100 Words: Suicide

Dear All

This is not a suicide note. This is a “the world does not need me” note. I have a philosophy- don’t stay where you are not needed. I cannot stay here. Not now. Not ever. I knew this would happen some day. I can’t focus anymore. I can’t even see this paper properly. My hand is shaking too much.

I don’t want to stay here any longer. It pains too much. I have been lying to the world all along. But I can’t lie to myself anymore. Please don’t mourn me.  That’s my only wish.

With love,

Kritika

It's only tears

I am so PMSy these days. Not in the angry sort of way. But things make me cry. Yesterday I was listening to Tum gaye ho kyu from the movie Dum Maro Dum. It's a really sad song and it made me cry. I was singing along with the radio and then I realised I was crying. 


And today I was watching this ad of a new show and someone was singing a really touching song and it made me cry. 




For some reason I have become very emotional and extra sensitive. It's just one of my phases. But what if I burst out crying at every emotional scene on TV?  I anyway cry when I read the sad parts of my favourite books AND when  I read good poetry.  And now sad songs are making me cry?


What has gotten into me!

Lotus Stem Part 5

Read the rest of the story

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


“What happened to Uday yaar? Disappeared!” Virat asked his brother.

“He left. He called me an hour ago. Some urgent business.” The soon to be married groom said.

“Suddenly?”

“I don’t know man. He could have stayed for a few more hours. He came all the way for my wedding and left so suddenly yaar. What the hell is wrong with him?”

“Weird guy, I tell you. Seriously. By the way Bhabhi was looking great at the haldi today huh? You were staring at her like crazy. Too smitten you are bro, too smitten!”

………… 

“Mama, mausi is crying”

“Is she now? “ Lalitha looked up as her 10 year old daughter entered the room.

“Yes”

Aarti paused. Her mother continued folding clothes. Soon it would be time for them to go back home.

“Is it because Nandita di got married and left?”

“Yes beta, Mausi will miss her.”

“Even Mrinalini di is leaving. Ranno is packing her bag.”

“Yes, she is leaving”

“Can’t she stay?”

“She is not well, na”

“She has schizophrenia right?”

Lalitha was shocked. She got up.

“Who told you that Aarti? “

“I heard Mausi talk on the phone…”

Lalitha sat down again. After a bout of silence she spoke again to her puzzled daughter.

“Yes beta, your Mrinalini di is suffering from schizophrenia. It has robbed her of her life” she mumbled.

“Maybe she will come back when she gets married.” Aarti smiled.

“I don’t think she will get married Aarti”

“She will Mama. And we will dance at her wedding too!”

Aarti danced out of the room.

………… 

Finire

Lotus Stem Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

“Hey!” Mrinalini whispered as soon as she spotted Uday on the terrace.

“You scared me! I was just going down. The guys have made a makeshift bar…”

“Come with me”

“Where?” If Uday was unsure, he didn’t show it.

“Just come.”

Mrinalini looked at him in the eye and caught hold of his hand. A slow grin formed itself in Uday’s face.

No one was there on the stairs. She pulled him along, behind her.

“You don’t have to hold my hand, I am coming with you” Uday said with a laugh.

Mrinalini didn’t say anything. Neither did she let go.

“Not that I have a problem. No issues. Infact, I am enjoying this. “

Uday couldn’t stop smiling. A smile made up of anticipation.

She led him to the first floor. Her bedroom was in the right hand corner.

………… 

‘Oh god! Bedroom! She’s taking me to her bedroom! I didn’t expect this! Wow!’ Uday was now getting excited. He had been right; she too could feel the sexual tension between them. The chemistry he felt was not missed by her. This was going places he had wanted to…

Won’t they miss us? Her family would miss her surely. She was the sister. But why do I care if she doesn’t? I am just glad she wants this too.

Mrinalini unlocked her door.

“Come in” she said quietly.

He strode in. Neat room. As if she didn’t stay there. She didn’t seem to have many things.

He heard a click, she had locked the door.

Should I unbutton my shirt Uday wondered, trying to understand what to do next. Maybe I don’t need to think. She is taking the lead; she would do all the thinking. He would just sit back and enjoy the show. And why not? She was bold too and he liked bold woman. I am so glad I came. To think that I had almost cancelled.

Mrinalini had swiftly walked towards her dressing table. She was taking something out from her drawer.

Was that…

It took her 15 seconds to walk back to him. She caught him by the collar. That’s when he saw what was in her hand. Shining. Polished.

