Monday, December 12, 2016

Another year....

Yet another year without you,
Yet another year yearning for you,
Yet another year trying to reach out to you,
Yet another unsuccessful attempt,
Yet another tear,
Yet another frown..

Little did I know that time doesn't heal,
Little did I know that the years couldn't make me strong..
Little did I know that growing up meant not having you to be with me,
If I was aware,
If I would have known,
I would have surely run away long before you could leave me.


I still dial your cell number - the first ever I learnt.. just to be greeted with an unwelcome voice.
I still look for you in the crowd,
Waiting to be hugged,
Waiting to  be told it will be fine again...
Waiting to hide behind you and never have to face all the issues and problems..
Waiting to smile without worries...
Waiting to be that lil' girl of your's again

But the wait just doesn't end Papa,
It just doesn't...
It doesn't change - we no more feel complete..
I cry on every song we've sung together..
I cringe on every memory
The longing in my eyes doesn't cease to end..

You did not go alone Papa, you took so much with you..
And it 's never gonna be the same without you..

They hurt me Dad, they make me cry..
I stand and fight..
They don't understand why I am the way I am..
Why I don't understand hatred..
Coz you never taught me this...
You loved me in a way that I always felt like the princess of my little world..
Tears would roll even on raised decibels..

You protected me from anything and everything...
But everything is so scary now...
Life has become a maze,where nobody stands by me to love me..
They just wanna have their way Papa...
No smiles are valued, no tears are looked after...

Why did you have to go?
Why did you leave?
I wanna come back in the warmth of our home..
Come back to you Papa...
I always fought all my wars with you by my side,
Now it's too much to be fighting without you Papa...

I wanna talk to you..
Wanna ask you what I do next...
Sometimes breathing without you in the wide world also becomes difficult..
I try being strong - the way you wanted me to be..
But there is a hole, a void... that moment everyday when I cannot control my tears..
When I eagerly wait for you to come home...
For you, mom, kiddo and I sit together and share our day...
For you to make me feel more special than kiddo and then mom to take his side...


I do not wanna live by our memories.. I wanna create new ones with you..
Why are you so stubborn to not come back to us?
Since when did you learn being angry with us?
How has it been possible for you to not talk to us for all these years?
Is it this hard for you too?
Do you also sit back sometimes and think about our lives together...
Is it difficult for you too to control your tears from falling?
Do you also make a tough face for the world but break inside?
Questions but no answers...

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

BOOK REVIEW: SIX DEGREES – GAME OF BLOGS

6 Degrees – Game of Blogs is a unique book. The same people, the same location – just three entirely different stories!
Ask me why?
The Game Of Blogs activity got bloggers acquainted with some very different and intriguing characters and they had to weave stories around them, and add some of their own characters. This ‘method to madness’ is what gave rise to myriad stories, all revolving around Shekhar, Tara, Roohi, Cyrus and Jennifer and their intertwining lives. The bloggers were told to form team of around ten members each and spin a story around the same characters living in the same city – Mumbai.

Know the characters -
  1. Shekhar is a house husband who loves his wife and daughter, breaks the barriers of the general women-stays-at-home and man-earns-bread and is a writer
  2. Tara  who is Shekhar’s wife ,a highly successful professional in a media house who is trying to maintain a balance
  3. Roohi- Shekhar and Tara’s 9 year old girl, bubbly, charming – everything a 9 year old should be
  4. Jennifer –  a happy hippie with a camera in hand and lot of mysteries in her heart
  5. Cyrus – A bright eyed law student
  6. Aryan Ahuja - Shekhar and Tara’s neighbor
So what happened next -
After many rounds, three teams were selected as winners by renowned authors and 6 Degrees was published. The stories which made to the final entry into the book are:
  1. The Awakening – a science fiction
  2. Entangled Life – a murder mystery
  3. Missing – A Journey Within – a thriller
My review – 3.5 out of 5
This book is a mystery package. The same character but imaginations running wild. Right from aliens to murders, love to break up – you name it and you have it. I will not go into the details of the book, as that would not do justice to the hard work the bloggers have put in. But here’s is what you need to know – The book is an easy read, written to impress. The stories give beautiful descriptions and when you move from one story to another, you think how beautifully the authors have made the same person play three very different roles.

The Awakening is a science fiction revolving around aliens – good and bad, saving the world, ozone depletion. So if you are into that stuff, you’ll like reading it. It is a story you can also read out to kids.

Entangled life is the story I liked the best. Every character shouts out the loud, no matter how small or insignificant the role. Be it JAVA – the typical-police-man who is trying to solve the murder case or Aryan – the ever concerned neighbor, the story takes you through a whirlwind of emotions. Read the story to find out who is the killer! The poems penned down are good.

