A Dragon-Filled Wish

“That’s how the dragon and the cub became best of friends and lived happily ever after.” The king lion completed the ritual bed-time story and closed the book.

“Dad! I too want a fire-breathing dragon as a best friend!” Narhari, the 8-year old prince of the WonderLand, wailed.

Christmas Cheer!

Source: www.flickr.com

As my blog already says, I am proudly a part of IndiBlogeshwaris group. Those of you who don’t know what the group is about, let me give you some information. We are a group of spunky ladies who love to chatter about various topics, including shopping, culture, arts and what not. You name it and we discuss it. Fun, isn’t it?

Friends Forever

Afreen was in full panic mode. What was she thinking while saying yes to a date with Ratish? Was she out of her mind? She didn’t even have a single dress in her wardrobe. All she had were jeans and sweatshirts! What will she wear? And what about her hair? She can’t even remember when she had had her last haircut. Oh God, what a messy situation it was.

Marriage Of Convenience

When I was in school, life was definitely lot easier than today. Although there was no Google to help in school homework, we actually had good pen and paper to write. We didn’t need to charge the pen or worry about our written words getting lost just because we ran out of ink or because our pen crashed. However, that wonderful life ended with the start of the college life.

Source: www.flickr.com

From the first year itself, we were asked to write projects in computers. Although my friends were happy that they wouldn’t need to write out 4000-5000 words project, I wasn’t. I was deeply in love with my books and pen. I don’t know why but computers and I never got along from the very beginning (we were introduced in my 5th grade). Many times I have smashed the keys of the keyboard out of frustration and many times the computer has eaten away thousands of my words without an ounce of remorse. It was an all out war for us.

Ekana And The Witch!

In a land named Candor, there lived a boy named Ekana. He was very naughty and mischievous, and would often land into trouble due to his antics. Although his parents loved him to bits, they would punish him for his pranks in the hope of reforming him into a wise boy. His punishments would range from washing off his own socks to writing down “I won’t harass anybody again” 100 times to helping his mother clean the dishes.

Book Review: Chakra

Book Title: Chakra
Author: Ritu Lalit
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Price: Rs. 245 (On the book cover)

Synopsis (On the back of the cover)

The Japas are a race so secretive that their existence is dismissed as a myth. Tales of them abound in our mythology, telling of these men and women, possessing physical abilities beyond belief, playing with elements, with the power to curse and cure. They exist among us, mingle with us, ride our metros, visit our malls, and even go to the same schools and colleges as us.

Parineeta Mohan is a powerful Japni who has turned her back on The Witch Way. She has even brought up her niece and nephew as ordinary people, unaware of their heritage.

Review For AmbiPur Sweet Citrus & Zest Aerosol Air Freshener

As many of you already know, I am not a huge fan of perfumes, especially the flowery ones. So when Indiblogger hosted a giveaway for new Ambi Pur Air Freshener Mini Vent Clip and freshner, I was quite skeptical about it. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to put up with that “flowery smell” in my car and home, even for few days. However, my bro loves air fresheners. In fact, he refuses to be in the car that doesn’t have air fresheners and hates to be in the AC room without spraying room freshner (I know that’s too much but I flatly refuse to discuss his obsession with him).

Decisions

Source: www.flickr.com

Every now and then we come across forks on the road of life that confuse us as well as dazzle us. We aren’t sure which path to choose and what decisions to take. I have written few lines on those decisions for my very good friend, Snuffles Jay. 

To check out my few lines, please click below:

http://meowconnect.blogspot.in/2013/11/decisions.html

Do you have any thoughts about the same? Please do share it with me.

Thank You!!!

This is the first time since my foray into the Blog-o-sphere I am writing a personal post. Even though I like to chatter with everyone, I am bit introvert and like to keep my personal thoughts to myself.

Children? Our future? Ha!

Every time I hear somebody saying “children are our future,” I always end up suppressing my urge to yell “really?” It’s not that I don’t actually believe children being our future; it’s just that I have hard time accepting that parents could be so careless about the upbringing of their children when they are clearly aware about how important their future is, important to them as parents as well as important to the country for the coming years.

