Photo Challenge: I’d Rather Be

This photo was from a walk I did in Duder Regional Park. I would rather be near the sea, and on a perfect day like this, the shore looks amazing.

Tongariro Alpine Crossing

A year ago, when I had just met a new hiking group, I heard about Tongariro Alpine Crossing. I met people who were going to attempt the crossing with the group and I wanted to join her. I love hiking/walking and it would have been a great opportunity. But I didn't. For the last year, …

Midsummer Night’s Dream by Pop-Up Globe

Last week ( another long overdue post ), I had the pleasure of watching Pop-Up Globe's iteration of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Having never watched any Shakespeare's plays, I was in for a treat. Featuring an all male cast, the play revolves around the events of a marriage, couple of fairies and two couples. Because …

Photo Challenge: Variations of Bridal Falls, Raglan

I was at Raglan last year when we visited Bridal Falls. I took photographs from various angles. Enjoy! PS: If anyone has any suggestions on adding watermarks or copyright to lots of images, let me know!

Photo Challenge: Silence, Duder Regional Park

I was out on a hike at Duder Regional Park, East Auckland. The place was great for oceanic/peninsular pictures. Here is one of them.   I walked with 60 people who were behind me. This peninsula is one of the Pā (a fortified site) in the region. As we sat for lunch, most people sat …

Birthday Blues

My birthday was in November. Yes, this post is extremely late. When I was a child, I had the habit of counting the number of days to my birthday. I would literally start the day following my birthday and count the number of days till my next. I loved it. I received presents. Mom would …

Photo Challenge: Growth

I took this photo a long time ago as I was walking to work with my Huawei Y5 phone camera. Spring time meant a lot of flowers and this one was great, a perfect flower growth. Check out Daily Post for the prompt.

2017 in Review

I expect things to always get worse. I have always greeted new year's with trepidation because I expect life to get harder. 2017 was a year where I always expected the other foot to fall. But now as I look back on the year, surprisingly it was relaxing. Sure, now that I recall, first quarter …

I host a meetup now

Well I co-host  the meetup but that's perfectly fine. I was just an attendee of the meetup till about 3 weeks ago. One time, the regular hosts couldn't make it and they asked everyone if someone would like to host it, I said sure why not? I mean how hard can it be? Next thing …

NaNoWriMo: Halfway Update

This is not my first NaNoWriMo. It is my third attempt, and the only time I succeeded in finishing my story was the very first year. I liked the story at the time, but if I read my words now I realize little in terms of a story. Last year I had no idea what …

I don’t wanna travel the world

Living in New Zealand, I have had the privilege of meeting a lot of people from different countries. The biggest advantage of meeting people is that most of them are/were traveling the world. The disadvantage of meeting people is that most of them are/were travelers. I remember a Belgian guy from the first group of …

Ramble On Book Launch

This last Sunday was Z.R.Southcombe’s “Ramble On” book launch and I was a part of it. I read an excerpt of my piece. I loved the entire event, it was simple and full of lovely people. Before arriving at the venue, I had to decide what part of my piece I was going to read. …

About Glowworms

This last weekend I was in Raglan, a small cute little town along the west coast of New Zealand. I did a lot of things that I have never done before. I jumped off waterfalls, walked in a forest in the dark ( and made new friends? ). It was a great weekend. I had …

MY NAME IS IN A BOOK!

Yes! My essay on hiking is published in a book. I can see my name in a list of contributors, can see my bio at the end of the book. My essay takes 4 pages among the last chapters. Nothing could have been better. How Did I get here? I follow Zee Southcombe on Twitter. …

House Concert

There is a bar near my house, Flight 605. I go there occassionally because they have host music gigs on Sunday. I have watched ( & heard? ) great Folk music there. Every single artisit had something unique in their gigs, Barrow Brass Band had songs 20min long, Sophie Mashlan played great guitar, Phil Edwards …

Maybe I shouldn’t have complained

I lodged my first (minor) complain yesterday evening & I feel conflicted about it. I was on my bike as I was heading down Sandringham road. As far as I know, I didn't do anything illegal or stupid. I had a bag high-visibility cover on, I was riding in the bus lane (I am allowed …

GovHack 2017: My First Hackathon

We had approximately 48 hours to use open data and create a hack (web app/ mobile app). This was never going to be easy considering: I don't know data science I didn't have a team when I registered Luckily, I knew the language I was going to work on: Javascript. In addition, I sporadically dabble …

RIP Chester Bennington

Chester Bennington's voice sounds different now, I hear his voice with a new clarity now and I get a bigger shock now. How did I never see this coming?!

How hard can it be? (New Plymouth-Paritutu Rock Edition)

(My weekend was not hard except this bit. Considering how much fun I had writing last week's post, I wanted to continue this. I might write an entire post about my New Plymouth trip later) 'Is it hard?' someone in the van asked. A guy, let's call him C had done it before with his …

How Hard can it be? (Ice Skating Edition)

If you are going to try something you have never tried before, a person is bound to tell you 'How hard can it be?'. That person might think that they are encouraging. It is either that or they want to watch you fail so bad that they can send your fail video to FailArmy.  My …

The Longing

Before my flight to Mumbai, I decide I needed to get my thoughts about going home in order

Religions in education?

