In My Bag

New-Blog-Update!

Hello you,
Its been a while.

I've been awful. Not a single post last month. (It kinda spoils the way my Blog Calendar looks)

BUT,

Post August 28th 2014, My life has taken a complete 180 degree turn.

Its been pretty exciting, a little unnerving, a whole lot of laughing, a few spells of crying.
But for starters, its been a satisfying experience.

Apart from the fact that I put a ton of salt in my Masala Chai, (Its not my fault! America makes Salt and Sugar look the same) There have been tons of things that have filled me with awe.

So,
Here is my new blog!
The main purpose of the blog is obvious by the name :)


Read Read.

Lots of Mumbai-missing,

Juie

To-Do

So,

In about 35 days my life is going to take a complete 180 degree turn.

Just so you know, 

I'm going to a new city in a new country to a new college in a new surrounding with new people and a new house which is actually new and sparkly clean with new windows and doors and wooden floors. 

Basically, I'm going to America - To Chicago - To study Integrated marketing Communications - At Northwestern University (Dream College-woohoo!)

And so because my life is taking a 180 degree turn there are little things in my to-do list :

1)Drink More Water

2)Talk more, Text less.

3)Sketch a lot. Sit by the lake and sketch.

4)Organize my Desk

5)Mind-Map

6)Read one good book every month

7)Be more Direct & less diplomatic

8)Create a brand

9)Start a new blog 

10)Eat weird food

11)Wear less Makeup

12)Make a mood-board

13)Sky-Dive

14)Stop dwelling , Stop worrying

15)Read about the economy and about money

16)Save 

17)Spend less on clothes and more on food

18)Get retweeted 100 times

19)Design a typeface

20)Get comfortable on Skype

21)Send postcards back home

22)Watch foreign movies in languages that I don't understand

23)Learn a foreign language

24)Fewer emoticons :(

25)Learn to use Google Maps better

26)Learn to make really good coffee

27)Be vocal, be honest.

28)Start an online portfolio

29)Do 16 Suryanamaskars and Tibetan Yoga everyday

30)At the end of these15 months read this to-do list and feel happy about yourself

Also, I've already started a new blog. Its called "New Girl in the City" and it'll be more about the experiences I have, the people I meet, School, Emotions, Names, Places, Animals and Things in Chicago.

Lots of Mumbai-love,

Juie

People

They're made of skin and bones, freshly pumped crimson running through their fragile veins, thoughts and fears and technicolor dreams that emit light through the radiant sparkles in their eyes. Remarkable, sometimes helpless, sometimes misunderstood and sometimes magnanimous. Thinking,dreaming,loving grenades with skin sometimes sun-bronzed  and sometimes pale, some white and some in varying shades of brown. Some wish upon shooting stars and eyelashes.Some make machines, some are machines, while some are free in their own madness. 

Mostly fire with a crust of ice. They have the depths of the ocean within them .They all err sometimes, in fact they're made to err. Personification of the most perfect form of imperfection. 

They all have their ways to feel free.To Blow away like dandelion seeds? 
Some sing and dance and write, some laze with a good smelling old book, some rave and some choose intoxication.But free? That's an anomaly! They're strangled by society, culture and religion. Sometimes they're strangled by the very thought of being free. 
Their minds are trampolines and they all have invisible wings,believe me they do! They all fly in the wee hours before twilight to places that they want to see. Places where they feel free. Little caverns full of love and light. 
They fly in wakefulness too, through parts of their mind that they are ignorant about. 

You know what affects them the most? The same living, walking, temporarily beating and pumping material that they're made of. They all hate to hurt but they hurt each other. Some forgive and some don't. Some dwell and some forget. 

They build empires sometimes, earn a lot of green crisp paper, some live simply in little homes full of belonging. Some have never heard of love. They all suffer in the same quantity. Some are homeless and some live in white marble palaces.Some wear rubber gloves and have grease in their hair and some have a diamond band tied tightly to their wrist. Some eat sugar cubes and bread, they drink some water and fill their stomachs. Others fine dine in style. But they're all starved.

