Love & All that Jazz : My Entry for the Get Published Contest

I feel Mills and Boons are a drag and that romantic writers are scum . Because if you look around , the stories that actually touch your heart are of the people you know personally . Your parents , grandparents and now that we have entered the marriageable bracket even friends. I'm not that cheesy , okay maybe a little but that's it . So when Indiblogger came up with the contest for anthology of love stories I thought there would be no better time to write about my  our story. Also its like a lifeboat that is saving me from dying a painful death in "Writer's block Hell"

The Idea 
Name : Love & All That Jazz
This is my story :) Like in first person. (Names are obviously different cause I'm a superhero and I cannot reveal my identity)

Rahul and Isha were blog friends. Rahul was from Bangalore and Isha from Mumbai. They met at a party once through a friend and exchanged numbers. Rahul went back to Bangalore and they became chat buddies till one drunk night when Isha called Rahul and started talking to him, from casual flirting to how it would be to marry each other. Their relationship sprang out of nowhere going at the speed of lightning. 

And then they started talking since that day on, day and night till the next morning when the milkman rang the bell and woke the household. He would put her to sleep. She would send him handwritten love letters. Is this a normal relationship, were the cliques not met? Their story totally had the cliques though, orthodox parents , 892 kilometers between them, a big age difference and bulky phone bills. The distance never bothered them nor did the fact that they had seen each other just once.
But can a relationship survive on Skype Facetime or phone calls . And that isn't all, 3 months into the relationship and Isha is told that Rahul is selected to join the Indian Air Force a dream he has been cherishing since he was a young boy of 10. The training period is one and half years. Is it really going to be so easy?

But what when Rahul comes to Mumbai to meet Isha, will it be any different ? Do they make it. :)


Another Idea maybe ?
Name : High Flying Love
This is a story of a friend. And it was absolutely like a fairy tale. Makes you want to believe in faith and heavenly forces that seem to be uniting lovers all around the world. Cause someone somewhere is made for you...says Dil Toh Paagal Hai. Okay now with the plot ;

Anaita was late as ever , she had a very important meeting in  Hyderabad and she was going to miss her flight , her boss would kill her. She looked at the watch one last time and made a dash for the boarding terminal when she tripped over an abandoned suitcase. She could barely move, she made a painful cry and looked for some help. Just when her eyes fell on HIM.

Ishaan Awasti the apple of his parents eye, the hot shot billionaire and investment banker. Ishaan was always on time , to the degree of a lot of people's annoyance actually. Today he was going to Hyderabad to visit his cousin sister who recently had a baby. He was early as usual but the airline seemed to have not booked his ticket at all. His anger was making his face red and eyebrows curve into an inverted 'U' , that is when he saw HER

Ishaan lifted Anaita , and apologized for leaving the suitcase that way. Anaita was about to scream when the air attendant asked both of them to board, they finally confirmed Ishaan's reservation.
As Anaita took a deep breath and praised her Ninja skills , Ishaan took the seat next to her.
" Seriously I have to see your face for the next two hours " said Anaita disgusted
" You could look at that bald man there if you'd like , suit yourself " Ishaan said with a smile.

2 years from this day their wedding card said , " Marriages are made in heaven , so it was no surprise that we met in the air"

How did that happen ? How did they fall in love ?

To know watch this space :)

Both these stories are very much real .  I had been meaning to write an entire short story since a very long time, until one day I finally found the motivation to do so. Indiblogger's initiative with Harper Collins " Real Love in New India " .
They basically want you to write a gist of your story and post it on your blog. Then they will revert to you while you can build on your story. The best stories get published in an anthology of stories by Harper Collins.

This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.

Pliss to vote for me here

Ps: I will be posting these stories soon, whether I hear from them or not :) So wait up.

Shave or Crave !

 You just make a poor man go crazy thinking "What went wrong?" when everything is right by the night yet he cant score.
 
Don't we all have our stories about the evening stubble. In the perfect moment when he's whispering sweet nothings in your ear and you're basking in the awesome feeling of his lips so near you, you suddenly pull away cause that wretched little rough hair of his annoyed you and killed the mood.  

Or the guy you met at a friend's party, you two totally hit it off, he also smelt great (Win)  and yet the short hair on his face, was annoying you a little and you decided to stick to your drink instead and leave him alone wondering why the conversation ended so abruptly.

