The Good & Bad of the Film Making World!

It was a day of mixed feelings.

On one hand, really good feedback kept coming in for Athazham's latest episode which, needless to say, took me right to cloud nine! People were sharing it with their friends, I was receiving a lot of messages from not just friends, but also complete strangers, some of them really quite sweet - one even went to say that the episodes are helping me feel good during an otherwise tough time!

On top of that, a friend called up to say that he met with a couple of film makers who want to make a film in Singapore and they are looking for relevant technicians, including the director, and that he thought it should be something that's right up my alley. Am not yet too sure of what's going to come out of that, but I thought it was pretty cool I am being considered as a serious director these days!

So yes, all that is super cool stuff in the film making world - being able to reach people, getting appreciation, being considered for more film making opportunities. Super grateful for all of it!

Now here comes the downside. It is also a field, as with any creative fields these days, plagued by plagiarism and absolute lack of respect for the idea of copyright.

Inganeyum Oru Katha - a Malayalam short film I had made a few years ago, remains my most popular work till date, crossing 300,000 views on Youtube. Some broadcasting networks like MalayalamTV in the US and RadioVOX in Middle East had also broadcasted it, after getting the due permission from me - and it's always been given for free as my only objective was more reach and no commercial gain. Those folks asked me for permission to feature, and I let them.

A couple of scenes from the film were also ripped, word by word, shot by shot, in a short film that was on Youtube. But that wasn't a big deal because it was done by a bunch of college students and I thought the whole thing was rather cute.

Recently however, a channel that claims to be the first regional Malayalam channel in UAE - NTV - telecast the film. It came to my notice because a few friends from UAE congratulated me on the film after watching it on TV! I was a bit taken aback because they had not gotten any permission from me to telecast this film.

A mutual contact in UAE said he will just check in on them on how this happened. And guess what their reply was? "It is on Youtube, which is public domain - so we can use it any way we want.".

Wow, seriously?

Why don't they broadcast the biggest Malayalam films, all available on Youtube, for free then?

I can imagine youngsters dabbling with filming or people not from the industry thinking this way, but how can a professional, commercial broadcasting channel be this ridiculous!

Anyway, that was a good lesson on how people can walk all over you at the slightest opportunity and that sometimes, there is pretty much zero integrity in this field, even with the apparent biggies.

I guess for now, I will just be happy that they thought my film was good enough to steal it. I will also just continue enjoying  the response to Athazham until someone completely steals that too and spoils the fun.  

Year 2014: Less Drama. More Peace.

I like to believe that in the year 2014, not only did I grow a year older, but also a little bit wiser (and apparently, a little less modest).

At the beginning of 2014, I had written a grand entry on how I would not be stretching myself this year, but instead, would chill out because I so needed a break. 

Yeah, OK. So that clearly didn't happen. 

Instead, I took up guitar lessons, I completed shoot for 6 episodes of my sitcom, I wrote a feature film script and a short film script for a friend, on top of the episodes for my sitcom. I exercised 205 days (yes, I still count these things), went on 5 different holidays - the highlight of which was our big fat family trip (together with my parents and in laws) to New Zealand, somehow ended up partying a lot (?!) which is rather weird because I am hardly a "party" person, took up photography a little bit more seriously and generally made my life overflowing with activities on top of work, motherhood, domestic responsibilities and such.  

Still, I feel that I have been through all of it, in a manner different from the previous years. This was probably my most peaceful, calm, contented year till date. Or at least half of the year was so.

It all started when I went back home to Kerala in July for a few days, with the key purpose of visiting a dear cousin who was in town from US, after a long gap of five years.

A few things happened then.

Firstly, I had arrived smack in the middle of the Kerala monsoons. Which, as such, is drop dead gorgeous and can turn any miserable person beaming with appreciation for nature's beauty. But this time, I had the added privilege of enjoying them from our new home which overlooked a serene pond and a row of temples that lined it. I spent a lot of hours just gazing out of my bedroom window, at the rain soaked pond with its water cranes and the temple beyond,  enjoying a cup of tea, lost in the view.

Secondly, I was completely cut off internet and phone. There was no wireless connection and my dad's laptop was connecting to the internet only intermittently. Which was, my God, such a blessing.

