Red Rose writes

My lockdown story Hello readers, I think we have moved way past the point where I can ask for apologies for not being regular with my blogs. But all have plans and so I had some too. I actually wanted to pen down a new blog only after a new beginning but I just could not miss today's date without sharing the overload of emotions I am feeling today. March 14, 2020 So before you wonder what is so special today. Actually, this day, March 14, last year, I left behind the city of dreams - Mumbai with a never ending hope to get back to it for my graduation. But alas! We all know life had something else in store for us. Not that I am filled with anger and regret for it but attachments, that's the thing with me. Something that tear me down when given a lot of thought into it. For more than 2 years, I had been living in Mumbai. I created so many bonds with people, with places, oh! And obviously, the dogs and cats that I came across. So, parting away with that without really realizing it...

Thank you readers! Such a startling beginning right? If you are reading this blog of mine, probably you have read some or all of my previous blogs and all I wish to say is I absolutely appreciate the time, love and critics that you gave me during this journey. I am grateful to each one of you for supporting me for the past 2 years of Redrose's Ardent Ruminations . Yes, you read that right, today my blog completes its second year of existence. It was this day in 2018 that I decided to gift you with the chunks of my world of thoughts. Now that I look back, I do not see much regrets but a scope for refinement. I commit to enhanced look and feel, a new perspective for your mind/heart and also, more interaction from my end. Share with me what else do you expect from #Redrose on the other side of your screen.  Let this upcoming year be the one where you get one step further, from being mere readers to active readers. The ones who crave quality content and support others to c...

Ever thought that April fool day can also mean something else? Here is my new meaning to this most celebrated day.  This April Fools Day instead of making a fool out of people, make yourselves FULL - full of hope, full of faith, full of happiness, full of will, full of wisdom, full of strength and determination.  Why does every day have to be about others? Why not celebrate this quarantined April fool with yourselves? Instead of playing pranks on people, prank your mind and heart into being productive rather than sitting idle. Choose people to help you grow more fuller in their presence rather than choosing people to prank on.  Use your mind to plan your days and weeks ahead than thinking of tricks to fool others.  Fools(full) day is celebrated on first day of April, which marks the spring season for the northern side of globe which signifies growth of all the elements on the planet. The southern side experiences fall/ autumn season that brings change...

                                   Do you ever wonder how rapidly online or E-content is consumed by the people these days? What does that make you think ? Does it mean that people are so free and available that they spend their time watching various movies/ series, playing games, consuming e-books, creating and posting videos and lot more? As a joke, we might agree  to it, but truly we all know that no one is all that free.This heavy intake of content only means that even after a long, tiring day, we prefer to watch / hear/ read something rather than taking rest or letting our thoughts wander boundlessly. Sometimes we avoid our thoughts just because we fail to understand them. When we come across some similar plots or story lines, we find it bingeworthy. It makes us feel better that we are not alone in this feeling. We always look for validation or assurance outside ourselves and when w...

Somedays back, one of my friends created an account on a dating app. She loved her single life, she was never the one looking for her so called perfect love. This move made by her was really astonishing for me. On being asked she said " I don't really need a relationship but I just want to interact and find new people, you know it is so interesting to get to know new people. "  I stayed in touch with her to know her moves on the app. Yes obviously she did find some desperate people (she rejected them as she was looking for something worthy) out there but to my surprise, she really did find some amazing and unique personalities. It's such a blissful feeling isn't it that you find some people who are appealing not just by how they look but the way they think?  Well, this move by my friend made me think that no matter what we say, but human beings do crave for interaction. One may be an introvert or had faced a trauma in life, but still the per...

What is Happiness?  What kind of a question is that, isn’t it?  Of Course everyone knows what is happiness but that’s the point, all of us know it but only some of us understand it.  By definition, Happiness is the state of being happy. Being happy means the feeling of pleasure and contentment. And that is where the core of happiness lies, it is a feeling.  We don’t define happiness, we feel it.   Happiness is real . Happiness is not something to be vocal about, if you feel it then everyone can see it. It is very powerful and thus, cannot be forced or faked.     When you are happy, every vibe, every thought and every nerve in your body will emit that radiance all around it. Your face will be marked by a vibrant smile, you will choose the vivid shades available in your wardrobe, your voice and tone will be livelier and more optimistic, your hope would be stronger than ever and you would be more considerate and forgiving. ...

