The Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Look Cool Online (Without Coming off as an Ass)

In this digital era, the internet enables us to connect with different people from different cultures. These days, we communicate through different platforms like social media, forums or maybe chat room of an online video game. Who knows, right?

To look cool on the internet is at least as difficult as it is in real life, and it may be debilitating to deal with rude folks tagging you in shitty memes or underestimating your potential all the time.  

But Guess what? You have made the right decision to start reading this Ultimate Cheat Sheet to Look Cool Online. Your online life will not be the same after reading this guide.

So, without further ado, let’s dig into it

Social media has enabled us to share whatever we want to share with the whole world. We can share our thoughts with each and everyone in the world.

“Your Thoughts are a Reflection of What You Believe and What You Believe is Who You are!”

Let’s proceed with our hacks to look cool online.

Observe Your Surroundings:

Before posting something on your social profile, you need to observe your surroundings carefully. Keep an eye on the posts in your circle and how people react to them. It is critical to point out to which content; the audience is relating more. Now, that content can be anything. It can be a meme, info post or a How-To Guide. Since everyone has a different audience to target so it is up to you to observe your surroundings before posting anything on your social profile.

After observing your surroundings, you need to pull the trigger too.

Start Sharing Your Views:

You have taken up all the time to get to the right audience and now it’s the time to ROCK. You need to start posting about your research about a certain topic or whatever the trend is. If you’re consistently posting, you’ll definitely get people’s attention. It’s human psychology that, if something keeps on repeating, the human mind starts to accept it.

Be Good At What You Do:

Well, it’s the compulsory part of this ultimate cheat sheet to look cool online without coming off as an ass. Being good at whatever you do is crucial because you don’t want to make fun of yourself before others.

There are just so many examples out there who are just updating their statuses like “Finally made Million Dollars without spending a dime. You can achieve this too, buy my course for just 47$ (with 70% Discount :p) and I will teach you how to make 100k$ overnight.“

So, you don’t need to be the BLOGSTAR who is teaching about SEO and doesn’t have an SSL on his own blog.

Pretty dumb, right?

 

 

Well, no one will even want an advice from you if you just do the talking without a certain action. Let me tell you what I meant by that.  You have to check-out the image given below to know more.

That so-called, “SEO Expert” is teaching for free but no one cares because he’s not good at what he does. He just keeps talking mode on all the time instead of putting efforts to get some real results.

So, that might happen to you too if you are not good at what you do. On the other hand, let’s have a look at the owner of IFTISEO, Iftekhar Ahmad.

He knows what he’s talking about and he has proved it many times. He has built up the trust, love and a pure relationship with his audience. I’m going to attach screenshots of his Facebook Profile Statuses.

After 15 hours, 520+ people reacted to his status (organically). What does that mean? People have started to accept him as their friend, colleague, the perfect guy to hangout with (I’d love too) and the real guy to ask SEO and SMM related queries. He knows what he is doing.

Let’s take a look at his selling post on his Facebook profile.

That’s organic reach of his Facebook profile. He got 170+ reactions (including mine :p) and 4 shares as well. People are ready to buy Iftekhar Ahmed opinions because they are based on experiments and supported by facts.

It’s all up to you now, if you want to become the next #BlogStar or the next Iftekhar Ahmed. It’s your choice now!

 

No, it’s not over yet. Continue reading…

Don’t be a Conversation Killer:

You don’t need to be the king of communication skills to have a great conversation on social platforms. You just need to consider few things while having a conversation with anyone. You need to avoid using conversation killer terms like “K”, “hmmm” “IDK” and so on.

 

Don’t dare to use conversation killers while having a conversation with anyone. It’ll make the other person realize that you’re putting all the efforts to make or keep that relationship good. It will also reveal that you’re giving value and time to other’s opinions and believe me, it works.

Don’t be Online 24/7:

People don’t give respect and value to something that is easy to access. The same goes for humans, if you’re 24/7 online and available to answer all the queries asked by other people related to business then you may lose that value. On the other hand, how will you do your work if you stay online 24/7 on social media platforms like Facebook?

No, I’m not asking you to stop replying messages but to schedule a day for it. You can do your work throughout the week and reply the pending messages on Sunday or any day you feel like doing it.

