Thursday, February 16, 2017

A Princess from La-La Land

Long time ago there was a princess in a La-La Land. She was pulchritudinous and intelligent. Her Dad, the King of La-La Land, was proud of her and had ordered all the assistants in the palace to just attend to her needs.



 The attendants had to search far and beyond to meet her demands. But at the end of the day, her requests were met by hook or by crook.

This Princess had everything at an arm's length. She was happy. She was content.
But, not for long!

One day she asked her attendants, "Get me peace!"
They looked at each other with curiosity.
One of them got a cellist. He played the cello in such a way that all the onlookers including the princess experienced various emotions such as calmness, sensuousness; their minds got solemn as the strings were pulled gently by the cellist.
Mission accomplished!

But not for long...the princess demanded, "Peace!!"
The attendants scratched their heads.

One of them got a Yoga teacher. He made her perform many yoga stretches such as Eagle Pose, Dancer's Pose, Crescent variation, Handstand hops, Warrior poses. She huffed, and she puffed as she became quite sore thereafter. She slept well for a few days until she asked for peace again!

The attendants got nervous until one of them called for a therapist. He asked questions, and the princess answered them. They were all related to calm her overactive mind. She was prescribed to be 'mindful' This made her even more curious.

"What is mindful?" she asked.

The therapist asked her to ponder over each of her thought and activity during the day for a week while promising to be back after seven days.


She grew restless at first but stuck to what was advised.

She noted down her moods, she jotted down her sorrows, she scribbled her joys, she recorded her pains and her invisible tears. That made her sleep well each night as she would eat and sleep well. As she continued with her prescribed activity, she was laughing more than what she usually did. She found her mind and body synchronize over various things. The princess was sympathetic towards others as she would show interest in their lives. Her attendants saw a new princess as she would compliment them often. That satisfaction would make her blush, and she grew prettier day by day.

Day 7 arrived in no time, and this therapist was amazed to see her glow. He asked for the secret. She did not hesitate to blurt it out, "I feel peace from the thoughts that come and go. Thus, this glow."
(Did this rhyme?)
Let's make that the Mantra for the day!!


Mantra for today: Make Peace from the thoughts that come and go. The glow would be the aftereffect. 


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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. This week’s sentence is “I find peace from…” or close enough.
Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular sentence. If you’d like to stay ahead of future sentences and participate, join our Facebook group.  Link up your sentence prompts below!

Monday, February 13, 2017

Spotlight of A Walk in the Rain by Udai Yadla


A WALK IN THE RAIN
by 
Udai Yadla
 
 
 
Blurb
 
Love is elixir that keeps you alive. Love is poison that kills you. Unreciprocated love keeps you alive but kills every day.
 
Heartbroken Sunny lives a reclusive life, trapped in the past, living in his memories. He has no complaints about his life but refuses to embrace the present.
 
Saloni is a prostitute who is desperate to earn money by any means. She does not care about exploiting others to fulfill her purpose.
 
Fate unites the loner and the prostitute to embark on a life changing journey of retribution and self discovery.
 
Lovelorn Sunny turns misogynistic after Sandy, the only girl he loved walks away from his life, unannounced. He suffers painful solitude for almost two decades with the relentless haunting of her thoughts. A distressed friend Imran, vows to change his life forever. A surprise planned for his birthday turns into a tragedy that claims the life of his dear friend, triggering a series of unbelievable events. As Imran gets killed by a stranger, Sunny’s calm life suddenly turns into a turbulent storm. With nothing left to live for, vengeance becomes his ultimate mission. His reluctant alliance with a prostitute to trace the killer sets him onto a nerve racking adventure of life and death.
 
 
Both are bound to a common goal with different motives but destiny has its own motive. A walk in the rain is an intricate tale of intense emotions, driven by hair raising twists and turns.
 
