The Sunshine Blogger Award (lolol)

Hey, you hear that, that distant cluck-cluck? No? Listen closely. Maybe put your ear on your phone?

Better?

Yeah, yeah you’re getting it.

Yes it’s the sound of horses running.

More specifically, my readers’ horses, who just can’t wait for another post by me. Hold your horses people!

(I’m sorry I’ll just let myself out.)

That actually is inaccurate. Nobody here is shouting “Encore!” Nobody remembers me, nobody cares. None of y’all appreciate me! (T_T)

Except for Anisha, of course. She’s the real deal. The only person who loves me enough to nominate me for an award, not once but twice. Twice! She’s going to be so proud of herself when she finds this mentioned in my New York Times bestseller memoir, when I’m famous.

The last time was on 28 September 2017, almost an year ago. Oh how time flies. I just checked that I have an unpublished response written up for that award in my drafts, but it’s only 1 line that says “June Tanushka would laugh at the thought of me ever doing this.” That’s mostly true, but I’d like to update it and say, “2017 Tanushka would not laugh at the thought of me having pending awards to accept, but she knew this mess is never going to sort herself out.”

Why didn’t I write it? Who cares, it’s in the past. Why am I writing this now? Again, who fucking cares?

So, here’s to the extremely talented, both at her craft and recognising talent, Anisha. I’ve linked her. That’s what the blue colour means. So check her out. Go on, I’m waiting. I don’t want to be controversial here but if you don’t like her “Killing The Creator” series I don’t think we can be friends.

Done? Good. Now onto the formalities:

RULES:

1. Thank the person/persons that nominated you and make sure to link your response back to their blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions your nominator gave you.
3. Nominate 11 other people and give them 11 new questions to answer.
4. List the rules and display the award.

Answers to Anisha’s Ques

• Name one thing unique to your country that you’re proud of and why.- The sheer volume of languages and the diversity of dialects, even within the same language. Where else on earth would you need a new translator, every 100 km? Evidently, languages interest me. So to think of the countless things I still have to learn, partly excites me, and partly intimidates me.
• Would you rather read a Sci-fi or a medieval fantasy? – I’m team medieval fantasy for life! Who cares what’s going to happen in the future, it’s going to happen anyway. I am more drawn towards the past, and what must have happened. Having said that, I am also quite over the ‘lets-overly-romanticize-the-past’ trope because while knights and forts and kings and Queens are super cool, people don’t die because of polio today. In conclusion, yes, medieval fantasy as long as it’s about something other than wars, and sci fi if it is about something other than the apocalypse.
• What’s the best quote you’ve come up with so far? –“Time is a gooey soup/And I’m sitting with a fork, hungry.” It’s from a poem coming out next week (very subtle self promotion). I like this because it brings a clear picture in your mind, and I like poetry with strong imagery, that’s what I try to replicate. Also, you can clearly see that the solution of my problems is to just get a spoon, but all I’m doing is complaining about stuff, which tells you alot about me.
• Do you have any life mottos that you abide by? If yes, what are they? “Live and let live.”
• If you could bring back one dead person to life, who would it be? – I’d like to save this superpower for the future.
• Name a famous person you’d like to go on a date with. -Hank Green for sure! His mind interests me so much. But he’s a married man, so if that ever becomes an issue, Phil Lester (who’s poster is actually hanging in my room.)
• If you could be omnipotent for a day, what would you do? (And no, you can’t wish to be omnipotent forever, all you Chandlers) – I’m more of a Ross anyway. This is a cliché, but I’ll try to fix the planet. I don’t know how, but if I’m omnipotent then I’ll know it. I think saving the environment is much more urgent and important than all the other charities because bad things have happened in the past, and people have still survived. But if there is no planet to live on, the growing socio-economic disparity would not matter because we’d all be dead. I don’t mean to say that the other social causes are not important, they are, they are the essence of humanity, in fact they only help in improving the geology of the earth, but that’s my point, that the ultimate goal is not going extinct. And in that sense, saving the planet is much more urgent that saving people, at least according to me.
• List some things you want to do before you die. 1. Go to Paris. 2. Go to Oslo and see Roald Dahl’s house. 3. Publish a book. 4. Feature on the Vlogbrothers channel (we’ll have to see about that) 5. Start my own youtube channel. 6. Act in an actual play in an actual theatre. 7. Learn to write urdu. 8. Buy mom a platinum bracelet (joke too inside to explain) 9. Go to Leh on bikes with friends. 10. Skydive, because I’ve already done scuba diving and it was amazing.
• Would you rather be able to read minds or to control time? Why? – How is this even a choice for people, of course I’d control time. I’d like to be God, duh. Why would I ever in a million years would want to hear what other people think? Half of what I think doesn’t make sense to me. Now multiply that. No! Imagine the judgement too. It’s hard enough trying to figure out what people think of you, but once you fully know what they are, what they think of you, once that barrier of politeness is down, life is only going to become hell, I’d say. At least you could be comforted by the uncertainty, now you will be slapped with facts every passing second. It’s 2018, nobody likes facts. And to be able to control time? Yes please. Imagine pausing for a quick snooze, literally. Except it can be as long as you want because you are the fricking time lord. (I’m assuming here that there is no catch.) Imagine fast forwarding through a boring commute, slowing down time with friends, and pausing everyone else except you during an exam. The possibilities are endless. There was a doraemon episode where nobita can either make time go 3x fast or 3x slow, and I’ve wanted that as my secret superpower ever since.

Does blogging ever feel like a burden

• to you? – it used to, because I used to think that only perfect things can be blogged, and everything I wrote for a while was not up to the mark. Then I realised that that’s bullshit, met a few people who seemed to like everything I wrote, so decided to put out any garbage I feel like.

• What’s your favourite kind of weather? – Imagine a Friday evening. It’s around 4’o clock or maybe 5. Dhoop is gone, but the warmth can still be felt. The sky is a crayon definition of blue. A breeze blows by here and there. You’re standing with your friends in the park, and it’s the perfect temperature, maybe 26℃. You’re done for the week, and everything feels nice.

I nominate the following people:

1. Aaristotle – He’s great, you’ll see.
2. Anisha – because she deserves the third award.
3. Kajal Dhamija – for all your literary needs
4. Onebigstressball – just brightens your day
5. For the love of sass
6. The shining gem – his highness himself
7. BEXoxoblog
8. Lilrant – Always a delight to read
9. Phoenix with a pen – A lovely friend
10. Idle muser (AKA Aditi) – great talent
11. The Pondering kitten – my inspiration.

My Questions

1. Why do you think you belong in your Hogwarts house?
2. What was the best thing that happened to you today?
3. If you could only read one book for the rest of your life, which one would it be?
4. When was the last time you acted nonchalant but were going crazy inside?
5. When did something start out badly for you but in the end was great?
6. What makes you roll your eyes every time you hear it?
7. If you couldn’t be convicted of any one type of crime, what criminal charge would you like to be immune to?
8. Who do you go out of your way to be nice to?
9. Do you believe in God?
10. Is there anything you would die for? And more importantly, kill for?
11. When was the last time you were snooping and found something you wish you hadn’t.

Go ahead, give me the free publicity, and live your lives knowing that Tanushka knows 11 very specific things about you. And if you are reading this and say, “I wasn’t on the list!” that’s because I probably like you, but am terrible at remembering people and things. Ask Anisha.