Reveal Behind the Scenes:

People love to watch the bloopers and behind the scenes clips of a movie. Everyone does, right? Well, the same goes for your real life and social media profile. You have to reveal behind the scenes to tell what exactly you do when you’re offline. For example, if you’re an SEO and you have ranked a high competition term and you have posted this good news on your Facebook profile. People will surely say, “Congratulations” but they will love it more if you make them successful too. Let me explain what I mean by that.

People would love to know how you ranked that specific high competition keyword. Right? Share a case study with them. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be a 2000-3000+ words blog post. You can explain everything on your Facebook timeline to make people around you successful in whatever they’re doing.

Still not getting it? Let’s see how Iftekhar Ahmed did.

 

Be Original:

By that I mean is to use your real profile picture on social platforms like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. You should learn how to take a good selfie because it’s a major factor that makes a person COOLER ONLINE. But please, keep selfies to a minimum.

Be Unique, Learn and Share:

Be unique. You have to mend the truth a little to make it look interesting. You should always be ready to learn and apply. But, if you want to get the trust and let people know you, you have to share things that you have learnt so far. And there is no point in hiding your knowledge.

Final Words:

Well, it is crucial to look cool online in this digital era. If you have an active social media profile then you’re already defeating the competition by a large margin. We all need to take the importance of social media platforms in our lives as well as for our business brands. If you want to look cool online without coming off as an ass then you should apply these cheats to bring happiness.

Do share your Hacks and thoughts to look Cool Online with us in the comments section.

This blog post has been written by Muneeb Dogar.

Muneeb is a Mad Idealist (A.k.a The King Maker), who has a passionate love for the internet as well as blogging. He loves to blog about everything that includes Tech, SEO, Social Media Reputation and Marketing. Moreover, he’s a CPA marketer and runs many SEO based websites as well.

Image Credits: Muneeb Dogar

Featured Image: Pinterest

Adulting: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The time is here. It’s time to responsibly address the fact that I am now officially an adult. In case you missed my birthday, you can get the scoop here. Being 21 automatically opened the floodgates to adulthood, and well like most of you, I was not prepared for it either. But as the days rolled out, I have started to understand what it is like to be an adult in the 21st century.

I’m just kidding. I’m as clueless as you are.
So with the help of a few *Adult* friends and thanks to a couple of adulting books I’ve been reading. I have brought out the good, the bad and the ugly things about being an adult. Get your adult on; you’re going on a *long* ride.

The Good things about being an adult: 

Adulting is hard, I won’t sugarcoat it or anything, and most of the time, it’ll hit you when you’re least expecting. But that surely doesn’t make being an adult a bad experience, does it?

#1. Bye, Bye! FAKE ID’s:

We’ve all been there. You go the hottest club in town on a Friday evening with your friends at 19 but wait; there’s a catch- entry is restricted to above 21 only. What do you do? Yep, Fake ID. These little bad boys have rescued you from what could’ve been a sticky and embarrassing situation so many times in the past.  But now that you’re 21, you don’t need Fake ID’s anymore, and nobody can stop you from doing the rounds on the club, responsibly.

 

 

#2. New Apartment Space = Hello DIY decor!

As you grow up and into an Adult, you have the fabulous idea of leaving the comforts of your utterly beautiful home and live in another part of the world, another city or maybe just a few blocks away from the place you once called home. Once you get your new and wholly unfurnished apartment space, that DIY and Pinterest addict in you squeals in excitement for you can now finally set your home, the way you want to without your mom screaming at you for drilling multiple holes in the wall.

#3. You are ‘almost’ free to buy ‘almost’ anything you wish:

The best thing about being an Adult would probably be the fact that you can buy that cute dress your mom wouldn’t let you buy or those leather boots you’ve been eyeing but your dad said sneakers are the best choice for you. Now that you’re a responsible adult you can treat yourself to those sporadic shopping attacks whenever you want.

#4. You can eat, drink and sleep anytime you want.

You are now an Adult, probably living on your terms. So what do you do first? You eat pizza at 3 AM and drink wine at 12 PM (not saying it’s a good thing though). You are no longer bound by the curfew your parents set you when you were a *kid*. Go ahead, open the fridge and eat whatever you wish, without the fear of waking your parents up.

#5. You are experienced.

Adulthood does not magically open all the doors to everything you need to know about the world, but it does make you prepared for the unexpected curveballs life may throw at you.
Broke a bulb? You got this.
Flat tire, no problem!

Spider infestation? Umm..Dad?

