The Chronicles of Village Life – Part V

This is the last in the series. Check out the previous posts in The Chronicles of Village Life series under Jharkhand Diaries. There are now barely a few days to go before school reopens after the summer vacations. The first thought of living in a village was exciting and instilled in me a sense of thrill. Sure, …

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The Chronicles of Village Life – Part 2

April 28th, 2019 Writing is the only thing that keep us writers sane. With every high point in life comes a low. And, right after every low comes a high. After yesterday’s excitement, I feel lonely and miserable today. There is no reason to feel so. And yet, I do. I had some comfort since …

The Chronicles of Village Life – Part 1

April 6th, 2019 was when I boarded a flight to Ranchi - a town I had only heard about until then. I was setting out for a new teaching assignment with a non-profit school, and I had absolutely zero idea about what to expect. I spoke about what it was that inspired me to take …

Reflections on ‘Surprising the Reader’ with Deepti Menon

The month-long Readomania Crime Writing Festival that's on in full swing on Twitter is as informative and exciting as a virtual writing festival can be. Every Tuesday and Thursday, an author takes the viewers and readers through the various aspects of crime and thriller writing. Along with the discussions, there is also an ongoing contest …

Nominated for The Orange Flower Awards 2018: VOTE APPEAL

I often remind myself that if my writing makes any difference to even one person and makes them think again or impacts them positively, then I'd consider my writing a success. Recently, though I was surprised and thrilled to note that my writing is deserving of a nomination for the prestigious Orange Flower Awards for …

An I for an I

Rhia couldn’t believe the words being hurled at her. She recovered quickly enough and yelled back at her accuser. ‘You’re always only expecting me to handle everything. As if I am your personal maid, house-cleaner, cook, etc. Don’t I have feelings? What about me? What about what I like?’ ‘What about you, huh? What about …

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Rhia looked at her long tresses, caressing them, playing with them – sometimes tying them in a top knot, sometimes, in a half pony, using her fingers to hold them up for a few seconds before letting them fall down again. She spent a full fifteen minutes preening in front of the mirror. It wasn’t …

God Is Everywhere

God is everywhere, and he is watching you! The first time Rhia heard this she was seven. Her mother snatched the pencil she clutched between her fingers and put it back where it belonged - on the shelf of the gift shop they were at. 'Have some fear of God's wrath.' Her mother reprimanded her. With …

Exceptions Are Always There

If there was one thing that had been ingrained in Rhia all her life was that she had certain expectations to live upto. ‘Be quiet. Girls are supposed to be quiet.’ ‘Be more girly. Look at how you are standing!’ ‘Behave yourself. Don’t be so free to start dancing in the street. ‘Arey, if you behave …

Devil and The Deep Sea

A cackle of laughter from her boss’s cabin startled her. She waited patiently, for the conversation to end and the man to leave, after which she waltzed right in. Seeing her irate expression, her manager spoke up without preamble. ‘Look, Rhia, you can’t possibly object to someone smiling.’ ‘His hand brushed past my chest. And …

Charity Begins at Home

Rhia bolted the door and looked around the house. Or rather, her home. Was it a home? When did it come to this? When did she become the unpaid maid? There seemed to be no other purpose to her existence other than cooking and cleaning. What was her role in this house? Rhia shook her …

Baby’s Day Out

‘New Designs – Brie’s Bikinis . On Racks Now’ Rhia looked at the display board outside the swanky store and stopped short. Her arms were aching from the weight of the shopping bags she was already carrying. Would one more be too many? How would her thrifty husband react at the sight of the many …

An Apple A Day

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, someone said. Rhia decided it really would this time. She’d had enough of doctors and nurses. It was exhausting to have her home turned into a nursing home, with doctors and nurses buzzing in and out of the apartment. It wasn’t even the clinical smell of sanitizers …

April Double Attack – A2Z and Camp NaNoWriMo

Ten days to go for April 1. Ten days to go for Blogging A2Z Challenge to begin. Also, ten days to go for Camp NaNoWriMo, since I foolishly decided to participate in both. I'm already feeling the heat. The other participants have already begun to put up posts with the theme reveal, and here I …

Why I Feel My Heart Would Burst!

I feel like I'll burst with happiness and excitement. Today was a big day for the writer in me. I just got promoted to being an author. My debut book - Just Another Day, a collection of 3 short stories, published by Readomania - was launched as an eBook on Kindle today. The book is …

Failure Repeats Itself

Failure – they say if you’ve not failed at least a zillion things, you’ve not truly lived. I have – failed at many things, that is. But it doesn’t feel like I’ve lived a rich life. Instead, it feels more like how miserable and pathetic my existence is. It feels as if no matter what …

Homecoming – Re-Return to Writing!

I wrote! I wrote after a loooong time. I've been writing yes - blog posts, book reviews, website articles. I've been regularly doing all of that. I've been working on my manuscript - a romance. And I finished it too! A mad plunge into the unknown that started in April 2016 and culminated in November …

The Road Ahead

When I first started this blog, it was only a testing platform for me to gauge my writing skills. I also wanted to use it as a platform to showcase my write-ups as samples, while pitching to prospective clients. I hadn't ever expected the response it got. Neither had I expected the paths it would lead …

For The Love of Garden

“The best place to find God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.” - George Bernard Shaw My earliest fondest memories of a garden are from some twenty years ago. This garden, next to a nondescript one-bedroom house in a College staff quarters, was the result of its owner’s relentless hard work, proudly …

35 Learnings Before Turning 35

As I approach the exciting 'middle-age' of my life (My birthday is next month. Now would be a great time to send that million-dollar cheque.), I am tempted to reflect back on my past and delve into a bit of introspection too. And inspired by this post, I decided to jot down a list of …