Drawgust 2016 by Parag Chitale

Drawgust

2016

Drawgust 2016 includes 31 short stories and illustrations created for a different word every day, for all the 31 days of August 2016.

Parag Chitale

Drawgust 2016 is an honest attempt of creative writing and illustration. Conceptualised and executed by Parag Chitale during the month of August 2016. Parag Chitale parag.a.chitale@gmail.com +91 9767970046

To not being afraid to start, to not being afraid to finish and to not being afraid to do everything in between.

August 2016 31/7

1/8

2/8

3/8

4/8

5/8

6/8

7/8

8/8

9/8

10/8

11/8

12/8

13/8

14/8

15/8

16/8

17/8

18/8

19/8

20/8

21/8

22/8

23/8

24/8

25/8

26/8

27/8

28/8

29/8

30/8

31/8

1/9

100

104

106

I know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be worth it.

Pizza

Communication

Article

Percentage

Shopping

Estate

Investment

Baseball

Church

Feedback

Attitude

Area

Union

Relief

Literature

Hotel

Media

Argument

Highway

Reception

Preference Election

Dream

It definitely was.

Excitement Connection

Revenue

Bathroom

Cabinet

Fortune

Paper

Interview

I know it’ll be worth it. August. The 8th month of the year 2016. More than half of the year is gone and the feeling of this year getting over soon might be creeping up now. If it isn’t you are lucky and doing well in your life I guess! Ok so I was just going through my old posts and photos yesterday. You know these days Facebook reminds us of our ancient posts, friendship anniversaries, shared photos and also the most unflattering tagged photos as ‘remember this memory?’.

I got a notification for the same and as my weekend workout I decided to focus on my fingers. Click. Click. Click. Click. Here I go. I started walking up the memory lane from the beginning of my Facebook feed and then I just ran like a crazy kid. One post after the other reminding me of who I was at that time and what I was doing. After several minutes of laughter, awwwws and sighs of regrets I came to my last year’s posts. What a wonderful year it was. Second year at NID, Exchange Semester, My quite successful blog adventure Write Right Write Left, 134 days of awesomeness, inktober, design projects, and then this year’s May the words be with us project, so many things opened in so many tabs. My chrome couldn’t handle it, neither could I. It was a remarkable year for me and it was remarkable because of you guys. I wrote a lot, drew a lot and I learnt a lot and all that happened because I felt the strong force of encouragement from you guys; online and offline. I really appreciate it. Taking that super positive creative energy as my inspiration and the Facebook

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notification as a sign, I have decided to embark on a new journey. I was thoroughly impressed with my own discipline during inktober 15, my May project and even the blog last year and I want to do that once again. I want to do something fun but not just for fun and so I’ve decided to take August 2016 as the month of experiment and do something that I love. Ok Let’s see, I like to write and I like to draw, cool. Let’s do that. But this time, it won’t be just words and it won’t be just drawings, it’ll be both, going hand in hand. I have thought of taking one random thing in our life per day and write something and draw something about it. At this moment the whole idea is as vague as it sounds. hahah. I am not even sure what I’d write and draw about but I just know that I will. We will figure it all out along the way. I have faith and to start something new, that’s enough I guess. We all need some outlet for our creative energy and for that we just need to find a month that has enough days apparently. I found mine and I am starting now. Actually you know what, you don’t even need a month to do something, you

just need a moment. Find your moment and start. Yup. I know itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be worth it. Drawgust. Words. Drawings. August 2016.

Drawgust 2016

Shopping When I was little there lived a happy family. A young family of four – Mom, dad and their two kids. The sister with her rosy cheeks was just a wee baby and her brother was still young enough to be not allowed to cross the main road on his own. This curious boy with bright blue eyes who loved the colour red would stare at the road from the window, counting passing cars and calling them out by their colours. Once he was able to count 20 red cars within 10 minutes and that happy surprise had made him a little extra happy. He loved the pacing stripes of those fast colours that’d run on the road. He didn’t know why and where all those people were rushing but he didn’t mind. He loved watching them go. He dreamed of being one of them one day, just like his father. His father was the best person he knew.

He was tall, strong and he was allowed to go anywhere he wanted. He’d go across the road and get groceries. On Sundays his dad would take him to that market and buy him nice red tomatoes. He enjoyed those special moments. On their short shopping trips he’d hold his dad’s hand and he’d hold it tight. The colourful stripes that he’d see from the window used to scare him a little when they’d turn int yo real things. This boy always wanted to go shopping on his own but he was told that he was too young and when he’d grow up to be a big boy he can go. That always made him feel a little odd, you see he was sure that he was ready. He so longed to grow up and be able to go alone to buy red tomatoes that he loved the most, on his own. And that one day, it all changed. He was asked to go and get some veggies! He couldn’t believe his ears. He asked again if they meant to tell him to get them from the kitchen but Mom smiled and gave him a 50 rupee note. The two blue eyes kept looking at the note, mesmerised. This was really happening. He was going to cross the road and get tomatoes. He was going shopping. He surely was his happiest. So the whole sequence was like this – He was supposed to go to the shop and tell the uncle to give him 250 grams of tomatoes. He was supposed to give the 50 rupee note and get 30 rupees back. Simple. And the best part of the whole adventure was the fact that he was going there alone, like a big boy. He ran to his room with the note in his hand and a wild wind in his heart. He climbed into the cupboard and found his favourite shirt. It was a gift from his grandma and he loved the red collar on that clean white shirt. He changed quickly while repeating the sequence at least a hundred

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times to himself. “Go there, ask for 250 grams of Tomatoes, give him the note, get the tomatoes, get the money and come back.” He couldn’t stop smiling. This was going to be the best buy of his life, he knew it for sure. He came out in the living room and got the grocery bag from his dad’s hand. He had a completely different kind of a feeling. Something he had never felt before. He looked up to his dad, smiling. He said ‘bye’ in a proud voice which had a little shaky nervous shade to it. For a fraction of second he felt like asking his dad to come with him but then that’d mean that he is not a big boy. He decided to be the brave boy he thought he knew he was and he started walking. Coming down the stairs, with each step, his heart started beating faster. He couldn’t figure out if it was excitement or nervousness and whatever it was, it was all new to him and somehow it didn’t feel all great. He came to the main gate and he froze. He stood there for a long minute. He kept looking at the road. As he was standing there suddenly all the fears came running towards him. The colourful cars on the road felt like giants, the bike riders looked like the evil sorcerers from his story books. Suddenly the sun went down and everything became gloomy. The shop was just across the road but it felt too far to reach. He tried to remember the sequence but he couldn’t at all. His tummy started making noises. He thought he failed himself. He thought he was not the brave boy he thought he was. Full of nervousness and almost ready to cry, he looked towards his window. Everyday he’d say bye to his dad going to his office from that window. Now he wanted his dad to be there

but he wasn’t. He felt sad, alone and helpless. He didn’t know how he was going to get the tomatoes if he couldn’t cross the road. He stood silent, shaking. And then suddenly he felt someone standing behind him. The startled little kid looked back and all his control over his tears just vanished. His dad was standing there, looking at him. The small teary eyed white shirt with a red collar quickly turned around and hugged the familiar blue pant. Dad knelt down, held him in his arms and patted his back. The little kid cried a little and it felt good. With tears on his red cheeks he looked at his dad, not knowing what to say. His dad smiled and asked him in a polite voice, “Excuse me, Can you please help me cross the road? I need to get some tomatoes.” The brave little chap smiled, wiped his tears off, got up and helped his dad get some tomatoes. Today, after almost 30 years, I saw a little yellow dress with a bag of potatoes crossing the road and as she reached the main gate, she ran and hugged my teary eyed white shirt with a red collar. This is the best buy of my life, I know this for sure.

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Feedback You know what a feedback is, right? Of course you do. We do something and ask people about their feedback. We all have been through the feedback situation at least once in our life. I have some things that I want to share about this thing. Let’s talk about it, shall we? I mean I’ll write about it, you guys read. Feedbacks can be complex. Sometimes it is very difficult to decode the layered feedback and get the useful information. It’s like “I heard what you said but what again? Can you

please make it a little more simple?” and then the other person is offended. You ask people their opinion about something and they give you a metaphorical example woven in some intricate analogy. It was just a yes or no question, why are you writing an essay!? It sounded so nice but I didn’t understand what you meant by all that! OK, to be honest, I am one of those essay people but I’ve also been on the other side of that conversation so I know the heartache and the headache. Have I stopped doing that though? Not yet, but I am trying. I am learning that If you want a simple feedback you should start giving one. Feedbacks can be pretended. Just like any other thing you find on internet, feedbacks can mean anything or nothing at all. Tell me honestly how many of you have filled every single feedback form with a hundred percent conviction! Sometimes we just check some random boxes in front of the questions and get going but we forget that someone might be taking them seriously. If you expect a genuine feedback start giving one.

