Review of "There's Something About You" by Yashodhara Lal

Title: There's Something About You
Author: Yashodhara Lal
Available at: Flipkart

First all the disclaimers: "There's Something About You" is not a romantic novel despite the suggestive title. It is a book about a woman who is struggling with all the petty issues that life has an uncanny habit of throwing at us, from time to time. No job, dependant parents, dwindling finances and an irritating-but-meaning-well mom! And of course, no boyfriend and the constant pressure of "settling-down"!!! 

Add to this the emotional turmoil of having a father who is suffering from the dreaded Alzheimer's disease and seeing him go south a little every single day. The once strong and protective father has now turned into a dependant and needy person and it is really heart-breaking to watch this facet of life, every single day.

Trish handles all of this and much more with aplomb till she encounters a stalker, whose life she has also saved before. Yup, it's tricky! Add an agony aunt column to the roller-coaster ride, which Trish does for purely financial reasons. Trish tries to take revenge on her editor, which backfires in such a miraculous way that Trish becomes an overnight celebrity, much to her chagrin. It is a good stress-buster for her as it allows her to let off steam in her characteristic sarcastic way! 

The ending is also superb as it shows how unpredictable life can be. What might seem as a "bane" one moment can actually turn out to be a "boon" a few moments later. Trish's financial issues get sorted out and she also starts to live life on her own terms instead to toeing the line of her bosses.

I got this book from the "Flipkart Review Program" and i finished it in two sittings flat. All in all, a worthy tale of our middle-class life and the struggles that we go through! The book amply demonstrates that there is a rainbow at the end of the dark and dreary grey clouds.

Review of "Mistress of Honour" By Bhavna Arora

It is an unlikely love story that blossoms in the background of the Indian Army. The book revealed to me that the strong Indian soldiers also have another side to their persona. The book starts on a simple note but picks up pace and plot very soon. It is not only well-researched but also depicts a very true picture of the travails and trials that the families of the Indian army face.

Perhaps the best part about the book is that two stories blend together and show how "history repeats itself".

Review of "The House that BJ Built" By Anuja Chauhan

Is it a book or a Bollywood script – the reader will keep wondering as they turn page after page of this scintillating and thrilling family drama. The Thakur Girls of “TPTG” are all grown up and fighting over their ancestral house. So many secrets, regrets and greedy little traits crop up all over the book to make it a nice and breezy read. 
I got this book as part of the "Flipkart Review Program" and i must admit that the excellent Hinglish prose just takes the book to another level! 
The book has all the makings of a Bollywood blockbuster with a “foot in the mouth” Bollywood director, a copycat fashion designer, a spiritual lady and a Page 3 addict news editor. The cherry on the cake is the “item song” – “Aur Jee” (pronounced as “Orgy”). Yes, an item song in the book! Anuja Chauhan has written a befitting sequel to “TPTG” in which she explores the lives of the famous sisters and how the chance of mega-millions corrupts them all!

a restaurant date with our omnipresent smartphones in tow... (Before Smartphones & After..)

I met my dinner date at a new restaurant and suddenly his iPhone went *beep beep* and it was an email notification. He went "Oh oh.." and proceeded to switch to the 3G network to check out the email and then incessant phone calls and some more email replies followed to and fro.

And was i fuming all this while? No sir, i was playing WordFeud(Scramble with people over the Internet) on my iPhone, completely oblivious to the corporate mayhem my date was in. Thats one of the superb advantages of being a freelancer. Corporate mayhem seems like a big funny circus to me and doesn't faze me a wee bit.

And what happened to the dinner? The waiter handed us the menus and i was told by his eyes to order for the both of us. I did so, but then his urgent con-call followed and the order was packed and we headed to the abode.

This incident later set me thinking that what would have had happened if that email notification wouldn't have arrived in the very first place? And how dinner dates were in a restaurant before the advent of "My Smartphone vs Your Smartphone" or even before there was GPRS.

We would have had smiled at each other and actually looked into each others eyes.
We would have had actually talked and laughed at the day's many anecdotes.
We would have had compared our crazy days and debated on who came out on top!

