The Real Fiction

All that we experience, our perceptions – sights & insights – seem like a surreal mix of fact and fantasy. There are no lines dividing anything anywhere & existence rides upon interpretations. This blog will surf, fly, jog, dive, swim, jump & at times even hobble through planes of experiences that will include poetry, protests, design, tales, photo-tales and whatever else is discovered & needs to be shared.
Seen them all, he said. Really, I asked?

Seen them all, he said. Really, I asked?

Between seeing and seeing again lies an entire universe of change. Changes happen faster than one blinks an eye. What this means is that one visit is never going to be enough. Not ten. Not even a hundred visits. There will always be some new addition or some perceptive insight...
It’s not that simple to be simple, says Chetan Bhagat

It’s not that simple to be simple, says Chetan Bhagat

I saw him from a distance and waved. He smiled and waved back. No airs. No snooty looks thrown at anyone. Chetan Bhagat loves to retain his easy and communicative personality… and I guess this is exactly how he has shaped his writing through the years. As we walked around...
Redefining ‘Sanjeevani’ at the Valley of Flowers

Redefining ‘Sanjeevani’ at the Valley of Flowers

It was sometime in the nineteen thirties that Frank S Smythe ‘came upon the lush and colourful Bhyundar Valley, the Valley of Flowers’ and he describes his adventures in the lower and upper Himalayas in his book. Smythe discovered that ‘the predominant note was peace; not the faintest breeze ruffled...
Ashwin Sanghi and the secrets of writing a thriller

Ashwin Sanghi and the secrets of writing a thriller

I remember reading Chanakya’s Chant a few years back and knew then that the time for Indian readers to get high on thrillers written by Indian writers had come. In the years that followed, I read and reviewed The Krishna Key and Private India as well. Obviously then, it was...
Terrorism is a monologue in a subverted mind

Terrorism is a monologue in a subverted mind

Defining terrorism isn’t easy. Kamalhasan calls Nathuram Gadse the first Hindu terrorist but Madhu Purnima Kishwar retorts by tweeting that some people ‘can’t tell the difference between a terrorist and an assassin. The latter is not a complimentary term. Kennedy’s killing was an assassination and never called a terrorist act....
Poaching is a terror unleashed on wildlife

Poaching is a terror unleashed on wildlife

Poaching isn’t a word that exists only in political parlance around the world. Employees can be poached by corporates, ideas are often poached by unscrupulous writers, and of course lots of people love poached eggs. However, it is time to connect the word back to the world where it rightly...
Radio is the theatre of the mind

Radio is the theatre of the mind

If any of you thought radio was only for driving on packed highways or it was just a lot of words without the boxing gloves of statistics or that only preaching happened there, you are probably the sort who has never listened to ‘Mann ki baat’ by Narendra Modi, the...
Holy cow! Why in the world will we want to move away from traditions?

Holy cow! Why in the world will we want to move away from traditions?

Jarping. Songkran. Ruzzola. Namaste. This post is about understanding traditions and why need a contemporary make-over.
Comedy, creativity, and green tea

Comedy, creativity, and green tea

Comedy, creativity, and green tea. Read this post to know the secrets of a super boost in creativity. #SuperBloggerChallenge #Instacuppa
That’s how stories happen

That’s how stories happen

I tried rubbing the edge of my study table, whispering, ‘Appear, my lovely story. Appear!’ It didn’t. I tried this with the walls in my home, with trees in the park, and once even slyly tried rubbing the end of the shawl of a woman I didn’t know at all....
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Travel Idea

Travel Idea

‘Will to preserve heritage,’ he read on the menu-card, and then added, ‘an interesting name for a cocktail.’ A nod in the affirmative and he was soon ready to join the group with a glass in his hands. The conversation seemed to be floating on a sea of terms that sounded as intriguing as a...
From rollicking to rolling and back

From rollicking to rolling and back

There are two kinds of people that I know of. The first sort asks everyone: ‘How do you spend your weekend?’ and goes around bumbling into a web of plans that others have made and I call him one who is brain-dead. This person usually asks his friends, relatives, distant relatives, and sometimes even strangers...
Seen them all, he said. Really, I asked?

Seen them all, he said. Really, I asked?

Between seeing and seeing again lies an entire universe of change. Changes happen faster than one blinks an eye. What this means is that one visit is never going to be enough. Not ten. Not even a hundred visits. There will always be some new addition or some perceptive insight that wasn’t there in past...
Reviews are not for the creator

Reviews are not for the creator

I consider God to be the master creator. He is a writer, poet, illustrator, caricaturist, doodler, inventor, explorer, scientist, and someone who is forever pushing in surprising products. Like, for instance, a few days back the newspapers were talking about strange species in the deepest part of the oceans and some of them were yet...
Freedom to disagree isn’t dead in India

Freedom to disagree isn’t dead in India

Many may not be aware but there was a time when the Coffee House on the top floor of Mohan Singh Place on Baba Khadak Singh Marg near Connaught Place in New Delhi was the place where one could overhear a wide range of revolutionary and radical ideas. There were known and unknown writers, struggling...
It’s not that simple to be simple, says Chetan Bhagat

It’s not that simple to be simple, says Chetan Bhagat

I saw him from a distance and waved. He smiled and waved back. No airs. No snooty looks thrown at anyone. Chetan Bhagat loves to retain his easy and communicative personality… and I guess this is exactly how he has shaped his writing through the years. As we walked around the poolside area in Hyatt...
Lost on Twitter

Lost on Twitter

Judgements are swift Lynchings merciless Ganging-up a norm Pellets and stones everywhere Appeals buried under Rushing words and more words Designed to serve Notions Not convictions. Lines of control blur As logic and illogical interests Prick each other On a battlefield that doesn’t even know If it exists. Friendships dissolve In nano seconds Enemies emerge...
Design your dreams

Design your dreams

‘Hug style. Without it, you’re nobody,’ said this voice inside my head. Well, you know how some people have long conversations in their mind… I had one a few days back and that was when it occurred to me that a smartphone is more than just a tool for communication. In this world of instant...
I will forget you too

I will forget you too

1. You stepped away like a blink That happens between what remains and what disappears, Like the curtain of haze in the cortex Of an alzheimer-soaked mind, Like an unread page in a thriller. You assumed I will forget you too… I am determination and I’m here to kill your misconceptions. 2. I am a...
Who says bankers are boring?

Who says bankers are boring?

Who says bankers are boring? This book has the heart of a novel and the mind of an information treasure trove… Tamal Bandhyopadhyay ‘tells the exciting tale of how HDFC Bank has transformed itself, especially in the past few years with its digital journey,’ writes Nandan Nilekani in his forward to `HDFC Bank 2.0: From...
You turn and a realization dawns

You turn and a realization dawns

Most of the time eyes think They see and only then you think But thoughts can paint Whatever they want And eyes just believe and reflect. The face isn’t a canvas But a mixing plate Where colours are the bosses Strutting around imperiously Effectively concealing Their uncertainties. Everything, including twitches Blinks, jerks, and impassive facades...
Article 370 – is it political pluck or incompetent tomfoolery?

Article 370 – is it political pluck or incompetent tomfoolery?

There is an old joke where a tourist’s car got stuck in a muddy patch and raising acceleration didn’t help. A local on a bullock cart was passing by and helped him in exchange for a certain favour. This seemingly helpful local told the politician that he assisted many such people who regularly got stuck...