A Ray Of Hope

It’s quite difficult to see your loved ones suffering, isn’t it? And when you multiply that trauma by 1000 times, you get an idea of parents' pain when they see their child suffering and fighting for life. Unfortunately, I got this chance to observe it from very close quarters. My elder sister, I call her Didi, was born healthy. She was as normal as any other kid. She used to run, climb trees and be nuisance in general.

However, everything changed when she turned 6.

Lazy Love

Once upon a time, there was an affluent kingdom known as Industrious Land. It was a very prosperous, rich empire, with subjects working for at least 16 hours. Although working for long hours was not compulsory, residents loved to toil; and their king was no sloucher too. He relentlessly worked along with his people. He would personally keep track of the health of his subjects, oversee the workings of farms and business, and in his spare time, he would keep on coming up with new schemes for the betterment of his people.

In that merry land of people, there lived a very very unhappy girl named Lali.

The Jacket

Rudra was chilled to his bones. In fact, he was even more chilled than the frosted chocolate ice-cream he was licking.

“You are so cold, even your hands are shaking. You should throw away the ice-cream and wrap yourself up properly in the jacket,” Anand was worried about his friend falling sick. If he caught cold, their camping sir would surely find that they had sneaked out of the camp in the late evening.

“Don’t worry. I won’t catch cold.” No way was Rudra going to give up his chocolate ice-cream, that too after taking so much risk in sneaking out of their camping ground.

I Walk

Photo Courtesy: i-am-jenius.deviantart.com

I walk a path without knowing the road,
Ignorant of where it will lead,
Oblivious to see what it will bring.

Book Review: Tuesdays With Morrie

Book Title: Tuesdays With Morrie

Author: Mitch Albom

Genre: Memoir (Non-Fiction)

Price: Rs. 295 (On the book cover)

Review

This book is the first non-fiction book that managed to hold my interest through the end. Usually, non-fictions irritate the hell out of me for they are full of advices on how you are supposed to live and how you are supposed to react to certain situations. Generally non-fictions are based on the criteria that history repeats itself and so you are supposed to behave in a certain way in a certain situation. But I don’t believe in that. In my opinion, every individual is different because they are shaped by the society they are living in and the varied experiences they have gone through. And hence, every individual behaves and reacts differently to the same situation, rendering those “advices” useless and worthless.

The Curse

“Tana, can you pull up the last bucket? My arms are aching.” Riri, thoroughly tired after pulling 7-8 buckets of water from the well, called out to her sister who was busy shifting water into different pots. Even though Tana immediately stopped what she was doing to help out her sister, Riri’s mood wasn’t improved. She was very well aware that they would have to carry back the pots to their home, which was nearly 2 kilometers afar.

In an effort to cheer up their morning chore, Riri started singing while shifting water.

Book Reviews

I am a big book worm. In literal sense. I don’t read books. I devour them and internalize them. I live with the protagonists of the stories, and die with them if required. Genres do not matter to me, unless they are non-fictional (there may be exceptions to it).

And this is not a new love of mine. Books are my old flame.

Betrayal

Oma’s feet were dunked in the pond that was settled in the middle of the wilderness. Fishes were playing near her feet. Every now and then they would nibble on her feet but she didn’t notice. She didn’t even notice that it was an extremely hot afternoon. Not a single leaf fluttered. Resident birds and monkeys were mute; it seemed they were contemplating about their survival in the face of harsh summer. Utter silence reigned over the forest. A shattered glass bottle was lying few feet away from Oma; the broken pieces dazzling like huge diamonds in the sunlight.

Weak & Stupid

Weak and stupid that I am,
I gave you the power to maim me,
A license to shatter my faith,
The might to make me question my beliefs.

If Only

If only I wasn’t expected to be a miracle,
Working out everyone’s wishes,
Fulfilling everyone’s dreams,
Foreseeing everyone’s problems.

Faith

She was so engrossed in perfecting her Santa Claus that the teacher had to call her twice. “Abha, come here.”

Carefully putting down her new crayons, Abha went to the teacher with dread. She knew she didn’t have a good track record with teachers and so every time one of them called her, she would sweat and worry.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Did you steal Nabh’s pencils?”

