Happy New Year

 

So the last day of 2013 is here and it’s time to let go some of the old memories and welcome a new year by opening our arms wide, a la SRK style. 2013 has been a very hectic year for me, juggling with multiple roles in my life and trying to squeeze in some precious “me” time in between the entire hullabaloo happening in my life. But every cloud has its own silver lining. The good thing about being so busy is that the year zoomed past me and before I know it we are already at the threshold of a brand new year.

2013 was a good year for me in terms of blogging and writing. When I started the year, I wished that I would blog more often, read more and interact more with bloggers. And I have been successful in my endeavors to some extent. The frequency of my posting has increased and I sincerely hope that I can write as often as now, in the next year too. I published 110 posts this year and that’s a decent number (I hope!). I aim to write more fiction posts in the coming year.

I started 2013 fiction posts with a thriller/suspense story of "The Voices" which received good feedback among  Blogaton members. I also tried my hand at humor with "A Man for One Day" which was also selected for one of the weekly features at Half Baked Beans Publishing House.

And then came one of my first successes in the blogging world. "To be a Woman" was selected as one of the most impactful entry on International Women’s Day on March 8^th at Indusladies. Needless to say I was ecstatic and proud of my little victory.

My post Woman of Substance  also won a contest at Blogadda.

In May one of my short story, “The Hike to the Temple” was published in an anthology of short stories, Kaleidoscope, where I shared the platform with 25 other talented and wonderful authors. It was a long-cherished dream come true for me and one of the most happiest moments of my life.

And then my post , for the Tresemme contest at Indiblogger, won the first place and I was truly feeling lucky. A little whimsical part in me had always wanted to win some fancy gadget and my wish was fulfilled when I received a Samsung Tab in the contest. 

If I were to select my favorite post in the past year, then it has to be the short story “The One Last Hug”  which was written straight from the heart , when I missed talking to my mother.

I’m also proud of the fact that in between my hectic schedule I managed to read and review 24 books in a span of a year. And although my original goal was to complete 30 books, I’m still happy about my achievement.

 

Goodreads Challenge

Every post of mine reflects the mood that I face, the emotions that I feel when I write. It’s something that I’m yet to rid myself from- to detach my personal feelings from the words that I write. But some would say that it’s good, you need to feel what you write. And some would counter argue saying one has to be impersonal to depict each character and the varied emotions in a story. It’s an argument that has no perfect solution.

I don’t believe in resolutions, but I hope and pray that whatever 2014 holds for me, at the end of the year I don’t want to have regrets, I want to be happy and proud of my work. If I had to implore God and request him to make at least one of my dreams come true this year, then it would be my novel getting released and reaching the bestseller list. But for that, I need time, I need patience, I need fortitude to make myself sit and write! Sigh!

Happy New Year folks and see you on the other side of the New Year!

No Shortcuts to Success- A Do Right Story

I don’t remember much about my childhood moments spent with my father. I was just 4 when my father expired due to a fatal heart attack so my memories of him are all too hazy.  But I do remember of an incident that happened during one of my school events. I was in Kindergarten studying in a very popular school near Indiranagar, Bangalore.

My father being a manager of a Bank in the same area was very well known and respected among the teachers. In fact one of the teachers, Sister Philomena was very fond of me and my family. She used to visit my house often and talk to my parents. She was a kind soul and she was my favorite teacher. 

The below photo was clicked in my classroom when Sister Philomena bunched a few of her star (read favorite) students and had this snap clicked. 

I'm second from left :-)

Being the youngest child and the only daughter I was pampered a lot by my father. It so happened that my school arranged for a sports day event in the playground and various competitions were arranged. While the older students had more vigorous sport events, we little younger ones had a running race to participate.

We had to carry a doll and swing it in our arms and at the same time we had to race to the finish line. Since most of my dolls were just not good enough for the race, my dad took us shopping where he bought me an adorable doll, much to the chagrin of my brothers who never got what they asked for.

I remember the doll because it was my favorite toy for years. The doll would close its eyes every time it was held horizontally and open them when held straight. I loved the doll and on the day of the race I was holding it proudly, more excited about showing off my new toy than running the race.

