Why not take an adventure trip within your home with almost zero gear? [DIY Anxiety Management]

What seemed like an empty patch of floor in our reserve bedroom now challenges me - I must do mountain climbers and skull-crushers to ensure my physicality is maintained to some extent. I haven't stepped out, not compared myself with others at the gym or done anything drastic, and still, this challenge is huge as daily motivation levels can vary and I tend to be dicey with time management. What am I talking about? The fact that your home itself can be the canvas for some adventure type activity without Googling the best nearby locations for a weekend break!

You can easily do things that help to challenge your overall fitness with basic supplies at home. There is no camping or hiking gear involved here. This is about getting adventurous with the least important things that are found in nearly every household. Lately, I started doing mountain climbers and as compared to push-ups these are much more full-body involving and can be done in so many ways. But then, there are a million push-up varieties too. So, let us not compare them. If you could combine mountain climbers with push-ups, 30 minutes can seem like an eternity. Plus, all you need to do them is a plain, empty floor and a towel, because you will sweat a lot for sure! These are two core-killers and seriously, even if you happen to be in good shape, 5 sets of each, alternated, can leave you panting, sweating and almost blushing...just like the after-glow. The rushing of blood also kills the anxiety pangs. It keeps you occupied even after wrapping-up the session as the body is trying to cool itself and recuperate from the torture you just unleashed!

Don’t Deny It – Everyone is Guilty of Leave-the-Office Early Pangs

I wasn’t always a manager. I have a long history of working well beyond the stipulated hours. There were phases when work would absolutely consume me, ensuring I never checked the time. However, a decade of work-life seems to have changed something, somewhere. Now, like many other colleagues, and all of my fellow team handlers, I have started suffering from monthly bouts of leaving-the-office early pangs. Please understand that this has very little similarity with hoping the work-day gets easier, less demanding, or gets over quickly. Leaving- office-early symptoms stem from this sudden urge that makes you plot in the most conniving manner to ensure you can leave the workplace prematurely without getting noticed in any way, without affecting your workload for the day.

You are not an un-Chef cook, you just don't fail enough...

This is about experimenting in the kitchen being vital to improve your gastronomic superiority. I would always wonder that despite her culinary art being superior than anyone else on the planet, why would my mom deviate from the standard path so minimally? I thought it was just the fear of failure. Turns out, I was horribly wrong. My dad would never recommend trying too many things in the kitchen. This subdued the inner chef in her, not allowing her to really spread her cooking wings. This did not make her a good, bad or better cook but it did not allow the real potential to express itself. Today, I see my wife able to do a lot more with the most basic supplies because both of us are open to the idea of food experiments that can go horribly wrong! [Will share her latest creation - bread, egg pizza that is better than the crap served at Domino's]. And this is what this discussion is about - you are never going to be an awesome, chef-like kitchen maestro if you don't play around enough.

You might want to drive alone, not to rethink, but to think better...

Many people talk about long biking voyages to rediscover their passion or to pursue their instincts, but there is something very uniquely calming about long, driving miles that some people just don't explore and I am talking about almost-immediate stress management that costs you less than a visit to the shrink. Just consider this – sometimes, the only way to solve a problem that seems unbearable is to disconnect with it, only to retrace it later when your mind is better placed to join the dots. This is what a driving in isolation does. At first, it is a temporary escape route. You quit and move away from the physicality of the event that caused all the commotion.

Most Ridiculous Theory Ever about the Curse of Perfection – Only a Guy Could Share This | Popcorn Bytes

I was watching a song from Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and it slowly dawned upon me that I was having the ARILFS or the KKSDS symptomology again.  What are these? These are mental conditions found among the male species across the Indian continent in very little concentration and is essentially about these guys finding themselves not attracted to women who are otherwise worshiped for their oomph and sensuality. The Aishwarya Rai Induced Failure to Fantasize Syndrome or the Katrina Kaif Sexual Disassociation Syndrome is not due to stress or workplace issues or a disturbed childhood. Contemporary psychology has no answers for why such men don't find such beautiful women the least attractive—not saying that you have to ogle and get charged-up whenever beautiful women are on the screen but the WOW sentiment is just not there!

Better way to Green Tea @office – making it easier #zeropreparationgreentea

I have been regular with green tea and its various, herbal options since Jaundice struck me down for good. From chamomile to lemon and honey, from ginger-heavy to very bland flavors, I have been testing the entire field, assuming that some form of natural goodness needs to be sipped every day. Most recently, my wife chanced upon the theory that at work, I don’t get the option of really stewing the cup of immunity boosting herbs. This is because the overhead fan is in full gear and there is no cup-covering sort of accessory with me. Therefore, she recommended preparing a ginger and honey concoction with two lemon and herbal extract dippers positioned within the flask itself. The upper, threaded end of the dippers were secured with the cover. It takes me almost 2 hours from the point of leaving the house to reach my office.

