Klishmaklaver

Ours was not that silly 'LOVE STORY,' spun running around trees or sketched across college desks. Ours was 'DESTINY' written by Lord Brahma himself. And before you begin to think I made a kitschy, cliched statement there, please allow me to tell it all.  As all dutiful Hindu Brahmin parents do, my parents approached a typical old astrologer too. And thus I found myself fasting on Saturdays, 'for a perfect husband!' as they put it. I did it as dutifully as I could so as to get a husband as nearly perfect as husbands can ever get. If you know what I mean! Little did I know my future had a really whirlwind romance,in store for me, like no other's. "Have you ever seen a girl fast on Saturdays for marriage and a good husband?" My office colleague jeered at me in her cacophonic shrill voice one day, over lunch.  "What if you found a 'Hanuman' instead?" She continued walking around the table, akimbo and her cheeks puffe...

The Aryavarta Chronicles Book 3-KURUKSHETRA Author- Krishna Udayasankar Publisher- Hachette India My Rating: **** About the Author-  Krishna Udayasankar is a graduate of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, and holds a PhD in Strategic Management from the Nanyang Business School, Singapore, where she presently works as a lecturer. “For a while, Criticism travels side by side with the Work, then Criticism vanishes and it's the Readers who keep pace." - ―  Roberto Bolaño ,  The Savage Detectives That's precisely what happened with me when I picked up this book with the other end in mind. I had planned to review it and being a die-hard historical fiction fan had already made up my mind to read it like a good critic would. What fueled my criticism were the numerous typographical errors. So many missing letters in words which changed the meaning and structure of the sentence.for eg. 'Identity' became 'identify...

Words, in black and white, telling a story and in verse. Words always intrigued me ever since my school teacher held my hand and taught me to hold my pencil to write them on paper, slowly, steadily. One of those many words that brought me pride was 'ME' when I wrote an essay and scored the highest in my English class at fifth grade in school. Writing became my passion and I found solace in it. So here goes yet another piece on that very word 'ME' which triggered my story-telling years ago.  A funny happy-sad picture of the day that spelt victory! Someone who knew me as a child would use just one word to define me- 'Tomboy'! Yes, I was just that and more. I was more energetic than any boy of my age and grew up wielding a wooden bat playing 'Galli Cricket' with the boys from our society. That was a hugely different me, with a short crop of golliwog hair, grazed knees and a badly sun-tanned face. Sweaty and grimy after a great game outdoors, m...

And I discovered there is more to myself! There is not one but many ways to describe ME and yet there is not one thing that can fully define ME. I am multi-faceted AND multi-talented. I feel blessed I am ME. My story did not begin when I was born. My story began when my mother left me. Forever! Her death gave birth to a new me. My journey of life surely began as the only daughter in a nuclear family  who could choose to be responsible or while her time away. Living the luxuries, being taken care of and being pampered to the hilt, I was my mother's only pet and treasured baby. But the day she died, she left me and my dad a broken mess. I was left with no option but to pick up the threads of my life on my own. I was no more a child or that spoilt teenager. I had transformed, overnight! Jerked out of my comfort zone it was almost like learning to live all over again. I wasn't only the daughter but now also the only lady in the house, my father's soul suppor...

I am a multi-tasker, with multiple interests, vocations and hobbies. My friends know I wear multiple hats. I am a writer. I am an artist. I love birding and travel Photography. I am a Social Media junky. I have a passion for fashion. I am a movie buff. And above all I am a BLOGGER. This is the very first post in the New Year 2015 and I am full of hope as I type away. I am hoping this year sees me pursuing and juggling all of my passions simultaneously, if possible! I have a list of resolutions too and I plan to nail them. I know I don't need magic to make all this happen. It could indeed be possible if my life gets the perfect tools to assist me in it. I am tech-savvy too and I know exactly what piece could prove to be a boon. I wish to grow beyond my laptop and be able to write even when I am on the go. Who wants to carry that bulky thing around but then you never know when an idea can hit you. And then instead of fumbling around to locate pen an...

I am an avid reader.  Now a published author. And I attribute all that I am today to the stories my parents read to me as a child and the great morals and values I imbibed from them. It was in my parent's laps that I learnt about how the world really is outside my secure home. And about how I can overcome the hurdles that it may place before me. I still have in my collection the very first book gifted to me by my father- 'The Aesop's Fables'. I must have been a first grader when I began learning to read aloud. The best part of the story, for me, came at the very end- The moral of the story. It was like a sweet confectionery that came as a reward after having done a good deed. It gave a sense of purpose to all the story telling. As I grew up I found paradise in the local library between piles of books full of wonderful stories. I brought a couple home everyday and devoured them. At school we were given rapid readers and English soon became my favorite subject...

GOD IS A GAMER Author: Ravi Subramanian Publisher: Penguin Books India My Rating: **** About the Author: 'Banker by day, writer by night' as per Forbes, Ravi Subramanian  is India’s numero uno thriller writer, having written six bestselling books. An alumnus of Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore), he is currently head of a leading financial institution. A career banker and financial services professional, Ravi has worked with various multinational banks (Citibank, ANZ Grindlays Bank and HSBC) for over eighteen years. As a result of his extensive background in foreign banks, writing about banking comes quite naturally to Ravi. Each one of his books thus far have been set in the backdrop of a foreign bank. To tell you about myself, I'm an artist at heart and numbers were never my cup of tea. Me and the finance world are like Poles apart. So its needless to say that I wasn't interested in anything or anybody from the banking world. I will...