5 Ways to stop biting nails and stop world destruction

A few days ago we were doing Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe  in the English literature class. It is drama about a learned man called Faustus who sells his soul to the devil in exchange of having Mephistophilis (another devil) as his servant. He signs a contract which says that he gets 24 years of life after which his soul has to go straight to hell to be damned for eternity. Now we were in the last portion of the play, full of suspense. Any moment then..... Lucifer was going to pop out to drag Faustus to hell! I could feel the fear and excitement building up inside me...it was like watching a suspense thriller, when my eyes suddenly follow my hands. There they were, perched comfortably in my mouth. My teeth gnawing away at the skin on my fingers. I immediately brought my hands down to my lap, embarrassed.
 See, this has been my problem since forever. There, I said it! No matter the situation or place, I am always found biting my nails and skin on my fingers. When I was a kid, my mother would slap my hand away from my mouth but I never stopped it there. I tried growing my nails but always failed. They would be ruthlessly mowed down with my teeth. This habit would become particularly obvious during the time of my exams. I would bite away the delicate skin of my fingers while I studied and then it would become painful while I had to write my exam with my sore fingers.
 I don't know how to stop it! But I certainly have done a bit of research about it. So, today's post is about ways to stop biting nails.

Find a substitute for your nails

One way to stop biting on your nails is to start biting on something else. I started taking a handful of rice grains and biting them one by one. This breaks the habit and you realise how monotonous it is to keep chewing rice grains one after another so you stop biting anything altogether.

Find the root problem

Many of the nail biters are groomers. They cannot tolerate something out of place. A tiny zit or a hanging nail makes them want to get rid of it. It is a mild form of O.C.D. I am one of them. A zit becomes a zit war field because I can't help but fidget with it. One way to stop this is to consciously remind yourself that more biting will create greater deformity. So just stop it now.

Use the bitter nail formula

I came across this accidently when I applied some of the transperant polish I found in my baby cousin's drawer. It turned out to be a bitter solution that my aunt would apply on my cousin's thumbnails to keep him from sucking them. It is really effective. I learnt it the hard way . No amount of washing will get rid of this and it will only be weeks after which the bitter taste will go. 

Keep your nails painted

If you keep them painted , you will not want to eat your nail polish away too. Just imagine all those chemicals going down your food pipe, you can be sure that they are definitely harmful.

Look at pictures of pretty nails

 When you see pictures of well-manicured, pretty, painted nails, you will want them. You realise that even you deserve to have beautiful hands. So why not just try to stop biting your nails. 

So these are few of the methods I hope will help me stop biting my nails. Moreover, eating oneself is not really a good thing. It is creepy to be honest. It like eating your own self in a Pacman game. A fool proof way to become zombies, isn't it? What are your ways to stop nail biting and simultaneously stop the destruction of the world? See ya'll, bye!

Travelogue of Anger

Do you ever wonder what happens to anger when you are free of it? Where does it go? Does it just vanish?
So today I decided to interview 'anger'. Yes, the anger. The one that makes us temporary fiends. Now, when I asked anger about its schedule on an ordinary day, it launched into a long story. Anger tells me that no one ever bothered to ask about its day, its glad I did. It was more of a monologue than an interview. So without much ado, lets see what anger had to say.

'You ask me how my day was? Wow! Never got asked that. Anyway, since you want to hear my thoughts, I'll tell you. You see, I never get to say anything, considering that I have no shape, form or colour, everybody just ignores me Thanks that you asked. So, my usual day is generally all travelling. You won't believe the places I go!'
'Today my day began when an old man stubbed his toe on the bed post. He yelped for help, but there was no one. And that's when I came into him. He was a grumpy one, you see. The kind that takes me along everywhere he goes, and so I accompanied him to the nearest market where he went to buy groceries. We met a sweet, middle-aged woman on the counter. But there went grumpy, old man, shouting and complaining about the ever increasing prices and the horrible service of the lady on the counter. "Phew!", thought I, "I can leave this old body at last!" And then I flew into that sweet lady. Soon the sweetness turned to sourness. But she was too clever to show it to the customers. So, yet again I traveled with her to her tiny home. In there, this lady yelled out her frustration at her son. I was happy, you see. Kids are fun! The moment they start showing their frustration, they get scolded and then no one knows how these sneaky little things let it out. Sometimes I find myself into weak animals, thanks to these angry kids who went about pulling a poor dog's tail. Anyway, so as I waited to see this kid's creative way of letting me out, I noticed a tiny, quiet looking boy in the park where my container kid had taken me. As I had predicted, the tiny boy became my next victim. Yes, this container kid was a bully. As he boxed this little kid's ears, I flew into the tiny body of the boy. "Ooh, interesting.", I thought, "This one is the quiet kind." But I couldn't be more wrong. As soon as he reached home, he beat up his younger sister. Very young kids are not that interesting, you see. They just whine and cry and frustrate their parents, that's irritating to me too. Very predictable. "Of course, I'm going into the mother.", I thought, bored. But wait... what do I see? This one is making a drawing? Now I'm no more shapeless and colourless. I am a pink flower? Okay, that will not upset the parent much, or will it? I keep my fingers crossed, " I hope the mother gets upset.", I think. But what?! I see the mother smiling as she plants a kiss on her daughter's forehead. I know then that I will travel no more today. But my luck has other plans. " Take it to your school tomorrow, darling. I'm sure your teacher will put it up on the classroom board." Oh no! Just imagine me on the board of a kindergarten classroom. Oh what a bizarre sight it would be! Like a gargoyle with a cheery yellow hat. Ridiculous! Just imagine the sight. Me, who wears both the world wars as a badge of honour, on the colourful board of the classroom. So I dreaded it. I couldn't bear to think of my badges of honour glinting in the bright kindergaten classroom.....'

