Tag Archives: #quarantine

Education

BEST BOARD GAMES TO FILL THE TIME

Board games not only kill time, but also entertain. This statement was of no worth  to people before the lockdown. Only on been locked inside our houses for 2 months along with our families, it felt like we ‘re  going  back in flashback  to our fun-filled summer holidays in childhood .In my opinion , this lockdown was the best time for my family to gel along with each other, and play some of the best board games. There is a list of my personal favourite board games to kill time.

Monopoly-Monopoly is  one of the most popular board game  played,  having license in over 103 countries. It is  a 2-8 players game, for anyone above the age of 8 years. The players roll over two six sided dice, to buy and trade over the properties. The players go on to place their  houses and rents over their properties, with the hope of the opponent landing there and paying more. It comes in around 21 unique editions, and it’ s price  varies from Rs.350-Rs.3000.It’s actually based on the economic concept of “Monopoly”, which means a single identity dominating over the market.

Cluedo(Rs. 649)- Cluedo is a murder mystery game ,for either 2-6 players or 3-6 players depending upon the variation. This is for anyone above the age of  8 years. There are six players, where each one play one suspect, and everyone with the help of clues , collected from moving around the board game object of the game have to determine the victim, and the weapon used to murder. This game involve strategically thinking , and narrowing down by deducing the culprit.

Scrabble(Rs.749)-Scrabble is a word game played in 121 countries,  and available in 29 languages. The game is played by 2-4 players, in a square shaped 15*15 grid, where players with the help of letters embedded tiles, have to make works crossword. The words should be of a standard lexicon, and can be placed either horizontally in a row, or vertical as in columns. At a time, there should be 7 tiles with them ,nothing more or less than that. Each letter have different points. At the end ,the players to  have the highest score wins the game.

Sequence(rs.999)-This is one of the best and easiest card games to play for 2-12 players. It is the best for all ages. All we need here to win this game is a little bit of strategy , and loads of luck. The players have to make a sequence , a row of five chips, similar to the ones used in poker, on  top of the card pictures. It’s a simple,yet challenging board game for fun.

The Game Of Life-This board game is sometimes referred to as the “Life” game. In this game ,2-6 players have to travel down their path ,choosing their own actions. It has a spinner in the center, where each one would be taking turns and cruise through life. Each player has to collect money with their own token money . At the end, when all the players have retired, the one with most amount of wealth, wins the game.Depending on the quality ,the price varies in the range of Rs.899-Rs. 11200.

What has brought together families this pandemic, may also be useful in our future. The board games culture could give the parents a ray of hope, wishing their children lead their lives normally, away from the fear of  being addicted to mobile phones. This game’s   will surely reinvent our lives, and make us  forget our quarantine for sometime.

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Book Reviews, Guest Post, Public Administration, Research Paper, Social Studies

15 Date Ideas that you can do at home during lockdown

Yes, you heard it all right. I am here with yet another article to make love blossom between you and your partner. With the nationwide lockdown still going on, we presumed that there might have been a temporary hault to the intimacy & romance because you can’t step out for fancy dinner dates or weekend getaways. It must be frustrating since the summers are already here and you just can’t travel. But as they say, Love isn’t just about all fancy and over-the-top things but it is more of those little gestures which make your hearts beat faster for each other because the fairytale has to end one day and the normal life would soon commence so why not try getting used to it from now only by taking pleasure in simple joys of life.
So no more worries when we are here to the rescue.
Here below are enlisted 15 Budget Friendly Date Ideas that you can do at home and keep the romance brewing. So what’s the waiting for? Let’s get started…

1) A DATE IN THE GARDEN
Oh yes who would have thought that planting saplings together could turn out to be so romantic and eco-friendly. If you don’t think so, go try it out for yourself. You can sneak cute, lovable glances while you plant the sapling together, hands closely intact in mud as if solidifying the bond between you two. And if you’re more of a naughty one, try throwing off the mud on your partner and notice the magic of love and romance taking over you.
Make an effort to water the plant together each day and watch your love grow alongwith the plant.

2) A DATE IN THE SHOWER
All you need is to get your bathrobe on and your partner in his towel. You can sway your hips to some romantic music together and embrace each other under the shower. A glass of wine and rose petals would be like an icing over the cake. Typically bollywood na? Still sounds just oh-so-romantic!

