This post is my ode to amchi Mumbai, the city of dreams and aspirations, which was my home for two blissful years. It’s an addiction and obsession for many who get drawn to this enigma. Sometimes back, I stumbled back on the blog of Nuttie Natters that got me thinking and sent into nostalgic mode. She inspired me to script this post, my Marine Drive ramble where I spent countless nights.
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Marine Drive, the heart of Mumbai, where I spent two memorable years of my life, sitting on the parapet reflecting on life. Silent and troubled waters, buoyed the spirits and provided the fodder of thoughts flowing like vast ocean in maximum city. It were the halcyon days where larger than life dreams were made, built by aspirations and standing tall, above the sea at Marine Drive.
At night, the Queen’s necklace stood witness to the dreams and hope nurtured, sipping a hot cuppa steaming tea in the plastic cup. Climbing dangerously on the boulders, I stood still, flinged my arms open to embrace the city. I nursed break up, reasoning with myself, spending reckless evening, taking long stroll to and fro to Nariman Point cum Marine Drive. If I could make it my home, sleeping on the pavement, I would have non-chalantly done so. It was the song of life and an ode to human happiness.
Sitting on the boulder one evening with M and K and facing ITC hotel, we nurtured dreams of one day, sitting in the five-star to treat ourselves to dinner and expensive wine. It was the season of hope and nurturing dreams of making it big in maximum city. “One day, we shall make it,” M quips. I nodded in agreement to what she said. It made us feel good, like countless souls foraying into maximum city.
A whole chapter of life is celebrated at Marine Drive that makes Mumbai an altogether thrilling experience of love, longing and fantasizing about the city. A tale of human survival and life made on a pedestal, twinkle in the eyes ever-ready to conquer the world. The city wears no mask of pretense like the fake Gucci on display, miles away at the Colaba causeway. A slice of crazy, stupid love expressed at the Arabian sea, bordering the sky-rise worth crores and high-end brands cum luxury cars zooming ahead.
A crowd that merges into one unique identity, plodding lazily, couples holding hands and breaking up as the silent waters grow turbulent, the elderly enjoying a silent evening of togetherness. Our Mirth soaring in the sky coz we don’t wanna the moment to slip away as if it’s the dying moments in our lives. Rich and poor, defeated, bruised and ever optimists running high on hope converge to one place, Marine Drive. A place that remain entrenched in our lives and no matter where we fly or cross the sea, it’s a slice of life that will remain with us forever coz it makes precious memories. Plain strangers, oblivious to each other’s existence, strolling Marine Drive yet we are united by the heart and love for the place that exudes passion and excitement lingering in our souls.
A collection of soul-stiring love poems weaved by Rachna Gupta who delves deeply into the heart and attempts to demystify love. Disturbing at times, KALEIDOSCOPE-The Changing Colors of Love is the tale of love and longing for the beloved, heart wrenching feeling of separation, human desires dealt with passion, intensity and depth, provoked by the heart. KALEIDOSCOPE-The Changing Colors of Love, divided in three parts, Love finds a way, Separated by Miles and Beginning of Love. It is touching, lyrical at times and moves hearts deeply through the words weaved to express the darkness of the human soul to capture the essence of life. Rachna Gupta’s book of poetry is enchanting, mesmerizes the heart and deals with this art form in an eccentric manner. It’s an anthology that you would find it hard to keep it down since your inner senses will be captivated. Brilliance would be an understatement.
Blurb:
Rachna Gupta writes: “Every beating heart will confess that once, at least once in their lifetime they were in love.” The collection of poems in this book talks about an emotion so strong that it has the potential to create and destroy! Love in all its capacity has that aura around it; it needs to be felt and when it resides in your soul you find it giving rise to feelings never experienced before. There is passion and tenderness when being together, estrangement and pain when two souls are apart and then there is joy and relief when bound together again. The 37 poems in this book talk about this amazing feeling called love!
Narration:
The author is not making a strong statement against the ways of the world but her observation is about love, disappointment and the unflinching belief when one navigates against sorrow in life. She writes in a subtle manner, the choked emotions of an idealist character often exploring what is often subjective when it comes to matters of the heart. One is tempted to ask whether love is misconstrued as ideal but no clear cut answer is found. One can only seek the beauty and warmth of the human touch and sensitive nature of holding each other.