'If I don't pray before the cross I get punished' my friend explained how his school in Delhi worked. He was in an Catholic school about 10 years ago. The last time I stepped inside a school was when my mom was working in a school and I had to pick up the house keys. …

I Probably Shouldn’t Complain

Life has been tough recently. I am stressed (  because of my visa delay) and really fed up with my incessant problems. I said to my mom the other day on the phone: 'I never get anything done smoothly in my life!' Yesterday I met a friend who is almost my elder sister by now. …

Weekend Coffee Share: Abrupt Changes

We haven't had coffee in a while. Mostly because I wouldn't have much to talk about. Sorry about that. I have not had the chance to talk to you about your life either. If we have met before, you would know that in my life things have a tendency to going wrong in a second. …

You never know you are doing, you just do it

I was talking to my friend past Friday. I was trying to start a PS3 console and it wouldn't start so I called him. While talking I mentioned that I am trying out 'Batman: Arkham City' game even though I have no clue what to do in it. It is at that moment he pretty …

Daily Post: Slur (Fantasy Fiction)

(My plan was not to write stream of continued stories  but now with the help of daily prompt, I am going to try writing them. First story in the series: Glitter) 'Firde!!!' the Slurred Cat screamed. 'Wait what did he scream? Did he say fire?' Maddy asked. Before One Eyed Solomon could reply, they heard …

Daily Post: Hideout (Fantasy Fiction)

(Unintentional continuation of Glitter fiction piece I wrote yesterday) 'What are we doing sir?' 'We are waiting Maddy.' One Eyed Solomon grumbled. No one knows why his name is One Eyed as he has both of his eyes. 'We are hiding aren't we sir?' Maddy said. 'No, we are waiting. We are looking for an …

Daily Post: Glittter (Fantasy Fiction)

'I wanna go out Dad!' 'Out? Did you say OUT?' Dad screamed back at his son. 'Yes dad. I am bored here, there is nothing to do. We are living on heaps of gold which is really uncomfortable to sleep over. I have not seen the sun or the moon in over 3 years.' 'What …

Gone Too Soon

Friday night was not just a party for some of my friends. It was a night to honor a good friend of theirs who sadly passed away. Early this week, I saw a friend's post on facebook remembering his friend, Jérémy, a young university student. Jérémy had passed away tragically with cardiac arrest. I was …

Daily Post: Tremble (Science Fiction)

'How is my baby?' I ask the doctor. He looks like he is going to say something but then he stops. He looks away from me for a second while I wait for his face to show any sign of trouble. He is old, definitely more than 150 years old as his silicon skin has …

Internship Monologues

PS: I got an internship recently, and this is how I feel everyday. Credits: The Mighty What are you doing? I am trying to understand this code. You have to admit it is way beyond your comprehension. No I got this. You will screw up. They will know you are a fraud. Shut up! You …

Daily Prompt: Craftmanship (War Fiction)

'Metal forging is a craft, a skill that one in every 100 men have. Sure, anyone can heat up metal but how to mold it into a sword or an armor: that is a skill. When to cool a metal and how much to beat it, these things can be only done by instincts. You …

Daily Prompt: Recognize (Fiction)

"Do you know who this man is?" Counselor Michaels asked the witness. It was a very important question as it will either make or break the case. However, the witness couldn't have been more unreliable. Joe Monley was a two time convicted felon, one for B&E and the other for manslaughter. He has been clean …

Daily Prompt: Scent (Poetry attempt)

What is smell but a trap? Scented flower buds attract Killing bees and insects Unscented buds die hungry.     I have no idea why I tried this, but if you want to give feedback please feel free to do so. I would like to know what you think: even if you say this is …

Daily Prompt: Replacement (Science Fiction)

'You are pregnant!' the monitor displayed with tiny GIFs of babies crawling sprawled across the screen like confetti. The screen thought it was a celebration. Tessa did not want to celebrate though. A baby meant work, lots of hard work and who does that these days. Amongst her sisters, only one had a baby and …

Daily Prompt: Oversight (Fiction)

Nothing bad can ever come here. Last night's events were not oversight, but they were a result of complacency. How else can three vampires just waltz into Wolf town? Wolf town is the holy land for all kinds of wolfs all over the world. Werewolves, direwolves, siberian wolves and so on. Sometimes even Huskies are …

#100DaysofCode challenge: These guys made my week!

I have enjoyed coding a lot since coming to Auckland. I had a lot of time in my hands, ample resources to learn and now I am always keen on coding. I just don't know what to code: I don't have any project in mind. One day, reading an article on Design.blog I stumbled on …

Identity Crisis

A couple of months ago, I was debating in my university team on minimum wage. The opposite side debated that minimum wage should stay as it helps establish identity. I remember the moment clearly when the opposite side argued 'a person's identity is associated with what they do for a living'. I rebutted against their …

Manan Pandya’s Guest Post: How Lonely are we?