#6. You can FINALLY have a pet!

For those who had pet allowing parents at home, you’re spoilt. For those like me, who never had the chance to bring a furball home. Congratulations dear Sir or Madame, now that you have your apartment (hopefully) you can have *whatever pet you have always fascinated about having. Want a dog? Get it, a cat, a bird? The choice is yours.

*I am not responsible if this point inspires you to get a tiger. I will not be held guilty if the tiger eats you up. 

#7. You make your own money, Sonny!

You pretty much get access to the only most powerful thing in this world, MONEY! Adulthood pretty much opens up a lot of opportunities for you to earn some cha-ching without having an actual job (not talking about drug dealing). Find your path and make your power!

(Explains the #3 point or maybe just the ‘almost’)

 

The Bad things about being an Adult:

*Pressure Intensifies*

#1. You get introduced to a lot of ‘bills.’

‘Bill’ here is unlike any of the Tinder dates you’ll ever have. ‘Bill’ comes only when you’re an Adult, counting the last few bucks off your month’s salary or income at the end of every month. You can relate ‘Bill’ to that friend who periodically takes money from you but never returns, the only difference being; this ‘Bill’ lets you cry over paper traces every month. Welcome to Adulthood.

#2. You’ll sit with ‘bill’ once a week, and you hate the confrontation.

So, ‘bill’ needs attention. Lots of it. Because if you don’t give your ‘bill’ due importance and don’t give him the money he needs to get out of your life for good, he’s going to bring all his other friends out and you’ll be left pretty penniless after that.
So you finally decide to sit, one Sunday morning with Bill and all his friends (because apparently, you ignored him last month). Bill takes care of your Rent, Electricity, Grocery, pretty much your whole life on a monthly basis. Never. Ignore. ‘Bill’.

Not enjoying Adulthood now, are we?

 

#3. You forget about ‘bill’, and ‘bill’ takes revenge on you.

So you unintentionally forget about this one important friend of ‘bill’ the monthly electricity bill, or maybe you kept it so safely you cannot remember the location anymore. You let it go, expecting a fine with next month’s ‘bill’, but you’re wrong, the price of ignoring ‘bill’ or any of his friends are more than just a fine. So you come home after a long day of work and realise there is no electricity. Yep, ‘bill’ has taken his revenge.

#4. You suddenly realise you’re all alone.

Remember the time you proudly walked into your own unfurnished home? Well the realisation of the fact that not only is your apartment only filled with pieces of furniture but you’re also the only *human* living in it, you start missing your friends, your mom’s delicious apple pie and the spontaneous trips with your Dad to the beach. The realisation that you’re all alone, even though your loved ones are just a call away is something you’ll never get over.

#5. You PROCRASTINATE. A little too much.

It’s nothing new. You’ve been procrastinating since forever. So what changed? The intensity of your procrastination. It’s almost as though the level of procrastination is directly related to your age. The more you age, the more you procrastinate. You will eventually put off cooking, cleaning the house, washing the sheets and finally look like someone living in the jungle for over 10-years.

#6. Healthy food will never make it to your menu, or your cart.

Living alone would naturally mean you will have to cook for yourself while keeping the proper balance of nutrition and protein in your everyday diet. I mean if Oreo’s and McDonald’s had been considered as a healthy way to live, I would have been the first human to start preaching it. Living alone, also means nobody would correct you or advise you to eat healthily, so when you start gaining weight, you temporarily stop the junk but start out of pity when you don’t see any results of *Fitness Goals*. The struggle is real.

#7. Cooking on your own is a nightmare.

Cooking requires practice; I can vouch for that. If you are someone who only walks into the kitchen to eat pre-cooked food or someone who lives of off outside junk. I’m sure you cannot differentiate between urad dal and chana daal (calling your mom for advice is not embarrassing). So when you finally head to the kitchen to cook up a culinary masterpiece you end up doing this and crying in the corner for the rest of the day, hungry and sad:

 

The worst things about being an Adult.

So far you’ve walked through the clean, green grass, you’ve also been pricked by a few thorns here and there. Before you get into the list, imagine walking on glass barefooted, because that’s exactly how it will feel now. Smile and step forward!

#1. Everybody is suddenly worried about your marriage, sexuality, and job *fake smile*.

