Fear no fear(or not)?

Since time immemorial, children and adults alike are taught to overcome their fear but while going through a post by fellow blogger Chandana, I actually started thinking about fear the way I haven't thought in years. Since Bukowski, Ginsberg and Plath happen to be my all time favourite poets, I, personally have always been a believer in fear. Fear, in my opinion, is the rawest emotion one can have and even though the die-hard romantic in me would like to think otherwise, I've strong reasons to suspect that fear overrides even love at times. Every human emotion can be derived from fear. Love also, in a way, can be defined as 'the fear of losing the person one can't do without', among other things. The so called 'overcoming one's fear' is also logically null and void. We don't overcome our fears, we avoid acknowledging the fact that we fear a certain person/thing/activity/idea and try to look at that particular person/thing/activity/idea as something different(and doable, if I might add). But none of the 'overcome your fear' workshops I've seen had taught the victim to admit their fear and then dealing with it. They are always told that there's nothing to fear which, in essence, is trying to avoid the idea of fear altogether and also, challenging the victim's sanity.
                                                                                                                                           How about using fear as motivation instead? Fear isn't our friend and most of us are in agreement in that case. So, the next time we have to go river-rafting, something that many of us are scared of, instead of thinking that there's nothing to fear and then rediscovering it like never before mid-river, how about we admit the fear of river-rafting and then decide to go because we refuse to allow fear more power over us than it already has? I myself am very clear about my fears. Like most of my friends, I'm shit scared of cockroaches, spiders, snakes and all their creepy crawly cousins. But whenever a cockroach presents itself in front of me when I don't have help nearby, I try to remember how scary it'd be if I can't kill the cockroach now and it gets braver and ends up on my shoulder and trust me, it always works. I have almost a 100% record of hitting cockroaches with my first spray. Fear no. 2 is going back to my (grossly) overweight days. It goes without saying that this fear motivates me to eat healthy(with cheat days once every week of course) and work out on a regular basis. The biggest fear in my life is not having my loved ones with me, physically or emotionally. Even though this might not sound like a real fear to some people, trust me I've spent sleepless nights imagining how life would be without the ones I consider to be my closest. I'm yet to get hold of a full-proof way to solve this but I'm reaching there. What are your fears?
                                                                                          Moving on to the outfit, you must have got an idea that I'm in a full on monochrome mood. So, you are going to see this maxi skirt on the blog pretty frequently. And I love how Anu makes my Saturdays ever since the misery called work has taken over! Even though I try not to miss her exhibitions, most of the times I can't turn up because of my hectic schedule. Since I was working this Saturday and my office happens to be close to The Park, I knew this isn't an exhibition I'd like to miss out on. Given the dress code and the weather, this was pretty much the best I could do. Of course even a conservative(read matronly) outfit like this one drew enough glances(and complaints later) from people at work who were wondering whether sweeping the floor has also been added to the duties of HR or not and how I lost my other 'earring' and if I'm wearing a clip-on because I don't have my ears pierced, to name a few but then, having a gala time with Anu and Deepa is worth every awkward (and annoying) question answered(or ignored).

Maxi skirt-Jabong, shirt- Simpark Mall, ring- New Market, shoes and earcuff- B.K.Market, bow tie-Howrah Bridge

Picture Courtesy- Anu

The biggest festival of us Bengalis- Durga Pujo is just a week away. Even though I have mixed feelings about it this year, the energy in the city during this time is infectious. So, expect a lot of ethnic pictures on ze blog when I come back. Till then, take care and keep it stylish.

A pampering experience by Green Trends Salon

As they say, there's no better solution to bad mood than a self-pampering session. So, an invitation from the PR person in Green Trends Salon to participate in a beauty and skincare talk with their hairstylists and skincare specialists where we can avail free services as well sent all kind of feelers to my soul. Ever since I started working, pollution, sweat, humidity, irregular schedules and depression have been a part and parcel of my life. And what better way to cheer myself up than a pampering session like this?
                         Now, other than the above-mentioned problems, working poses another difficulty. One has to reach office(in time, if I might add). So, an event like this being held on a weekday, that too after 12 p.m., makes it difficult for poor me to attend itself. And the venue being Saltlake doesn't help either. Half of our time went in roaming about the alleys of Saltlake- asking clueless pedestrians for directions.
                     When we finally reached the venue, sadly, the event had already started. But we made ourselves comfortable and joined the discussion in no time. After the Q&A session, we were asked to choose the services we'd like to avail from the array of options they were offering. Again, since poor me was in a hurry to reach office before EOD(End Of Day, silly!), I opted for the quickest and easiest option- nail art. I wanted something in black and white with a hint of floral. They wanted to do an iridescent pattern first but since that'd have also taken a lot of time, we finally did white floral patterns against black background. My luckier friends, of course, got to get their pedi-mani and facials done along with haircuts and hair smoothening. Anyway, I know I'd like to go back there and get a haircut done as soon as I save up a little, what about you? If you are scared of Saltlake like I'm, no worries. They have branches at Bangur Avenue and Golpark also. So, suit yourself. Also, DO try out their hair treatments for controlling frizzy hair. The way they transformed my friend's hair from frizzy to Rapunzel-ish, I'd highly recommend it.

The setup for the Q&A session

Some of the products they use

Yes, I tend to be a picture of concentration personified when I get my nails done since I'm exceptionally good at ruining it.

Work in progress...

Ting!

The maxi-hitchers and the like... :-P

And the royal posers... :-D

And the mixed reactions!
Picture Courtesy-Poorna

I'll do an outfit post on what I wore to this event very soon even though you can see most of it. Call it my undying love for this blazer if you want. Till then, take care and keep it stylish.