Preeti Shenoy's blog.

Hi there, After weeks and weeks of working way past midnight editing my 2nd book, I am finally taking a much deserved vacation. I am coming to India on a visit. YAY! I can't wait to get there! Since my first book 34 Bubblegums and Candies went on to become National Bestseller, Crossword Pune wanted me to do a book discussion / book signing session. I have been getting a large number of mails from people, saying they want to meet me when I come to India. I really wish I could meet you all. I connect instantly with anyone who has liked my book, simply because the book was not really a book. They were bits and pieces of my life, not really intended for publication and they were totally from the heart. Each and every word in it is true. Besides, it was written to overcome the deep grief of losing my dad, and the book was dedicated to him. The book is very special to me, indeed. So naturally, the people who write to me, telling me it moved them and they loved it, almos

The 7 days of positivity has become a deluge.The number of people writing to me now saying they are doing it and it is a marvellous idea and how much it has truly helped them, has become an explosion now. I will get around to replying to all who wrote to me soon. When I started it, I was extremely down. Then as each day went my outlook was definitely becoming more cheerful and I stayed positive. Until today, the last day.  I have had a horrible, terrible, truly miserable day. Something awful and unforeseeable happened. It is hard to 'be positive' in such a situation, but I am definitely not going to dwell on it and brood. In the words of Robert Frost. "In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life — It goes on "   So I am going to go right on with the experiment and here are my five things that I feel happy about today. 1. I feel grateful for my friends  whom I truly love! I just made this collage and felt good about it. 2. When

If you haven't yet joined the Facebook group of Seven days to Positivity then please join NOW! :) It has got an amazing response. To be very honest, I was totally down in the dumps when I started it on Day 1 and  did not really expect at all to feel this good about it. In fact, I told a good friend "All this nonsense I am trying because I am soooo low". The 'Nonsense' turned out to be a superb thing after all. I now wish I had done this experiment earlier!  I am truly astounded by the number of mails I have got about this. So many people have poured out their hearts (in the mails) and told me how much they needed something like this and how much it has actually helped them and how they are so surprised as well, that focussing on positives instead of a seemingly hopeless negative (about which you can do nothing anyway) has given them a new sense of direction. The problem you have suddenly does not get you down anymore. The new found positive attitude helps ove

Join the  7 days to positivity on Facebook as we can keep continuing the positivity there even after this experiment ends. Here is what people have been saying about it Sucheta Tiwari said   This is a really great initiative. Much better than regular "self help" stuff (which is pretty run the mill, and frankly, da-uh, boring!), this is practical and actually works :) Maddy said:   Nice initiative Preeti. These postive feelings/thoughts.....even after months when somebody happen to see....they would read and relate atleast fewer things which they did not realize or record.... what positivity they spread for the day. Today's 5 things I am grateful for: 1.My new pair of high-heels :) I totally dig high heels (have a few more pairs) and wear them every chance I get :P 2. This guy in my life :) 3.My ability to draw life like portraits 4.My ability to create stuff (I made this doll from a wooden peg) 5.  Always dogs and chi

Day 4 of the Positivity experiment .   and the results have been truly surprising. It is such a simple (but difficult) thing yet, it works like magic. I am not the only one saying it. So many people have started doing this now and are all feeling great. Here is my list of five things that made me feel good today.  1. Ruchira of Nirjharini today wrote on my Facebook wall. She said 7 days of positivity concept is spreading like wildfire !  I have friends here on facebook or otherwise trying it out. Kudos to you for thinking it up ! 2.  Her comment led to me think that a Facebook page to give it a permanent home would be nice. This is so that it can be a 'place of positivity'. Instead of just writing in my comment box, or on individual blogs, people can share their thoughts on this page. Positivity multiplies. So if you want to still keep the positivity going you can join this page. Here is the link: 7 days to Positivity I do feel happy about creating this group :-) 3.

Day 3 of the positivity experiment  and I must say it is going great. Instead of it being just on my blog, it has become a movement now!  So many people are doing it on their blogs and it has caught on so well! I am very happy with all the positivity that has started because of this experiment and yes it is indeed hard, like many of you (including myself) discovered. I have tried to visit all of you who left a comment saying you have done it on your blogs. I will reply to your comments in yesterday's post too, tomorrow when I take a break from working on my 2nd book which is in editing stages. Bharti of Life begins   has even made two beautiful positivity badges and she sent it to me .Here is one of them. My five things that I am very grateful for or happy about today: 1 . One of my closest friends whose opinion I value a lot, said that this was indeed a wonderful thing I was doing and he said that it reminded him of the movie ' Pay it forward'   which happens to b