“Oh my god Mrinalini! What are you doing?! Move that knife away!”

“I will not let you kill me. I will kill you before that” she said gently.

“What?” Uday started struggling to get free. What was wrong with this woman? Her grip was strong.

She was aiming for his neck. Her hands weakened for a moment. He broke free.

She tried to stop him from unlocking the door. Caught him from behind. The knife was brushing against him. Somehow, he unbolted the door and fled downstairs as fast as he could.

………… 

Read the last part of this  story here

Lotus Stem Part 3

Part 1

Part 2

Interesting female, this Mrinalini. And what eyes. What bewitching eyes. What is wrong with you, you moron. Stop thinking about her! And those brown eyes.

She was not like others. She seemed so uninterested in everything. As if no one mattered. Her eyes didn’t stay at one place but when they did her gaze was steady. When she looked directly at you it was as if she was looking right through you.

It somehow looked as if she was searching for something. Sometimes, he felt; she had found it and was making sure it was what she was searching for.

Yesterday was surreal. She had stayed away from the Sangeet, preferring to sit with him in the terrace. They had talked. She was so quiet when she was listening it seemed she wasn’t even there.

Her eyes moved when she talked. And she sat so still.

He had almost kissed her. Her lips would have felt nice. Soft. She would have felt wonderful. He would kiss her. Just to be sure what it felt like.

He was sure she wanted to be kissed. Mrinalini, with her bewitching eyes.

………… 

She looked absolutely stunning. Yes, stunning was the word for it. What was that colour? Orange? Light orange? Girls had a better name for it…

Her toes were peeping out of her sandals. Glass sandals. One Cinderella she was. And he would sweep her away…

Mrinalini was looking around, trying to locate her mother. What did she look like today? There were too many people around. Too much jibber jabber that she couldn’t make out.

The morning of a wedding is always hectic. The haldi ceremony like all the other rituals was delayed. The guests didn’t mind. They were busy devouring the breakfast spread.

The bride meanwhile, upstairs in her room was panicking. She hadn’t worn her yellow and white churidar and kurta yet. And she was crying. She was allowed to; she hadn’t put on her makeup.

“It’s my wedding day already! She said desperately. ‘I am getting married! I don’t want to get married” she pouted.

“This is a nightmare”she announced to her mother and best friend Shreya. The bride to be’s mother was meanwhile tearing her hair out. Shreya urged her to get ready. Nandita refused to.

“I hate this mom! Why did I ever buy this? Yellow! Who wears yellow?” she was now hysterical.

Hassled, Leena said, “It’s traditional to wear yellow during the haldi.”

“It goes with the haldi” Shreya pointed out only to be admonished with a loud “shut up”.

Leena was now panicking. Yash was constantly calling her up, asking her what exactly was wrong. She needed to go down, attend to the guests. She called up Lalitha, hoping she could make her niece calm down.

No one noticed that Mrinalini had disappeared.

………… 

Lotus Stem Part 2

For part 1 of this story go here

She slammed the door shut. Standing outside her house; a place she hadn’t lived in for years; she contemplated going in. She wondered what was going on. So many people going inside. Some coming out. Music. Dhol. That was the dhol. People carrying trays of colorful drinks. Trays of food. Her house. The place that had been her home. It was unrecognizable.

Chaos.

A wedding is always chaotic. However organised one is during the various planning sessions, it always ultimately seems frenzied. Perfect is not the word used by parents organising their daughter’s wedding.

Things go wrong. That is the nature of weddings.

Her sister’s wedding. She was here for Nandita’s wedding. She had stopped calling her di when she turned 16. Nandi. Shiv’s Vaahan.

She could see her mother. Maybe she would approach her. And shake hands.

“Mrinu! My dear” her mother screeched while wobbling towards her daughter. It was difficult, with the saree.

“Stop hugging me! I don’t like it.” Mrinalini pulled away from Leena, agitated.

“Oh, sorry sorry. Sorry beta. It’s just that I have seen you after a long time.”

‘Yes. Okay. Fine.” Mrinalini looked away. Then exclaimed-“Ha”

“You’ve cut your hair? “ Leena suddenly noticed Mrinalini’s cropped hair.

“Yep. Did it myself.”

“Why?” Leena was aghast.

“I like it”

“It’s so short! Like a boy’s cut.”

“Yeah. It was too long and curly. I like it now. Can’t we go in mom?”