Looking for something that they don't know off. They know there's something out there. They don't know the shape, the color, the texture or the feeling. But they know its there. 
They're made of hope, people. 

Huge wells of hope and that's how they survive. 

The Mind

Yesterday I promised that I'll post my Half finished drawing soon :')

If someone asked me what my mind looked like,

I'd like to call this drawing "The Mind."

"Coz after all there's black and white and everything in between,

 It's so convoluted and a lot goes unseen,

Before the daylight dawns , before the twilight ends,

A million dreams turn real between the rainbow bends,

The ones with wild eyes and wilder hearts they dream,

 the ones that know that its not as difficult as it'll seem,

And they say,

It all comes to life."

My Fine-liners

It was 9:30 pm.

I finished dinner.

It was yummy. The mother had made Chaat and she sure knows her way around it because she never goes wrong. 

I had the last sip of my lemonade and I went to my room.

As I glanced around looking for my laptop I saw my sketchbook.

Bam! There was a moment of sudden desperation and energy. After a rather tiring day, I picked up my wallet and I rushed to my living room and mumbled that I need to buy something and that its really urgent. My parents were a little taken aback but I left no space for a conversation and ran down the staircase. They surely wondered what could be so urgent at 9:30 pm.

I reached the stationary shop and I picked my favorite pack of Stabilo Fineliners, paid and left. 

I went home with a huge smile and a brand new pack of colors :') 

This is what happens when you follow your calling.In that moment all I wanted to do was sketch. The feeling completely took over my mind and I couldn't even resist it. There was no procrastination in that moment and no boredom. I didn't even care about the polka dotted Pajamas I was wearing in a street full of people. Because there was something I wanted that made me happy. There was happiness. 

Maybe that is why they say,

The things you're passionate about, They're not random,

They're your calling.You make time for those things however busy you are and however tight your schedule is. Those are the things that keep you going :')

Go paint a picture, sing a song or read that book. Don't do it for someone, do it for yourself! Hopefully Ill sketch, sing and write a lot too because in the end its just the happy days that matter!

A half-drawn sketch that I'll post soon,

Juie :)

D.I.Y Fridays - Earrings

Friday mornings can be liberating  when you have pretty stuff to make.

I have a soft corner for earrings. Big droopy chandeliers with emeralds. Tiny sapphire studs. A simple diamond hoop. Earrings can completely change your outfit and in my case my mood as well. Wearing a new pair of earrings can make the day seem perfect, trust me!  I'd advocate wearing them over a cutesy pair of pajamas too. You never know, you could create magic ;)

Anyhoo, I made big stud earrings today.
The kinds you'd see at fancy stores at malls and spend a fortune over?
I made 8 pairs of those for not more than 100 bucks each. 

You can do it too!

What you need:

1) Pretty buttons in pairs. You'd get them at any Lace store.
 There are loads at Santacruz, Lokhandwala and Manish Market.

2)Big Golden flat sequins. (You'd get these at the same stores)

3)Feviquick - One minute adhesive

4)A pair of scissors

5) A wirecutter

6)Earring needles/ Earring posts- The part that goes through your pierced hole (You get these at many shops that sell jewelry material)

7)Earring backs/holders

Here's what you do next :

Pick a pair of pretty buttons! There's a lot to choose from at the stores. This is what I picked out:

1) Buttons have hoops at the back. Gently remove those with a wire cutter.

2) Cut open a packet of the sequins and cut a sequin into the shape of the earring.It can have rough edges as it is just to make the surface flat.

3) Apply a thin layer of feviquik on the edges and firmly paste the sequin on it. Hold it in place for a minute.

4) Place the earring post in the center and fasten it with Feviquik.



5) You're almost done! Let it dry for about 10 minutes and secure it with the earring backs!

