26 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in 55 word fiction, Causes to Champion
They said he died because they wouldn’t accept him.
They said he died because they got him married hoping it would cure him.
They said he died because he stopped loving.
They said he died because they could not find him smiling anymore.
They said he died because just breathing isn’t living after all
———————
And with this we have finished a week of 55 word fiction on Marathon Bloggers. A week of fiction in Jan. I am happy with myself and my fellow bloggers. Here’s to more such challenges
24 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in 55 word fiction, Marathon Bloggers
Surrounded both side by her sisters, under the pholon ki chadar held by her brothers, eyes shy but full of dreams she was slowly walking towards her life and then the unimaginable happened. She slipped…
Smiling to herself, she decided that its gonna be only flats only for the d-day. Thank god for some dreams
21 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in 55 word fiction
Tags
55 word fiction, 55-er, 55-err, causes to champion, fiction, inspired fiction, kashmir, kashmir pandits, life, Marathon Bloggers, pandits
Bags packed, belongings taken, people hugged.
But he looked reluctant to let go,
He looked at the temple in the room,
He looked around for the childhood he had,
He looked around for old age me might have had,
And just when he was leaving he looked around at the Kashmir he might never see again.
———–
Done as a part of the 55 word fiction week at Marathon Bloggers
20 Monday Jan 2014
Posted in 55 word fiction, Marathon Bloggers
Shocked he rushed her to the hospital breathing a sigh of relief when the doctors said “he was just in time”
Later sitting on her bed side, he told her
“Love is joy, Love is happiness”
she replied
“Love is pain too, love is tragedy too”
And they hugged, they cried till the tears dried
PS: This is done a part of a week long 55 word fiction attempt along with Marathon bloggers
10 Tuesday Dec 2013
Posted in Causes to Champion, Uncategorized
As he immersed the little white bundle in water, As he immersed someone who could have been his daughter, as he immersed someone who could have been his joy. He grit his teeth and bore the pain because if didn’t then the sarpanch will pull trigger of the gun on his head…
So he grit his teeth and bore the pain…
This is written as a part of Marathon Blogger theme based blogging. My attempt to yet another 55-er, I am slowly realising the only fiction I can may be do 🙂
03 Tuesday Dec 2013
Posted in blogging, Causes to Champion
She was cuddling with her new born. She had always wanted a daughter but now that she had a son she wondered whether the secret disappointment would count as cheating, now that she had a son she also let a huge sigh of relief thinking about the nights she would actually sleep.
She had always wanted a daughter but now…
09 Wednesday Nov 2011
Posted in review
Tags
book, book review, chiclit, fiction, indian author, indian fiction, reading, review
I love reading chicklits, and the first look of this book promised to be everything that a chicklit is supposed to be – a smart but slightly confused girl, a good looking hunk who might be her saviour, good friends, steamy romance, mushy feelings and to add to it London. I knew its a book that has to be read.
Live from London is primarily a story of Nishi Gupta, who came to live in London with her parents after her father got transferred, loves playing guitar and her bunch of friends Riya, Sarah and Zac. After finishing her education at a respectable college in London, she decides to play a risk with her career by wanting to join the music industry to prove the world that she has got it, to recover from the terrible hurt and embarrassment on her disastrous appearance in “Britain’s Got Talent”.
Against her Indian and conservative parents she sets out her struggle to make it somewhere with a cold and calculative boss but things turn around with the entry of America’s new pop star, Nick which predictably results in a steamy affair. Along with the love life, Nishi’s career begins to look good too with a song deal coming her way till the world decides to do a u-turn on her.
The book is a fast and easy read, written in a casual conversational language. I finished it in a single sitting during my Bangalore-Delhi flight. What I liked about the book was that it makes you realise that Parinda Joshi has promise for a better future, the characters were well formed and thought about. The book has it humor moments too, doesn’t drag around the story. Sticks to it and says is decently well
However inspite of all this, the book didn’t leave me fully satisfied. Why you ask? Couple of reasons and the top most being, like all Rupa books its not been copy read properly. It has grammatical errors and quite a few of them at that. And I have said that before, I can’t stand when that happens. For God’s sake there is some responsibility a publishing house has to take too.
The second reason that it left me wanting for more. I mean the book at times seemed hurried through, as if someone was under pressure to finish it for a deadline or as if short story has been forcibly converted to a novel.
But the book is surely a good addition to the fast emerging Indian Chicklits, books like this make me feel yes there is hope that may be just may be someday we will have an India Sophie Kinsella too?
Final Word : A fast and easy Indian chicklit with well defined characters. I would a good flight companion for people who like reading this genre.
