Preeti Shenoy's blog.

What an overwhelming day I have had. Never in my life, have I got so many phone calls, so many wishes and so much of positive vibes on one single day. Today I think I got more phone calls and emails than on the day my children were born :-) Oh—and the text messages too. I think I have managed to reply to each single one. A big heartfelt thanks to all of you who made an effort to call and also to those who wished me by texts, emails &scraps.What totally took me by surprise was the sheer volume of well wishers. The phone was continuously ringing throughout the day. One call would end and another would come in. I am sure the wishes were genuine and heartfelt—but this birthday was so different from my birthday last year, where it went unnoticed. Only my family members and really close friends called. Then again, last year I really did not know so many people. My book I think has really touched more hearts than I imagined or envisaged.

Satish and the kids gave me some really wonderful g…

How often have you walked into a friend's kitchen, and casually, as you were talking, and your friend's brewing a nice cup of tea for you, you've remarked about something on their fridge, that led to a whole new conversation?

Fridges do reflect a lot about the person who is using it. I have come across fridges that are so darn neat without a single thing on them, that you wonder if they have been used at all. Then there are others that have lovely magnets collected from different parts of the world. Then there are fridges like mine that just reflect whatever is going in life, at that point in time, or sometimes reflect anything that brings back happy memories.

I clicked a picture of my fridge and this is how it looks at the moment. It's full of memories and current happenings. Right on top are two magnets of a man and a lady that we picked up when we went on our honeymoon, ages back. They have travelled with us through the years and through moving towns, changing jobs, c…

15. Even if you don’t like somebody you can continue to enjoy watching their antics and even learn a few things from them.


14. It's perfectly possible for a 36 year old to lie flat at a 180 degree angle on a cold, hard marble floor on a chilly winter morning for 3 and half minutes (the time it took to shoot this video)


13. It is also possible to not let out a single whimper even though a full grown adult male has stepped on you inadvertently as he did not expect you to be on the floor.


12. The best things are found in places where you least expect them to be.;-)


11. It is possible to hear 'You’re the greatest' and ‘You’re absolutely crazy’ from a child and an adult respectively and believe both completely.


10. It is great fun to beat your sibling in grabbing that little thing which you didn’t want in the first place but fought for it just because your sibling wanted it.(Just look at those kittens)


9. Family is family even if you fight.

8. Age does not matter what really matters …

Sometime back I had made a resolution to post at least twice a week. Now when I look back, I discover that I haven’t really written as much as I intended to. These days, besides working on my second book, I am also writing for Times of India and Readers Digest Joy. Apart from that my fitness routine, managing children and daily chores in the home takes up most of my time. Somehow I feel that’s still an excuse. I always say that if someone wants to do something really badly, they will always find the time. Now I am going to test the theory that I advocate and apply the same for myself, and am resolving to post at least 2-3 times a week. If not a post, then at least an image which I have captured and which I would like to share. Good idea? What do you say?

Meira gave me this award which I am supposed to give to my favourite commentators.God! What a difficult task! If she had asked me to pick my least favourite it would have been easy :)[Relax—just kidding] I guess I am really grateful to…

Humour is the best way to deal with stress, sorrow, depression and difficult times like these. There are many scientific studies which have proven a co-relation between good health and a sense of humour. Humour is a quality that enables us to find joy even in the most adverse of situations. Roberto Benigni’s movie ‘Life is beautiful’ potrays it so well, where it depicts the life of a Jewish man and his young son in a Nazi Death camp. (If you haven’t watched it yet, you are really missing something in life—stop reading and go watch! Click on title to know more)How do you find humour? Some people are born with it. Some cultivate it till it becomes a habit and some cannot laugh no matter how much they try. (I do know individuals like that. I usually avoid them)If you aren’t a great TV Buff and find shows like ‘Great Indian laughter challenge’ (I hate it!) particularly unamusing—what do you do?You seek out people who are radiators—That’s what you do. [If you have read my book, then you kn…