For those of you who are reading me for the first time, this is a part of a seven day positivity experiment which I started yesterday. I started this as I am going through a bad not so good phase in my life and this is a seven day experiment to see, if by focussing on five things that made one happy, can one indeed change change how one feels? It worked for me yesterday, like a charm. It seemed to have worked for many too, judging from the responses I got. Today my day was a not-so-great    lousy day (in terms of progress with the editing of my second book) . But I am going to still focus on five things that made me feel happy. 1.Today was a learning day. I had always heard the clichéd saying "When God closes one door, he opens another." But we're always staring at that closed door  and feeling miserable about why it is closed that we fail to see another that has opened for us. Today I actually experienced this saying. The morning began on a terrible note when som

Naren who is a  motivational speaker at Alma Mater sent me a beautiful mail yesterday. It had a very powerful message about what to choose to focus on. It is nothing new--we all know it. But the way Naren illustrated it with personal examples and anecdotes made all the difference. It set me thinking about the ' Gratitude Journal ' which again many of you must have heard of. It also made me think about 'Laws of Attraction' and positivity both of which have been discussed so much especially after Rhonda Byrne's 'Secret' became a huge success. People tell me that I am an extremely positive person and they feel happy to be around me. I too have my down (sometimes very down) moments, trust me! It is just that I am a fighter and I bounce back quick and refuse to give up without a good fight.(and I am going through a very tough time right now) Focussing on the positives does help not only in emotional happiness but also helps in living richer lives. The th

God, grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; And wisdom to know the difference. This serenity prayer by Rienhold NeiBuhr  is well known. To use a well known Hindi  idiom, it is  truly a personification of  'गागर में  सागर' (My non Hindi speaking readers please excuse me, I fail to find an English equivalent) 'Things I have accepted' 1. Friendshps break. Even the deepest ones that you thought would last a life time. 2. Even your best laid plans can fail. Things will not go the way you planned it just because you were meticulous in planning them and left no detail to chance. 3. People do not reply back to your mails or  do not answer your calls or texts because they no longer want you in their lives and not because they did not get your mails or did not get your texts. 4.Just because you have the ability to put a fight behind you and carry no grudges it is not the same for everybody. Some people just do

A love poem Is what I feel like writing you tonight But my words they have sprouted wings And flown away I am left watching. A crushing hug Is what I want  to surround you with tonight But my arms, they have frozen And lie limp by my side I am left seeking. A lingering kiss Is what I want to give you tonight But my lips, they will not stop smiling As your name whirls around I am left  longing in silence. So I weave a blanket Of your thoughts Pull them over my head Secure in your warmth, your love As I put my aching lips, arms and words to rest And gift you a love poem. © 2010 Preeti Shenoy For more poems click here . Some poems have already appeared in print. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

There seems to be some pre-programmed defect in my internal system as my level of  procrastination seems to be  directly proportional to the quantity of work pending :P The manuscript of my 2nd book needs to be pruned, I have half finished a HUGE portrait  of a good friend, that I am working on. (It is one and a half feet by one feet). The dishwasher is loaded but not switched on, the lunch is half made, the rooms are half cleaned, and my yoga for the day is not even half done. :P  I have a shopping list to make, I need to organise the kitchen, but of course, checking what Hindi songs  are playing on the few Indian channels I have subscribed to, suddenly becomes very important. It is urgent, in fact. It just cannot wait! The fact that I switch on the TV channel to find Shammi Kapoor singing " Zara  Tehro.. jeena bhi mushkil, marna bhi mushkil " isn't helping :P I blink and 3 hours have gone.Poof! Vanished, just like that!  And to my surprise I find that the dishwasher

A little child practises hard for a running race. It means a lot to the child. It's the first time that the child is taking part in such a race, you see. He is not even sure that he will be able to complete it. But he is certainly going to try. He wakes up each morning, earlier than usual, when all he wants to do is snuggle in the blanket and sleep some more. But the race goads him out of bed. Weary eyed, he wakes ups and runs. Each day, each morning, come rain, come sun, the child is out running. Finally it is the day of the race. The child surprises everyone including himself. "We never thought you could do it," they say. The child scans the crowd of parents gathered there, but his dad, his hero, the one person in whose eyes he wanted to shine, isn't there. "Ma," he says to his mother, "Why couldn't dad have been here?" "If he could he surely would have, my child. Believe me,he is proud of you," replies the mother. The little

Today was a warm, wonderful, sunny day. But suddenly, out of nowhere, the clouds came. I stood and stared in surprise and wonder. I gazed at the beauty of the scene which was unfolding in front of me. It was as though the sun  and the clouds were enacting an opera, just for me. It was as though someone has come striding on a chariot, opened a bag and let loose a volley of clouds which had grown and grown and surrounded the sun. The light was still shining through and the proverbial silver lining in the cloud came to life. I had to click a picture.  It made me think how much like life this was. No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter what you do, every once in a way, things will go wrong. That best friend you thought you could count on, no matter what, will fail to come through. That promotion you were hoping for  and which you know you deserve will go to the nerd who is very good at sucking up. Health will fail when there was no reason for it to. People will com