We would have had noticed new changes in each other.
We would have had at least noticed the clothes that the other was wearing or the *well-intentioned* lack of clothes at strategic places.. ;-) (i honestly don't remember his shirt's color on the last date)

We would have had flirted a wee bit or at least set the ball rolling..and then depending on the chemistry footsie might have followed..either accidentally or in a boldly acknowledged form.. ;-)
We would have had..opps..okay i *might* have had mentally picturised him bereft of his shirt.. ;-)

We would have had really taken the pains to read the menu and then debated the merits and demerits of the "semi-final-led" dishes before ordering..
We would have had noticed the restaurant's freebies (mint chutney, achaar, papad etc.)
We would have had seen the decor of the restaurant and trashed/commented on it based on the theme and what the designer wanted to accomplish and where he actually ended up..

We would have had salivated while waiting for the food and then actually eating it up there..
We would have had thought long and hard about dessert options and our waist-lines..

We would have had argued over the tip percentage and whether the waiter really deserves it or not..
We would have had thought about post-dinner catching up..


We would have had blasted the other on his/her roving eyes checking out the others..
We would have had debated whether we would come again to this restaurant or not..

We would have had talked aimlessly about the weather if the dinner date was not going in the right direction..
We would have had..We would have had..We would have had..




We "might" have had made plans for another date..or we "might" have had been glad to escape when the bill would have had come..
But it was not to be..i was actually thinking about my online game in which an opponent made a word "FEEBS" (what does it mean, in the first place? huh) worth 136 points against me..and he was thinking about corporate strategy and how to come out on top..and the telecom companies were milking us for our incessant 3G usage..

RIP Dad..

I bet they need u there in the Heaven's Railways Micro-processors Deptt..If they have faster micro-processors there, then am sure u would be over the moon and celebrating the fact with a nice cup of garam chai & regaling others with ur wonderful Earth stories in ur dramatic story-telling way.. :)

Woh Liverpool k letters, woh mera favorite salad, woh chinni k parathe, woh Physics ki har cheez ko ek Railway track/train k example se samjana, woh mom ki gossip karna, woh Sunday morning ki jalebi ki shopping karne jana, woh scooty sikhate huay mera aapko girana, woh raat main 3am uth k terrace par celestial event dekna, woh garden main tedhe-medhe plants lagana aur pir daat Khana Maa se, woh Chowk se parrots kharid k lana, woh PC-XT...

woh light jaate hi jhoole par baithe k liy race lagana, woh guest rm k marble floor ko chamkaane ka challenge, woh tanki paint karna aur apne ko Piccaso samajna, woh 'Close-Down' dekna, woh Maa k saamne ek-dosare k liy jhoot bolna, woh chai banwane k liy black-mail karna, woh mera migraine aur aapka seer dabana, woh aapka mere room se casette Lena aur mera rootna, woh mera aapka tiffin roz last minute par bana kar pack karna aur aapka tension Bhara Chehra, woh mera sabjiya 'ban' karna, woh aapke k liy woolen socks knit karna, woh aapka jackets ka craze aur hum sab ka collection dek dek k jalna, woh bees hazaar baar aapka "wahi" news dekna zor se, woh meri choti gori-gori meethi rotiya aapki pasand wali, woh mom ka aapse mithai chupana...

woh gate khol k Rakna main aur meri gaadi k liy, woh mere liy hailstones utha k freeze kar k rakna, woh aapka subah pyaar se uthana beta beta bol k, woh school mai itane saare uniform-clad bacho main apni beti ko pechaan nahi pana, woh dal na khane par daatna, woh Darjeeling ki roads par long walks mom ko hotel room main chod k, woh Tipsy k harkaate k elaborate coverups, woh "thoda prakash daalna beta", woh roz subah jaldi uth k morning walk jaane ka promise aur pir wapis aa k pir soo jana, woh Santa k jokes ki analysis, woh "Hello Papa aur Hello Beta" ka ritual, woh "nahi nahi ye bahut fried hai" kehna aur pir chip k pakore khana, woh "ye koi khaane ki cheez hai" aur "accha thoda dena jara", woh aapka chai ka glass garden main bhool Ana aur mera kehna ki ab usska ped ugega, woh aapke bade bade sweater jaan booch k pehena, aur aur aur aap...