You've got yourself a new pair of earrings!



They look really pretty on wearing too ! 




Here's to creating lots of pretty things!

 A treasurebox of love and a new pair of sparkly baubles,

Juie :')

Birthdays

I love birthdays.

I think I'm one of the biggest birthday people I know but I love the entire vibe of celebrating life! The vibe of feeling the moment you've entered human life, its intricacies and details! The smell of balloons and the smell of burning candle wax. The awkward look on your face when everyone's singing happy birthday to you! Wine and Toasting, birthday wishes, hugs and kisses, Giving surprises, Baking, huge gift boxes with thick red ribbons, little notes to tell someone how special they are and how glad you are that they were born on that day. Birthdays are the best.

But today,

is my blog's birthday!
It turned 1 :')

This was the place where I started to express- out in the open. I'm not sure how many people like it, hate it or how many lives it impacted but I loved writing here every month. I loved that I could write and there was somebody who'd surely read it. This was the place I created, rambled, stumbled, drew, scribbled and laughed and I thoroughly enjoyed! Sometimes I couldn't write too often and sometimes I couldn't stop writing but this one year was great! I hope next year will be even better and I hope to write some more of what makes you & me happy! I also hope to proof-read what I write before I post it because I'm pretty impatient like that!

Anyhoo, Thank you for reading & appreciating :')

Make sure you sing a birthday song while my blog smiles coyly.

Here's to more writing!

A big slice of the red-velvet birthday cake,
Juie 

The smell of your dreams coming true

I've always associated different things in my life with different smells. 

There is a smell you know? When you know that your dreams are about to come true? When you know things are on your way and the aroma is faint but nearing ?

It is the smell of fall; the smell of a new country and new roads; new people and new emotions; a new studio apartment and leather winter boots; crisp grocery lists and good cooking days; the smell of being alone and missing people back home; the smell of roads and maple trees; of new friends and new struggles; the smell of newly gained knowledge and new textbooks; the smell of the stage and a lot of  good old library books; of a new comforter and a new bed; The smell of a new peculiar wine; the smell that my clothes will absorb being in a new wardrobe; smell of not having the mother around so falling asleep covered in her old soft cotton saree that smells like home; the smell of growing, learning and dreaming all by yourself; the smell of being scared to death and still facing the sunlight; the smell of being out of your comfort zone; 


The smell of getting to know yourself.


Also, the smell of a big bowl of homesick-khichdi you have proudly made for yourself.

Someday you'll smell a similar smell too,
Juie

Sketch-Happy

Homebound Thursday afternoons can be boring.
Especially when Mumbai's getting warm.
So I felt like putting the boredom to some use and went stationary shopping.
I came back with a new sketch book and two of my favorite Stablilo fine liners.

I came back home and decided to make pretty things but inspiration was being a moron.
Saw something like this somewhere and thought it was really pretty and thought of drawing it.


However,
These lines popped up in my head before I drew it :

"I am but made of the Sand and Sea,
The colors of the flowers they color me,
My lips painted crimson by the solar crust.
After all we're made of Fairy dust."

Random Thursday afternoon sketches :')

You should try sketching on Boring Thursday afternoons too.

Gives you unmatched glee :)

A palette full of paints,

Juie

Fab-ruary

Everything about February has been quite fab.

(Except that I haven't written a single post & I broke my iPod.)

I read an awesome book. - The fault in our stars by John Green.

Thats my favorite part: 

Read it before the movie is up! Its coming in Summer '14.

Apart from the book, February has been fab for a lot more things!

The best friend's birthday on a yacht ; Baking cheesecakes ; Sending college applications ; Reading real things ; Teaching little kids Bonsai ; Valentine's Day Lunch; Wine and Dine, GPA-Happiness ; Jitters about college Decisions ; Little shopping trips;  Creating Ad-campaigns and Posters; Stationary Happiness :A new set of 250 Felt pens ; New songs to sing at Karaoke ; A new favorite Cocktail ; Learning to cook ; www.tut.com- notes from the Universe (Please Check it out! It'll make your day) ; Making a clock; Painting pretty things ; Redoing my dreamcatcher ; Winter in summer ; Smiles.

