Destination Infinity's Blog, page 49

Anthology on Vengeance (Includes my Short Story)

Designed by Neil D’Silva




Vengeance –A Sting in Every Tale 
A WRIMO INDIA anthology
Edited by
Sonia Rao 

Disclaimer : Every Cent from this novel goes to Wrimo India to encourage all future aspiring writers. 






Designed by Sujata Patnaik




Blurb 
A reply to a perceived injustice can take many forms one of which is vengeance. An eye for an eye can only end up making the whole world blind, is what Mahatma Gandhi once said. And it seems to be coming quite true, if latest events world-wide are an indication.

Is there any hope or are we hurtling towards extinction?

Hopefully, the stories will explore some of these questions. But that is on the macro level. It might be easy to look at things objectively, in black and white, when it is other nations involved. Or even other people. We are able to be more forgiving of transgressions when they don’t involve us personally.

But how would one react if they found themselves in the maelstrom of situations that do fall somewhere in the grey area of life? With no definite black and white answers?

How would a jilted lover react in face of infidelity? Or how would a friend avenge the murder of her best friend? Or, is it fair to be punished for a crime that you were not brave enough to prevent?


These and many more questions connected to vengeance have been grappled with in this anthology.



created by Archana Sarat
EXCERPT OF FIRST CHAPTER

​Bus number 131 whirred away, pulling its own weight unwillingly. It was one of the many buses to pass through the Relief road, a busy road in the old part of Ahmedabad. Shazia had an option, the crowed 88 or the overcrowded 131. She preferred to be 30 minutes before time to board 131. Her choice was motivated by her love for the palindromic 1-3-1. Her undying infatuation with prime numbers was inexplicable.Nineteen year old Shazia loved numbers, and to be more precise, she adored Mathematics in all its form. She also loved the rules, the principles, the working theorems, the equations which tried to make sense of the majestic menagerie of numbers. She was fascinated even by the mere shape of numbers. She did not remember when or even how her romance with Maths began. But in her earliest memories, she preferred practicing her numbers over the alphabet, she remembered that she recited tables better than her nursery rhymes.

She was short and a bit stocky. Also, a couple of shades darker than was acceptable in the marriage market. However, her looks never bothered her, nor did she ever yearn for fairer skin, or thinner body. What she craved was a disheveled mass of hair, for some uncanny resemblance to Einstein, the only pop icon modern science managed to have produced. But her mother plaited her hair, dashing her hopes to ground. She also longed for a pair of spectacles with glasses so thick that it blurred her eyeballs, indicating the wearer’s brilliance. But she, despite getting checked for vision from her mother’s ophthalmologist, was denied the hallowed implement. Thrice.

Shazia valued her bus ride a lot. She had to convince Papa to allow her to commute to her college on her own. She had concealed her indignation about needing her father’s permission for every little trifle, even after being categorised as an adult by the Government of India. Papa consented only after he was told that Noor too would start using the bus if Shazia were to give her company.

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ABOUT THE EDITOR SONIA RAO
 



 
The editor of the Anthology, Sonia Rao (writer-editor-awardwinningblogger) is the NaNoWriMo Municipal Liaison for All-India region. The stories which are part of the anthology are written by Wrimos homed in to Asia::India region. Most of them are also published writers of short fiction and novels.She blogs @ https://soniaraowrites.wordpress.com/ 

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Wrimo India blog: https://wrimoindiawrites.wordpress.com/ 
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Xiaomi Service Center Experience @ Chennai

In one word: Good.

I bought a Xiaomi Redmi 2 phone from Flipkart about 8 months back. The performance of the phone was fine and I was a satisfied customer until one day when the phone wouldn’t switch on!

Since the phone was in warranty, I looked up the location details of the service centers in Chennai. Fortunately, there was on exclusive Xiaomi service center at Anna Nagar, near my place. So I went and handed over the phone to the staff there.

They had a look at it and informed me that motherboard needs to be replaced and it may take 15 days. Since I had my older Spice mobile in working condition, I handed over my phone and was using that mobile for a while.

I thought of calling the service center sometimes to check on them, but due to laziness I didn’t! After about 8-9 days, I got a call from Xiaomi service center representatives at Anna Nagar. They asked me to bring the bill and pick up the mobile.

I went on the same day (Sunday afternoon) and they had replaced the phone’s motherboard and my phone was working fine! Only issue was: All my apps were lost, but reloading them was just half a day’s work I have been using the replaced phone without problems for at least one week now.

So I should say that my experience with Xiaomi service center at Chennai was satisfactory. And I will consider buying another mobile from the same company next time also – due to excellent pricing, good quality, and service backup.

