Blogging Efforts Awarded - LIEBSTER AWARD WINNER

I still cannot get over this. Me, a virtual nobody has been awarded the Liebster award by the wonderful Skylar Finn @ Life Of A Random. *hollers a THANK YOU from the mountaintops* And yes, in reply to a comment, I'd love to hear your answers.

This me among my roomies after seeing the news.

They were obviously jealous, right?

Miss Finn had asked me some questions that I am expected to answer, and here they are:

The 11 Answers

1. If you could be any of the Avengers, who would you be?

DISCLAIMER:  DO NOT HIT ME

I am not a HUGE DIE HARD fan of Marvel. Judging the handful of movies I have seen, I have not felt the need to go around fangirling around about it. I like Batman a lot though. Thor is awaiting my judgment.

2. Do you prefer paperbacks or hardbacks?

Oh paperbacks, through and through. Hardbacks feel like the kind of books you would prop up on the coffee table for decoration. Paperbacks feel … personal. Something fragile and beautiful. Something that you want to tuck away in your bookshelf with only the spine exposed and take it out to give to people with a speech titled What-Happens-If-You-Crease-The-Spine.

3. How did your parents choose your name? Why did they choose it?

This was a tough one.  Just now, I called up my dad to ask how they came up with it, and this is what he said:

“Oh, I don’t remember. It was a long time back, wasn’t it? I’ll ask your mom.”

So she called a while later and said that they had decided on the letter A and flipped through a Baby Names book my uncle had given them. They saw Aneetta which meant “grace” (parents set such unattainable goals), they didn’t like the length, so they took out the extra letters and hey presto. My middle name is Mary. It’s a peace offering, since it’s both my dad’s grandmother’s and mom’s mother’s name.

4. What’s your favourite movie?

I’m assuming that you realize this is a totally thorny question like asking to pick your favourite parent (but if you had asked my favourite book, I would have shot you in the eye), so I’ll skip the part where I swear at you. I have LOVED all the movies that have been adapted from books (The Secret Life Of Bees, The Help, Boy With Striped Pajamas, To Kill A Mockingbird, Hunger Games, The Book Thief), so I’ll say one with original screenplay that first comes to my mind. I watched August Rush back to back and recommended it to every single soul I met. And a Hindi movie called Taare Zameen Par (Stars on Earth). It’s about a dyslexic boy misunderstood and looked down upon by everyone but is finally understood by his new art teacher. Watched it three times at a stretch, and I still can’t listen to its soundtracks without getting emotional.

5. What is something that you procrastinate a lot on?

This is a fierce competition with two finalists: Mr. Weekend Laundry and Miss Rarely Blogging. I only do laundry when my stock of clean clothes is dangerously low (around the time when the laundry basket starts to give off a hazardous odour). And I blog only when the need to write somehow overpowers the biological necessity to read a book.

I know, I need to wear a dunce cap and sit in a corner facing the wall. Shame on me.

6. Twitter or Facebook?

Up until a few years back, I DID NOT get Twitter. (WTH why would I want to know when their dogs have pooped, when someone is binging on ice cream – pfft, like I’m that jobless). I didn’t do much FB either. Now, I start having withdrawals if I don’t know what’s happening in Twitterverse.

7. Do you play an instrument?

I learnt the keyboard for a year, so if you say words like ascendo, chords, E minor, treble cleff, I wouldn't blink an eye. Am I any good? I haven't had neighbours calling the police yet. But some day, I will play like Yiruma, you just watch me. 

Oh and I can strum three chords on the guitar.

8. Have you ever had to get stitches?

Thankfully, no. I am slightly hemophobic, with a fear of needles. So much for me aspiring to be the heroine in my own dystopian fantasy.

9. What do you do when you are bored?

A sure tell-tale sign that I’m bored is when I’m aimlessly scrolling through my Twitter feed. But I almost am never bored – I have time to kill, I crack open a book. But if I am bored, it’s because I’m doing something mechanical – dicing up veggies, doing laundry, etc. I’m bored when I do that, I don’t do anything when I’m bored.

10. If you could choose between only reading, or only writing, which one would you choose?

Only reading, thank you very much.