Sab bahut pyari yaadein hai :)

- a father's li'l daughter...

by aish | Create your own Cartoon at www.toondoo.com

life is but, a story that we script and act out everyday...

a true story...
a story true...

a story in a line,
a story in a roundabout...

a story in a glance,
a story in a far-away land...

a story in a sigh,
a story in an ah!

a story in a OMG,
a story in a yes YES YESS...

a story in an election,
a story in a rejection...

a story in signs,
a story in *Conditions Apply...

a story in Fill-in-da-blanks,
a story that's known...

a non-stop story,
a story that gets refreshed(F5ed)...

an endless story,
an aborted story...

a questioning story,
a story with results...

a sorrow story,
a chick-lit story...

a far-fetched story,
a down-to-earth story...

a story that rings a bell,
an anonymous story...

a story that teaches,
a story that asks...

a story that just broke out,
a story that failed...

a story in trust,
a story in rust...

a cooked up story,
a garnished story...

a story on memories,
a story on amnesia...

a story on secrets,
an open-ended story...

an ironical story,
a story on fate...

a story on hate,
a story on acceptance...

a crazy story,
but a true one...

a good story,
a better story...

a grand-maa story,
a haiku...

a nushu story,
a published story...

an absorbent story,
a troubling story...

a story on pattrens,
a twist-of-fate story...

an i-can't-stop story,
a battery-dead story...

a story on accidents,
a story on contrived plans...

a starry story,
a humble story...

a fossil-led story,
a sci-fi story...

a web-pay-to-download story,
a fable...

a story on truths,
a story on reality...

an age-old story,
a new-age-wise story...

a mad story...
a full-of-lesson story...

a simple story,
a heavy pregnant story...

a touching story,
a smiling story...

a friend's story,
a relative's story...

a made-for-each-other story,
an opposites-attract story...

a bedtime story,
an inspirational story...

a wild story,
a Monday-Mornin-Late-To-Office story...

a perspective story,
a pick-me-up story...

a dotted story,
a knotted story...

a story less in truth,
but more in imagination...

a theoretical story,
a wisdom story...

an 'in' story,
an evergreen story...

a masked story,
an in-your-face story...

a husband-&-wife story,
a peaceful story...

a live-in story,
an epic story...

an Alt+F4 story,
a Forward story...

a story behind closed doors,
a story on an-open-book...

a bargaining story,
a benevolent story...

a story on spirit,
a lazy story...

a pauper story,
a flamboyant story...

a story on insomniacs,
a story on day-dreamers...

a story on the eyes,
and some other story on the lips...

a story on i-should,
a story on i-rather-would...

a multi-layered story,
a straight-to-the-bones story...

an admiration story,
a disgust story...

a boring story,
a sleepy story...

a common story,
a story of the witch-lands...

a winning story,
a winning-but-still-coming-short story...

a larger than life story,
a mosquito story...

a crusader story,
a common man story...

a story on need,
a story on want,
a story on desire,
and a story on have...

a grateful story,
a necessity story...

a 'Send' story,
a 'TrashBin' story...

an active story,
a pro-active story...

a juicy story,
a bare-as-bones story...

a jiggy story,
a pregnant-pause story...

a destiny story,
a self-made story...

a remote-controlled story,
a free-will story...

an open story,
a curtained story...

a story more in lies,
but with a good intent...

a story hidden in smiles,
a story written in frowns...

a story in a scribble,
a story on a page...

a story in a story,
a story in the prose...

a story on life,
a life on stories... ... ...

life is a salad!!

a salad that's tangy, tasty, revolting, healthy & crunchy...
different emotions form the different flavours...

the usual suspects in flavours like love, trust, honesty, diplomacy
are all there...but do they exclusively make up our life?

all of us are grey, no one us totally black or white...
yet we keep on denying the grey flavours - jealousy, anger, hatred,
irratibility...
we wish them away from our life but they are all there all the same...

being humans that we are, it's ok to be jealous once in a while,
it's ok to be frustrated,
it's ok darling...absolutely ok...
it's ok to be angry and vent your anger out...instead of keeping it as
a bottled pickle in our system...
it's ok to answer back with a quick retort...none of us are Ms. Goody
Two Shoes all 24X7 ...
and it's absolutely essential to accept the fact that neither you can
be...so let go...

don't feel so much guilt (maybe my guilt system is over developed)
kick some ass, walk off, sulk, bitch, gossip, shout...
let go...once in a while...

believe me, you'll feel so refreshed & rejunavated after it...
it's all these grey flavours that are there in some proportion in our
life...
so why not simply acknowledge them & make peace instead of trying to
be Ms. Goody Two Shoes all the time...