“Yes beta. Come, come. “

“You don’t have to hold my hand, I am not 5. Do I know all these people?”

………… 

Uday. A vision at 5’11”. Chiseled looks and what charm. The groom’s colleague from Delhi. Woman hovered around him. Even the forty year olds.

He was instantly drawn to Mrinalini. Sitting on her own, not talking. Her eyes never rested at one place. Her face was pale. She looked child like with the salwar kameez flowing over her billowy figure. There was something about her eyes. Lost, brown eyes.

He looked around. The lawn was filled with people. Everyone was busy celebrating. Someone called out for the food to be laid out. Giggling girls were flitting everywhere. Jewellery adorned ladies whispering loudly. Mrinalini, aloof from it all was just sitting there. Quietly staring.

Uday pulled up a chair beside her.

“Hi, Uday is the name.”

She didn’t say anything. Dreaming, he thought.

“Hi” he said, this time louder.

Her eyes shifted. She looked at him.

“Uday” he repeated.

She just laughed and went inside.

Bewildered, he looked at the shadow she had left behind.

…………

He was watching the girls dancing. Her eyes followed each of his movements. When he raised his hand to wave at one of them. When he doubled up in laughter at a joke uncle said. When he walked to the bar to get his 1st drink. When he went again with friends, for his 2nd and 3rd drink.

Every movement was watched.

And then he turned. She was behind him.

“Hello” she said quietly, steadily.

“Hey! You look gorgeous!” he smiled at her.

“Hmm. Do you know my name?”

“You are Nandita’s sister babe. I know. Mrinalini is a beautiful name. It suits you. “

“What do they call you?”

“They call me many things. Uday is the name though.”

“Hmm. Uday.”

“Yes. I told you in the morning. Why did you ignore me then?”

“When? I didn’t ignore you…”

“You did. I introduced myself. You didn’t speak a word.”

“I know I didn’t talk.”

“And?”

“There’s a difference.” Mrinalini paused. She looked around, feeling restless, then continued as an afterthought. “Between ignoring and not talking.”

…………

For Part 3 of this story go here

Lotus Stem

“So Mrinalini is coming?”

“Yes.”

“And you think this is right beta?

“Yes. She is Nandita’s sister Ma, and my daughter.”

“And she isn’t something to me? That’s what you’re trying to say? She is my granddaughter Yash! I have seen her grow up!”

“I am not trying to say anything Ma, “

“That I don’t love her?”

“I didn’t say that” Yash shouted. The stress of the wedding was already getting to him. And now this. He didn’t want to deal with drama. Not today.

“What’s going on dad?” Nandita entered the living room, shocked.

“Nothing beta” Yash smiled. His elder daughter was looking pretty. He was a proud father today. His daughter would become a married woman in just a few days.

“You were shouting?”

“Nothing to worry about sweetheart. You go get ready.”

“Have you sent the car for Nalu?”

Ya, she will be arriving soon am sure.”

“Oh good! I can’t wait! It has been so long. I haven’t seen her since I’ve come back. I am so excited Papa! Nalu’s gonna be here!”

“Yes beta”

“I am going to get ready. And don’t worry so much na…”

“Oh your father will never change my darling! Her grandmother chimed.

“Dadi! Stop teasing him!”

………… 

“Will she come, didi?”

“Ofcourse Lalitha. Yash has sent the car”

“Is someone coming with her?”

“No, no. She can come on her own. They said she could.”

“When did you meet last?”

“Last month! She is so much better now. Yash and I are so happy. And now that Nandita is getting married…”

“Oh didi, don’t cry…I'm sure everything is going to be fine…” 

“Yes, yes ofcourse. “ Leena wiped the stray tear. “Come on. There is so much left to do. Help me pack all these gifts. See, this is for Jagya Masi. This one is for Ashu’s wife. And see this saree. Is it good? It’s for Nandi’s mother in law…”

………… 

Posting a full length short story for the first time. Will continue if I get a positive response. Do comment if you like it. 

For Part 2 go here

Today just got better

It started raining here right now. Talk about surprises. 


I went out to get wet. Getting wet in the rain is one of my favourite things to do. 


I didn't look sexy. (not that I expected to or wanted to) More like a mess. I jumped in  puddles. What is life without jumping in a few puddles? 




"Let the rain fall, I don't care" 




My day just got better. 

The Versatile blogger Award!