Thirdly, I realized how wonderful it is to lose oneself to silence. The temples in Kerala have what's called the "chuttuvilaku" - the rows of oil lamps that line all four walls of the temple. One evening, I found myself lighting up these lamps at the quaint, adorable Pathiyaarkulangara temple on the outskirts of my city. The small temple sat on the edge of a sprawling farm, away from crowds and traffic, immersed in silence and when I visited, drenched in rain. 

There were hundreds of lamps on the chuttuvilakku and I moved from one to another - filling them with oil, dropping in the wicks and lighting them up with a blazing torch. It took me and a couple of other ladies more than an hour to complete this exercise and it was probably one of the best hours spent ever. There was the blissful silence broken only by the drizzle of the rain and the occassional bird that flew past, and the therapeutic exercise of lighting one little lamp at a time. I felt so much at peace. Everything felt so right then.

Back in Singapore, I began to create these moments of silence for myself. I started to meditate. Not too frequently, unfortunately, but at least I have started and I feel good about that. I have taken up more yoga than before - not Bikram Yoga that I was practicing earlier but Ashtanga Yoga that also focuses on breath and sight. I feel like it is moving meditation and 50% of the 205 days of exercise mentioned above was spent on yoga. I attended a Kriya Yoga class and have just begun to practise those techniques of meditation.

I leave my phone behind at home, when I am out for dinner with the hubby. I leave my phone in a different room when I am with my daughter. I try to reduce TV time, internet time, phone time and instead, try to have dedicated time for the little one. In other words, I consciously am trying to remove the noise and be more mindful of what I am doing.

At this point in time, you may be going... OK madam, that is way too much wisdom, but how did it all help?

Well, for starters. I am far healthier this year than last year. This information is factually based on my annual medical check up results. Those horrendous cholesterol levels from last year are well under control! My diet hadn't changed - so I would like to attribute it to everything else including the yoga. So that's good.

Next, I have completely made my peace with being a mother. In fact, I am really enjoying it now. A lot of the blog posts from 2013 were in the camp of "holy-freaking-God-I-am-a-mother!". I don't feel that way any more. I find it truly fascinating to watch the little one grow. Maybe because she is picking up language skills right now and can be a real hoot when it comes to communication, or because she just loves dramatics, and I am already making plans to cast her in future movies. Whatever maybe the reason, I am able to set motherhood related thoughts and palpitations aside and simply watch and play with her for hours. I enjoy our (phoneless) activities a lot - shopping for accessories together, painting together, making a photo wall together, playing with stickers together, acting together and what not.  I don't stress out any more about being a good/bad mother.

In fact, I don't stress about many of the things I used to any more. Maybe stress isn't the right word. Maybe it is fear? I try not to scare myself by thinking too much about what could go wrong and worry about it. Sitcom shoots not on track? Pressure at work? Too ambitious a film project in the pipeline? I try not to imagine the negative consequences and lose sleep over it which, by the way, I used to do a lot previously.

Just as well, because recently I happened to come across an email I wrote the hubby a few years ago, when he was travelling abroad on work and I was still in Singapore. The email, without going into details, was full of how my life sucks. So much so that, according to the email, I went and pierced my nose and dyed my hair with streaks of red, as a form of rebellion. It was evident that it was something related to my work but I have no idea today what that was! Whatever it was had gotten me super frustrated, but today I can't even vaguely remember what on earth it was!

Lesson learnt - Less Drama. More Peace.

So what next?

Well, this is just the beginning. I might have sounded like I am close to attaining nirvana from the above, but the truth couldn't be farther. I still have many moments when I feel like screaming (and sometimes I do scream) or at a minimum wanting to rip off the head of the person annoying me but I am trying to get away from such violent thoughts. I need to go a long way, and I mean a really, really long way before I can get to the discipline needed for regular practice of meditation, yoga, more mindfulness and less drama in my life. It is going to require a lot of patience and effort.

And it is going to be critical because 2015 promises to be a one of a kind year for me.

I don't have a resolution to chill out this year. In fact, it is going to be quite the opposite. I am planning a series of things that I have been wanting to do for the longest time.

This also means that I will be more regular with the blog for the next few months, because I do not want miss out on capturing these experiences that promises to be bumpy but beautiful.  More details on that coming up soon.

Have a beautiful 2015!

P.S. I just discovered a post from 2013 titled "Older & Wiser" where I am freaking out about health and motherhood. Fascinating read. Thankfully, things are at a much better place now.

Week 4: Coaching, Fights, Sparkz & Highway!

