• You’re probably wondering what this strange title is all about. Well, it’s simple really. I’ve just discovered the joy of wearing brown instead of the safe and trusted black.

    Ever since black became stylishly haute, every one slips effortlessly into black – black dress, black jacket, black trousers, black suit even a black bathing suit. And it is black in every conceivable shade – jet black, pure black, smoky black – JUST BLACK.

    Now to my way of thinking, it’s all very well to wear black in a cold country but in a tropical country like mine, black is more hot than haute.

    But black is undeniably a fashion trick to look slimmer, more elegant and somehow dressed up. Its severity lends stature to the person. It reminds you of school principals and head masters, CEO’s of companies and people who matter.

    But surely there’s an alternative to black? How about brown?

    Brown has an undefinable warmth to it, reminding me of hot chocolate, cold coffee and more. It conjures up the softness of a dog’s coat and the comfort of a brownie. It is less stark and less dark than the austerity of black.

    So I decided to put together a brown look

    The difference between the kurti and the kurta is more than the ‘i’ at the end – the kurta is the traditional loose fitted garment which is cut in panels – one each for the front and back main body, two panels for the sleeves and four side panels to bring the whole garment together.

    The kurti on the other hand is more stylised and is often a lose shift, with more detailing like pin-tucks, shaped hemlines or whatever is the trend of the season.

    This lose garment is ideal for our climate and even better for women with generous middles. As it falls gently over your trousers, covering all the bulges, it also allows you to eat a good meal without holding in your stomach!

    So, I teamed this predominantly brown voile kurti with a pair of brown knit harem pants. I rounded off the brown look with chestnut brown wedge heels and a deep wine hand bag to match the purple flowers on the kurti.

    Now, isn’t this a better alternative to the standard black?

    http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-58-68029C97DEC6650445F615069530BAA9

     

  • try try try till you succeed

    So today is the 1st of February and I’m one step closer to my goal of making this blog sustainable. After blogging for yonks , I found that I was getting nowhere and was terribly disheartened and had thought of giving it all up. Newbies who were just one year old bloggers had followers in double digits, comments in 100s, views in 1000s and people clamouring at their keyboards for guest posts, interviews and awards .

    Where was I going wrong?

    1. My frequency of posting was fairly regular and decent
    2. My grammar, syntax and spellings were far above average (without meaning to be too critical, I find some bloggers actually have horrendous spelling, and absolutely no concern for syntax, grammar and other basic language rules)
    3. My content was not mere cut, paste or re-blog
    So I kept asking myself what was going wrong?

    In a renewed effort, last year I spent a pretty packet and redesigned my blog professionally and followed Blogelina’s advice religiously.

    • I tried to find my ‘write’ voice. I tried being more engaging. Writing shorter sentences. Actually checking Headlines via CoSchedule’s easy and FREE Headline analyser.
    • I activated my Facebook and Twitter accounts and made shameless plugs to my real time friends to follow my blog.
    • I tried to vary the content of my blog (and now I am a diehard Piktochart and Picmonkey and Canva fan) and not just use this space to VENT and rave and rant.
    • I attended blogger meets and interacted with people younger than my own kids and tried not to be ‘cool and hip’ nor be a ‘nosey grandma’. This is tougher than it sounds……
    • I joined blog hops and conscientiously commented and shared their posts on social media

    And finally on 31st Jan , I can say YES! I’m One STEP CLOSER to my GOAL.

    progress-report

    And just when I was about to preen like a Queen for getting the hang of Piktochart and Grab & Save, I get this tweet from Blogadda.

    Now it that is not encouraging what is?

    What really helped was constant monitoring of statistics.

    Thanks to the Insights I got from WordPress, I figured what it was that my readers would like to read. It sounded a bit obsessive, but I would check my stats every day just to see a difference. And the persistence really paid.

    So with February beginning on a great note, I hope to continue my learning journey on the Internet.

    http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-58-68029C97DEC6650445F615069530BAA9Monday Musings

     

     

    I’m linking this post to #MondayMusings  which has now officially shifted over from Write Tribe to Everyday Gyaan.

     

     

  • When I get up in the morning I look at my phone for any messages that may have come in the night ( I have friends and family in different time zones if not physically, at least mentally)

    I also look at my phone the last thing at night.

    In fact, before the Internet, I never looked at my phone – I didn’t even have a mobile phone. Today, thanks to the Internet and even smarter phone, I am ashamed to say that I spend a lot more time with my phone.

    Thanks to the Internet, I could help conduct a business overseas and currently manage my content writing, editing and other jobs that I do without so much as moving out of my house.

    My children are convinced that the Internet is my first true love because when the net is down my life is blue.

    So perhaps they are not wrong.

     

    internet

    When I first got my computer way back when the only computers available were the 486 desktops with a hard disk tower that needed a separate trolley and a monitor that was a mini-TV, I wanted a computer only to type my big, fat, Indian, novel.

    Since then, I discovered the joys of the Internet which I use for

    • writing
    • researching
    • communicating- sending messages via What’sApp, SMS and Mail
    • booking holidays, and tickets for movies and the train
    • venting – on Social Media via Twitter, Instagram and WordPress
    • storing my personal information
    • creating graphics, pictures etc with all the free software available
    • shopping for groceries, books, pampers and more

    So without the internet my life would be dull and boring. Life without the internet would be unimaginable. I don’t even want to think about it!

    http---signatures.mylivesignature.com-54494-58-68029C97DEC6650445F615069530BAA9

    This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

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