Life - or something like it

Check out  Part 1 and Part 2  before you read this: Shruti walks briskly avoiding the traffic in the bustling market place. She is out to buy Lotus flowers, Tulsi leaves and Coconuts for the Ganesh Pooja next day. The Ganesh Mandal in the market is practicing their Dhol and Tasha routine with full fervor and Shruti can feel the vibrations of the pounding Dhol. She quickly finishes her shopping and hails an autorickshaw to take her home. At the traffic light the autorickshaw comes to a halt. As the driver waits for the light to turn Green, Shruti spots a familiar figure in the adjacent car. She does not recognize the car or the woman sitting next to Vikas. Shruti watches the woman talk animatedly and the way Vikas smiles at her as he replies. They are both engrossed in their conversation and don't see her.  Shruti leans back in her seat quickly so that Vikas does not spot her. Her heart is pounding and her mind is in a whirl. "Who is that woman?" and "Why is Vika

Shruti's reverie was broken as Vikas walked in the kitchen and picked up his cup of tea and sat in front of the television, to watch a Cricket match. She sat at the dining table with her tea wondering when things had changed so much. She had started noticing his long absences just a month back. He was in the shower every morning or getting dressed by the time she got up. Most days he rushed out of the house without eating any breakfast and came late at night, after she was already in bed. On the face of it everything appeared normal and anyone who knew them would not find anything different about them either.  Shruti knew that something had changed imperceptibly between her and Vikas after the miscarriage. It was as if an invisible barrier had grown between them. Their conversations had become cursory and whenever they did talk, it was about mundane everyday things. Many times the  silence between them was so thick that she felt she could cut it with a knife.  Every

Part 1 I am making the filling for Ukdiche Modak, a sweet made as an offering to Lord Ganesha on Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival celebrated by Maharashtrians all over the world. One needs to use deft fingers to mold the hot rice paste into domes, filling it with the sugar and coconut mixture. My hands are moving with practiced dexterity as my mind moves unfettered to places in the dark recesses of my mind, when my thoughts are broken by the door bell.  Radha bai opens the door and says 'Tai, saheb aale' (madam, your husband is home). Vikas walks in with his laptop bag and picks up the mail lying on the coffee table. He looks tired and had hardly been home these days. His excuse is "there is too much work at the office". Without giving a glance in my direction, he drops his bag on the sofa and goes to the bathroom to wash his face. Radha bai puts a vessel on the gas stove to make tea for us.  I had hired Radha bai to work with us full time, six months back, i

I know, I have been blogging sporadically and not visiting other blogs. The dwindling comments on my previous posts are a testimony for this erratic behavior. Okay... I have to admit, I have been plain lazy, distracted and having quite bit of fun.  What when the elder sis comes to India, with my adorable niece and nephew (twins). Life just came to a standstill, for me, when I went to my hometown and met these munchkins. I had forgotten what fun it was to be a child and to draw and color and play hide and seek. Among numerous rounds of playing UNO and putting mehendi on tiny chubby hands...time just flew by. Sticky kisses and the sound of "minnie mousie" (that is what they call me) is what I miss the most now. Going on shopping trips to our old college day haunts and new malls with sis darling consumed my time. It is been good two weeks since I am back home, but I am just not able to shake off the hangover of those two marvelous weeks. Doing bucket loads of laundry and dus

Here is the winner of the Caption Contest 26  ‘You think you are funny?’   This time I have received couple of comments on my Linkedin Page and the winning Caption is from  Mujib Ahmed Khan : Cleanliness Drive...!!! Congratulations!!! Drop me a mail at  and I will mail you the trophy. Hope to see you in another round of Caption Contest this Wednesday.

This is Caption Contest 26 'You think you are funny? Please give a funny caption to the picture below. Picture Courtesy: Google All the Best.  P.S: For those people who would like to know the rules, please check  here . 

I often get queries from people asking me advice on how to became a freelance writer. I feel it is quite flattering but at the same time becomes difficult to explain each time. To make it easier on everyone, I figured it made sense to write about the top 10 tips to become a successful freelance writer and next time someone asks me, I can just pass them this link. These days content writing has become one of the most common freelance activity one can do, sitting in the comfort of their homes. This does not mean anyone and everyone can become a successful freelance writer. Though it sounds easy, you need to possess a certain skill set to be successful, just like you need for any other job. Image courtesy: freedigitalphotos.net Here are the tips for you: 1) Love for writing: You need to love writing and have a flair for it. If you eat, sleep and dream writing, then this job is perfect for you. Not only will you need that passion but also the creativity to write on a var