17 - 23 February

Highlights:

1) The terrific training on Coaching at work - I not only learnt a lot, but I had a great two days getting to know a vast variety of people and their lives. The training required us to take turns and talk a lot of real, personal issues that would be coached on, to ensure sufficient, relevant practice for everyone involved and I thought it was one of the best experiences ever. It was eye opening to hear people talk about their problems - you are suddenly thrown into so many other different perspectives and I couldnt help but be amazed by the ordeals some people, especially women, are facing and how strong they are to be fighting it out. I left the training a lot wiser, very much humbled and extremely thankful for everything that I have in my life.

2) Guitar lessons - My guitar lessons continue to thrill me. My tutor had figured out what makes me super happy - being able to play to the songs from the 90s when cable TV, MTV, English pop and teenage years had come to my life in a big way. Last week, it was Wonderwall by Oasis. This week it was "If I let you go" by Westlife. Such joy reliving those days as I learn to play to these songs, invoking a thousand memories!

3) Being the judge at Sparkz @ NUS - Sparkz is a talent show at my alma mater NUS and I was invited to be a judge. I was initially hesitant wondering whether it would be a good use of my Saturday evening but it turned out to be the perfect use. Many of the performances were completely mind blowing! The winners - a quartet who named themselves quirkily as the Lorong Boys - completely blew me away! It was also lovely to meet the other judges all of whom seemed to be such dedicated, genuine individuals with a ton of knowledge in music (I was the judge who handled mainly the "visual" aspect of it, given my theatre, film and dance background). And yes, it was also lovely to see a bunch of students giving it their all and putting up and/or participating in an event of its scale. It was nostalgic, to say the least.

4) Highway - The best film I have seen in a very long time, where everyone seemed to have put in their best. The actors, the director, the music director, the sound designer, the cinematographer, the costume designer, the editor - everyone. It was a treat to watch!

5) Little one - The little one is turning out to be a real Jhansi ki Rani. Apparently her tiny 15 month self has been picking up fights with other much older kids in the playground. Our helper came to me looking rather dismayed and said, "But you see... the issue is... the fault is completely our child's!". Her usual victim apparently is this 4 or 5 year old girl who is otherwise her best friend. They are such good friends such that this girl, at one point in time, had even wanted my little one to be her "real sister". I guess that will soon change. After a couple of days I enquired to my helper again - "Did she fight today?". My helper chirpily replied - "No madam!" Wow. I was happy. It was a passing phase after all! But to further the small talk I rather unnecessarily asked - "How come?". She replied, "Oh, we didn't go to the playground today." Yup, that explained it.

Day 280: The Morning Sunshine!

I realize that the title sounds like the jingle for some coffee brand. Well, the story am about to tell probably will look like the visuals in a coffee ad as well.

But what the heck. They are happy ads after all!

It all started with the little one deciding to go the extremes of NOT sleeping. After hitting the bed at 11pm yesterday, she woke up first at 1am, and then at 3am. After which, she slept off at 4:30am. Yup, she was up for an entire 1.5 hours, singing and talking to herself, extremely loudly. Then she again woke up at 6am and then finally at 7:30am.

Which basically means that by the time I had to get ready for office, I was an irritable, sleep deprived wreck.

But to office one must go on a Monday morning. So with a lot of determination I set out of my house.

I took my usual bus, sat on my usual seat, and plugged in my headphones to listen to the usual songs. But this time, I wasn't enjoying the ride. All I wanted to do was sleep but the realization that I could not and would not be able to until after at least another 12 hours, made me feel miserable.

I rested my head on the glass window, hoping for some rest at least on the bus, while wallowing in some world class self pity. Once in a while, as the bus took certain turns or as it passed a patch of less vegetated area in a certain direction, a strong, warm, beam of sunlight would strike my face, blinding me momentarily, and really annoying me. Every time it happened I would curse in my head - Why is it so hot? Why is the sun so strong? Why am I not in my bed fast asleep?

That's when I noticed this old Indian man in the seat opposite mine. He was facing in my direction, thanks to the face-to-face seating arrangement these Singaporean buses seem to have resorted to these days.

There he was, gazing out of the window, like everyone else in a "window seat". The bus took another turn and suddenly there was the sun out again, blazing in through the windows. I screwed shut my eyes and turning my face away immediately but I noticed that he was still gazing out of the window, up towards the skies, the sunlight splashing his face and looking absolutely at peace.