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Feedbacks can be irrelevant. Just like every other post of mine, feedbacks can be completely irrelevant to the topic in question. People have a habit of diverging the conversation and delving into subjects which are not there in the conversation. It happens with feedbacks so often. You ask them about the sweetness of the milkshake and the answer you get is about how pollution is causing global warming. Now I know that it is definitely a point to be concerned about but dude, answer the question first! Is it sweet enough or not? Do you want to discuss global warming with sugar or without! Ok so, feedbacks can misguide you and divert your attention from the core concern but try and pick the useful ones from the lot and start giving relevant feedbacks. Now you might think why suddenly is this fellow talking about something as boring as feedbacks, the reason is simple. First, I accidentally decided it’s my word for the day and now I have to work with it but secondly, and most importantly, it makes sense. A feedback is a reaction that modifies the action. Everybody reacts to everything and that’s what feedback is. The word feedback sounds clerical but if you put that in your daily life it’s something that we do a lot. We ask people

questions and opinions and their answers become the feedbacks that alter our future decisions. Think about it, we are constantly getting feedback for our actions with or without the necessity of it and we change our actions accordingly with or without the necessity of that. Sometimes we get such a giant range of feedbacks that we get confused. It happens, it’s fine. It’s human. Feedbacks can change your life. Not all feedbacks are bad. Sometimes you get such a perfect answer that it solves everything. Have you tried one thing though? Have you ever asked yourself for a feedback? Ask your opinion on your action and analyse your decision. If you have, kudos to you, you are good. If you haven’t, you should. (Oh I made a little poem there!) Start giving yourself a simple, genuine and useful feedback from time to time and see the difference. If something doesn’t get better (or bitter, either way,) I’ll change my name to Parag. Please leave a comment. :-P

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Literature Literature! What to write? Something about writing, I know that for sure, but what? My third post and I am stuck. This wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. How on earth am I supposed to write a blog about literature. This is just unfair. It’s like asking someone to do something to explain something so huge, that it’s just not doable. See, this here was an example of my level of intellectual writing ability and knowledge about figures of speech and I am supposed to write about literature. Oh! I could’ve used a nice metaphor about me composing a song that encapsulates

the heritage of Indian classical music! Do you see what I mean? Leave it. The moment’s gone, just like my confidence. Well, I will do something though. I can’t leave you just like that with just one paragraph which gives you absolutely nothing. Can I though? No. I can’t. I won’t. Let’s do this. Wikipedia defines literature as…hahahh no no I am not doing that. I was just teasing you. Comedy is one of the popular streams of literature so you can give me this one. From all the blabbery mess and the foolish attempts of distraction that you just read, you must have guessed that I am thoroughly lost and I admit that. I am not kidding. I really am clueless. My whole thinking system is completely blown apart, not because I don’t have anything to say but on the contrary, I am totally overwhelmed as I have so so so much to say and I can’t put all that in words. (Wow! Irony!) Some things have such a meaningful existence in your life that if asked, you can’t explain their importance. It’s like explaining why you love someone. There is no one answer, you just do. My whole life has revolved around and has evolved because of literature. It just means so much to me.

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Phew. Second paragraph’s done. Good going. Many of you already know this but for those who don’t, we don’t have a TV set in our house. Wait, WHAT!? Yes, it’s true. It’s been more than fifteen years actually, I just realised! I won’t call television an ‘idiot box’ because it’s not the medium’s fault that it is used for broadcasting some problematic content that somehow appeals to the masses which interestingly don’t consider themselves as idiots. Anyway, I am not here to judge. Everyone has their own choice and everything has its ups and downs, I know that. My point is, as I didn’t have a TV growing up, I knew there’s more to life than to have a clicker in the hand and loud colours in front of the eyes. I had the glorious (and the rare) opportunity to have creative dreams in my mind and wondrous inspirations in my heart. Fifteen years ago, we, as a family, had a choice to buy a new TV and we chose not to. I am grateful for that because that was the delightful time in my life when I discovered the true power of words. I ate and drank and lived on books. Words gave me food for thought. Words gave me shelter from hardships (like sports). Words hugged me with their warmth in the cold scary nights. They made me stronger than I thought I’d be. Words gave me

everything I needed at that age and they still do. There’s something wonderfully moving about the written words and the joy they bring with them. That excitement haunts me. Whenever I find myself in the need of some emotional vent, I go to these loved ones. I guess the reason behind starting this blog is that I wanted to share this feeling in some way. I understand that this might not be an ‘exquisite piece of literature’. To be perfectly honest, this might not even be the most thought out post of mine but I am sure it’s not nothing. It does have three interesting paragraphs, doesn’t it? Read. Read more and then some. Feel the words. Also, write. Even if we are not really good at it, we can try. There’s no harm in trying. I do that, without being afraid of the judgements and the reactions. Words are kind, they guide the way. Yey! People, we made it! Who would’ve thunk!?

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Argument “And why is it always me? It’s like you never like anything that I do. I can’t find them in here. Do you have the keys? ” She asked him as they stood in front of the door on that dimly lit, snow covered road. “I never said anything like that. I did not say that I don’t like the idea, I just said it’s a little too much. Oh, here they are.” He said taking a step towards the door only to stop midway as she snatched the keys from his hands. She was not happy, he knew it. The door opened. She turned on the lights taking off her wet shoes and he saw something sparkling in her eyes. “Are you crying?” looking over his golden-rimmed glasses, he asked her with a remarkable disbelief in his voice. “No, I’m not crying. It’s

just the rain.” She mumbled in her frail voice while wiping off her wrinkly wet eyes with her gloves. Sitting in the chair, untying his shoes he looked at her walking out of the room. He took his cap off and wiped his glasses with his handkerchief on which she had embroidered his initials. He’d do that whenever he’d get nervous. This was definitely one of those times. Turning up the heater, he hoped she wasn’t terribly angry. All he wanted was to let her know that it was not what he expected. He never thought she’d take it to her heart like that. He took the medicines out from the bag and slowly headed towards the bedroom. He walked into the room and kept the medicines on the table. She was sitting silently in the chair near the bed looking out from the window, occasionally coughing. It was snowing the whole day. Everything was covered with ice. The tiny snowflakes gathered on the window pane had formed a semi-opaque film over it. He changed and wore his warm slippers and looked for hers as he always did but today she was already wearing hers. He looked at her, but she didn’t turn her head. Looking for his sweater in the cupboard he decided to be the first one to talk. He gathered his courage and cleared his throat and as he was about to say something, he heard something, “I am sorry but it’s not just me.” “What?”, he turned around, confused. Looking at him she got up, walked to towards the bed and started arranging the cushions. “It’s not just me who is getting old, I said. You are three years older than me, remember that. Give me the new sheets…bottom drawer. I just wanted to call everyone for your birthday, have a little re-union, a nice dinner, that’s all. But

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apparently I am too old for that now. You said I need to slow down a bit and take care of my health but you are the one who needs to do some thinking. That’s all I am saying. No not these ones, the other yellow ones. Yes. Hold it there.” Suddenly she started coughing. He gave her a glass of water. She continued, “I have something to ask you by the way. Why would you come standing all the way from the market? That boy hadn’t even asked for it and you just offered your seat. Why would you do that? And he sat there without even thinking twice. Oh and also if you are so young and you like standing so much then you shouldn’t complain about your knees the whole way back. Take care of your health, you are telling me.” Her side of the bed was done. He knew this was coming. He sighed and cleaning up the creases, he sat down and calmly said, “Listen, all I said was we don’t need to invite so many people, it can be just family. Yes, I would love to see all those people but…Don’t lie down, you forgot your medicines… there on table…yes, the blue ones…I know how much this means to you but I also don’t want you to strain yourself. I know you like being the host and I don’t want to take that away from you but you do all the arrangements and you cook all day and ultimately you get so tired the next day that I get really worried. I can’t stand seeing you sick.” She was standing by the table with a glass of water in her hand. He continued in an even softer tone, “OK, can we do one thing differently this time? As you said let’s invite everyone. Let’s do everything just the way you want but instead of you cooking everything for everyone, we’ll get something. I promise I won’t tell

anyone. We’ll order something so that you can enjoy with us and I don’t need to worry about the day after. Can we do that? Is that fine? ” Looking at his eyes filled with care and love, her blushing heart just melted. “This man just wins every time by saying something sweet like this”, she thought. Keeping her glass down, she walked to the yellow bed and sat there for a second with her back towards him to hide her smile. In a pretentious authoritative voice she said, “I’ll think about it, but only if you promise to stop offering your seat to random people on the trains.” Putting on the knee cap that she handed him over, he chuckled and replied, “Ok, I’ll think about it, but only if you promise to bake me a birthday cake, just for me.” He took his glasses off and turned off the light. Two smiles slept nicely as it rained outside. In the morning, the sun came up and the clean roads were shining again, as if it never snowed the day before.