Book : Live from London
Author : Parinda Joshi
Publisher : Rupa
Rating : 3/5
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
08 Saturday Oct 2011
Posted in Causes to Champion, Feminism
Tags
causes to champion, Domestic Violence, fiction, gender issues, inspired fiction, vawm, violence against women
Ranju was playing with her brothers and sisters, all 5 of them when her newly married uncle came visiting along with his new bride. She always used to look forward to the visits from uncle, he would bring along with him sweets from the city and a adult male presence in the house which was missing since her father left them all to deal with their luck and poverty one day to become a man of God, a man of God he wanted to become when he really couldn’t even become a man of life. In her uncle she tried to find her father, a father they had lost.
She was smitten by her aunt too. Pretty like any other new bride, gentle with her, she played with all of them while uncle and her mother tried to work out how will they survive the next month. When they were leaving the aunt asked Ranju if she wanted to go to city with them. The thought of a vacation excited her, she packed her bags quickly and was ready to go. A couple of days passed by like a fairy tale – good food, new clothes and many places to see. After couple of days the aunt suggested her that why doesn’t she stay in the city with them, study in a good school. She was enrolled in the near by school and the aunt brought her up like her own daughter. She had kids that treated her like their elder sister. Time passed by Ranju graduated and started doing a job, the aunt was more her mother than the one in the village. And like all girls one day it was declared that she is ready or marriage, some rishtas came her way and the one that sounded suitable to everyone was promptly fixed. A decent looking guy who runs his own shop and a nice family what else does one check. Ranju and Mohit were married with all the grandness the aunt could afford.
However reality dawned a couple of months later when she realised that the shop is owned by the father and he actually does nothing in it, a job was arranged by the uncle who came to her rescue. However Mohit didn’t last in the job long and when Ranju asked him why, began a new chapter in her life, Mohit slapped her the first time that day and the abuse never stopped after that. The mother in law and everyone else in the house would stand and watch when Ranju was being beaten and later verbal and emotional abuse would follow from all of them saying that if she didn’t even care for her mom, its only money that mattered to her. The thought that she has already troubled her aunt too much and her mother could hardly do anything. Bringing up 4 children with no source of income wasn’t easy made her tolerate the abuse and so did the fact that she was carrying her first child.
The abuse continued, eventually the aunt came to know about it but hardly could did anything she had her own kids to look after, she would sit at times and think how life came a full circle and her situation became much like her mother, probably worst she atleast didn’t have anyone beating her, she would live on the money given to her by her aunt and Mohit’s brother. If she would talk about going back to work, she would get beaten again and slowly this started taking toll on her health but she held her fort. Today she has by her sheer will power managed to bring up a daughter and a son who are both educated and working, who stand by her and ask their father to stop if he tries to raise his hand. The emotional abuse unfortunately still continues but she has made the focus of her life her kids and derives her pleasure from them.
Ranju’s story is unfortunately a story of many women in India. We as a society need to do something about it. Stand up raise a voice, do something about. If you observe domestic abuse around you, don’t be afraid to interfere. You could save a life
08 Tuesday Mar 2011
Posted in Uncategorized
Asha was playing hop-scotch with her sisters and brothers in the vast empty field behind her house in Punjab, they were a big family of 3 sisters and 2 brothers and a loving mother who used to stitch clothes for people in order to raise the five kids. Just when it was Asha’s turn to beat her elder sister, their mother called them saying their favorite newly wed uncle had come visiting them along with his bride…. She started dreaming of sweets and gifts that were always the part of uncle’s visits. They played and she instantly liked her aunt and just when the uncle and aunt were about to leave for the big city the aunt told her mother that she wants to take Asha along with her, not for a visit but to bring her up… to give her a life and education that she can’t afford her. The mother with a heavy heart packed Asha’s stuff and parceled her to Delhi without even checking with her, it was for her own good after all…
The aunt was very nice to Asha, send her to a school to take formal education at the same time taught her all the things right for a girl cooking, sewing, knitting, taking care of the house and years passed away. Aunt had her own kids and they loved Asha to bits she was their elder sister…. And than Asha was deemed to be of an age where we think its best to get rid of them… yes my dear friends Asha was ready for marriage or was declared ready for marriage…
Couple of alliances came by and she was married off to the one that her aunt and uncle seemed to be liked. From her side aunt did a good job of trying to go for the one which came through a reference, the wedding was done with the usual India fan fare and she once again had to leave the house she thought was hers and go make another house her own and live happily ever after. However God had different plans for her… Couple of months after the wedding she came to know that her husband actually had no work and it would not be tolerated if she tried to work too and just as she was thinking how to deal with it she missed her dreaded monthly period and came to know that well she is pregnant…
She decided to reason it out with her husband that he has to work, decided to reason out that he should let her work and all she got were abuses and along with abuses sometimes would follow a few slaps too… she tired to talk to her mother in law and more abuses flew her way, hasn’t her mother taught her anything? or wait your mother didn’t want you right , she sent u to your aunt. Hasn’t your aunt taught u anything? Burdened and not wanting to trouble her aunt and uncle she tolerated it till she could and than one fine day her husband dropped her back in her aunt’s house along with a toddler and another baby in the stomach.
