On A Writing Spree...

I have been bitten by the writing bug and churned out a couple of short stories. Now the thing with writing fiction is that I am never happy with my short stories. Maybe I have read too many short stories of O. Henry . Even while reading the short stories on other blogs, I am always thinking about what the twist would be. Oh well, I guess I haven't found my way around the pen(or keyboard) yet. Until then, I will have to bide my time.

A Time To Remember...

He: Happy Birthday!

She: You remembered? I thought now you won't remember my birthday.

He: Why wouldn't I? Just because I am gone, it doesn't mean that I have broken all ties with my family. I never did say sorry to you for going away. I know I promised never to leave, but I broke that promise.

Click here to read more.

Forgiveness Is Divine...

Raj: "I am sorry. Please forgive me. It was a big mistake, and it will never happen again."

Sia: "I can never trust you again. I may forgive you, but I don't know if I can ever forget what you did!"

Click here to read more.

Killing Me Softly...

He: "I am so sorry honey. I promise that was the last time. I will not touch a drop of liquor. And never ever will I harm you again!"

She: "It's just a small bruise. But I am so happy about your promise. I know things will get better once you quit drinking."

Click here to read more.

Read more...

Beating The Blues...

Since I have been struck by a very severe bout of Blues for quite some time, I thought why not turn it into a post. (A question to fellow bloggers: Is it just me or do you look for material in everything since you started blogging?)

Fortunately/Unfortunately the weather is just adding to my current mood. It's dull and cloudy and starts raining just when I am about to leave for office. The budget promises no miracles (at least for me). There may be no increments this year. Rakhi Sawant is back on T.V. as a coy, blushing bride-to-be (I am absolutely ashamed to admit that I watched 1-2 episodes of the show, but I have sworn not watch any more!). Ok, so I admit that the above reasons have got nothing to do with my mood. But they will have to do for this post.

I don't know about everyone but I follow a pattern when I am down in the dumps. And I also have a dos/don'ts list to last me through these troubled times.

• Throw out the sad songs of Kishore Kumar

All you Kishore Kumar fans, before you get ready to lynch me, hear me out. I have never understood the logic of listening to sad songs when you are already in a sad mood. If nothing, these songs just make me cry. So, I scroll through my play-list in search of all the item numbers and disco songs. One of my favourites is this one: "Mummy ko nahi hai pata" A friend and I used to play this song when we had to work on Saturday or when we were in a grouchy mood, and laugh at the ridiculous lyrics of this song.

• Stay away from tear-jerkers

Same logic as with the above point. Sci-fi/horror/comedy, anything will work. So I ended up watching The Dark Knight (Is it too late to marvel at the Joker's performance?), Shawshank Redemption (Almost everyone I know keeps on going on and on about this movie), The Others (Only the twist was good, the whole movie was a bore), Chandni Chowk To China (But only for 5 minutes,Akki's movies are becoming more and more senseless)

• Stock up on Moov/Iodex

They really come in handy after every inch of my body starts aching because of too much exercise. I love walking and used to go for a walk whenever I had too much on my mind. But ever since moving to Mumbai, walks are restricted to the treadmill. So, I am always saying to myself "2 more minutes","5 more crunches","2 more laps" till I am about to pass out.

• Shake a leg

Well dancing does help. But for me shaking a leg is more of restless fidgeting. Even on normal days, I tend to fidget a lot, but on the days I am bluesy, it becomes more pronounced. So, I will never need to buy the
morning walker!!! That's good, isn't it?

• Go on a binge

Which can be smoking/drinking/eating. The first two options don't count in my case. And as far as eating is concerned, I tend to go the opposite way. If only I had a tendency to binge, I would have crossed the 50kg mark long back. But unfortunately/fortunately, I had to eat my way through for so many years to cross that mark.

P.S. The list is not complete. That's deliberate coz I wanna hear from you what you do when you are down. Oh and please write about doable stuff.Don't write about stuff like; Go on a trip to Himalayas, or something like
that.

Read more...

Questions Questions...

I was tagged by Shankar for the Questions tag. So here goes...

When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
A: Nothing, I am totally blanked out these days

Q: How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
A: I generally don't have a clue as to how much cash I am carrying. There must 500-800 bucks in my wallet right now.