Just when you were about to give him a peck on the cheek after a tired day at work and his stubble made you cringe and change your mind.  Happens to me all the time. Almost everyday you can hear me tell " Why don't you shave?"  and he frustratingly says " Well I did, in the morning!" and I snap back with a "If I can do my eyebrows twice a month , you can shave twice a day" and that my friends is the end of romance forever. 

A wise man once said "Don't let a woman decide what your beard looks like unless she is intending to put her face on it anytime soon" ;)And that is exactly what wants me to make him crave till he gets rid of his out of bed and unkempt look. Its not sexy anymore, clean & neat shave is the new sexy. If we can go through the excruciating pain of waxing and getting rid of the hair from various places, so can they so often well so can they. When will men understand it turns us off. 

Besides its not even manly anymore. For god sakes, men get pedicures these days so getting rid of the stubble is no biggy right?  To make him crave I usually pretend to have a dramatic headache and sulk in my bed with a book until he gets the hint and decides to get rid of his "George Clooney look" (Well everyone lives in a bubble). Women play their games and no they are not fair, but what the hell right?  Also I have to admit I love the smell of aftershave and the feel of his skin after the smooth look.

If nothing else I try the formula that never fails, the epic "Silent Treatment". You might think that why would that help, men love it when we are quite. Wrong. They feel they have done something so wrong this time that you have just decided to give up on them instead of  discussing nagging about it. 100 % tried and tested formula. Give him the silent treatment and watch him become the genie to all your wishes.

So I officially hate the evening stubble, and here I am blogging about it from the Sukho Thai Spa, after having a truly refreshing time with fellow bloggers and the lovely people at Blogadda.  

So take part here cause there are REALLY BIG PRIZES TO BE WON, while I go and force my boyfriend to read this and let him know that he doesn't look like George Clooney ( yeah i'll have to pay for saying that..as long as the stubble is gone)

 

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

Some Compensation

Since I haven't been writing much, I though I'd put up something that I had written for a Economics Contest. It still my writing right?  I don't like abandoning this space for too long, so here it is. The topic was " If there was a machine that could predict future crimes accurately and the government would prosecute people on the basis of readings of this machine. Discuss" 

"When a person is penalized for honesty he learns to lie"

  - In every inch in every mile

 In a country where two young girls are punished for saying something against a veteran power greedy leader and where women are raped for staying out after 9 in the night. Where freedom of speech and thought is always preached and seldom followed , a machine that can predict future crimes will only be another power tool in the hands of the already powerful.

 A machine that can predict when a crime is going to be committed would be the ideal pot bellied policeman's dream. Wouldn't it ? But is it really the right way to go . The basic essence is that we are humans and human nature is one of the biggest mysteries for our race. No one has been able to get into the very depth of this , the psychology of the human mind. Even while this machine maybe hundred percent accurate , even when  it can stop the most disastrous terrorist attack that shake us , but really is it right?

There will always be that minor possibility . The 0.0001 percent chance that the person will change his mind. The slightest possibility that just at the last moment a suicide bomber will turn around and leave this life of terrorism and never look back . You can never tell what it is that will stir him ,what is it that will change his mind . Maybe a young child in the coach of the train he is going to blowup that reminds him of his son. Or the young lady clad in the red saree who reminds him of the love of his life. A last minute conversation with the Rabi of a church , that turns his morals around in seconds. It could happen. Or even the  fear of the same God in whose name he was brainwashed to kill the innocent.

Speaking more legally what about human rights? -How can you punish someone for something they haven't done. Doesn't each person deserve the benefit of doubt. Aren't you allowed a chance to change your mind. What if it was an impulse thought in the heat of a situation that brought out the devil in you. Can the machine gauge feelings too? How difficult would it be to put in this new system , will the rich get away from this .? Will this be a platform for the newest scam. Will the machine lie if you throw money at it. ? Many questions arise , who will take the responsibility of being answerable to the house . 

Besides isn't this the problem with the world. We want to punish people not correct them . We want to hide the problems , finish the offenders but we forget that ideas are bulletproof , its not the criminal that needs to be killed , its the thought. The lack of empathy and compassion that needs to be changed. When we think of Kasab we think about the number of biryanis that he belted in his jail cell, what we don't see is that he lived a life of isolation for almost two years. And that is the worst punishment , humans are meant to co-exist . Alone we only die a slow death. 

The beauty of democracy lies in the empathy. Each criminal and in this case " future criminal ' deserves to be tried by an impartial judge, and receive justice , though they may deserve none. That is the fuel of hope of each individual that they will be treated justly and equally and that is the beauty of a democracy.

Ps; What do you think ? Do let me know, would love to know the view of each and every one of you!