Love Me!!!

Annie Christian was late for work and that was a first for her. She was working for Cold Coffin Box service since last 3 years and she had never ever been late until now. Grumbling under her breath, she hurried to her desk. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall behind her desk. It was 5 past 10 pm. She was late by 5 minutes due to that bloody bus. Why couldn’t the bus arrive at time for once? Was it too much to expect? Usually she used to start for work at 8 pm, quite ahead of time given the distance between her home and the morgue because she simply hated being tardy. However, today she couldn’t escape from home at time due to the unexpected arrival of guests.

Bloody morons! All of them were stupid. Just because they looked good, they thought they owned the world. How much more moronic you can get by thinking like that?

Dreadful Dream

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was standing in the middle of the white earth. Everywhere there was snow: the plain unleveled ground was white, the mountains were white and even the sky seemed white. And where were the trees? I have never ever seen a single place without a tree. Come to think of it, I have ever seen a single flake of snow in my life, let alone a snow sphere like this one.

Ah! How bright it is! Where are my sunglasses? I started patting my woolen overcoat and trousers to look for them. Where could I have placed them? Of course I must have them with me given my intense aversion to such blazing daylight. Crap! I don’t seem to have them with me.

Be Gritty!

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” -  Ralph Waldo Emerson

I strongly believe in this quote. No matter how many failures I taste and how many downfalls I experience, I always want to do what I want to. I really don’t give a fig if others think I am a fool as I believe in walking my own path. And yes, I have been called mule headed many times for this trait of mine, and still, I carry on what I do. I know, it’s irritating for others but then what to do? You can’t live your life the way others want you to, can you? When I see this trait in others, I get deeply impressed. And multiply that awe by 10 times when I see a lady doing that.

So when I read about Shaifali Agarwal, CEO of EASYFix, I was more than impressed.

Mistakes

Mistakes are mine to make,
Not yours to decide.
No matter how acrid they are,

They are mine to savor.

Smelly Smell

Women love the smell of flowers, men love the smell of 50 year-old whiskey, and children love the smell of fresh rain on the mud. Although it sounds simple, is it so? Is each and every woman supposed to love the smell of flowers? What if she doesn’t like it? Take my example. I not only hate flowers but I hate their smell too. Unfortunately for me, the deodorant and perfume companies simply fail to grasp the fact that women love other smells too apart from flowers. Every time I need to buy a deodorant, I want to weep.

As soon as I enter the perfume/deodorant section of any mall, a salesman/woman will drag me to the women’s section and will start showing off their cloying fragrances to me. Usually, I just get disgusted and walk away in huff, only to barge into the men’s section.

My Work: My Art

“Achla, you do remember today is the D-day, don’t you?” Kalini asked her excitedly, practically bouncing up and down.

“Yeah, I do.” How could Achla forget this day when she had been waiting for it since last one month? And she hadn’t just “waited” for this day; she had practically started living for this day since last couple of weeks.

“So do you know at what time the results are going to be declared?” Kalini asked her.

“No, I don’t know that but are you anticipating to win?”

Stuff Your Comments!

We are humans and so we have got a brain that works. Yes, it thinks and ponders whenever we read something, listen to something or talk with someone. Quite interesting, isn’t it? Whenever we read something, knowingly or unknowingly, our brain does go into a trance to understand the concept behind the written piece and its implications. We would also like to discuss our thoughts on that piece with the author and other readers if possible. I am all for it, and I believe others will agree with me too.

So what’s the problem?

Big Dreams

Since childhood we are told to not to dream with open eyes because usually those dreams remain just that. Dreams. Not reality. However, this is the story of a man who not only dared to dream when everybody told him not to but who spent his entire life molding that dream into a reality. This was a man who was born in ordinary situation with extraordinary dreams. 

Anuraag was the 5^th child of a small-time teacher in a tiny village. He had 3 elder sisters, 1 elder brother and 1 younger brother.