Q: What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
A: Four.

Q: What is your favourite ring tone on your phone?
A: I generally keep my phone on silent or vibration mode. In any case, the ring tone I have is a standard one, nothing fancy.

Q: Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
A: No one, I delete the list quite often.

Q: What are you wearing right now?
A: T-shirt and track pants.

Q: Do you label yourself?
A: I do, there are too many labels I have given myself, and even more that others have given me. The labels are beginning to hurt now, I didn't seem to mind them so much earlier.

Q: Name the brand of the shoes you currently own?
A: Reebok

Q: Bright or Dark Room?
A: Depends on what I am doing at the moment. How can you sleep in a bright room or study in a dark one...

Q: What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
A: Hmmm, don't really know Shankar that well to comment

Q: What does your watch look like?
A: Which watch are you talking about? :-) I have a thing for men's watches, own two of them. The other two are feminine ones.

Q: What were you doing at midnight last night?
A: Couldn't get any sleep. So started studying for a banking exam, so that I get bored and drowsy.

Q: What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
A: It was from a friend who had sent a reminder so that people don't forget to wish him on his birthday

Q: What’s a word that you say a lot?
A: "Hmmmm" It's a word which I use a lot while chatting

Q: Who told you he/she loved you last? (Please exclude spouse , family, children)
A: It's been a while since someone told me that.

Q: Last furry thing you touched?
A: Not really fond of furry creatures, animate or inanimate kinds.

Q: Favourite age you have been so far?
A: 22-24

Q: What was the last thing you said to someone?
A: Don't say that I am jinxed...to a friend

Q: The last song you listened to?
A: Kitni Baatein from Lakshya

Q: Where did you live in 1987?
A: I think I was in Baroda at that time. Not sure.

Q: Are you jealous of anyone?
A: Nope, not really

Q: Is anyone jealous of you?
A: No idea

Q: Name three things that you have on you at all times?
A: My cellphone, wallet, keys to my home/two-wheeler and a whole bunch of other stuff. Good thing the question only asks for three.

Q: What’s your favourite town/city?
A: No favourites, I had some good/bad moments in all the cities I have lived in.

Q: When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
A: I really can't remember!!! It must have been a greeting card to my cousin on his birthday years ago.

Q: Can you change the oil on a car?
A: Where does the oil go in a car?? :-)

Q: Your first love/big crush: what is the last thing you heard about him/her?
A: I can't even remember who my first love/big crush was,so no question of keeping tabs on him.

Q: Does anything hurt on your body right now?
A: Yea my eyes are hurting a lot :-(

Q: What is your current desktop picture?
A: Standard Windows one

Q: Have you been burnt by love?
A: Hmmm, yes.

Well, this was an easy one.

Read more...

The 15 Books Tag

I have been tagged by Shankar for the 15 books tag. This is my first tag. Yippee :-). And it couldn't have come at a better time. Coz I have been too pre-occupied with other stuff, to write a post. So here's some fodder for my blog...

The rules are: "Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag up to 15 friends, including me because I'm interested in seeing what books my friends choose."

So here goes my list of 15 books...in a random order coz I cannot rank them down.

1. Folk Tales From Soviet Union Series (Author Various)

Apart from reading Indian folk tales and the Western fairy tales, I also loved reading the folk tales in this series. It transported me to a land of tsars, tsarinas, dragons, fair maids, giant talking crows, fire-birds. It was absolutely fun reading the stories as a kid.

2. Great Expectations (Author Charles Dickens)
Charles Dickens stories are a pleasure to read, albeit a bit sad. And this one was no exception.

3. Wuthering Heights (Author Emily Bronte)
One story that I wished I hadn't read the abridged version as a kid. So that's why I have managed to get my hands on an unabridged version and reading it again.

4. We The Living (Author Ayn Rand)
A book that I have listed almost everywhere amongst my favorites. I have always liked stories with strong female characters. And the hero of this story was also a female. One who was not afraid to follow her dreams. One who believed strongly in her love, to the extent of sacrificing everything for it. And in the end, left alone, and yet not giving up and moving ahead.

5. Doctors (Author Erich Segal)
Easy, breazy and light. The ending was a bit lame though.

6. Harry Potter Series (Author J.K. Rowling)
I am not ashamed to say that I have read the entire series, own all of the books, and still read them once in every few months. And thoroughly enjoyed all the make-believe stuff in them.