That is what the Mumbai Sky-line looks like from the yacht :

Salty air & Sunshine,

Juie 

Ink-blue finger tips

I wanted to write something.
You know those nights when you're just itching to write? I'm not sure if you know,
But you crave to hear the intensely fast clatter of the keypad as you move your fingers at lightening fast speed or the squeaky high frequency scribble on a sparkling white piece of ruled paper?
Yes that.

Writing is immeasurable happiness to me,

So I thought I'll start writing and see where it takes me,
Because words, they take you traveling. You start at one pole and end at another, and the story in the middle is what manifests on its own.You think you're doing it, but you're really not. That's the thing about wordplay, its insanely mysterious and double-insanely powerful.
This could be really messy because I'm letting my words flow,
But then again,
That's writing to me.

Today I use the keyboard to type words, 

but writing with a blue fountain pen with ink dripping all over my fingers was close to heaven.

The smell of ink is divine. If dawn and dusk had a scent then the smell of ink is the smell of dawn and dusk with a white lily in it.

The shabby ink blue finger tips that last for days is a happy memory of a peaceful hour gone dreaming, rummaging and scribbling. 

Writing is a life within a life. Blue words on white crisp paper take you into a new world where you need nothing but your words to add color, glitter and sparkle to your story. These same simple words have the capability to make us feel things. Deep Human emotions! Two words can make you want to rip somebody's head apart and one word can make a life-long friend.Sometimes half a word is enough to fall in love. Some power isn't it?

And words, they make you feel so vulnerable and vulnerable is so damn scary but so beautiful! Where you let it all out and place it messily on a piece of paper. This is me, all of me, nothing more, nothing less. Nobody else could bring out that kind of unconditional vulnerability.

But these words, little buggers made of alphabets, they've got double standards too,
They make you feel vulnerable yet extremely powerful. They help you communicate and sometimes they help you stay away from communication. They help you love and hate, they help you imagine and ideate. Little love letters, novels, a thesis on archeology. Emotions, history and philosophy. They're all but words. Nothing more nothing less.

After all,
It all starts with ink blue finger tips and a whole lot of happiness.

Pajamas or Killer Pants?

Aren't we lost sometimes in this extremely convoluted world?
Don't we feel really little sometimes?
Like tiny humans in this big world of lots of  choices?
Between all the big dreams and all the humongous desires, between practicality and idealism, between people and between things, amongst feelings floating deep inside?
Its funny how we get lost so often,
In the midst of what we have and what we really want, whether its love, money, success or fame? Or maybe we're just greedy (Insert cuss word).

I had to make the decision too,
Between I-am-floating-in-soft-cotton-clouds-and-I-dont-think-Im-wearing-anything-oh-my-god-this-feels-so-Liiiiiiberating Pajamas, and tight black pants with a sexy golden zipper and cutesy pockets. I did not know what I wanted to be.
I felt like lounging around reading a good old smelling book in a grey sweatshirt and those dream pajamas.
But then, I also wanted to strut around wearing those killer pants with a sparkling cocktail in one hand and a Chanel Bag in the other.

& Then I thought, who am I?

Okay, this was just about clothes. Such a silly thing. Go on, I can hear the snigger.

But don't we feel like this often?
About really crucial choices in our life. The tug of war between simplicity and fanciness. Two sides of the same coin?
Choosing between a cup of skimmed milk coffee and a caramel frappuccino topped with a thick payer of cream swirls? Choosing between a small job that pays a big buck and a big job that hardly pays? Choosing between soul searching and clothes hunting ? Choosing between saying the truth and hurting feelings or saying a lie and creating sparkles? and obviously between Pajamas and Bodycon dresses?

