Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Monday, June 22, 2015
Spotlight : The Dove's Lament by Kirthi Jayakumar
EXCERPT
The haunting images of people falling dead, as the flames of life were extinguished in a puff of
smoke, danced before my eyes. I wanted to run.I wanted to shout. I wanted the pain coursing through
my veins to end in a deafening blast. I wanted the dead back. The silence around was too loud for me. I
couldn’t cope. Slowly, my dead-still surroundings started stirring and I became aware of the voices
around me … some begging for mercy … some calling out to their loved ones … and what seemed
perhaps, newly orphaned children crying piteously. I heard Death’s cape swish and flap in the sick winds
that Murder blew. Images of corpses with a permanent scream locked into their faces were etched in
my memory forever.
‘Habimana, Habimana, are you one of those faces?’ No!
It cannot be.
Pain shot up my left arm.
I fell back in a stupor.
Habimana … I know you are not dead … I will find you,
wherever you are …
Blood dripped somewhere.
Blackness.
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Watch it
About The Author
Kirthi Jayakumar is an writer, artist, activist and lawyer based out of Chennai, India.
She is the founder of The Red Elephant Foundation and the A38 Foundation of International Law.
Driven by the goals of peace and equality, Kirthi indulges in different mediums to express her
dreams for the world around her. An optimist by ideology, an idealist by thought, a humanist by
religion and an equal-ist by tionality, Kirthi is a global citizen. Her first book, Stories of Hope,
earned her a nomination as one of among six Indian authors to watch out for, alongside the likes
of Devdutt Pattanaik and Lavanya Sankaran.
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her @
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Saturday, June 20, 2015
Friday, June 19, 2015
Daddy dearest !
“This father’s day, I am expressing my love towards my dad by participating in the #HugYourDad activity at BlogAdda in association with Vicks.”
I call my dad ,appa .He has been my support system for so long ,that now he seems to be a part of me ! When I wanted to opt for Medical entrance tests ,he sold his stock in shares to fund my medical test tutorials. He brought me a girls cycle & expected my brother to learn on that ! I never learnt though my brother did ! When I studied for Civil Service exams ,he insisted that I eat eggs to get nutrition in a Brahman household.I detested it .
My first diamond ear rings were gifted by daddy ! Appa has spoilt both his granddaughters silly !
Appa has been hospitalised quite a few times.Each time ,he has been in a hurry, to return home !
At home , he is forever organising,dusting & cleaning up. He is so excellent at updating addresses & contacts that all in the extended family depend on him for addresses of forgotten relatives & friends ! He loves attending family functions & reunions of friends as well.Nothing cheers him as a gup shup ! The fact, that no one in family shares his enthusiasm for attending social functions upsets him no end .He starts giving sermons .This is followed by emotional blackmail till all fall in line ! On second thoughts, he wants to attend functions so that he can expect the near & dear ones to return the favours done .And when that fails to materialise, he sulks.
Appa has a weakness for collecting folders, boxes, containers ,etal That all such items gather dust & space ,hardly bothers him ! Dad is a foodie to the core, despite his failing digestion & advancing age. He craves for sweets, on a daily basis. And he buys fruits in bulk.Next, he cajoles all in family to eat fruits lest they get spoilt ! After all ,he says ,fruits are excellent for health ! He forgets that excess is bad, be it fruits or anything.Because of him ,we are extremely health conscious eating less of trash & more healthy foods !
He is a yoga enthusiast & religious attends yoga sessions on a daily basis. I have taken up yoga on his recommendation & found that it really works wonders ! .He is forever correcting me on postures & breathing..He complains of paucity of time for reading even newspapers & yet, he has read books on yoga ! We feel that Appa exercises beyond his capacity as he takes long walks in evenings & mornings as well.This in addition to yoga daily.And yet ,refuses to heed our advice.He prefers public transport .His frugal ways have made such an impact that I seldom use autos and taxis.
He says ,"Waste not ,want not." Any wastage, is enough to incur his wrath.He will rarely switch on the fan .And he is constantly on the move putting off all electrical & electronic devices which have been turned off.
He is prone to depression one time too many. Appa gets upset quickly. And yet, when he takes up anything ,he steers towards its complete fruition ! He has accepted old age with dignity. Appa has distributed his wealth with his children .He has magnanimously helped extended family members & friends with much needed finance .And ,he has never ever expected returns !
He is tech un savvy. Appa would rather talk in person ,than chat on the social networking sites !.He gets terribly upset if the phone goes dead. Many in the family & amongst his friends have tried to teach him to use the internet & failed. This is because, he will constantly look up his wrist watch to exclaim ,"See ,how much time is getting wasted.I better attend to my chores ."He is more busy after retirement than while he went to work !
I share whatsapp jokes with him though he wonders how so many people can idle away on whatsapp.I love it, when he laughs heartily at the jokes . After all ,a family that laughs together,stays together !
My dad needs a hug for each of the many qualities he has . And also many more hugs for so many things he did, just for me. And some more hugs for those things which I have forgot to add as this blog post could then turn out to be never ending ! And some more hugs for just being there !In sum total ,hugs which continue back to back !