You will be thrown into a frenzy of old and primitive relatives surrounding you asking you questions in no particular order such as ‘Beta, when are you getting married?’, ‘Beta, how much are you earning?’, ‘Beta, get a job. It’s time.’ And god forbid if you’re doing an unconventional job- ‘Beta, there is no scope here, go for *enter a cliched job that Sharma Ji’s son is doing*’. If you’re not already regretting adulthood with a fake smile, there’s more.

#2. Big, bad, wrinkly dark circles.

Late night binge watching, will not seem so relaxing when you wake up in the morning with dark circles darker than the Panda. Your metabolism slows, and the pimples on your face get ickier. Well, you should’ve added those healthy things to your grocery list when you had the time to. *Sigh*

 

#3. Socializing suddenly becomes an exhaustive affair.

Socializing makes you so tired, you tactfully craft excuses so you wouldn’t have to deal with other real humans at all. Because honestly, you would just stay at home and watch ‘Game of Thrones’ (again) rather than hear Tina, talk about her failed marriage.

 

#4. Your ideal ‘Adulthood’ vision is burnt, kept in an urn and thrown in the ocean. 

In other words, what fictional books and movies have taught you so far about ‘Adulthood’ was let’s just say a lie. Drinking all day, and partying all night is a myth, to help ease you into ‘Adulthood’. This is how real ‘Adulthood’ is- you work all day, probably all night on weekdays and you stay at home, curl yourself into a ball and binge watch Netflix all weekend.

#5. Calling the doctor for an appointment. ON YOUR OWN, because your body hates you.

Some fear doctor visits, and then there are some who fear any form of telephonic conversation with a doctor. When you were living your carefree, non-adult phases, doctor appointments were usually taken care of by your parents. But as you become an adult, you realise there are certain things you will have to take care of on your own now. Including calling the doctor. As daunting as it may sound, it’s better than crying over the fact that WebMD told you that the root of your headache is a parasite in your head.

 

#6. One word, COMPETITION.

I’m sure the last time you ever came anywhere close to the word ‘Competition’ was when you were in school trying to participate in an Inter-school event. But in the real world, the competition toughens. In the real world, you have to fight for a space in the metro, in the bus, run a marathon to get to the elevator hoping it’s empty. You have to compete for everything, and it’s nothing like the ones you had in school.

#7. The reality finally starts setting in.

You finally accept the fact that you are an adult and are ready to embrace the world like an adult. Only that, none of that will happen and you will continue smiling through the pain like you always have been. Let that sink in for a while.
Here, have a cookie.

 

Congratulations on making so far, Human! You should be awarded something, and I have just what you need *digs into pocket*, Erm, I remember keeping it right here *Digs some more*, well this is embarrassing. I guess you will have to take the disappointment.

Adulthood is not an easy path but rests assured it will be one full of funny memories, bonds and change. I hope so.

While we’re at the end of the post, I would like to thank the INTERNET first, for helping me face Adulthood one day at a time with cat videos and for also providing the images and GIF’s above. A much-deserved thank you goes out to Jyotishman Sharma for suggesting the blog title and more or less inspiring the post.

What are the adulting issues you have or are facing in your life? Give me a holler down in the comments section. Let’s discuss!

Here’s to being the imperfect Adults we are!

Note: Thank you for sticking with me for over four years. I cannot thank you enough for helping me through everything. I have been nominated for the IndiBlogger Award, 2017 and would love it if you could click on the IndiBlogger image below this page and register your vote for me.

Header Image credits: Twenty Something

 

Q And A Session: Part II

It sure has been a long time since the last Q and A session, and also people have become even more curious about the storyteller. Before we start, here are somethings you should know:
1. The questions are not edited.
2. The name of the persons who have asked have been included with the questions, however names of people who have mailed or personally messaged me have been classified as ‘Anonymous’ to protect their privacy.

Current song playing: Adam Jensen – Sandcastles (ToWonder x Severo Remix)
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJWRtYPzHy0

 

Lets begin:

1. When you wake up every morning, what makes you believe it will be a good day? What completes your day? When are you planning on coming to ghy? Do u still stay up late?  Preetam Raaj

Answer:

Hello there, curious cat. Okay *breathes*

First of, mornings are not my friend. I snooze 10 times through the alarms and still miss my commute to college. My parents will throw stuff at me until I either wake up completely or die. So basically, when the above situations are all false and I do wake up on time, and certain messages from a certain someone, adds the perfect topping on my day.

