Indelible Musings

To my love, It has been ages since we last met. Yet it seems only yesterday that we had walked hand in hand on the beach listening to the tides under the moon lit sky. I still remember the walk. We were meeting after almost a week. You had decided to surprise me with the news that I wish you had never told me. Yet, I feel glad you said it at the right moment. Was it really the right moment? I don't know whether it was the right moment or not. I have lost track of what exactly is the right moment. Don't fret over why I am bringing this topic up in a letter when all I could have done is just said it on your face. Probably, that would have made it easier for me to cope up with the circumstance. And, forever shutting you out of my memory. But, love is unfortunately such that neither lets me forget that right moment nor the other moments that we spend together in the span of six years. Six years. Long time, indeed. Remember, the first time we met? I detested you to the core. Bu...

Hi All,  It's been really long since I posted a book review. Though I had aimed at a 'book a weekend ', the  first book that am reviewing ended up being a 600-page novel and it was far from getting over by the weekend.  Blurb:  What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right? During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath. During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale. What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to? Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, Kate Atkinson finds warmth even in life’s bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability...

She was lying on the bed with her baby curled beside her. As the baby breastfed, her line of  thoughts waved from one thing to other. "Why are things like this?" "Am I really becoming an atheist?" "Will praying to God really solve my problem?"- her trail of thoughts broke as her child detached himself from her feed and slept off peacefully. She slowly tucked herself out of the bed and walked towards the hall.  Standing in front of the door that opened to the temple room in her house, she pondered whether to open or not. It had been months since she opened that door, lit a dia or agarbatti. Finally, she opened the door after much hesitation initially. She sat down to clean the floor that was filled with cobwebs and dirt, and the dried leaves of the flower that was last kept for performing the morning rituals. Having cleaned the floor and the shelf on which were kept frames of not one but several gods and godesses, she sat down with her hands perched togeth...

What is a clingy girlfriend?  A clingy girlfriend will go through your phone.  She will destroy the contact numbers of every other girl on your phone.  She will delete your Facebook profile.  And will give you forty-five missed calls in the sixty minutes you put your phone on silent for an office presentation.  A clingy girlfriend will say:  'Carry two sets of fully charged mobile batteries so you can be in touch with me. Always.'  'In my dream, you were flirting with some other girl and then ended up in bed. Dreams are a manifestation of some act that is carried out in daily life. Are you cheating on me?'  'You have issues. You need to get therapy. Are you cheating on me?'   And the worst one: 'Why aren't we married yet?' Obrokranti Banerjee's girlfriend ticks all of these and more. Caught between wanting to break up and the fear that he'll never find another girlfriend if he does, Obrokranti finds himself doing things he never imagine...

Source There was a lull all around. She could hear her heart beat. Beads of sweat were trickling down her forehead. She didn't know what was causing her to sweat so much when it was a perfect breezy night. She always slept near the window. That was her favorite place. It was there that she could dream, write, think, create and also sleep peacefully with the air breezing past her. Yet, she sweat a lot at the moment. She moved her hand over her body. Caressing herself, trying to calm her body down. What was causing the profuse sweat? She could feel her deep breathing.  She longed for HIM. She realized after all this while. It was that touch, from HIM, when he held her close enough; when their eyes spoke what their heart desired; when the slight bent over her lips made her draw close to him. That divine kiss, at least that's what it was for her. She missed his wilderness. What a fool she had been, to have run away as he kept kissing her, pushing her close to his body...

Source Life is a bliss. She presumed. Until she met her man. The man, who would do anything to make her smile. The man, who until they got married had always loved her through and through. The man, who seemed so different from what he had been when they started their courtship. The man was no longer her prince charming. But an animal looking to devour his catch. She detested him now, to the core. So much so that his mere presence made her feel devastated. Life was no longer a bed of roses. Life was more about the thorns. Thorns that poked her skin deep. Deeper than the void that the man had created with his presence in her life. 

Read the previous part of the story here Photographs of Shekhar, Tara, Cyrus, Jenny and Roohi were pinned on the green board that hung inside Java's office room. Java scratched his head hard to draw a connection between Naina's murder and the five people who were present on the fateful day at the Dutta's. "There's got to be something more here than what meets the eye," he thought. As he flustered with his pen in one hand and his eyes glued to the board scanning the people in front of him; one of his constables entered the room. "Sir, Your tea." "Keep it on the table." Just when the constable was about to head out, Java called him, "bring in the brown envelope that we discovered at Cyrus' home that day." As Java waited for the constable to return, his eyes now narrowed down to Shekhar's photo. "You better have a good reason for the evidence that I have else I shall make your life hell just as you tried doi...

Have you ever been in love? I am sure you have. Isn't that moment great? Your life takes a completely different turn, of course for better or worse that depends on how you wish to handle it. So, how does it feel to be with (wo)man of your dreams?  Ultimate. But what if you fall in love with someone whom you've never met only heard, have never touched but only heard, have never even seen but only heard? Yes, I am talking about the invisible spirit or to put it straight a Ghost! Oops! Did I scare you? I am sorry I didn't intend to. See, love is that strong a power. It can even make you fall in love with a ghost. Especially when the ghost in question is a twenty something pretty girl who "wears shimmering blue kurta with shimmering white squares all over it, shimmering sky blue dupatta to go with it, shimmering yellow leggings and shimmering bangles to accessorize it." The girl in question is Maahi, our protagonist of the book "www.marryAghost.com". S...

Round One Chapters   1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 Read Chapter 11 Chapter 12 The white pages with letters scribbled all over them lay on Shekhar’s table in his study room. He clearly remembered those pages, which he had kept aside in one of his “To Read” files initially and had taken them out only a couple of days back after Naina reminded him. It was a Sunday afternoon, when Tara was at work finishing up her next cover issue and Roohi was fast asleep. Naina knocked on Shekhar’s study room door ‘Knock Knock’; “yes?” came the reply from Shekhar. Naina had never disturbed him when he was inside his study, which she considered to be his sacred place. As Naina entered the room that afternoon, Shekhar was surprised. “What brings you here? Has Roohi not slept yet?”, said Shekhar in a mellowed voice with a cigarette stuck in his left hand and a copy of the latest TIME magazine in his other. Naina took out a bundle of papers hidden behind her and handed them ov...

Read the previous Chapter of the story here Twenty Minutes was what she needed, to arrange the Dutta household in order. The presence of a nine-year-old child could have an impact on everything that is present in the house. However, this house was different in comparison to all the other places that Naina had earlier worked at. It was mostly in disarray due to the adults and not the child. She had been working at the Duttas’ since Roohi was just a month old. Tara had hired her through known sources, who had assured her of Naina's impeccable sincerity and humble attitude. And, Naina did stay true to that. She wasn't like the usual maid servants you would see working in the Mumbai households. She was educated, could manage to speak English, which wasn't fluent, but at the same time it could be understood. Prior to working with the Dutta's, Naina had worked with an old couple who had taught her to read and write. Nine years of relationship with the Dutta's had trans...