3) A DATE IN THE KITCHEN
Tired of cooking everyday with no domestic help available  given the current circumstances? Bring that guy along into the kitchen who vowed to stand by your side always and then cook something special or maybe experiment on an altogether new recipe. What could be more romantic than putting flour onto each other, tasting the food through each other’s fingers and savouring the taste of LOVE with some nice music playing at the background!

4) A DATE ON THE TERRACE
Thanks to the Indian daily soaps that I don’t need to brief you about this one. I am sure everyone of you is well aware of how the decorations should be, the type of music, the outfits and the couple dance steps. Lastly imagine self-cooked dinner being fed to each other, gazing at the twinkling stars in the bespangled sky and then ending the night in each other’s arms. Ohh! How romantic!

(To be continued…)

Book Reviews, Guest Post, Research Paper

Dealing with feeling ghosted, lonely or over-missing someone

I understand that this quarantine must have been particularly hard. And I can only imagine how much more frustrating it can feel if you have been ghosted by someone, or if you feel as though a love interest has been withdrawing, or even if you feel obsessed with someone who isn’t actually reciprocating interest.

I’ve been there too. We all have been actually, at one stage or the other in our lives. Looking at our phones. Watching the minutes tick by. Waiting for who we thought was “the one” to pop into our inbox.. or maybe our snapchat… hell, at least our instagram DMs! I remember what the panic feels like, the confusion, the frustration, and the deep desire to keep it all to myself for a fear of my friends getting irritated with me talking about this person for the umpteenth time. And no, it’s not embarrassing. It is just a part of growing up. We experiment & experience, make mistakes and learn from then and finally, we EVOLVE and laugh back at these moments which were actually nothing but just a passing shower.
So you are not alone in this, we have all been through this and we have only come out more stronger and you shall too, JUST BELIEVE!

I know it’s not fun to experience it either. It’s not like you want to. You just.. do. Let me tell you why you do: you were raised to feel as though the people who don’t have the capacity to give you affection, time, and care are the people that love you. This is why we do inner child work. To navigate deep-rooted false truths like this one. So here are some quick tips to deal with the feeling of being ghosted or disconnected from someone during quarantine:

1. Remember that the strong attraction you feel to this person is most likely not attraction but instead, it is familiarity. How do I know this? Because someone who is interested in you would not be hot and cold with their communication with you. No one is perfect, but I’ll tell you what. Relationships are not built on fear, rejection, and confusion- you don’t have to repeat your childhood dynamics. When people care about you, they communicate with you. Maybe this person doesn’t have the ability to do that. This doesn’t make them a bad person. This makes them a person who is not in alignment with what you want. So there is absolutely no need to spend hours thinking about whether they love you or not cause if they really do, you would not even have to question yourself or even others about it, for that matter. Simple as that.

2. Remember that the fear of rejection is what is behind the whole obsession. Getting ghosted reminds you of how you felt as a child. Maybe your parent worked many hours. Maybe they didn’t pay attention to your needs. Maybe- or likely- both. This painful memory actually drives the desire to latch on to the very people that reject us. Remember this, them ghosting you has nothing to do with you and everything to do with what is going on with them which could involve a MULTITUDE of things from not being ready for commitment to having to deal with their own childhood trauma or maybe just prioritising their career or any other thing above the whole dynamics of relationships.

3. Remember that infatuation affects our logic. Literally, when we like someone it’s almost as if our logic is turned OFF. We can’t think straight! Suddenly everything is possible and everything makes sense- even when it doesn’t! Consciously remind yourself that a bunch of hormones are circulating through your body that may just be throwing off your logic. Get a journal and write down all the reasons you know this person wouldn’t be the best match for you based on your previous not so great experiences to help bring your logic to the forefront. Cause love  should have nothing to do with logic, whereas infatuation or that attraction feeling is centred around adversely affecting our logical thinking.

4. Remember that this infatuation with the emotionally unavailable person only lasts a season. Even though it feels like you’ll NEVER stop thinking about them or that you won’t get over them trust me, you WILL. I have. I know people who have and you shall too, you just need to believe in yourself and start working towards your own best interest. Especially if you start with following the above steps!