So basically when I went back to my blog at night yesterday to see if anyone had noticed my new post, I got a surprise! Rahul of Crash and Burn..... had awarded my a versatile blogger Award! I did a happy dance!(In my head. And later, literally!) Thank you so much Rahul! Tons and tons! This means a lot!

I went through the awesome blogs of other bloggers he had awarded. They really are amazing. I am addicted to reading blogs these days and now I have so many blogs I can go through!

Anyway, now I have a new task. There are some rules I need to follow. I am just going to copy past the rules here. 
The rules seem simple

1. Create a new post.

2. Thank the lovely person who nominated you for the award. 
3. Pass it on to your fellow bloggers.  

4. State 7 random facts about you..

Oh 1 and 2 are done. But I want to thank Rahul again! He has just recently started reading my blog and I totally love what he wrote about me and my blogging style. And I am a Funjabi! Love the new nick name!( Want to read what he wrote? Its here. Check out the other links. Amazing bloggers!) 

So now for number 3. Fellow bloggers. I am very bad at introductions. I feel my words don't do justice to the talent these people have.  

1. Ananya of A World of Illusion is very good at what she does. Writing, sketching, photography. I love her  matter of fact way of looking at things. Very candid, very honest. You will want to read and read. Very talented, this girl. And oh her blue monster thingy is very cute. 

2. Ms A of Damn! I Can't Think of a Title! is funny, random and sensible. I hover around her blog a lot. I like what she writes. It's simple and relateable. And very recamendable. Also fell in love with her blog's name. 

3. Indolent Insomniac of Semi Coherent Ramblings and such... I discovered him because he reviewed my blog on Indiblogger. And fell in love with his casual style. His blog title says that it's semi coherent rambling, which it most certainly is not. The way he writes, it seems as if he is talking away. He seems like the kind of person who talks non-stop. But he talks sense. I love people who talk a lot AND talk sense. 

4.   Privy Trifles of Memoirs of me is also one of my favourites. Her blog has a great collection of poems, reviews, fiction and her opinions. Her "scribbles" are worth reading. 

Third part done. It was easy. I just had to  award bloggers and blogs I absolutely adore.  Ok, now for the 7 random facts about myself. I think I will take a break, save this as a draft and think about some stupid facts about myself. 

7 Random facts

1. I have written behind each and every copy I have owned. In school and college. You will find some line or the other in the last few pages of every copy you ever find in my possession. I use notebooks solely dedicated to writing but I also write anywhere else. ( Even two of my sister's copies have my handwriting!)

2. I have not watched many of the popular movies released in the late 80s and the 90s and the early 2000s. Everyone has watched Sarfarosh, Taal, Dil se, Daar, Dil Chahta hai, Hum hai rahi pyar ke, Rangeela  and what not.  I haven't. 

3. My first soft toy was called Monu. It was a mouse(not the Disney one) and I loved to talk to him. 

4. I cannot run down stairs. It's a phobia. I am afraid I will fall(justified since I am clumsy) .I can run up stairs but never down them. 

5. When I was younger I used to practice talking to people in my head. I was very shy and could not talk to people without practicing first. 

6. I don't like water. As in, drinking water. I do get thirsty and have to drink it but i don't like it. I know water is not supposed to have a taste but I think it tastes weird. 

7. I once ate soap. On purpose. Because my dad told me it would be tasty. Yuck! WyakThoo! 

So this is it for now I guess. I should get back to work. 

P.S I just realised that this posts has two lists! And now I have a big grin. I do love lists!

Not a drop less

More than a spoonful

The picture above is the amount of milk we have in our fridge everyday.  We are a family of five milk obsessed punjabis. Running out of milk is a crisis at our place. Panic sets in. We may be globalised but essentially we are very punjabi in our habits. All punjabis I think are obsessed with milk and milk products. 


We get milk from two sources. A milk agency guy comes in the morning to give us bottled milk. In the evening, a milkman comes and measures out 2 litres of milk for us. Think man on cycle, with milk containers clanging on his cycle. Also known as the gwala. 


We make our own ghee and paneer. Which is good, as it costs less than what is available in the market. Takes more effort, of course. Like a good punju girl I drink milk everyday. Twice. 


When I want to skip dinner and refuse to have even a morsel, this is the conversation I have.


"Kuch te khale!"
"Nahi bhuk"
"Acha chal doodh peele"


Loosely translated:


"Atleast eat a bit"
"I am not hungry."
"Alright, have some milk."