Wow. That was a rather small thing, but had a profound effect on me. It took me only a second to realize that much of my misery was inside my head.

The next time the sun made its brilliant morning appearance directly above and fired through the windows, I gently closed my eyes, turned my face up directly towards it and enjoyed a few moments of the warmth that it exuded even through the airconditioned interior of the bus.

Without his knowledge, that old man and I shared a moment of camaraderie.

And suddenly I didn't feel that miserable anymore. I was simply waiting for the next turn of the morning sunshine.

Days 152 - 157: Older & Wiser!

It's been a happening few days and I don't even know where to start writing from!

But I can say that these few days have made me feel a little more grown up, a little more apprehensive and yet a little more excited about life ahead and most importantly, made me appreciate life a lot more.

Yeah, all rather tall claims but when I say it's been happening, it's been that happening!

It all started with having a very close friend announce that she is pregnant. I was so super happy and excited for her that I started imagining our meetings in the future with our respective kids in tow. My imagination was so strong that it went from excitement to happiness to doubt to sadness. I was excited and happy at the thought of all the lovely days we would be spending together with our kids but also this visual of having children around almost all the time when we will be meeting in the future....that wasn't...well... very exciting, to say the least.

Whatever will happen to our hours of mindless grown up conversations over coffee or a glass of wine, as and when we please?! Right now, several times, I leave the little one with the helper at home, while I catch up with my friends, and things don't seem to have changed at all. But for how long?

Sure, I know we can always have just the adults meet up but this thought of revolving our lives around children was rather unsettling. It is such a far cry from our independant, relatively carefree lives till now and the more I thought about it, the more daunting it seemed.

The mind games didn't end there. As I was having all these thoughts in my head, a bunch of the hubby's friends from his hometown in India, came down to Singapore and we went to visit them. Only one friend was single and the rest came with their families and by families I mean spouses and a kid per couple. Yup, including the two of us and our little one, we were 11 adults and 5 babies!

Phew!

If you hadn't guessed it already, it was utter mayhem!

At any point in time, there was one baby refusing to eat, one baby refusing to sleep,  one baby wanting to play, one baby crying for no reason and one baby watching all the fun until it was his/her turn to contribute to the mayhem. And at any point in time, there was at least one parent who looked at his or her wit's end.

It was a mind boggling experience.

One part of me absolutely loved it, because it was my first time with so many young , first-time parents in the same room and it was lovely to see all of us being pretty much similar to each other with the same joys, same miseries and same approach to parenthood. On the other hand , it was ...well...scary! I could now experience first-hand, all that I had been conjuring up in my head and it indeed looks like we will be slaves to our children for a really long time.

That was a lot to take.

But then when I thought further about it, come on... we were all shaping these tiny beings who will take over the world tomorrow and that is a beautiful thought.  Sure it is hard as hell and yes, our lives have changed forever but a part of me kept saying that there was something really wonderful about this experience as well.

Just as I was beginning to make my peace with what my 30s and motherhood will be like, by deliberately shifting the focus to such more positive thoughts, the medical reports for a health screening I had, came out and it said I have borderline cholesterol.

Huh? Cholesterol?!

That, in my head, was something only much older people had.

But no, I have it.

The doctor says it could just be postpartum effect or maybe the consumption of prawns the day before or some other random reason like that but whatever it is, it made me realize it is not just my social life that's changing but it's the body too.

The story doesn't end there. Just as i was wondering how to tackle cholestrol, there I was sitting in a meeting, gently voicing out my precious opinions on the matter in discussion, when ...believe it or not... a part of my front tooth just chipped off.

Yup, just like that. Without me doing anything like biting onto an iron rod to make it happen. Freak show!

After blinking straight for about 10 minutes, during which I felt alarmingly overwhelmed about the thought of my whole body just falling apart, I excused myself from the meeting and rushed to the dentist to save my tooth.

30s clearly isn't 20s. 

The dentist, thankfully, was rather nonchalant. Instead of being horrified at the mystery of the falling-for-no-reason tooth, she simply told me that this was a fairly common problem. People apparently go to her with half of their tooth missing, like all the time. "Why, even I have two of my front teeth chipped off and filled back in", she said proudly. God bless her.

So I got the chipped tooth filled. And as I was relaxing on that dentist's chair, as much as anyone could possibly relax on a dentist's chair, getting my tooth filled, I reflected upon all that happened the last few days.

And there was just one message - really, time is so darn precious.

