She Finally Found Her Reader!

It’s been ages since I have read any book. I know I have bragged enough about my being busier than anyone else in this world.

My poor timings, poor time management, habit of procrastinating or whatever it may be! The thing is, I brought this book two months back and have just read a few first pages of it. Every morning I wake up, pray and dodge looking at this beautiful book. However, today I couldn’t manage to dodge, and ended up looking at her lying restlessly on my desk.

It happens every day. She looks at me with optimism, and hopes to grab all my attention. At night before my going to bed, she first lures me with the attractive title and bright cover, and when I still don’t give a damn, she pleads like anything. But today it was all different. I woke up and instantly my eyes struck hers and to my dismay today she had that attitude. That bold ‘oh get lost’ look which clearly said “If you don’t care, I don’t give a damn too, go wherever you want to but don’t dare to touch me”. And I was like —

Me: Oh girl.. hold on, are you the same sweet book?

She: Yeah! It is me. You got a problem with that?

Me: Wo Wo! Easy girl. I understand you’re angry, but that doesn’t mean you’ll give me this attitude and get along.

She: Don’t. Don’t even try and go there. You know what you’ve been doing since past two months. So you take it easy!

Me: Okay! Okay! I admit my mistake.

And I started walking towards her just to pick her up and go through a few more pages. But as I went close, she shouted out loud

She: NO…NO Don’t touch! Get awaaayyy.

I touched her with my finger on her trunk, pretending to tickle her. A one, A two, and Three…. And SHE SMILED! Yaaayyyyyyyyyy

It had been quite a long time and she genuinely needed a good amount of attention. I thought of giving her the same. In the meanwhile I noticed one thing more. We have this TED in our room and many times I have seen him looking at my beautiful book from the corner of his eyes. To my surprise, today I saw the sneak-peak from this end as well.

So to add fire to this cute love story, I played the cupid.

He found her and she finally got her READER. Is she blushing in his hands???? Really ???

P.S:  Books always added a life to me. Today I tried to give one the same! 🙂

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A Good Read In Making- Faraaz Kazi!

It’s not tricky to count the number of books that get published every year. Or is it? The statistical ballpark figure comes out to be one lakh in India and two million in the world. Out of this huge pool of authors some go horribly wrong and some wonderfully right! Some make it large, some plunk somewhere in between and the rest sink and go unnoticed. Of course, everyone can’t transform overnight into Arudhati Roy or Amitav Ghosh, but is ‘bad writing’ the explanation actually? Well, may be to some extent but these days there is much more to writing than just ‘writing’. And there are many artists who get victimized to this. Speaking of which, reminds us about this less known upcoming dude-Faraaz Kazi– an author in making.

He came to life (as in writer’s life) with his debut book “Truly, Madly, Deeply – Memories of broken heart’s first love”. The book went through a roller coaster ride in getting reviews from the spectators. It was a good, easy read for some and just a pretentious love story that was short of thoughts, for some. But that happens. Right?  Every book goes through this but that shouldn’t stereotype a writer as a bad one. Alright! Coming back to Faraaz Kazi, he is a 27 year old writer who aspires to be a very successful author one day. The guy could be easily mistaken as any other youngster visiting mall, but that’s done once you get into the details. Faraaz Kazi, having a studious background, did his graduation in management and is a triple post graduate with a Masters in psychology and another one in Human Resources. He also perused his diploma in creative writing from Xavier Institute of Communications.

On completion of his creative writing diploma he started working on his debut novel. It got published in 2010 by Cedar Books imprint of Pustak Mahal and was re-released by Mahaveer Publishers in 2012. According to him” There is a book in everyone and so was it inside me, lying dormant somewhere deep down and it came out after I completed my diploma from Xavier.” With his three post graduation degrees and soft skill trainer certification, Faraaz leaves every other young author of his age behind. But still lacks his share of fame in this magnanimous world. There could be many reasons following, less knowledge about the marketing and publishing industry, lack of a professional guidance, or may be lack of research. We cannot doubt Faraaz on his hard working skills, for he has a good studious background to back that up. But sometimes it’s not the author who is at mistake; it is us the spectators, the targeted audience, who typecast a writer by measuring his success in book sales.

Yes! That’s so true because a book might be written for a targeted audience only and not for the rest of the people. For instance, Truly, Madly, Deeply.. Was a teenager book because of which it was like fish out water in the ‘grown-up’ hands. May be it wasn’t able to struck the right chord but it was a nice read. And nice easy read is something that makes a book ‘talk of the town’.

What goes wrong on author’s part is dodging the blame and maybe that’s what went wide of the mark in his case as well. He was praised by teenagers, and he cherished it. He was reprehended by the others and he brushed it off. And this is where he lacked in taking a critical look at the results. But still he targeted it for a separate genre of people and he managed to strike that romantic chord in every young heart that lost in love. The case is not like his efforts were disregarded completely. Yes, he was noticed by a couple of people like his fellow authors, competitors, and a few people as well. (He managed to draw a couple of teen fans as well). But when you write or involve in any art for that matter, the appreciation has to be from the common people at first place. For they are the ones who transform a normal man into a king!

Anyways the guy came into this writers’ world three years past and out of all the praises and critics, has paved his way quite well. Though he was not much esteemed in his early days but now he is on his way to gain his share of fame. Of late he was the winner of National Debut Youth Fiction Award 2013 and is the first debut author to prevail the title of ‘Best Debut Romance’ at international Goodreads choice awards. With his uphill struggle he has managed to add his name in the literary fraternity and is a well-known face in social media.