This is the mug I use if I am drinking warm milk

To make drinking milk more interesting my mother bought me cute mugs when I was younger. I remember I used to have a mug with an umbrella shaped lid. I miss that mug. 


When my dad is at home he has uncountable cups of tea. Why do I say uncountable? We are not allowed to count how many. 


We may run out of rice or flour and it will do. The fridge being devoid of milk just won't do! Milk will be bought from the neighborhood Mother Dairy booth. 


And we also have solutions for boredom with a plain and simple white liquid. Coffee. Bournvita. Rose syrup. Almond syrup. Mango shakes. (Which reminds me, we have not had mangoes yet!!) If these options still seem uninteresting and we refuse to drink  our customary two glasses, we are provided with porridge. And if we still don't have it, the milk is curdled; loads of sour curd is made which is later used to make curry.  Or a home made Mithai is made(very rare) And oh I forgot, the rest of the family has curd with dinner. 


The basic story line of this post is that my mom refuses to buy less milk than she does and all the milk will be used up in some way or the other. Did I mention we are obsessed? 

Rediscovery

If my optimism is my hamartia then I am ready to accept it. But not when it hurts the people I love. Not when it affects others. I need to unlearn some things and relearn some others. There is so much about me that I need to change.

I can't afford to let my mistakes hurt others. Not now. Not anymore.

I need to change. Be conscious.

I wish I could be less optimistic. 

I will change.

I don't know what I am talking about

I haven't watched a a good rom-com for ages. I want to. Talking of rom-coms, I once saw a movie in which Ashton Kutcher threw his girlfriend/wife's dog out of the window. He did not actually throw the dog out, it jumped out because of him. I saw Ashton Kutcher in a few other movies one of which is "A lot like love". It's one of my favourites. It has a single by Aqualung, who happens to be one of my favourites too. 


I used to like Ashton Kutcher. I no longer do. He cheated on his wife. Which is not cool. Even though I never liked Demi Moore. 


I love Audrey Hepburn. She is beautiful. She is one of the dead persons I want to meet. ( I have a list for that too) I love her. As a person and as an actress. 


I recently discovered I like jam. Not with bread. Just plain and simple jam. Scooped from the jar in a spoon. But I had used up all the jam to make jam chocolates because no one eats jam and it came free with something. Only two spoons were left. Which I had and liked. I didn't buy jam after that. Coz I am not used to liking jam. I forget that I like it. So when I see jam bottles I don't have an urge to buy them. 


I hadn't cried for ages. I cried yesterday. I saw two movies and parts of both made me cry. Later I wondered why Fred had to die. You know what makes me sad? Birds in cages. I don't understand why people have to buy birds and keep them in cages. What is even sadder is birds that have forgotten how to fly. The saddest is when their flight feathers are clipped and they cannot fly even if they did remember how to.


People are not nice. 


"Human beans is squishing each other all the time,' the BFG said. 'They is shootling guns and going up in aerioplanes to drop their bombs on each other's heads every week. Human beans is always killing other human beans."
~BFG


The BFG is right. Humans are not nice at all. Most animals don't kill their own species. 




Humans lead sad lives. 

Discovering great music

One of my favourite memories, and something I'm very thankful for:


The day I watched A Lot Like Love, liked the song Brighter than Sunshine and googled it. And discovered my god, my singing inspiration - Aqualung. 

~WeirdTalkingDragon




Thanks WTD for your memory! Aqualung is one of my favourites too. I got to know about him because of you. So double thanks!

The Google list

I googled myself yesterday. Not because of any self obsession tendencies (maybe a little) but because I wanted to see how much information Google stored about me. 

I made a list of all the things I found about myself.

1. The fact that I use Facebook and Google+ is revealed. ( This I expected.)

2.I used to have a blog on Ibibo which I deleted(For those who are aghast. I do hope someone is aghast. As I was saying what I wrote there was BAD.) The link still comes on the 2nd page. If you click on it it’s a broken link.

3. I have a Picasa web album, which is now sort of default with Google+ users. This album has zero pics.

4. An account with a site called slideshare. I had to register to see a presentation and now I have an useless account. ( With no recollection of my password or the email id I had used.)

5. I used to have an account with a site called muggle.net back when I was a teen and used a dial up modem(Now THAT used to take ages and we used to be very patient. A momentary pause for the “times have changed” rant, please.) I was into fanficton and even wrote one myself. So my muggle.net user id also came up on the 3rd page.

