Magic Moments

Siddharth rested his head on the steering wheel. Three meetings in a single day was too hectic for him. Now the damn Bangalore traffic wouldn't let him reach home. Ruhi must be waiting for him, his loving daughter. After two long hours Siddharth finally reached home. Ruhi came running towards him in her baby feet. ‘Papa…papapa…’the two and a half year old sang. He lifted her into his arms and magically the whole day’s exhaustion vanished. ‘O, my little princess, give me a kissie,’ he said pointing to his cheek. The little one was too happy to oblige. ‘Aw, it hurt…’ she said, hands on her lips. ‘Oh, sorry, papa has forgotten to shave,’ Siddharth touched his ears. The smiling face returned, Ruhi laughed. Next morning, Ruhi was early at the breakfast table. She sat on the table at the centre, and everyone sat around her, taking a morning kissie from her in turns, as if a ritual. She was everyone’s darling. But when her doting father’s turn came, Ruhi cried, ’Aw, it hur...

A normal day starts with the ring of the double alarm set in my mobile, which I first set to ‘snooze’ and wake up with a lot of effort on the second ring. Half an hour later I settle down in my corner of the bed with my usual mug of hot beverage, most of the times it is Horlicks and tea/ green tea, coffee occasionally. I am trying to cut down my caffeine intakes. I love sipping these lazily while reading emails, replying to Whatsapp messages, looking through my Facebook newsfeed, or just browsing through the net about a certain object that must have piqued my curiosity somehow. If not any of these, I just read a few pages of a novel, reclining on the wall near the window. Mornings are the best time of the day. I love this routine. I am currently reading ‘Norwegian Wood’ by Haruki Murakami . About 100 pages through, it is now a bit melancholic, sad. He describes everything as if it is the most natural and usual thing in the world- even death. I mean, yes it is, yet he doesn’t pre...

I received the book ‘Supertraits of Superstars- Success stories of Bollywood’s Biggest’ by Priyanka Sinha Jha, from the author through The Tales Pensieve Book Review Program. Inspiration and motivation come wherever we seek them from. Like the lives of great personalities from world history and polity, lives of our own Bollywood stars can inspire us too. Author Priyanka Sinha Jha has compiled mini-biographies of eleven stars of Bollywood, highlighting their unique traits and strengths that make them what they are. Some of them are superstars in the pinnacle of their success still working and enjoying the fruit of labour, still pushing their limits saying learning is a continuous process. Some of them are the game-changers, making the assumed impossible finally possible through their constant efforts and risk taking attitudes. The author has focused on their early life, struggle, accomplishments, achievements and what we readers can learn from it and inculcate in our lives. A...

Today’s the last day of The Write Tribe  Festival of Words, I’m taking part in. The last writing prompt is ‘Dreams’. Taking part in it has been a wholesome experience. Churning out new ideas for the different posts, struggling to make the creative juices flow, and reading the other blogs- it was quite a learning time. I hadn’t been this creative for months. I give my thanks to ‘Write Tribe’ and all the bloggers who took part. I have blogged about dreams earlier too. You can read it here: Follow Your Dreams . Dreams are very mysterious things. More like the soul, the actual identity of dreams is unknown. Where the consciousness goes and where the mind wanders when we are in sleep dreaming, is still a big question. Is it some corner of our brain or some other unexplored dimension outside our body? This continues to be an enigma. The very idea of our soul leaving the body while we are dreaming, and visiting unchartered lands, is quite fascinating though, even...

This review is written as a part of the  Crazy Bookworm 's book reviewing program. It is the hilarious story of Jazzy aka Jasmine T. Peacock, and the more hilarious people surrounding her. Starting from her best friend Serai who wants to avoid marrying to anyone on ‘Craigslist’, to Jazzy’s mother who goes spying about on her neighbors day in day out, to the neighbour who offers Jazzy some yucky looking cabbage soup every day, the book is full of funny characters. There’s Aunt Cleotha who clutches her pearls in every sentence of anxiety and hysteria, baby Jordan who is a hell to manage, and rival Mercedes who though on the revenge list, is no less comic. There’s comedy full on and laugh out loud moments in each page. One can’t help but burst into loud heehaws clutching the stomach at certain times- especially Jazzy’s advice blog posts and replies to the customer-problems. Those are uproarious to the core. And the best part is, it’s not just a jotting of e...

   a story of friendship, passion for research, a life cut short  There are several quotes in this book that touched me, held true, audaciously. The cover is beautiful – and was the first thing that drew me to this novel. Next was the blurb – a female friendship, one of them missing in the Himalayas, societal expectations and female angst/rage. It is a novel of self-reflection, of friendship, of male chauvinism, and a search for explanation to the mystery. At 25 pages mark I wanted to write pages on my life and my best friend. I didn’t, except annotate at places, and kept reading. It is divided into 3 parts – Mansi’s POV, Bhaskar’s and Tara’s POV. Tara is missing for weeks, and Mansi finally gathers courage to leave her life with her husband, in laws, work – taking a short sabbatical – to trace Tara’s whereabouts, if not for a glimmer of hope for her survival, for absolution of her own guilt. She shuts herself for days in Jora, spacing out watching the TV, and sleeping in...

The Book Blurb: “Ready to travel to Pakistan, London, Nepal, China, New York, India, in one single book? With 11 stories encompassing 11 major events of the last decade, this anthology is a concoction of tragedy, romance, mystery and thriller, brewed to perfection to ensure a nail biting experience. Reminisce and relish the events which shook the world. Breathe the freshness of past, dive into the reasons that shaped the world as it is now, walk through your bygone times, fly across the continents marking your longest journey ever- for you hold the Time’s Lost Atlas in your hand.” My thoughts: The name of the book speaks of something lost in time, or of some things perhaps forgotten. It is the debut book by the Half Baked Beans Publishing. I like this name. ‘Half Baked Beans’- to me it means something that’s in process, midway in the journey of ‘baking’, not accomplished yet aspiring. Many thanks to Namrata for introducing me to this wonderful collection of short ...