Third Time Charm - Liebster III

The mere mention of the word ‘award’ brings a smile on the face. There are some like the ones given by mommy on successful completion of homework or minding your manners when guests are around or daddy for getting good marks. They are something which most of us have received. Then, there are some like receiving filmfares available to only a chosen privileged few. And then, there are some like ‘Liebster’ received by this awesome community of bloggers. I received two of my Liebsters from amazing fellow bloggers Sreeja Praveen and Sreesha Divakaran. I wrote about them here.                                                                                      

But an award is an award. As many times you receive it is always welcome ;) Somewhere, it is an indication that your writings are being liked somewhere. There are some fellow bloggers who come and read you everytime you put up some blabber and yet find it interesting enough to come back again.

So, when Inspirational Romance Writer, Aayesha Hakim presented me with my third Liebster here, I was all ‘smiles’. She wrote this before nominating fellow bloggers for this award – “To the people I have nominated above: Congratulations! The reason behind me nominating you is, I enjoy reading your blog and you deserve a lot more subscribers. Keep writing!”

The sheer simplicity and honesty of her words above make you feel warmer. So, dear Aayesha, thank you for considering me for this award. I love reading your blog too and hope you too win over many more readers.

The rules of accepting a Liebster are stated in my earlier post which I mentioned above. There was some confusion about nominating fellow bloggers again. I read somewhere that I can present this award to ten bloggers just once. But I also came across posts where bloggers have nominated others every time they receive this award. Since I have nominated fellow bloggers already, I wouldn’t be doing it again. But, yes I am all set to answer the volley of questions posed by Aayesha. So here we go !

1.   What would you wish to name a movie about your life?

That’s easy. The movie name should ofcourse be ‘Dreams and Dimensions’

2.   What is YOUR favorite blog post from YOUR blog? Link please!

Oh, Aayesha,  you are asking a mother to choose her favourite child. Very difficult. But still if I had to give it a shot, I think it would be 'Halfway' and 'A Closet full of Memories'

3.   What is the best piece of life advice you could give to someone?

    All I would say is, “Don’t hold back. Do things that make you happy. At the end, it’s just once that we get to live.   

4.   Worst thing a person can do to you?

Worst thing a person can do to me or for that matter to anybody else is judge me without knowing the real me. I literally loathe people who keep on passing judgments without knowing the story of other people.   

5.   Give me a description of what you see when you look out of the window this very moment!

    You wouldn’t believe where am I writing this post. I am travelling by train and its awesome morning sunshine over lush green fields that please my vision right this moment.

6.   What do you think about my blog? ;)

   Aayesha - The inspirational romance writer. I recently discovered your blog and have loved your writings since then. I just can’t imagine myself doing a post everyday of the month. So, kudos to you for completing the UBC. All the best for spinning more and more beautiful yarns of words. Lovely to have known somebody like you.   

7.   Items on your bucket list?

    As a writer, the most obvious thing is getting published. And few others are to visit Vegas, to have a tattoo and own a sea-facing house with a room full of my favourite books. That’s it ;)

8.   What is the thing you do at the end of your day just before going to bed?

     Most of the times, Facebook and Twitter gets the privilege :P But, yes, better sense prevails sometimes and I do think and decide about what am I supposed to do for the next day, which by the way never happens as planned :P :P

9.   Anything that you would want to change about yourself?

A better metabolism would be great :P

10.       Do you agree with popular belief that a man is ruled by his head and a woman by her heart?

I think women are too complex to be simplified in that one line of just being ruled by our hearts :P And, I don’t think it can be stereotyped in today’s times about how one behaves, whatever be the gender.

                                             

11 .       What according to you is the problem most of the youths face today?

Well, the problems are myriad. Starting from the fact that the android battery doesn’t last long to the pessimism about Indian politics :P But, on a more serious note, I think we (using the word ‘we’ considering that a 28 year old is still considered young :P ) want everything. Focus is what we probably lack.

Phew.. so, I am all done. Loved answering them Aayesha. J J

My Liebster Moment :) :) :)

It was a boring holiday. In the afternoon, my phone beeped showing an email

notification. Nowadays, I get very excited to read mails. The reason is that these days, apart from 'in-the-face' mails from Flipkart and Tradus flaunting their merchandize at lowest cost, my email does bring in mails from this blog whenever any new comment appears on any of my posts. Hurriedly, I opened it. And yes, it was from my dearest blog. I opened it excitedly to read what new comment has appeared on my post ‘Halfway’.

And there it was. Making my boring day, a happy and cheerful one. It was from Sreeja Praveen who blogs at The Alter Ego. She had nominated my blog for ‘Liebster Award’. Sheer happiness is what I could define my state at that time to be. After all, who doesn’t like awards ;) And Firsts?? They are always special. Aren’t they?

And then, lovely Sreesha Divakaran who blogs at Petrichor and Clouds (yes, that’s a beautiful name for the blog, isn’t it?) posted a little gift note on my facebook timeline also awarding me a Liebster. It was ‘Wohooo’ moment for me.

For those of you who don’t know what Liebster is, here it goes:

Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely. It is like a chain-award thing that bloggers give to fellow bloggers & is for motivating new/recent/lesser known blogs with less than 200 followers.

So, here goes the list of rules.