I am growing up and growing old and there is no denying that. The changing social life, the changing personal time, the changing body ... all of that is part of this beautiful thing that we call life.

Instead of worrying about what my life would be like or freaking out about health issues, I have to embrace everything exactly the way it is meant to be, while making an effort to make the most of every minute remaining.

Deep, I know. But that's what I feel. These past few days haven't been awesome in the usual sense, but they have definitely made me Older & Wiser.

Beautiful. 

Days 144 - 147: When the Going Gets Tough!

OK, so let me be honest.

It hadn't exactly been easy the past few days. I seemed to be rather low on energy, partly for known reasons such as lack of sleep (all thanks to the little one) and partly for unknown reasons. Nett, I have been feeling fatigued, lethargic and not exactly "oh my God, everything is so happy and beautiful"!

So much so that I felt that I had completely wasted away a perfectly nice long weekend. It was a public holiday on Friday, giving a good three day break from work, the kind I would usually fill up with activities and make it productive and fulfilling.

But this weekend passed by without anything much to show. Sure, I had a couple of good dinners, an outing with the little one, some movie-watching, some exercising and some sleeping. I even helped the hubby a little bit on his work by getting back to coding, something that I had not done in the last eight years (FYI, I graduated as a software engineer but never really pursued it post college). I did all of that, yet I ended up feeling.. well, empty.

And then, realization struck. Wait a minute... did I just say that I spend a whole weekend with "a couple of good dinners, an outing with the little one, some movie-watching, some exercising and some sleeping" as well as "coding" and I feel "empty"? Huh?!

What the hell is wrong with me?!

These are exactly the things I would have gloated about if I put them in a different perspective.

Think about it... in the right frame of mind, that list would have been something like the below:

"Excellent long weekend! Am rather tired and tied down right now, so let me do a quick summary!  
a) Discovered a wonderful new joint called Artichoke selling Mediterranean cuisine and with some excellent customer service as well as made my first trip to Fosters in Holland Village which had some really good live music. 
b) Caught up with the hubby over some yummy dinner on two days of the weekend.
c) Watched the little one in fascination as she did a new thing and grew up a little bit every day. For example,  both of us caught an hour's sleep on Saturday afternoon. I usually can't sleep in peace when she is lying right next to me, because I keep worrying whether she would roll off the bed. So I was simply lying down with my eyes closed. She woke up after an hour and wanted to wake me up as I pretended to sleep. First she tried to wake me up by running her little palm all over my face. When that didn't work, she tried scratching my arm again and again. When that also didn't seem to work, she started to pull my hair. And then, when that too failed.. what did she do?! She bulldozed her little head into my face! That definitely got me to stop pretending. I couldn't help but be fascinated by how babies figure these things out! 
d) I watched half of a super lovely film called "Annayum Rasoolum" in Malayalam. It has one of best acting I have seen in Malayalam cinema in recent years, especially one that is so consistently good among all the members of the cast. It also has the best sound design, which I realized has managed to even win the national award. Totally deserving! 
e) I coded! Yes! After a gap of almost 8 years, I went back to being a software enginner for a while, as I coded a few simple things to help the hubby with his work. Felt oh-so-good!

Excellent weekend indeed!" 

See?!

It was all in the head!

Somewhere over the past few days, I had stopped to appreciate things. I am not sure why. But I had.

And it took me to write this blog, before I could realize how stupid it all was. Really, what was I so upset about? Sure I feel sleep deprived and tired and am not feeling like I can do much and haven't even exercised in two days.

But that is OK.

When the going gets tough... you realize it is all in your head.

And then the going gets less tough... ta da dish dooosh!

Smug. (Feeling so much wiser)!

Day 106: One Day, One Lesson!

A day of learning it indeed was! 

It started with me waking up at 5:30am and being in two minds – whether to go for the 6:30am yoga class or not. After much to and fro in my head, I convinced myself that going for yoga was definitely a far better route to take, and so I dragged myself out of the bed.

I was at the yoga studio by 6:05am and saw that the studio was locked, with a few others waiting outside. That was strange. Usually the studio opens sharp at 6:00am for the 6:30 class. We waited and waited and waited. Until 6:40, when I finally gave up. This has never happened before, that a class gets cancelled without prior notice.

