Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 10 lessons I learnt in 2012

1. I enjoy cooking! Not everyday cooking, but trying out new, interesting recipes that make people’s jaw drop in awe. This was a year when I tried some great new dishes, and  all of them turned out really well. So well, in fact, that it can serve as an alternate career! From yummy pastas to baked fish and roast chicken, I served it all on the table with elan.

Image courtesy: Jamie Oliver

2. I’ve got no head for finances, or rather, for tracking investments. I’ve let things slide too long, though. Next year, I’m going to work on changing that for sure.

3. It is easy to hoard and difficult to purge. Just the thought of having to go through boxes and boxes of stuff is enough to make me want to raise my hands above my head and run screaming! But I also have some serious tenacity when I choose to exercise it, and so I’ve been chipping away at the mess bit by bit.

4. I enjoy having friends over for lunch or dinner. One, it’s a great excuse to clean up the house. Two, I quite enjoy the menu planning. Three, and most importantly, I love playing host to good friends…the laughter and conversation are balm to my soul.

5. I can bake! After all the heartbreak, this was the year when I finally managed to bake not one, but two different cakes, and both of them turned out yummy! The Nutella cupcakes were heavenly, and the one-pan fudge cake was so soft and moist that I could probably eat all of it in one go, just from sheer gluttony!

6. I like my solitary Saturdays…not for too many Saturdays consecutively, mind, but I love having the entire day to myself – to cook, to read, to blog, to just be…

7. I enjoy Twitter. Finally, after such a long time being on the platform, I “get it”! I enjoy my interactions with fellow tweeps, I like sharing interesting articles I read, and I love all the amazing articles, tips and thoughts shared by the wonderful people I follow. And of course, the highly enjoyable Sunday Book Club – TSBC!

8. A floor-to-ceiling bookcase looks good, but is a pain to clean. It took me 3 days and a major headache to get this monster cleaned, but now I know, too, that it’s a job that should be done every month if I am to retain my sanity the next time I am bitten by the cleaning bug.

9. I love traveling, and when I don’t travel enough, I get cranky. Enough said.

10. Beautiful blue skies (and this is a very specific kind of sky) make me happy. They really do! We don’t get too many of those here in Delhi, but on the days we do, nothing – and I mean NOTHING – can make me unhappy!

Over to you! What was the one biggest lesson you learnt in 2012?

Year-end Wrap-Up: Top 5 books of 2012

2012 was a stellar year for me in terms of reading and all things book-related. I read over 60 books this year, across a variety of genres. I came across some brilliant writers, and some not so brilliant ones. I was approached by Random House India to participate in their book bloggers program, under which they send me books to read and review. And I joined a cool Twitter book-chat – TSBC.

So, what better way to kick-off this year-end wrap-up than by sharing with you my 10 favorite reads from the year? Without further ado, here they are!

Nobody Can Love You More by Mayank Austin Soofi
If you want to read just one book this year, make it this one. It’s a poignant look at the lives of Delhi’s sex workers. Set in GB Road (Delhi’s red light district), written after Soofi spent over three years visiting the area and the kothas to get an insight into their life, the book is almost like reading his personal diary with his thoughts, dialogue, and his drive to know more about the women who live here. From the first word, this book will hook you, draw you into the world of GB Road, and make you care about the lives and troubles that the women of these kothas face.

Cover via Amazon

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows
In a year marked by 60 books, this one stands out for its novel format. After all, not too many books are written in the form of letters – of course, there is the excellent 84 Charring Cross Road. But this book, I think, has a slight edge. Why? Because it’s difficult to write an entire novel in the form of fictional letters and still explore some of the darker aspects of war and the horrors of concentration camps, and to create characters that you come to love and understand. (You can read the full review here)

Cover of The Feast of Roses: A Novel

Feast of Roses by Indu Suderasan
Set in Mughal India, this is the story of Emperor Jahangir’s love for his twentieth wife, Mehrunnisa (better known as Empress Nur Jahan). From the time she enters his harem, she fits none of the established norms of womanhood in seventeenth-century India. She is the first woman the emperor marries for love, eventually transferring his powers of sovereignty to her. She goes on to gain much more power than any Empress before or after her, and all of it despite remaining behind the veil. It is a compelling read as it brings to life an unexplored period in fiction, with a lot of attention paid to period details and descriptions of various cultural ceremonies that distinguished court life in royal India.

Cover of The Shadow of the Wind

Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
I think it’s fitting that in a list of top 10 books features one where a bookstore and library play a central role in the narrative. Specifically, it’s the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, from where young Daniel Sempere picks up a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. He stays up all night reading the book, completely engrossed, and then tries to find other books by the same author. But there are none. All he uncovers are stories of a strange man calling himself Laín Coubert, after a character in the book who happens to be the Devil, who has been buying Carax’s books for decades only to burn them. As he works to uncover the puzzle, he unravels a beautiful, doomed love story that has been buried in the depths of oblivion. What makes this book a must-read is Zafon’s masterful plotting, the slow unwinding of the mystery and his extraordinary control over language.