Every new year we all wish to improve ourselves,make ourselves better than the previous year. It's time for taking new year resolutions, which we hardly complete but let's try yet again this year. You would be busy wondering about which resolutions should be taken this year. Here are 19 resolutions from my end. Some are quirky, some are silly, some are tough, some are interesting. Pick the ones that suit you, maybe these little daily basis changes prove worthy to you! 1) Avoid using short forms while chatting or texting , because it is like murder of any language 2) Play more with your pets because they love you 3) Travel alone more often 4) Make more offline friends than online 5) Replace abuses by silence 6) Wear the most crazy outfit that you will never wear otherwise - it will be fun, isn't it? 7) Spend one day every month without looking at time 8) Type often but Write more often than that 9) Create a 12 step plan for year long goals ...

Intimacy , the first meaning which most people associate it with is -  Physical intimacy ,such as holding hands, hugging and kissing.  But intimacy is not only physical. For me, intellectual intimacy is more intimidating and highly appealing. I may hug someone everyday but will be instantly drawn to a person who captures my attention on intellectual level. This kind of intimacy is rare and long lasting.  One can be easily attracted to someone's smile, someone's hair, someone's voice, someone's eyes or even for that matter, someone's physique, but it takes a great deal to get caught by someone's intellect, by someone's way of thinking.  A person who will spill out the words that never found a way out from your thoughts. A person with whom arguments are logical fun game to engage in.  A person with whom your mind feels liberated. A person who never fails to give logical explanations for all his deeds.  A person whose company exer...

As per Oxford dictionary, TRUST means  A firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something.  However, we live in a world which has trust issues and commitment problems. How come our generation suddenly has trust issues ?  And how we have a commitment phobic population? Forever and always were never a lie until we made it that way. It's really disturbing to notice that people's faith on commitments , loyalty and trust is fading. Well, who is responsible for this downward fall?   We, our ownselves, are to be blamed for this new idea. As we cannot convince others for something we are not convinced about, just like that we are unable to trust others because we ourselves, are not trustworthy. We are disloyal. We have sometime broken promises and vows made to others. We have backstabbed someone and thus, we fear that karma might bring it back at us. It is our fear that doesn't allow us to trust others.  So a...

#Chapter 06: Taking them for granted Since the day I started going to school, I had one friend, who used to go with me in a common vehicle. We grew up together, laughing, talking , sharing about everyday incidents of school. I always loved his company as he was one of the most silent and simple boys in our batch.  He used to listen to each and every rant of mine and even remembered it to remind me years later about it. Haha! He loves reading a lot. He suggested many different books to read. He was always there, he knew me so much that whenever I used to have a bad day, he just somehow knew it. He would try everything to help me but I wonder why I never let him in to help me. We were still great friends as he always gave me my personal space. But when the time came for me to leave my hometown, it was really hard for him. He never said it but I sensed it as he had many friends but he wasn't very comfortable around everyone. As I had to go to pursue my dreams, there wa...

#Chapter 05: A sense of belonging "I feel as if I don't belong here." All of us have uttered these words atleast once for sure. What makes us say that we feel like belonging to a place or even to a group of people. It is the oneness, the commonality, the level of  comfort we tend to feel by being at a place  or with people, and when these requirements fall short, we don't feel like belonging to that place or people. This sense of belonging should not be mistaken with one's comfort zone. A comfort zone is not only defined by the sense of belonging, it has other aspects too. One of the struggles I faced after coming to Mumbai, was trying to fit in or belong to this new metropolitan city culture, groups of varied people, a host of different lifestyles, and people with poles apart opinions and many more new elements. And being here as a mass media student, looking for this sense of belonging became all the more tough. The college festival culture has...