Author Rachna Gupta/Image credit: Rachna
“In You, I find Strength,
To believe, to fly,
To soar like a bird across the sky!
Every time I look into your eyes,
I loose myself,
And then I find,
A new me,
Loved, protected and cared for…!”
The first part, ‘Love Finds a Way’ is the belief in love that nothing on earth is potent to destroy its sheer power. Rachna Gupta pours expression of love, fueled by aesthetic prose to define poetry as an art. The second part of the book, ‘Separated by Miles’ is the suffering faced by every lover, longing for the human caress , often tragic as the character tries to justify everything by professing selfless and free love.
“Her Hear ached, Her eyes filled with tears, Her hands trembled, Her body shook, She sat down and placed her head on her hands…. She will not be spared, The pain, It is hers, it is his, It is theirs!”
One would ask, how many lovers fear loneliness and the pain they suffer at being separated. Rachna Gupta perfectly captures the underlying emotions of the human heart and soul in her imagination. She builds a solid chemistry with her readers who will empathize with lonely hearts, facing the cruel reality and emotional outburst.
The third and final part of the anthology, ’Beginning of Love’ deals with the home coming and lovers re-united by the hands of destiny. The furtive look for the lover, in quest of a new beginning which seemed like a distant dream and , ultimately, hope turns into reality. It’s the culmination of love and the expression of hearts to make a fresh start. “..It was the end, Towards the new beginning of a life… Without the clouds, That had darkened the immediate past, And a promise for an even greater future”
Final Words:
An attempt to find faults in, KALEIDOSCOPE-The Changing Colors of Love’ seemed to be a futile exercise. The only thing I dare speak against Rachna is that the anthology of poems should have been longer as the average reader is left hungry, asking for more. Rachna Gupta’s book is a beautiful set of prose, offering depth and magnitude that one can’t afford missing. It’s not a book of poems but a collection that will not only touch but melt your heart.
Sangita Sinclair is applauded at a special function where she receives an award for successfully heading an NGO called Penn Urimai. She’s married to Gautam and has three children. A reporter wants to interview Sangita about her passion for setting up an NGO for downtrodden women and making it a huge success. Her questions take Sangita down memory lane….
She had been a widow with a small son when she met Gautam Sinclair. Being from a conservative family, Sangita had had the devil’s own time recognising her love for Gautam for what it is. Only her troubles don’t end there….
About the author
Sundari Venkatraman has four novels and a short story collection to her name. Sangita’s Dilemma is her sixth book. Her books are self-published under the banner Flaming Sun and are often found on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers’ Contemporary Romances list.
A great fan of Mills & Boon romances over the past four decades, Sundari has always believed in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ and all her books promise joyous endings.
Sangita’s Dilemma tells the story of Sangita, a young widow from a conservative family in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Her parents wouldn’t hear of widow remarriage and all hell breaks loose when a half-American falls in love with her and proposes marriage. Sundari deals with different issues in society in her books without preaching anyone. The characters speak for themselves.
The author says, “I wrote this book with a lot of love and passion; I hope you enjoy reading it.”
A chain of human kindness is a power that binds soul together in the world and a simple act of goodness multiplies manifold to spread across the vast ocean. I have always believed that a small random act of compassion and kindness flows goodness in all quarters where people, unrelated to each other, benefit from this power act reaching out to vast seas of humanity. The person is sitting in some far-off corner in the world, oblivious to the small selfless act or gesture may suddenly witness unexpected acts of kindness and joy flowing like stream of magic divinity.
Sometimes, a smile or greeting may sparkle magic in our lives and is capable of turning a horribly bad day into something beautiful where everything suddenly works in our favor. Strangers always play a role in our life and it comes in the form of encouraging words, pep talk, handshake, smile or a warm touch on our shoulders.
Happiness cannot be bought in a supermarket and one can never know how we make someone’s day. It’s a small gesture such as helping a blind person cross the busy traffic, buying a bread for a homeless person or offering a pack of milk to the toddler living off the street with her mom. Social media is playing a catalyst role for us to be compassionate human beings. Sometimes, sharing a fellow blogger’s post or the picture of the missing child can unite them with parents. It happened. Can you imagine the happiness on faces of the children and parents that a single act or post leads to more shares that unite a family? To think about it, we are strangers, oblivious to each other, tribulations and happiness. This is compassion and kindness to me.
