Showing posts with label #ThankfulThursdays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #ThankfulThursdays. Show all posts

Thursday, May 11, 2017

A Gratitude Note for May 2017

May 2017 has been happy from the beginning.

I had my mother giving me company at home, the kid had no school and the hectic blogging month of April was behind me.

 Reminiscing old memories, talking late into the nights and guiding each other in areas of our own expertise became our main pass time.

 While the kid and me introduced Amma to the magic of Google, Whatsapp and YouTube, she patiently corrected the mistakes I was making as a home maker. Teeny tiny tips brought in a world of difference.

Most importantly, I became more disciplined in her presence. Ordering food from outside was not to be heard of, home-made food, that too prepared from fresh ingredients became the norm.

I am grateful to her presence here and for the chance to be able to take care of her.

It became all the more happier day before yesterday when my short story ‘The Rumour’ got published on the Juggernaut App. It also happened to be my brother’s birthday. So, double happiness.
Image Source


At Anitasattic, Anita Nair used to tell us how writers are like scavengers who dig through their pile of memories to create something memorable.

For writing this story, that was exactly what I did!

Many of my friends have contributed to this story unknowingly.

I am especially grateful,

1) To that batch with whom I went on a trip to Munnar as their guide while I was a guest lecturer at GCEK. The story has Munnar as backdrop and I have used memories from that trip to add colour to my story.

2) To that classmate who poured her heart out to me one summer afternoon. I shared the story with her and she loved it. She was happy to read her own experience becoming fodder to a story.

3) To all those fun days spent in ladies’ hostel.

4) To the never-ending laughter riots in the college bus.

5) To all those hours of Antaksharis in class!

Story Blurb:

Rohit broke Tara’s heart when they were in college. She’d sworn never to see him again. But years later they found themselves making a journey together. Herding a bunch of Engineering students in and around Munnar!

The forced teaming up seems like a disaster to Tara. Will it open a can of worms like it had happened years ago?

Intrigued?
Read the book here:



Happy to note that it has become the topper of the charts on Juggernaut this week and the short story of the week.

Thank you Universe for all the blessings.

And a big Thank you to Anita Nair for all the encouragement and guidance.
Here is what she tweeted about my book.



Linking this post with #ThankfulThursdays being hosted by Tina or Amrita, Mayuri and Deepa 



Thursday, March 23, 2017

5 Little Joys



Most of the joys I have experienced came to me unexpectedly. Nothing was planned. I guess happiness always comes exactly that way: in tiny packages.

My home library:

 I have a small home library which contains my favorite books.

 I am adding to it every now and then. I can spend hours in a bookstore searching for more books to add to my collection.

 Books by my favorite authors like Anita Nair, Chitra Divakaruni, Julia Quinn, Nicolas Sparks, Dan Brown, Nandita Bose, Nora Roberts, Cecilia Ahern, Jojo Moyes, Rainbow Rowell and Anuja Chauhan dominate my collection.


Over the period of the last few years, I have created many paintings, portraits, and sketches which had given me joy while I had created them. Art still continues to cheer me up. When I feel a need to cheer up, I pick up my pencil.


My iPhone:

I didn’t want an iPhone ever. I was smitten by my smartphone with a large screen and hence every time my husband attempted to gift me one, I refused.

 Then after a particularly bad experience with a smartphone which had to be returned days after it was purchased, he asked me to try an iPhone, promising he would exchange his smartphone with mine if I found the iPhone not to my liking.

Now my iPhone is my joy. It helps me plan my day, write, take super clarity photos, videos and makes me exercise. I have become a fan.


My Laptop:

My laptop is a mini encyclopedia which stores records of all my favorite things in the world. More than anything, all my writing is done on my laptop and hence I can say it is the origin of my joys. With the amount of time I spend online, I can’t imagine being without my laptop for even a single day.

My Debut Novel ‘Without You’:

Like every author, I consider my first novel my baby. It has given me so much joy from the moment it germinated in my mind. 

All the appreciation I have received from complete strangers through emails, messages and reviews make my day. 

I do not market it excessively and most of the publicity it got was from mouth to mouth publicity. 

Yet, it has become an Amazon best seller. It was #1 best seller more than twice on Amazon India and has always remained in top 50 from the time it was published. Today it is #3 on Amazon India Best Seller List.

#1 Position on Jan 11, 2016
Thank you, Universe for the little joys that you send my way.


 This post is written for #ThankfulThursdays being hosted by Amrita, Tina, Mayuri, and Deepa.

Yay, it is voted as a top post!
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