Food. Hands down, it’s food. If i could I would sleep on packets of food all day. ❤
Foodbaeeeee!

Guwahati is home, I can come there tonight, tomorrow anytime, any day. B)

The longest I’ve been up is uptill 4am, reading buzzfeed 5 months ago. :3

There! You’re all set.

2.  wats de wecomended amount of dedotaed wam i sud have fo survr ? Abhi Nash

*Plain words on a pretty background makes sense*

3. What’s your favorite song and fav fictional character? Malisha Dutta

Being a 90’s kid, this is probably my favorite song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZYGzkKMcRU

As for fictional characters, there’s only one that fictional character who never left my mind: OLIVER, from Off The Pages. ❤

4. Do you think that Hanna Barbera set the bars for children’s animation in 1957? Ritam Mukherjee

*drops a bomb*

*Hanna Barbera did not set the bars of the children animation. I feel this statement is highly overrated. Leon Schesinger is a much better example of a pioneer of the animation industry. I’m not saying Hanna Barbera was bad or anything. It’s just that animation started way back starting something new is the big thing. If you see few years down the line, Hayao Miyazaki started a way. The animation was never depicted, but then it’s all just my personal opinion.*

5.  Is Chotta Bheem really Rahul Gandhi’s favourite carton, I am saying he is more of a Ben 10 guy. Abhi Nash

I refrain from talking about any political characters, no matter how much I’d like to.

Bail me if I get sent to jail.

6. When are you coming to guwahati? When is Masked 2.0 coming? How do you tackle the urge to pause writing and watch one more episode of that one more series? Your recent food favorite? (This came as a message) Anonymous

 Tell your mommy to start cooking butter chicken, I will sell my kidneys and fly to you. ❤ :*

MASKED 2.0. *awkward silence*

I have two eyes, so I keep one eye on writing and one eye on the episode, taking multitasking to a whole new level. ❤

Recent food favorite:

I live, breathe and eat DORITOS.

THE FOLLOWING IMAGE IS NSFW:

:p

7. Ever fantasized about me? Anonymous

I did not fantasize about you. But I’m sure we have dreams about each other a lot. :*
I miss you 😦

 

So this kinda wraps it up, for now. I’m sorry if I missed any question. If i did give me a nudge and I’ll add them here. You have been real sporty and I’m sorry it took so long to put up!
You’re the best! I love ya’ll. ❤

Writing would define me.

I would be very informal with this, compared to my other posts/stories. The only reason why I’m doing this is because I feel that writing, my writing, my blogs should be personal. My readers should be able to interact with a very vulnerable side of me that they usually may never get to interact me. I think of this as a new form of writing for me. Testing the waters if I may say so.

So, writing. For others it may seem like ink running across paper or pressing words in the keyboard. For me, it’s almost like the ink making love to the paper. It may sound creepy to some, but it’s beyond magical to me. I love how the smooth tip of the pen brushes across the rough skin of the paper, leaving a trail of beautiful thoughts etched in it’s blank canvas. The paper does not just remain a piece of paper after that, it is reborn as a piece of art, a piece of the person who wrote on it, and that, that is exactly what defines me as a person I am.

A lot of my readers don’t know who I am, for them – I like to think this way that, I am the one painting images in their mind every time they read a word that i wrote. For some, I pose as an inspiration, for some an escape from the general life, for some a reason to read and observe the world from a perspective that is not their own.  To them I am a writer. To them I am a magician and that is who I am.

I am not defined by the name my parents gave me, I am not defined by the deeds that I do, I am not defined by my job status. I am but, at the end of the day defined by the ‘Ooh’s’, the ‘Ah’s’ the countless ‘sighs’ of my readers.

People say it’s our ‘Karma’ that defines who we truly are, and the number of connections we made, the hearts we touched on our way that will in the end define us. But i feel, when it’s my time to leave, a certain ‘Sigh’ emerging from the realization that certain stories will thus cease to exist, that the minds will not create any more mystical images of far off lands, that the heart will not flutter at the death’s of fictional characters every now and then. It will thus be my words that would be etched in the memories of everyone I touch.

xxxxxxx

Now that you’ve reached so far, I’m sorry for being MIA for such a long time but I will be lurking around for some more time before making a proper comeback. Until then if you’re in my Facebook list, there’s a Q and A session going on, the answers to which will all be posted here on 20.02.2017. If you’re not on my list, you can also drop your questions here, on twitter, on ask.fm or even mail me with the tag #QNA
I hope to receive your questions soon.