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Excitement They both had decided that they’d wait until the time was right and finally the moment had arrived. It was finally happening. Were they sure about it? More than ever. It’s been five years, when they first met at a common friend’s party. During the usual ‘nice to meet you’s and ‘where are you from’s, a journalist got introduced to a software engineer who liked dogs. She worked as a columnist at an honest newspaper which he read faithfully and he turned out to like the same musician she had followed for

years. They started talking and they hadn’t stopped since. The last two years, living together, were like a dream for them – full of life and brightness. Both of them did not believe in soulmates but they couldn’t deny the fact that what they had was beyond perfect. They understood what it meant to find someone who not only finishes your sentences but completes your life in a way that you never thought was possible. After a lot of going back and forth she had finally agreed to do this. This was a big deal for him too as it was for her. It was definitely a big step in their relationship. They have had quite a few intense conversations about this and they had decided that they’ll consider it only when both of them are comfortable. After all, getting a puppy is not a small thing. It’s a big big responsibility. You expand your family and you grow as a parent. Since childhood he always wanted one but his mom was scared of them so that dead-end topic was never even brought up. The very first day, when she told him that she had a dog growing up he was really happy but to his disappointment, she didn’t talk about it much. He tried to bring up the topic again but she diverted the conversation every time. A few months into their relationship, one day she

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old him that losing her Dyno was the most difficult thing for her. He was her best friend and after him it was very difficult for her for years to even be around dogs. Dyno’s memories were still a big part of her life and that’s why she had never really talked about it with anyone. Some years ago, when he had asked her about getting a dog she had rejected the idea completely. Last month, out of the blue, she had told him that she’s ready. He never asked her what changed her mind and she never told him. Today, they were going to bring the child home. He was watching her extremely happy and jumpy. He was waiting for this moment for a long time. He had called his friend in the morning, the same one at whose party they’d had met, to tell him that they’d be coming today. That friend had four glorious labrador puppies up for adoption and he was more than happy to let these wonderful people have one. They were going to his place now. They knew that nothing was going to be the same after today, it was going to be better. It was all feeling so unreal that he pinched himself once. Smiling and blushing, she came out into the living room and asked him how she looked. “The most beautiful you’ve ever looked”, he said, truly believing every word of it.

She hadn’t stopped smiling since the morning. She was just running around making sure everything was perfect for the new addition to the family. They came down to the parking lot, holding hands. He could feel the giggling and bubbling upbeat energy. She was her young self today, chatty and chirpy. He even cracked a joke saying, “I don’t think we need another little baby, now that we have you!” but she was in her own little world now. A world filled with rainbow puppies. She had thought of million names for the new baby but had decided to name her, yes it was a girl-pup, when she’d actually hold her in her hands. She had told him that even though he’s working form home now, she’d be the mom and not him, she’ll always be the mom. He hugged her to calm her down a bit. A young hopeful couple, ready with their open hearts to add one more happy face to the family began their journey to happiness. Just around the corner, a little girl with two piggy tails, playing with her month old puppy waved goodbye to the car passing by. One smile from the car replied with a tiny shimmer in her eyes.

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Connection “I really want it. Can we please get it Mom?” Her hands were pulling her mothers dress but her eyes were still locked on that box. “But everyone has it, dad?” She looked for her father as her mother didn’t respond. They were standing there for almost 20 minutes now and Tina was bored. She ran to her father. Her mother was busy talking to her friend. “…So we have been in the same city for two years and we didn’t meet!” She exclaimed. Her friend was excited too, “I know, it’s funny.

Isn’t it? Let’s go for lunch this weekend. There’s this wonderful place near my place. It’s nice and calm. Let’s go. Oh but before all that, where did you get these earrings from, they are so pretty!” She smiled, “It’s actually a gift from him on our anniversary last year. And he thought of it on his own, I was so happy. When they do something like that, doesn’t that make you feel special?” And they both giggled. She looked at him standing in the kids section with Tina. Tina was now waving at her and asking her something but she couldn’t hear over the noise. “I guess she’s calling me. Ok, Let’s do one thing. Give me your number. I’ll call you, ok?” “Yeah yeah, sure.” Numbers and hugs were exchanged and they parted their ways. “Mom, Dad’s saying this one is not good, but look how pretty it is! Tell him no, Simon has one, Neha has one and I need to have one. Please please please. I promise I won’t break it.” Tina asked her mother with hopeful eyes. She looked at that little box in her daughter’s hand and after a few silent seconds she said to him, “Let

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her have it, no?” “But it’s not going to last for long.” “It’s fine. She wants it so badly, look at her. How much is it for?…It’s fine, not that costly. Tina, you promise you won’t break it, right?” The young owner of that box loudly yelled ‘yes’ and hugged her mother tightly and mocked her father which just made his smile wider. On their way to the cash counter he asked, “What was she saying?” “Nothing, just this and that. We are planning to meet sometime over the next weekend. You know we used to go the same school, same class, right? We had our little gang and we’d have lunch together and go cycling together on weekends. It was fun to be part of the whole thing. I guess, in seventh standard, she was my bench-partner. We used to have matching ribbons. Our teachers would call us ‘Ribbon-sisters’. We were literally inseparable. But then after tenth her family shifted to Delhi and eventually we lost contact. I didn’t know she had shifted here. It feels nice to meet these old friends, doesn’t it?” She smiled. “Come on Tina, let’s go. You have school tomorrow.”

Tina was glad to have found something special and so was her mother.

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Pizza “I hope this works.” She said to herself standing in front of the mirror, looking at her own ecstatic reflection. “Guys, We are having pizza for dinner! I am not in the mood for cooking.” Standing near the stairs, she asked her children and waited for the screams to come her way. She wasn’t wrong. Every door upstairs slammed open and two surprised pairs of eyes looked down at her. “You are not kidding right?” “Are we really having pizza!?” “I’d kill myself if it’s not pizza when I come down!” were some of the less dramatic reactions. “Do I really starve you guys? Or do I make you eat brussels sprouts every day? You are acting like I am the worst mom.” She said, laughing with

them. “And yes, we are having pizza so come down, the delivery guy is on his way.” In just a few minutes, two impatient blonde sets of hair were sitting at the table. On any other day, to make this happen, it would take her at least 20 minutes and three different levels of shouting. Today, without even having to text any one of them, they were down and all ready. One of them had her head buried in her phone and the small one was reading some book. “He’s on his way, he’ll come shortly.” She said, sitting down. The fourth chair had someone’s T-shirt on it. Picking that up, she thought of talking about it but looking at the owner smiling at her lit-up screen, she decided not to. Looking at them she realised how big they had grown. The once clumsy little boy was reading a book on his own now. She smiled. “Why are you smiling?” a question from the young teenager. “Nothing. Just looking at you. All grown up.”She patted her daughter’s head with the ‘loving mom’ look on her face. “God. Stop it MOM! What’s wrong with you!? It took me half an hour to do that!” The messy haired daughter complained to her mother, making her hair messier than earlier. Her mother expected that and so she started laughing. “Why are you acting weird? Like, first all the shopping, then pizza for dinner and then all this. Are you alright?” “Yes. I am fine. I am just happy. That’s all.” She said. “Mom, you do seem a little different though.” said the young boy. “It’s nothing. I am really happy that we got to spend the whole day together after so long. Can’t I be just happy!?” She defended herself with the most basic answer she could think of. “Yeah, whatever.” And with that the girl with one

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black earring was back in her phone. “It really was a fun day. Thanks, mom.” The boy always knew what to say. She was never worried about him. She knew he would be good just like his father. With her daughter though, she was a little doubtful. She always saw her own reflection in her and that made her a little more worried to be honest. It took all of them quite a while to get their lives together after their father passed away in an accident. Since then she was very protective about both of them. They were her life, their happiness was her happiness. As the time passed, she began to get a little restless. She once went and called to check. Coming back to the dining table, she seemed a little relieved. “They said the guy is on his way. It won’t be long. Ok guys?” She asked. Two simple nods was her response. The bell rang and she almost jumped. Briskly walking towards to door, she checked her hair in the mirror. Coming back to the room she called the kids with a smile, “Guys, I have a surprise for you! It’s John!” The children shrieked with excitement. They simply loved uncle John. He worked at their Mom’s office and would sometimes come over for dinner. The little boy ran and hugged him and the girl actually got up, waving at him with a real smile. He had Pizza boxes in his hands. He kept them on the table to avoid dropping them. “So you were the Pizza Guy!” A big laughing group hug brightened up the room. After the dinner, everybody was sitting in the living room. The children were fighting over some silly thing as always. Their mother was looking at them from the corridor, with eyes filled with love. She

came inside, sat beside John. They looked at each other and smiled. She wiped her eyes and nervously playing with the new ring on her finger, she said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Guys, actually we have one more thing to tell you.â&#x20AC;? From that day onwards, Pizza became their official celebratory dinner.