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Cover Reveal : The Eligible Princess by Summerita Rhayne
Cover Reveal:
The Eligible
Princess
AFTER HIDDEN PASSION, THE
KAMBOJ PRINCESSES SAGA CONTINUES WITH RUKMANI’S SISTER LAKSHAYA...
by
by
Summerita
Rhayne
Blurb
King Kartikeya needs a bride.
The more blue-blooded the better for him. Princess Lakshaya must marry to please her family. She is sick
of being rejected by suitor after suitor. She must not fail this time.
But what when she finds that King Kartikeya is not who she thinks he is? Can she still go ahead with this marriage? Set in Early Middle Ages in India, Book 2 in the Kamboj Princesses Saga follows Lakshaya in her journey to discover the passion of her life and love. Find adventure, intrigue, history and romance in this sensual historical fiction, Book 2 in the Kamboj Princesses Saga.
She divides her time between family, job and writing - and loves winding down with music, movies and the internet!
But what when she finds that King Kartikeya is not who she thinks he is? Can she still go ahead with this marriage? Set in Early Middle Ages in India, Book 2 in the Kamboj Princesses Saga follows Lakshaya in her journey to discover the passion of her life and love. Find adventure, intrigue, history and romance in this sensual historical fiction, Book 2 in the Kamboj Princesses Saga.
Pre-order
Now @
ACTUAL PRICE $3.99
PREORDER AT SPECIAL REDUCED PRICE OF $1.99
About the Author
Summerita Rhayne loves to
write sensual and emotional romance. There's no knowing when some quirky - or sometimes even not
so quirky - happening in daily life might trigger her right brain and then she's off craving a new story. She
loves writing characters who learn and grow and find their way out of their troubles and emotional
hang-ups. Hot, sensual heroes and sassy but sweet heroines mostly fit the bill in her stories. She also
believes that a touch of humor never goes amiss in a book.About the Author
She divides her time between family, job and writing - and loves winding down with music, movies and the internet!
Are you
ready
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Friday, June 12, 2015
Thursday, June 11, 2015
Spotlight : Scion of Ikshvaku by Amish Tripathi
Read the
first chapter Here
RAM RAJYA. THE PERFECT
LAND.BUT PERFECTION HAS A PRICE. HE PAID THAT PRICE.
Scion of Ikshvaku
by
Amish Tripathi
Preorder @
Amazon.in
Blurb
3400 BCE. INDIA
Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know. A tortured and ostracised prince. A prince they tried to break. A prince called Ram.
He loves his country, even when his countrymen torment him. He stands alone for the law. His band of brothers, his Sita, and he, against the darkness of chaos.
Will Ram rise above the taint that others heap on him? Will his love for Sita sustain him through his struggle? Will he defeat the demon Lord Raavan who destroyed his childhood? Will he fulfil the destiny of the Vishnu?
Begin an epic journey with Amish’s latest: the Ram Chandra Series.
Excerpt
Ayodhya is weakened by divisions. A terrible war has taken its toll. The damage runs deep. The demon King of Lanka, Raavan, does not impose his rule on the defeated. He, instead, imposes his trade. Money is sucked out of the empire. The Sapt Sindhu people descend into poverty, despondency and corruption. They cry for a leader to lead them out of the morass. Little do they appreciate that the leader is among them. One whom they know. A tortured and ostracised prince. A prince they tried to break. A prince called Ram.
He loves his country, even when his countrymen torment him. He stands alone for the law. His band of brothers, his Sita, and he, against the darkness of chaos.
Will Ram rise above the taint that others heap on him? Will his love for Sita sustain him through his struggle? Will he defeat the demon Lord Raavan who destroyed his childhood? Will he fulfil the destiny of the Vishnu?
Begin an epic journey with Amish’s latest: the Ram Chandra Series.
Watch the trailer
Excerpt
Nilanjana sighed. She wasn’t even sure if the child would be a boy. But she wouldn’t risk the
merest flagging of her mistress’ spirits. She administered some herbal pain relievers to the queen and
bided her time. Ideally, the doctor wanted the birth to take place before midday. The royal astrologer
had warned her that if the child was born later, he would suffer great hardships throughout his life. On
the other hand, if the child was born before the sun reached its zenith, he would be remembered as one
of the greatest among men and would be celebrated for millennia.
Nilanjana cast a quick glance at the prahar lamp, which measured time in six-hour intervals. The
sun had already risen and it was the third hour of the second prahar. In another three hours it would be
midday. Nilanjana had decided to wait till a half hour before noon and, if the baby was still not
born,
she would go ahead with the surgery.
Kaushalya was stricken with another bout of dilatory pain. She pursed her lips together
and began chanting in her mind the name she had chosen for her child. This gave her strength for it
wasn’t an ordinary name. The name she had picked was that of the sixth Vishnu.