6. My college admission merit list. ( I still can’t believe that was three years ago AND college is over!)

7. An interview I gave to The Telegraph when I was 17. (Here's why I was interviewed)

8. My story that got published with TOI. (Yay!)

9. A letter to the editor of The Telegraph.

10. Comments I gave on a public forum. (Did I actually say that? )

11. The fact that I use JustDial.

12. This blog! (Thank God for that.)


Moral of the story? (No moral, I just concluded.)The internet is the most extensive archive. Everything you do on the www is archived. Every lame comment I made on a forum is out there. Nothing gets deleted. That every activity is archived is not new information, yesterday I saw that for myself. I don’t find this scary. I am very matter of fact about it. I haven’t done anything stupid. (Not really.) As a not so net savvy teenager I may have partcipated in online discussions on forums about my favourite actor, book or whatever. No pictures. Nothing career threatening. I don’t need to worry about my past deeds. But after this I will be more careful about what I write, where.

The Memory Bank

I have always loved memories. I rely on them to write. I like the past as much as I like the present.

So what? Well, I am also a curious person and love to listen  to people talk about their memories. So I came up with this project. 

It's simple. You just have to share your memories with me

To know more, go to my memory page The memory bank

I am smart now

I got a new phone in February. A smartphone. Very smart. I was very excited. For the first time I  would be able to experience the thrill of browsing the net through my phone! The very next day I went and subscribed to the Vodafone 1GB Internet data pack.

As instructed by more-knowledgeable-already-using-smartphones-for- ages- now-mortals I downloaded my first few apps(whatsapp, facebook for android) Every click was accompanied by caution. What if I am using too much data? The novice that I was(and I feel still am) I was very scared of crossing the 1GB limit. I ended up just using 200 MB in the 1st month.

And because of the "net on my phone" I downloaded a game called WordSearch. It's a wonderful game. One has to look for words in a jumble of seemingly random letters. My mom and my sister started playing it, hogging my phone. I still haven't been able to beat my sister's high score.

In the next month I did better. Realising that "net on my phone" does not use up that much data, I breathed easy and started using the Internet more often. 

To use the "net on my phone" I don't have to switch on my phone. I don't have to wait for it to connect to a wi-fi network. I don't have to switch it off when I am done. If I need to google something I can instantly do it. I downloaded twitter a few days ago so that I can promote my business on the go. I downloaded some pretty useful apps like Sound Hound and some pretty useless ones like Talking Tom. Though I was slow to catch on, I am doing a lot on the "net on my phone."

I am still a bit amazed by it all. I still use my laptop to blog. But, I am learning to download songs directly to my phone and even saw a couple of YouTube videos. Yes, I am getting the hang of it. Yes, the "net on my phone" sure is fun with Vodafone. And yes, I am luvin it. 

The Sunny Times

Summer is all about having fun right? I live in Kolkata and summers here are all about sweating all over. 

The sweating started in April this time. Drip, drip and drip. Loads of drip, drip actually. 

I am not scared of the Sun, though. My friend Kaniti, her face literally dries up in the sun. She can't do without an umbrella. I can. I like summer. Even though I crib about the humidity.  

And this summer is going to be different. Final exams out of the way, I can now claim that my student life is finally over. I do not plan to study further, get a post graduation degree like all my friends are. 


And before I resume work full fledgedly( I have my own business) I need to travel. I want to go places. Only recently I have realised that the travel bug in me can't be curbed. I get restless if I don't go anywhere. I plan to travel. I have a whole list of places I want to visit. The list is pretty long and has only a few ticks. 

I plan to move out of my city and relocate some place else. Not because I don't love my city but because I want a new experience. 

I guess this summer will be about new experiences . I plan to learn how to drive. I want to learn a new language. I have some new plans for my business. New ideas for fiction. As one chapter closes, a new chapter is opened. 

New beginnings are tough and sort of scary. I say sort of because doing something I want to gives me confidence. That doesn't mean I am not scared at times.

Summer should be fun. Full of surprises. Maybe I will enjoy these surprises. But i do like to plan. So maybe planned surprises? I don't know if there exists such a thing. 


Summer need not be sweaty. What are hankies for? I think I would just apply some sunscreen, take out my shades, carry some water and enjoy the sun. 


This post was written for the Lakme Diva Blogger contest.  I love Lakme