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Estate â&#x20AC;&#x153;Oh this beauty!â&#x20AC;? He said looking at that magnificent view. He sat on the top of the hill, looking at the meadow. He knew this hill quite well. He had been to the top a lot of times. He would never stay there for long. He was not allowed to be out after bedtime. He had dreamed of staying out late but he knew he was far too young for that. He had a list of things to do once he gets old

enough to do them. Today, he had lots of time so he sat there. He looked at the blue sky and decided to sit there for a bit more. The hill was in the middle, with a huge lush green meadow on one side and a dark forest on the other. He loved this meadow close to his home. He felt calm being near that serene green. The forest on the other hand had a bad

impact on him. The forest was not safe, he knew. Once when he was young, his father came home from the forest wounded. He was so badly hurt that it took him months to recover from it. He never walked straight after that and watching his father struggling to manage his life built a fear in the little oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mind. He had decided to make things right one day. He had plans to avenge his father, to conquer the forest and take revenge on those animals. The young blood was boiled with anger but as the days passed and the forest grew darker and wilder, fear replaced his anger and he decided not to go there at all. He decided to limit his adventures to the green meadows instead. It was sad that even at that young age, his ambitions were getting overshadowed by fear.

forest and focused on the better side, the calming green. The meadow was spread perfectly from the bottom of this hill till a large wall of tall trees. The spot where he sat had the best view. A cool breeze going through his hair tickled him. He stretched his legs a bit, yawned happily and kept his head on his knees. This beautiful green landscape never disappointed him. He sat there and listened to the wind, looking at that perfection till it was almost too late for the bedtime. He realised it was time to leave. He sighed, cleared his head, licked his paws and got up to get down. The sun came up. The smokey grey forest behind the hill woke up. Slowly, the wild soul started coming down the hill and the fear in his heart started growing like a wildfire.

He shook his head to push away these dark thoughts about the

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Attitude “I don’t think this is going to work. I can’t pull this off. That’s just too much pressure you are putting on me.” “I am not putting any pressure on you. You are putting all the pressure on you so just do it.” “Why are you blaming me for this? Was this my idea? Was it?” “No, it wasn’t, I agree. But it wasn’t mine alone now was it?” “Ok, it was ‘our’ idea to do this but then who said let’s do it big?” “I did, because it’s fun that way. It’s always better to do something small in a ridiculously big way that it becomes the star, isn’t it better that way?” “I don’t know. I still feel that it’s going to be a bit too much.” “Don’t you worry. Once we are done with it, everybody will be

amazed. This is going to be the best thing we have ever done. Believe me.” “I am still not convinced. We can leave it just like this. This looks fine.” “No, I am telling you. Be the bold self you are. Do it. Do it once and if you don’t like it, we won’t do it again.” “But what if I ruin everything? Then what we have now will be gone. I don’t think we should do this.” “Do you trust me? See, till now we have done everything perfectly, right? If you mess it up now, we can always start again! That way we get to do this twice! And anyway, I know you’ll get it right. Just do it.” “To be frank, that was not a very good argument on your side but I trust your instinct and that’s why I am doing it so if I mess it up, it’s on you.” “OK, fine. If you mess it up, I’ll clean it and make it just the way it was, cool? Now go, start!” “But are you really sure that…??” “Oh, go on. Do it. I am here with you.” “I need a lot of positivity to put on a winged eyeliner in the morning.” – Every person who knows the struggle.

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Hotel He was completely lost in the woods. Darkness had taken over his heart and mind. It was just him in that pitch black nightmare. He had to find a shelter. He had to find a way out of that frightening death trap. He had been walking alone for almost six hours and he hadnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seen a single living soul. This man had already lost his two friends in the mist and the darkness was getting colder every second. He needed some light and some warmth in that massive blackness but there was nothing. There was no one and all he could do was walk. He had to walk until heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d find it.

These guys had left the day before on an expedition to find ‘The Hotel’. This expedition was not their original plan but as they reached the village near the forest everybody in the village just assumed that they had come to find ‘The Hotel’ and warned them not to do that, so they decided to do just that. This Hotel was not exactly a hotel but the lost ruins of an ancient castle build in the middle of the forest. The myth said that the castle had hidden treasure. People around the world had come to find that for years now but no one had ever succeeded. The villagers had seen a whole lot of people going in the forest to find the Hotel but no one had ever came back. The villagers gave that place the name ‘The Hotel from where you never check out.’ and ultimately ‘The Hotel’ became a mysterious dark place to be feared. These guys believed this to be a joke and that was their first mistake. The smell of dead leaves and rotten soil was all around him now and he had no idea how to escape that. The first few steps in that damp muddy ground felt like stepping on flesh and that sent a chill down his spine. He threw that thought out of his mind immediately. That unfortunate, spongy texture brought back the icky feeling

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when he had to see his friend being taken away by a creature. He still had no idea why and how he had survived. At first, he felt glad that he was alive, but now, he wished that this lonely darkness would take him too. This endless mind-numbing stretch was not what he had in mind when he had convinced the other two to go after the Hotel. There were plenty of regrets and apologies but no one to listen. In that icy wind he felt a warm breeze brushing his neck as if someone was breathing and he screamed like never before. His loud scream echoed through the darkness and the darkness started closing in even more. He cried his eyes out but that made him feel dizzy and he fell on the ground. He opened his eyes to find himself in the same dark spot, with no one around. He had no idea for how long he was lying there, passed out. The dark trees around him felt like a wall that was closing in and breathless and starved as he was, he got up and started to walk. He didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know what direction he was going but all he knew was that he had go somewhere far away from where he was now. He kept walking like a headless chicken. He walked for miles and miles screaming out his friendsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; names, asking for help, wishing someone would come and

take him out of this ghastly misfortune and then suddenly, he saw a pale yellow light. He couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe his eyes but there it was, way ahead in the dark foggy mess. He shouted and cried for help and started running towards it. When he reached the place where he thought he had seen the light, there was nothing there. There was that same grey fog everywhere. Standing there, half dead, he felt helpless. A chilly wind moved the fog away and he saw something that shook him to his core. As the fog vanished into the thin air, he realised that he was standing in front of a gigantic wooden door with rusty metal chains. The wild lightening in the sky made it more horrifying. The same rotten smell filled his nose. He was standing there dumbstruck and the door suddenly opened. That unexpected terrifying bright light from inside blinded him and he took a few steps back and he fell down on his back. Rubbing his eyes, he tried to get up and he felt a hand on his back. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Welcome.â&#x20AC;? an icy voice whispered in his ears and everything turned black. He had found what he was looking for.

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Highway “I don’t want you. Go.” She had to take a stand. The situation was going out of her hands. He was surprised by her attitude. Her words hit him hard and he started crying. His mother came to the sand-pit and lifted him up. He was crying so loud that her mother also came running to see what had happened. Everyone was looking at them and the little girl was still looking at the boy with an angry face. He was sad and she was angry. This is the story she told her mother. “I was in the sand. I was playing with Sam and he came and he

hit him. And he broke my castle so I got angry. He is a bad boy. Tell him mommy, I don’t want to play with him anymore.” This is the story he told his mother. “I saw her there, playing with Sam. I wanted to go and play with them but Sam pushed me, and I fell in the sandcastle, and she hit me. She said I am a bad boy. I am not a bad boy. Tell her mommy, I am not a bad boy.” The situation was curious. Two sides, one broken sandcastle and one broken heart. Such contrasting realities are very difficult to resolve. If such conflicts are not handled carefully, one might end up hurting the other and making it worse. Fortunately, it was the wonderful time in their lives when these sorts of speed bumps were smoothened out with a hug, a shared sandcastle and a lesson introducing the high road. If it were to happen with non-children people, I don’t think it’d have been this simple. With them, for all the wrong reasons, it’s either my way or… The situation is curious.

