"Money, Money, Money, Must Be Funny"

#253

(Title reference: ABBA song)

Past vs Present

I used to count every rupee. Literally. Budget groceries, skip unnecessary coffees, debate whether premium tomatoes were worth the three extra rupees. It was my default. Then I moved to Seattle, got a better job, and suddenly I was ordering $16 salads without flinching.

And I wondered how my relationship with money changed rather easily.

When Comfort Becomes Invisible

In "The Psychology of Money," Morgan Housel says: discipline isn't about willpower. It's about the constraints that force you to decide. I didn't choose frugality. Scarcity chose it for me. But somewhere in that forced discipline was something real—the habit of deciding.

I went from "I can't spend" to "I can spend." Sounds like freedom. Except it's not the same as choosing.

When you can't spend, every rupee has weight. You have to decide. But when you can spend, that forcing mechanism disappears. Suddenly you're just... spending.

My first Whole Foods trip made it clear. The sheer number of choices for every single thing! Rainbow carrots. Five types of tomatoes. Zero budget pressure forcing my hand. So I just picked things. No decision. No intentionality. Just abundance doing the thinking for me.

And it wasn't peer pressure that changed my spending. It was simpler than that. Rupees became dollars. Seattle's baseline cost of living is just higher than India's. A salad that costs 250-300 rupees here costs $16. That wasn't a choice. That's just geography.

But somewhere in that shift, I lost track of why I was spending. I thought I valued frugality. Turns out, I valued something else: the ability to choose.

What Actually Matters

Having more green bills doesn't mean you upgrade your entire life. Your apartment doesn't need to be fancier. Your wardrobe doesn't need a complete overhaul. Your baseline doesn't need to skyrocket.

But it does mean you get to add a little oomph. An extra coffee without guilt. A book you've been eyeing. A meal that tastes good. Small things. Within means. But chosen.

It's about treating yourself to what "sparks joy"— experiences that create memories. Things that matter.

I still practice minimalism. I'm just not obsessed anymore. Under $20-30? I don't shy away. Bigger purchases? I still research deeply, discuss with my husband, think it through. But I'm not torturing myself over every single decision anymore.

When I budget these days, I round up smaller amounts. It makes tracking more seamless.

The freedom isn't about having more. It's about getting to decide what matters to you—and actually investing in it.

That's the self-care part. Not the deprivation. The choosing.

ARK via Humor and Laughter

#252 

ARK = "Act of Random Kindness" (adapted from the movie Evan Almighty, where it plays on Noah's “Ark”).

One way to practice self-care is via either making someone else laugh or laughing heartily at someone else's attempted or actual humor. Either way, it's win-win. You both end up leaving with a higher bout of endorphins within you.

Last week, when I went for a blood test — or as it is called in the United States, a blood "draw," since test could evoke negative emotions about examinations — I had the following conversation with the doctor's assistant. He was an Italian 6'3" man who'd been working there for 8 months with 12 years of medical experience overall. He'd asked me to stay hydrated the previous night and not eat anything at all. I'm generally obedient about these things, so when he asked me to outstretch my arm and ball my palm into a fist, my green vein shone brightly over the depressed area on the inside of my elbow.

"Wow look at that vein popping! That's looks amazing."

"Thank you! There's a compliment I haven't received before. I've even been told I have nice eyebrows, but veins? That's new."

I beam because I like to say funny things and did my usual thing: attempt to make a serious situation more lighthearted because why not.

He chuckled nervously, probably realized what he said, turning pink with embarrassment, and slightly defensively, went, "That wasn't a pickup line, I swear. I just meant it's going to make the blood draw a lot easier. Looks like you drank enough water, good job."

No idea why he felt he had to justify, but I said it was okay and we continued to have a chat about our respective backgrounds — where we came from and how we adjusted to a vastly different lifestyle having each moved here rather recently. We shared a few more laughs, and I went on my way, not even having felt the prick of the needle — thanks endorphins!