Missing – A journey within is a thriller. It has twists which I wouldn’t have otherwise imagined for the same set of characters. The story seems a bit far – stretched, but at the same time stands out for the message it gives on love.

Go ahead, grab the book. A huge round of applause for the authors!!

Degrees is India’s first book published through collaborative blogging, written completely by bloggers for the Game of Blogs activity at BlogAdda. Know more about Game of Blogs here. You can buy 6 Degrees: Game of Blogs if you liked the review. ðŸ™‚
This review is a part of the biggest  Book Review Program  for Indian Bloggers. 
Participate now to get free books!

Thursday, June 9, 2016

June photo a day challenge.. June9 - Four things!

Drawing book, pencil , gel pen and eraser - Four essential things !!


Linking this photo to June photo a day!
#fmsphotoaday #marathonbloggers 

June photo a day challenge.. June8 - Where I stood !!

This is where I stood - the Agra Fort! Zoom in and catch a glimpse of the Taj Mahal shining in its glory...  Awesome beauty! 

Linking this photo to June photo a day!
#fmsphotoaday #marathonbloggers 

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

June photo a day challenge.. June7 - Cute!!

So when mommy couldn't decide which one of us was the cutest, she just put us all together for the cute prompt!! 



Linking this photo to June photo a day!
#cute#fmsphotoaday #marathonbloggers 

Monday, June 6, 2016

June photo a day challenge.. June6 - Mistake!

If you know me, you'd know my love for reading books! But I never seem to time my day well.. always falling short of time! There were days when I'd spend the whole night reading books and then there are days when I do not read even a single page! The next morning I repent and make sure I read more, compensate for that one day when I didn't read... 


Here are my books calling out to me to read them! Four books all started but unfinished! My mistake, and a bad one! Not reading enough!

Linking this photo to June photo a day!
#mistake #fmsphotoaday #marathonbloggers 

June photo a day challenge.. June5 - On my to-do-list!

My family is filled with garden enthusiast. Everybody in my family has pretty gardens - right from terrace gardens to growing veggies at home! It has been since ages on my to-do list to join the band wagon.. and finally ticked that one off!!

Pat on my back! Thanks to the hubby who helped me :) 

Linking this photo to June photo a day!
#gogreen #garden #plants #fmsphotoaday #marathonbloggers 

Saturday, June 4, 2016

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Wordless Wednesday #2 25 May 2016 - Cake!


Taking the liberty to add in a few words, coz a cake like these deserves all the praises!
Thank you to the baker who made it for me! Kudos girl!
Hubby's birthday cake!
ü  Yummilicious chocolate chip cake
ü  Fondant covering
ü  Fondant structure for the hubby wearing a set of his famous tee and shorts
ü  His love of life – his cell phone
ü  His other love of life – his laptop
ü  A screw driver and some screws to reflect that one trait that hasn’t changed since his childhood –      de-assembling and re-assembling almost everything
ü  Food, food and food! – Burgers, fries and KFC chicken bucket.
                                    See the teeny weeny paper napkin made below the burger
                                                   Ã¼  Liquor chocolate for the numbers

#CakeGoals
@WordlessWednesday2
This post takes part in Wordless Wednesday

Friday, May 20, 2016

Doodling!

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,   
But I have promises to keep,   
And miles to go before I sleep,   
And miles to go before I sleep.


Monday, February 8, 2016

Scarred for life!

I messaged,
You didn't reply.
I called,
You didn't recieve.
I called again,
It was busy.
I messaged, you never replied.
I saw you online!
All I wanted to say was I loved you.
Wanted to thank you for the beautiful evening.
You said I was spying.... and a scar appeared.

I dressed up,
You ignored.
I asked for a compliment.
I remembered you tell her, blue is your best color.
All I wanted to show was I had dressed up for you!
You said I was over-expecting.... and a scar appeared.

My scars made me who I am!!
We went on a holiday.
You left me alone to spend time with her.
I let go and planned an evening together.
You couldn't say no to her.... and a scar appeared.

I was emotional and cried like a baby,
You gave me a cold shoulder.
I saw you console her.
You said you wanted me to be strong... and a scar appeared.

I told you to choose me over her,
She said the same.
You dropped that lone tear...
I couldn't see you cry..
I let go.. you stayed with her!
And a scar appeared.

You were drunk.
I was dancing.
You got angry, I didn't know!
It was evident that I didn't understand you.
You knew, I knew.
You hit me... and a scar appeared.

Scarred for life!
Stronger but better!

Thursday, February 4, 2016

What do you do when!