Thank you so much Manan for agreeing to guest post on my blog. He wrote an awesome and insightful post about human conditioning and loneliness and here it is: There comes a time in everyone’s life when we sit down, far away from the world and its people, lost in the thoughts of how truly …

Guest Blogger: Manan Pandya Interview

A while ago, I posted a Call for Guest Bloggers, Megan from ‘Invisible World‘ responded. She found me on Community Pool from Daily Post.  Currently she is one of the contestants for the upcoming #NaNoWriMo and obviously she wrote fiction. Her long form fiction is amazing, particularly because she wrote about immortals and I love […]

Daily Prompt: Exquisite Art (Fiction)

'What is stolen?' the curator exclaimed. Security guard swallowed, remembering that it was her job to keep The Pandora safe in the museum. After all, it was the only painting in the world which can be spread 360 degree. Now, someone had stolen it.   'Hey bro!' the street beggar called out to the passing …

Daily Prompt: Unseen Hero (Fiction)

'How could no one seen a thing?!' Lieutenant Copper exploded. The two sergeants in front of Copper had never heard their lieutenant speak like this. Copper was a nimble man, full of courtesy and diplomacy. No other man had stayed in charge for as long as Copper has and that is because of how he …

Daily Prompt: Cling (Fiction)

The smell clung to his self. He could never wash it out, no matter how many times he tried to wash his clothes. He tried to eradicate it out of his self by trying different techniques, by using the ways of his victims. He traded perfumes from some of the best manufacturers of the world. …

Daily Prompt: Shine

The light that shines brightest burns fastest Chanakya kept thinking of the line in his mind since morning. He was scared. He had played his hand and now his gamble might backfire on him. Definitely result in some firing. He had no choice but to put one foot after another. He had to pretend that …

Daily Prompt: Infinite (Fiction)

'Do you know that the hummingbird's wings make the infinite sign while flapping? No? It is one of the lines from that movie where the guy aged in reverse. Wonderful movie, a little slow for my pace though.' Adil nodded. He knew that movie 'Curious Case of Benjamin Button'. He had seen it a couple …

I figured out time at the end of 2016

Or at least I think so. One of the good things in 2016. I reached the realization a while ago but only recently while reading one of the Discover posts, I was able to put my thoughts into words. As soon as I hit 'Post Comment' I knew I had an explanation to my obsession …

Weekend Coffee Share: Graduation Week

If we are having coffee, I will talk all about my week. It was full, filled with different people of different background and different perspectives. It also was the week when I graduated with a Masters of Engineering. The past weekend has been one of the best weekends so far. It was filled with great …

I wish I had a dragon

To Anyone who says Disney movies are for kids, You are wrong. They are not solely for kids. I have always enjoyed them, although I am one of the adults who love to watch great visuals on a screen. Disney or any animated movie for the matter have more than great visuals going for them, …

A year in AUT

A year ago, I was in Mumbai working 9 hours a day and secretly trying to get my visa sanctioned. I had kept my Masters' plans secret from my colleagues. I would frequently call my brother whenever I needed some advice about my visa or about my job. No one really tells you how hard …

Diwali In Auckland

(PS: that is not my home, it is my neighbors') To me, Diwali is the festival of food, particularly sweets. Families all over would create  culinary masterpieces and the very air would be infused with myriad aromas. When Diwali is passes by my house would be filled with lots of food, boxes of sweets. The …

Fiction: At the races

Chris sat at the stall, waiting for Selena to show up. The race was about to start and she was nowhere to be seen, it was her idea to spend the Sunday on a racetrack. They arrived at the scene together but then she said she needed to use the loo. Now, half hour later, …

End Panic

(PS: I use my blog less frequently than I used to. Now, it is more a therapeutic measure than a sharing platform. I write on the days when I am sad, today I am sad about a small thing that I couldn't do anymore. A post is due about my events in AUT and I will get …

Rejections

Imagine yourself on the penultimate step of the staircase. You are almost at a new level, representing a new world in itself. How you reached that spot is another story, worthy of its tale. However, if you don't reach the final step, something which often happens in my life, it can be because of two …

Why so….happy?

Recently, partly because of my newfound 'Yes' attitude and my friend's insistence, I ended up at a meditation workshop arranged by people from Hare Krishna Temple, Auckland in University of Auckland. The person conducting the workshop did a good job, outlining the various religious reasons as to why a certain meditation is performed. I know …

Who is this guy?

7 months. Without family, with only an hour long conversations with people who I utterly love. And now, this morning I realized I no longer can recognize myself. Mumbai would be a place of comfort. Where I would say 'no' more than I draw breath. No to cooking, no to cleaning, no to socializing, you …

Fiction: Waiting for a Train

'He will be here, his letter said so.' Maduram said. Sindhu, the station master observed Maduram sceptically. Madhuram was old, looked frail, he should not be out on a cold night without any warm clothes. His threadbare kurti and lungi could scarcely provide warmth, his shawl looked older than Madhuram. Regardless Maduram was here waiting for an …

Poem: Trying too Hard (NZ National Poetry Day 2016)

Inspired by a recent Meetup I just went to & today's Daily Prompt challenge: Obvious. I decided to try poetry for the day.   Trying too hard you say, Mockery spurns away. Why is this such a bad thing? Everyone wants to fit in. It is easy for many to find their places, others struggle …

Privilege

In recent times, privilege has been branded as a word to describe to Whites. The use of the word is many a times justified, but I am not the judge of that. I am not perceptive enough to pick out subtle race differences, to spot the minorities. I am not writing a post about racism, …

Weekend Coffee Share: Househunting again

If we are having coffee, I would tell you that coffee shares are surprisingly simple and difficult at the same time. How much am I supposed to share? Am I just supposed to gloss over stuff, or dive into my feelings as I do in many of my posts. I would tell you that I …

Fiction: Characters in Bookworld?