Thanks Xiaomi

Destination Infinity 

How to Turn Good Mornings into Gold Mornings?

Here are some things that turn my good mornings into GOLD mornings.

Hot Sweet Tea
Marie biscuits dipped in the above tea
Music – melodious songs and fast songs
Soaking in the early morning sunlight
A long bicycle ride
Waking up and sleeping again. And again.
Walking in the neighboring park
Continuing reading the book I dropped just before sleep
Checking email, facebook, whatsapp
Careless browsing
Listening to podcasts/audio books
Doing some exercise (a little)
Admiring flowers in the garden
Listening to birds chirping and watching pigeons take off together
Glancing through a Newspaper
A slight Drizzle
Photo walk
Smooth and long drive on my bike in a traffic-free city
Writing a novel/short story

And last but not the least,

Brushing my teeth with Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold Toothbrush #Colgate360GoldMornings.

Recently I got a gift hamper from Colgate with the Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold toothbrush, a water can, and a mug. Here it is:

Howzzitt?? Thanks to Colgate

Destination Infinity

What makes my Mornings, Great?

Here are some things that can turn my good mornings into GOLD.

Hot Sweet Tea
Marie biscuits dipped in the above tea
Music – melodious songs and fast songs
Soaking in the early morning sunlight
A long bicycle ride
Waking up and sleeping again. And again.
Walking in the neighboring park
Continuing reading the book I dropped just before sleep
Checking email, facebook, whatsapp
Careless browsing
Listening to podcasts/audio books
Doing some exercise (a little)
Admiring flowers in the garden
Listening to birds chirping and watching pigeons take off together
Glancing through a Newspaper
A slight Drizzle
Photo walk
Smooth and long drive on my bike in a traffic-free city
Writing a novel/short story

And last but not the least,

Brushing my teeth with Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold Toothbrush #Colgate360GoldMornings.

Recently I got a gift hamper from Colgate and indiBlogger with the Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold toothbrush, a water can, and a mug. Here it is:

Howzzitt?? Thanks to Colgate and indiBlogger

Destination Infinity

Book On Addiction and How One Person Fought it

At the recent The Hindu Lit for Life 2016 event, Diya Sethi introduced her book, “The Addict: A Life Recovered”. It’s the author’s account of how she became addicted to Anorexia-Bulimia (over-eating or under-eating of food) and her fight to get rid of the addiction. Wait, she is now in the food business, successfully making a business out of her addiction!

Here are some quotes from this session,

“Addiction is a response to pain; it’s not a sickness.”

“An over-sensitive person is more prone to addiction.”

“We can become addicted to surfing the Internet, playing video games, relationships, and pretty much anything else. If exercise becomes injurious to health (instead of keeping you healthy) even that is addiction.”

Think about it – we are all addicted to something or other in varying degrees. We ought to recognize when an addiction becomes harmful and try to get rid of it as soon as possible.

The author chronicles her struggle with addiction and how she managed to get out of it successfully. She says it took many years and a lot of unconventional thoughts/actions.

If you want to know more about the author’s journey, check out her book from here.

Destination Infinity

Biography ~ Nehru & Bose: Parallel Lives

At the recent The Hindu Lit for Life 2016 event, Rudrangshu Mukherjee introduced his book – “Nehru & Bose: Parallel Lives”. It’s a parallel biography of two important people – Nehru and Bose, who worked towards achieving independence for India, apart from Gandhi, in their own ways.

If you thought Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose were not so friendly throughout their lives, you need to read this book. The author says,

“Animosity is the farthest word I would associate between these two people – it was actually friendship that existed. But that friendship did not blossom due to the untimely disappearance of one person.”

“Between the relationship of Subhas and Nehru was Gandhi. So this book is a triangle of how the lives of these three people intersects.”

“Right from the day they met, Subhas’ attitude towards Gandhi was skepticism.”

“No other leader expressed his differences on Gandhi as explicitly as Nehru.”

“My father was an admirer of Nehru. So I wrote this book a bit against my father, if I can say that.”

“The only person who was with Jawaharlal Nehru when Kamala Nehru died was Subhas Chandra Bose. That is when I realized there was more than friendship between the two.”

If you are already intrigued, go check out the book form here.

Destination Infinity

Sharan Apparao & Chitra Madhavan on Cultural Restoration

At the recent Hindu Lit for Life 2016, Sharan Apparao and Chitra Madhavan spoke about the importance of cultural restoration, and more importantly cultural preservation.

All around us, especially in India, we are filled with cultural symbols and heritage monuments. They told us that Temples are not just religious institutions, but are also heritage monuments.