 Is it really the choices in life that makes us?




Too Sombre for the first post of the year. Blame it on the hormones ;)

PS - I bought both the Pajamas and the Killer black Pants. Complicated beings.

Human Marketing

I've never posted a Marketing specific post before. I wrote this today for an essay to a prospective university and just after that I watched a mind boggling video!

Felt like sharing,

Describe a major trend in the marketing communications industry that will change the way organizations communicate.

In my opinion Marketing has become ubiquitous in today’s age. Everyone from a freelancer to the biggest of global organizations need to market themselves. It has become an indispensible part of any product or service. Due to this nature there is a lot of competition due to the sudden influx of products and services, organizations, companies, advertisements, media sources and overload of information. In the marketing communication industry new ideas spread like wildfire and turn into ideas that everybody uses. For example the use of advertising on Facebook started full fledgedly in 2008 and by 2013 it is a concept that the smallest of businesses use. Nothing stays unique for long in marketing, as the success for one company becomes an observation for another who ends up using the same strategy.

In this time there is a severe need to cut through the mediocrity and come out with a marketing communication trend that is as ever changing as the subject itself.  I think that trend is the trend of Context Marketing. Although content marketing has existed in the field since a long time in the future content marketing will evolve concentrating more on context marketing. It won’t just be about delivering information through various medias but it will also aim to target exactly the right context that the customer needs.

For example, a Youtube advertisement will not be a general mundane advertisement but will concentrate on exactly what problems its potential customer is facing and will attempt to solve just those problems. There will be personal handwritten notes, applications will talk to you knowing who you are! It is already visible in breakthrough ideas. Siri, concentrates on just who you are and addresses you by your name, answers just your questions and gives you exactly what you need. Once in a while it also sings a song or cracks a joke for you. Instagram, facebook they access your location. Foursquare provides you restaurant just based on where you are. Vodafone, India’s leading telecommunications network calls customers and comes home to receive payments just to save customers the trouble of depositing it in a payment box just 5 minutes away from their house. Big brands send birthday letters with fat discounts. Insurance companies send anniversary cakes with the picture of the couple printed on it. All of this is nothing but targeting the right context.

 Context is nothing but the amalgamation of content and the consumer. In today’s time of information overload the precision can only be created using content in the right context marketing. Everything will become more personal and it will build long lasting relationships, as the information will be more focused just to the right type of consumer looking for just what the information is providing. Communication will also become more idiosyncratic in terms of its company. In today’s time there is a lot of overlap of information but the use of context marketing will lead to unique information about each product offering something very different than another. It will be original, it will contain information, facts and figures, feelings and perceptions and innovative ideas. There will be an influx of contextual information, design, presentation and participation. It will also lead to the realization of why people make certain consumer choices. Everything will lead to context. What the consumer is doing when exposed to the information, what thoughts he’s thinking, what is his lifestyle and what are his needs. Intricacies of every consumer will be focused on to ensure maximum productivity and there will be more use of real time conversation and real relationships. 

It will be the generation of human marketing.

 & This my friends, is the Father of Context Marketing :

WATCH!

http://www.godvine.com/What-This-Airline-Did-for-Its-Passengers-Will-Make-You-Tear-Up-So-Heartwarming-4378.html

Almost Merry Christmas! 

Being Twenty

So , I am exactly 17 days away from turning 21. I just realized I still count using my fingers and It is slightly embarrassing,

but I love this stage that I am at and this post is just to sort of "report" how thankful I am for this year!

But first,
Ill tell you why 20 is such an amazing age.
There's no better age I'd want to be at. Of course I know that my "twenties" are going to be worth looking forward to but twenty, plain simple twenty is so awesome!

1) You're not even a teenager and you're not even in your actual twenties. You're not a girl but not a woman. You're not sure about your adult status. Its nice to hang in there!

2) You're allowed to act responsible yet be a little irresponsible.