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." — Victor Borge

This got me thinking: if we can, in our own small ways, strike up conversations with people we meet every day, it's the least we can do to make anyone's day just a little bit better. The nurse on their feet all shift. The barista earning minimum wage showing up at 7AM to make your customized coffee order. The person sitting next to you on the bus. 

We lose nothing. We both end up hopefully gaining something. And it subconsciously puts you in a better mood, at least for the next few minutes.

Self-care via caring for others through your words. A small conversation. A genuine laugh. Both of you leaving a little lighter. That's the ARK.

"Coffeequences"

#251

The "Bitter" Truth

Over the years, I've had an on-again-off-again relationship with coffee. From being someone who drank one cup every morning—filter coffee, freshly brewed decoction in whole milk—to giving it up entirely, to navigating a mixed bag, I've had my fair share of dealing with the consequences of drinking varying amounts, brewing methods, and intensities of coffee. Or as I like to call it: "Coffeequences."

After quite a bit of experimentation, here's what I learned: Coffee doesn't affect everyone in the same way.

The Science Behind the Jitters

Here's how caffeine actually works: it blocks adenosine receptors in your brain. Adenosine is the chemical that builds up during the day and tells your brain you're tired. By blocking it, caffeine artificially keeps you alert. When you use it regularly, your body compensates by producing more adenosine receptors and reducing sensitivity to caffeine. So when you quit cold turkey—like I did early last year—you suddenly have all this adenosine hitting receptors with nothing blocking it. The result: two weeks of daily headaches, mid-morning crashes, sluggishness, and almost-siestas in the afternoons. I faced all these classic withdrawal symptoms.

But here's what happened after I pushed through: a tremendous improvement in my sleep quality. Deep, uninterrupted sleep cycles with perfect REM. Real slumber. The kind where I woke up not feeling like I needed more coffee just to exist. I also observed calmer sensations in my body overall—anxiety and fewer bouts of hyperactivity.

And thus I realized I don't need to be caffeine-free forever. I just needed to understand what it was doing to me and manage accordingly.

My Current State

Nowadays I don't fight it. Sometimes I have instant coffee mixed into my protein shake—less caffeine than brewed coffee (roughly 60-90mg versus 95-200mg), slower absorption because it's mixed with food, way fewer jitters. Sometimes I skip it entirely. No guilt either way. On days when I'm already nervous or tense about something, I avoid it altogether.

The real "coffeequence" isn't about the coffee itself. It's about listening to your body when it tells you something isn't working. It's about finding your own sweet spot instead of forcing yourself into someone else's routine. It's about knowing yourself well enough to make choices that actually serve you.

Self-care looks different for everyone. For me, it's knowing when to say yes to the morning ritual and when to say no.

2026: Showing up for myself

#250

What a year 2025 was —a roller coaster that left me dizzy, questioning, and somewhere between exhausted and exhilarated, the kind of year where you emerge realizing you've lived through more than you initially thought, where the ups and downs weren't evenly distributed but clustered in unexpected ways, where some months felt like they contained entire seasons of growth while others felt like I was just treading water, going through the motions without really being present.

The latter half of the year brought a lot more introspection —what drained me, what restored and healed me, how often I was running on empty without even realizing it, and how those moments of clarity, however fleeting, were pointing me toward something I needed to actually address.

As I step into 2026, I hope to make something intentional out of those late-year realizations. Self-care has become such a loaded term—wrapped in expensive candles and productivity culture—but what I mean is simpler and harder: actually caring for myself with the same thoughtfulness I extend to loved ones. Mind, body, soul.

I chose three themes to focus on this year with higher frequency and more awareness:

Meditation: Insight Timer has been my anchor. Ten-to-fifteen minutes a day, completely free, and it creates space to notice what's happening inside instead of just reacting to everything outside. It may not always fix everything immediately, but gives me long-term gains.

