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The story behind my debut book: Beats & Paces

LIFE AND LIES #58 | Hankie For Life

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After having his fill In a fancy restaurant He found a man Immaculately dressed Waiting on him Holding a box of tissues He politely refused After washing his hands In a well-lit washroom He found on the left  A hand dryer And on the right  A paper towel dispenser He paid no heed to them  He was a learned fellow If not a great scholar It had taken him a while Ten years, for that matter Of regular negging, Scoldings and punishments Until he had finally  Developed a habit Of carrying with him  A hankie, at all times  He took it out  And used it  Like some relic Of the distant past. *** Liked reading it? Leave a comment!

LIFE AND LIES #57 | Neil Nitin Mukesh (#2)

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"Krishna is a married man but he's always revered along with Radha, his lover. What if... say Rukmani, said to Krishna one day, that she'd rather be Radha?"  Nitin uttered his thought out loud then looked around the room. While the others had stopped long back, Neil was pouring himself another drink. Only he could drink so much on a Sunday night, because unlike the others, his Monday had been declared a Bank holiday. It was Mukesh who was sober enough to reply to his question. "Radha spent her years in sadness longing for Krishna. Rukmani would not want to be in her place." "What if...'' smiled Nitin. He always placed the actual question he wanted to ask as the second question. "One day, after reading my work, my wife says to me that she'd rather be one of the women I write about so passionately." "The women you choose to write about are also inherently sad," Mukesh was quick with a reply. "Ask your wife then, would

LIFE AND LIES #56 | Somnath and Mishti

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Vishal wasn't very athletic but he was running at the highest speed he could muster. The street was narrow and engulfed in darkness. And there were people close at his heels, chasing him - them. Up ahead, in the distance, he saw a shimmering light. His head grew heavy and his sight grew dim, he had to stop and fight. The narrow street opened to steps leading down the riverbank. Vishal stopped and turned around, readying himself for the ultimate sacrifice while his friend ran away with the love of his life. "Are you alright?" Vishal came back to present and found Somnath standing beside him wearing a blue sherwani. Or was it a kurta? "I'm fine," replied Vishal. He actually wasn't. He was inebriated. But it was a celebratory drunkenness. The Sangeet event had just come to an end and his friend, Somnath was getting married the next day. He wrapped him in a hug and said, "You have disappointed me, you know." "Ok... how," questioned Somnat

LIFE AND LIES #55 | Water Water Everywhere

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Mugging up facts to score good marks in tests is an important part of everyone’s childhood. But, it wasn’t the good marks but the facts themselves that fascinated me. My younger self would be ecstatic if I went back and told him that I was heading to Majuli – the largest riverine island in the world.    There was water wherever my eyes ventured. The sky and the river had become one. I couldn’t decipher where one ended and the other began. It was an amazing sight. It appeared as if the boat was heading nowhere in an endless ocean for such is the immensity of the mighty Brahmaputra.  A grin spread across my face as I looked around thinking about what had transpired the previous night. As my last working day in Guwahati came to an end, I announced to my colleagues about my solo trip. They were stunned and also a little pissed because they had planned a going away party. They tried to convince me to stay but I told them that I had already booked my ticket. I wasn't lying. I