Pens and Pages

First published on Springtide on 12th December 2014 Perhaps it is not the right time to share what I faced in Delhi, not after “the Uber incident”. But then, there’s never a right time. And no matter what hour it is, reality is always the invincible truth. I’ve been staying in Mumbai from the past one year. I’ve been to Delhi before, but from Mumbai my first visit would be only last week. It was at around 4:45pm when I took a train from INA metro station to Kashmere Gate. I had to transport my luggage from my friend’s place at Yamuna Vihar to another friend’s place at Katwaria Sarai. It was my first evening there in Delhi and I did a quick imprecise calculation and assumed that I’d reach Katwaria Sarai after picking my luggage, at around 7:00pm. I assumed that dusk would fall at around 7:00pm like it is the case in Mumbai. I was a little disappointed to realize that by the time I reached Kashmere Gate it was almost dark although it was only around 5:30pm.

First Published in   Springtide - Inspiring Youth Igniting Minds   on 11th December 2014 Author: Bhavya Kaushik Published by: Petals Publishers First Edition: December 2014 Number of Pages: 200 Language: English After hurriedly reading the blurb on the back of The Infinite Equinox (TIE) first, my inattentive mind assumed that it is the journey of a girl from the streets of India to a well-settled life in Seattle. Only after I reached mid-way of the journey of TIE did I realize that it is not just a single journey – there are two. The first being the escape of the protagonist from the cruel begging rackets prevalent in the country and the second being the quest of the protagonist to find her origins not only for mental peace but also to be able to survive. It is essential for Tamanna, the protagonist to find her parents or siblings in order to survive the cancer she was detected with – Leukemia. Being abducted at an early age, Tamanna has no memory

I bleed blue, I bleed it all out; A single gun-shot, And a deep wound. Like a broken ferry on a vast, vast sea; I tremble, I shiver, Drenched in the cold memories. They still know your name; They ask where are you. For I was you then- Complete, Unsullied. For they still are there In the old battlefield, Fighting another war. I've changed; I've been soiled. I've bled all hues; I've seen it all. My sore wound rots; I await no war. Sullied, Smeared, I collapse, I shiver. Broken and twisted - I am you now.

Everyone must have a different Utopia. And if I had a place in mine, it would be all filled with food and books and food and books, an occasionally a movie or two. When I was in my final year of Engineering in Guwahati, I “nurtured” the habit of going out to eat every day and for a movie, every alternate week. When I landed on Mumbai, to my utter delight I found that only a kilometer away stood the building of my dreams – the Movie Hall. No wonder, Saturday and Sunday evenings were spent watching the latest show in the Movie Complex. Eventually, some of my friends and I decided to go for a movie on every Friday evening, after office hours. Bookmyshow came into picture and hours were spent deciding on the perfect time to leave office and on reaching the place before the trailers are shown. As we realized we are spending a lot of money on our movie-affair we relied on discounts and coupons – early bird discounts at the hall and Rs. 50-100 off on CupoNation . Now that ten mo

Initial release: November 4, 2014 (London) Director: Christopher Nolan Screenplay: Jonathan Nolan, Christopher Nolan Cast :  Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Matt Damon, Michael Caine,  Jessica Chastain,  Wes Bentley, etc. My Ratings :   4.7/5    5/5 They make movies so larger than life, and then they throw us back into reality, leaving us wondering about it all that happened in just a span of a little less than three wee hours. Watching Interstellar was more than just fun - it was thought-provoking, and for an emotional fool like me, it was emotions-provoking too. A story well-thought-of, a movie well-made. The 169 minutes I spent watching it made me awe at the immensity of everything. There are times when I think that the human race just screwed it all up by inventing money and making us all so materialistic about trying to achieve something great in this illusion called life. But there are times like this when we realize there's more in the

They say that if you take care of the present the future will fall in place. I doubt it. Almost two months ago I was all at sea on what to do to make my future better than my present. "Priorities" was the word and I had a handful, all at the same level. I took some time and prioritized them into various levels, my first priority being "today". A week later, I was happier than never before - fewer worries, fewer goals, all focused. Two months have elapsed and now I feel I am just stuck with today. I don't know what's in store for me in the future (Well, nobody does). But even my today is slipping out of my hands. I'm losing my grip. I am losing control so I am letting it go. But sometimes, I repeat, sometimes life's not so much of a fairy tale when you let go of things. May be you need to let go of only the wrong things and stick to the right things and hold them till your hands bleed. My hands aren't bleeding. I let go a

In a lazy afternoon, my friend and blogger, Rafaa Dalvi called me up to ask if I'd like to go to attend an event the next week. I was too sleepy to be excited about it. I said no. He, then, explained that the event was not a regular one but an exclusive meet with author of Chanakya's Chant, Ashwin Sanghi. A year back, I had participated in a story-writing contest and Ashwin Sanghi was the judge. My story bagged a position in the list of top 25. The memory of the book, Kaleidoscope, where my story was published, was the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the name, Ashwin Sanghi. I changed my lazy mind and said, "yes, I'd love to attend the event."  The next ten minutes was spent telling all my colleagues that I'm going to meet Ashwin Sanghi at Vivanta by Taj, Cuffe Parade. Proper Invitation (including mails and phone-calls) by the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest Team followed. The feedback on their way of inviting - great