But the state of these monuments today is, we either destroy these symbols – knowingly or unknowingly – or we are plain ignorant of their importance.

Even in well known historical Temples/monuments which are recognized by ASI and other Govt. institutions, people routinely destroy paintings, inscriptions and sculptures by carrying out renovation works without proper guidance on how to do them. Of course there are some insensitive public members who scribble on the walls, etc.

What can be done about it? The speakers felt that sensitizing children early, while they are still in school, should be effective. It has been done in other cultures, and hence it should be possible to do that in India also.

Let’s hope people will first become aware of the cultural destruction happening all around them. Then we can hope that they will do something to start sensitizing others about the issue.

Destination Infinity

Chennai Pongal Book Fair 2016: YMCA Royapettah

The Chennai Pongal Book Festival 2016 is being held at the YMCA Grounds, Royapettah (Not Nandanam) from January 13 – 24, ’16. This சென்னை பொங்கல் 2016 புத்தக கண்காட்சி has been organized by தமிழ் நூல் விற்பனை வெளியீட்டு மேம்பாடு கழகம். It’s open for public from 2 P.M. to 8:30 P.M on normal days and 11 A.M. to 8:30 P.M. on holidays. Note: The usual BAPASI book fair has been postponed to Apr. this year.

The opening ceremony was held yesterday – Wed, Jan. 13. It was presided over by Justice Chandru, Former Governor of West Bengal – Gopala Krishna Gandhi, Muthukumaraswamy, and others. The speakers prominently mentioned that more than the floods, silencing of literary voices and banning of literary works over the last one year affected them heavily.

Around 200 stalls and book sellers are participating in this book fair. The entrance ticket is Rs. 5/-, but the organizers say that proceeds from the entrance ticket sales will be donated to Flood Relief Fund. They also mentioned that the book sellers have come forward to donate 3000 books to the Ashok Nagar public library as it has lost most of its books due to floods.

I came across many interesting stalls and promotions, I will mention a few here. The Vikadan group’s promotional stall and banners for Chandrahasam caught my eye prominently.

The Thina Malar staff are promoting the annual subscription to their monthly English Magazine – Fountain Ink, which according to them, features stories that are generally not reported by the mainstream media. This magazine is available across India.

The Indian association for the blind has displayed their Braille books (fiction and non-fiction) and other literary aids for the visually impaired.

Amogha Enterprises are promoting their 3D models of major monuments that can be assembled from scratch by hands. Do you see the cardboard displays of assembed Taj Mahal and Eiffel Tower models, at the back?

Here are two more stalls:

I should also mention about the healthy eatery (within the book fair complex): Devaamritham. They are serving millet based ladoos, cakes, pakoda, etc. And also Aavarampoo Theneer and Sukkumilagu Coffee. Check it out! For bikes and cars there is a parking fee of Rs. 10 and Rs. 30 for three hours.

This book fair is a must visit for book lovers in Chennai

Destination Infinity

Short Stories with a Twist – My new Kindle eBook!!

Woohooo!! My anthology collection – Short Stories With A Twist has been published as an Amazon Kindle eBook today morning  

This anthology contains 11 selected short stories written by me over the last few years. Some of them have been published on this blog, some are new. The stories are short and hence can be finished within a couple of hours on a weekday or weekend. It’s perfect for Coffee Break Readers (CBRs). I arranged to get all the stories edited by a professional editor, but the cover was designed by me – I guess it’s obvious

1330-feet Longest Banner with Thirukkural Verses @ Marina Beach, Chennai

Today (Sun, Jan. 10), the largest banner containing Thirukkural (திருக்குறள் ) verses in Tamil, was unveiled @ Marina beach, Chennai. This banner is 1330-feet long and has been brought out by தமிழர் பண்பாட்டு நடுவம் & தமிழ் ஆன்றோர் அவையும் organizations.

It seems they brought out a similar 440-feet banner last year, and this year they have almost tripled their effort with a 1330-feet banner. There are 1330 life-guiding verses in Thirukkural, estimated to be written more than 2000 years ago by a Saint called Thiruvalluvar. It is one of the prized, famed and precious possessions of Tamil people around the world, and now people are taking this literature to the world!

The organizers have applied for Guinness Book of World Records for this effort – let’s hope they get it.

These are their objectives and requests to the Indian Govt.: (As per their pamphlet given to me)

To announce Thirukkural as a national book.
To teach Thirukkural in all schools.
To bring out a stamp for Thirukkural in Tamil.
To build a statue for Thiruvalluvar in Parliament.
To declare Tamil as one of India’s official languages.

Here are some pics from today’s event:

Destination Infinity