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.

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.

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.

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. "

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

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.

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!

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.

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.

A-Z theme reveal

The A-Z challenge is around the corner, and the blog world is brimming with excitement and frenzied planning.

Today is the day when participants from all over the world reveal what their posts are going to be about. Having a theme is not mandatory, "random" is also a valid theme :)

Last year, I really had nothing much going on at work or in my personal life, so I was looking for some challenge to spice things up. But this year is different. Its busier work days and a lot to accomplish (though I am getting nowhere with it).

Anyway, without much ado, let me reveal my theme.

Let me give an example ( I pulled this out of the internet by the way)

Telling : "You are such a jerk," he said angrily. 

First off, you should never modify "said" with an adverb. Second, keep adverb use to a minimum. They're not evil little words that have to be avoided at all costs, but they should be kept to a minimum. It's far better to SHOW he was angry:

Showing: "You are such a jerk." Dan slammed the phone book shut and threw it at the couch. The pages ruffled open, the names inside seeming exposed and vulnerable against the stark black leather. Dan got to his feet, moving so fast his chair skidded against the floor and dented the new drywall.

Get the drift?

So this April, you will see me take an emotion by each letter and show it, instead of tell it.

Please watch out this space for more, and I need your encouragement, just like last year :) YOU kept me going.

Some serious questions.

PHOTO PROMPT © Shaktiki Sharma

“Burrrrp! Aah that was such a juicy greeny leaf. I feel full and lazy. Time to find a nice resting stop.

Wait! What’s happening there? Are they humans? Goodness, they are everywhere. I wonder what they are doing . Always acting busy and important. Don’t they have a life!? They should learn from me, the great Eastern Lubber grasshopper.  I..Umm..err… eat, mate, err..well..sleep and, uh yes, live life.

Oh my god. I am good for nothing, aren’t I. What’s the purpose of my life? Why am I born?

Is this mid-life crisis?

Ugh! Why am I a grasshopper :( "

PS: Just in time for Rochelle's Friday fictioneers! 

Goodbye.

The empty shelves stared back at me. The room once full of clothes and suitcases looked gloomy and desolate, deprived of the very things that hinted the presence of a fuller household. In a few hours, the bustling nest will be all quiet and well, empty.

Even as we busied ourselves weighing things, calling out instructions and making lame jokes, we were all aware of the undercurrent of thoughts each one was having. That in a few hours, we will be gone. That 45 days went in a whisker. Its funny how we think that not acknowledging the emotion would somehow erase the pain. But it was all around. In the eyes that already started missing us. In the uneasiness of laughs. In the restrained emotions.

The pain of separation stung each one of us.

 Good byes are hard.

As I tell kaku that I will be back in a year, I realize one year is a very long time. It scares me to think what the next year will hold. It scares me that things might change, either for the better or worse and I wouldn’t be there when it happens. That I wouldn’t be there when it really matters.

I  remember the long conversations where hearts were bared and stories of scars shared. On every trip home, I get to see love, care, anger, suppression, respect, disregard, weakness and strength, pride and contempt, all at the same time. And every time, the barrage of emotions drains me because I can never finger what it makes me feel, other than heavy.

There are tight hugs and curt good byes. Tears well up in unexpected eyes. It makes me think if this goodbye was just a pretense. That the tears were just holding on for the right moment. It leaves me feeling if I could have done more than just listen. It leaves me feeling guilty that I am running away, from a family that might be breaking apart. Or maybe it always had been that way. Maybe, living far away from home makes you see the cracks. Or maybe, that's just how families are.

Goodbyes are hard. It makes you think so many things.

Life is made up of choices we make and we don’t make. Some choices are hard, while some are a breeze. You win some. You lose some. Some hurt you. Some hurt others. Life, when giving you something, also takes something. It’s the balance that we all have to find. And peace in the choices we make.

I am still trying to make peace with my choice. 

Would you like to live longer.?

These days, everything seems to be less. And we find ourselves wanting for more. For an average person, the needs are easily met and the wants don't seem to be getting shorter.

We want bigger houses.

We want more salary.

We want more friends.

We want more than 24 hours in a day.

We want to do more things with our life.

We want to achieve more.

Along the same lines, would you like to have more years in your life?

I am asking this question because I recently read an article in TIME that Silicon Valley is trying to hack its way to  MUCH longer life. Millions are being poured. Years are being invested to find a way to increase the longevity and quality of human life. We are talking about adding atleast 100 more years to our average life span.

Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, has invested more than $330 million to research about aging and age-related diseases. Larry Page launched Calico, a research company with the objective of improving human life.

When I learned about the ways that already exist today as a step closer towards achieving this goal, I was dumb-founded.

50 people in the US have paid $8000 for a transfusion of blood from young people of ages 16 to 25. Because it is believed and being researched  (by the company who does this) that young blood has a lot of factors that are important for cellular health and helps the body to rejuvenate itself.

A physical exam, called the Health Nucleus, is an 8 hour long, $25000, head-to-toe, inside-out physical exam that helps in early diagnostics of where your body is heading. It provides you a chance to prevent the diseases that are diagnosed to occur in the future.

These are just to name a few! Looking at where the world is heading and the endless possibilities and inventions, I have no doubt they will figure out something in a few years.

What then? Will you be willing to live longer? If all your friends and family lived upto 180 years, would you still be willing to die at 80? Will life still be meaningful if we knew we have a loooong way to go?

Change is good, but if the basic fundamentals of nature is being manipulated, I cant help but feel apprehensive about all this.

What do you think?


Note: The picture is not the same issue I am talking about.

Monday warmup # 6

Sometimes you have to take a step back to catapult farther ahead. Wisdom lies in knowing that its okay to lose sometimes to win the bigger battle. 

That doesn't mean though, that we give up fighting.

What I want to do this year

Last year was the most productive year of my life. I was probably able to accomplish in one year what I did not in my whole life! And that was because of my 30Before30 goal list.

So it would probably be foolish if I did not do something similar this year. No, I am not coming up with 31 before 31, which by the way, sounds odd, but I do have a simple list. Last time, I had to come up with 30 because I oh-so-wanted to use the title ;)

So tan-ta-dah, here they are:

Career :

1. In the next two months, try out options and make a career choice and by end of the year, take a step closer in that direction. (This is actually a leftover from last year). PMP was a step to explore an option, to see how I like it.

2. I have been told many times at my workplace that I don't sound confident in uncertain situations and don't take lead. So this year, I will consciously practice efficient decision making, confident public speaking and persuasive reasoning.

Hobbies:

3. Write 100 posts this year. That means weekly twice, and I am lagging far behind. But I intend to catch up.

4. Word Porn. I am in love with Word Porn quotes. I have stumbled on really good ones, that struck a chord with me. Its like they tapped into my soul. I am going to try writing myself! And ofcourse these will be a part of the above 100 posts.

5. Re-start the Monday warm-ups and wiser Wednesdays.(anybody like them?, I wonder).

6. Improve at tennis. This year's focus will be on the serves and placements.

7.Maintain a daily private journal.

Health:

8. Comeback to a weight of 134 lbs. That means lose 6 pounds. I have been accumulating fat like Indians accumulate gold. Only, fat is not gold.

9. Do Yoga and meditation everyday in the morning.

10. Sleep better. I wake up everyday as if I havent slept at all. Its high time I did something about it.

Personal:

11. Stand up for your actions. DO what you think is right and have the courage to face the consequences.

12. Pray because you are grateful for what you have.

13. Learn to let go when you should. Let go of "what could have been". I can be either this side or that side. I cannot be here and want to be there. Being in the middle sucks. So this year, I will learn to choose. And learn to be happy with my choice.

"The human life is made up of choices. Yes or no? In or out? Up or down? And then there are the choices that matter: to love or hate, to be a hero or to be a coward, to fight or to give in, to live or die... Live or die? That's the important choice, and it's not always in our hands." 

~ Grey's Anatomy.

Deadline : 12/31/2017

Anybody can have goals. You need a plan to achieve those goals. What are your goals? Do you have a plan ? Is it all in your head or do you write them down?

Longing

HOTO PROMPT © Roger Bultot

 

 

I stare at the far-away window, hot vapors of coffee fogging my glasses. But I don’t care since I am not really looking at anything.

I just wonder. I wonder if you are in office yet. If you ever stare out of a window like I do every morning. I wonder if I will ever find someone like you. The coffee is bitter, but its warmth is comforting. Just like your memories. It kills me that all I have is memories now.

I think about how cruel life is.

And for the billionth time, I regret what happened that day.

 

 

PS : Written for Friday fictioneers. I would love some honest feedback on how well I expressed the character's longing.