For you, not them. 

Throughout your childhood you did things because you just wanted to. No one told you to draw the most horrendous drawing (which you thought was a masterpiece). Everyone told you to colour the grass green but you thought grass could be any colour and you chose purple. As a child, you were fuelled by your imagination, your passions, what you wanted to do. 

Yet as you’ve grown older, it has been less purple grass, more green grass. Cars always have four wheels now and there is no such thing as a flying horse (what a ridiculous idea your 6-year-old self had!) As we grow old, we find ourselves doing the “right” thing because of course, we have to make sensible decisions, we are adults now. 

Wait, does that mean I can’t eat crisps and chocolate together anymore? Oh. 

Why do we seem to lose ourselves as we grow older yet we tell ourselves we are discovering who we really are? When we stop and reflect, we realise we’ve been moulded, into a person almost unrecognisable. We’ve forgotten what it feels like to stay up all night, laughing until sunrise with our best friends. Instead, we moan about Mondays and wish away the week. Life changes at a speed unknown to man when you “grow up”. Since posting my last blog on 16 October 2016 I have: got a new job; been offered a training contract; and finished a year of my LPC. I guess you could say I’ve grown up. But there is one thing I have never lost: myself. 

I refuse to grow up and lose myself. I won’t give up my passions for the sake of growing up. I love my job (yes, I did just say that). I pour my heart and soul into my job because it is a huge part of my life. It teaches me about people, about the world. How enterprises operate and why they exist. Why consumers exist and what fuels us as consumers.

The world is less round more hexagon. 

I’ve discovered so much more about the world so why should I forget about myself in the process? 

I live for every single day that I get to learn something new, speak to someone new and conquer a new challenge. I live for the times I get to run around the house singing and dancing like a 4-year-old. For the times I get to run around the garden with my siblings, pretending there is lava seeping from the cracks in the slabs and huge crocodiles running after us. Isn’t that what life is all about? Believing in what your doing (even if it is escaping imaginary lava) and having the best time of your life whilst you go after what you want!

It disappoints me every time I hear someone tell me they do what they do simply as a means to an end. Why would you want to stop going after what you truly want, just to get by? If you haven’t already guessed it, I am a big believer in going after what you are passionate about. No one should ever have to give up who they are for their job or for the sake of someone else. If you can’t be a version of yourself at work, you’re in the wrong place. If you can’t stay true to you in the industry you work in, pick a different industry. 

The world is evolving. We are not robots and we do not have mundane jobs where all we do is operate a machine. We live in a dynamic world fuelled by our differences. Embrace every difference personal to you and show the world how different you are. Engage your creativity, there is no limit to it. Share your thoughts, they’re as great as everyone else’s. Appreciate EVERYONE and their differences. 

Every time you do something, every time you take a step to something knew, ask yourself “Am I doing this because I truly want to or because I think it is the right thing to do?” If the answer is because you want to, keep going and give it your all. If you find yourself doing things just because you think it is the right thing to do, think twice. Whatever you do, remember this: YOU are what matters. YOU are incredible. YOUR individuality is important. BE an INDIVIDUAL. DON’T lose yourself in the CROWD. 

All love xoxo

Too many eggshells vs. too much careful treading

As an Indian, I have often found myself in that irritatingly awkward situation of someone telling me they do not like Indian food, attempting to justify it to me and eventually finishing with ‘I hope I am not being offensive’. My honest answer in that situation is, I really do not care why you do not like Indian food. Am I offended? No. Will I be bringing you a home cooked curry to make you try ‘real’ Indian food? No.

I totally agree there is a difference between take-away Indian food and home cooked Indian food, but I don’t expect you to like either. Just because I am Indian, it does not automatically mean I will tell everyone I was offended when you told me you do not eat Indian food.

Let us turn the tables for just a minute, and let me tell you I do not like the smell of bacon, I have never tried bangers and mash (and never intend to) and I also do not understand why people like chips and gravy or ‘SPAM’. As a British person, are you offended by my words? I would hope you aren’t, and if you are then I don’t think I truly need to apologise because not a single ounce of me intends to offend you or your culinary practices.

I totally get that some people do not ‘get’ the mixture of spices in Indian food. Just as you might order a burger instead of a curry, I would order a burger instead of a Chinese take away. And that’s ok. I’m not saying I would never eat Chinese food because I hate the Chinese culture, it is simply the taste.

In some ways, this all stems from the over exaggeration pumped by a minority of individuals around cultural ignorance and cultural appropriation. People are too scared to say they do not like something in fear that they will be accused of being culturally ignorant or worse still, racist. We do not need to like every single piece of food that ever comes our way because if we did, quite frankly it would be strange. We have sour, sweet, spicy, mild, hot and cold for a reason. It is to describe the feelings brought upon our taste buds. I’m sure that if I told you I don’t like Snickers you wouldn’t think of me as an intolerant, ignorant human being would you?

So please, if you ever want to tell someone you don’t like a curry or chinese, just say it. Don’t attempt to justify your likes and dislikes, we live in a world [that should be] better than that.

All love xoxo