Photo taken by Atul Shenoy at age 10. River Nile. Egypt. (click to enlarge)


Eleven years ago, you came into my life and nothing was the same again.
Ten years ago, you smiled at me and I thought my heart could not hold any more happiness.
Nine years ago, you said “I love you” and I knew my heart could hold more joy.
Eight years ago, you wrote me your first letter and I preserved it with care.
Seven years ago you made a clay sculpture and said it was for me.
Six years ago you gave your first solo stage performance and I cheered like crazy.
Five years ago you started showing great interest in sketching and they turned out real good.
Four years ago I got you a pair of hamsters and you said you adored me for it.
Three years ago you wrote a poem just for me.
Two years ago you started showing an interest in photography and the pictures you captured were brilliant.
A year ago you wanted to give gifts to all the children at the orphanage and we did it together.
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Apologies if you have come here looking for a post to read. This will soon appear in my 3rd book called 'A 2nd Jar of Bubblegums and Candies'. I had to remove it as making it available online would be very unfair to my publishers who have placed so much trust in me.

It was on 14 of November 2006 that I met someone called Niall Young. It was a virtual meeting. I was new to blogging and had been browsing the Internet by clicking ‘next blog’ and suddenly a poetry blog caught my eye. The writing was heart-warming, different and unique. The blog belonged to someone calledTim Young. I found the writing beautiful and so I left a comment. And the next thing I know, I get a comment from Tim’s brother, Niall. Those days hardly anyone read my blog. I was delighted when Niall left a comment on this postof mine saying“I discovered your Blog after reading your comments on my Brother's site (Forever England).You have such a deep an special heart. You have obviously known pain, and because of that, you feel that of others too. Love yourself, care for yourself and lift your hands to the sky in the mornings rising sun. You are here for a purpose! Keep writing” Then a few more posts and a few more comments later, we exchanged email ids. We started writing to…

Said a granny to her grand-daughter
Who has just turned sixteen,
Child, this is a story I do not usually share,
So listen well, and listen with care.

Many years ago, I fell in love
With a lonely lost sad soul
Who took away so much from me
That nothing still fills the hole.

It gets covered well
When I laugh for a while, I forget
But it comes back to haunt
The agony, the memories, the regret.

Sad souls are like that
They take, never give and then leave,
They devour, they consume and gobble
And once eaten ,never can you retrieve

What hurts most
Is that the love still remains
It gnaws you silently like a termite
Leaving you empty,broken and in chains

So stay away from the vampirish sad souls
Let them find someone else to eat
Cover your heart, protect it, nourish it
And you’ll know when to give love and when to retreat.

© Preeti Shenoy
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Kindly do not reproduce without permission

A long time since I did a Wordless Wednesday. This pic was clicked by me,when I was at my dining table. I interrupted my meal as I just had to capture the moment.


© Preeti Shenoy

When was the last time you used a box of colours? Yes—those little sticks called crayons—either wax or plastic that come in little boxes, meant for little children? Or Sketch pens? Or colourful markers? If you don’t have children, chances are you have used them in your childhood. Most adults have happy memories associated with crayons or colours. Speaking for myself, I simply love colours. Just looking at them gives me so much joy. As children, we all have the same ability to express ourselves through pictures. Having worked with children for many years, I have noticed that at age 3 or 4, most of their pictures are mostly alike. (Except maybe one or two exceptionally talented ones). By the age of 10-12, there is a marked difference in abilities. As adults, there are ‘Artists’ and ‘I-can’t-even-draw-a straight-line’ kinds. It is sad that our education system takes away so much creativity in an attempt to churn out ‘Achievers’ usually judged by how well you do academically.Yet in most o…