  (I saw this on Facebook and I had to write on this!) John could see the train coming in the tunnel, the beacon becoming brighter. Newmarket train Station in Auckland was extremely crowded. Considering the station had every line passing through it, it meant it was as important as Britomart Transport Centre. However, John had this …

Weekend Coffee Share: Eventful to say the least

If we are having coffee, I would say that this week has been exciting and tiring at the same time. I did a lot of things this week and the main thing is I loved the past week, which climaxed with a beautiful trip down to Taupo Lake.   If we are having coffee I …

Cycling: A Paradox

In the recent months, cycling in Auckland has become one of my favorite activities. At the same time, I have come to loath this activity too. I love cycling down-slope, even though my nerves fire up whenever I ride in such high speed, I am glad I bought a cycle. When I cycle up-slope, if …

Fiction: What is Success?

(The following piece is inspired by a conversation I had with a couple of friends) The restaurant is pretty busy. There is long queue of people who are waiting to dine in here but those who are having their dinners here do not want to vacate their tables even after they are done. The tiny …

Weekend Coffee Share: Week’s helper

I missed last weekend's coffee share as I was doing something. I don't remember what. The week started early, some 5 am when one of my friend called me to talk to me. Something was wrong I knew immediately and we Skyped so early in the morning. Something had came up and she was scared. …

Weekend Coffee Share: New House

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that I moved to a new house past Sunday. It's not as luxurious as my previous house but then again I knew it was coming. I spent the week here, making friends with the roommates and slowly our bond seems to be getting stronger, unlike my …

Maybe I should pay more attention

Racism. Something which I would hardly think of when I am dealing with people. So whenever people would ask me "Where are you from?" I would reply where am I from and just leave it at that. I hardly pay any heed to the subtle hints of racism because I do not have time for …

Fiction: Burying my companions secrets

I am killing some zombies on my PlayZ console. The console and the game are really ancient at this point and I have mastered the game by now. But it is still crazy. I want to buy some new game, maybe military FPS this time but my mom wouldn't give me any money. What's the …

Weekend Coffee Share: The week that wasn’t

I had everything planned. Give my exams, Monday and Tuesday. Finish up my presentation for Wednesday and then go for a Jazz session in a bar in Auckland CBD. I would have finished up with everything with a smile on my face.   If we were having coffee then I would have told you that …

If we are having coffee: Some Reminders

If we are having coffee(or tea), I would tell you that something happened that made me want to take writing seriously again. If we do have coffee, I would also tell you that this is my first #weekendcoffeeshare post. I always loved this idea, I tried it in real life too, however I failed to …

Luck’s running out

Random person: “Wow that is awesome” Me: “Yeah, I got lucky.” That's how I always described it. Lucky. Not hard work or dedication; I was just at the right place at the right time. Many would say that I jinxed it myself, I just knew it was coming sooner or later. The previous housekeeper left …

Captivated

Today I got to know she passed away. I don’t know what else to say

It's Mayur Remember?

Many people catch my attention but only few of them truly captivate me.

Today I met an extraordinary woman.

She is my aunt’s mother, easily older than 80 years.

I don’t know her name, her last name I learnt from the nameplate.  I am clueless about her education, her marriage, her accomplishments or her regrets: because I didn’t ask them.

In fact I didn’t ask her anything, I just watched her in wide eyed wonder. I observed her energy and cordial personality, a person captivated.

Yes, captivated.

She couldn’t hear anymore but that didn’t impede her loquacious nature, she can lip read everyone: me, my parents, my aunt, even the actors on TV! Her focus oscillated from one person to the next as we spoke, she wanted to be a part of the conversation.

She spoke with everyone, she made me feel as a part of her family even if…

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Perfection

  I was assessing year 4 math papers yesterday. As part of my new job as a assistant tutor, this is one of the responsibilities. As I assessed their papers, I recalled my school years when I used to do the same things that these kids are doing. My frustration at the concept of complex …

Melancholy of Goodbye

It's weird saying goodbye. It's weirder if it's a place to which I am saying goodbye to. The past weekend I had a road trip to Hamilton, which kiwis call the hole of North Island. I revelled in the weekend, took the loses with a pinch of salt and enjoyed with icing sugar. It was …

Fiction: Half Remembered Dream

Eyelids flickering. He should know by now he is dreaming, that it is almost 5 am in the morning. The time when the dam withholding dreams is released, random characters both new, remembered and fictitious manifest. Yet he dreams on, his eyelids quivering as his sleep slowly withdraws, his breath quickening. He is standing in …