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Revenue “This is not enough. You need to add a little bit of jazzy spark to it. The readers want something fun, you know what I mean?” She perfectly understood what he was saying. She knew exactly what he was saying as this was not her first try. “This is not what we are looking for.” “This is a remarkable effort but our business strategy at the moment does not allow us to align ourselves with it.” “Sorry.” “Sorry, this won’t sell. Our readers are not looking for this sort of content at the moment.” and now “Add a little bit of jazzy spark to it.” This list of ‘polite’ rejections was quite big. Apparently everybody was looking for something different than what she had to offer. “I am going to be a writer.” She had told her family when she left her town.

“You are late again.” Standing in the door her boss welcomed her in a voice that felt like a cat scratching her nails on some rusty metal sheet. “Sorry” She replied with a plain face and went inside. Her workstation was waiting for her. Her boss followed her and asked her in the same annoyed voice, “Why are you late?” “I had a meeting with a publisher this morning.”, she answered. “My Lord, Do you still have that writing thing in your head? Grow up. That’s never going to happen. You need to have some talent for that. How are you going to live on that anyway? Are you going to sell your ‘novel’ door to door? And even if you do that, who would buy your book? Who has the time to read that garbage? Everybody has work to do. It’s only you who doesn’t have any work. You just keep visiting these people you call publishers and get rejected. That’s what you do. You get rejected. Thank the Lord for my kindness that I am still letting you work here. I am warning you, if this writing thing continues and you miss work again I’ll have to let you go. Now stop looking at my face and start working.” The boss stormed out. She stood there with a numb heart. She picked up the knife and kept staring at the dead meat in front of her. “This is just a job. This is just a job. We need to do this to get out of this mess. This is just a bad patch which will go away.” She consoled herself. “I am going to be a writer.” She had told her family when she left her town, ten years ago.

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Fortune Watching that beautiful blue stretched wild before his eyes he felt peaceful. “This is where I am supposed to be.”, he sighed with satisfaction. He felt complete sitting on the rock with tides crashing on it. Coming back to this place after so many years was a little odd at first. New faces, places with new faces, new fences, everything

seemed strange but then he realised he had always seen these monumental memories from mere four feet of height. Fifty years is a long time. Everything was bigger and more vibrant in his memories but the town still had the same familiar smell which helped him feel a little better. “Growing up changes everything. Even something that has not changed seems different now.” he smiled.

The last time he came here was when he was still in the high school. Just ten minutes from the sea shore, this beach-house owned by his grandfather was their family summer vacation destination till they moved more towards the central part of the country. He had such fond memories of this place. Picking up shells with his little sister, running behind the waves to catch them before they’d vanish in the big blue were his favourite pass time activities. He remembered how ‘ocean’ was a more difficult word for him than ‘big blue’ and his smile widened. This big blue had such an impact on him that he had decided to be a sailor the first time he had seen the ocean. “I did become a sea man, in a way.”, he thought. And he wasn’t completely wrong, most of his cargo of his company would take the sea route. Not

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a really strong one, but he was glad to have found that tiny little connection between his dreams and the reality. This successful businessman didn’t have strong regrets about the way his life took turns but he always felt as if something was missing from it. Now, finally after handing over his responsibilities to his successor, he had the time and space he needed to find the missing pieces and start a new chapter in his life. Salty wind in his hair, he sat there till the bright blue sky turned into a deeper and calmer blue. He saw a shooting star and without any hesitation, like a little kid, he closed his eyes to make a wish. Little did he know, the universe was aligning itself to help this young heart write his own fortune.

Communication “Ok, We need to talk.” This sentence had always made him feel really nervous. He didn’t know what exactly was the deal with this sentence but he’d get all sweaty and shaky, every time. He had gone through the same anxious feeling every time someone had said this to him. He had tried to stay calm in such situations but his heart would start running like a summer-kid high on sugar and he’d start panicking. But this time it was going to be different. This time he was going to say this. He knew it was

not going to be easy but he knew it was going to be worth it. It has been quite a while he had felt a strong need to talk about it. He had tried to fight the feeling away but it just was not going. He knew he was completely invested in this and there was just one way to find a way. He just had to come clean about it. He had no idea about the reaction he was going to get but he just had to do this. “What’s the worst thing that’ll happen?”, once he had asked this question to himself but unfortunately, all the emerging scenarios rising from his impeccable practical logic had scared him and he had decided to just wait and see. But now things were different. Over the period of some intense longing, the emotional inclination pointing towards the probable bright future had gained more weightage than the practical harsh reality of the whole situation and he was going to do this. He was going to speak about it without any expectation. He was going to go and say the words, and be OK with whatever the reaction.

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He was shaking all the way to the place where they were meeting. He had some good lines prepared in his mind and he was going to insert them in the whole conversation so that he’d sound smarter. But as he reached the place, he forgot everything. Being there, he forgot what his plan was. He sat there in that chair and he realised that that’s not how it works. You can’t pretend anything and you can’t beat around the bushes. You just be your most vulnerable self. You can’t help but be yourself in these situations and you just say the words that come from your heart. You forget to put your mind in your thoughts, you just open up your heart. He had to take a few deep breaths to calm himself down before he could start. He inhaled some courage and said, “Ok, we need to talk.” After a few minutes of heartfelt conversation they hugged and the sky turned pink. He was glad he had done it. The moment they finished talking, he realised how stupid his inhibitions were and how much he could have missed if they hadn’t talked. He felt free and warm

inside. He was feeling so lightweight that he thought heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d get blown away with the mildest summer wind. He wished he knew how wonderful this was going to be and he wished he had done this way earlier. He was not good with the timing, he always said that but now he knew that it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter. If you feel it in there, you should say it out loud. Communicate.

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Investment I am not lying or exaggerating but this weekend was one of the best weekends I’ve ever imagined me having. Why was this special? I don’t know. Something unexplainable happened over the weekend that re-connected me to myself in a stronger way than ever before. I was in Ahmedabad this weekend. After almost 20 hours of sleepless tiring bus journey when you hug the smiley faces you longed to see, and in a second you forget that you are tired, you know it’s something. I might never know what exactly happens to you when you enter this wise brick-red but something makes your life wonderful again. I have tried and stretched my tiny mind to find the exact reason for this and I am glad that I haven’t. It’s everything, I

guess. I was there for just two days and if I look back, these two days have given me something that’s going to last forever. I rediscovered the gravity of the fact that we all are unimaginably affected by everything and everyone around us. We all are simply way too complex than we think we are and I can’t be happier about it. Right now, I am again in a bus, on my way back. My fulfilled empty mind has started thinking about these uniquely eventful two days. What a fun weekend! I got to meet the people I love, the people I respect, the people I thought wouldn’t be there, the people whose smile would make my day, the people who I might not know by name but I definitely have had a lot of conversations with, the people who help me find meaning in life, and people who are and will be a big big part of my life. I met the NID dogs and cats. I had food at BM and the mess, I chilled in the Eames Plaza with thousands of irritating mosquitos and even more irritating besties. This weekend rekindled the joy and spirit that transcends throughout that place,through these souls. This weekend reminded me how fortunate I am to be able to have transparent fruitful conversations with critical minds that also share the same (questionable) sense of humour that I possess while doing utterly silly things that make people stare at us. Whenever I visit this place, it gives me a big push to dream some more and the strength to try and make them come true. This weekend was an important instalment in my life changing plan and now I am sitting here overwhelmed… Is this what a good return feels like? I guess so.

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Area The new house was so big that he felt even smaller than he actually was. Holding his motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand he followed her wherever she went and looked at those big walls and big windows with his mesmerised big eyes. The previous house where they lived was not this big. This one felt like a mansion, it actually was. Gigantic gardens spread behind the building, huge mirrors in the rooms, walls filled with paintings of men and women, he was a little baffled by the scale of everything around. His mother was talking to a man who was wearing nice clothes. He had a sharp nose and

this boy decided that that was the man to go to if heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d need any help. They went through some more rooms where they talked some more and then they were back to the main hall. As his mother was still talking, he ran out to see the gardens. The soothing green, shining and shimmering in the sunny summer afternoon was inviting him but he was still a little scared of the size of that garden. He felt like everything he could see was part of that garden. He felt like a king just by being there and gathering his courage, he slowly stepped into the green. He touched the grass and the dewdrops on the light green blades made him shiver. He felt happy being part of that gigantic landscape. He thought someone called him so he turned back and started walking towards the mansion. The towers of this house were so tall that he had to tilt his head way down to his shoulders to catch them in a frame. He decided to go there once. He walked around the building, looking for something interesting. He was just outside a big room with a glass window when his mother came looking for him, scared. She took his hand and dragged him inside. The man with the sharp nose looked at him with an even sharper gaze and saddened, this kid stood beside his mother. His mother was

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almost done with her discussion and the man pointed towards the door on their left. His mother looked at the kid and holding his hand, she started walking towards that door. They came down the stairs and through a corridor, they entered a grey room where a few people were sitting around a table. Everybody had some work to do and everybody’s hands were busy doing that. Some of them looked at these new people and then started working again. A lady with a wide smile came towards them and started talking to his mother. They all then walked a bit more and entered a small room. The room had a bed, a small cupboard and one tiny window up in the corner. The kid felt a little suffocated being in that room, he wanted to go back to the gardens again. He wanted to go and ask the sharp man if they could go up the towers. When the other lady left he asked his mother to go up again. His mother made him sit on the bed and told him in a hushed voice, “Do not ever go upstairs without asking me, ok? It’s not allowed. Promise me you won’t do it. We are to stay downstairs only. We are not supposed to be seen when the Lord and the Lady are upstairs. Do you understand?”