We meet so many people we call our friends on the online space, souls we connect with and whom we never met in person. I met few souls like that on social media and shared my woes with them. The very act of listening to me without being judgemental means a lot to me as a person and love such soulful conversations. I made many such great friends who has always been there for me, listening to crisis happening in my life and offering selfless help. They helped me focus better on life priorities.
Saying no to racism, casteism, human prejudices and treating men and women with respect demands hell lot of courage. Taking a stand to show our tolerance is the biggest form of compassion and kindness in life. Treating someone with respect, irrespective of the fact that the person has a high or low status in society shows the kind of person that we are and our belief in making society a better place to live. A society’s progress can only be held back when we nurture prejudice of any kind, be it religious, caste, sex or against homosexuals.
Kindness is a simple act that we do from the heart and we don’t need to prove a point to anyone. We can come across someone in a shop who is in short of a rupee or dollar to buy something or is yearning for a warm cup of tea. It will not cost us a fortune to re-kindle hope and sparkle the face of the stranger with the belief that there is no dearth of humanity. It’s not just about compassion but it gives us fulfillment that we brought a smile on someone’s face. There are so many homeless children who die of malnutrition and is devoid of good education. One can well approach an NGO and offer to fund a child’s education and food for a year. Very often, it doesn’t cost a fortune and we can contribute according to our means.
I am participating in 1000 Voices for Compassion Day!/#1000Speak which I first came across on the FB page of my dear and wonderful friend Roshni. It’s a powerful initiative and you can check here.
For more check: https://www.facebook.com/groups/306227992909657/
The film was a smash hit, was sent as our choice for the Oscars (but couldn’t win, as the jury grew old and died during the interval) and Aamir Khan suddenly became the thinking man’s conscience.
The guy who would never attend film awards because he didn’t believe in them, suddenly seemed to be jumping up and down the red carpet, promoting his film. But of course, he was doing it for the nation.
When Lagaan lost out to No Man’s Land, Aamir Khan told the press that the other film deserved to win. When I saw it, said Khan, I knew that it was better than ours.
From that moment on, Aamir Khan has somehow projected and marketed himself as the voice of the nation/youth/continent/solar system. And it’s fucking annoying.
*
Alright, so he chooses to do one movie at a time, reads his…
A collection of short stories are tales of narrative prose and rhyme where glimpses of life are captured to depict innocence, bliss, tragedy, love, sadness at a microscopic level yet it makes a life time memory. Author Sundari Venkatraman brings to the forth a new genre of love, capturing imagination and winning hearts, bearing her trademark in MMIH. She offers sensitive tale of love, touches burning topics and prejudice as well as suspense, making it a smart read.
Stories
Sundari Venkatraman kicks tarts in style with ‘Groomnapped’, a tale of love and kidnapping, a clever plan etched by two lovers which goes topsy-turvy in this offer of mistaken identity. The story has pace, move swiftly and crisply narrated. Set in Bihar, the story draws on real life stories of lovers abdicated to marry each other and Sundari lends to the story her own interpretation that makes it a smart read. The second one, Beauty is But Skin Deep is the story of Simran, the lesser loved child in the family that is sneered by her father because of her dusky features but, at the end, she wins hearts. It’s a tale that makes us ponder on our ingrained prejudices and is an intelligent take on the fair and lovely classic case. A powerful and poignant story scripted. An Arranged Marriage is a light breezy story between Ritu and Yash where romance, love meets one night stand. Sundari Venkatraman seals this mushy love in story in style where she injects suspense that happy ending is made of. It’s beautiful and romantic that will put a smile on your face.
How can romance and cinema be left behind when we speak of love. The story ‘Chahti Hoon Tumhe’ is the perfect ode to glamor, stars and business where Jahnavi a film star finds love in Rehaan. It has drama when Jahnavi-ex plays the villain hell bent to destroy everything perfect in her life. The end will take you by storm since Sundari Venkatraman not only redefines romance but gives it a mind-blowing touch without the heavy duty drama. The story ends with a twist that makes romance beautiful, stylish and refreshing.