5. Nurture your bond with your friends and family instead because Family is where life begins and love never ends. Seek serenity in them till you learn to make peace with your solitude. Facetime them a bit more if they aren’t close by. Text them instead and watch how organically you heal your wounds in the warmth and comfort of your “actual” loved ones.

I hope these helped! And I hope you remember to re-direct your attention back to yourself as opposed to keeping it directed towards that emotionally unavailable person who doesn’t have the ability to see you for all your truly worth.

I hope you make it your daily ritual to show love to yourself- to make knowing yourself your highest priority.
Cause at the end of the day, you are your truest companion! Make sure you shower enough love and affection on *that companion* with whom you would be 24/7 spending the rest of your life.

P.S~ Major inspiration for this article has been my all time favourite “The Self Love Fix” podcast on Google.

Book Reviews

Looking for romantic, binge-worthy Hindi TV shows? Here are my top 6 recommendations.

Are you out of your Netflix subscription especially in these boring times when you need it the most? No worries, cause I am here to suggest you two of my most favourite, crisp romantic TV shows that you can binge-watch this summer to keep yourselves entertained and all that for FREE! Read on to know more!

1) KUCH RANG PYAR KE AISE BHI

KRPKAB was all  MAGIC~ this is one word that I use to describe this serial. I just fall short of adjectives to describe what the serial held within it. The gradual progression from hate to love made by Dev Dixit, a businessman with coconut personality and an independent woman of substance, Dr. Sonakshi Bose, his mother’s personal nutritionist, is nothing like your everyday dramas. It was so pure and blissful and not only that but the bond Dev shared with his mother Ishwari, melted my heart too. Everything was just on top and this is the reason why it shall live in all fans’ hearts forever. What endeared me the most to #KRPKAB was that it was not at all fake, everything was realistic and that we as viewers could resonate with. THE MUSIC ALBUM is one of the best parts. It certainly was one of the best decisions of my life to watch this show! Thank you so much Shaheer Sheikh and Erica Fernandes for essaying the role of Dev and Sona cause nobody could have done it better than they have and Dev Dixit, to me, is really really a special character. I’ve been fangirling like madness over this one. Grateful that we can still watch it as it is re-airing on Sony TV at 9:30 pm on special request of its massive fanbase.
This article here has done full justice to the gold of this show. Check it out♥️ https://www.fuzionproductions.com/kuch-rang-pyar-ke-aise-bhi-if-you-are-re-watching-heres-how-to-fall-in-love-with-dev-dixit-again/

My favourite musical track~ https://youtu.be/GSAt1kGrF8o

2) SADDA HAQ…My Life My Rules

This one is a love-hate relationship based in the top mechanical engineering college FITE, Roorkee. Randhir Singh Shekhawat is a prodigy but also highly impulsive and arrogant because of childhood traumas while Sanyukta Aggarwal is an independent girl who wants to chase her dreams and pursue engineering against her father’s wishes. The chemistry is electrifying, raising temperatures everytime. #Sandhir , I smiled with them, I cried with them, I lived with them in all the moments and I watched their relationship grow together. When I finished watching it, ah yes, their entire journey of two and a half years in just 25 days. I was on a nostalgia spree. They had occupied space in my head and that background music kept playing in my head for days. Randhir falling in love is infact one of the most well written and realist tracks in the iTV industry. It happened in bits until he finally realised that fighting with her has become his necessity as if, a reason to live peacefully. He couldn’t name it love in a go. The whole FITE was a witness of the fierce rivalry as well as the mushy love between its top 2 students. There were situations which took tests of their relationship. They failed and they passed too! Must Watch! The Season 2, however, isn’t as impressive said Param Singh and Harshita Gaur too. You can directly jump to the ending 10-15 episodes lf S2 right after S1 on Disney+Hotstar.

Try searching #Sandhir on Instagram and I’m sure you’ll fall in love with the clips of their cute nokjokh

P.S- Part 2 of this article would be here soon.

English Literature, Research Paper, Social Studies

5 TYPES OF PEOPLE IN LOCKDOWN

1) The Nonchalant Sleepyheads

They have no clue about what day or month is it. However they still remember that it is 2020 and they don’t fail to criticize the year for all the bad happenings. They keep  swinging between Netflix, Hotstar and Prime and rest for as long as their mothers don’t lose temper. They are happy that they get to sleep at any time, they’re having good food to eat and don’t have to do any kind of work besides binge watching and they are completely carefree with the current situation.