The kid nodded his head and looking up at the tiny blue rectangle he sniffed and said, “Ok Mama, I won’t go up.”

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Media He was sitting in the corner, crying endlessly. He never imagined this happening but unfortunately the reality was saying the otherwise. His heart was shaken and his whole belief system was tumbling down. That sight of that youth draining his eyes out was quite disturbing. His whole life was falling apart, and it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even his fault. Frustrated by the traumatic event,

he threw his phone at the wall. It hit the wall, broke into pieces and a few of them merged into the floor mosaic. Staring at that camouflaged mess in the room he tried to make sense of it all, but it was all too much for him. “I am never ever going to go online ever again.”, he mumbled.

She was talking to her friend, “… And you know what he said? He said that he already knew about it. Can you believe it? He said that to her face. This is so ridiculous. Ok, don’t tell anyone that I said this but I knew this would happen. I knew they were not going to last. I mean look at them. He is like…you know…and she is super…you know… I never thought it’d last. Oh and you know yesterday what happened? I saw them running into each other at the mall. Oh my God! So awkward! You should have

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been there..No, I went to get my phone fixed, it was acting like crazy. Anyway, so tell me, what’s up with you?”

“Your son has drawn this. He says he saw that on TV. I thought it was a little too graphic so I decided to call you. Do you know anything about this?” The teacher placed a paper in front her. The visual was disturbing. Not ready to believe, she held it in her hand. “Are you sure this is my son’s drawing, miss?” She asked her in a voice that couldn’t hide her embarrassment and fear. “I’m afraid so. I got worried so I called you. I think you should talk to your son. This sort of behaviour is not healthy. If you want, I can talk to him.”, the teacher offered some help. “No, thank you. I’ll talk to him.”, the mother said getting up. Shaking the mother’s hand she said, “It’s

not your son’s fault. It’s all around us. They are too young to know the difference. Talk to him. It’ll be fine.” Her words made sense.

One needs to be cautious. One needs to have control. One needs to keep one safe. Everyone owns a double edged sword these days.

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Reception “I am not getting what you are saying?…” “No, no, it’s not you. It’s just the place I am in right now is…klkf…..fht…” “Sorry, I can’t hear you.” “Hello? Hello? Oh this is so weird..Are you there?” “Hello, I can’t understand what you are saying.” “I am trying to tell you that we need to br.. jtk….dtf…”

“What are you saying?” “I can’t do this right now. Can we ju…tfr…sfh…” “…Hellow?..” “…” “…” “.”

Bad reception may lead to permanent damage.

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Bathroom He was scared. He was scarred. He knew nobody is to be trusted, not even his own home. He stood there, not knowing how to find the courage to go in.

The open door looked like a monster with his mouth wide open. The dark white tiles on the walls and the blinding bright ceiling were burning his soul. He was never going to go there again, ever. Yesterday, two more things were added to the list of things he feared â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chocolates and Bathrooms.

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Paper “Is this really mine?” I was thoroughly surprised and awestruck. I didn’t know what to do with that. I held that in my hands like it was some treasure and I kept looking at my mother. She was enjoying the whole situation. She was happy with her decision of giving me that. “Mom, What do I do with this now? I don’t have a pen.” I asked my mother flipping and turning it a few times. “Oh but you do. Here it is! Happy birthday my baby!” She handed me a dark blue pen with a golden nib. I was ecstatic. I had a brand new fountain pen of my own. That birthday was one of the most important days of my life. She introduced me to bigger possibilities and that’s how it all started.

“Dad, what is that? Is this one of grandpa’s books?” My son asked me. He seemed quite excited. “Yes, it’s the first draft of his book. Look, it’s his handwriting.” I smiled and handed him the delicate, old notebook. He was thoroughly surprised and awestruck. He held it in his hands like it was some treasure and kept looking at that grey on yellow, mesmerised. He tapped on it a few times and looked at me, confused. “Oh no, son, you don’t swipe it. It doesn’t work that way. You lift the pages, remember?” I chuckled and patted his back. “Oh right. I forgot.” He said in a little embarrassed voice. He took the notebook and sat in the chair, carefully going through those pages. After a few minutes he came to me and asked me, “Dad, Can I ask you one thing, if you don’t mind? Do you know how to do this? Can you teach me to hand-write? Like with a pen?” It’s really funny how history takes a few turns to repeat itself in the most unimaginable way.

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Article The deadline for the article was Monday 8 AM . “Oh, I’ll get up early in the morning and finish it tomorrow.” But finally looking at the Sunday clock going from 11.30 PM to 11.42 PM in seconds, the blank blurry mind sat down and wrote down the first sentence. . . ..

. . “Fighting procrastination is not easy.”

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Baseball He saw that white thing in the garden. He wanted that round thing,the baseball. He started crawling towards the ball. He almost reached the ball but his right hand pushed it away and the ball rolled down the little slope. He giggled and laughed with his blinking eyes filled with wonder. He stopped crawling and turned his head towards his mother. She was looking at him, smiling and pointing towards the ball. The white round in the green grass was calling him. He cried in happiness and rushed towards the ball.

The back garden of their house had a small lawn with a swing hanging from a tree. There was a small tree house built on the tree, currently occupied by his elder sister. She was quite the adventurous one. She played all kind of sports and almost every day she came home with bruises. She was the one whose baseball was lying there in the grass that our little player was after. The ball was now lying next to the big tree. During his sprint, he once looked towards his mother just to check where she was and kept crawling towards the tree. As he reached his destination, he sat down and tried to grab the ball resting at the bottom of the tree. He stretched his tiny fingers to get hold of the ball but it was quite bigger than he expected it to be. The ball slipped from his fingers and with a tiny bounce, rolled further away from him. Somehow that cheered the boy up. He shrieked and turned his head towards his mother to show her how he made the ball roll away. She was busy talking to his sister who was not ready to get down from the tree. The boy called his mother in his own wordless laughter and when she finally looked

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at him, he turned around continued his journey to get the ball. He was very eager to get close to the white round mystery. He had seen his sister make the ball fly to his father. He definitely had no idea how they were able to do that but he knew he wanted to do that. He was so close the last time. He had touched the ball and felt the skin like texture. He had smelled the funny odour of the ball and that had intrigued the little boy even more. He had almost made the ball jump and that was quite an achievement for him. His only wish was to get the ball and make it fly in the air just like his sister. He crawled further down the lawn to reach the place where the ball was sitting. He sat there for a second looking at the ball and a weird thing around it. There was something not green spread around the ball and the ball was also not completely white now. The boy wondered whether he should go in but ultimately he decided that he was going to go for it. He put his right hand in that wet thing and with his left hand he grabbed the ball. He held that ball for a second

and suddenly he was up in the air. As his mother lifted him up to get him away from the puddle, the thing that was on the ball made the ball slip from his hands. The ball flew a little and then touched the grass and jumped up again. The ball jumped on his own! The boy with muddy hands was really happy to have made the ball jump! The boy kept remembering the little jump and kept giggling while his mother cleaned him up and washed his muddy hands. Sometimes, all it takes to make a dream come true is passion, persistence and a watchful mother.

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Union “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today…” I take a deep breath and close my eyes for a second and every single wonderful moment of my life flashes before me. I still can’t believe this is actually happening. I pinch myself in my head and assures me that it’s true, it’s happening. I open my eyes and smile. The same brown eyes that stole my heart are fixed on mine. He asks if everything’s fine by moving his head, I nod back saying yes. His kind eyes are sparkling in this morning light. I see the love in his eyes and I feel the same pink blush rushing on my cheeks. I am so used to this man caring for me, what would I be without him, I wonder.

