A Bundle Of Contradictions

Today's one of those days, When you've forgotten everything, That you'd memorized all night long,
You're worried that everything would go wrong; 
Today's one of those days,
When you'd rather stay in a cage,
With a poisonous, ominous snake,  Than stand in front of dozens on a stage;
Around you, are people lounging about,
As cool as cucumbers,
And here you are - Crippled with fear, struggling to remember; 
A shaky breath you take,
Pursue your lips, toss you hair,
Trying so hard to fake,
That you're an undaunted winner;
But all that false bravado falls,
When you see the first contender,
Enters the podium,
Clears his throat and stands tall; 
And then anxiety slithers in back,
Like a poisonous python,
Wrapping around you,
Making your insides go slack;
You see the first contender talk,
With flamboyant gestures, incredible voice modulation;
Seeing the audience,
It's sure he's won the adulation; 
And then, here you are,
Still trying to calm down,
Your thoughts running like a…

Okay, so the year is coming to an end and it's time for me (and everyone else) to come up with your typical "YAY IT'S 2016 AND THANK YOU 2015 FOR SUCH AN AWESOME TIME!" post. 
To be very frank, 2015 was a roller coaster ride. It started off on a serious note, hit a high, then sunk terribly low and finally it started rising. 
I don't think I want to fall down to that level of darkness, anymore. Even if I do, I want to be resilient enough to soar back again. 
Yet, no matter what happened, I won't deny that 2015 made me learn a hell lot of things, for which, I'll be forever grateful. 

So here goes nothing. 
LESSON NUMBER ONE: HARD WORK 
2015 taught me that hard work is one of the key factors to success. 
At the beginning of the year, I felt deluded. I kept thinking, "Oh, I'm so smart and so great. I think I'll ace at everything I do." 
Oh boy, was I in for a bad surprise. 
I missed the 90 per cent plus mark in my 12th grade board exams. I did not ge…

Date: 24th October, 2015

Time: Around 8 in the Night

Place: NCSI @ Dome

It is not everyday that you get the chance to watch one of your favourite Disney movies as a live-action musical.

Yes, dear reader, I got to watch Disney's Beauty And The Beast The Musical at NCSI @ Dome in Mumbai! And you know what? This is the first time ever that a musical on a scale as grand as that of Broadway has taken place in India!

Naturally, being the colossal Disney fan that I am, to say that I was giddy with excitement would be the understatement of the century.

Outwardly, I seemed (somewhat) calm, because:

a) I was with my uncle, aunt and nine-year-old cousin because I'm supposedly an influence on my cousin. One stupid move, she'd ape it and my uncle and aunt would be very disappointed in me.

In case you're a regular reader of my blog, you do realise how much I care about not disappointing my family, right?

b) There were fancy people about, dressed in uncomfortably tight clothes, face…

I see you,
Feeling completely sad,
Overthinking about the day,
That went too bad;
I see you,
Snapping at your near and dear ones,
Breaking things around you,
Wreaking havoc all around;
I think you should stop,
Being so sad, so tearful, so morose;
Don’t have anger or remorse,
Towards the day that flew in the past;
I think you should leave,  Your self-belittling thoughts for a while;  I think you should,
Curve your lips into a smile;
Smiling is a treasure,
Which costs absolutely nothing,
The delight, the happiness it gives you,
Is way beyond measure;
So stop crying over what’s gone,
Keep negativity away from you for a long while,
Because, darling, you do look really lovely,
When you curve your lips into a bright, bright smile; 
***
On the eve of my eighteenth birthday, I've pledged to start taking genuine efforts to make people smile. There is too much depression and too much sadness around. I think everyone deserves to show their pearly/yellowy/chippy/no-matter-how-else…