11. Do you keep a journal (doesn’t have to be a physical one)?

Nope. But I keep making notes on my cellphone (or on my hand, whichever is available) whenever anything out of the ordinary happens (which always happens around me) or when I get an idea to blog about.

11 Facts About Me

1.       1.           Although I’m Indian (and currently living in India) I was born and brought up in Dubai. I still consider Dubai my home, and always will. Who I am today is because of the people I met there.
2.       I wanted to do a degree in Theoretical Physics, but because I don’t have the brains to pursue it, I am now doing a Bachelor’s in Instrumentation Engineering.
3.       I sometimes pretend I am living in the apartment where Sheldon and Leonard live in, when I’m climbing the three flights of stairs in our hostel. No, it’s not because our elevator’s broken, it’s off limits. And if you haven’t heard of The Big Bang Theory, why are you still alive?
4.       I hate summer. Growing up in a desert does that.
5.       My mom makes unbelievable dishes within the blink of an eye. Sadly, the culinary strand of her DNA refused to cooperate with mine. I once made cold coffee (WITH my BFF Caroline the Crazy, y’all hear?) and I had to go to the loo. Repeatedly.
6.       I am extremely selfish. It shames me to say so but yes, unlike the characters I adore, I do not put everyone else’s needs before mine. If I lend something to somebody, I’ve done it with much heartache.
7.       I would like to say that I swagger instead of just plain walking but it’s been pointed out that that’s not the case. Instead, the comment I get is, “Whose ass are you planning on busting?”
8.       I am the biggest hypocrite. Although I’m a vegetarian, and lecture people about animal cruelty and how inhumane it is to not think them of as living beings with feelings, I stomp on any creature belonging to the insect kingdom without sparing a thought to its family. My only thought is AARGH DIE #$@$&*!@ DIE.
9.       I tend to judge a person by the kind of books he reads (or doesn’t read). How many times have you pictured me wearing that dunce cap already?
10.   I do not know how to whistle.
11.   How much ever chatty I appear to be, do not be fooled, I am not. Seat me next to a person - do not expect me to break the ice, and if asked a question, I give monosyllabic answers.

11 Questions To The Nominees

1.       1.          Are you a dog person, or a cat person?
2.       Suppose you get a genie to grant you one wish, what would it be? (no, you can’t ask for a hundred wishes more)
3.       Name one vice in this world that you abhor.
4.       What do you like most about yourself?
5.       Team Peeta or Team Gale? Why? (I’ll be judging you :p)
6.       Are there any special instructions that you give when you lend someone your book?
7.       What do you think about the kind of “He/She’s-My-Soulmate” love depicted in books and movies? Have you been disillusioned, or still hopeful? Or a believer?
8.       If you could be a character in the wizarding world that JKR invented, who would you be? (I’m assuming you’ve ATLEAST seen the movies)
9.       Have you heard of multiple realities? 10 years from now, what are the possible realities facing you?
10.   What’s your favourite time of a regular day?
11.   And the easiest question of all - if you could marry a character (TV shows, movies, books) who would it be? (the sarcasm was intended – and no, polygamy/polyandry is not allowed :p)

And The Nominees Are:

1. Crazy Caro @ Crazy Utopia
2. Pink Avenger @ Pink Avenger Reads
3. Cecile @ The Quakeroo
4. I DESPERATELY NEED THAT DUNCE CAP SORRY I COULDN'T FIND YOUR NAME Reviews for the Living and Undead
5. Ifrah A. @ Brain On Pause

Again, do not hit me. I know I'm flouting the rules when I'm not nominating the required 9 blogs. I also realize that this affects the chain and goes against the spirit of the Liebster award. Forgive me? All the blogs I follow had 200+ followers, so I had to turn every stone in the blogosphere to find at least these.

With the exception of No. 1 (Ahem, Caroline.)

Rules:

You won't believe the number of versions of the rules. So, I'm posting the version Skylar put up.

1. Make sure you thank and link back to the person who nominated you. 
2. List 11 facts about yourself. 
3. Answer 11 questions put forward by whoever nominated you. 
4. Ask 11 new questions to 9 bloggers. They must have less than 200 followers on Bloglovin' (or their preferred method). You cannot re-nominate the blog that nominated you. 
5. Go to their blog and inform them that they have been nominated!

Enjoy the weekend left, people. 

Love,