One story that blew my mind is the story of ‘Soulmates’ where the author makes a strong statement on the tragedy of human prejudice and family honor against love beyond the border of caste. Sundari Venkatraman delves deeply on the foes of love and sheds light on the place of the daughter in a family eschewing the role of patriarchy where the women in the house has no say. It’s a statement against hypocrisy, false ideologies fed over the years that it has become tradition now.
Quotable Quotes:
1. “Will your father’s hunters do to a feeble old man like me? You my dear, don’t quite know what you are refusing.”
….The old man had her in a vice like grip while his gnarled hand pressed her head to his chest. Did Valli really want to get out of the hold. It felt so good to be in his arms.”
2.”Amma!” said Soumya equally softly, “..You and Appa must be planning to marry me off to someone. Then why not to someone I love instead of a stranger?”
Komal calmed down lulled by her mother-in-law’s stroking and loving words. While it was still too tough to swallow, she could see a light at the end of the dark tunnel, the light of love. She was sure that the morning would only bring cheer.
3. Rehaan swooped down to claim another kiss from her red lips before going down on his left knee. He removed a ring from his pocket and taking Jhanavi’s left hand, placed the opal ring on her third finger. “I love you too Honey! Will you be mine?”
Minuses:
It’s a complex task to find faults when such beautiful collection of romance stories are explored, that makes it truly ‘Matches Made in Heaven.’ The stories such as ‘Pappa’s girl’ could have been explored further and treated better, ‘Shweta ka Syamvar’ sounds a bit cliche owing to the reality shows and can’t help think of my most hated face on TV, Rakhi Sawant and The Reluctant Bride, though it has its moments, fails to a certain extent on the account of being too simplistic.
Final Verdict:
‘Matches Made in Heaven’ comes as a gush of fresh air that will accompany you to taste the delightful nectar in a world scripted by the author and your taste bud will ask more. You cannot afford to put this one down. Sundari Venkatraman has built a strong reputation in romance and every time, she pushes the envelope higher and higher, fulfilling the promises made.
Author Sundari Venkatraman
You can purchase the book, ‘Matches Made in Heaven’ here. The author can be contacted on http://sundarivenkatraman.blogspot.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSundariVenkatraman or sundarivenkat@gmail.com
Author’s Bio:
Sundari Venkatraman has authored four novels and a short story anthology till now, Matches Made In Heaven (anthology) being the latest. The Malhotra Bride; Meghna; The Runaway Bridegroom; Flaming Sun Collection 1: Happily Ever Afters From India (Box Set) andMatches Made In Heaven have all been self-published on Amazon under the banner of Flaming Sun. The three novels are regularly seen on Amazon’s Top 100 Bestsellers’ Contemporary Romances list. The Box Set and Anthology are bound to catch up soon. A great fan of Mills & Boon romances over the past four decades, Sundari has always believed in ‘Happily Ever Afters’ and all her books promise happy endings.
Blurb/Credit Sundari Venkatraman
Matches Made In Heaven is a compilation of thirteen short stories – all romantic – based on many situations anyone can come upon in their day-to-day lives. The stories revolve around the different ways a couple can get to meet and tie the knot in a culture rich country like India. Those reading the stories will definitely be able to connect realizing that one of the situations has definitely been a part of their lives.
Roast Roast Na Raha! The AIB Knock-out scared the shit out of people and made them see black. After all, Black is just a color and dim-wits raised their hands to protest against Un-sanskari show. Guess, Alok Nath must be reveling in his own glory to be the brand ambassador of his own shadow. I am offended at the offended for the AIB offence. Grim days ahead for stand-up comedy would be an understatement and we missed a cue to laugh at ourselves. We missed the fun a la Alia Bhatt jokes. I am already bordering on mental insanity as I sunk low in my own mediocrity. Time to hit at myself is my own dumb way to protest at the pulling down of the show. Scratching my nose here for some fun. Here, we go and come to roast me:
-Vishal took admission at Fergusson College because he thought that it’s the house of Man Utd former Manager, Sir Alex Fergusson who’d throw hot cuppa tea on his already broken face.
-Vishal is so dumb that he almost failed his Maths exams and repeated junior school elementary classes. He could have been a grass cutter,beggar singing, ‘Aflatoon..Afla Afla toon’ at traffic signals. And, he thought it’s cool to sell his soul for chillar (dime).
