Yours, Forever

She waited outside the window in the pitch dark night, looking at the drama unfolding inside. She knew it would be time soon.

People inside were shedding tears of sorrow, while she was drenched with tears of joy. After all these years, she had almost forgotten that this situation would have normally demanded a grim attitude.  She had lost all of those feelings now. And moreso, she knew he was going to come, so there was no possibility of any sorrow.

Suddenly, the wailing inside increased. At the right moment she moved in through the window, and stood beside his figure. The people surrounding him on the bed were beating their chests and wailing sorrowfully. The doctor drew the white sheet over his head.

She welcomed him with a smile as he rose from the bed without effort and held her hand. She had waited long enough. He planted a kiss on her forehead as they started walking through the people and drifted towards the sky without ever looking back.

The Last Breath

He felt suffocated, trapped in the warm liquid. Its stench around him was unbearable. The need for fresh air was increasing as his nostrils started getting clogged. His throat soon started burning with the gush of the liquid within. He prayed for light & air but felt dazed and groggy. A strong force was helping him towards the much needed freedom but wasn't strong enough to help him out. In moments, he was saved by a painful yet strong pull but he couldn't breathe due to the liquid in his lungs. His head throbbed and his heart felt weak pumping as much blood it could. He tried opening his eyes unsuccessfully. He couldn't let out any sound as much as he tried. The pats on his back were harder now and he could hear faint voices. His fight soon ended as he breathed his first and last while he let out a gurgling sound. The doctor turned to the nurse and spoke with dismay, "It was a boy!"

So, flipkart reverts back to me

It was a pleasant surprise to have found an e-mail in my inbox first thing in the morning from a person working with flipkart. In the e-mail were a 'Thank You' and a link directing to the changes made on the website which will now alert potential buyers to the fact that the book isn't an authentic Jane Austen but it is a version which is 'Retold'.

I thank the individual for owning up to the mistake and for taking proper corrective action.

The changes are the title which now clearly indicates that it is 'Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice: Retold by W. Sequeira, A. D'Souza (Illustrator)'. The picture below contains the corrections.

And to add to everything else, I even got a phone call from 2 executives at flipkart.com. I was pretty overwhelmed by their gesture. They've promised me a replacement for the book and as mentioned above, the website has also undergone changes. A number was given to me by one of their executives on which I'm supposed to call in case I face issues in the future.

In this world of fierce competition, it feels good to see a company take efforts to delight customers. Despite their initial mistake, my respect for flipkart now has been restored. As the old Hindi saying goes, 'Subah ka bhoola agar shaam ko ghar aa jaaye toh usko bhoola nahi kehte'  .. :)

'Retold' - Does this word seem significant?

Yeah, the title is stupid! But, considering what I've gone through in the last 4 days, it doesn't seem to me as insignificant a word as it seems to you.

www.flipkart.com.. this is where I do most of my shopping for books. And I'm a Bibliophile (read: Bibliomaniac), so I don't order less than 7 books a month. On Feb 20th I ordered the book, 'Pride And Prejudice' authored by Jane Austen. I was always fascinated by her, and I'd read some part of her book 'Emma', years ago as per a friend's suggestion. I couldn't finish it, as she was shifting from her residence and she was a Bibliophile (read: Bibliocentric) herself; so, she went away taking the book with her, as if it was the last copy of 'Emma' on this Earth; and I completely forgot buying a new book. So, years later, some days ago, I decided that I would complete my then-incomplete feat and read all books by Jane Austen. 'Pride And Prejudice' seemed to me, a title apt to start off with. So, I went ahead and ordered 2 books, the one mentioned and 'Sense And Sensibility'. The books came one at a time, the latter preceding the former. (FYI: flipkart provides Home Delivery on COD basis too :) ).

'Sense And Sensibility' seemed in perfect condition. I read a few pages till 'Pride And Prejudice' was delivered. I was at college when the latter arrived on 23rd Feb. After reaching home at 11.30pm, I held the book in my hand. It was a hard-bound copy. I immediately realized my first mistake. With hardback, comes the issue of convenience; and FYI, I carry a 3kg laptop with me everyday (I usually do most of my fiction reading in the local train while travelling).

So, moving on, I opened the book. My first reaction was 'What the FF...'.. !! The book was, to my horror, ILLUSTRATED and the font size was so big that I'd have to strain NOT a single eye-muscle to read it from even THE MOON. :( .. The real problem had not dawned on me yet. I thought at that time, 'It's ok! It looks like a Fairytale book. So what! My friends would laugh a bit. But it's ok. It's our Jane Austen after all. And that's all I want.'..