Grinning Down Queen Street

Today could have been any normal random day. Only it wasn't. If I had known that I could have been this foolishly happy by just a book then I would have borrowed this book sooner: Malazan Book of the Fallen: Book 6 Bonehunters! Quite possibly the best book I have read and I saw it …

Sometimes I Surprise Myself

I have been cooking in a new country for a month now. Sadly, only once my cooking has produced something that I couldn't get enough of. I do not cook bad all the time. I don't cook amazing either. The very first time I cooked lamb chops, I followed a recipe. The result was so …

Transit Friends

That is what I call them. When I moved to Auckland, I had a plan. Live temporarily in this place while I look for a good apartment near my university. Call it my incompetence to get a good apartment near to my university, or the fact that I loved my area so much that I …

Thank You Gmail

It is not easy; I knew it the moment I landed here in Auckland tugging two suitcases trying to soak in the new country and at the same time worrying about the things that I need to do. I knew that if there is one thing that I am going to miss the most about …

Nostalgia and Family

I just move to Auckland and the last couple of days have been emotional to say.

Literary Lion: Pool

Fiction: Literary Lion: Pool. My response to Laura's prompt: this time she challenged us to write a story in 100 words or less on her prompt pool.     First Feet, thighs and then chest. Finally, I was in the pool walking towards that sparkling beauty. The sunlight shimmered off the water surface. I prodded …

To Dale Carnegie and his book ‘How to win friends and influence people’

When I was in school, I remember reading about Dale Carnegie's book ‘How to make Friends & Influence People.’ Back then I was a weird kid; I still am weird guy. I could never fit in amongst people; I did not have any friends so naturally I wanted to read it. When I eventually got …

Literary Lion 6 word challenge: Star

Laura's Literary Lion prompts are back and this time she gave the hardest challenge of them all: A 6 word story challenge. Her prompt is Star. Here is my take on the word. They are brightest As they Fall. There you go Laura. Let's see what other Literary Lion Contestants have written: https://villpowerstory.wordpress.com/2016/01/19/literary-lion-six-word-story/ http://themomwhoruns.com/2016/01/20/i-wish-i-may-i-wish-i-might-literary-lion-star/ https://newshoundnovelist.wordpress.com/2016/01/15/rising-star-literary-lion-week-one/ …

Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima Review

My guest post on Sabina's blog: I tried to do a book review for Shockwave by Stephen Walker; one of the best books I have read so far. Check it out!

Jallikattu: Other Side of the Festival

Maybe this is what the Bull must be thinking.

Level 2016: You Are Just Going To Get Harder Aren’t You?

If life is compared to a computer game then each year would be a level. In the beginning of the level, it seems easier but with time it gets harder and harder. You pray for the demon to appear so you could beat him and finish the level. If life is a computer game, then that …

Guest Post #7: What is Writing to Me?

Carol J Forrester shares her views on writing, she gives us her experience in this wonderful and inspiring post

Discover vs Freshly Pressed: Why it doesn’t work for me

After I finished my NaNoWriMo, I returned to WordPress to find the best feature is defunct. The Freshly Pressed feed had provided me with loads of laughter and buckets of tears. It is now replaced with a new blog: Discover. The new blog is not bad but it does not deliver as Freshly Pressed did. …

Thank You: We ought to say it more

On Facebook, Twitter and everywhere else, manners are rigorously followed. Every comment gets a thank you. But in real life, thank you is lost, meaningless and taken for granted.

NaNoWriMo Winner!

I heard about this contest a year ago while reading someone's blog. Then it seemed a gigantic task: complete 50,000 words of your manuscript/novel in 30 days. This year when Alisha asked me about this, I jumped at the opportunity. Obviously, I have written about this previously too: My writing goal is to get published. …

Voice To Words

It is 1 am and I'm typing this. It is because tomorrow morning I will not be feeling this elation. Only an hour ago I had a Skype conversation with two blog friends. I follow them since long back and I feel like I knew personally. Only I didn't. I follow a lot of people, …

Guest Post #6: The Song

Another blogger Megan from the Invisible World answered my call for guest bloggers and submitted her guest post, The Song a long ago. I loved her piece and I think so will you. You can also read her interview and checkout her blog. So here we go: A young maiden of immense beauty.  Her hair a …

Guest Blogger #6: Megan Interview

A while ago, I posted a Call for Guest Bloggers, Megan from 'Invisible World' responded. She found me on Community Pool from Daily Post.  Currently she is one of the contestants for the upcoming #NaNoWriMo and obviously she wrote fiction. Her long form fiction is amazing, particularly because she wrote about immortals and I love …

Quitting Blogging, Missing Birthdays and all the rest

I was frantic over the fact that my blog, something that I am dabbing with my soul for so long is simply refusing to fly. A month ago, I decided to quit blogging

The Narrowness of Minds

Something that needs to be pondered upon…

A Hopelessly Wandering Mind

What defines us still, to so many eyes? In the age of emancipation how do nations measure our skill, our worth? Justice falls away, prejudice remains, stains our character, suggesting opinions before they can form, and shunning those who do nothing to merit it. What’s in a name, what’s in the hue, the pigment, the colour of our skin to define our worth?

