September was flawsome yet awesome-a nice mixed month with fulfilling work in progress, connections with wonderful people, travel - some stress and the usual.
Besides work, I spent quite a bit of time offline hanging out with my friends, walking around our local market, enjoying conversations and much-needed sunshine! Because sometimes it is just good to shut everything and go outdoors!
I am working on my ongoing purging. I had set myself a deadline that seemed quite far away when I set it, but now, I see it looming pretty close. December is just around the corner, no? So I'll have to buck up and accelerate my efforts. But it is so distracting when other things have to be dealt with.
Still, I don't see myself sacrificing time with close friends to, of all things, declutter, right? I started following the "dust if I must" principle years ago and with excellent reason. I am flawsome like that!
Happy birthday to me!
September saw me turning a year wiser and reminding myself to enjoy the little things even as we stress over some pretty serious stuff. Still, a birthday is always a good reminder to look after myself better and make those wonderful resolutions that I usually try my best to keep. Sometimes I am sincere, sometimes I am not. What to do? I am only 24.
It was a lovely occasion to chat with so many friends who called to wish me.
This month brought one of my favorite annual events which took me to Delhi. The schedule was pretty tight with the conference starting soon after I arrived and continuing until it was time to leave. It was a fantastic event with influential speakers and useful panel discussions.
Still, I managed my nostalgic walk around Connaught Place and Janpath before leaving for the airport. I also met a close friend after almost nine years, who arrived with a bag of books. Super, right? The plan was to go out in the evening for dinner, but the way things went, we decided to stay in, put our feet up and talk, talk, talk. Then we had dinner and walked out only for a lovely sundae. So wise!
When I worked a corporate job, the head offices of the organizations I was with were all in or around Delhi and that meant sales conferences every quarter. Always a rushed trip-but somehow we managed our pilgrimage around CP and Janpath. So, it was a bit of luck that the hotel I stayed in was in CP this time. All in all, a lovely trip for which I am so grateful!
But of course, the trip had its share of freaking out! I almost missed my flight, thanks to a massive traffic jam that did not let us move. My Google maps showed that I'd arrive at the airport at 3.20 for my 3.50 flight-which is cutting it close by any standards. Well I did arrive at 3.20 - and feeling grateful that I'd made my boarding pass at home, ran all the way to security.
There, I had to open my suitcase as their scanner had caught a tiny pair of scissors. Well, I took it out, handed it over and continued my run to my gate, which closed just as I reached it. But kudos to the kind Indigo team that let me through and put me on the commuter bus to the aircraft.
Kindness of strangers
I think I started breathing normally only after I rolled up the ramp to enter the plane. I just had to stop. The staff that greeted me immediately gave me a cup of water, took my boarding pass and suitcase and led me to my seat. How sweet, right? I hoisted my suitcase on to the baggage rack and settled down in my seat.
And it was only then that I realized I had meant to check in my suitcase. Ah well. All's well that ends well! I spent the next two and a half hours smiling and musing and trying to read. I felt grateful. You know, I just hate to run but I couldn't help feeling thankful that I was in good shape! Never skip your exercise-you never know when it pays off!
Friends are the best
I wrapped up September by attending Damyanti Biswas's book signing event at Blossom Book House, one of our iconic bookstores. Meant to drop by say hi and bye. When I got there, had the pleasantest surprise to see another close friend who turned out to be Damyanti's classmate! I had just received my copy of You Beneath Your Skin and I got it signed!
I thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced book with its well-crafted characters, absolutely engaging story line around highly relevant topics, all presented through excellent writing. I will post a book review soon!
(The following book links are Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, I'll earn a commission at no extra cost to you. And? I'll donate it to charity. Thank you!) Buy You Beneath Your Skin on Amazon India or on Amazon.comAnd thus, we landed up at a coffee shop and settled down for a long evening filled with conversation and laughter. I think we could have simply gone on well past dinner, but we all had long commutes home, so reluctantly said bye-bye.
A wonderful evening, indeed! It is always great to meet someone you've known online for ten years and get along like you've known each other all your lives, right? Yup! I am especially fortunate to have met so many blogger friends from across the world!
When women have your back!
Finally, my gratitude goes to a wonderful group of women dedicated to supporting one another at LadyBloggersEngage If you are looking for a fabulous community exclusively for women, where you can learn, connect, engage and grow, Lady Bloggers Engage is for you. Tutorials for blogging and social media, expert help when you have questions, daily sharing threads that are monitored for 100% reciprocation - it does not get better than this! Use this link to join us at LadyBloggersEngage
How did September pan out for you? What plans for October?For those interested in my birthday advice, I have this to say. Go ahead, pin it!