#Chapter 04: Hope and expectation After any exam, we see two kinds of students - "Hoping for the best" - Student 1 "I am expecting so and so score" - Student 2 Hope and expectation , how often do we sit back and ponder over the difference between the two words? It is where my next lesson come from - I have learnt to expect something rather than merely, hoping for it. Well what difference does that make? When we hope, we just desire. The person hoping for something is simply wishing, in the absence of any efforts from his end. But when we expect, we strongly believe. The person expecting something is optimistic about the efforts he had put in. The way to lead a goal oriented life is to have an effort oriented approach. The very fact between choosing to hope or to expect, is efforts. Where hope is just a mirage created by thoughts, expectation is a belief formed by the efforts made. When we choose to expect, we naturally feel the rush in our v...

#Chapter 3 : Defining self Who were you before someone else defined it for you?  Such thoughtful combination of words, isn't it? Sometime back, we were having a random discussion in our lecture when our faculty, emphasized on this statement. And that's when I grasped something more apart from its obvious meaning that.. We, as human beings, do not independently define ourselves. We always respond or define with respect to some pre existing set of definitions. These definitions which are created, propagated and passed on by the society. But now there is a dire need to break free from these. One lesson that I learnt is we, only we have the right to define ourselves, the way we desire to. We do not have to fit in someone else's definitions. We need to believe that we are strong enough to change the existing streotypical definitions of everything. A nerd during the day can be a party animal by the night because being a bookworm in the daytime doesn't make him ...

#Chapter 02 - Family, the only constant "Did you eat something?" - Mom "How was your day?" - Mom "I have transferred some more money to your account." - Dad "It is so peaceful at home as you are not here..Haha." - Sibling These are some common questions and statements which are sent out to me everyday with the same intensity. At night, when I lay in the bed pondering that how I made it through this tough day, tough week and tough year of life. The earliest ones to pop up in my mind are my family members. In due course of time, their continuous follow-up becomes suffocating and irritating for us but what we often fail to appreciate is that only they are with us all throughout. Family acts as a resilient pillar in all turbulent situations of life. One of the most important lessons I have learnt is Never underestimate the power and presence of the unit called Family. Family's presence is just like air, presence may not always ...

#Chapter 01 - Something and Everything Its all about something and everything. These two words are very exclusive of one another but can be used together. My first lesson in Mumbai comes from here. I learned that either learn something about everything or learn everything about something. This statement is just the complex combination of easy vocabulary terms.  Learning something about everything, essentially means being aware, being informed and having better General Knowledge. For this to come true, we need to be a curious and hopeful human. One needs to inculcate a habit of extracting knowledge and understanding from  every book,  every google search,  every sight, every speech  every memory and every experience. Not only these, every person we come across brings with him his own story and philosophy, one can learn a lot from it too. Learning everything about something, relates to achieving mastery and precision in our ...

Having a brother is like having a 24 hours 7 days active spy or detective around you.  He will irritate you. He will fight with you but he will know the trick to calm you down too.  He will pull you back while teasing but will also be one of the first ones to push you forward when you get better opportunities and you are all nervous about pursuing them. He will make you cry very often but he will also be the who will make you laugh the loudest when you are done crying. He will know your biggest fear but he will also know your favorite chocolate. He will give you funny names but he will not let anyone else do that. In this busy and indifferent world, very often we fail to acknowledge our brothers. But when we are separated by miles, we tend to miss those irritating beings because we know that at last, they were and will always be with us in every hardship and now when they are not close to us we feel as if we are not strong anymore. But we must keep going as their ...

So sometime back, I signed in for a creative writing workshop and our mentor, Ms. Rachna , gave us some creative activities every now and then. One of which was - Forced connections , in which any two unrelated nouns are given and we need to weave a creative Content around it. In this activity, I got two terms - Headphones and black bag. So here is the creative Content I came up with.                                     HE And are you talking about the one with blue headphones around his neck? And that black bag over his back? Oh! But why does that define him, I wonder! Yes because He dances to the beats given out by those blue headphones. And that black bag carries his sense of identity, his ghungroo . But it's our society's mindset which makes him wander around aimlessly. They say the blue headphones give you the rhythm to dance but why do you need that stuff of the black bag!?...