Read an excerpt from the book…
 
Surya woke up to the symphonic pattering of the incessant rain drops on his bedroom window panes. He dragged himself to the window in a hypnopompic daze and sat on a chair beside. He pushed opened the window and stared outside to witness the magic of the tender rain. It, actually, was a magical sight.
The tiny specks of rain slapping the leaves of the trees and the leaves swaying to the tune of the rain droplets
 The fresh sprouts of the fluorescent green leaves peeking out through the nodes of the branches
Chirping of the sparrows sheltered in their nests
The fragrant aroma of the rain permeating the cool breeze
And the cool breeze seeping in through the window, forcing him to fetal position, gently caressing him
It was magical indeed. The ringing of his phone at the table near him attempted to disturb his dreamy experience. He silenced it without even looking at it and continued to enjoy the blissful beauty of the pluvial charm. There was a mystic bond between the two. He sat at the window, silently staring at the rain as if he was deciphering a coded message. The ringing of his phone interrupted him again. He didn’t ignore the call this time. He shrugged in exasperation as he picked the phone. His frustration vanished when he knew who was calling. He smiled as he looked at the calling number.
“Hey Sunny boy… What took you so long?” screamed a voice at the other end, as he attended the call.
He had a close circle of very few friends, who call him Sunny. Others didn’t know his nickname. He maintained formal relationship with the rest from his old friends circle. He had to move away from the window to make the call as the sound of the rain was a disturbance to the caller. He had a short call with his friend, desperate to go back to his private conversation with the rain.
When he returned, he observed that the pattering of the rain drops had ceased its long and continuous endeavor. Sunny dropped his phone on the table and looked at the clock.
‘Damn it… The rain tricked me once again.” He was late to his office.
He rushed to the bathroom and finished his daily chores in record time. Skipping his breakfast, which had almost become a habit for him, he wore a pant and shirt, carelessly picked from his modest wardrobe. He didn’t even look at the mirror to check how he looked. He didn’t care.
As he rushed out snatching his bag from the shelf, he made an abrupt stop at the window. He stared at the droplets clinging on the window pane as he slowly walked up to the window. He then connected the droplets form the word ‘SANDY’ on the pane and his lips curved into a smile on his bushy bearded face without his knowledge, which he noticed in the reflection on the window pane.
 
 
  Grab your copy @

Follow the tour @ Pinterest


About the author


 


Udai Yadla is a passionate author and poet. Mechanical engineer by education, Software engineer by profession, Writer by passion. Owing to his job, he travelled to various cities, socializing with people of different cultures. He cultivated interest in learning more about people, which perhaps enticed him into the study of human psychology. His interest in psychology is evident in his writings. His first book ‘A walk in the rain’ is widely appreciated equally by critics and peers. He has been nominated for Forbes India Celebrity 100 List. He is the most sought after author among young breed of authors. He is currently working on his next novel, which is a psychological thriller.
You can stalk him @
              

Spotlight of The DoppelGanger by Prateek Yadav

THE DOPPELGANGER
by
Prateek Yadav



BLURB

The perfect plan for the perfect heist-a team of con-men, foolproof disguise and a painting worth millions, nothing could have gone wrong. But something did... A man fnds himself on a bus to Manali with nothing but some cash and severe memory loss . Embarking on a frantic hunt for his identity, he begins to discover that his presence in Manali isn't an accident. The closer he gets to the truth, the more elusive it becomes. Ghosts from his past haunt him as he finds himself trapped between his doppelganger, the police, a sadistic gangster and his own dwindling sanity. The journey of the search for his identity ends up being a race for survival.

Grab  your copy @

Amazon India | Flipkart

Check out the tour +Pinterest 

The Book ClubTHE DOPPELGANGER BY PRATEEK YADAVFollow On  

About the author


Prateek Yadav was born and raised in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He graduated in economics at IIT Kanpur, and is currently working at Cognizant, Bangalore. He is an avid fiction reader with a keen inclination towards mystery and thrillers. Besides writing he also enjoys sketching and painting. The Doppelganger is his first published novel. 

Stalk him here @

           

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Psyched-out?



Disturbed, Agitated, Confused are some of the emotions all of humanity goes through each day.


Maybe because we have expectations, a particular belief over the result that we have worked hard upon, thus, the need to get a top-notch product that will blow off the tops of the 'audience' who is watching us with keen eyes.


This audience could either be our family, friends, or even neighbors who always keep a sly eye on us.



Needless to say, when we do not get what we expect...leads to high emotions.


When I'm upset, I would love to run away to the mountains!

The forest is the place where the population of humanity is minimum—no one to judge me. No one expects anything from me.

But, honestly, since I get disturbed every day, is it practical for me to 'run away to the mountains'

Honestly, I would have to drive about four hours to even get to one!!


Not possible!!


I usually think of alternate solutions in the order of appearance, such as deep breaths, mindfulness, reasoning, laughter!


Upon my next frustration, I shall choose to do deep inhalations via nose or mouth (doesn't matter) knit together my eyebrows over my eyes as I concentrate hard on the problem that made me disconcerted in the first place. 

I shall try to be attentive to my feelings upon the rise of the situation, and shall attempt to reason out.


"What did I lose upon this failure?"

"Do I have the capacity to try again? Although, I have the knowledge to avoid failure, this time."

"So, is it worth being upset"?


Most of the time, it's a 'Nah!'


A peal of laughter shall follow that since contemplation always leads to satisfaction. 


Easy-Peasy! 