Currency shouldn't look like the byproduct of a school activity gone horrendously wrong!

There is a huge difference, that some people call a fine line, between using colors in a happy, vibrant way and overdoing it to the extent of killing the goose. When the Modi administration decided to print the currency in colors that would make the Tomatina look pale, they crossed the line, in fact dug a hole within the line and jumped to the lowest depths. For some reason, I find very little room for creativity in the currency we use. It is a lifeline, a financial instrument that cannot be fooled around with, best portrayed in colors that are sober and serious. Every note does not need to wear colors right from the handbook of the fashion police and when you have bright, fluorescent-type colors that look outright kiddish, too desperate to grab your attention, you know that just like many other things they tried, the Modi administration yet again, spoke a lot, promised too much, did too little, and still, glorified actions that are downright stupid...

Parking Lots not on Bollywood's love list?

Hollywood has always used the backdrop of grey and black garages and parking lots for action sequences and creepy horror movie effects but Bollywood seems reluctant. I recall how Feroz Khan destroys a Mercedes owned by his rival in a home production that seemed inspired by the West. A few decades onwards and we are still creatively handicapped in using our over-stuffed and sometimes shockingly empty parking lots into the narrative. Why?

Hollywood scripts have been rather generous with using the parking lot background and the reasons are not difficult to understand. These places are big with plenty of empty spaces. The lighting is usually not bright and there are plenty of pillars that provide the perfect opportunity for creepsters to startle you. Directors in Hindi-land don’t seem to like the fact that the parking lots have everything needed to create a situation that keeps the movie-watcher engaged. From empty drums to electrical connections, from statue-like cars to almost vacant cabins, from plenty of zero-personnel spaces to those corners where the lighting does not seem to have penetrated at all – the parking lot can be your movie-making landscape!

Shooting Locations that Need More Exposure

I would say that shooting a song sequence too makes sense. We are no longer in the era of high-velocity winds blowing away the dresses of an actress. All you need is some digital effects and a troop of backdrop dancers and a parking lot can accommodate all of them. If the movie calls for sordid, grey-market deals, massive underground parking zones seem safe and logical.


If the plot needs a car chase scene, it can end or start from the parking floor. If an action sequence needs cars to be blow apart, what better option than a location that is overflowing with cars, the retired and the most recent ones? Even for the Insidious type of scene, there is a high propensity of disturbing man-animal-devil forms emanating from the walled enclosures. Even a romantic comedy with the latest Kapoor girls or Alia can be shot here as the parking lot provides so many reasons for people to interact including must-have guy tries picking up the girl sequences with the lady trying to tiptoe herself to the car, juggling too many purchases from the mall.

The parking lot needs to be explored more by Bollywood and Amazon TV series directors churning out content for the Indian audience. Whether it is the ghoulish creations or zombies and mob hits, the parking lot landscape is perfect to hide, attack, and unleash something demonic. It can be the perfect place to create the match of edgy, dark corners and shadows that together create that eerie feeling. I have been watching Penny Dreadful on Netflix these days and some of the dark colors and Gothic undertones have been beautifully matched with a Greater London picturization that is not happy or ecstatic about its riches. The dark characters of Penny Dreadful really benefit from the manner in which the surroundings have been presented - somber, almost saying to you that this TV series is not meant to put a smile on your face.

Stop Hopping Places...Stay Steady, Do the Grind & Flourish!

There is no harm in feeling defeated at the workplace, there are no points lost for thinking that your parents don't support your enthusiasm but there is something wrong about quickly quitting what you started or dropping what once drove your passion. There is a certain sense of accomplishment, that feeling you drive from having proven your point that comes with standing your ground, saying it to yourself that unless you drop dead, you are not going to duck the storm. Why am I sounding so philosophical today? Just that I was on LinkedIn today and happened to come across a friend, a schoolmate, who is now professionally far-far better positioned than I am. Why?

Quick Reviews of Eating Places in and around Janakpuri, Dwarka – Hot Curries

Hot Curries is one of the many neighborhood establishments that are competing for the top slot in the niche of reasonably priced, always accessible eating joints. The place is neatly located, just around the corner of Janakpuri’s road that takes you along the lane that houses Tihar Jail. I and Moha decided to try it out as a part of our Sunday gastronomic ventures. Overall, the experience was good but could have been better and I can recommend this place to other foodies out there.

First Impressions

Hot Curries does not try to do anything spectacular and this is perhaps why it manages to succeed. The ambiance is laidback with some outdoorsy spread also. The chairs and tables are typically made of discounted type plastics that don’t lend an upmarket appeal to the place but then Hot Curries is not a fine dining destination. You have the option of eating upstairs in the air-conditioned indoor space also but at the time of our visit, the place was at the center of a very lovable windy period. The air was somewhat refreshing.