7. Kane And Abel (Author Jeffrey Archer)
Two men, alike in so many ways and yet so different. Hell-bent on destroying one another. A gripping story.Liked the sequel The Prodigal Daughter also.

8. How I Taught My Grandmother To Read And Other Stories (Author Sudha Murthy)
Simple and lovely short stories.

9. Oh Shit, Not Again (Author Mandar Kokate)
This book stays in my head, not because it's a fab one, but coz it's the worst one I ever read. I haven't seen any B-grade movie. And the closest that I have come to a B-grade book is at the book stalls near the Baroda railway station. But am sure, this book falls into the B-grade category.

10. Selected Works of O Henry
The original one who wrote such wonderful stories with a twist at the end. Probably, that's why one I read a story by another blogger or when I read the stories that I have written, the twist seems so tame and expected.

11. Sherlock Holmes (Author Arthur Conan Doyle)
Elementary My Dear Watson...If it was so elementary, wonder why Watson and others were never able to find all the clues. Watching the T.V. series was not as much fun and reading the stories, wondering how Holmes would solve the mystery.

12. A Thousand Splendid Suns (Author Khaled Hosseini)
A sad, sad state of affairs. After turning every page, I wished the suffering of the women would stop. But even though this is fiction, it is inspired by the truth. So, the suffering continues for a long time...

13. The Road (Author Cormac McCarthy)
Grey...that's the image that comes to my mind, when I recall this book. Grey and sad and scary, that's what the world is portrayed to be in this book, which is set in the future.

14. The Secret (Author Rhonda Byrne)
One book which has been lying in my closet for quite some time now, and which would be helpful to me in a lot of ways. Still not ready to read it yet.

15. Angels And Demons (Author Dan Brown)
Same setting as in the Da Vinci Code, a different city, a different enemy, a disappointing ending.

Well well, judging by the list above, I can safely conclude that I don't have a very great taste for literature. But that's ok. If I were reading to impress others, then I know that I wouldn't have been able to finish even a single book in my life.

I tag you all:Shankar, KParthasarathi, Arslan, Pawan ,195 Degrees

I wanna tag you Koyeli, but you seem to have vanished from the blogosphere. I haven't been able to access your profile for a while. And you too JD,but you seem to have given up on your blog.

Read more...

And Finally He Popped The Question...

Who did: Archie
To Whom: Veronica (At least that's what this cover Archie_Weds_Veronica? seems to indicate)

If you don't know who I am talking about, then obviously you have not read any of the Archie comics. I started reading Archie comics after I outgrew Tinkle, Chacha Chaudhary, Chandamama. I have rummaged through numerous raddiwala stalls in search of second-hand comics coz they were really expensive compared to the Indian ones; borrowed the comics from my younger cousin who's also bitten by the reading bug; and even sat in Crossword for hours reading the comics.

The buzz doing the rounds is that Archie is finally going to choose between Betty and Veronica. And rumors are that he is going to choose Veronica over Betty. Not surprisingly a lot of the readers are aghast over Archie's decision to choose the spoilt rich female instead of the goody-goody one. Geez, it's just a comic. Why trash our favourite comic book characters calling Archie a jerk, Veronica a snotty brat and Betty a doormat!

Which brings me to the question I had in my mind: Do nice girls finish last? I always thought that the opposite was true. I mean when it comes to dating, guys seem to like the wild chick, the wilder the better. But when it comes to settling down, it's mummy's choice. And in most cases, it's dead certain that mummy is not going to pick the girl who speaks her mind, who doesn't fit into the mould of the beautiful, obedient, docile wife/daughter-in-law. It's true of even females; we may fall for the tousle-haired, dreamy-eyed, guitar-wielding, poetry-spewing guy in our teens. But when we realize that he's not husband-material, we drop him in favor of the suited-booted guy with a steady 9-6 job. Is there any truth to the keep-your-guy-at-the-edge advice that mags like Cosmo seem to offer?Well, it certainly worked in Veronica's case, didn't it!

P.S. I think the cover is just a trick. The Archie-Betty-Veronica saga will probably end up in a filmy manner with Archie realizing his love for Betty at the last minute.

Read more...