I started reading the book; carried it to college too.. Friends sneered.. I said, "WTF is your problem!" I continued reading it, but with a sense of skepticism. Why was my dear Austen using such basic English! And why was she so hell-bent on narrating the story in such short sentences! Why wasn't I being given the description of every single feeling, every emotion! And WHY THE HELL was she addressing some Mr. Bingley as 'her'. Mr. Bingley was a Mr. and that makes him a 'him'. I got seriously annoyed; closed the book and returned home from college.

I searched online for Austen, J books and downloaded 'Pride And Prejudice'. I started reading, and to my horror, the language used was so different and so good as compared to the hard copy I had. I opened the book. And KABBOOMM.. On the 2nd page were the words.. 'Retold by W. Sequeira & A.D' Souza'. I got wild, went online, and checked my order. Nowhere was it written that the story in the book was RETOLD. I wrote to flipkart expressing my disappointment, and asking them to replace my copy. It wasn't my fault I believe, yet, the incident made me understand the value of one word.. 'Retold'.. :)

I know what I did in the last 7 months

So, I'm back again.. back to the world where I had loved living the most.. back to the world which kept me occupied for most of my 'unoccupied' time.. back to the world where nothing required second thoughts.

When I was stamped 'a loser', this world helped me win.. this world gave me a mode to express, a mode to share, a mode to opine. So, this BLOGGING world meant a lot to me. Despite that, it's exactly 7 months that I've blogged. I start again today, and promise myself to never stop again. :)

A lot has happened in these 7 months. I saw the world (literally, the world), that I'd never ever seen before. I saw and met some kind of people that I'd never ever seen before. I saw myself, like I'd never ever seen before. Before you start thinking that I'm giving you some philosophical crap, let me remind you that I'm doing an MBA currently.. :)


I've learnt a lot of new things in these 7 months. A lot many new words (good, bad and ugly, alike :P ) .. scores of new theories, dozens of kinds of human behaviour, names of umpteen brands & their parent companies, dozens of names of all kinds of liquor, tons of names of crappy old CVO movies, new ways of getting work done from people, and last but not the least.. I've learnt how to behave.. behave as if nothing's happened, even if the sky came crashing down.. behave in a rational manner, even in the most irrational of situations.. behave using your intellect, and chuck your heart out of all situations.. behave practically, and leave no room for emotions. In short, I've learnt awesome sense of control in these 7 months, which is the most important learning I've ever got in my life.

These 7 months also were those months wherein I did nothing apart from going to college, studying, finishing assignments, hanging out with only my B-School friends, and being part of adventures I had never thought I would ever take part in. And thus, I was left feeling so tired at the end of the day, that I completely stopped reading and writing. So, starting last week, I made a list of things I'd do in the coming 15 months (till I complete my MBA) and many more months to come, in order  to not lose touch with my literary side. And the first of the things in the list is to complete reading books that I always wanted to, but never got the chance to, either due to unavailability of the book, time or money.

As a finishing note, here are some of the books from my list.. :)

1. Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
2. The Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
3. The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
4. Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell
5. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
6. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
7. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
8. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
9. Emma - Jane Austen
10. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
11. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
12. The Argumentative Indian - Amartya Sen
13. Gone with the Wind - Margaret Mitchell
14. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie
15. The Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie
16. Nineteen Eighty-Four - George Orwell
17. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
18. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
19. Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
20. We, the living - Ayn Rand
21. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
22. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
23. India Unbound - Gurucharan Das
24. The Puma Story - Robert-Herbert Peters
25. Tuesdays with Morrie - Pitch Albom
26. Maximum City - Suketu Mehta

Regards,
Pooja Menon

P.S.: I realized that I wrote out the 'Regards' above, without realizing that I was blogging and not e-mailing. Yet, I chose to not delete it, to remind myself, that I need to blog more often.. :)

"Not-so-feminine" ME

Nethra.. Thanks for tagging me.. :-) And sorry for doing it so late.. Some issues are keeping me real busy since a couple of weeks.. So, I'm away from social networking.. Though, I'll be back soon..