A couple of years ago, I was spring cleaning my wardrobe, when my good friend and next door neighbour rang my bell. I had emptied the entire contents of my cupboard-- clothes, makeup, jewellery, jackets, handbags and many other things on my bed and was sorting and re arranging them. Since we are really close, I didn’t mind her seeing the contents of my wardrobe or my mess and so invited her right into my bedroom.She sat cross-legged on my bed while I put away my stuff neatly. It reminded me a bit of my college days—I don’t think I have shared the contents of my wardrobe with anyone since those days.As I was putting away each one, she was looking at them and we were talking about clothes like only two women can.“So where are the rest of your pairs of jeans?” she asked“These are it” I said. I had only two—blue and black.She could not believe it.“You have ONLY two pairs?” she asked , incredulous.I had only two. "How can a woman live with just two pairs of Jeans?!" She asked
“How…

Children are great philosophers. It comes naturally to them I think, as their world view is original, often unique, not yet tainted by hard realities, failures, apathy, insensitivity, prejudice or worse, indifference that characterizes the world view of most adults.Observing children and really listening to them and thinking about why they said certain things (Instead of just laughing and dismissing it as cute which is typically what we adults do) gives us a fresh different perspective to things. I am fortunate in that aspect as I have worked with children for many years and now I also have my own laboratory open 24 hours, seven days a week to study two children aged 10 and 7. :-) They accompany me everywhere I go, except to the loo. There too, if I am not out in five minutes I’ll have a voice pounding on the door impatiently, asking me “ Maaa—Are you in there ? When will you finish maaa? ” :-)Both wanted to be a part of both my book launches and really enjoyed seeing a new avatar of …

With a name like Alamelu Padmavathi Ammal (with due apologies to anyone whose name is Alamelu, Ammal or Padmavathi) you cannot be very liberated. Okay—maybe not liberated in a wearing-cropped-denim shorts-spiked-coloured-hair-tank top-with-leather-bootskind of way but perhaps liberated in a I-am-a-forward-thinking-modern-woman kind of a way. I don’t know what it was but the Alamelu I knew, or rather used to know, was not very liberated in either ways.
The first time she met me was about 7 years back. Come to think of it, that was the last time I met her too. :-)It was at a boring office party in a not so boring quaint little town, where the men sat separately and drank for the entire duration of the party and the women were not offered alcohol or the starters. (For the entire duration of the party too) I would have liked both (The alcohol and the starters, not the men or the women!) but nobody asked me. And I was not liberated enough to barge into the ‘bar-room’ full of men, that too …

Many of you writing to me,
Asking me to post on launch at Bengaluru
I feel good, happy, elated
That you want some-moru :-)

Launch went off great,
R.K Misra was terrific,
A born leader, an orator, a patriot,
With an approach which was focused and specific,
Meeting you all in person,
Whom I met only online,
A meeting of minds,
That added glitter and shine,
Book signings, Book readings,
Laughter, deep thoughts, a connect
That’s sums up most of it,
A launch that to me was near perfect!I think pictures speak louder than words. Xh (anoop) has clicked some great ones. Click Here to see lots of them.Also, Varun, Gazal,BimalandPratshave blogged about it. Click on their names to read what they said.I was very impressed with R.K Misra, (yes he has a blog too) who is so down to Earth, Humble, with no celebrity airs, despite having achieved so much. He means what he says.He brings professionalism and transparency to public governance and leaders like him is what our country needs. He started a movement called “C…

Saturday evening (4th October 2008) was special. It was the first time I’d be attending a book launch.What made it very special was that it was my own. :-) I did not know what to expect. But I knew what I didn’t want for sure.I did not want to talk about myself. It was not about me. It was about the book. It was about a journey. It was about a message, to live love and laugh, to dance like no-one was watching, to let go of the insignificant things, to live life fully.
They told me I could do whatever I wanted. I was the star.“No” I corrected them “My book is the star.”
So what happened at the launch? I think these people who attended it have said it better.http://godyears.blogspot.com/2008/10/35-bubblegums-and-candies.html

http://blog.prats.co.in/2008/10/34-bubblegums-candies-launch.html

http://sam-memoirs.blogspot.com/2008/10/34-bubblegums-and-candies-book-launch.htmlThe guest of honour was Anuja Agarwal who is now a friend and also VP and Global head of Communications of Duetsche Bank. …