I am..She Said- Sorry, Neil Diamond

My heart breathes as the day ends, She knows she doesn't need to run after deadlines or messages or becoming someone to fill the void they left behind She could just be for a few hours before the pumpkin turns into a carriage that will take her to the grand ball once again The Grand Ball where she must wear the heaviest of dresses and paper crowns to show the world she matters She looks for her reflection.. Is she the lights moving past, just a flicker in this life? Is she the red lights, holding herself back? Or is she the setting sun, painting this blue world pink and orange for a few minutes with her will to just...live? To live and just live. To walk, because she can. To breathe, because she can. To smile because she can. Or will none of the shoes fit her? Will she forever run barefoot on the coal yearning for warmth and hiding from the chimes of midnight as she chases it?

'Change is constant' is often said with a very defeating attitude, suggesting that it is inevitable and we need to make our peace with it. I recently started enjoying being in two phases of my life at once. One foot in the old life, the second reaching out towards a new one. I've found a new appreciation for the old one and excitement for the new one. It's helped me reflect on what is and understand what needs to be. Whether it's changing a job, leaving a job, making a personal change, looking for a new milestone or simply changing your cereal brand; I hope you enjoy the middle ground, where you're neither here nor there but floating in a sea of possibilities. "If you can wait and not be tired by waiting" -If, Rudyard Kipling

I woke up this morning floating in a glass half full and half empty wondering if I'd fly or drown. I dragged myself out of bed, checked my email (let the Women's Day offers keep coming!), killed a cockroach that was walking right towards me (after having an internal debate of 'how different am I if I just kill whatever scares me'), tripped on my shoelaces and somehow got out the door alive (cockroaches kill nearly 3000 people per year or am I being dramatic?). I walked my usual path while trying to find a balance between being grateful and striving for more than I have. I leisurely walked past people rushing to work, running (I only run when I'm being chased or chasing a food truck), going to yoga, playing with their kids and having a staring contest with their phone screens. In the midst of all the ordinary and daydreaming about singing on stage with Rihanna, I came across a Talabat delivery man feeding the birds his breakfast/dinner. (Please excuse my photography ...

Last week, I rewatched and re-read every Sherlock Holmes movie/book/series. Safe to say, I am now meandering around with an observatory air, deduction technique notes (I now believe the man who wears a red shirt while jogging every day has a broken washing machine) and a magnifying glass in my pocket (which I surprisingly haven't broken yet). I decided to take a break from counting tiles, steps, plants and hats to count the number of people I saw in a day instead. I was surprised by the number of workers in that ratio. Garbage pickers, cleaners, gardeners, delivery riders, shop assistants and construction workers. They all wore one uniform and as a result, blurred into one being. So I'm making an effort to ensure I differentiate, acknowledge and appreciate them more often. Hand them a bottle of water or just exchange a kind word. It makes all the difference to you and them.

The first productive thing I did yesterday was chase my bright red cap across the street at 7 am in the morning. Clearly, someone up there has a sense of humour since a week back I wrote very strongly about not running unless I'm being chased or chasing something (I have now exhausted my running quota for this year. If you see someone walking in the next Dubai Run, come over and say hi). Back to the chasing. After a minute of chasing, I finally retrieved it from the middle of the road while the onlookers waiting at the signal stared at me like a clown who had escaped a circus. I had a good laugh about it a few seconds later. The winds were bent on scooping us up yesterday. We were all walking around with electrocuted hair and flying bags. I saw people getting out of the office at 2 pm instead of 5 pm because the weather was good, I saw more dogs in parks, and more people sitting on benches without their phones (possibly because they were afraid of testing the device's durabilit...

On days, this city threatens to swallow me whole in its cracks. On days, this city's buildings are the blocks I step on to reach the stars. On days, I walk around and see possibilities, I am as tall as the tallest building. On days, I feel like an ant about to be crushed by giants. On days, this is home. On days, this is a place away from home. On days, I see success. On days, I see the struggle. On days, it's the roads that lead to paradise. On days, it's the maze that I'm stuck in (mostly because I miss some exits) But on all these days, this city is the sand in my hands that builds castles in the air. The city that dreams in the day. Picture Credits- Aleksander Pasaric

  I was walking to the grocery store early this morning (to buy orange juice that I already had in my fridge) while listening to Elvis Presley tell me he can't help falling in love with me and dreaming about a four-chair turn on The Voice (Yes, Adam Levine, I will be on your team). The roads were silent and empty. I was the only one crossing the streets. Well, me and a bird. Either it was complimenting me (I am just that friendly) or insulting me (I am just that harmless looking) or it wasn't about me at all, we'll never know. I looked up at the sky and then around me, all the birds were either perched on branches or walking. We have metaphors for flying like the birds in the sky, who's to say they don't think it's cool to walk like humans? My mind wandered (Adam Levine can wait). Instead of a bird's eye view (literally), do they enjoy seeing the details? Do they enjoy using their feet to get to places? That had me discovering a new appreciation for slow and...

About two months back when the rains had just started off their visit to Dubai, I was overjoyed to finally need to bring out my 'Minions' umbrella from storage (and by storage, I mean my suitcase, not a super cool attic with secrets). I carried it around every day no matter where I went. One beautiful morning when I had clearly offended Murphy by having too good of a time during the previous day, Murphy decided to confiscate my Wi-fi privileges when I needed to work remotely. So I was off to the nearest coffee shop, begrudgingly taking a shower and trying to look human. To save you from my dramatic rant, I'll list out the things that happened- 1. No Wi-fi in the coffee shop nearest to me 2. The one I finally settled in was 20 minutes from home 3. This coffee shop didn't have a working plug point so I had to leave. The shop also didn't have a card machine 4. The nearest ATM was another 15-minute walk (couldn't take a cab) 5. It started pouring in the middle of my...

  "𝐈 𝐚𝐦..𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝" -𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐝 When I need to argue with myself, be honest with myself or simply see myself clearly, I go to my mother. When I used to wake up at home every morning to get ready for school, the only thing that got me out of the comfort of the bed was the comfort of my mom's essence all around the house. The morning tea, lunchbox items (nothing like flatbread and pickles), mom humming some song under her breath, her feet tapping like raindrops on a window as she goes to check on my brother, the wobbling washing machine and her own school bag (that was filled with lesson plans and correction bundles). Late at night, just before I went off to sleep, mom was (still is) always up either correcting or reading or folding clothes while lost in her own world of thoughts. In those quiet moments when the house is still, I wonder where she goes. Like every mother and daughter, my mom and I can bring the house down with our fights and...