2)  The Ones In Heebie-Jeebies

They have kept themselves confined to a much stricter set of rules involving the coronavirus prevention. They are  always extra careful in washing their hands fifty times each day, rubbing even the nutrients away by over soaking the vegetables brought from a local vendor. They’d go on to  the lengths of scrubbing the air around them mercilessly, in the event that they, oh if by mistake, inhale the virus. Suspicion & Doubt is their new closest companion.

3) The Productivity Masters

Once the lockdown would be over, I bet they would come out with well defined six-pack abs or a flat belly (if they are she). And not to forget to mention, they even managed to gain expertise in baking different types of cake, donuts, cookies, pastries and the list goes on.
They are done with reading at least 15-20 books already and would have even finished stitching a mask by the time you will finish reading this article.

4) The back-to-normal Anticipators

Nobody craves for normalcy as much as they do for they just can’t wait for the day this Corona thing disappears and life gets back to as it was before. Because their mind  refuses to function only and they are profoundly scared of being able to make it in the Corona world post listening to daily dose of news, further panicking themselves. Okay, the problem doesn’t end right there, they even have to prevent the mask from sliding off their sweat-soaked nose.

5) The every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining Crowd
They are the ones who have vowed to stay optimistic under any circumstances. They have accepted the fact and are preaching people, through their posts on social media, regarding how the nature is cleansing itself and other xyz methods to learn to coexist with nature. They believe the glass is always half full and are sanguine about the situation being better again, but at the right time. These people don’t want to act as obstacles in the nature’s processes of regeneration and restoration. They are going to wait patiently till the time everything is sorted.

Hey guys! Hope you liked this slightly satirical article written with no offence to anybody. And what do you think  which category best suits you? Do let me know in the comment section below. If you ask me, I think I am a mix of all of them excluding the 2nd one.😛

Guest Post, Public Administration

Let us get to know some more about the families/partners of some of our favourite cricketers.

1) ROHIT SHARMA
The Telugu-Brahmin born and brought up in Mumbai married his manager and long-time girlfriend Ritika Sajdeh on 13th Dec 2015. Ritika is the cousin sister of Bunty Sajdeh, Virat Kohli’s sports manager. She is also the rakhi-sister of Yuvraj Singh. Rohit and Ritika have a 1.5 year old daughter Samaira Sharma born, too in December. Ritika lives with her mom, dad (Tina & Bobby Sajdeh) and brother Kunal Sajdeh in their flat in Mumbai whenever Rohit is out on tours. Rohit is often seen vacationing with Ritika and his in-laws in Maldives, the couple’s favourite holiday destination. Rohit’s parents too live in Mumbai with his brother and sister-in-law. Rohika are often seen campaigning for the ocean and marine animals. Ritika often accompanies Rohit on tours infact, she even took 3 months old Samaira to IPL matches in 2019 and guess what, Mumbai Indians claimed their 3rd IPL title that year.

2) SHIKHAR DHAWAN
Shikhar married Aesha Dhawan whom he met through Facebook in 2012. Aesha was a single mother of two lovely daughters Aliyah & Rhea and lived in Australia back then.
The couple gave birth to their boy Zoravar Dhawan in 2014.
Aesha used to live with her kids in Australia during Shikhar’s overseas tours. Presently, her daughters are staying with her parents in Australia while she is with Zoravar & Shikhar in Delhi. Shikhar is a very kind and modest family man who loves everything about being Punjabi, quite evident from his choice of music,food etc
  Aesha is an active spokesperson as far as feminist movements and parental counselling are concerned. She is friends with many WAGs. She has her own YouTube channel and also a platform for advising about being the right parents on Instagram.

