10 Things Every Girl Should Do

This is an extended version of this article I read in the June issue of India Today Woman Edition.

(Note that some points are taken from the India Today Woman Edition directly)

While writing these points, I was vividly reminded of the movie, ZombieLand.

1. Build your Brand

Use social media to share your thoughts, get social. Get to know people from different circles, the wider variety in your social circle, the more versatile your personality is.

2. Lift Weights

It will make you feel strong. Also, lifting weights is known to delay the onset of osteoporosis (a bone degenerating disorder that starts hitting women after 40), So keep yourself strong, your bones young.

3. Train for a Physical Test

Have you never been filled with admiration for all these sportswomen we see on TV? Or women who tested their true will power and lost so much of that extra weight that they came on the Flab to Fab article in some magazine? Plan out a test which tests your will power to the maximum limit. Like the next half marathon comes your way, train for it and take part. Or if you want to attain greater flexibility, train to attain a full split. Who says one can't achieve strength or flexibility if one wants to? Trust me, you are never old for anything. 

4. Upgrade your Look

Works for all women. Even those who claim that they don't believe in external looks. After all, a woman is a woman. And every woman loves to look beautiful. Try out a different look some day to work. Or get a new hair cut. You'll love the attention you get from your friends. Good looks is not everything I must say, but it definitely is one of those little things that enhances your mood on days when everything else seems blue.

5. Eat your Multivitamins

I had been going on and off about this one for quite some time now. But considering our current lifestyle, taking an extra pill a day won't do any harm to the liver. Especially for women, very very important to take calcium supplements. I'm going to be 25, and I'm a dancer, and I admit I have been getting the feeling of not having the strongest knees lately. Which is why I started taking calcium supplements and my knees feel much better actually. Try it out. But remember to consult a physician before taking tablets of any brand. 

6. Take Pictures

I don't know whether it works for everyone, but it is usually very important for me to take pictures of events happening from time to time so that I have a collection of photos and reminiscence from time to time.

7. Do your Cardio

This is taken from the movie Zombieland and is a definite hit. There is nothing like cardio which can get you fitter, faster. Considering we gain weight quickest on our hips, thighs and belly, nothing can work like a greater magic than cardio. So go ahead , buy a pair of running shoes, and run

8. Pepper Spray - Your Hand Bag Must-Have

Always, always keep a pepper spray in your hand bag. I was gifted one last year by my roommates, and I admit I have been careless to keep it in my bag most times. But realized I need to start keeping it with me at all times.You get it in major beauty and wellness stores for Rs.499/-. You really might not use it at all, but do you really want to take chances? 

9. Have a Hobby

I don't believe when people say they don't have a hobby. I mean, anything can be a hobby.  Find one. Follow it. Like there was a time when I was making crochet caps as a hobby. I was very young then. Its not at all difficult to find a hobby. Could be anything from collecting recipes, blogging, taking pictures, posing in pictures, finding an art to learn, a new language, decorating your house, trying out new hairstyles. Anything. Its good to disconnect once in a while. I wish to learn atleast one language of the South. Maybe Telugu. I am really struggling to understand meanings of songs during my Bharatanatyam class and knowing a few South Indian languages might help. (Only problem being that my linguistic skills are horrible, zero knack for languages)

10. Eat your Breakfast - Every Single Day 

I can't get enough of how important it is to eat breakfast everyday. I have had days where due to an early morning class I have not got time to eat anything and then after rushing to the class, my legs have shivered throughout. What is the point then of rushing to finish tasks if you are not eating well? After all any activity you want to do requires nutrition, be it mental or physical. Trust me, by experience I'm telling you, the body goes for a toss without breakfast. And that starved feeling is the most irritating feeling you can experience. So go ahead, eat to your heart's fullest.

Dreams in line

I feel its been so long since I penned down what I want in life. All those crazy dreams that I've always wanted to fulfill. I have this theory that if you write/ type down all the things you want in life then you can actually focus on making them true. I admit I was in this phase where I really got very detached with any kind of social networking. I had been in this zone where if I would write anything about myself I would feel conceited or narcissistic. But then I thought who cares, I just want to share. Not brag.

So here I am. Wanting to be completely honest to myself. And to you.

