21st Century Meet Cute

I've been single for a while now.
But I'm not exactly ready to mingle either.

Atleast not in the 21st century way - on an App.

by Gemma Correll

I read about Tinder the other day.
It's a Dating App for everyone.
The ones who use iOS and even the others [Android users].

So how does it work?
Well, you login with your Facebook ID [I don't trust this login procedure] and it takes all your info [friends, likes, groups etc] and finds you a match.
This match could even be a friend of a friend on Facebook.
And it finds people within a certain radius from you [I think].

You can choose the age group you'd like.
And then have fun liking and rejecting people.
It's almost like a game.

And then you can chat with whoever you like on the App itself.
It seems to have really worked well in Europe and people have claimed to have met their soulmates through Tinder.

Seeing if this could be true, a friend of mine downloaded the App just out of curiosity.
Observation: All the guys are so eager to connect on Whatsapp / meet.
Reaction: What's the hurry?

Well, we figured that guys are looking at this App as nothing more than an easy way to hookup.
As for everything else there's Shaadi.com

Melt

Away from each other
was something they could never be
So in love 
Were the sun and the endless sea

As for not more than a day
could the lovers be apart
As every evening the sun would show his love for the sea
By melting in her heart

Photo and poetry by me.

All you need is Love

Love.

It's such a strong word.

Some people use it casually.

Some say it with feeling.

And others, well, they just don't use it at all.

I always end all emails with 

Love, Neha.

[unless it's a client - which is when I write Regards, Neha so they don't think I'm crazy].

But so often I've noticed how people, including my own friends end emails with

just a name.

Ok so here's the thing.

I know your name since I know the email is from you.

But what's the harm in sending a little love?

I won't get freaked out and think you want to marry me.

Don't worry.

I've been single for a long time now.

And when I say long, I mean a la la la la long, a la la la la long long li long long long.

Come on!

So since I haven't been able to shower all that love on anyone [and only sprinkle love in small quantities via email so I don't give people the wrong impression], I've turned all that love into creative energy and made you this...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are some funny cards. And then some more.

Photo and video by me.

Live by the Sun. Love by the Moon.

It's Valentine's Day.

Do we make a big deal of it?

Or act as if we don't care?

Cynics would say it's just another special day created by Hallmark to make you feel like you should be celebrating something. 

Well, I think everyday is a day to be celebrated.

Life is good.

Love is great.

It's the stuff sweet dreams are made of.

Photos and Typo by me.

It's human to be a searcher.

And we are all looking for that special someone or something in our lives.

But, it's not always easy to solve the puzzle of the human heart and figure out what that actually is.

So,

If you are in love, say it!
In more ways than one.
Celebrate!

Not just today, but everyday.

Life's too short.

If you have a maimed heart,

all you need are a few sutures.

Or maybe some Kintsukuroi.

There is nothing that can't be fixed.

And if you're better off on your own,

close that chapter of your life that you once called love and move on.

Here's some help from Barney Stinson.

Now I'm going to stop being Ms. Preachy Preacherson because I have a beautiful evening ahead of me. With an old black & white romantic movie on a terrace with what I'm hoping will be great food and some stargazing.

Have a great day!

Since love makes the world go round

Are you in love? 

Do you have a type? 

I don't think I do since at different stages in my life I have been fascinated by completely different people.

By age 10 I was in love with Doogie Howser MD. He was a genius, could cure anything and was handsome according to 10 yr old me.

Luckily things changed and I moved on to having a Leonardo Dicaprio obsession at around age 12.

That was followed by Wolverine, James Bond, Spiderman's friend, a Vampire, a few musicians, many more unrealistic loves and some others.

Then I came back to reality and focused on Leo again. What's not to love about him? He looks good and cares about saving the planet.

1000 points to him. 

And to the rest of you,

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's one of my favourite songs just for you...

You're a part time lover and a full time friend
The monkey on your back is the latest trend
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Here is the church and here is the steeple
We sure are cute for two ugly people
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

We both have shiny happy fits of rage
I want more fans, you want more stage
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

You're always trying to keep it real
And I'm in love with how you feel
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

I kiss you on the brain in the shadow of a train
I kiss you all starry eyed, my body's swinging from side to side
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

The pebbles forgive me, the trees forgive me
So why can't, you forgive me?
I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you

Du du du du du du dudu
Du du du du du du dudu

I don't see what anyone can see, in anyone else
But you.


And if you have a little trouble finding a way to shower all that love, here's a little help.

Thank You #6

Inspired by thxthxthx.

Concept & design by me. 

Photo by Akshaya.

Happily Ever After?

The whole world watched the Royal wedding on Friday, 29th April.

The Royal wedding which I think some people thought was the Derby or a hat contest.

Will & Kate bookmark

I spent too many hours in front of the TV waiting for Will & Kate to say their I Do's.

It started with an extremely silly TV show on BBC about a couple of Royal family obsessed Americans wearing fake copycat engagement rings and other ridiculous stuff doing different tasks to win some Royal wedding memorabilia. Ok, so I'm not all that different from them. I asked my friend, Shivani to bring me a silly wedding souvenir when she visited London recently. She got me a bookmark.