What do you do when you do not know what to blog about? Open your reader, using Feedly now, think about how much you loved Google reader and why the hell was it discontinued, read a lot of articles and forget that you were supposed to pick up ideas to brag about on your blog, move on to some related links, DIY's, jot down some recipes, YouTube for some awesome cake videos, search for fondant recipes and get frustrated as to where should you go to buy glycerin and gelatin and light corn syrup, browse through a trillion sites and find nothing useful, google items with an "in India" suffix, browse through some cute dog and cat gif's , call up/ping the husband and tell how much you want to buy a puppy then move on to tattoos, think of which one you want and where, call/ping the hubby again to tell him how much you'd want a tattoo while he repeats why it isn't really good for your health, move on to baking and search for bake ware, drool on the items found, shortlist and add them to the ever increasing wish list, come back to reality realizing you have spent almost half the day without work and have still am topic less for a blog post... phew
What do you do then?
Simple, write a stupid post like the one I just wrote and make it a point to write a complete sentence so that it is short enough so that somebody reads it... what motivates you to write peepz...? Help me, will you?? 

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

The story of her,her and her!

Image courtesy : www.pinterest.com
She opened her cupboard and coyly moved the streak of her behind her ear. The hair cut made her look better and of course she was glowing thinking of the date the next day. She took out the pretty white maxi, she had kept for the special moments. Maxi check, earrings check, foot wear check and necklace with the pretty red stud check… everything was in place. Painting her nails a bright red, she glanced at the mirror, happily! Mid way through her sleep she woke up with cramps. This couldn’t be right, she wasn’t expecting her periods till next week… but here they were! The pain was too much and no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t sleep. Another plan cancelled!! How much she wished she didn’t have these troublesome and painful periods! If only!
Image courtesy : Google images

She couldn’t believe it! This month too she has missed her period and her pregnancy kit still showed negative. They had been trying for months now to have a baby, but in vain. Medicines, injections, follicle study – nothing helped! He comforted her, took her in his arms and told her not to worry! When the time will be right, it will all fall in place. As the tears silently flowed, she knew how much they craved for a baby! If only!
Image courtesy : Google Images

           The bell rang breaking her sleep. As she rushed to open the door, she cursed under her breath stepping on a lego. What kinda life is this! Seriously… I just slept! She felt like a robot, get up, wash, bathe the baby, cook, work… the day just ends. She craved for his touch, to spend some quality time with him. Papa and mumma had taken over darling, honey and sweetheart. Where were those candle-lit dinners and aromatic candles… the baby sure made them happy, but they craved for that much needed times together... But she couldn’t just leave the baby with any other family member. Even a bathroom trip which left the baby crying made her feel guilty. If only she knew how to handle this better. If only!

Monday, February 1, 2016

The one where I cooked and baked!

If you know me... then you'd know how much I love eating... Yes, I know I also constantly talk about the kilos and inches.. but then food is love, food is life!
Image courtesy : www.pinterest.com
When I first tasted hummus with pita bread at the Irish House, I loved it.... I tried at a couple of more places, but sometimes the bread was too thick or the hummus was too bland! So then what better than a DIY!!! Saturday morning, I wore my chef hat and got down to mixing the dry yeast to bake some bread.. made some pita and some brown bread! The only thing I didn't like was the yeast smell... any pointers on how to not let the yeast smell interfere... I hated it and the hubby and BIL did not want to even try! But the pita breads came out to be really soft and tasty when baked... and the brown bread was good too! I added some oregano to the brown bread and the baked oregano bread smelled divine!!

The hummus required tahini, so I used the alternate recipe of switching it with roasted sesame seeds powder. Although, I followed the recipe, the smell of the powder overpowered everything else.. I had to soak-and-boil-and-grind some more chickpeas to balance it out... So lesson learnt, add less sesame seed powder! But the end product was good... I enjoyed some tasty hummus and pita bread. And I baked some awesome brown bread from the left over dough!

The pita bread was over before I clicked a pic, so here's a pic of the hummus and brown bread!! Happy munching!

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Book Review : Ramayana The Game of Life – Stolen Hope (Shubha Vilas)

About the Book
In the evil labyrinths of Dandakaranya forest, human values are put to test. Rama’s righteousness, Lakshmana’s loyalty and Sita’s endurance reflect our own sense of values and judgment in difficult times. The story unfolds the facets of human life – the conflict and trickery, the praise, the slander and above all, the hope and the despair in the eventful forest life of exiled royals.
Stolen Hope is about extreme deception and extreme love. It is about arrogant power and deep devotion. With every twist and turn, Rama, Sita and Lakshmana find themselves robbed of whatever and whoever they valued the most.
Exploring the dynamics of human relations – between father and son, husband and wife, teacher and disciple – and the complex game of power and greed, Stolen Hope mirrors our own dilemmas in the modern world and teaches us how we must overcome them.Seek courage when everything, including hope, is stolen.