“I do.” He says. I take one more deep breath. It’s my turn now. My life is going to change in just a few seconds. Oh my god, this is actually happening! I feel my heartbeat rising. I look at my father, sitting in the front row, holding my mother’s hand. My hands start shaking. For a second, I feel like falling but then I feel his hands holding mine. He is holding them just the way he always does. I feel his same calm heart through his beating veins. I feel the same light and brightness that he has brought in my life. ‘It’s going to be fine, I am there.’, he assures me. I take a deep breath and look at him, smiling. “…to love him, to honour him, to comfort him, and to keep him in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?” “I do.” I say. I have never been more sure about anything else in my life. I look at him, looking at me. I feel complete. I am complete.

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Preferences “But I think this one is better.” First one said. “No no. Believe me, this one will be perfect.” Second in the group. “Why are you discussing this? Just get one and let’s go, they all are the same. Does it really matter what we get?” The obvious one. **glaring looks from the first two** “ummm…Of course it matters! It matters a lot. What would you do if this is not good?” Second one. “And what if we never find this one again? It matters. If you want to go, go. This is going to take time.” First one said with an attitude. “Ok. I’ll wait outside. Get me anything with chocolate and tell me when you decide what to buy, I’ll come and pay.” Third one gave up.

“OK so, tell me, Choco-fudge or Caramel cream?” First. “No, I am telling you, Choco-cream is way better!” Second. “Then Let’s take one each and we’ll share.” First. “Ummm…I kinda don’t want to share…soo…I think I’ll get the Choco-cream…Or maybe I’ll try this Choco-chip-caramel!” Second. “Are you guys done? I want to go.” Annoyed third voice. Decisions. Choices. Preferences.

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Election Everyone in the room knew this would happen. The only option they had was to act like mature adults and decide. They had to have an election. Candidate 1: Mom Age: 50 Qualification: Mother Experience: Attended almost every single wedding from both the sides of the family. Campaign slogan: â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have done enough.â&#x20AC;?

Candidate 2: Dad Age: 58 Qualification: Father Experience: Not attended a single wedding since the last five years. Campaign slogan: “What would I do there?” Candidate 3: Bro Age: 23 Qualification: Son Experience: Dragged by his mother so attend weddings till he turned 20. Campaign slogan: “I don’t know anyone.” Candidate 4: Sis Age: 27 Qualification: Daughter Experience: Enthusiasm to attend family functions decreased as the age increased. Campaign slogan: “I just can’t.” Everybody was running for ‘The Immunity from attending the wedding of the second cousin’s aunt’s nephew from father’s side.’

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Before they came up with this idea, the original debate began with the point “Why do we even need to go?” But apparently, as a very social family, that was not the choice they had. Someone had to go. Very obvious first argument was “Only Mom is enough.” But after some heavy emotional tears it shifted to “Why can’t Dad go, it’s his cousin’s family after all.” The arguments from all the sides were utterly invalid and hence the next point was,” You young people should know your family better so you should go.” The enraged conversation ended in slammed door from one of the bedrooms and sobbing sounds coming from the other. This was not working. They needed a foolproof approach to decide who can avoid the function and who has to go. The election was their only hope. Sitting around the dining table they decided to give each member a chance to present their case and everyone will objectively vote if the reasons are good enough for that member to not go. Once everyone is done with their presentations, the votes will be counted and the family representative will be decided. The kids’ campaigns were quite similar. Some of the points included “I really can’t deal with everyone asking me what am I doing.” and “I am sick of people coming to me and asking, why did I cut my hair!?” and “Nobody my age will be there, it’ll be so boring.” One of them even tried the “I have an exam” card but unfortunately Mom knew their schedule so that attempt failed tragically. The parents’ campaigns included points like, “I always see these people, I need a little break.” and “I don’t think I can have that heavy lunch.” and “I

always get asked where is everyone else and I can’t give fake reasons anymore.” The discussion/ debate/ voting process took almost two hours and ultimately they stopped and decided to count the votes. The votes were counted. The tally matched. The final nominee for the family representative was announced. Everybody agreed with the result. The whole family slept nicely. The next morning, a taxi stopped at the wedding hall entrance. “Oh, What a wonderful surprise! I am really glad all of you came. Welcome!” The second cousin’s aunt’s nephew’s mother welcomed the whole family, trying to remember who they were.

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Cabinet A few years ago I was just walking through the flee market in my city and I found the perfect cabinet. Perfect size, with the strong wooden panels and shining yellow knobs for the wonderfully carved drawers, the cabinet was exactly what I was looking for. The seller told me that it belonged to a royal family in Rajasthan and after fall of that dynasty, their treasure was auctioned by the British. A rich collector in Kolkata bought it and kept it in his mansion and after his death, his family sold all the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;junkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to this guy. I knew the story was made up but I like these sort

of stories, made up or otherwise. They add a new dimension to the object you see. The price was quite reasonable but still I tried to bargain a little and the seller played along. After a few minutes, I became the new owner of that cabinet. I have a weak spot for old furniture and antique pieces. If you come to my place, you’ll find a number of seemingly useless objects that I have collected but to be honest, they are not useless. Some people read books for stories, some collect old movies, some listen to songs, I cherish my life and create memories through these old objects. I came home with my new prized possession. I had asked the seller to ship it to my place and get it up on the third floor. The cabinet was not very light. It would have been very difficult for me to manage that on my own. Now the star was here. The cabinet was looking wonderful against that yellow wallpaper. I changed and started my cleaning process. This cleaning extravaganza is a little more than just cleaning, it’s like an exploratory adventure. You get to see all the little details of the objects and get to know something more about them in person. It’s almost like a conversation where you find out their

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likes and dislikes, guilty pleasures and you bond on a different level altogether. I feel immense joy in getting to know these personas. I sat down in front of the cabinet and started taking out one drawer at a time to clean. I sat calmly and looked at the empty spaces. All these vacant browns might be filled with books or clothes or maybe medicines. The scent of that old wooden structure mixed with musky memories of ages was quite overwhelming. I got up, opened the windows and came back to clean the rest of the drawers. I was planning to keep a part of my book collection in the drawers as the dimensions were just apt for that. I was almost done, only the topmost drawer was left. I stood on my knees and pulled the drawer out. I sneezed as the dusty drawer brushed against my nose. I almost dropped the drawer trying to keep myself falling. The drawer fell down and the bottom panel cracked. I kept the dirty cloth aside and held the drawer in my hand and examined it properly. The bottom layer of the drawer was split open and there was something inside. I was intrigued by the glimpse of that pale white in the dusty brown corner. I carefully held the drawer and tried to pull the bottom layer. It was easier than I had expected. At the bottom of the

drawer, there was an envelope. A silent chill ran down my spine. I kept the drawer on the ground and carefully took the envelope out. I was feeling very anxious. There was a secret letter in a cabinet I found in the flee market, it can’t get more exciting than this! I held the letter in my hand, awestruck, my heart breathing heavily. When people visit, they ask me why do I have a framed letter written in Bengali hanging on my wall. I just smile and tell them, “Some unfinished wishes deserve much more than a dusty drawer of an old cabinet.”

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Interview “It’s going to be fine. Don’t be so tensed. OK? Just be you.” He told her. The girl was visibly stressed. It was her first interview. She didn’t know what to expect. “I hope, it goes well”, she wished. She smiled back and said, “I’ll try.” “I’ll be here.” He said. The nervous tension was quite evident. She went inside and sat in the only empty chair. Everybody was looking at her and she could feel that they were judging her. She sat down and smiled. “So your name is…

umm…” The middle aged man with a deep voice asked the question and waited in anticipation…”It’s Madhura.” She replied with a smile. “Madhura. Hmmm…So.. What have you done till now?” He asked. “I have completed my graduation from Pune University, in Computer science. ” She replied confidently. “Oh good. And currently you are working, right?” The lady sitting right next to the man asked. “Yes, I am working in Pune. It’s a nice place.” She didn’t know what the lady exactly wanted to know. “Do you live alone?” The lady continued with another question. “Yes, My family lives here, I had to move to Pune for my job. These last few years have taught me a lot about myself. I think being independent is an important part of growing up.” The lady gave the man a look and he nodded with a smile. After the quick academic background check, the next few question were about her family and her hobbies, interests. By then, her anxiety was gone. She was feeling a little confident. When they asked her about her dreams she told them what was

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her 10 year plan and how she’s teaching young kids from her neighbourhood and she couldn’t miss the smile of appreciation that stayed on the lady’s face. She didn’t plan on telling them all this, but she felt so comfortable that she just did. They then asked her about her parents and oh boy, she just didn’t stop. She talked for almost 10 minutes continuously and then they all talked some more about the strong bonds of family. She felt a strong connection with these people and that made her feel glad. She was talking about her travel stories when the tea was served. She thanked the girl who gave her the cup. The girl chuckled and left with a brisk walk. When she told them how she was the coordinator of one of the singing competitions in her college and ultimately she had to sing onstage and entertain the audience while the judges arrived, everybody laughed with all of their hearts! The tension vanished with the wave of that laughter and she knew she had done it. A smile of relief appeared on her face. She noticed it had been almost an hour and they were still talking. She was glad that they were happy.

