abundant encouragement, that miraculously, you almost don’t have writer’s block at all.
Spend time around babies. And children around and under five years of age. The stress over writing gets eliminated as you play with them, talk with them, or just hold them to you, cradling them close.
Last but not least, be healthy! Work out, eat healthy, avoid junk food, wear comfortable clean clothes and make sure your hair is combed neatly and kept away from your face (Tip: Two plaits are a real joy to write in, trust me)
Please feel free to comment below and share your writing tips too.
Stay blessed.
Jai Shree Krishna.
~~~~~
January 9, 2017
And That’s How Life Cackles
A large group of ants team up together to lift a dead beetle and take it back to their hole, euphoric at having discovered a feast, but one to be also saved for the winter, the resourceful little creatures they are.
Genius and clever too, as you watch them co-ordinate beautifully and carry the beetle – which must be fifty times their weight – across the tiles by holding it in place with their pincers, maneuvering and shifting angles. One wrong foot and everyone will tumble right over, but these ants are nothing like us. They are focused. They know what they are doing.
And have alarming peripheral vision as well as strength, as you stare at them climbing over a scrunched piece of paper that’s in their way.
The entrance to their hole is five feet away and you come on all fours on the floor, observing them with great interest and awe, shifting other barriers out of their way as they scuttle across, not a drop of sweat breaking out from their agile little bodies. They look like they can carry that kind of weight all around the apartment and flash imperious smirks.
Amazing confidence.
But then you’re called to throw the dirty laundry in the washing machine and whispering good luck to those warriors and praying that they get the beetle inside that hole soon, you get back to your feet and head to the laundry.
When you come back, your eyes gleam with pride, seeing the ants have reached their hole.
But you go still as you realise they have no beetle with them.
It’s actually lying abandoned far off, swept away by the maid.
And that’s how life cackles in your face.
~~~~~
January 5, 2017
Never Give Up!
Life is like a selfie session.
You click various angles, pose in different styles and finally, you would have really nailed the perfect snap.
So don’t give up just because you weren’t able to get what you want in the first try. Keep making several tireless attempts and your efforts will never go to waste. Or who knows? Maybe you will get it in the first try too. Take all the chances you can to make your dream come true.
Jai Shree Krishna❤
Love,
Deepika
January 3, 2017
Interview With A Ball
Okay, so for the first time, I decided to conduct an interview. I’ve always been curious about a ball, an object we’ve seen since infancy. Haven’t you? I look around at the dimensional ways a ball is handled and used, and couldn’t resist calling this popular play mate to roll over for a little chat this afternoon.
Me: It’s so nice to have you here. How are you?
Ball: My mood has constant changes. I can’t really say.
Me (confused): How come?
Ball: I’m round, and look full on the outside, but depending on what’s inside, things are different.
Me: Could you tell us more on that?
Ball: When I’m a balloon, I have helium and you see me floating on a string in a kid’s hands above people’s heads, especially in amusement parks. It’s one of my favourite places to be, because of all the smiles. I’m on cloud nine. But when the kid accidentally lets go and I get pecked on by birds, get punctured and then land on some forlorn roof or inside a chimney, it’s not that fun anymore.
Me: No, I bet it’s not.
Ball: Oooh! I love being a Bouncy Ball! My extraordinary ass actually bounces me up!
Me (Laughing): You feel proud of your ass then.
Ball (Delighted): Oh, yes! Bouncy Balls are mighty proud of their asses! But when we crash the furniture or bounce off Nanna’s head, not so much.
Me: You have the good and bad balanced in every type.
Ball: Exactly! So when I’m used as a Bouncy Ball or a balloon or anything of that sort, my mood constantly changes.
Me: Right. So what’s your most favourite place to be, apart from amusement parks? Do you have one?
Ball (Thoughtful): Well, I love being at discos. I love the way the lights shine off the surface of my shiny shell and make everyone dance. Dancing gives off positive energy and creates great bonds between the people in the room. I love watching that. Oh! I also love being in play pits for children. They heap me in different colours and make me inviting to play in.
Me: That’s really sweet. And what is your most scary place to be?
Ball: In the hands of rough kids or the jaws of a dog who can tear me apart. In the football field where I’m kicked around. In the cricket pitch where I’m punted headfirst towards that dreaded bat. In the golf course where my ass is whipped.
Me: Good Lord. It’s funny how you hate the places people compete to win.
Ball: When people want to win so badly, it’s really painful for the things and people around them, right?
Me (Smiling): Yes. So what is your favourite hobby?
Ball: I don’t have a hobby. I just sit and exist until someone picks me up. My entire life is controlled by people. But because I’m a ball, that kind of consideration doesn’t cross people’s minds.
Me: That’s sad.
Ball: It ain’t. My purpose is to be that way. I’m made for it. And I’m programmed to feel happy about it.
Me: You like being bounced around, regardless of what direction and whose hands you end up in.
Ball: Yes, I do. See, that’s how things change for me and every type of my fate is decided. I can either live for ages as a prized possession on a shelf, or get worn out due to playing, or get ripped to shreds by unstable species. Things are different for each and every ball. Only a few get lucky.
Me: Very true. Any final thoughts to add?
Ball: Enjoy wherever you are, whether you’re a ball or human. Life’s really limited and we should make the most of it. Like I already said, only a few get lucky by being born with a silver spoon. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to dread what will happen in the end. You aren’t here to mope around, you’re here to live life to the fullest and give people whatever happiness you can in your power. So keep bouncing and feel proud of what you are. You’re here for a great purpose. Never forget that.
Me: That’s really a wonderful message. I’m sure we can all resonate with you. Thank you very much for sparing your time.
Ball: Thank you in return.
(Ball bounces off to play with the children waiting outside, for whose smiles and colourful laughter he is the reason for. And that is the best blessing he can receive)
~~~~~
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