What I think about the book ! 
Did you know why the custard apple is called as Sitaphal or why don’t squirrels get hurt when they fall from heights or why the snakes have a forked tongue… Well! I know now… All this and much more wisdom in the third book of the Ramayana The Game of Life…
                
Aptly titled as the Stolen Hope, it takes you on a mystical journey with Ram, Sita and Laxman and stops at a point where you are craving to read more - a point where Ram's hope, his wife is stolen from him and he starts his journey to find her.

I haven’t read the first two parts and let me tell you, it’s a big miss. As the author writes –
If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, it doesn’t matter. When you bite into a cake, it hardly matters where you begin.
But believe me when I say this, you’d really want to read the whole series, now that you have read this one.

The book describes how being in exile shapes the lives of Ram, Sita and Laxmana. The descriptions are beautiful. You get a peek into the lives of sages and demons together. There are short stories about different people stitched together. Not just is the writing good, what also adds to it are the explanations or the hidden meanings which you can actually apply in real life. Initially, I found the tag-lines and references a hindrance to the fast reading I do, but a page or two later, I was looking forward to read them.. to read between the lines.
What also needs a mention is the deer in the footer of the book.. On the last page of the book the deer is shown with a struck arrow portraying Maricha…


I am happy to get this autographed book.. and beyond doubt I am reading the first two books and getting the other as soon as they are published… A must read guys! 

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for IndianBloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The borrowed tag!

Borrowing the borrowed tag from Princess Butter!!
Thanks to all the blogs, I wake up from my coma every now and then to write!
Without much ado -
*—————————*
What are you wearing?
Black pants with the perfect white wash, white sweater and white sneakers and my favorite pair of gold studs which Daddy dear got me when I was born!
How tall are you?
Am not tall, am just 5'4''
How much do you weigh?
A lot !! Is that enough ..120 lb, 60 kgs... desperately wanting to weigh less :(
Any tattoos?
Nope! The hubby doesn't allow me to get one... :( If only!
Any piercings?
1 piercing on each ear.
Favourite show?
Changes every now and then. Not much of a TV person... But I enjoy Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Impractical Jokers and any other show which talks about food !!
Something you miss?
I miss the slim trim me!! The fat isn't just helping!
Favourite song?
Currently it is Yahin hoon mai by Ayushmann Khurana! Changes every now and then!
Zodiac sign?
Libra.
Quality you look for in a partner?
Love, respect, some one who can make a good cuppa coffee!!
Someone who loves me inspite of all my weirdness..
Favourite actor?
Currently it is Deepika Padukone and Farhan Akhtar!! Changes each time I see a movie or a show :)
Favourite colour?
Blue and white!
Loud music or soft?
Depends on my mood... but if I do have to choose then, something with beats, I can feel and lyrics, I can understand!
Where do you go when you’re sad?
To one of my cozy corners - my bed or my bean bag with a book and a cuppa coffee/ hot chocolate
How long does it take you to shower?
If I am late for work then 5 minutes,else 15 minutes and if washing hair then 25-30 minutes... If I forget about the global warming and saving water and have an awesome shower gel... till some one shouts out for me to come out of the bath!
How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
 Around an hour.. to wake up, to wake up the others! Pack lunch boxes, tidy up the house, get ready and run to the bus stop.
Ever been in a physical fight?
Yes! But don't wanna go back and remind myself that it ever happened!
Turn on?
A good perfume, some one who can eat and appreciate food - the way I do, some one who can talk about books!!
Turn off?
Smoking , B.O.!
Fears?
I fear going to the hospital, fear losing people I love... 
Last thing that made you cry?
Memories...
Last time you said you loved someone?
Yesterday!
Last book you read?
Gray! A pending read after the Fifty Shades trilogy! 
The book you’re currently reading?
The lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri.
Last person you talked to?
The cousin, N! We discussed about the upcoming wedding in the family!
The relationship between you and the person you last texted?
Sibling, I texted my brother..
Place you want to visit?
Too many.. But to begin with Bali, Seychelles, Paris.... and the list goes on and on!
Do you have a crush?
Well! Too many pretty faces and hot bods!! John Abraham, Arjun Rampal, Ashton Kutcher...
Favourite piece of jewellery?
Still finding that one piece... Amongst the ones I already have, gotta be my Kenneth and Cole rose gold watch!
Last song you sang?
*—————————*
Takes a bow!!

Moments to cherish!

 When Veer was really little and wanted to nap he would climb in my lap and hold onto my neck. In a sitting position and holding me tight, h...