‘Vishnu’ was a title given to the greatest of leaders who were remembered as the
Propagators of Good. The sixth man to have achieved this title was Lord Parshu Ram. That is how he was
remembered by the common folk. Parshu means axe, and the word had been added to the name of the
sixth Vishnu because the mighty battle axe had been his favourite weapon. His birth name was Ram.
That was the name that reverberated in Kaushalya’s mind.
Ram… Ram… Ram… Ram…
Read the First Chapter @
About
Amish Tripathi
Amish Tripathi
Amish is an IIM
(Kolkata)educated, boring banker turned happy author. The success of his debut book, The Immortals of
Meluha (Book 1 of the Shiva Trilogy), encouraged him to give up a fourteen-year-old career in financial
services to focus on writing. He is passionate about history, mythology and philosophy, finding beauty
and meaning in all world religions.Amish has most recently written the Shiva Trilogy (The Immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas & The Oath of the Vayuputras), which have sold over a million copies in the Indian subcontinent since 2010. The books that he plans to write in the future are also in the areas of mythology & history.
Amish lives in Mumbai with his wife, Preeti and son, Neel.
Stalk him @
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Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
The candy floss boy .
I was travelling in the local train long before the Corona lockdown at around 11 in the morning. I was returning from Navi Mumbai .The train was quite empty. I got to sit as soon as I boarded the train.And then I spotted him. The candy floss boy. He was a kid, with a stick ,on which, were mounted nearly 30-40 long packets of candy floss . And, they were ,in an attractive shade of pink ! And we were, in a ladies compartment.
The kid was dressed in a bluish green tshirt & pair of blue jeans. He also wore an undershirt which had black & white checks.He had almost shaved his head bald.Perhaps, because it was very hot & humid.
He started selling his wares. He was screaming ," Candy le lo "......He saw that nobody seemed interested in buying. He started approaching the ladies,one by one " Didi,le lo candy." And " Hello ,Didi ,candy lo." All the passengers were amused with his marketing. He went on ,"Ek bar loge, toh bar bar loge ."One didi started bargaining.He quipped ,'Ab bache ki jaan loge kya ? ! "Meaning will you now take away life from the kid ( that is himself ) by demanding candy floss at a throwaway price. "
Then he approached me ,"Didi ( I was on cloud nine ...I mean, I had hennaed my hair just last night & that had transformed me into didi from aunty overnight ! ).candy le lo." I was touched for obvious reasons stated before.I told him to stand there with his wares so that I could click his snap .I did that & brought one packet of candy floss. I put it in my bag & paid him the money.
He proceeded to other buyers. And , many did buy his candy floss. One woman told him ," The candy floss has melted so much in this packet.Give me the less melted one." He offered her three packets for the price of two ! And needless to add, she was overwhelmed !
And then the candy floss kid started singing a popular song ,'Tera dhyan kidhar hai,tera hero idhar hai....." It means ...'Where are you looking...your hero is here "He sang it to draw attention to himself selling candy floss ! And he succeeded ,as he sold many more !
My destination had arrived. I alighted & started missing the candy floss kid !
He is like sunshine shining bright .Though he has got so little, he was full of good cheer ! He was enterprising in his own little way. Maybe, poverty teaches survival tricks to even the youngest of kids. Anyway ,he made my day !
And I am sure,if you meet him in the local any day,your day will be made ! And do remember, to buy a packet of candy floss from him .
The kid was dressed in a bluish green tshirt & pair of blue jeans. He also wore an undershirt which had black & white checks.He had almost shaved his head bald.Perhaps, because it was very hot & humid.
He started selling his wares. He was screaming ," Candy le lo "......He saw that nobody seemed interested in buying. He started approaching the ladies,one by one " Didi,le lo candy." And " Hello ,Didi ,candy lo." All the passengers were amused with his marketing. He went on ,"Ek bar loge, toh bar bar loge ."One didi started bargaining.He quipped ,'Ab bache ki jaan loge kya ? ! "Meaning will you now take away life from the kid ( that is himself ) by demanding candy floss at a throwaway price. "
Then he approached me ,"Didi ( I was on cloud nine ...I mean, I had hennaed my hair just last night & that had transformed me into didi from aunty overnight ! ).candy le lo." I was touched for obvious reasons stated before.I told him to stand there with his wares so that I could click his snap .I did that & brought one packet of candy floss. I put it in my bag & paid him the money.
He proceeded to other buyers. And , many did buy his candy floss. One woman told him ," The candy floss has melted so much in this packet.Give me the less melted one." He offered her three packets for the price of two ! And needless to add, she was overwhelmed !
And then the candy floss kid started singing a popular song ,'Tera dhyan kidhar hai,tera hero idhar hai....." It means ...'Where are you looking...your hero is here "He sang it to draw attention to himself selling candy floss ! And he succeeded ,as he sold many more !
My destination had arrived. I alighted & started missing the candy floss kid !
He is like sunshine shining bright .Though he has got so little, he was full of good cheer ! He was enterprising in his own little way. Maybe, poverty teaches survival tricks to even the youngest of kids. Anyway ,he made my day !
And I am sure,if you meet him in the local any day,your day will be made ! And do remember, to buy a packet of candy floss from him .
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