Nothing.

And yet, to some, to too many, it still means everything.

Frederick Douglass, ca. 1879

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Don’t Blame Me

Don't blame me If I fail Cause you told me I'll fail. Don't blame me If I get angry Cause you never appeased me. Don't blame me For being a loser You never taught me to win. Don't blame me If don't talk You never listened. Don't blame me If I'm alone You never stood …

Guest Post #5: Quest for a Right Job

Here's Melissa's post. Do have a read, I for one found some great inspiration from reading this. This is one guest post I have not edited for it deserved to be as it is. Her Blog 'In Between Moderation' is amazing and worthy of a follow. You can also check out her interview. Take the stage …

Guest Blogger #5: Melissa Ruddy Interview

A while ago, I posted a Call for Guest Bloggers, Melissa from 'In Between Moderation' responded. She kind of liked what I do so she asked me to write a guest blog for and that you can check out here. Her blog is all about balance, and she herself tries to achieve balance in her …

Things Never Done

I traveled by bus past her area, thinking I will be unaffected. But I become overwhelmed by the past. The past was funny, flirty and childish. It was something inexperienced, new and cute as a baby. The face I never could recall. I always marveled at my inability to recall her visage, I'm one of those …

Guest Post #4: Busy Bees

We are following the flock. Be the shepherd and change directions. Routine is boring. Avoid it!! It's lethal!

Guest Blogger #4: Alisha Khan Interview

I have been unfair to the guest bloggers who responded to my call. For the delay I have cause I am sorry. After I published my call for guest bloggers, Alisha responded. I remember her comment on my blog about a few months ago and I followed her. From that day to today, her progress in …

110 People Died Yesterday

I found out that from midnight to 1700 hrs IST, Exactly 110 humans died. A hundred and freaking ten people.

Literary Lion: They Never Did Fall

A 400 word response to Laura's prompt. Literary Lion: Fall Harry waited at the party for his wife, she was running late today. She always runs late these days. He doesn't mind, in fact he is rather proud of the fact that she is so hard-working. Georgia is someone he has always admired and more he got …

Guest Blog: #3 The Morning

As promised here is the fiction by Kailash Nath. You can see his interview here You should totally check out his blog.   The cool breeze is making me shiver a bit, but it is refreshing. The morning sun is rising and the color of the sky slowly changes from blue to red, color of …

Guest Blogger #3: Kailash Nath Interview

After I published my call for guest bloggers, Kailash here responded. I have read his fictions via daily post comments and I can say he is a really talented writer. His blog is full of fiction pieces that will entice you into reading more of his posts. Without much adieu here is the interview that …

Walking My Dog is Heartbreaking

Today his trot was slower, clearly favoring his right leg. Head and tail drooped, he looked so old today. He was already past his energetic days, but today he looked frail

Down Memory Lane

Mulund. Devi Dayal road. My father's home. We visited an aunt last Saturday. After a long time, we met her and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We got to know that the lane in which my father lived his childhood has changed, the buildings are replaced by residential towers, the road is bigger and slum dwellers …

Flowers In Your Memory

Literary Lion: Flower Dear Jyoti, Here is the gajra I promised. Its Thursday and you always loved wearing it in your hair every Thursday. I vowed to keep gajra in front of your photograph, today I keep this letter too. You see, I have been diagnosed with cancer. We must have a strong love because …

Captivated

Many people catch my attention but only few of them truly captivate me. Today I met an extraordinary woman. She is my aunt's mother, easily older than 80 years. I don't know her name, her last name I learnt from the nameplate.  I am clueless about her education, her marriage, her accomplishments or her regrets: …

Guest Blog #2: Life As We Know IT

So guest blog #2 By Stressed Mess! You read her interview here! She is really great at fictions and is bound to reach great heights later. Check out her blog! Without any more delay, here we go: Crisp Mumbai evening. He boarded the local train with commuters; but there was a difference between him and …

Guest Blogger #2: ‘Stressed Mess’ Interview

After I published my call for guest bloggers, Ms StressedMess here is one of the few to show any interest in this Thank you! So here is her small interview & you should totally check out her blog, 'Of Silver Linings And Stormy Nights' she is although new at her blog, she has a talent …

Fan Fiction: Lou Bloom

Literary Lion: Flower (I just saw Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhall. I was captivated by his superb performance and when I saw Laura's post Bloom I had to make an attempt at fan fiction. I'm afraid I couldn't do it justice) ‘911. What is your emergency?’ ‘Hello my name is Lou Bloom from Video Production Network. …

Guest Blog #1: You Don’t Matter

Here is the Poetry as promised by Mr Brent Kincaid. You can also check out his interview.       You don’t matter at all, You hardworking citizen, You who toil at drudgery To feed all your children. When we need you to vote We pay attention to you But the rest of the time …

Guest Blogger #1: Brent Kincaid Interview

After I published my call for guest bloggers, Mr Brent here was the first to respond. Though initially I was hesitant to go ahead with this guest blogging routine because of a lack of response, I am going ahead with this anyway and I will run this series of guest blogging till I run out …

Dance Of Death

Literary Lion. Dance She lay dying. Her clothes were bloodied although most of the blood was from her enemies. She had killed many of them tonight. But not enough and now only the most potent and deadly chased her down the alley. She knew she wouldn't outlive the hour, she had no energy resources to …

Calling Guest Bloggers!

