Trials and Tribulations by Fire

                               PC: sakshinanda.com Name: The Patna Manual of Style Author: Siddharth Chowdhury Published by Aleph, The Patna Manual of Style, is a great attempt at capturing the ethos of Biharis. An oft quoted line from the book sums up the underlying emotion, " Go to any party, in any country, on any moonlit terrace of the world, the best dressed man is always the one from Patna." Well, am not sure, if the above line is true. I have known only one person who was from Bihar. I am not even sure if he was from Patna. He was certainly a Bihari and spoke excellent English. He was also my mentor.    I read the book in the bus, during my commute to and from work.  I do have my moments of freedom (like in the bus) when I can let loose my imagination and indulge in some grey matter cultivation. So, in two days flat, I finished this book. It is engrossing, funny, and full of quotes. I picked it up purely on an instinct. I was right. I was delighted to read

Hot Toast drizzled with Olive Oil Coffee, just how I like it...slightly strong, no sugar, with full milk, and some cream drifting dreamily on the surface, enchanting, ensnaring Jazz playing softly in the background Perfect start to the weekend, must say Got up early...by my standards...my brain shook me awake, literally. I could feel it growling in utter displeasure at my snoozing self...Sigh! Idled around the house a bit...Maid came and flashed by Gazed longingly at the box of Shrikhand sitting in the fridge and reprimanded myself to control these sugary urges... Redeemed myself by doing yoga and putting myself on a diet...err...let me see how long I sustain... Anyway...that is all for now... Ciao Have a good weekend blog. :) :*  

I started my journey six years ago. At 11:39 pm, Feb 18, 2017, I can happily say, I have completed it.  I reached my goal, rather overdid it, but I have wrapped up the loose bits.  Am I relieved? Am I feeling empty? None of it. I am happy.  Will get working on tightening it further.  Ciao blog. Good night!     

And...yes. I have achieved (and surpassed) the goal I set for myself. I am now at 62K words and just a few paragraphs short of closing my effort. TKD will finally see the light of day. A few more hours and I will go into the next decade. Will turn 40. Do I feel different, someone asked? No, I don't. I feel like myself. I do like myself more. I am more forgiving. And...most important, more patient, with myself my limitations. To fly, I must rest. Ciao then, till we meet again. Keep reading, keep growing.

So, blog, you have the right to question me and ask what the dash I have been plucking all these days this week. Go ahead, ask me. Well, you will be proud of me and my accomplishment. I am about 500 words away from my goalpost. Yes! The golden count: 60,000 words. I am just stalling. I know. Procrastinating, rather. I don't have the heart to kill my hero: Shom. I created him with so much love and dedication. I poured all my emotions into him, giving him life, so much so that I have fallen in love with him. I don't have the heart to kill him. Or should I? Is there an alternative way, where I can end the story and keep my hero also? Maybe I will do that. But, that would mean giving away my ideas of loss and trauma. How will my heroine then find it in herself to fight her demons after her hero dies?  Guess, I cant have the cake and eat it too. I will kill Shom. Period.  See you soon...   

The Forest Circa 2016. In the horror genre, a movie, claiming to chill one's bones was released. It is about a young woman, Sara, who goes off into the Aokigahara forest at the base of Mount Fiji in Japan to search for her twin sister, Jess. The movie follows a distraught Sara as she battles yurei and other dark creatures in the eerie forest. Known as the suicide forest, the Aokigahara forest has many uncovered secrets. People apparently go there to take their lives and the general belief that Sara has to fight is that Jess is probably dead for ages. Aiden, a journalist, and Michi, a forest guard offer to help Sara and off the trio goes into the forest. Despite repeated warnings by Michi, Aiden and Sara stay back in the forest in the night. The Forest is a good movie, which I enjoyed, after a long time. I like watching horror movies and found that The Forest finely catered to the 'horror-need gene' in me.  Some scenes leave you wanting but I personally love

A week left. A week later, I will go into a one-way zone, and can never ever come back to these times again. When I realized this, I introspected and realized that I wanted to live each second of these passing days. I wanted to look back and not regret any moment of these precious few days. That brought me to another very important part. Who did I want to spend my time with? When I answered this question honestly, I found, to my surprise, that there were certain people in my life, friends and other acquaintances who just didn’t fit the bill. I would rather not waste my time on them. Then there were others, who were like a support system, soul sisters. I love them for what they gave to me. I hope someday I am able to give back as much. Though I have a penchant to be soft many times and give in to demands on my time, I have almost always regretted this loss of time. I have always been able to think of hundred other things I could have achieved in that time. Nevertheless, one