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Monday, April 10, 2017

H - Half-Hearted #AtoZChallenge




"Did you take the tablets?"

"Um. em..No."

"Are you kidding me!? Do you want to keep doing this forever? Why cant you do the bare minimum? "

"Aww. C'mon. I want it..as much as you do..."

Raised eyebrows.

"Did you check your temperature?"

"No."

"Did you log the symptoms? I can't believe you! Do you want to go through that torture again?"

"I don't knowwww! I don't feel ready yettt. I know you feel the same too. And you don't even have to go through anything. I have to give up everything I like doing...I am not ready for this phase yet.. I dont knoww...Every month, I suppress my deepest fear --- what if the wriggly little thing made it this time?"

"Look, I understand, but we cannot let this go on forever. Things will only get complicated. Lets just decide. Do you wanna be, or not?"


Thank you for dropping by :) The theme of my posts this year, for the A-Z challenge, is To Show, Not Tell. I hope you enjoyed this piece.


Saturday, April 8, 2017

G - Grouchy #AtoZChallenge




It was evening and Raghu saw Mariamma sitting at the porch as usual. The frown was in its usual place too. He wondered what she had to say this time.

“Hey, you kids. Don’t you dare let the ball come near me. I will swallow you whole even if your shadow falls on my wall.”

Mariamma was frail and alone. Yet her almost toothless snarl was menacing nonetheless.

Raghu and his friends hesitated before going on with their game. Nothing would make the old woman stop anyway.

“Look at you, ignoring a grown woman. Haven’t your parents taught any manners?
How would they anyway, you are always on the roads, hanging out with chillar friends. Cough! Cough! Don’t you have any homework to do?”

Mariamma continued, shoving her wooden cane in the air to no one in particular. “What has happened to this country. Nobody cares. Everybody is a thief. The damn neighbours steal my electricity. No wonder I get such huge bills. And my son is too busy making his dumb wife happy. M**&$f**&@. ”

The tirade didn’t stop. “The government is to be blamed. Rascals. Corrupts. Thieves. They should go to hell! Why doesn’t anybody care!? Wait till you ..hey, hey.. didn’t you hear me? Not even a shad…” Mariamma stopped wobbling her finger at the round eyes that was staring at her. Seeing her face slacken a bit, 4-year-old Raghu mustered a tiny smile and took a step closer.

“What do you want?” Mariamma almost barked.

Raghu dug into his pockets, fishing out oil covered paper pouch. Opening it, he extended the onion pakoras his mom made for him.

“Do you want these? My mom made for me.”

The wrinkled face warmed up. Sniffing, she said softly, “Do see any teeth in here?”

 "Swallow, like you would have swallowed us".

Both erupted into unexpected laughter.


Thank you for dropping by :) The theme of my posts this year, for the A-Z challenge, is To Show, Not Tell. I hope you enjoyed this piece.


Friday, April 7, 2017

F - Fall #AtoZChallenge





Rustle of dry leaves

beautiful but dead.

The vigor of flaming trees

Yellow and red.

The chill in crisp air

Patches of pumpkin spread.

The warmth of coffee mugs

comfort of a cozy bed.

Smell of old sweaters

tucking words unsaid.



*****

Thank you for dropping by :) The theme of my posts this year, for the A-Z challenge, is To Show, Not Tell. I hope you enjoyed this piece.
















Thursday, April 6, 2017

E - Elated #AtoZChallenge



"Three more days to go, right mummy?"

"Yes dear. Now close your eyes. When you wake up tomorrow, it will only be two days."

"Yay! I cant wait!"

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"They are going to stay for how many days mummy?"

"Seven days dear."

"Seven days!!! That is more, right mummy!!??"

"Yes, that is a lot. Now off you go and drink your milk."

"Just one day left, right ?!! They are coming tomorrow, right mummy??!!"

"Yes."

"Are they coming at night??"

"Hmmm. Yes."

"Can I wait up? I don't want to be asleep when they come. Please mummy?"

"Okay. Now zip your mouth, and finish your milk. No more questions. Mummy is busy."

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"Sashiiii, mummy said the flight landed!! Lets go down!!"

"Harshaaaa, it will be an hour before they arrive here. Don't be silly!! "

"Okay. I will keep a watch at the window. "

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A car pulled into their drive-way.

There was a squeal followed by thundering footsteps.

"Hiiiii my pumpkin!!!"

"Chinna mamaaaa!! Athaaa!! "

"You smell the same, athaaaaa", Harsha declared, as we melted into each others' embrace.



PS: Athaa is aunt and mama is uncle in Indian language

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

D - Desire #AtoZChallenge




She slowed down as his husky voice drifted through the air and fell on her parched ears. Heart racing, she tip toed towards him, smoothing her dress at her curvaceous hips, a slight provocative air in her gait.

She saw him, animatedly talking over phone. His fresh hair cut gave him a crisp look, making her go weak in the knees. She didn't have the courage to look into his dreamy eyes, for she knew it would need every ounce of her energy to break her gaze, She fixed her eyes on his lips instead. She never knew she could feel this way and it was making her go crazy. Oh, how could she let him do this to her. He was not even that handsome. She wondered if it was his intelligence or his humor that drew her towards him. Whatever it was, her proximity to him every day was proving to be too dangerous for her sanity. 

She walked past him, as if she didn't care, but every cell of her body was listening to him. He had the kind of vocabulary that turned people on, and she could hear him speak for hours. She slowed down a bit, breathing a little lightly, anticipating that his eyes were following her.