I have discussed with a blogger friend of mine on the same topic and taking advice from her I intend to publish a series of guest blogs. If you are interested, you a blogger or just want to want to write I welcome you. I won't guarantee a lot of exposure, I myself suffer from …

My First Job

It lasted for four days. Yes four days. (I have previously written on my struggles to land a job.) How did I get placed there? I had little hopes of getting a good job. I had a specific criteria & I was not willing to enter any written agreement mandating me to work for the …

Keep Me As A Friend

Yes have me as a friend. I am interested in you. I want to know about you. I don't expect us to be best buddies. I don't want us to stay up till 4 am and have a profound conversation. But I will be your best friend if you need me to. I'll stay up …

Time

Liberty Lion: Time ‘Circles? ’ I asked. Grandpa lay gasping for breath. He is a stubborn old man; he wouldn't admit he is too frail for a hike. We left our house about two hours ago to reach the summit of the hill. He would always verbosely describe his childhood achievements and all of the …

Why Do Dogs Have To DIe?

There is a bitch that stayed a couple of buildings away from mine. Or there was a bitch. I never took any pictures of her, but whenever I walked Jimmy near her building she would run out, a huge doggy grin in her face and play with us. She would irritate jimmy by trying to …

Your Eyes

(Daily Prompt : Born To Be With You Not completely related but I found some connection so I am putting this in connection) Literary Lion: Eye (I'm being lazy by not writing another post but I already have written this!) I saw you in train, I was soaked from the rains. I couldn't see your …

Literary Lion: King

(Liberty Lion: King. Weekly Prompt by Laura Feasey.)   ‘Who is this King of Browning street? ’ Hector exploded into the nearest constable. Hector had recently been very angry. A lot of times. His anger issues stemmed from his childhood, from his mother abandoning him but somewhere in life he got it under control. For …

Feed The Sparrows

Having nothing to do is dangerous. The task less indolent mind wanders onto places and ideas that you would've never reached. And it's also possible that during such a time nothing can be achieved or a lot can be found. Such is my case. Every night I made a plan, and every night the plan …

What Do You Want to Do in Life?

My dad sat with me the other night to have a very important talk. I expected the conversation to involve drinking or something related to it. Instead he shocked me by asking a question I was never ready for. I will probably be never be able to answer. Beta kya karna hai life me? ‘what …

BE Biomedical Engineer

I graduated. Finally. Last week my results were declared and yesterday my convocation was held. There's not much words to describe this but yes I am happy. It's done. Last week me and my friends were in Nashik. One night we all stayed up all night and talked. I said life's much more than money …

People Suck!

All you ever do is make life worse. Hardly do you ever bring to the table something good, hell you don't eve bring yourselves most of the times deciding to wear a mask rather than show who you are. You in all your diplomacy and crafty choice of words.

To whomsoever it may concern(Too Honest)

I had an interview today. And their response at the end blew my mind. Not my preferred job profile, but its better than sitting at home and doing nothing. I have to start somewhere, if its at the bottom of ladder so be it. My ego can eat shit. I made my share of mistakes …

Cypress Thank You

I'm a novice in trekking and hiking. I have been trekking in Pune area and they have always been amazing. I am better than most of my friends and I can say this because of the 7 to 8 treks I have done, I never slipped. My breath gets labored but that's okay.

Struggle Never Ceases

Optimism can only go so far I ended up saying the same thing to a couple of my friends, a lot during the last couple of days. And this was not just related to one issue. Recently I read this girl's post, and I felt sorry for her because what she is going through I …

Stop the 2015 Yulin Festival

#STOPYULIN2015

Animals are more compassionate than most humans. How anyone could do this to these poor creatures, I will never understand. The animals in meat processing plants were born and bred specifically for that purpose, and they are treated much more humanely than these dogs are. No living creature should be tortured and forced to suffer just for any “festival.” Their lives are much more precious than the meat off their bones.

Please, please, please take a few moments and sign the petition to help save these animals: https://www.change.org/p/president-of-the-people-s-republic-of-china-stop-the-yulin-dog-meat-eating-festival

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On Professions

For the last two days I am sitting in the hospital, one of my aunts just went through a surgery. Now, hospitals are scary. Downright scary. And they are white and all silent and squeaky clean. I don't trust things when they are clean. Tawdry seems real while tidy seems put up. Like there's something …

Introspection

I got nominated by Adi to participate in the Freestyle Writing Challenge, which is a great little exercise in fluid, un-interrupted writing. So here are the RULES of this challenge: 1.Open an MS Word document 2. Set a stop watch or your mobile to 5 minutes or 10 minutes whichever challenge you think you can beat. …

Editing

Editing. That's the key. It removes the unwanted to give a complete picture. No, not the complete perfect picture but surely a picture that's better than before.