-Your man is so dumb that he thinks Tanmay Bhat of AIB is jumbo-sized Vada Pav or burger put on display to munch.
-Vishal thinks that the piece of shit he writes are best selling poems that people love reading. He gets high when people google his name, thinking he is the only one in the world but he is so dumb not realizing that people stumble on his blog by mistake. Oblivious to the fact that they curse him on how they wasted their time by zeroing on the wrong person. They must be searching for Vishal Dadlani.
-Vishal thinks that Google is a pair of black sunglasses that protect eyes for staring on lap tops.
-He thinks FIR is a censored joke that Aditi Mittal makes during stand-up comedy performances.
-In his mind, he thinks ‘Ganja’ is a drink endorsed by a celebrity called Shiva on TV.
-He prances around when people calls him the ugliest thing on the street and run to the theater asking, ek ticket katao, I want to watch the 100 crores super hit, ‘Mein Ugly Dikhta Hoon ( I am ugly).
-When someone walks past and ignore him, yours truly checks his face in the mirror, wondering whether he turned into coal.
-Vishal suffers from color blues, is hearing impaired that he lovingly calls his friend Kikoo whose nick is Kitto. He should get the nobel prize for being so illiterate and dumb.
-Yours truly is so wacky and nuts that he mistakes Vaseline for syrup treating stomach upset. Once he tried it by mistake but love the taste and how he wished it was milk chocolate.
-Self claimed confession of the biggest ‘Phatu’ on earth: When leaves shake on trees, he gets goose bump and the heart beats faster thinking he is trembling.
-He never takes a bath and walks miles to take a dip in the sea water, thinking that his famous visarjan cleanse the body of all parasites.
-Go green is a new plant waiting to be explored and discovered in his dictionary to save water, earth and trees.
-When Virat Kohli scored a century to seal India’s win against Pakistan, he thought marriage was proposed to Anushka Sharma by the cricketer.
-You wanna know why he blabbers a lot on the blogs he wrote and created? As simple as that!! He thinks it’s a kinda mental masturbation and no one listens to what he says after sex, exclaiming how great it was with her. She thinks it’s all fake and the blog is his only savior, at least he thinks so.
-He thinks Valentine is the name of a saint, sprinkling wealth on people, splurging on cards, chocolates and roses that he has started to worship the nameless one every February 14.
-Writing stupid romance stories that only exist in his imagination makes him think they are best sellers read by invisible eyes and he is the new Chetan Bhagat in town.
-He thinks being a journalist means saying with hash tag on Twitter #IamCharlie and every time he calls himself one, real journos die of heart attack with the syndrome, ‘Oh! My God! Whose this fella Vishal, by the way?!!!
-Every time, he makes a new girl friend, half of the women in turn thank their luck for saving them the royal pain in the ass of saying No to him and how ugly he looks.
-He thinks Twitter is a love bird, carrying love letters to women who would say yes to his proposal.
-Yours truly think Jesus, Rama and Allah are three brothers, like Amar Akbar Anthony.
-When someone asks him to eat vegetables, he freaks out thinking they will feed him grass.
-By the way, was Alia Bhatt a university topper and Nobel Prize winner?
Haha!!! Ab bohot ho gaya khud ko kheechne mein. Hope you guys are having fun and feel free to pull my legs..khichai:)
“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” ― Rumi
For me, travelling is not vacation but a way of life. This travel blog is about unique places, interesting experiences, and lot of fun. Take your cues!!!
A Poetess. Short Story writer. Freelance Content Writer. Self-proclaimed Feminist. Loves Philosophy, Mindfulness and the small acts of Kindness. A nature enthusiast. > https://www.facebook.com/shreya.kumar.5876
“In your light I learn how to love. In your beauty, how to make poems. You dance inside my chest where no-one sees you, but sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art.” ― Rumi
For me, travelling is not vacation but a way of life. This travel blog is about unique places, interesting experiences, and lot of fun. Take your cues!!!
A Poetess. Short Story writer. Freelance Content Writer. Self-proclaimed Feminist. Loves Philosophy, Mindfulness and the small acts of Kindness. A nature enthusiast. > https://www.facebook.com/shreya.kumar.5876
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