remember life is a salad...in order to appreciate the sweet
flavoursyou need a knowledge of all the bitter and the sour flavours
as well...

all said and done, these grey flavours are not the main flavours in my
life...they are just the seasoning...mind it! ;-)

NOTE: this was written some moons, some seasons, some spring-cycles
ago... ... ...
>

> everybody says 'write ash...just write'
> I nod my dainty head & say 'oh... yeah'
> again da cauldron of devil's advocate questions get a quick stir
> & da doubts come bubbling up once again, 'I write abt what?' , '
> who'll print it?'
> itz easy to say it, but being a full time writer is scary & so on...
> I seethe silently & write to banish these questions once again
> may be if I was more romantic & crazy & not so practical then the
> questions wouldn't be there or atleast be a little less...

I said no
for perhaps da first time
I said NO Emphatically
I stood up
no it is
I felt light
a relaxed sigh escaped my lips
stretched my spine
1inch suddenly more closer to da sky
da air is clearer n more of oxygen 1inch up
chin up
undazed eyes
dazzled spirit
I looked up at da sky
it smiled at me
no, I think it winked back
growin up u gal
ah! finally
I slapped a hi-fi
to da sky
to my No
to a new emergin sapling of spirit
to my buddy da sky...

a tunnel that lasted for four years...

finally finally i see some light, no a tiny ray of 'what-to-do'...
it took 4years and then some...
lots of tears and lots of sighs...
lots of missed beats...
lots of 'oh-my-gawds'...
lots of missed-buses...
lots of droopy eyes...
lots of depression...
lots of frustration...

still its a tiny ray...but am happy...
derz a callin somewhere...
i hear a tiny whisper...
i hear it finally...
it eluded me for quite a while...
maybe i was deaf or pretended not to hear...
it persisted
and finally i succumbed...

a new road...
a new path...
am walking down it...
finally i am happy...

cheerz2me :)

latticed windows...sarcastic kudos
blunt knives...pretty hives
bitchin friends...unsent sends
artificial tan...draught beer cans
transparent curtains...free flowin patterns
stencilled paintings...lovingly hating
free lease...armtwisted knees
mute bells...open cells
silent agony...concealed balcony
sorry please
indian made foreign liquor ;)

am paintin bloomin flowers on a black background...
wat does dat say?

am sad bcoz am confused...
am confused bcoz am sad...
:-|

am confused too...

am sad...

teri aadat si ho gayi hai...



i said "teri aadat si ho gayi hai..."
i was shocked myself...
an action can become a habit,
but how can a person become a habit? i asked myself...
but my words were true-
in their weight
and
meaning...

"teri aadat si ho gayi hai..."
i repeated again...
i found a poetic quality in these words
and a reassurance too...

'i can't explain'
i said to the world...
but i meant every ounce and every pound of it...

"teri aadat si ho gayi hai..."
meant in a way,
that i was taking him for granted...
that was a wee bit sad...

"teri aadat si ho gayi hai..."
also meant in a way,
that he is an integral part of my life...
isn't it?

an action is an innocent bystander...
you admit him in your life
repeatedly and make him a part of your life...
then that 'action' becomes a habit...

similarly,
you are a habit...

you are not just 'any' person in my life...
you are a habit...

an ode to men!

we love dem, we hate dem, we despise dem, but all said and done this group of da human species is a breed apart...

dey can't find their shoes which are rite infront of their noses, but their confidence is sky-rocketing...
dey forget dates,b'dayz n annivz bt rmb da exact statz of dat cricket match played 7 yrz ago...
dey seem so lost smtmz bt lead da pack neverthe less...
dey can drive to da Sahara Desert unaided, when actually they started for the neighbourhood Grocery Shop...
dey forget their IIT-IIM-MIT qualifications n behave like an adolescent teen wen a PYT passes by...
dey gossip,dey bitch no less bt da women gt all da top honours in these depttz...
dey can't follow da cooking instructions on a ready-to-eat pack, bt dey r self-made men...
dey can rmb all da shortcuts n da keys for da video n online games, bt even after living 3 yrz in the same house dont know which switch is for da fan...
dey can hit rats,spiders etc...but dey demselves are shit scared of Sales...esp 'Clearance Sales'...
dey r so lazy that dey wud rather stay hungry dan get-up-&-raid-da-fridge...
dey have an excuse everynite why a Beer is damn Essential n a LSD for dem tonite, bt see thru our excuses for our shoppin sprees completely...