After almost two wonderful hours, she came out with a big smile and heart-full teary eyes. She found him sitting in the porch, waiting for her. She ran to him and hugged him tightly. As she told him everything that happened, the golden words kept ringing in her head,â&#x20AC;?Welcome to the family!â&#x20AC;?

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Percentage She came back to her kids. She called her little girl out. The brown haired girl with a frock that looked like it might have been yellow in the past came out. Her little brother followed her, showing off his new found talent, walking. The mother looked at him and realised how fast he was growing. He was already standing on his own two feet and he was walking. A little wobbly walk he had. Nonetheless, he was walking. As he came close, she lifted him up and kissed him. The boy giggled, touched her face and looked down at his sister. The mother sat down and hugged both of them. They were sitting there for a minute. Then the mother wiped the dried tears off of the girlâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s face while the boy played with a rock he

had found. After tidying the girl up, she took out the little purse she had and opened it. There were a few coins and a note. She looked at the girl clutching the money she had collected, thought for a second and gave two more coins to the child. Not knowing what to do, the little girl looked at her mother, confused. Everyday, sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d give her mother the money she had, but today something different was happening. The question mark on her face was evident. There had been just a handful of memories where the girl had money for herself. The mother smiled, kissed her cheeks and told her to go and buy something sweet. That big eyed wide smile with two missing teeth made her day. The girl hugged her mother tightly and jumped around a little. The girl was happy for a change and that meant everything to her mother. The little girl left to make their evening sweet, holding her brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand and helping him walk. The mother watched them leave. Their blurry figures disappeared in the distance. As the city crowns shined bright in the twilight, the mother sat alone under the noisy crowded bridge, counting the remaining change in the purse, wondering what more she could do to give her children a future, a future thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be distinctly more than this present.

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Church He couldn’t understand what they all meant when they said “This is unacceptable. You have to leave.” He just wanted to be a part of the community. He certainly did not expect an extreme reaction like this. He did’t want to believe when they told him that his soul was corrupt. It was hurtful.

They were asked to leave and never come back. The lord wept as two pure hearts doubted their faith on their way out.

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Relief I had a long weekend and I decided to go to a small town in Switzerland which looked really pretty in photographs and was close enough from the place where I was staying. The journey was beautiful. On the first day, I was a typical tourist, going with a guide recommended by the hostel keeper, but on the second day I decided to unleash the over-smart know-it-all in me and left alone to explore the town. Looking back, it wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a wise decision, but hey, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s me. I roamed around the central part of the

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town and then I walked some more. The town really was picturesque. The time flew with the dried autumn leaves joining a cool breeze. Everything was fine until I realised that I was lost. The phone had died and I couldn’t remember the part of the town where the hostel was. The thing is, I know English and French but German is all Greek to me. The way German names are written is very different from French. I couldn’t talk to anyone and ask for directions.I wished I had a printed receipt of the hostel booking but everything was online. I remembered the hostel building and the cozy bar on the ground floor but all this was completely useless as I wasn’t able to speak with anyone. The sun was going down and I was getting restless. I was looking for someone to help me. In that small town, I was completely lost. I regretted the decision of coming alone. My cellphone was dead so google was out of question. I felt so helpless. The sad feeling you get when you have to accept that you have failed took over me. The major problem was this; I don’t speak German and almost every person I tried to Drawgust 2016

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communicate with neither spoke English nor French. Being unable to communicate is extremely embarrassing and disheartening for a multilingual person. I did not expect this at all. This weekend was supposed to be an adventure but not like this. How was I supposed to find my hostel? Where was I going to stay? Why was this happening? My heart was rushing and I was getting irritated. I decided to sit down for a bit. I took my water bottle out from my bag and sat down on a bench. I opened my bottle and suddenly I jumped up and spilled the water all over myself. There was a family walking by the road and the lady was wearing a dupatta! At first I thought it was a scarf but then I figured it was definitely a dupatta and not a regular scarf because I heard her scolding her kid, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Chhoona mat usko!â&#x20AC;? Aah! That typical Indian-motherly order was music to my ears!

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I have a foolproof system now, whenever I get lost or I need some help in a foreign land, I loudly demand for help in Hindi and at least two people come running!

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Dream He got up. Brushed his teeth. Freshened up. Took a bath. Put something decent on. Had a breakfast. Looked at the clock and realised that he was already

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late. Rushed to pack his bag. Packed his lunch. Took the laptop. Kept the charger with the laptop. Ran to the kitchen to take the tiffin. Cursed the stupid

corner of the table against which he always bangs his pinky toe. Checked if he had everything. Wore his shoes. Looked in the mirror, checked the unfortunate zit.

Grabbed the keys. Locked the door. Ran down the stairs. Blamed the unfinished sleep for running late. Put the earphones on. Put radio on. Kick started the

bike. Off to the Office. Stuck in the traffic. He parked his bike in the designated parking area. Ran up the stairs. Had an intense talk with the HR for being late. Came to his cubicle and sat in front of the vivid screen, clicking his eyes out. He waited for the lunch break for the first four hours. Finished the lunch. Cracked some silly jokes and defended his

‘funny man’ reputation. Had the generic watercooler talk. Then exploiting his productive creativity and knowledge, he waited for the clock to strike 6.30. Emptied three espresso cups and smoked four cigarettes in those nine hours. Rushed to the office door with his already packed bag when it was time. He came down the stairs. He left for home.

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He felt drained coming home through that heavy traffic. Got groceries on his way home. Irritated and tired, he changed. Stuffed some more dirty, sweaty and smelly clothes in the overflowing laundry bag. With zero enthusiam cooked something for dinner. Made a call to maintain his long-distance. Sat in front of the vivid screen for the next 3

hours looking at the baseless moving images. Looked at the clock indicating that it’s already past midnight. He got up. Added one more dish to the pile in the sink. Frowned. Came back to his bed. Turned off the lights. He tried to remember what he did today. He couldn’t. He sighed. Set an alarm. Closed his eyes. Slept his mind off.

It’s a pity that he has forgotten how to dream.

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It definitely was. Once there was a not so young boy who dreamed of going places. He wanted to explore something good every second of his life. As far as he could remember, he had been doing one thing or the other his whole life. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d start working on something as soon as heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d find some time for himself. Not everything he did was phenomenal but that never stopped him. His life was going at a reasonable pace on an almost smooth path but one day he found himself doing nothing. The silly fellow felt cheated. He

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found out that for almost two months he was living his life just like a normal human being. This was very unusual for him. He was not used to not doing anything, this weirdo. He decided to change the flow. He thought about it a lot and on a bright morning, he found a solution. He decided to go on an adventure. An adventure that was so extensive that he felt a little intimidated by his own idea and that intrigued him. He made a plan, defined the timeline, acquired the needed resources and he started. He started slowly, a little unsure about his capabilities. Along the way he found the courage he needed and he felt a little less nervous. Believing in the people who believed in him, with all of his strength he took the leap of faith. At every step he took, he reminded himself why he was doing this. This journey was to test his passion, perseverance and patience. If this were to lead him nowhere, the efforts would render worthless. He had to take each step carefully. He found some difficult turns along the way that made him look at life from a different point of view, but he refused to give up. He stretched his bright pink mind and delved into those greys and blacks. During his walk in the rose garden, the thorns hurt him. For the first time, he tried to feel the pain, the kind with which he was not so acquainted. He went through all the

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ups and downs of every typical journey but then one fine day, he was there. He had reached his destination. He was there and then nothing else mattered anymore. He stood there, happily sweating. He looked back. The starting point was so far behind. He had come a long way. Content with his progress, he sat down and took a deep breath. He smiled. There are a few achievements that are perhaps only valuable for yourself and this one was one of those. When you hit the target that you set for yourself, your own smile is your prize. This adventure did not seem like an ‘adventure’ for the some, for some it was not ‘extra-ordinary’ but for him, it was. The distance reminded him of his strengths and his weaknesses. He was more aware and better prepared for his future. When he began his journey, he knew it would not be very easy but he believed it’d be worth it. It was. It definitely was.

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This collection of genuine efforts is set in the typefaces Formata designed by Bernd MĂśllenstĂ¤dt and Frutiger designed by Adrain Fruitiger.

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