Deep Ties

A sea of faces loomed in front of me, as I stood on the stage, the microphone before me. I was in the ninth standard and just about to recite Mark Antony’s famous speech at Caesar’s funeral. Flashback: My grandfather sat before me, nodding as I proclaimed, “Friends, Romans, Countrymen...” and went through the speech with nary a pause. “Slow down, child! It is a funeral oration, not a train that you have to catch!” I was living with my paternal grandparents as my Army Dad had been posted in a remote place somewhere in the East of India (locations were not to be disclosed!). Being the eldest grandchild, I was pampered silly and made to feel like a princess. My grandma made sure that I ate well, so well that ‘I just growed and growed’ as Topsy did in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. We had our own cows, and I could never refuse the soft fresh slices of bread liberally coated with white butter and sprinkled with sugar. (If you haven’t tried it, you have missed a slice of Paradise!) ...

Those were the days when every household could boast of three to four maids, to sweep and swab, cook and wash, dust and clean respectively. Today the old maids have retired and they have educated their children who obviously want nothing to do with menial jobs. The ubiquitous maid is now no longer that! Even carrying bricks at a construction site brings in more money, and the more educated folks are, the higher their aspirations, laudable indeed! So the few rare maid specimens left behind have suddenly realized their worth. They have hiked up their prices, willing to shoulder the burdens of their predecessors only if they are paid for each separate chore. No longer are the lady of the house and her maid 'made' for each other, for even with compromises made, there lingers a strange kind of friction that causes frequent sparks! My friend has a maid who has stuck to her for five years, but plays a cat-and-mouse game with her, despite the familiarity. Did anyone mention t...

“Imagination is just distorted reality.” Shravya Gunipudi ‘Twisted’ captures the reader’s imagination from the first page of its prologue itself. Ria, the attractive protagonist, is involved in an accident that leaves her a trifle confused about her life and the people populating it. She begins seeing visions which leave her even more confused as repressed memories of childhood spring up. “Somehow, after the accident, it feels like all my memory is there, but it has been jolted out of its place. The bits of memory are floating around in my head and it is up to me to put each part back where it belongs.” Ria’s son, Dhruv, means the world to her. However, she is not as sure about her husband, Jay, whom she addressed by another name after the accident – Anuj. As visions assail her, the intensity of her emotions haunts her. Her psychiatrist, Lekha, and her close friend, Sanjana, try and get the missing bits of her memory back. When she meets her neighbour, Tanmay, she...

What happens when a beautiful English lady and the attractive scion of the erstwhile royal family of Sravanapura fall in love? Having met at Oxford, Prince Vijay Dev Varman is deeply attracted to the blue-eyed beauty, Jane Worthington, who is an Indophile determined to savour everything about his fascinating country, India. Jane is a free bird who abhors restrictions. Her natural curiosity and open nature create ripples in Vijay’s heart, but lies and deceit make them break up, not once, but many times over. In fact, misunderstandings rule their lives and they end up playing hide-and-seek with their emotions. Jane gets a promotional transfer to India, where she has to lead a team and anchor a documentary on the ancient monuments constructed by the Hoysala kings in South India. She also has a mission to fulfil there, to find her grandfather Bill’s twin brother, Daniel, a soldier in the British Indian Army who had gone missing in 1947.  Daniel, who had always been ...

AVISHI by Saiswaroopa Iyer Blurb Long before the times of Draupadi and Sita Immortalised in the hymns of the Rig Veda But largely forgotten to the memory of India Is the Warrior Queen with an iron leg, Vishpala Brought up in the pristine forest school of Naimisha, Avishi reaches the republic of Ashtagani in search of her destiny. When Khela, the oppressive King of the neighbouring Vrishabhavati begins to overwhelm and invade Ashtagani, Avishi rises to protect her settlement. But peril pursues her everywhere. Separated from her love, her settlement broken, with a brutal injury needing amputation of her leg, can Avishi overcome Khela? If stories about ancient India, especially those with strong women characters interest you, then Avishi is a story you must read! Guest Post: How did you decide to write a story about a warrior queen with an amputated leg and how did amputations work back then? It must have been a gruelling process in i...

                                                https://in.pinterest.com/pin/37576978116150182/ “Ouch!” And that was it! My back decided to misbehave just as we were in the throes of packing, all set to move from Chennai to Kerala. It was not as if I had turned into a contortionist or anything like that. Oh, no, I was too smart to do that. And why, you may well ask! It was around five years back that, in the flush of youth (ahem! ahem!); all right, I take that back. Around five years back, when hues of lurid burgundy had taken over the black in my hair, I decided that it was time I turned towards a healthier lifestyle. What could I do to get there without too much of a struggle? Eat healthy? Well, that was a tough choice, because carbohydrates, proteins, sugar, oil and salt, I loved them all to distraction. Walking? Definitely a better choice if ...

“The moon had been appeased. The sea grew gentle again. The butterflies danced in the space between the two. Peace had been made.” Ameenah, a child bride from Dimashq, or Damascus, yearns for peace her entire life. However, peace is as elusive as a little bird on a tree just beyond her reach. Apprehensive at first when she marries Fathi and moves to Aleppo, she finds happiness with him, his parents and his grandmother, who she “would make my own, cherishing that bond dear till my last breath.” Fathi keeps his promise to Majid, her brother, and sends Ameenah to school. However, Ameenah has a special gift, the art of doodling, of bleeding ink over the sheet in ornate lines and intricate designs. Through her doodles, she attempts to make sense of the violence that is soon to become a constant part of her life as she gets embroiled in the Syrian war, losing the ones she loves most in life. From then on, it is a constant struggle to use her doodles to give solace to childr...