The Wildings by Nilanjana Roy
I think I can safely say that this is the best book I’ve read that is told not from the perspective of humans, but from that of cats! In this stunning, richly imagined debut, Roy weaves a yarn about the trials and travails of Nizzamuddin’s street cats. The entire novel is written from their perspective, in their voice and language, is done so well done that you’d be forgiven for thinking that a cat learnt how to write and spun this yarn for us humans! (You can read the full review here)

Now, it’s your turn. Which were your favorite books this year?

The coolest Sunday afternoon hangout: #TSBC

It’s Sunday afternoon. Armed with a cup of coffee, a pen and small notepad, and my iPad, I make my way to the sofa. It’s my favorite spot in the drawing room – perfectly positioned to allow me to soak up the sun in winters and directly in the path of a cross-breeze when I open the doors of the balconies in summers.

Image via CrunchBase

As I flop down on the couch, I fire up the Twitter app on my iPad and search for #TSBC. It is 3:00 pm. For the next one hour, I will be busy tweeting – replying to questions and people; retweeting and favourite-ing tweets that I like; laughing out loud at times; at others, making furious notes in a small notebook. At the end of that hour of Twitter interaction, I will come away with new thoughts and perspectives, as well as a list of interesting books or authors I knew nothing about.

Isn’t this book cover a beauty? Shared on the #TSBC chat on book covers by Random House India

See, #TSBC is the Sunday Book Club, a weekly chat that takes place on Twitter every Sunday at 3:00 pm IST where we talk all things, well, books. Topics have ranged from discussing movie adaptations of books, autobiographies, the works of Oscar Wilde, book covers, the Ramayana, banned books, and a fun discussion on what book…And, at the end of every chat, one lucky person stands to win a book*! I won First Day First Show by Anupama Chopra during one of the initial few chats  on books and films. The question was “If your memoir were to be made into a film, what would you name it and who would you cast in it?” And my rather flippant answer was “The girl who tried to climb a mountain and walked down a hill. Starring Julia Roberts as me. ” Pretty cool, huh?

Started by three friends and book lovers Raghav, Neo and Sudha, the club is 11 weeks old. And participation (both from India and abroad) has grown by leaps and bounds. This really doesn’t come as a surprise because they have some well-thought-out questions on each topic, leading to healthy discussions among book lovers.

If you love books, this is one chat you wouldn’t want to miss! There are, however, a few Do’s and Don’ts.

• No self promotion during the chat
• No rudeness and flaming – please respect everyone’s point of view
• Do mention which question you are answering (A1, A2 etc)
• Do tag your tweets with #TSBC or they won’t reach all the Tweeps who are participating

Also, do follow The Sunday Book Club and the three founders and hosts Raghav, Meetneo and Sudha. You can also like their Facebook page.

And you’re set! Simple, ain’t it?

So what are you waiting for? Jump into the discussion every Sunday at 3:00 pm IST. See you then for a scintillating book chat!

* Currently, giveaways are only open to people who have an Indian mailing address.

Harnessing the power of social media

Image via CrunchBase

I jumped onto the Twitter bandwagon less than a year ago, and am constantly amazed at how my “community” has expanded. I’ve bonded with fellow bloggers, met people who share the same interests as I do, learnt from some of the most inspirational figures of recent times, and followed breaking stories as they happened – minute-by-minute.

As I used the platform and starting interacted with people, I heard their conversations, learnt more about their lives and supported and cheered with them as they triumphed or grappled with life. So what if a lot of them stay half way around the world, or if I haven’t met any of them and probably never will? The conversations and friendships built are real enough. Which is why if one of them were to tell me about a social cause and ask for my support, I would help out to the best of my ability.

And I wouldn’t be alone, as a whooping 84% of the social media savvy aged 30-49 and 55% of those older than 50 used conversational social media to discuss philanthropy. The Philanthropy 2.0 research project also found that 20% of survey respondents between the ages of 30 and 49 gave more than $5,000 through social media discussions, demonstrating the huge potential for social-media savvy fundraisers.

Image by .imelda via Flickr

The funds being raised by leveraging technology are astounding. Twitter users alone donated more than $33 million to the American Red Cross fund for Haitian earthquake victims. Innovative companies like Twestival, which realize the potential of 140 characters and hashtags, are using social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. Since 2009, volunteers have raised close to $1.2 million for 137 nonprofits. Of that amount, $15,734.53 was raised in India alone.