He is working on his second and third books and this time with a drop dead strategy to dodge all the past slip-ups. He has not yet revealed the themes of his upcoming novels but this time he’ll surely manage to influence the masses and not just a handful of people. It’s not like old people don’t read love stories, of course they do, all they search for, is mature love. May be he went wrong there! But for us cataloging any writer as a bad or a good one from just a single book, would not be justified. It questions our potential to judge. There is no doubt in the fact that he writes well, as beginning of his earlier novel (a good prologue that sets a perfect mood) makes it apparent. With his style of writing and all the achievements so far, he has compelled us to believe that no matter what, he is a good read in making.

He is one amongst the many who can add life and expressions to words, who can make readers dream and whose writings can be a great delight to readers. We hope to see this ‘upcoming dude’ on the writers’ hit list very soon.

A little bit of Me-Time

We live  crazy and busy lives to chase our work targets and still at the end, we end up less healthy and lees happy. Without any doubts the same happens with me, most of the times. But yesterday was awesome. No! I made the day awesome by letting the things flow and by not thinking too much on them.

It rained for me yesterday, the wind bowled for me, the solitude was just amazing. I felt like a queen in making! 🙂  And I felt all this by doing nothing–Nothing absolutely! I went home from the retro city, took bath, got into my shorts and went out in the park. The weather was calm, cool and there was no one around (the best part).

There is this thing in me..whenever I am happy I feel like a kid, behave like a kid, become a kid–I don’t know it just happens spontaneously. I felt the same yesterday.

I just went on to the swing and listened to some soft Indian songs and there was no one to interrupt. The last evening was the best time had in a long time. So, all in all, it was fun and relaxing!

Leaving a song from my track list stay tuned!

P.S: The thrill lies within you..just make the most of it!

Heads we get married, Tails we break up—2

If you have missed the first part of Clair’s story, you can read it here http://bit.ly/16h6aN7

A little hunch it was…a thrill in the heart that sent shivers down the spine. She knew very well that it’s him but still she never wanted to turn around and look. For how can she forget those walking steps she use to recognize from far off, his body fragrance when he embraced his arms around her, that breath she felt against her cheek….when his delicate scent use to waft through the foyers.

It’s been years and Clair has now grown up to a beautiful old lady. A girl who once was exceptionally beautiful, graceful and enticing! And time has transformed her into exquisite beauty. It’s been years and a hazy picture of her first meet with Victor still appears in her thoughts…when their eyes first locked. She longed all her life to see Victor once, to meet him and hug him tight, to cry her heart out in his arms, to see him once…just once.

They say, the more you long for something (or someone) the more it runs away, and the moment you leave chasing, it comes right back.

It was this rainy afternoon when Clair was bidding goodbye to her spouse while he was leaving for his tour. She was brushing her granddaughter’s hair and the phone rang.

Clair: Go pickup the call Amelie.

Amelie: Ohh1 Granny why do we have this landline till now? I hate that annoying noise.

Clair: Amelie!!! Go right away.

Amelie: (Picks up the phone) Granny there is some Victor on the other side. Asking for you!

Her world stopped, the moment she heard this name. She felt like a young lover who just received a call from her crush. She went into the flash back—-when they were both young. Suddenly she realized that she is an old lady who is not supposed to behave that ways. She resurrected herself somehow..

Clair: You go and take care of Gracie. I’ll take the call.

Clair: Hello! Victor…………….

Victor: Ahhhh!! Nobody calls my name the way you do it. It’s still the same sweet tone. How are you?

Clair: (long breaths and heart beat running with the speed of light) I am fine.

She had nothing to say. Nothing at all!

Victor: Can you meet me at the park on the waterside? Anytime tomorrow?

How easy it was for him…to call, to ask for a meeting and that too at the same park!

Clair: I am not the beautiful girl you met 50 years ago, I have grown old..very old. Why do you want to meet me?

Victor: Just come. Please

Clair: umhmm. Okay!

She kept down the phone. She tried to circumvent that old feeling of love, but couldn’t. She was happy, surprised, perplexed and bewildered. No matter how far away he was but he still managed to turn her world upside down. Somehow he had that privilege of turning her world into a topsy-turvy land. Clair went to her room and slept with some thoughts in mind. Would it be an offense to Lucas (the spouse)? What will my family members say? Should I go and meet him or just forget everything and sleep?

The morning came up with the thoughts of “the mornings she spent thinking of him long back”. Her expressions exhibited her intentions very well. She took out her favorite dress, bathed, got ready and took something in her fist. The moment she stepped out of her room, she ran and came back to the mirror……to make sure if she is looking pretty. And suddenly the old silly Clair was back…

The same old tree, the waterside, the bench..everything was just so same.

And now when she has already heard Victor’s steps coming from behind, her heart is filled with thrill, a weird feeling of fear. She doesn’t want to turn around and face him. Because she has had enough of his indifference and it took her almost 30 years to get out of it. But now she’ll not even live that longer and she doesn’t want to die with regrets related to him.

Victor: (puts his hands on her shoulders from behind) Hi Clair!!!

Clair: (removed his hand…stepped forward….dropped a tear……opened her fist and gave him that coin).…… The coin which said “Heads we get married, tails we break up.”

She drops that coin oriented as HEADS……and leaves.

He left her years ago without saying anything, without explaining anything and now it was her turn to leave…without saying anything, without explaining anything!

Yes she loved him like anything; yes she wanted him in all her next lives; yes she wanted to hug him tight. But she couldn’t, because she had a spouse to be answerable to, she had a family to look back and moreover he left her when she needed him. She can’t go back……………She’ll love him till the day she dies and even after that, but she can’t go back…..

P.S:  Love is a crazy thing.