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The Value of a Moment: Guest Post by Shilpa Suraj, author of 'Driven By Desire'

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Shilpa Suraj, the winsome author of the delightful romance 'Driven By Desire', shares her thoughts in a guest post on my blog 'Deep Ties'. The Value of a Moment “Could you give me a moment?” I say those words close to fifty times a day. Sometimes I do get that moment of breathing space. Most times I don’t. My life is a constant juggling act and I often fear that if I slip up, I’ll get buried under all the balls that will come crashing down on my head. So, how do I deal? By stealing those moments. A moment to watch my daughter dance to Skidamarink for the 100 th time. A moment to hug my dog as he nuzzles my neck. A moment to watch a butterfly land on my rose bush. A moment to watch the birds splash around in the birdbath. A moment to read a line from a favourite book. A moment to listen to a song on the radio. A moment to watch my daughter sleep. A moment to breathe. A moment to be. Without the magic of those moments and so many more, I w

Bahir by Monisha K Gumber

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‘Bahir’ by Monisha K Gumber is the tale of the stunning Sawera, a young girl who is born in Pakistan and adopted by her mother's sister, and the travails she goes through as she grows from “a petite girl with lots of facial hair” into a beautiful young girl with “the knack of attracting trouble”.  She moves along with her Ammi and Abba to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Once her brothers, Omar and Rashid, are born, she senses a change in the attitude of her Ammi towards her. Sawera turns into a rebel, craving love from others, as she looks for some excitement in her monotonous life. When she is caught with a boy, her parents take her back to Karachi to attend a wedding – her own. In her hurry to get married, she chooses Wasim, “nearly thirty and after a broken engagement and a broken heart, fell in love with my picture.”  However, she is soon disillusioned with her husband, and after delivering three children, she decides to leave him and go to Saudi, back to her parents, the

HOW DO I DO? When Marriages are not Made in Heaven - Asha Iyer Kumar

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How does the memory of a ‘reverie that had once set his youth on fire?’ come back to an old man? ‘Why did the dream materialise again after years in hibernation?’ When Madhavan Nair’s obsession goes beyond limits, his parents get him married to Rajam, the daughter of a relative. How does he reconcile between the woman of his dreams and the woman in his home in the story titled ‘Calendar Girl’? ‘Chandrika soon became an obsession swathed in mystery.’ Madhavan Nair reminisces over his mundane life with his inelegant wife, Rajam, a woman he has never been in love with. He has learnt to live with his wife and children, but with the recurrence of the dream, he is forced to linger on the thoughts of the woman of his dreams, and the ‘vestiges of an old, gnawing sense of deprivation’ begin to pierce his heart all over again. Do separation and unfamiliarity lead to apprehension in a marriage? How do long-distance marriages survive? After three years of being apart, does a m

Love.Exe by Manju Nambiar

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A Sweet Romantic Comedy Making You Fall in Love Love.Exe opens with the protagonist, Nitya Balakrishnan, being accepted into the prestigious Stanford University for a fully funded graduate programme. She is elated, and all set to live her dreams in the USA. However, her mother, who is a soap drama addict, offers the most ludicrous reasons to dissuade her from going so far away from home. “She was a drama queen at home. She cried at the drop of a hat, whimpered, sobbed and used strong theatrical words to express herself.” There is an undercurrent of good humour that runs through the book, whether it deals with references to Nitya’s older cousin sisters, who had taken “literature and commerce respectively ,” “had got married at the age of twenty-one,” and “which to my mother was the shortcut to a blissful life.” The chapter names read like a synopsis of the book, peppered with interesting details that allow the reader a glimpse into what lies ahead. Just as Nitya is

Loudmouths in Public Spaces

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                                                                        Deviant Art Noise pollution is a word much bandied about in a world that is being suffocated by all kinds of pollution. Our roads are clogged with traffic, where drivers relentlessly blow horns, even as helpless pedestrians look around for an inch of space to walk on. Brakes squeal, auto drivers skid all over the place and irate commuters give in to temper tantrums in the middle of the road, giving rise to more mayhem than ever. Imagine a scenario when you are travelling along, listening to FM Radio, where a well-modulated voice tells you to sit back and enjoy your drive. “Take deep breaths, and keep your eyes on the road...!” Just as you are being lulled to a drowsy feeling of wellness, a bike swerves right in front, causing you to slam on your brakes with a jerk. “What a jerk!” is the thought that shoots through your shaken brain, pun definitely intended. The unkindest cut comes when the said b

Destiny's Girl

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                                                                                                Redbubble  “You are Destiny’s girl, born for fame!” smiled Maya’s mother, looking at her perfect little bundle of joy. As Maya grew up, she excelled at everything – academics, sports and the arts. Her parents were proud of her, and spared no expense on her education.  When Maya started winning prizes in various singing contests, her parents hired the best music teacher in the country. She had the voice of an angel, and when she sang, it was as if the world itself paused to hear her sing. Her teacher taught her all she knew, her heart swelling with pride when she heard Maya sing. Each note was perfect, the melody unbroken!                                                              dabbledown.zibbet.com It was when Maya was in college that she got a scholarship to one of the most prestigious universities in America to further study music. It was a dream come true for

DRIVEN BY DESIRE by SHILPA SURAJ - Book Review

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The beginning is most unexpected... a startled Krish finds “a bag of bones… with acres of long straight hair cascading across” landing on him, followed by a cascading branch that smacks him on the head and renders him unconscious. This is enough to make the reader realise that this is no ordinary love story, but a tale filled with adventure and twists. After all, an attractive girl being referred to as “a bag of bones” and “a flying missile with those large eyes” is certainly no ordinary start for romance. Nor is “Peter Pan in the living room”, as Krish refers to Max who had only responded to a dare issued by his younger sibling, Aditya. Max goes through a gamut of emotions as she deals with the enraged Krish who apparently hates hospitals. They part on an amicable note, but Krish’s hackles go up all over again when he finds out that she is Maxine Sheridan, a star vintage car restorer, especially as he had plans to get his vintage MG TG restored. The plus point is the amazing

And They Live Happily Ever After! #MyFriendAlexa

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                                                                 The Social Rush “Once upon a time...” is almost always expected to end with “... and they lived happily ever after!” I remember sitting at my grandmother’s knee, staring at her expressive face, waiting for one wondrous tale to get over so that she could start another. Whether she spoke of Krishna and Sri Rama, or the Panchatantra, most of the stories ended happily, and I preferred them that way. Besides adventure, bravery and excitement, love too played a vital role, in making the stories dovetail into sagas of fulfillment. So I grew up with stars in my eyes, hoping to find the ideal man, despite all my mother’s frantic matchmaking efforts to divert my attention into more suitable, but definitely less exciting, avenues. When he finally walked into my library, and much later into my heart, a dashing young Army officer with brown eyes and dimples to die for, I realized that the “once upon a time” period had be