Travelling back to the time I loved Fairy Tales.

“She believes in me, and if someone believes in you wholeheartedly, you start to believe in yourself as well.” 

Last week, I bought a book from the store. It didn’t look too extraordinary or anything etched on top of one of the shelves, I felt I had to just pick it up. This may sound wrong to some but I always judge books by their covers, just books though. Nothing special there as well, a blue book with the words ‘Off The Page’ etched on top in glitter (Yes, real glitter), but what really made me smile was the feeling I got when I saw the cover image:

The first thing that struck me, was that this was going to be a fantasy novel (and I don’t really like fantasies). The cover image looked really cute, and had that fairy talish vibe I couldn’t let go, so I held it and flipped it to see what it was all about (the summary) :

‘Meant for each other…
Meet Oliver, a prince literally taken from the pages of a fairy tale and transported into the real world, Meet Delilah, the girl who wished Oliver into being. It’s a miracle that seems perfect at first- but there are complications. T0 exist in Delilah’s world, Oliver must take the place of a regular boy. Enter Edgar, who agrees to play Oliver’s role in the pages of Delilah’s favorite book.
But just when it seems that the plan will work, everything gets turned upside down. In this multilayered universe, the line between what’s on the page and what’s possible is blurred. Is there a way for everyone to live happily ever after?’

I’d be very honest when I first read the summary, I had numerous conflicting thoughts.I had the feeling that this story would be very challenging to understand (I was wrong), but it was too late and I was standing near the billing counter with the book in hand.

I did not put the book down, I held it in my hand and started reading the words while waiting for my train (never do that), with every word that I read, I got drawn into this whole new world. I needed to escape reality and it was like the perfect portal for me.

The book alters the reality in a sweet and soft way, in a way that you’d feel connected and actually consider the impossible without losing your mind. The characters are sweet, and very relatable. The last time I read about a charming prince in a far-away land, dragons, fairies, witches and mermaids were when I was a kid and my mother got me Peter Pan and Cinderella stories. Off The Page, lets you relive those childhood feelings in a more matured way. I can surely say this is a fairy tale for the young adult. 

The book is going to make you question why you stopped believing in happy endings and fairy tales in the first place. You’ll be awestruck at the giddy feeling you feel inside you, the ones you felt when you read your first fairy tale. When I started off with it, I got so addicted to it, nothing else mattered. I kept reading word by word, smiling ear to ear, crying whenever something went wrong in the story and by the time I was done with the book, I wanted to go back to Page 43 (You’d know the significance of the page if you’re familiar with the story) all over again.

The book not only brought childhood memories, but made me realise a very important fact –
‘Everyone has a story.
You might think it’s not worth telling, but then again, it’s a story no one has ever heard. What you do, what you say, how you carry the plot, just might leave a mark on someone.
Because that’s what stories do. They help you escape, and they give you the chance to do things you never imagined you would or could. They let you feel heartbreak you’ve never had and experience adventures from the safety of your own room. They are dreams for those who are still awake. They can be as comfortable as an old pair of slippers or as unnerving as the blade of a knife. They possess the power to change you, to inspire you, to open your mind. 
Stories are all around us, caught in the throats of the strangers you walk past and scrawled on the pages of locked diaries, They’re in love letters that were never sent and between the lines of every conversation ever spoken. Just because your story isn’t written down doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. 
Perhaps someone is reading your story right now, in fact- imagining your eyes skimming over this page, your hands clutching the binding as you hurry to get to0 the last line.
You’d best get going. Your reader is eagerly awaiting the next chapter.’ – Off The Page (Page 372).

*Off The Page is actually a sequel as well as a stand alone novel of the book Between The Lines, by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer. I’ll put up the Flipkart and Amazon links of both the books. 🙂

Between The Lines: a) https://www.flipkart.com/between-the-lines/p/itmeyezr2d6xjrb2?otracker=product_breadCrumbs_Between+the+Lines+%28Paperback%29
b) http://www.amazon.in/Between-Lines-Jodi-Picoult/dp/1444740997/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1471856903&sr=8-2&keywords=between+the+lines

Off The Page: a) https://www.flipkart.com/off-the-page/p/itme9fsjmgbxhacu?pid=9781473614291&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&lid=LSTBOK97814736142911PL3UZ&qH=2251f7999f1f2f15
b) http://www.amazon.in/Off-Page-General-Literary-Fiction/dp/1473614295/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1471856986&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=off+the+page+jodi+picoult

 

Dear BestFriend.