‘I killed 8 girl children’

Yes, this is straight from the mouth of a mother: a mother who was supposed to protect her children, a mother who was supposed to stand before death to defend her children, a mother who was supposed to be the God for her children. But alas this God discriminated against her own children simply because they were girls; she couldn’t stand her own blood when it took a form of a baby girl. This mother, who belongs to the rural South India, killed not one, not two but eight – yes eight – baby girls of hers.

Power Play

Warning: This is a short story about sex, money and power. If you are below 18 or you are sensitive toward these concepts, please do not continue to read.

My hands were shaking and palms were sweating. Every now and then, I was rubbing them against my demure black-colored formal skirt to make sure they wouldn’t feel damp when I shake my hands with Mrs. Seema Sharma, CEO of Beautiful You Magazine. Just then Mrs. Angela D’Souza, secretary of Mrs. Sharma, approached me. “Mrs. Sharma is ready to meet you. Please go in straight.”

“Yes, thank you Mrs. D’Souza.” I winced when I heard the tremor in my voice. Apparently, Mrs. D’Souza heard it too and recognized it for what it was because she gave me the most sympathetic smile, the kind that we generally reserve for the poorest of the poor. I returned her smile with a quivering heart and walked toward the cabin door with as much confidence as I could muster.

Shoes

PADE “Shoes”

Since the day they were invented, shoes have been boon and bane of any female’s life. You don’t believe me? Just ask your sister/mother/wife about it and see their reaction. We females simply adore beautiful shoes even when we find them extremely uncomfortable to wear. For those beautiful shoes, we put up with shoe bites, cramped muscles and what not.

Word

PADE “Word”

A word is enough to break your heart or make your life. It can bring joy to your world or can shove you into the deep ravines of gloom and doom. And who knows the power of a word better than a reader? First and foremost I am a reader and then a writer (I would like to think so! Just don’t burst my bubble over here :P).

Window!

PADE "Window"

No matter how much you like to travel around the world, home always holds that special place in your heart. Be it a long day at work or a day out shopping and hanging around, nothing is as soothing as your home. And just imagining having your hearth in the middle of the mother nature. Ah, a piece of heaven!

Layers

PADE Day 6 "Layers"

As soon as monsoon arrives, people can’t think beyond hot, roasted corn on cob smothered with chat masala, lemon and black salt. And I am no different from everybody else. Just yesterday when it was raining cats and dogs, I had to go out and buy corn.

Fresh

PADE Day 5 "Fresh"

The moment you touched me, I was captivated and intoxicated;
The moment you touched me, all my yearnings and longings were answered;
The moment you touched me, I shed away my despair and gloom.

Distance

PADE Day 4 "Distance"

For me, the concept of distance is quite fascinating. I firmly believe each one of us has goals in our lives, either materialistic or emotional. We spend every moment, every juncture of our life to cross the distance toward that goal. And many times, the goal doesn’t matter. The journey matters.

Candle

PADE Day 3 "Candles"

Since I was a kid, I have been told by my elders to live a life like that of a candle. A candle that sacrifices itself to give light to others; a candle that endures loss to show the right path to the lost traveler in the darkness.

Books!

PADE Day 2 "Books"

Books, ah! What to say about books? Books are not just merely paper, ink and glue. They are much more than that. They are a world in itself. When you read a book, you leave behind your mundane problems, shallow joys and petty goals to enter a whole-new world wherein your imagination soars, your soul rejoices and your faith recuperates.

Waterfall

PADE Day 1 "Alone"

I encountered this beautiful waterfall when I was going to Badrinath, Uttrakhand, couple of years back. I visited the shrine in August, just after the Monsoon season. Everywhere I could see beautiful waterfalls, green rolling hills and disastrous landslides. There’s not much of economic development and most of the economy depends on the tourism. When you are stuck over here, which you invariably do at one point or the other, you realize how helpless humans are before the nature.

Cheesy Cheeriness

There’s a very famous proverb – “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In simple words, it means that if you are determined to do something, you will be able to do it. That’s good, isn’t it? Because if this saying is true, I will be the most powerful woman on this earth whenever I wish to be so. I just need to decide upon it and work toward it. That’s all good and fine, but then what’s my problem? Or do I have a problem?