Heart’s

Inspiration: 'There's no present or future, there's just past happening over and over again'- Eugene O'Neil Heart's a kid, It jumps like nothing else. Heart's an adult, It carries a burden. Heart's fickle, It doesn't know what it wants. Heart's adamant, It has to get what it wants. Heart's selfish, Nobody else matters. Heart's selfless, …

Inadequate

Daily Prompt: ( Green-Eyed Lady We all get jealous from time to time — what wakes the green-eyed monster for you?) Jealousy is relatively easy to talk about. And social networking doesn't exactly truncate jealousy. The usual things like hanging out, missing out or not having enough money or opportunity does and make almost everyone …

To The People I Met in College

(Four Stars Write a review of your life — or the life of someone close to you — as if it were a movie or a book.) While having lunch, someone posed the question 'Where would we be five ten years from now?' None of us could answer, but that got me thinking. If the …

On Writings

'Mayur, you are a Writer!' I remember school, over myriads of bad memories there, some few memories are ones which bring a smile to my face. It was seventh grade when I wrote an essay and the teacher announced I had written the one which she loved the most. It was a simple one, in …

Joy

Ha! Ha! I kept laughing like an absolute lunatic on the phone. She kept shouting at me to stop laughing because it was something serious. Eventually she gave up and hung up the phone. This evening things went after a huge time better. I don't know what prompted it. Whether there was any prompt or …

One Year Old

(Source Inspiration: The Internet: IT’S MADE OF PEOPLE by King of States &Fleeting by End Kwote) I must have forgotten how to write by now. I admit this because I am not a regular blogger. And more often than not, I am shitty blogger. My blog is getting updated after almost two weeks and one …

Projects, Dashing cars, Bowling, Heartbreaks and everything in between.

Usually plans are made. Let's hang out here, let's go there on Sundays. But nothing happens and at the end you are left at home watching a movie for like tenth time eating same comfort food. Sometimes spontaneous plans are born, kindled by the preceding unsuccessful attempts of planned hangouts, and something great comes out …

How I Stitched A Button

Let's back up a few days for now. The last couple of weeks weren't easy for me. For one I had to face the doomsday conundrum: Decisions. Now, it probably is not a big deal for you but it was a big deal for me. I have to decide what to do about my future …

THL Guest Post: Mayur Wadhwani – More than a Decade Ago

Thank you Adi!

Laughter!

This one is special. It is very close to my heart and I felt like writing about it for a while. Laughter. It is contagious, spontaneous and very much precious. Ever heard a baby laugh? In no time almost everyone looking at the baby starts laughing, the joy spreads across like water. If you know …

#30 Breath Fire (part 10)

Continued, check part 9 Fiction: When Forster was born, realm was prospering. The combined efforts of humans and draconian strength had made economy boom. Trade routes were established with Maximus existing captured regions. The burned lands were largely fertile and used for agriculture. Reaves turned out to be a great King. The hostilities between humans …

#29 Breath Fire (Part 9)

Continued, check part 8 Fiction: Every other dragon saw that. The King momentary burst of anger had betrayed him. Reaves called Garge back. 'You got him to declare his position to us. Now you need to make him expose himself to his men.' Deacon provided. Wise man had not asked about just disclosed terms of …

#28 Breath Fire (Part 8)

Continued, check part 7 Fiction: 'What now Reaves?' 'You tell me. I have an army sitting on my arose ready to go for my throat. And my hundred warriors are ready to kill your would be wife if they get the chance. This has to be resolved as quickly as possible. Otherwise we are dead.' …

#27 Breath Fire(Part 7)

Continued, check part 6 Fiction: It was a crowd gathered in the great hall. Each and every dragon had assembled to have the humans blood. And the humans smelled of fear. Everyone except Tamara, who should be scared considering she was pregnant. Oh man, Garge thought. If that child is mine,.. The entire court thought …

#26 Breath Fire(Part 6)

Continued, check part 5 Fiction: Aftermath of the fire match was worse than anticipated. Those soldiers who made into the shore in the first wave were gasping for air, smoke had lodged deep in their lungs. With some minor wounds and burns that were ignored in a desperate attempt to stay alive, they quickly began …

#25 Breath Fire (part 5)

Continued, check part 4: Fiction: Sargent Davis hated sea voyage. He always got seasick. Only good thing he could see was there was the land right in front of him. A few minutes more and they will be ashore. And then Davis could pacify his revolting guts. Who cares what they are hunting? Kings make …

#24 Breath Fire (Part 4)

Continued, see previous post part 3 Fiction: Foreigner knew blood will be drawn. But the damn archers behind him were amateurs, they should nor stand behind me. They should move and flank the opponents. From where they stand, their aim was obstructed by foreigner himself. Garge gave the order to Wesley. He could only hope …

#23 Breath Fire (Part 3)

Continuation, check previous post, part 2 Fiction: Hundreds. It seemed as if the next incoming wave was full of ships. They must been tens of thousands on board. 'I told you a war was coming. Whoever they are, they must have heard the same tales and came here to tame dragons, to tame us.' Wesley …