Here, I let anger blabber on its own, as I stifled my giggles. The sight of anger, on the wall of a kindergarten classroom, which I hope are painted in rainbow colours, with the said badges of honour. Hilarious! On a serious note, I learnt a lesson today. Use your anger productively and break the chain. It seems like anger has traveled a lot, let it not anymore. The little girl made a pink flower, what would you do? See ya'll, bye!

My room and other memories

My day begins with "What will I post about today?" It is an interesting process after that. Simple, forgettable things catch my attention, things which my pre-blogger mind would not have bothered to note. This is making everyday a little more exciting. But today, as I brainstormed for ideas for a blog post, I could not come up with anything. This was new to me as I am generally bursting with ideas. As I said in the first post, I have a talkative mind. Nevertheless, I thought and thought, but again the results were nil. "WHAT?!", I thought. So like any sane person who is momentarily clueless about life and beyond , I googled " What to post on a blog?". Like magic, the internet churned out results. I clicked through a few. In classic Sherlock style, I said " Boring! Unoriginal! Predictable!", to the poor screen. Then a sane part of me reminded me of my non-sociopath-genius status , so I went back to reading a few more of the results. I expected some miraculous wave of creativity to hit me but none did. So I decided to just go with the flow. And voila!" Why don't I simply write about the state of my mind which is causing my wordlessness? ", I thought.
Now, I have noticed that my room can precisely tell the state of my mind. If it is messy, then I am a mess inside. If it is clean then I am sorted out. So, I looked around my room and there it was,  all messy. It is a herculean task for me to be able to function like a normal human being when my mind is cluttered, so I just stared at the furniture for a while. And then....OF COURSE! My room! My cozy, beautiful room!
So in today's post I'll write about the things in my room that comfort me, intrigue me, or simply make me , well me.

My cozy bed

This piece of furniture has been in my life forever. I don't remember never seeing it. It has suffered years of excited jumping and days of melancholy and tears. I remember imagining it to be my house under which was a secret quarter, where I hid during turbulent times of , well it depended, sometimes it was my planet breaking into crumbs and sometimes it was the big, bad monster lurking near my 'house'.This is where I sprawl lazily with a book and this is where I prepare for my exams. This bed helps me sleep like a baby every night. Now that I'm writing about it I realise how important a  part it plays in my life.

My monkey soft toy

This said monkey is called Bucho Singh. It was a name that my aunt called me. I always thought that it was best suited for a monkey, so when my uncle gifted this tiny thing to me, I gleefully named it so. Bucho, hangs on my window these days. He likes it and sunlight is good for him. I never sleep with Bucho like a good mommy should. A long time ago, my doctor declared that I was allergic to soft toys, so since then he is kept at a distance, but not too far. He is super cute and wears a red bow tie. He has a long tail but a tiny body, so it served as my youngest child in all games of "ghar-ghar" i.e, in translation "home-home". It has a permanently confused expression which makes it ten times cuter. After an unfortunate wash in the washing machine, the light brown colour over his head turned orangey-yellow. It is like a halo. So now he is cute and angelic. I love him dearly. 

Mysterious table

This is a new insertion in my bedroom setting. We found this when we shifted to our new flat. The old owners had left this table in the flat. We wondered why. Sure it was a little worn out, but not badly enough to be abandoned. This mystery intrigued me. I was a bit suspicious at first but then it became a friend. A friend, who was probably not treated well by the old owners, but holds my load of books, pens and pencils, uncomplainingly. It looks like an old soul who has years of wisdom and has seen troubled times. This old soul is now the place where my workload is frequently dumped and now has cheery, flowery designs all over it (my attempts at art and beautifying the table).

