What's on my Mind

Tag: humor

  • Furiously Happy – Book Review

    Does the cover of this book make you smile? (because I completely fell in love with it. so much so that I bought the kindle edition last month.) That scary-looking, overly delightful raccoon is very much real. (except that it’s dead and taxidermied by the author.)

    In her book “Furiously Happy” Jenny gives a peek into her insanely overworked mind. She talks about her cats, her therapist, a “normal” husband, and everything – hamster, Australia, Galileo, Parsley, and whatnot. Behind every weird conclusion she makes is a bulletproof theory that she invents with an overly creative mind. Jenny also talks about her experiences with depression and anxiety with candid honesty. She is very expressive about how she feels in her lowest days, how she handles the fear, the success and persisting condition of mental illness. Her courage to talk about these topics in such details is the soul of this book.

    Jenny’s writing style makes you connect with her instantly. Reading it felt like sitting inside her head.

    I saw Anne Frank trending on Twitter and I thought she’d died. Again. Turns out it was the person who found her diary that died. She’s fine. And by ‘fine’ I mean ‘still dead.’ Not that I think that it’s fine that she’s dead. I just think it’s fine that she’s not back from the dead. No one needs an Anne Frank zombie.
    ~ Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy

    I try not to get caught up in appearance issues though because my grandmother always used to say, “It’s what’s inside that counts.” And that’s probably true because with my luck my best feature would be hidden deep, deep inside my body. I suspect my best feature is my skeleton, which is a shame because it might be the most elegant and hauntingly graceful skeleton ever but I’ll never get complimented on it while I’m still fleshy enough to appreciate it. That’s why I’d like people to say “Nice skeleton” to me now. Just give me the benefit of doubt, you know? “
    ~ Jenny Lawson, Furiously Happy

    It took me over a month to finish this book. Not that it’s lengthy, but because it’s a series of essays, each with a very distinct title. That’s why I found it a good bedtime read. There are some parts in this book where you think the author is rambling on, but I guess that is really how an anxious mind looks.

    I’ve learned from reading this book that it’s hard to dislike someone when they are so genuine. I, therefore, recommend this book for its original style. It would make you laugh while giving you a perspective on what it feels like to be anxious or depressed.

    Four stars for Jenny Lawson’s Furiously Happy!
    (She did make me happy)

    ★★★★

    © Copyright 2021. Megha Gupta. All rights reserved.

  • How I spent four years in The Netherlands

    YEAR 1 : The Honeymoon Period

    Europe has always amused me as a child so I was really excited when my boyfriend (now spouse) asked me to join him in Netherlands. I was young, in my 20’s (head over heels in love), and quickly agreed to move to Netherlands.

    My first year in Netherlands is what I call -” The Honeymoon Period”. I was in awe of the picturesque landscape of this country. On my way from airport to home, I saw windmills, cows and pastures. The cows were so white that it seemed they were painted and I remember clicking photos while the bypassers stared.

    We were headed to live in the most popular city of the Netherlands – Amsterdam.

    In my first month, I stumbled over countless bicycles that always came with lightning speed. It occurred to me later, that I wasn’t supposed to walk on some roads – the cycle paths. The centre of the city was densely populated and we strolled neck to neck on shopping streets. We spent weekends discovering cafes, bars and clubs.To my surprise, I saw weed and Marijuana sold on street outlets – named “Coffee shops!” . Beer was sold in supermarkets and people relaxed on boats in canals, while sipping Heineken and soaking the sun.

    It was unlike any other country I’ve been to and I imagined if this was what they meant by paradise!

    YEAR 2 : Take me back, please!

    The honeymoon period was over soon and I started taking notice of my surroundings more. In the months that followed, I became grumpy old woman who constantly cribbed and announced to go back home. I hated the weather which was so unpredictable and kept questioning which season it was? I walked to work, drenched in rain and fought the wind to get back home. Most weekends, there was no sun and I laid on my sofa watching television.

    Months went by and the boredom peaked. So, I decided to undertake a mission to socialize. Beginning with the closest proximity, I approached our neighbour. – Ms. Linde. I stopped by her door while she muttered in Dutch. I waved my head while I tried to listen. She smiled at me and I just felt dumb. It seemed, I needed a hearing aid coz all I could hear was “Ghhs” and Hello.

    I tried my luck with the next the two floors, ringing their bells with quite some hope. Neither responded so I came back home and switched on the T.V ,once more. Tired and resentful, I announced again – “I will go back. Would you also come?”.

    YEAR 3 : A Ray of hope


    Soon, new year arrived and I made new resolutions. I remember, this year was “A Ray of Hope”. I decided to master Dutch, so I joined a language course. Learning from basics – the alphabets, numbers and months, I felt being back to the primary school. The good thing though, was I met more expats who shared my plight and reckoned my struggle. We formed a cult and I booked our agendas so my weekends were no longer dull.

    At home, I displayed my brand new skills and babbled dutch words every day. I became hopeful and my happy self, relieving my spouse from new complaints.

    YEAR 4 : Orientation Completed

    My training, last year, infused Dutch culture and I found myself in between crossroads. I celebrated King’s day and also Diwali. I couldn’t miss Easter or Sinterklaas either.

    At home, things changed too and we changed food menu. We bought a book to cook dutch food . My spouse split bills and I split chores. We bought new cycles and rolled through the city. I crashed some tourists , who walked wrong roads.

    Orientation ends. Year 5 begins..!

    © Copyright 2020. Megha Gupta. All rights reserved.