A Kiss of Death

***This post is part of the Indifiction Workshop and is written based on the plot given by Jayashree Srivastan. You can also find the below post in the Indifcition website here.***

Thud!

Phew, Munna did manage to break the lock at last. I never thought he was going to do it. He had said that he will break the lock in 5 minutes flat and given his track record of past few years, I, like a fool, believed him. Silly me. Just because he had managed to break locks of numerous homes and lockers in seconds didn’t make him a master, no matter how much he liked to think so.

“Raja, my work is done. Now you open this door. I am not going to open it.”

A Date With Iron Man

Well, to say that I am lazy would be an understatement. If I can help it, I wouldn’t move an inch from my bed on weekends, let alone cook for anybody else. Whosoever wants to have food, they can either cook themselves or they can order a home delivery; and while they are doing that, they are free to add my share too. Of course, not cooking doesn’t mean not eating, does it?

You Were The One…

You were the one to bring me in this world,
You were the one to show me the colors of life,
You were the one who taught me to ride bicycle,
You were the one who sheltered me from the world.

A Spooky Spell

Poof! 

Holy crap! Where am I? How did I reach here? Just a few minutes back I was cleaning an old lamp that I had found in a roadside antique shop and now suddenly this? A beach! Of all the places to land, how can I end up here? The sound of gurgling waves, the wet sand and the humidity in the air was enough to drive any sane person stir crazy. And I still have a cleaning rag in one hand but where did the lamp go? Oh God, what a mess! I am sure if anything goes wrong mom is going to blame me.

Sari-clad Soldiers

Men are trained to be soldiers. Women are born as soldiers. Why so? Because, for a woman, the fight for survival starts from the moment she draws her first breath. If she’s unlucky enough, she won’t even complete one day on this earth with her father, uncles and brothers clamoring to kill her. And if she survives against these odds, a tale of sacrifice will ensue for her.

Broken But Alive!

I am broken but alive,
Living and breathing,
Not cold and dead.
I may be beaten, but still I will fight,
I may yield but still I will stand straight, 

Second Chances

Seema couldn’t make herself move. Her baby, Smruti, was lying on the hospital bed, fighting for her life. How can she leave her baby to fight alone when she was the one to bring her in this world in the first place? She didn’t want to listen to her husband, Manoj, who was trying to convince her to go home and get rest for few hours. It’s wasn’t as if she didn’t trust Manoj, but how can he understand what pain Smruti was going through when he didn’t carry her inside his body for nine months. Every time Smruti struggled to breathe, Seema fought to control the turbulent emotions ransacking her body. No matter what, she was going to stay strong. She won’t give in to despair. If she moved away from the bed, Smruti might sense that her mother was not there and she might feel alone. And come hell or high water, Seema wasn’t going to leave her baby at the mercy of those dark shadows.

 She still could see Smruti, her 11 year old baby, giggling and playing in the backyard with her favorite doll, climbing over the mango tree to reach the top branch and running around the flower bed to catch those elusive butterflies.

Corporate Combat

Ria was terror stricken. She had a meeting with the HR head regarding her alleged affair with the head of M&A. Although that was true, Ria wondered how did HR knew about it. Both she and Deepak had gone to great lengths to conceal their relationship as it was against the company policy.

My Constant Companion!

Everybody needs a constant companion in their life. Sometimes that companion is a friend, sibling or a life partner. You count on that companion to be there for you, no matter what time or day it is. You count on that companion to support you, to take away your pains, to replace the gloom on your face with a dazzling smile. I too have such a companion – MY books. My first and foremost love.

I started reading books as soon as I learnt how to (but to my mother’s horror, I never read study books).

Horribly Delicious Summer

O Summer, how I love to hate you!
Those fresh clothes getting sticky,
Clad in fashionable jeans but still feeling icky,
No matter what time always looking for cool rickey,
O Summer, how I love to hate you!

Did Sarabjit Singh deserve to die like this?

Today, Sarabjit Singh’s death is mourned by every Indian. Why? Because most of the Indians believe he was an innocent man. I don’t know what the truth is but there are many abnormalities in the case, which forces each one of us to think whether he deserved to die like this?

