#PickMyBrain - QnA February 2017

Haaaaappy Monday, everyone! We've had a very relaxing weekend and we're all set to get back to work. I hope you had a good one too!

As always, many thanks to each of you who sent in questions. I'm sorry if some of your questions didn't get answered this time but I had quite a long list to pick from. But most of the questions had already been answered in the previous QnA's so head over there to find them :)


  1. Ankita I'm watching the movie Leap Year now, I got the question from the movie. If your apartment's on fire, what would you take?

    First, Shane. Because chances are that he started the fire and didn't even notice. Then, I'll fetch the file which contains both our university certificates, our marriage certificate and our passports.

  2. What do you love most about yourself?

    When I read this question, I never thought it would be the hardest one to answer. I guess I love the fact that I'm very good at keeping promises, both to myself and to others. Forming habits and seeing things through is not as hard for me as it is for most others. If I have something on my to-do list, I don't sleep till I get it done. On many occasions, Shane's found me cleaning the bathroom at midnight because I didn't get time during the day and it was on my list.

  3. What was the last picture you took from your phone?

    This one:

    He asked me to scratch his beard over and over again and his excuse was that he was breaking out. I examined his skin, saw that he was struggling with dryness and clogged pores so ta-da! Let's just say he wasn't pleased. At all.

  4. What would be your perfect day?

    Yesterday was a perfect day. I slept in, cooked both brunch and dinner with Shane, got quite a lot of work done but also stayed in my pj's and watched Backstom, pampered myself and took a nice luxurious shower, and turned in by 11 p.m so that I could be well-rested in the morning. I'm pretty low maintenance.

  5. Who is your best friend?

    Is it weird and cliché to say that it's Shane? Sometimes it feels like I'm just living with my best friend...with benefits. It's a pretty good deal, I must say.

  6. Do you watch Shin Chan? And one more question does this blogger word sound like blah- girl or blah-ger to you also?

    The first and last anime I watched was Fullmetal Alchemist and I couldn't control my waterworks. It was brilliant. But the reason it's the last one I watched is that Shane and I tend to watch everything only while we're eating, and while eating I can't be bothered to keep staring at the screen to read English subtitles. So, no. I haven't watched Shin Chan. And yes, on many occasions, I have even referred to myself as a "blah-ger".

  7. Only one question when will be the first "Shankita" vlog?

    It's complicated. You know how I almost always forget to take pictures of my food when I eat out? I'm generally someone who never takes my phone or camera out to take pictures of anything. So you can imagine how bad I can be with a vlogging camera. Meenal and I wanted to vlog while she was here but we got just about 10 clips in 7 days. The good news is that I love doing Instagram stories so I'm sure I'll love vlogging as well. I just have to cultivate the habit of remembering to carry a camera around.

  8. What's the weirdest fan mail you've received?

    Would you believe me if I said that I have a folder in my e-mail titled "fan mail/weird"? You must have psychic powers to ask me that question.

    Once, a guy sent me this email:

    so with a memory of an elephant why dont you put your big girl pants on and reply me atleast from your "The Husband's" laptop?

    I had zero context plus I didn't want to pay him attention considering how he seemed like the kind of guy who needed to be rude to others (especially women) to feel good about himself. So, I ignored the email.

    Three days later, he sent me this:

    poi kuli.

    Which means "go take a shower" in my mother tongue, obviously meant as an insult. Definitely overcompensating for a teeny-tiny dick. So, I ignored it again.

  9. Is there something your parents don't know about you?

    I doubt it. But, there's something they've never experienced as my parents - my melodramatic waterworks. I hardly ever cry (or display negative emotions) before them. If I'm sad, 90% chances are that my parents have no clue whatsoever. They get way too upset when I'm upset which in turn, leads to my consoling them at times. Also, if I'm sad because someone hurt me, God save that person from my dad's wrath. So I've tried to strictly share only positive emotions with them which I find is a weird dynamic to have with the humans who brought you into this world. But it works for me.

  10. Being a single child, do you prefer having just one kid? How many kids do you want to have?

    All I know is that I will parent at least two dogs. I'll think about human babies after my first puppy comes home.

  11. Do you watch Malayalam movies? Which is your favourite Malayalam movie?

    YES! I love Malayalam movies. They're so advanced in their storytelling especially in comparison to Bollywood. It's hard to pick favourites but if anyone's interested in discovering Mallu films, do watch Manichithrathaazhu (I'm going to make Meenal say that 10 times), Killikkam, 22 Female Kottayam, 5 Sundarikalude Kadha, and Dhrushyam. I'm 100% sure that I'm forgetting something but maybe my Mallu readers can leave suggestions in the comments?