It's middle of October, 10:00am and I am most certainly not doing what I thought I'd be doing at this time of the year, a year back. But when does life ever go as planned? Surprises and shocks are what makes life more and more unpredictable. For me, my surprise of the day is this post by a blogger from Indiana, Martina McGowan - http://martinamcgowan.com/2014/09/strategies-for-reclaiming-your-self/ She, someone who doesn't know me, spent time to create a picture for my quote. Life can't be better than this, can it? I have seen people copying and pasting others' quotes without giving them proper credits. I have seen people using my quotes as their Facebook cover photos and removing my name from the quote so that other people think it is their own creation. And in a world of liars, here's Martina who, without even knowing about me, decided to give me proper credits. May the world have more such souls. :-) Here's the picture she created -

I saw the shackles That made you bleed. I wiped your tears; I, too, wept. I saw the shackles That bound you so; I saw them cut into your flesh. I didn't see- They were, but, me. My tears and my hopes, Expectations and more so. When I did remove My blindfold, I set you free, I let you go.

Dreary and Tired, Eyes of the night. Words too worn out To yell, to fight. Drained out of The hope for tomorrow, They look at each other, At each other's sorrow. Eyes too used to cry; They are shut now. A dark sky, Another starless night, 3:00 am And the tale called life. - Sanhita Baruah

 My child of grief! Hurt you must have been, Inevitable, crying may seem, But dear, whenever you're sad, Just look at yourself, And ask if it's necessary, Weep, if you must,  If you really really must, But do not forget To ask yourself, "Why not write a poem, instead?"

Sitting on a rock near the lake, Tisha was ruminating on what went wrong in her dream. Alas! She couldn’t recall how her dream ended; but she wished she could. Playing with her dark brown hair with her fingers, she wondered what if for once her dream didn’t come true. When she realized that she was hoping for something people pray the contrary of, she laughed at her cursed life. It is time. She looked at the sky above and a tiny drop of water fell on her right cheek. It began to rain and she turned around to find her little sister coming towards her in a hurry carrying a red umbrella with her tiny hands. The umbrella, how could I forget it? It was common for Tisha to have weird dreams; dreams of people she didn’t know, dreams of people she knew, dreams of herself, et cetera.  It was when she was 10 years old that she realized her dreams come true; or rather whatever would happen the next day she would see it beforehand in her dreams. At first she used to dream about falling

When I had just started blogging I planned to write fictions only. Eventually, poems happened and then articles. True stories, there were none until “Was She Raped?” happened. People reveal their inner selves in their blogs and I still do not have the guts to. Nor do I intend to (Nope, I don’t :-P). But then sometimes a diary knows too much of you and you just want it (which is basically you) to shut up. These are the times when you need to blog. Acknowledging the fact that not many people read your blog helps you even more (Not now, they don’t. The number of my readers, of late, has only decreased :-/) It so happened last weekend that I just couldn’t face my diary no matter how much I tried. So at my time of despair, I just couldn’t find the solace of it. I couldn’t because I didn’t want to, being aware of the fact that confronting it, would only break me down into smaller pieces. Yes, I was broken and I very much wanted to escape the fact and yet, face it at the same time.  I

My brave warrior, Thou art no Lazarus. Thou will not resurrect. Thou dig thy own grave. Thou cannot bequeath Thy slayings to the soil. The soil shall not bury Thy charred soul. Eden waits not for thou. Thy scars won't go; They won't leave, They won't heal. Wear them as a curse. Wear them as a curse Till thy corpse rot. Thy soul shall suffer While the blood-stained Weeds will shout, "Wear it as a curse, Wear it as a curse!"

From a tiny crack On the lush wrist, Out, flowed A thick liquid, Crimson coloured, From the deepest Of the bluest Of veins in it. "Let us go," Said each drop That dripped on The floor, As it gave away Its hue. "Let us leave too," The liquid screamed From within. The floor Embraced Each drop that spread And so it Turned Slowly, blood-red

She stares at the blank paper Crumbled a million times, Like her own life. She stares at the glass of wine, As clear as her heart could be, Sparkling only when it should - Every time you look at it. He looks at the mess she is now, Oh, didn't he love her once, For the tears and the scars? Time plays its part As it moves on, He too moves on And she, like the paper She holds, Holds a life that needs Someone to unfold it, To wipe the wrinkles Off her pale white face. A tear-drop finds its way To her soul, bruised, He laughs and goes off While she awaits  Another tragedy...

Ever tried dreaming of those broken shards again? Nay, I dare not. Not now, now that I dwell in this forest Of that what cannot be found, Of the pieces she picked up And stubbed on each branch Of the tree I so loved. Ever found those pieces? They say they're gone now, Lost in the forest of memories. They say, love still remains; I see fire, I see destruction And a dark night of vengeance. To dream again of those shards I dare not, I dare not.

So I just found it out today that  Geeta Nair  ( http://geetaavij.wordpress.com ) nominated me for  THE LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD  (liebster meaning “favourite” in German, which reminds me of the first German sentence I learnt - ich liebe dich :-D ) last year.  Also on the same month of November 2013, I was nominated for this award by  Bhavya Kaushik  ( http://bhavyakaushik.com / ) too.  I understand that I am too late in honouring the two nominations of the Liebster Award  but I am a big  fan of the saying – “ better late than never” , so I am going to accept it anyway. Rules of receiving the award : • To accept the award one must link back to the person who nominated him/ her. • Nominate 10 more bloggers who you feel are deserving of more subscribers. • Answer all questions posted by the nominator. • Create 10 questions for the nominees. • Contact the 10 nominees and inform them that they have been nominated for this prestigious award. I further nom