She wondered how it would be to hold his hands. To caress them. To feel them on her body. The very thought sent a hurricane of emotions down her spine. Sigh. If only he knew. But she could never tell him. Not in this lifetime. 

She could never betray Natasha.






Tuesday, April 4, 2017

C - Cranky #AtoZChallenge




"Does it really matter, my opinion?", she slammed the drawer shut, rattling the steel spoons inside.
An uncomfortable silence followed. Sensing something was up, I kept quiet, treading my waters carefully. Now may not be a good time. Settling comfortably on the recliner, pulling my legs up on the extended footrest, I turned on the TV.

"..to create a topspin forehand, the head of the racket should be..." the tennis tutorial guy went on to explain.

And then, the ticking time-bomb went off.

As soon as these words fell on her ears, she stormed into the hall, breathing fire. Her eyes showed some kind of satisfaction for having hit the jackpot. She found a reason.

There was a hissing sound and something in the kitchen burnt with her.

"Mr. Federer, are you very busy or do you have SOME time to come into the kitchen and HELP me? If you are TIRED, and if it is IMPORTANT for you to SIT and watch this stupid tennis video after playing for TWO hours, its FINE BY ME! I can manage cooking and cleaning this hell hole."

"And WHAT is your towel doing HERE!?"

I watched meekly at her and then at the phone ringing silently in the distance, not moving, as the ball of fire turned and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Dude, not now. My wife is a little cranky", I mumbled into the phone.



****

Just one of my cranky days ;)

Thank you for dropping by :) The theme of my posts this year, for the A-Z challenge, is To Show, Not Tell.  I decided to share some tips that I found useful when writing my posts. Needless to say, they are from various sources on the internet. I hope you will find them beneficial too.

Today's tip:
Avoid adverbs. For example, instead of saying "She shut the drawer angrily", I said " She slammed the drawer shut, rattling the spoons inside" which accentuates the intensity of the action.

Wherever you spot words ending with -ly, consider expanding it to show the action.

Also, I used the sense of smell (something burning in the kitchen) to explain the gravity of the situation. No woman likes her food getting burnt!







Monday, April 3, 2017

B - Bored #AtoZChallenge




She shifted in her seat again, letting out another long sigh. The two open chat windows refused to blink despite her long stares. How can everybody else be so busy? She refreshed her inbox for the millionth time. No new messages. She cruised through the other fifteen tabs on her crowded Chrome instead, and closed each one of them. There, it looks so much better now.

She went back to the two chat windows.

The time on her screen showed 11:23. Wait, wasn't it 11:23 five minutes ago? 

She stretched herself a bit, her shoulder muscles were beginning to feel a little stiff due to inactivity. She let out a light moan, startling herself. She looked around to see if anyone heard, but the half-empty, half-busy, mostly uncaring surrounding made her even more desolate. There was laughter in the other block and she began to wonder why she was even here. Life-altering questions began to seep into her mind. No, now is not the time.

Yawn.

She closed one eye and squinted at the tip of her nose. Aha. She closed the other eye now to see if this side looked the same. Oh, they don't. Interesting. Her eyes drifted to the ceiling, noticing for the first time that one of the lights was dead. How long has it been like that? She scanned the entire dull ceiling for more burnt lights, her fingers gently stroking her ponytail that fell on her shoulder, finally resting her eyes on her hair, examining the tips for any split ends. She remembered having them in college, she wondered where they all vanished to. Just when she needed them.

Ping! After what seemed like an eternity.

Her face brightened.

'Lunch?'

This was the closest she came to feeling alive that day. With a spring in her step, she walked to the other side of the building.



*****

Thank you for dropping by :) The theme of my posts this year, for the A-Z challenge, is To Show, Not Tell. I hope I was able to bore you enough ;)

I decided to share some tips that I found useful when writing my posts. Needless to say, they are from various sources on the internet. I hope you will find them beneficial too.

Today's tip:

Describe - Describe the setting. Create an image in the reader's mind. Use as much of the five senses as possible and as relevant. Its easy to overdo it, just like I did ( :P) , so it doesnt hurt to be careful.





Saturday, April 1, 2017

A - Anxiety #AtoZChallenge





"In 0.2 miles, your destination is on the right", the GPS boomed, startling her out of her reverie.

She felt her breath quicken. When did she cross Andrew's Avenue? Was the signal green? She fumbled for her glasses on the passenger seat. Last few nights were short on sleep, and her eyes watered easily now. She regretted ever having committed to this thing. What was she thinking? 'Facing your fears' - who gives in to that kind of bullshit? She felt that familiar lump in her throat and remembered to breathe harder.

Deep breaths.

More deep breaths.

"Its okay if I do bad. It doesn't have to be my best. I am just starting out."

"But I want it to be my best."

"But you cannot. You are not so good at it."

"Oh! How can I not be. I am always good!"

"Isn't that why you joined in the first place? To improve? Don't weigh yourself down with your own expectations."

The war in her head waged on. She pulled on a mask of confidence, took another deep breath, and marched ahead.



           
*****

Thank you for dropping by :) The theme of my posts this year, for the A-Z challenge, is To Show, Not Tell. I hope I was able to take you on the character's anxious journey.

I decided to share some tips that I found useful when writing my posts. Needless to say, they are from various sources on the internet. I hope you will find them beneficial too.

Today's tip:

When describing a scene or a person, first jot down all the behaviors characteristic of this scene/character. For example, when I had to describe anxiety, I came up with pounding heart, mind creating vivid scenes of embarrassment, fidgeting hands, racing mind, sweaty palms. And then weave your words around these traits.