Aunt and uncle were shocked according to them they had married her to a good guy.. what was all this now? However like any Indian parents they tried to solve the matter… Uncle gave the husband a job in his company and aunt advised Asha to be more tolerant and sent her back after all she had her own kids to take care of…
As if the problems in her life were not enough God decided to give her another blow… She fell sick really sick and was hospitalized for months all together when the aunt tried to manage the hospital, her house, her job and her kids. Asha’s mother was promptly called from the village to take care of her and she slowly recovered… Doctors told her and the family they can’t predict how long will she live, her platelets count had dipped down to 5000 (when the normal is 150,000 to 450,000) and all this while the only thing she was thinking was what will happen to her daughter if she dies… Asha decided that she had to live, she had to live for her daughter, her son and for the past 10 years that’s what she has been doing… living with a platelet count which ranges in anywhere between 5000 to a maximum of 20000… When she goes to a doctor they check her 5 times saying that no a person with such a low platelet count can’t even stand and you have come for the test yourself and she didn’t just live, she took care of the whole family, all the household work and cooking and managing the house in the small amount that she would get from her aunt and mother in law
Asha has battled against all odds to stand for her daughter, she gave her the education that she wanted to with the help of her aunt and uncle and her sisters… she got beaten herself so that she can prevent her daughter. Today Asha’s daughter is working in a company and earns a salary to make her live comfortably, Asha’s son has just finished his education and is looking for a job and the husband yeah all he does is shout why is he shirt not ironed but when he does that he knows his own children will tell him why
Asha is a women I am proud of, I may not agree with all her choices but hell she made them with whatever little she had in life and stood by them as a rock
And this is my entry for the Womens Web contest
When I got a mail from Women’s Web talking about this contest, since than its been running in my mind… who is my FemInspiration?
A lot of people came to my mind, my mum who brought up three crazy but strong daughter, my granny who was the emotional backbone of the whole family and kept them together till she was living, N’s granny who was handling the whole fields and living all by herself in the village till about 4 years ago i.e till she was 80 or a maid who worked for me – who was married when she was 12 and is working only to raise money for her daughters education inspite of the fact that she has to often tolerate domestic abuse. If we look around us there are enough strong women around us… Women who have stood against the test of time and proven their worth, proven they can do anything… they are ordinary women like u and me…
But as I was thinking of all this I thought of an extra ordinary woman in terms of strength, in terms of sheer will power to live for her kids… she has defied medical science, she has defied all logic, she has fought with every force in her life through her silence and tolerance a path may be I won’t have chosen… The above is a true story (a little fictionalized for the sake of her life) of a woman who is very very dear to me and right now at the end of the post I have my eyes full of tears… I request you all to pray for her happiness and peace forever
And yeah Happy Womens Day to each one of you… All you Strong women out there.. u inspire me 🙂
17 Thursday Jun 2010
Tags
book review, dreams in prussian blue, fiction, indian author, indian writing, metro read, NaBloPoMo, paritosh uttam, review
I had first heard of this book at Jabberwock and thought of reading as when it comes to book I trust Jai’s reviews 100% but somehow never got hold of it…
And then I went to attend the launch of Love, Life and Jazz and found that Dreams in Prussian Blue was been co-launched at the same time… Needless to say I picked up the book and Paritosh is a software engineer in the day was an added push to me… yes we all, u all nerds see we can do this too 🙂 It just takes a determination like Paritosh’s to make your dreams come true… BTW according to him he writes everyday morning when he shuts off C and C++ from his mind and then he reaches office where he shuts of creative writing and he enjoys both equally… I am really impressed by this Paritosh…
Ok now coming back to the book… The book is about two art college dropouts who have very high hopes from life and think that education will probably do them no good and are hopelessly in love with each other… they are at the stage of life where everything ahead seems rosy and easy to achieve… They move into a live in relation to pursue their dreams rather pursue the guys, Michael’s dream of becoming a famous artist while the girl, Naina gets into the grind to earn a living so that her partner’s dream be achieved…
Life moves on with its difficulties while Naina learns to deal with everyday challenges while also handling the moods and temperaments of an artist that is till tragedy strikes and Michael loses his sight… Their whole world falls apart and according to me the novel really picks up there.
What I loved about the novel was the way it dealt with feelings and challenges… its keeps your mind running to know what is going to happen in the next page… its truly a page turner… it has lots of twists and turns which are surprisingly well adjusted into the short 200 page book…
And what I loved most about this book was that it was crisply edited, had no (well almost) grammatical mistakes, no spellings gone wrong which has been my complaint with almost all first time Indian author books that are coming in market these days.
The book is no literally material as it clearly doesn’t target to be but its a very good Metro read… breezy and refreshingly fresh
Rating 3/5
Book Dreams in Prusssian Blue
Authors Paritosh Uttam
Price Rs 150/-