CrossFit: A real game-changer I discovered only six months ago. What struck me is that it's genuinely for anyone. I've never been consistent with any kind of fitness before, always found reasons to quit, citing lack of motivation, but this turned out different. You see wins almost immediately. Heavier lifts. Faster times. These small victories stack up, and suddenly you're motivated to come back because you're actually stronger. Thanks to CrossFit, I automatically eat better and sleep better. It has become my - what James Clear calls - "keystone" habit. A virtuous cycle.

Conscious hobbies: Reading and playing the guitar for 10 minutes a day remain my constant. Last year I read over 80 books and learnt to play over 20 songs. This year I have 20 books already lined up across eclectic categories: fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, economics, self-improvement, spirituality, young adult novels, novellas. Books are how I make sense of the world, how I borrow other people's wisdom and experience, and find comfort in this relaxing activity. Guitar is how I scratch the itch in my brain, do hard things, and push myself through deliberate discomfort to achieve growth and learning. A stretch goal I've taken up this year is to resume blogging. A year-long hiatus has given me ample space to think, and also fodder for new content!

Why these themes this year? 

The clarity from meditation helps me move more mindfully. I use the adrenaline and momentum from CrossFit to supercharge my day and feel energetic. Books give me frameworks and reasons why any of these matter in the first place. Guitar and blogging soothe me and help me find inner peace as well. And finally, all of these tie back to my 2026 overarching theme: Self-care.

2026 for me isn't about becoming someone different. It's about showing up more consistently for who I actually am—and it starts right here, with this post.

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Zoo, Sanctuary, Aquarium]

#249

What's the difference between a Zoo, a Sanctuary, and an Aquarium?

Aquarium's easy because it only deals with animals found in water - the seas, oceans, and rivers. Basically a house for marine life.

A zoo is typically a facility where animals are conserved and sometimes also housed for public display for education purposes. They can feature a variety of animals from across different regions and ecosystems. Zoos can also focus on breeding to conserve endangered species, whereas a sanctuary provides a safe haven for rescue animals. Put simply, a sanctuary's focus is care and rehab for animals. 

Finally, a safari, typically a wildlife one, is an outdoor adventure experience, where visitors in jeeps or open buses observe wild animals in their natural habitats while listening to the guides educate them about their daily interactions with the animals. It's the most immersive experience out of all the above options.

Except for sanctuary, we were able to experience the other three in the US in the past year since we've been here. We visited the massive Georgia Aquarium, followed by the Atlanta Zoo, followed by the Wildlife Safari in San Diego's Safari Park.

While I'd rate the zoo and safari pretty much equally, the aquarium stands apart, as it was truly an amazing experience we had, and even got to touch a sting ray (under supervision, of course)!

The above picture was taken at the Atlanta Zoo - where we were greeted by a flock of pink flamingoes. Did you know - a group of flamingoes is called a flamboyance. What a mellifluous word! Absolutely apt for the sight for sore eyes we encountered just as we entered the place!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Yosemite National Park]

#248

I finally accomplished one of my US Trip bucket list items - visiting the Yosemite National Park. We planned a 2-day trip with two of our other friends and visited this majestic masterpiece of nature in September, when the weather was just right to witness various cliffs and mountains and lakes and waterfalls.

We stayed in an Airbnb inside the park for a night and drove around to famous places like Half Dome and El Capitan. We also hiked to the top of Bridal veil falls - which I learnt is one of the most common names for several waterfalls across the country - a waterfall that free-falls as a thin stream, resembling a bride's white veil, giving it the self-explanatory name.

One of our friends had been here before and she came up with a fantastic itinerary that ensured we covered the major points like Glacier Point and a few other MacOS wallpapers, and maintained a balance between hiking and driving such that we didn't tire out doing either full-time. 

On our way near the entrance, we even saw a grizzly mama bear with her three cubs, settled near a tall tree, but perhaps on hearing car noises, the four of them scurried away deep into the forest. That was our first experience witnessing bears in this country.

We ended our trip by driving to a nearby place called Mammoth Lake, and also stopped on the way to take pictures underneath Giant Sequoias at the Mariposa Grove.