    3) BHUVANESHVAR KUMAR
    Bhuvi married his childhood sweetheart Nupur Nagar in late 2017. Bhuvi and Nupur were neighbours in Meerut. They were very good friends. At that time and even during their teenage years, Nupur never actually knew or understood the seriousness of the sport as a career, as she felt that he was just playing. Though Bhuvi used to like her. Years later, they found each other on Facebook (another instance of social media uniting hearts). They met, went on several dates and made it official though not public. Months before their wedding, Bhuvi took to Instagram to introduce his lady love to the world. Nupur is also seen at many matches and is friends with other WAGs. She has an impeccable love for dogs but is always irked at Bhuvi’s cleanliness-related habits.
    They shared these inside details on Spicy Pitch Episode 6 by Cricbuzz. Checkout- https://youtu.be/1PqFy8OrfZE

    4) HARDIK PANDYA
    Hardik lives with his Mom, Dad, Brother (Krunal Pandya), sister-in-law (Pankhuri Sharma Pandya) and now also his fiancée (Natasa Stankovic). The couple recently announced their pregnancy and took internet by the storm. Before committing, Hardik had been linked with several other anonymous women from the industry. He himself spilled the beans, maybe a lot of them, in a Koffee with Karan episode. Anyway, he’s a gem of a person at heart who has truly worked hard to reach here. There was a time when he could just afford to eat a 10 Rs Maggi packet each day. Wishing Hardik all the very best for embarking upon this parental journey.

    English Literature, Guest Post

    5 tips you must follow if you’re quarantining with a narcissistic personality

    Hey everyone, This time around, I’m coming with some very raw & real tips. If you are spending your quarantine with a narcissist or an emotionally abusive person, I know how uneasy, frustrated, and drained you must feel. You may feel as though you are walking on eggshells- anticipating what you may or may not have to expect from this person. Because of this, I want to be here as a resource to give you tips on how you can keep your peace and weather this storm:

    1. NO MATTER HOW MUCH THEY TRY TO ENTICE YOU INTO AN ARGUMENT, YOU MUST STAY NEUTRAL & UNREACTIVE. 
    You might be saying, “But! they are so hurtful! All they do is pick me apart and tear me apart! I have to say something back”. I get you. I have been there. But, what if I told you narcissists get their energy and their sense of self from your attention- negative or positive. No matter if the attention is negative or positive it communicates the same message to them- it communicates to them that they are important. This is what they seek. A sense of importance. So my tip to you is to be like a grey rock- neutral, unreactive, & boring. One word answers like “okay” and “sure” “yes” and “no” will take you far. I promise if you do this enough times you will start to notice they bother you less than usual. Why? Because they can’t get much out of you. I know this will be tough but remember one thing, you don’t have to defend yourself against them- they won’t hear you anyway.

    2. IMAGINE A MIRROR IS IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE WHEN THEY SPEAK NEGATIVELY TOWARDS YOU. 
    The narcissist is incredibly critical, you know this and you know how painful it can be. Remember this, as they criticize you, they are really just projecting how they feel about themselves to you. They hold themselves AND unfortunately, you, to an impossible standard. Understand that they cannot tell the difference between you and themselves. They believe everyone is an extension of themselves. This is why I say to imagine a mirror is in front of your face when they speak to you, because it will help you consciously remember that as they are criticizing you, they are really criticizing themselves. I promise, none of what they are saying about you is true.

    3. DO SOMETHING THAT ONLY INVOLVES YOURSELF, DAILY. 
    This is critical. This is huge. This is for your sanity. This helps you ground within yourself and stay rooted within yourself. Take a walk for a couple of minutes per day, take an extra long shower or bath, and/or do some yoga/stretches. These all sound like simple suggestions, I know, but try it. You’ll see how much of a difference it makes in remembering how much you and your peace matters- and is within your reach.

    4. AFFIRM YOURSELF EVERY MORNING.
     Affirm that you know your experiences are valid. Affirm that you know you are not going crazy. Affirm that even if you are the only one who is aware of the discord going on within your home- your experiences are real and true. Affirm that eventually you will get out of this situation and that this situation will not get a hold of you. For more affirmations, make sure you check out my inner child healing affirmations and meditations here.

    5. SOOTHE YOUR INNER CHILD. 
    When we feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and even anxious, sometimes it is our inner child feeling triggered by the memories she once experienced during childhood. So when the narcissist in your life triggers those feelings- and subconscious memories, take a moment to be with yourself- when you get the chance- to remind the younger you that the adult you is here now. There is nothing to fear. Remind her how loved and lovable she is and how she will be okay, she’ll make it through.

    I hope you implement these tips during quarantine and that you remember that this is just a season, that you are dong the best that you can, and that things may not look as though you want them to now, but they will all get better in a matter of time.

    P.S~ The major inspiration for writing this article has been the podcast on Google titled as “The Self Love Fix”. It’s amazing. You all must give it a try.