despite all this, i still love da men in mah life...

for their inherent self-confidence...even when they dont know wat lies ahead...
for their ability to believe in demselves totally n completely...
for their foresight...yeah women gt emotionally driven many times...bt da men r a breed apart...
for their deceptions...oh i wish i ws so creative :D
for their arrogance...evn widout merit...dey bliv dt dey-have-it...
for da stand dat dey can take in life...foes,frndz evn family notwithstanding...
for showing their emotions less...as emotions weigh u down many tmz in life...
for bng a pillar of strenght...dat u cn count upon...
for seeing da bigger picture in life...n discarding da irrelevant nitty-gritties...
for nt asking4directions yt gng straight cock-a-bul sure tht da Tumkur Highway will lead dem to Pune...
for gtn tempted,makin mistakes bt still living wid their head held high...
for swearing in such colourful phrases...dey depict da emotions in such an exact manner...
for welcomin all n sundry wid such open arms...
for nt worrying upon da money matters n da bills...
for der uninhibited buddy talk...
for their "da-world-is-my-oyster" stance in life...
for being 16 or 60 bt still being young@heart...
for bliving dat all colours,all shades luk equally good on us...
for watching all da News Channels for da same repeatitive News,but actually for da different Female Anchors ;) ...
for being either gud or bad cooks,nothing in b/w...
for operating all da electronic gadgets of da world,bt still nt knowing how to tie their Tie...
for leading a team of 50 diversant people single-handedly, yet makin disastrous colour combinations...
for their colourful raunchy stress-buster jokes...
for their 'boys wil b boys' attitude...
for stil hopin to Fly a Kite,for stil hopin to catch her glance,for being on der best behaviour infront of da babes...even@60
for giving da PYT equal footage in their discussions whether dey r married/bachelors/teenagers or grand-dads...
for enjoyin da moment...
for nt lingering on in life,dey get up & tk da bull by da horns...straight on...
for their crazy dance steps...dat hold no inhibitions back...
for da serious luk on their faces...wen actually everything is topsy-turvy inside...
for der hug-n-dnt-u-wori-mah-princess gesture...
for der everything-wil-b-alrite stance...

for jst being there for me...

f for fear...f for fun...

its da fear within dat holds u back,
itz da fear imagines n creates new sad balloons of trivial things,
itz da fear dat clams u up...
itz da fear dat looses ur tongue too...
itz da fear dat restricts ur horizons...
itz da fear pushes u forward...though sometimes,
itz da fear dat dwarfs u...while still standing tall...
itz da fear dat says "datz itz allrite", though itz all wrong...
itz da fear dat creates a glass jail...
itz da fear...n not ur spirit...dat says "how can i?"
itz da fear dat creates monsters out of normal people...in our minds
itz da fear dat questions u everytime incessantly...
itz da fear depletes ur hold on life...
itz da fear dat corrodes ur confidence...
itz da fear gives birth to a crisis...
itz da fear dat brews da storms of life...
itz da fear dat says, "dis is destiny.period."
itz da fear steers ur life...to where we dont want to go...
itz da fear dat makes default seem like da only option...
itz da fear dat makes rectangles out of circles...
itz da fear dat makes us oblivious of our own strengths...
itz da fear dat makes us...what we think "i can't ever be like this"
itz da fear dat makes us afraid...
itz da fear dat doesn't let u fly...
itz da fear dat doesnt make da ends of the mouth reach towards the ceiling of da eyes...
itz da fear dat makes u dead...while still breathing...

let go...and live... ... ...

a door is closed...
a window is pushed open...

she says bye...
he says hi...

da sun sets....
da stars shine...

electricity goes...
candle's lite dances...

a stone sinks in the pond...
da ripples reach the shore...

da birds fly home...
mah door-bell rings...

da flowers bloom...
da leaves wither...


da thunder-strom rages...
da rainow is being manufactured...

derz birth...
derz also sickness...

smbdy clipz ur wings...
smbdy gives u da wind...

u gt reviews...
u gt bonuses too...

der a tear...
n derz a wink too...

i retire...
u hire...