So its been a year since I have been totally into dancing. I left my hefty paying corporate job (or atleast what would have paid me hefty amounts had I been stuck long enough) and decided to dance. It was totally a decision from my heart. Nothing planned. Nothing thought over. The pressure of having done engineering from a reasonably prestigious college and giving it all up did not hit me even once. I don't know what is right and what is wrong. It just felt right to dance at that time. I don't know whether I'll still continue to earn through dance my entire life. But I wish I could. Knowing that earning through art is quite like a gamble. If you are good, you earn so much more than you would have ever earned being a corporate, otherwise you might just be struggling.  But I know for a fact that I will dance. For the pure joy of it.

My journey in the past one year has been such a roller coaster ride. I have done so many random things I could have never imagined myself to do. And I admit it has been a struggle. I still remember when I quit in March, 2011, I took a break for a month because of participating in this TV dance show called Just Dance. After I returned, I started taking classes in a gated community and took a job of a part time tutor in a school. My work hours were essentially about five hours per week. And I was getting exactly 12,000/- per month for two months. That has been my peak in struggling. I had although decided I won't borrow money from parents just because I wanted to feel the struggle and make it on my own. My rent, electricity, transport and dance tuition fees costed me about 7k. I managed two whole months in 5k per month. Trust me, its not at all easy. And once I had gone past those two months and grew more in terms of earnings, I could not have been more proud of myself. Its the struggle that I remember most, even now. I have had corporates come and ask me how much I earn now, trying to compare the ROI as compared to the corporate job that I had.  I refuse to answer such unethical questions because if you can see me alive and healthy, I think that should answer everybody's question.

Coming back to dancing, I don't know how good or bad I am yet. I honestly never evaluate myself. Truly because I like to live in the zone where I feel I am still not good enough. The feeling that I have a long, long way to go really pushes me to keep dancing. Like in my dance class, I have absolutely no inhibitions to revise with the little kids who are practicing the basics and repeating it over and over again. My motto is that if I am in a class, let me get all types of knowledge that I can from it.


Anyway, at least knowing that I am better than what I was a year back is the greatest motivation right now.
I have many dreams actually. Things I have always imagined to fulfill.

a) I want to start my own dance troupe and perform. A lot. I don't know whether I'll form a troupe in Bangalore or after going to the US, but someday I will. And I plan to make it a very folk-contemporary theme. I want to use up all the experiences I have had as a folk dancer and blend it to make folksy pieces. I have always believed that folk can make a dance really vibrant and colorful and I love color.

b) I want to own a studio. Running around for space and to take classes has been so much madness that I know for sure that I'll want to own a studio sometime in life just so that I can have my own space. I think its worth the risk of investing.

c) This one is one of my crazy teenager's dream wish. I have always wanted to make a dance video and perform in it. You know the Ganesh Hedge style. Just hoping to do it someday. I don't mind pitching in money to get musicians and the set ready. I just want to do it for myself. For the thrill of it. It might even become a disaster and become a "Friday" type video. But... Naah, I don't think it will be that big a disaster.

d) I want to get really really flexible. I have been a avid follower of yoga since I was in the 8th standard. I remember my mom would always watch me do yoga. Apparently when I was two years old, I started climbing on a Jhula and was doing weird stunts. And thats when my mom predicted that I would become the Nadia Comaneci, the gymnast who got a perfect 10 in the 1976 Olympics. Sadly, that didn't really happen, but my love for flexibility always continued. So yeah, I still practice yoga and stretch. But wish to take that to the next level.

e) I want to finish my Arangetram. I think wanting to do my Arangetram would have always been there in all of my dream lists in the past five years of blogging. I can't really tell how good or bad I am at Bharatanatyam,  but I'm working towards it is all I can say.

f) I want to expand idea and make it into an annual event for performers and all. Long way to go, but who says one can't dream.

Some of my crazier, but less urgent dreams (call them fantasy) are

g) Get a tattoo. This is also one of my to do lists for a long long time . I somehow cannot get the most perfect thing to be tattooed on me. I decided though that whatever I get, I'll get it done on the nape of my neck.

h) Get a bikini bod. I really want to do this before I get old. I want to go to a bikini permitted beach, wear a bikini and just walk. It just has to do with being liberated. I want to grow old thinking I walked on a beach with the perfect bikini bod when I was young. :P


Its a crazy feeling right now, but typing all this madness out is making me feel super awesome.

Oh I forgot to add, another of my dreams/wishes is to make my husband dance during our wedding. Yeah, more about that later.

Yeah, this feeling is super!!! Just to write down random things and feel awesome about it. :)