Creative Madness!

  August 1998 - I was gasping. Holding my palm on my chest, I could sense the throbbing of my heart. I caught my breath. I inhaled and exhaled to feel at ease. I had run all the way here, to the telephone booth. I looked at my watch, it was 6.25 p.m. "6.30 p.m. was the set time", I reminded myself. I surveyed the area with a sharp glance, to confirm that there was no acquaintance of mine around. I entered the booth and locked it from inside. I picked up the receiver, dialed the number mechanically, I knew it by heart. The long ring for STD call buzzed. "Hello", I heard the hello and I paused for a second, my heart skipped a beat.Leaning against the booth wall, I gulped and cleared my throat and said, "Hello". May 1998 - It was during this summer vacation, when I was visiting my cousin's place, I had met Ishan. It was my cousin's birthday party. A bunch of cousins had gathered to celebrate in a restaurant. Before cutting the cake, I asked them to wa...

 Dressing up for a party when you have a toddler is perpetually difficult for all mothers. If some moms have nailed this, then I would be obliged to bow down to them, and I would also love to take lessons. And after the mom gets dressed up, she has to carry the baby or toddler to the venue. This creases her saari, or party dress, for sure. However, because everyone in the house (venue) already knows you are a mother of an infant, you are not judged. But when you see the group photographs later, you repent for wasting those precious hours getting ready for the party. Instead, you could've slept more! The worst part is when you are travelling and the baby cries for milk, even though she was well fed before leaving. You reluctantly, to make her quiet, give her the bottle. She stays quiet for sometime, but then the unwanted portion comes out in projectile form, lands on your silk gown, and you suddenly remember there's no back-up dress in your bag. You pull over, wash the residue f...

 "Even if you try it 100 more times the answer would be the same. There are no flames in here, see, it's showing 'E-ENEMY' in blocks, again", said Geeta. And I was scribbling 'Flames' to make a perfect match with him. I knew somewhere deep in my heart that he didn't like me. He never bothered to ask me how I was, nor greeted me with a smile, for that matter. He smirked and smiled, with his other friends, but he was always cautious of his expressions when it came to me. "Stop wasting pages of your notebook Shweta", Geeta flicked my head. I wanted to stop being stupid too. But Iss dil ka kya karun...mei kya karun...mei kya karun! "Why haven't you tried talking to Gaurav? Your 'flames' shows 'A- affection' and that's how things start", I winked at her. Geeta always brushed away Gaurav's topic. But I knew that she liked him. I used to rush to school, bicycling hastily, so that I could reach before Sandeep, th...

 The soft rays of sun were making him close his not-so-open eyes. My mom shifted her chair as the rays shifted their stance. He was in my mom's lap, wrapped loosely in a tender cotton quilt. I watched this scene from the window of my room, in the hospital. There was a lush green lawn outside. The coconut trees planted along the compound wall and other trees besides, kept a part of the lawn always in shade. Mom had placed the chair strategically, so that it wasn't completely in the shade nor in harsh sunlight. Just days young baby not properly wrapped, out, under the sun. My heart would skip a beat. But the doctor had advised to take him out in sun, early in the morning everyday. My baby's blood report was out, on the second day of his birth and we got to know he had jaundice. The bilirubin levels were high. The doctor said that the liver of babies is immature. The liver can't remove bilirubin quickly enough, hence most babies have jaundice when they are born. Moreso, if...

 "You've all come up with fantastic takes on the prompt, ya," I think to myself."Why can't I think of something out of the box?" is my soliloquy. "Ah! This one is similar to her last post. She has just changed a few lines here and there. I could do that too and complete all the challenges," the brooding continues.Hmmm....What's all this chatter about? Well, I am just spilling the beans. 'The Secret Life of Writers'."He has already published his book. Where am I heading?" are questions we keep asking ourselves. When we say don't be judgmental about others, somewhere we keep judging ourselves. We encourage fellow bloggers, we write good things about them in comments, we praise and drop hearts and hugs and kisses. But don't we feel jealous sometimes when we read some amazing stories out there? Having said this, don't assume that when we applaud, it's always fake. We genuinely like writeups that are beautifully pen...

 12th October 1995 - 8:00 A.M.- Tina and me studied for three hours. She had come to my place as usual. The chirping birds in the balcony kept us company throughout, as if encouraging us. We scribbled flames, in between, when we got bored. All the names of boys were matched to all the names of girls. It was so much fun. Then, to relax for a while, we took a round in our garden. And while relaxing adding to our Botany knowledge, we discussed the flowers and some insects for zoology sake. Our small talks keep us cheered and refresh us both, everyday. 12:00 P.M. - Revised important Math formulae, solved the difficult sections from the past papers. I have decided that I will score excellent marks in the term exams, so that I don't have to slog more in the later half for boards. But when you study Math, don't you get hungry? It's like all the energy is sucked by the subject in one go. So it was lunch time now. 3:00 P.M. - After lunch, took a quick nap, 'siesta' is a must...