  12. How do you deal with haters and jealous people?

    I don't deal with them. It's as simple as that. Not that I had any (haters) to begin with. At least, none that came up to me and spewed venom directly. But we all have frenemies and family members who smile at us but would internally applaud if we were to fail. I think they're too insignificant to pay much attention to.

    But I must confess that I wasn't like this once upon a time (by which I mean I wasn't a happy person) and used to get easily affected by backhanded compliments and sly remarks in the pretext of being "concerned" about my wellbeing. However, after living with Shane for so long, after going up to him and telling him about something someone did/said, after eliciting literally no reaction from him except the occasional "whatevs" followed by "what do you want to eat for dinner?", after realising how truly insignificant it all was, I've learned to not give a shit.

    As far as jealous people are concerned, I feel that jealousy is one emotion that humans are too dumb to learn how to not display. Everyone recognises a jealous person within no time. But what do you do about them? If anything, you feel sorry for them because it sucks to feel jealous. I know this because like all other human beings, I've also experienced jealousy and it's the worst thing to experience. But if a jealous person tries to be mean to me, I just stay clear of them and continue doing whatever it is that's making them jealous in the first place. Mostly because it's funny (and I'm a petty human being) but also because eliciting a strong reaction of that kind from someone is only a confirmation that I'm doing something right. Something they themselves want to do.

  13. Who is your role model?

    For whatever reason, I don't have a role model. And I've never had one. I admire a lot of people, I look up to them all, but there's no one I want to become or be like. I've always been my own person and in everything I do, I try to just be my true self.

  14. How do you maintain your skin and physique? Were you beauty conscious from childhood? Who is your beauty guru?

    I've talked about my skin care routine in December's QnA (Question 12). As far as my physique is concerned, I've always been petite. Going to dance classes from the age of 8 seemed to have helped and also the fact that I'm a poor eater makes me not have to painstakingly control my diet. But I workout a minimum of three times a week for my stamina and overall health.

    I don't have a beauty guru but I've been into skin care and beauty from the time I was young. I always enjoyed reading up extensively on the topic and researching new brands and products.

  15. Is there a book that you think everyone should read?

    Yes. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a book that I was late to pick up. But I believe that if there's a book everyone should read, it's that one. The way in which the character of the protagonist is developed is incomparable to any other work I've ever come across. When I finished that book, I sat at my seat for some time, unable to believe what I'd just read. Not that I hadn't seen it coming, but the way in which it was executed is something you'll appreciate only when you read it.

  16. Ever been to Aberdeen? My grandmother was from that area. Would like to visit but the trip is expensive.

    We haven't been to Aberdeen yet but it's on our list. In fact, we might visit this year.

  17. Do you believe in love at first sight?

    I understand being physically attracted to another human being "at first sight" but most of the time, these attractive human beings make the mistake of opening their mouths and forming words with them. That's when they stop being attractive.

    But I don't get how you can fall in love with someone by just laying your eyes on them. That's a whole load of crap. At least, I wouldn't be able to do it.

  18. What's your biggest fear in life?

    Losing the people I love...to death (if that wasn't clear). Including myself. I'm incapable of picturing what my life would look like in more than 6 to 8 months in the future. And in that short span, I'm incapable of picturing it without the people I love and care for. I'm physically incapable of bringing myself to even casually think about a loved one's (or my own) demise. But strangely enough, I have a mental picture of me and Shane at 70, hugging in a green park with little dogs running around in the background. That's how I picture my old age and that's the only future plan I have.

  19. With everything that's going on in your life right now, do you feel a little overwhelmed like there's too much on your plate?

    Honestly, no. If anything, I want to do more. I'm in a good place now and I'd be willing to take on more projects. Everything I'm doing right now is a lot of fun. These are things I sacrifice my sleep for and I do it willingly, happily and excitedly. Moreover, I don't do any of it on my own. Luckily enough, the people I work and interact with on a daily basis have wayyyy more on their plates but they never stop giving their 100%. I think that's all the motivation you need to keep going. Also, if I didn't enjoy something or if things got too much, I would totally just stop. I couldn't bring myself to waste my energy on anything that made me miserable.

  20. If you could go back in time and change something about your life (something bad that happened and you had no control over), what would it be?

    I wouldn't change a thing, especially the bad circumstances that I had no control over. Because those are the things that brought me here. Those are the experiences that shaped me into the person I am today. And there's not a single thing about my current state that I'd want to change. Hence, I wouldn't change anything that got me to this stage.


I want to give a special shoutout to Surya Surendran for sending me a list of 15 questions. I'm sorry I could answer only a few of them because otherwise, this post would have been too long. But I've answered most of them here and here :)

Hope you enjoyed this QnA! If you have any questions for next month, you can send them to my email or DM me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter

See you tomorrow!