3) You're metabolism is sky high. Gorging brownies is fine. Exercise shows its effects quickly and you know where to hide the fat!

4) You graduate (unless you're an engineer or doctor!) You feel cool about going through years of school and junior college and college and you also see school time crushes sometimes and you feel so flattered and you remember how you failed at chemistry and also the merits you've got for acing certain subjects and you remember good teachers and really horrible ones and you suddenly realize that you've emerged quite fine :D

5)You're allowed to clubs without being legal. Its sort of a discounted age where even if they check your ids you go in! 

6) Your parents turn into your friends. You probably don't discuss everything but you pretty much can discuss anything you couldn't just last year!

7)You start dreaming real dreams, the kinds that you know can come true! You also magically start working towards them and sometimes you also end up making them come true! You handle money , sometimes a lot of money. You gift classy gifts and you go to nice parties and you also learn to give an interview. You save money and you also feel the satisfaction while blowing it up *-*

8)You're at the age where its okay to not have it all figured out. Its okay not to be in a relationship, not to have a job, not to know what you're going to in life and still be happy about being confused.

9) Hangovers aren't as bad as the ones you got during the teenage and your choice in drinks gets classier ;) 

10) You can wear long maxis and really short skirts and still carry them off with elan.

11) You're out of college. You realize who your real friends are. You know who your 3 am buddy is :)
You realize you don't have to please anyone because the ones who matter always understand. You learn to say NO!

12) You can plan what it will take to be young and rich ;) You can plan on looking for your Mr.Right! You can plan your life without actually having to do it. Its a good age for strategizing. Yes, plans don't always work but its a good feeling having a plan!

13)You get to know yourself better, trust me I did! You know why you;re feeling bad when you're feeling bad.

14) Life is suddenly a little less complicated than it was in your teenage. 

15) We're not stuck. There's going to be change and so much change to look forward to! Its scary yet so exciting!

16) You're balancing the heaviest workload of your life! A tleast you think you are! 

17) Hormones start taking it easy and PMS isn't all that bad anymore. But a little bit of drama blaming PMS and craving dark chocolate ice-cream is fine! 

18) You learn something new for sure. Something significant like  driving a car, managing a bank account, learning to bake a fine cake, learning math (for me), or prioritizing and putting yourself first!

19) You actually educate yourself. You learn things that school or college didn't teach you. You meet new people, make new friends, travel and learn to stay alone and suddenly there is so much to imbibe from others!

20) You're twenty. You're not stuck to anything. You're everchanging, dynamic, prone to horrible mood swings and full of taking risks.You're passionate and you're enthusiastic and suddenly there are no rules because you know what is wrong and right. Suddenly there's so much to look forward to and you start working hard. You know when to party and you know when to stay in. 


Twenty has been a good age. I did a lot of things I always wanted to do :) 

1) I learnt to drive. Yes, I still can't drive confidently and all that but at least I learnt. A road-trip on my own would probably be on 21's list.

2) I taught 9 year old school girls simple things like loving themselves, protecting themselves and being strong.
And trust me I emerged stronger! I also solved a 9 year olds dating problem. 

3) I graduated from college. YAAAAY. I also have a degree now B-) I also graduated with amazing grades so I made my parents slightly proud ;)

4) I recorded for a movie. An actual Bollywood Movie. I might see my name on the credits next year and my inner goddess is sort of dodging the paparazzi ;) 

5) I made new friends, lost touch with a few friends, strengthened friendships and loved :) I realized that a lot of things are temporary. I also realized I have a lot of friends who I might not be constantly in touch with but I always have them :)

6) I took a trip to GOA :D It was the biggest accomplishment because I thought I'd never be allowed O:)

7) I wrote a lot of things, sang a lot of songs, studied throughout the year and still managed to have a lot of fun!

8) I learnt about failure and dealing with it. I did horribly at the GMAT. Cried sulked and got over it.

9) I planned my future, more seriously than I ever have. 


&

10) I started writing my Blog :)