Dear Best friend,

I know it’s been a long time since I said this to you, but I really miss you and I miss you a lot. I know you’ve been waiting for your phone to light up with that one text that I never sent, and I’m really sorry.
I know you’ve been dying to tell me all about that cute guy you met at Art class, but you didn’t want to disturb me. I’m sorry you had to feel that way. You’ve been there for me at when it was 3 AM in the morning and the boy I gave my heart to, broke it and ran away. You consoled me, giving up your sleep. I’m sorry you feel we drifted apart.

Best friend, I know you’ve been meaning to talk to me now that we live far away, oceans and mountains separating us physically and we don’t get to see each other as often as we want to, but I hope you know. I miss you. I hope you know, I’m always here for you. I hope you know, you’re never alone that you always have me around.

Best Friend, I’m sorry you had to feel replaced by new people in my life but I hope you know, nobody can take your place in my life. You’ll always be the one I call up, when the world around me crashes down. You’ll always be the one I talk to, when I’m in cloud 15. You’ll always be the one I call, when I’m scared of certain decisions I have to take, cause I know talking to you is going to make everything better.

I hate the fact that we’re so far apart, I hate the fact that I have to see you through the screen everytime we talk. I hate it all, and I’d trade the world to be near you, to hold your hands and listen to all the things you hid behind those dark rimmed spectacles ever since I left.

Best Friend, we may have grown up, we may not be in the same place or maybe even in the same page right now. But it’s alright, you still hold the same place in my heart like you did those many years ago, and I really hope you’d forgive me for all those special moments of your life that I missed. I hope you’d forgive me for all those times when you spammed my inbox and I just looked at it and left. I hope you’d forgive me for the times I was not around when all you needed was me. I’m sorry.

As I write these words I’m looking at my phone and I know what I need to do. You’re not forgotten, Best Friend. I’m nothing without you and I love you. ❤

Love from miles away,
BestFriend.

Waiting for ‘The One’? STOP.

We have all spent 11:11 wishes, wished upon a shooting star, even fell for those pesky forwarded messages in our life. All in the hopes to someday find ‘THE ONE.’
Most of the time when we wish for ‘The One’, we already have someone in mind, it could be anyone. Someone we have a crush on, someone we like or maybe a ex flame.

It’s never a new person, you may however think it’s someone new and magical, like those fairy tale prince/ princesses you’re wishing for (Nothing wrong in that.), but it’s just people you yourself imagine and wish upon, you can blame your mind in this case if you want to, your mind is a trickster. So basically, in reality there is no ‘ONE’ man/woman, who is solely meant for you (C’mon!). As harsh as this may sound, it’s true, you know it well, maybe not, if not then well congratulations on being a step closer to reality!

You may roll your fist in anger and say, ‘It’s not wrong to dream about the existence of ‘THE ONE’, the ideal and special, made-just-for-me ‘ONE”. No, it’s not wrong. It’s harmful.

By thinking or by occasionally pondering about ‘THE ONE’ you’re putting up an unrealistic image of a perfect man/ woman in your mind and in your heart, in other words you’re unconsciously making a checklist and programming yourself to narrow down only the 7’s-10’s. Nothing wrong in being a little choosy (put your pitchforks down, man!), but when someone your heart forms a connection with comes along (we all know you can’t always control your heart), your mind starts to go into overdrive, because (maybe)  that person does not match the expectation and the checklist you made keeping ‘THE ONE’ in mind, you’ll be hurt.

But then again, we’re humans, humans-in-love, we can’t let go of someone that easily, so we try to change them, we try to mould the person accordingly and in trying to do so we eventually break them.
Not the ideal ending, eh?

Ever heard of the proverb ‘Sometimes you have to kiss a few frogs to find a prince/ a princess’? follow it, and by that I do not mean, kiss an actual frog. Form relations and bonds with people you actually feel a connection to, don’t just sit there wasting wishes on someone your mind made up, love a lot of people and make bonds.Throw the fairy tale vision out of the window and date a human.
Eventually you’ll see, you’ve found the match and by the time you do, you’d be over the checklist, it won’t even matter.

Not that hard, eh? 😉