Oh what natural wonders the Pacific Northwest has to offer!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Xbox Controller]

#247

In between trips, it takes some time to get back into the regular routine of work and housework, among other things like workout and cooking. 

Finding moments to relax and rejuvenate is essential - which we achieve through gaming. After contemplating for several months and struggling to play co-op games like Overcooked (and Overcooked 2) on a single keyboard, we finally bought an Xbox controller. 

I chose the above one for myself in the Astral Purple color - my favorite. 

Amidst the hustle of work and planning the next trip, diving into the immersive worlds of these frenetic cooking games that are the ultimate tests of our teamwork and coordination make it the perfect entertaining yet relaxing (though stressful during gameplay) activity to enjoy after meals and avoid napping!

This has been our 2024 post-travel pursuit, going steady for the past 4 months after every trip and post almost every other meal, especially on weekends.

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [World of Coca Cola]

#246

An adventure of taste, effervescence, and rich history - that's what we got when we stepped into the World of Coca Cola!

From spending time mixing up our own fizzy drink recipes, to walking through an exhibit showcasing Coca-Cola advertisements throughout the years, to tasting hundreds of flavors of Coca-cola from across the world, to guessing scents from their smells alone, it was a wonderful 90-minute assault to our senses.

This place offered visitors like us a journey through its iconic branding, logo, and origins of this beloved beverage. We tasted the original Coca Cola and the recalled ones and everything in between.

There were fruity flavors such as the Parletta Sparberry from Zimbabwe and Minute Maid Joy Apple Lychee from Korea. There were funky ones none of us enjoyed, like BBQ Coke and Cranberry-infused Coke which turned out to be a combination of bitter and sour and cough-syrupy. 

And then there were my favorites, which I went for refills - like Sprite Cucumber from Romania, and Stoney Ginger Beer From Tanzania.

In the end, our thirsts were quenched, both literally and figuratively!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [Valley of Fire State Park]

#245

Our last day in Las Vegas was completely free and so we decided to drive to the Valley of Fire State Park for a day trip. Why is it called so? Because at sunset, it looked like the whole valley was on fire, hence someone traveling through this place in the 1920s gave it this apt name. Pretty much the entire place contains sandstone rocks, which are colored red due to the presence of iron oxide, or rust, in them.

When we went in September, it was quite scorching, and there was a funny-but-serious warning sign we came across within the park - "Heat warning - you might die". Great warning!

This was one of the very first places where my husband took up driving in the US, a pretty good place to hone your skills - an easy, low-speed drive but with challenges like driving on a single, narrow lane with big vehicles coming slightly fast on the opposite side. 

We ended up wrapping up our visit within half a day as it was getting hotter and drier even inside the car, and we headed to the Seven Magic Mountains from there - a queer name, since they were neither mountains nor was there anything magical about them! But there were thankfully 7 of them!

April 2024 A-Z Challenge: U.S. Travel Chronicles [UCLA]

#244

Tucked away within the geology department of the University of California Los Angeles, famously known as UCLA, lies its meteorite gallery. How did we stumble upon this during our LA trip? It was listed as a must-see in Google Maps!

Driving through LA traffic, it wasn't easy to get there. Fortunately, we made it in time - 4:15PM - and had 45 minutes to leisurely browse through the entire gallery before it closed at 5PM.

Yet another aspect of luck - we ended up listening to a who we thought was a UCLA professor share with some of the students there about the origins of some of these meteorites and talk about rock formations in general. 

Walking around the exhibit, there were showcases housing stunning collections of meteorites from across the cosmos - the Moon, Mars, asteroids - offering visitors a glimpse into the wonders of our universe.

There was a sheet attached on a bulletin board above each meteorite that told the story of how UCLA acquired it and high-level information about the type of mineral identified from it, and related details.

Overall a good suggestion from Google, since otherwise we wouldn't have found out about this place, and I gathered from friends who went here that not much else was worth seeing within that campus. It was truly a much better one-time experience that we had in LA over visiting regular beaches and restaurants.