1.   Post the award on your blog.

2.   Thank the blogger who presented this award and link back to their blog.

3.   Write 10 random facts about yourself.

4.   Nominate 10 bloggers who you feel deserve this award and who have less than 200 followers.

5.   Answer the questions posted by the presenter and ask your nominees 10 questions. 

And before I begin answering questions posed by Sreeja and Sreesha, I would like to thank both of you for considering me for this nomination. Hugs for both of you <3<3

10 Random Facts about Myself:

1.  I am a big time hoarder. I just can’t let go off things. Even wrote about this obsession of mine here :P

2.   I love kohl in my eyes. I can’t think of going anywhere without kohl. Even to the doctor :P

3.   I am a crazy nail art lover. You would hardly see me without nail paint.

4.   I am totally drunk on the idea of love. Classic case of a hopeless romantic.

5.   Howsoever hard I try, I can’t be rude to people. Not even to the ones who deserve it. L

6.   I watch reality shows like crazy. Howsoever, sappy, crappy they are – given the time on hand, I would watch them.

7.   I love nights. It’s the most productive time for me.

8.   I love getting hugged. (Who doesn’t?)

9.   I love talking to myself. How else do you think I became a writer :P

10.        My bag is my dump yard. But, I guess that’s the case with every woman ;)

Here I go at Sreeja’s questions:

1.   Describe yourself in a perfect sentence of five words :P

A little bit of everything!!

2.   Imagine you are stranded in an isolated island. What’s the one thing you’ll miss the most?

I am gonna miss my Mom the most.

3.   What / who is the first thing / person you think of when you hear the word, “Intelligent” ?

Me :P :P

4.   What’s your greatest insecurity?

At this time, it’s the thought whether I would ever be a published writer.

5.   Which quality do you admire the most in your parents?

I truly admire my dad’s fighting spirit, his ability to face every situation without any fear. And I totally admire my mother’s selflessness. I am sometimes scared to think whether in future I would ever be able take care or love my family and kids as much as she does.

6.   Your favourite writer and your favourite of his books

Ah, atleast one easy question you have Sreeja :P My favourite author is Cecilia Ahearn and P.S. I Love You brings me to tears every time I read it.

7.   If you could become a cartoon character for a day, who would you choose to be?

I would love to be Tweety.

8.   If you are asked to change three things about the world, what would they be?

That’s such a wishful question. Firstly, I would like to bring in gender parity. Secondly, I wish to make the world a disease free place. And finally, I wish people would stop judging others.

9.   Love, for you, means….. ?

     Love for me means selflessness and support.

10. What makes your best friend, your best friend?

I have two best friends. So for one, it’s the comfort zone that I feel with my friend. And for the second, it’s the fact that we do not judge each other no matter what the other person does.

11. What’s your take  - A forest trek or a Halloween party?

A party, any day. But not sure about a Halloween one :P

And Sreesha’s Questions are:

1.   List 10 facts about yourself!

Sreesha, darling, I just did that above :P

2.   If you had to choose one (only one) out of the following, which one would you choose and why: Books, Travelling, Music, Sports, Video Games, Movies, Food.

Books, any day! Coz they transport me into a world away from realities of life.

3. Holiday Destination. Would you choose a place with: Beaches, Lakes, Mountains, Desert or Plain / Fields? Why?

Beaches. There is something very mysteriously beautiful about sea shores. And besides, I am a water-baby <3<3

4.   Which of the following best describes your personality while you were in school/college: Nerd, Class clown, Hottie/Hunk, Friend-to-call, Introvert

Ah, a total introvert. You may read it here.

5.   If you could go on a date with a celebrity, who would you choose?

Gerard Butler. He is my Gerry from P.S. I Love You. <3<3

6.   What’s your favourite genre of music?

I am not much into any particular genre but I love fast paced numbers.

7.   What’s the most insane thing you have ever done in your life till date?

Well… it was going off on a holiday with my best friend without revealing the destination to anyone.

8.   If you could re-live (and/or change) one day of your life, which one would it be?

If possible, I would not have let go off a loved one from my life :’(

9.   If you could change one thing about yourself, what would you change?

A better metabolism :P :P

10.     School or college, Which one is/was better? Why?

My Post-graduation college because I found my best friend there J J

Here goes the list of nominees that I am nominating for this award.

1.   Ashish Hablani at http://www.ashishhablani.com

2.   Sakshi Nanda at http://sakshinanda.blogspot.in/

3.   Sharad Juneja at http://danceofsmiles.blogspot.in/

4.   The Little Princess at http://titli15081977.blogspot.in/

5.   Richa Singh at http://subzeroricha.blogspot.in/

6.   Privy Trifles at http://privytrifles.blogspot.in/

7.   Saurabh Chawla at http://www.saurabhchawla.com/

8.   Usha Menon at http://eccentricgrandmum.blogspot.in/

9.   Jyothi Nair at http://jyothisdayout.com/

10.      Kalpana Solsi at http://ideasolsi65.blogspot.in/

And Nominees, here goes your list of questions:

1.   What kind of genre do you love to read and what genre can you write better?

2.   What has been the happiest moment in your blogging journey?

3.   What’s your favourite quote? Can be from a book or otherwise.

4.   Name atleast one side effect of blogging.

5.   What is the weirdest thing you have ever done or seen in a restaurant?

6.   If you could change one thing about a loved one, who and what would that be?

7.   If you could categorize bloggers in some categories, what categories would they be?

8.   Apart from writing, what is doing that one thing that gives you utmost satisfaction?

9.   If you went, invisible for a day, what fun things would you want to do?

10.  Name a book you read but wish you hadn’t wasted your time on it?

So that’s about it. I am gonna go and revel in this moment. Nominees, your time to get your pens rolling. Love and Hugs.