Problem solved without heading to the mountains for the retreat!!


On a side note, what is going in and around the capital of our country.....

Yes, I am psyched-out, but I would choose not to get upset over that since this is still a democratic country, and I have faith in the house of representatives'.


Let's choose to first fight the problems within us, our household, our community. The country shall follow suit.


Mantra for today: And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
                          Abraham Lincoln


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Friday, January 27, 2017

Attunement within

Relax is a verb that is generally put into action when life gets very stressed out since I start to complain of aches and pain as the muscles get tensed.

That happens when I am either getting churned or stirring someone else's life.

What to do...Life is about give and take.


I take some.
I give a little.
I moan after that, and then rinse and repeat after I relax or unwind.

Such is Life!

“Accidents happen. Our bones shatter, our skin splits, our hearts break. We burn, we drown, we stay alive.” 
― Moïra Fowley-Doyle, The Accident Season

“Empires collapse, 
Civilizations disappear, 
Health deteriorates 
And bodies turn to ash, 
But life will always go on” 
― Mouloud Benzadi


When I need to relax and unwind I usually try to find peace within.



No thoughts are allowed in.

 I stare myself into space via staring at a bush in my yard with the hopes that no bird or fly comes into the vision or else poof goes my mind as thoughts start flowing.

Thus, staring into this blank space I feel the numbness in my thoughts, my throat becomes dry as I usually forget to gulp. My eyelids become heavy since I am not blinking and thus, making them droopy. As a result, I gradually shut my eyes, and soon I am zzzing.


This snooze is just for a couple of minutes since the head sags, and my neck would give it away waking me up with a jerk.

I can bet on a $20 bill that those couple of minutes that I snoozed off were the best! I wake up fresh and no doubt I massage my neck thereafter cause of the jerk, but that gives me a boost to kick and get kicked.

When no thoughts are processed it is deep sleep. Mind when calmed attunes with all the neurons thus allowing the muscles to relax. The individual wakes up fresh!

Mantra for today: Time to unwind is essential since peace is within us all. 


Disclaimer: Meditation Guru's do not vouch for the above. This is my way to unwind! 


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Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular sentence. 



Thursday, January 19, 2017

Got Time?



Long, long time ago when life was simpler, and there was not much distraction except for the radio. An individual used to perform just mere counted chores and be satisfied with his day and would call it a night.
Children would be happy to wake up since they had slept well and would be glad to go to school to unite with their friends along with studies and would be satisfied to come home, spend time with their parents and have dinner together without any interference of any kind of correspondence with the outer world except for the radio, which would hum their favorite songs in the background.

It was the world where priorities were the passion. Fun was unadulterated. Laughter was authentic. Family time was genuine. Relationships were respected since people had the time to appreciate things around!


Turn of the century...man realized his potential.

He is amazed how he can juggle five things on each of his finger of his hand. He calls it liberation and is impressed with the progress humankind makes towards the end of the day. Seeing that kind of evolution united humanity and they have joined forces to continue this marathon.

Amidst this run, infants are neglected, while moms and dads venture out in the society that has got smitten by the 'multi-tasking' bug to get more comforts for their home, which is actually a home just for the namesake since the family is out for most of the hours.

Children in school first agitated against the changes but have adapted quickly since they have got lots of comfort in the name of food, technology to correspond and enjoy. Time is getting precious since all have the same complaint, "No Time!" and excuses are made left right and center.

Passion is hidden somewhere since all want to lead and no one wants to follow thus, lots of hard work put in along with stress and urgency for everything.

Alas! The human body cannot take the beat for long, and health is degrading thus, allowing medical professionals to pump in chemicals to keep us going. Wonder for how long these chemicals can maintain the man churning for more!

"If I could only change the above so that time would not just be a number but of value as a person could continue to pursue the real essence of mankind by getting the basic answers of life such as, "Who am I?" "What is my goal in this life?"

Sigh!

Mantra for today: We are the society, care to tame it? 

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Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular sentence.

Respect !!





"Get this out, Now!" Mrs. Bose commanded in an acerbic tone with her index finger pointing that individual and swinging it intensely.

"Sure! Please give me a minute, Ma'am." she requested meekly with her eyes bowed

"Now!" 

The maid was quick to pick up her sick offspring. Patted on his back, and walked towards the exit while wiping her tears from her eyes.

"I quit!" she shouted.

"Sure thing! Take your dues for today's work." her boss called out.

"I don't want to eat from somebody's cash who does not have respect for another individual." 



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In 99 words (no more, no less) write a story that expresses a strong concern, something to give a crap about. Something that brings out the feeling to stand up. How can you use it to show tension or reveal attitudes?