Image by taotsu via Flickr

Using the power of hashtags and retweeting, individuals too can make a mark. One recent example is that of @ourmaininabiko. Using an idea that was sparked in the shower, he sent out a tweet calling for eyewitness accounts and personal stories on Twitter. Less than 45 minutes later, the first submission came in. Based on the more than 80 submissions to that single tweet, 2:46 Quakebook was born – a Twitter-sourced collection of personal accounts and pictures of the 11 March 2011 Japan quake and its aftermath. The book is a collaborative effort between bloggers to help raise money for Japan – the proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated to the Japan Red Cross.

Anna Hazare Image by ramesh_lalwani via Flickr

India recently witnessed its own political revolution of sorts, and a big portion of that battle was fought online – through the creation of a website and by leveraging social media to spread activist Anna Hazare’s message of anti-corruption. Millions of people across the nation joined Hazare in person and in spirit, as he sat on a fast-unto-death outside the Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. His demand was for the passage of a Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s ombudsman Bill) that would give more power to the people to fight corruption in all areas of public service. Candlelight vigils and peaceful protests were organized around the country, forcing the government to accept all of the demands put forth by the activists and backed by the common man, corporates and Bollywood stars.

Social media has truly emerged as one of the most powerful Web 2.0 technologies. Not only does it allow us to forge strong friendships, it enables us to spark ideas that turn into revolutions that lead to the ouster of dictators, bring about social change, and raise money for those in need. Ultimately, how we use and leverage it depends on us.

Have you ever made donations or volunteered your services by leveraging technology?

Technological spirituality: 6 ways to tune into you

Image via Wikipedia

Technology has been evolving at a rapid pace. Remember the days of yore, when we used to call the telephone exchange to place STD calls. You had to wait for the telephone company to connect your call, you never knew how soon – or even if – your call would go through. Fast forward a few years, and we had the ability to place STD calls ourselves without having to go through the switch-board. A few more years later and mobile phones emerged, allowing us to make STD and ISD calls on the go. Fast forward to the present, and you have multiple ways to stay in touch – phone, email, internet calls through Skype, Facebook and even Twitter.

This ability to constantly be in touch, in real time, is a boon when your family stays far away. You’re now no more than a phone call, e-mail, status update or tweet away. It’s also become possible to stay connected to the office while on the go. Look around, and you’ll see people in the gym handling office-related phone calls, busy executives sitting in the coffee shop with their laptop updating an important presentation or checking and answering work e-mails.

But in this constant race to be up-to-speed with everyone and everything around us, it has become increasingly difficult to find time to connect with ourselves, with our spirituality, with God. It doesn’t have to be this way, though.

The very technology that has connected us to friends and family around the world has also given us myriad tools to connect with ourselves on a deeper level. Here are six ways in which you can tune in to you even when you’re on the go.

YouTube: Most smartphones these days can connect to and play YouTube videos. The next time you’re in the train commuting just log on to YouTube, look for meditation, scroll through the numerous options that come up, plug in your headphones and hit play. You can also visit the Soulful living page here on Modern Gypsy to access a collection of hand-picked meditation music or guided meditation videos and find yourself. Subscribe to the blog and you’ll get a new meditation video every Sunday, along with a lot of other interesting content on a variety of topics ranging from book reviews to travel stories to observations on daily life.

Twitter: There are a lot of spiritual gurus and motivational speakers on Twitter who send out inspiring tweets everyday that can give you a nugget of wisdom in 140 characters or less. They also post links to relevant content on their blogs or other sites that you can visit whenever you have a few extra minutes, or favorite and go back to later.

A few people to follow: @paulocoelho, @DalaiLama, @RockSolidAdvice,  @RevRunWisdom. You could also follow my Inspirations list on Twitter.

Mailing lists: There are a lot of websites and blogs that offer spiritual content and insights online. Subscribe to a few of their mailings lists and you’ll have some thought provoking articles to read the next time you’re stuck at the doctor’s office or in a nasty traffic snarl. You can even save them on your smartphone using apps like Instapaper, which allow you to save webpages for offline reading.

Facebook: Have you come across the nifty Facebook app called God Wants you to Know? If you haven’t, I suggest you check it out. It gives you a new message from God everyday – daily bite-sized pieces of inspiration that at times are exactly what you need to hear.

Apps: There are a lot of religion and spirituality apps available that you can download onto your smartphone or tablet. You can download The Bhagwad Gita as a book or in audio; Buddha-in-a-Pocket offers powerful insights from the teachings of the Buddha; The Life Purpose App, which provides full access to Dan Millman’s bestseller The Life You Were Born to Live and calculates and provides details about your life path.

Podcasts: There are a lot of meditation podcasts available on iTunes that you can download the next time you’re updating your iPhone/iPad/iPod apps. Spend 10 minutes before you start your day to meditate, or listen to vedic chants while commuting and see the difference it makes to your day. You’ll operate from a more calm, focused and peaceful state of mind, and if you make it a regular practice, you’ll notice that you aren’t as stressed out as you used to be.

I’m sure I’ve just scratched the surface of the millions of options out there. Are there any tools or apps that you use to connect with yourself?