Nupur Chowdhury's Blog, page 5

To the Faceless Co-Passenger on a Crowded Public Bus

I can't believe I wrote an actual poem about my epic (and well documented) awkwardness on public transportation. Well, here it is. Don't ask me what you did to deserve it. Commuting to work is hard, okay!! 
Dust motes and sweat stainsFaded graffiti over rusted steel platesAdvertising everything, from politicians to a massage parlor,The engine roars disgruntled, in smoky rancor.
I stepped on your feet, said I was sorryTell me mister, could you tell I was lying?Pushing through the rush-hour...

The Poetry Post #4

Festivity 
The festive season has begun
Time for fireworks, feasts and fun;
Relatives and friends come calling home,
Lights and colours, the walls adorn.

Florid wallpapers, the widening cracks disguise,
Dendrite mends the leaking pipes.

Prismatic lamps illumine dreary halls,
Ornate dresses and cashmere shawls;
And if the ripped petticoat within, be seen,
‘The delicate fabric caught the jewelled pin’.

Silver ornaments painted gold,
Bought last month, when the bed was sold.

Treats and sweets,...

The Confessions of a Recovering People-Pleaser

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I seem to only hit the keyboard when I’m in the middle of some life-altering personal epiphany these days. Oh well, my productivity issues aren’t news to anyone at this point. Note to self: be productive and write a blog post about your chronic lack of productivity sometime in the near future. But I’m here to talk about a different issue today. Namely, people-pleasing.
Now, I should preface this by saying that I’ve never really considered myself much of a pe...

Procrastination and Perfectionism – A Pernicious Circle

How to become a non-procrastinator in 5 not-so-easy steps?


I know I haven’t written a blog post in a very long time. In my defence, I have been very busy for the past year. I graduated college with a post grad diploma, completed a mandatory internship under a toxic supervisor, finished writing a novel, started my first job and have started querying the novel (and also amassed a respectable number of rejection slips).
So what drove me to write this now? Well, my schedule certainly hasn’t gotten...

The Poetry Post #3

Pretend
Pretend you’re not here, pretend it’s not me,
Pretend the knife in your back doesn’t bear my fingerprints;
Pretend the red in my hands doesn’t flow from your broken heart,
Pretend we can go back to those forgotten days, that innocent past.

Pretend we’re back to the night you smiled at me,
With every yearning breath I relive that memory;
Your last smile, our last kiss,
Just this once, pretend you can forgive.

I may not apologise,
On that fateful night, I forfeit the right;
It’s a crime I am desti...

The Quake: A Short Story

Preeti sighed as the ground lurched violently under her feet once again. The man was a veritable nuisance.
“Oh no not those,” she repeated with slight irritation in her voice. “The white ones. They’re crunchier. I told you didn’t I?”
“Are you suicidal?” the man growled, frustrated. “This building will collapse any second now and you’ll die, taking me with you!” he spat.
Preeti sighed again. “You do realise that we are surrounded by multi-storied apartments on both sides of the road, right?” she...