Feeling incredibly disappointed at having missed a day of yoga so very unnecessarily, and frustrated at having wasted one day of early rising as well as the effort and the money required to get to the studio so early, I got back home without any of the rise-and-shine attitude I had when I left it. I was feeling really... like, REALLY annoyed and decided that everything from this day, this week, the people around me and my life in general sucks. 

Once back home I realized that it was only 7am, there is plenty of time before I have to get ready for office and that the weather outside is great. 

Then the golden question struck me - "Why not utilize this opportunity to go for a run?!"

Pure genius. 

Before I knew it, I was out of yoga gear and in my running gear (which basically means that I put on running shoes) and out of my house. Thus I went on my first run post maternity – for 3.2 kms.

The downside of the run was that …well, I realized that I am in no shape to start running yet. It brought back my knee and pelvic injury pain that has been contributed by pregnancy. So I don’t think I will be doing this again for a while. 

But there was a significant upside! I was no longer disappointed or frustrated. I decided that the day was great, the week's gonna be great, the people around me are really the best and my life in general, rocks! 

Learning of the day - Clearly, if you don't get what you want, you gotta do the best with what you get and you shall automatically feel oh-so-awesome! 

Peace. 

Day 18: Lesson Learnt from Yoga Classs (& Wind Removing Pose - Check)!

Another small win at Yoga!

I got a "Good, Shilpa!" for my Wind Removing Pose or Pavanamuktaasana!

The interesting part here is that I was having a pretty weak class for the first 50 minutes or so. It happens. Even though you are somewhat regular with your practice, you have an occasional class that becomes more challenging than usual. You feel the heat is too much, your focus is elsewhere, your flexibility seems to have gone for a toss, your muscles feel more like rubber, and so on. It can get super frustrating and you would be looking forward to the end of the 90 minutes of "torture".

I was pretty much in the same place. But for some reason, instead of giving up from the frustration which I was very well feeling, I decided to push through. I told myself that it was important to still give it the best because my postnatal body needs it!

So I tried to ignore the frustration and continue to give my best for what it's worth.

And when this small win came by, it became totally worth it!

Lesson learnt - Stick with it. 

Day 1: New Year Lesson Learnt!

For the past one week or so I had been planning to make the New Year's day rather happening. The belief, as expected, was that if the New Year's day ends up being happening, so will the rest of the year. And by "happening" I mean packed with activities and productivity.

And then the New Year's Day came. 

And I did nothing but sleep until about 2pm. Reason - the little madam decided to be up the whole night with unprecedented enthusiasm, probably in the spirit of the new year. So it was only in the morning that I managed to get those much needed hours of sleep. 

When I finally woke up, I felt miserable. This was not how I meant to spend the morning today. I had planned so many things and the morning was already gone. 

So I immersed myself in some first class mopping. 

The background to this mopping is that these days, it's a constant point of concern for me whether I would be able to do all that I used to - e.g. work, exercise, films, dance etc., in spite of the little one being around. I tell myself that I am determined to continue with all it and make the little one a part of the activities vs. giving up on everything because she is around. But obviously, it's harder than one would think. Getting the schedule working in itself is an uphill task, let alone the energy to do stuff. But one gotta try.  

So back to today.... I made a drama with the hubby about how every other year I would have done SO MANY things on New Year's day but this year, everything's gone for a toss and how this is an indication of how my life has changed forever and I wont be able to do anything for the rest of the year. Etc. etc. etc. It was quite dramatic. 

Then to prove my point, with great pomp and show, I whipped out the blog posts from past New Year's days that my 1000-day blog had covered. 

And then I realized all that drama was highly misplaced. 

On January 1, 2012, my main activity was relaxing at home. 

On January 1, 2011, my main activity was a visit to Marina Bay Sands and walking around there. 

On January 1, 2010, I woke up at NOON! 

In other words, I had never really packed things into a New Year's day but have had pretty good years in terms of productivity, in spite of that.  

There you go. 

Several lessons learnt such as...

1) New Year's day isn't the end of it all. 

2) It's OK to relax. 

3) Stop being a drama queen. 

Post this revelation, spirits were lifted up rather high. The rest of the day went in happily spending time with mom, hubby and little one. Walked around Raffles City looking at the last of the season's sales, had a good dinner at Shahi Maharani, took a short night walk with the hubby, played with the little one, forced my singing skills on her which she seemed to appreciate with a wide a smile and by the end of day, felt thankful, contented and happy. 

It was a good New Year's day indeed. Looking forward to the rest of the year!