The race started and I ran my best but unfortunately I came in somewhere in the last. The spoilt brat that I was, I started bawling loudly insisting that I be given the first prize since my doll was better than the ones in the hands of the girls who came in first and second places. My dad must have been embarrassed witnessing my behavior but to his credit, he was patient enough to tolerate my ridiculous behavior without smacking me.

Sister Philomena, who was a real sweet lady, somehow convinced the school authorities to give me a consolation prize. When I received the prize I somehow didn’t feel happy as I hoped I would be when I won the prize. Even to my 4 year old puerile mind, I knew what I did was wrong. The girls who won prizes deserved it and it was rightfully theirs but I had not done anything to claim the prize. To me it looked more like a pity prize, something that was given to shut me up.

Later my dad explained to me that there is no short cut to success. Hard work, dedication and honesty are the only ways one can gain respect from others. And to prove his theory right, I had to only look up at him. It took him years to get where he was, to become what he was, to command the respect and admiration from his staff. Even to this day, I have never heard anyone speaking ill about him ever. They always remember him as a silent, kind man who worked determinedly at the bank. 

It was this admiration towards him that made people accept my mother and help her gain a foothold in the banking domain when she accepted a clerical post in the same bank after my father’s death. 

Needless to say I returned the prize the next day to Sister Philomena but not without a promise to myself that never in future would I accept a prize in my life, if I felt that I didn’t deserve it, if I hadn't earned it.

That was the lesson that I learnt very early in life from my dad, there is no replacement for hard work and perseverance. I hope that someday through my work and my deeds I gain the same respect and esteem from others, just like my dad.

I am sharing my http://doright.blogadda.com/stories" target="_blank">Do RIght Stories at BlogAdda.com

in association withhttp://doright.in" target="_blank"> Tata Capital.

"Life Under Microscope" featured in Half Baked Beans "Tuesday Tales" series

During my early teen years, inspired by the many Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy stories that I read, I spun my own tales of a detective girl who helped her father in investigating crimes. And enthusiastically I sent them to all teen magazines which accepted stories from its readers. But after a couple of months of anxious waiting, I realized that my stories would never be published. Dejected and disappointed, I gave up writing for almost a decade.

But today the Indian Literary scene is completely different with so many young writers getting a chance to become published authors.  And encouraging nascent writers are many publishing houses who are providing an opportunity to these young writers.

Half Baked Beans is one such publishing house which provides a literary platform for all budding and aspiring writers to get their work published.

Half Baked Beans Publishing, founded in January, 2013, is India's youngest independent publisher of commercial fiction and non-fiction paperbacks and e-books. 

Their mission is to provide new and upcoming writers a similar platform as that of established writers and give the readers good books and wholesome satisfaction at affordable prices. They accept work in all genres including Fiction, Non Fiction, Autobiography, Children, Romance, Short Stories, Thrillers. 

And the good news is that they are accepting manuscripts, so if you are an author with a chartbuster novel waiting to get published, then you can send it to- publish.halfbakedbeans@gmail.com

They also have a FB page where they run features every weekday, for example- "Monday Muses" in which they talk about a female Indian author and they have already showcased Nikita Singh (bestselling author of popular names like Love@ Facebook, Accidently in Love, If It's Not Forever! It's not love and The Promise), Madhuri Banerjee (author of popular names like Losing My Virginity and Other Dumb Ideas and Mistakes like love and sex.) and more recently Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan ( author of 'You Are Here' and 'Confessions Of A Listmaniac: The Life And Times Of Layla The Ordinary'.).

So it’s my complete honor when they decided to start their new series “Tuesday Tales” with my blog- Life Under Microscope. “Tuesday Tales” series would be promoting a short story blog every Tuesday and this provides a wonderful opportunity to bloggers who write fiction to get visibility.

With such encouragement and support from publishers, I’m sure more youngsters would be inspired to read and write often. Thank you Half Baked Beans.

To receive updates from Half Baked Beans do follow their FB Page- https://www.facebook.com/Half8akedBeans

Half Baked Beans website-http://www.hbbpublishing.com/