Wardrobe chair

This is an old plastic chair that was a pleasant beige colour when we had bought it but now it is somewhere between white and brownish-green. This poor chair is where all my clothes live. On most days I'm too lazy to put them into the closet so they remain on  the chair. This chair has surprised me a lot of times. Everytime I'm sure that I have lost a piece of clothing, I just have to dig into the pile on this chair and like magic, I find it there. On one of the trips from my cousins, my cousin decided that this chair was the best place to draw, so now I have green marker drawings all over it. 

The broken bookshelf 

This one deserves a whole post. It is bookshelf that has a whole lot of stories attached to it and yes, a whole lot of books too. Presently, it has become a bit crooked due to higher pressure on one side, but then it has had its glory days. There are about hundred books on it, each of which are well loved. One summer, one of the glass doors on it fell on my sister's foot. She has three stitches to show for it. I had to carry her out of the pool of blood and into the car. I remember hearing her screams when the stitches were getting done and the ice-cream treat later too. The lowest two racks were once allotted to me and my sister. So if one looks carefully, one can see the faded pokemon stickers on the shelves. 

So these are what make up my room. These have their special share of place in my heart. Do you think that these things, that remain in the background, make a place in your heart? See ya'll, bye!

Things to do when you are sad

"I am sad." said my friend today. I asked her why. "That's the weird part, I don't know why.", she replied.
Happiness. For some, it's being able to relax, for some, it's to get the best out of their life and for some, it's just being alive. Happiness is subjective. I've seen people who can smile on the most horrible days and others who get depressed if they break a nail. But happiness or no happiness, one thing is universally the same. It's the choice you make.Yes, I am saying this at the risk of sounding preachy. To be happy is a choice you make.
 So today I thought that I'd write about few of my 'secret' tricks I use to become happy again after a crappy day. Correction: when I CHOOSE to stop wallowing in sadness and be happy on a crappy day.

Read a good book

When the world seems too difficult to live in, I crawl into my bed with a good book. I recommend one that has lots of feel good bits. This helps me to momentarily forget about the 'HUGE' problems that are bugging me and just be happy about how the characters in the book are having a good time. In times like these, don't worry about the quality of the book or the storyline. Enjoy the silliness. No one is judging.

Make a stupid drawing

We lose our artistic skills the moment we start going to school. Remember those times when colouring out of the lines was no big deal? That's what you have to do. Irrespective of your drawing skills, just draw. Nobody is going  to tell you that the dog in your drawing looks more like a box. It's just you and the blank sheet. Colour away! Trust me, you are going to be left feeling like a happy, little goofy kid who has no care in the world.

Eat an ice-cream

Unless you have a cold, or are diabetic, or are dieting, or its below freezing temperature outside. Actually, who cares anyway? Eat the ice-cream!(Eat a sugar free one if you are diabetic. If you have a cold, let the ice-cream melt and then add your favourite toppings of fruits or chocolate, its yummy! It tastes like custard, only better! If you are dieting, make an ice lolly out of fresh fruit juice. Its simple, take the juice in the shape of the container you want and just put it in the freezer, wait for 3 hours and done. Just as fun as ice-cream.) This helps to soothe the inner fire caused by the frustration. Literally.

Make moustaches everywhere

Just take a stack of old magazines or newspapers and draw moustaches on every possible face. Laugh at your own silliness. You will feel much lighter, plus it's super funny to see that beauty queen with a moustache. TEEHEE. For extra fun make dialogue boxes and write funny dialogues or add witty captions. If it is good, post it on facebook. Let the world know of your awesomeness!

Cry

A good cry can really make you feel a lot better. If you can't get the tears out, watch the sappiest movie you can think of. And just cry. It will be better. Don't worry.

Talk to your pet or pillow or the blank walls

They are the best listeners in the world.

Jumping jacks

Do 20 jumping jacks in a minute and shake that sadness out of your body.

Listen to music

Listen to all your favourites. Think,"So what if today was a bad day? I have the treasure of these beautiful songs. As long as I can listen to these, nothing can bring me down!"

Watch the t.v show that you would not watch in your right mind

And then go hahahahahahahahahahaha....blahblahblah." My life can't be more pathetic than this show. So, hahahahahahahahahaha........"

Take a shower

Feel all those bad bad bad feelings going down the drain with the dirt and grime. You will come out fresh and clean, sans all the bad bad bad feelings.

So these are a few things that bring back my faith in the world and shake me out of sadness when I feel horrible. When I feel better, I feel powerful enough to tackle those bigger problems that caused my despair. What do you do when you are sad or frustrated? See ya'll, bye!