What can I say? I love souvenirs.



The dress



Then there was the pre-wedding show where a panel of experts - fashionistas, uninvited friends, people with opinions discussed important issues such as Who will Kate be wearing?

Would it be a McQueen gown, or something by Temperly, Libelula or then Issa worn by Kate in her engagement photos.

At 10 am the members of the Royal family and the Middleton family began their journey to Westminster Abbey. The Queen looked like a cute little yellow square box. I guess that's not a compliment. Kate's mother seemed underdressed as compared to what my mother wore to my sister's wedding.

Perfect Pippa

The itinerary was followed to perfection. 2 billion people were said to have watched as Kate made her way in her Sarah Burton gown in a Rolls Royce.

The gown was just perfect. People said it reminded them of Grace Kelly. But Kate was Kate.

As she walked into Westminster Abbey, one could see Harry whispering and informing Prince William about Kate's arrival with a smile. I think I even had a tear in my eye. Or maybe that's because I had too much water and there were no commercials during the Royal wedding which didn't give me time for a pee break.

Watching it all happen on TV I thought to myself this couldn't have been more of a fairytale-like story.

• Starring Kate as the 'Cinderella' of the story who married her Prince (oh-so) charming, William.
• In another McQueen dress was her stunt double - Pippa Middleton. Now she had everything in place - the dress, the décolletage and the derrière.
• They had a grand wedding attended by all the people (including the Beckhams, Elton John & Guy Ritchie).
• Would Camilla be evil stepmother material? Umm...
• The 2 weird sisters definitely were Princesses Eugenie & Beatrice. No idea what they were thinking wearing that.
• They left in a horse drawn carriage and finally it all ended with a kiss. Actually 2 kisses.

Will they live happily ever after? I hope so.

Look at the little bridesmaid

So what about the happy ending to this fairytale then?

Well, there sort of is one.

Osama, the bad guy was killed today (or so they say) which seems to complete this perfect story in a totally non-related way.

I'm going to celebrate with some Jam soon.

Yes some Jam (hopefully with strawberry chunks in it).

Shivani, my traveling friend has got me strawberry jam from Mahabaleshwar.

A souvenir here. A gift there. Friendship is a beautiful thing.

And the world is a happy place again.

Congratulations to the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge.

Wedding Planner

I've been wedding planner for a while now thanks to my dear sister Aku who got married yesterday.

She conveniently made me CEO of her wedding which left me feeling like a one-man band. Something like Vinod Khanna in Amar Akbar Anthony (which I always thought was pretty cool).

So, Aku & Anand met while working in the same Bank a few years ago but he managed to charm his way into her heart by teaching her tennis. Clever one!

This is what I made for Aku so she could send out Save the Dates emails to her friends.

save the dates emailer by me.

But, Aku being Aku thought it was cheesy and rejected it.

Luckily the same didn't happen with her wedding card.

Congratulations!

chocolate box label by me.

Happy Wedding Day :)

For the rest of you

Take that leap of faith.

For those newly and truly in love, you've got enough going on so I've got nothing for you.

So, what about me? Well, this year I have no plans. 

Probably since I'm no Lady James Bond - a term coined by my mother with no real meaning.

My plan for tonight : To watch Black Swan if I can manage to steal it from one of my friends who download movies. You know who you are.

My back-up plan for tonight: To re-watch The Holiday so I can float into a happy world where I believe that someone as gorgeous as Jude Law is as nice as Jude Law. Atleast for those 2 hours.

If you don't have plans, I recommend you do that too.

And if you're more of a book person, I'd recommend the one & only book I've truly loved reading called The Curious Incident of The Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon. It's been a while since I read it so can re-read it now or read what seems to be it's readalike - When we were Romans by Matthew Kneale.

When I was reading Eat (which is what I call Eat Pray Love since that's as far as I got), I read something really nice where the author had quoted Dante from the last line of The Divine Comedy. Dante is faced with a vision of God and describes it in possibly the most beautiful way when he writes that He is most of all, l'amor che move il sole, l'altre stelle - Italian for The love that moves the sun and the other stars.

Something everyone ought to find.

For the person of your dreams

Tell them that they are

The Sugar in your Tea

For the health freaks

Who want to say it with fruit.

Twig & Thistle

For the ones who love to bake

Bake him something special

So that he can Eat his Heart out.

And have yours too.

For the computer geeks

Who speak their own language of love

Swiss Miss

And like to prove it

Etsy

Sigh!

For those with 2 left feet

Learn to Tango

And if you can't get the steps right,

what you can try is getting the look right.

All you need a lot of hairgel and a (de-thorned) rose.

And if it still doesn't work, you'll atleast get some bonus points for effort and can have a few laughs.

For the married

by Simon Oxley

May your heart forever beat faster on seeing your partner 

&

may your stomach always be satisfied.

For those trying to survive a long distance relationship

And feel like you have nothing left to say but...

from Etsy

Here's a couple of cool e-cards you can send to make up for not being together.

For those who can't find the words

and need the help of a Venn Diagram.

For those who are unable to see what's right in front of them

Get your eyes checked.

For those looking ahead

Looking for love, but with conditions, all the best!