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Whosoever said this knew what (s)he is talking about. Many of us treasure photographs, especially the older ones. For obvious reason — memories. Memories that can bring joy on our faces in the midst of despair, memories that can instill hope in us when we’re heartbroken. This photograph is one such photo of my bro and I. Of course, I am the one in that pretty blue-and-white frock, and my dear bewildered bro is beside me in black.

Even though we are not Christians, we used to love Christmas time. Every evening, starting from Christmas until New Year Eve, my poor dad had to take us out to see lightings and Santa Clauses scattered all over Ahmedabad.

If David loves John, what is your problem?

Recently I was trolling blogs in IndiVine. I was scrolling across the most popular blogs under the social issues and I came across the issue of being gay. The blogger (I don’t want to take names as that doesn’t serve any kind of purpose) was thrashing out gays left and right and it was promoted by nearly 150 bloggers. This led me to thinking how many people in India really know about gays? Do they have enough knowledge to take a stand on such an issue? In this blog, I am going to address each and every aspect that was raised by that blogger.

First of all, being gay doesn’t impact the sex ratio of the population.

Why aren’t women respected?

This question is haunting me day and night since I read about the rape of a 5-year old girl child. I couldn’t sleep or sit in peace until I took up some time to just ponder upon it. When a 23-year old student was raped in Delhi last December, protests were held, laws were changed and women all over the country were given the assurance that the country will become a better place for them. All those meaningless actions were taken to placate the public, specifically women activists.

In the past, when a woman was raped, it was said again and again that she brought it unto herself by dressing provocatively and by behaving shamelessly (God only know what those people meant by making such ridiculous statements). Now I have one question. How did that five-year old provoked that man to kidnap and rape her? I wonder how can a man lust after a 5-year old kid? Or is that a psychological problem? In fact, is raping of women just a case of lust and not more than that? Isn’t an ultimate goal of raping a woman humiliation? Isn’t it a mentality to teach her a lesson for having the temerity to stand for something? Isn’t it a way of men showing women that no matter how educated they become, how independent they become, they will be always helpless against a man?

An Unexpected Date with Lions

This last Sunday is going down as my most memorable Sunday in a long while. When I woke up in the morning in my usual grumpy mood, I was planning to do nothing more strenuous than being a couch potato and watch TV. Just imagine sitting in front of a 42-inch idiot box with a tub of chocolate chip ice-cream. Ummm…. Anyway, I was looking forward to surfing the cable and watching Happy Feet 2 on HBO in the evening. Great plans, weren’t they? But alas, God had other plans for me that I wasn’t aware of. Better plans that now I am dying to share with you guys.

Grapes are sour, aren’t they!

Few days back, I came to know that one of my ex-colleagues (or more of my former competitor) was doing very well in her career. I had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, I was angry and frustrated that how can she succeed when she has so many shortcomings; and on the other hand, I wanted to admire her for whatever she has achieved until now. The same was the topic of discussion with my one of my friends when we met for coffee the other day. We started debating on whether whatever’s happening in her life is good or not (of course, we didn’t have anything better to do than to bitch about some mutual acquaintance).
 

Before I go further onto the point of debate, let me give you some background about my former colleague.

It's all about loving yourself!

Day in and day out, we complain about the injustices inflicted upon us by various parties — be it family members, friends, colleagues, bosses and even a traffic cop. What are these injustices? Are they real? Or are they simply perceived by us because we are not getting our own way?

They might be both, but the end result is the same — you are unhappy.

Whenever we feel unhappy, we try to find reasons for it.

Innocence

Few days back, I went out for dinner with my family. While we were waiting for our order, my brother started eating raw onions and seeing this, I became a little bit nostalgic. When I was a kid, whenever we went out for dinner and waited for our order, my dad would start eating raw onions in the similar fashion and I used to be so damn impressed by the act that I wouldn’t even dare to blink for the fear of losing out on a monumental moment. I can still clearly remember those feeling of awe and pride for my dad.

Today, I think it would take much more than eating raw onions to impress me.