The following are the ten Not-So-Feminine features about ME.. Hope you all will enjoy the read! :)

All people who know me well, will for sure not believe what I've written below, 'coz I love being called feminine and I'm mostly called so by many. But, all of it is true. Only my Mom, brother and one or two friends have witnessed in person what I'm confessing below. So read on.. :-D

1. I always used to fancy riding heavy bikes, in place of stupid pink scootys (No offence intended to the ones who ride any :-D). The most bizarre thought that caught my mind was a few months ago, when my brother was supposed to sell off his Unicorn, to buy a car. That was when I thought of approaching him, and asking him to sell me the bike instead. :-P .. Don't ask me if I ended up asking him or not. Read the 2nd point of my last post instead. :-D

2. I prefer wearing t-shirts (which are meant for men and thus, tend to be 10 sizes bigger than mine) and boxer shorts (meant for men) when at home, instead of feminine shorts or track pants. This is due to the simple fact that I always prefer wearing what I feel comfortable in.

3. I hate going to the beauty parlor. Not that all girls love going to a parlor, but my reasons for hating it are not  so feminine. I love being natural; without any traces of foreign particles on my skin, hair or nails. I'm the happiest when I haven't plucked my eyebrows, waxed my skin, bleached my face or manicured my hands for about three to four months. :-P

4. I like sitting like men, without any inhibitions. With hands crossed behind the head, elbows stretched outwards and one foot resting on the knee of the other leg. Only a handful people have seen me in this pose, 'coz I'm mostly pretending. :-P (Once in a blue moon, you may catch me standing like a man too, when I'm not paying attention :-D)

5. I love fighting with my nephew the way his dad (my brother) fights with him. Not that this quality is really masculine, seems kiddish instead. :-P

6. I have a rather husky voice, instead of the typical feminine sweet voice. That makes me sound rather too old for my voice to some, and too young to some.

7. I have a coffee mug which is too loud and bold to be possessed by a female. I had purchased it from CCD after having liked the pattern on the mug.

8. I don't haggle with vendors or shopkeepers for reduction of prices. Like many naive males, I end up paying what I'm asked to. That's sounds real stupid of me, but sincerely I hate shouting at the top of my voice and letting all around me know what I'm purchasing and for how much!

9. I don't have a craving for chocolates like many females. Instead, I hate eating sweets. Only when required, I can have a piece or two of a sweet of my choice.

10. Lastly, the quality that makes me feel proud about myself and for sure will be a boon for my partner. I HATE GOSSIPING AND BITCHING even with girls. I never join girly groups to discuss good-looking boys or bitch about girls. I rather hang around with guys or with girls when they're not bickering. :-P

So, these were the 10 'not-so-feminine' things about me, according to me and some close friends. Hope it was a good read. And, I ain't carrying forward the tag because it's too late now and most of my blogger friends have already done it or have been tagged by someone else. Adioss... :-)

3 things!

Firstly, Nethra ... Thanks for the tag :)

Here goes..

* 3 Famous Names of Mine: Pooja, Poo, Menon

* 3 Things that Scare Me: My Elder Brother(though he's not a thing), Darkness, Dogs

* 3 Things that make me Smile: Soft Romantic Songs, Playing with Babies, Eating Chicken


* 3 Things that I Love: (Since it's things..).. My Laptop, My Collection of Books, Tasty Food .. :P

* 3 Things I Hate: Unnecessary Attitude in wannabes, Being in the Limelight, Hunger for Power in people

* 3 Things I don't understand: Shakespearen English :P, The Caste System in India, My Love for HIM :)

* 3 Things I am doing right now: Thinking for & Writing this post, Eating Lays :P,  Listening to AR Rahman 

* 3 Things I can't do: Say 'NO' to someone, Compromise over something, Climb a Tree :P

* 3 Things I think you should listen to: Birds at dawn, Me..singing :P, My MOM..shouting at Me (you'll marvel at how much I can endure :P)

* 3 Shows I watched as a Kid: Disney Hour, He-Man on DD, Tom & Jerry shows

* 3 Things I want in a Relationship: LOVE, FIDELITY and COMPATIBILITY

* 3 Things of the Opposite Sex that appeal to me: Height, Maturity, Confidence

* 3 Favorite Fictitious Characters: Aladin (the one with the magic lamp), Mowgli, Howard Roark from The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)

* 3 Favorite Hobbies: Writing, Reading Fiction, Eating my nephew's head :P

* 3 Beverages I drink regularly: Tea, Tang, Buttermilk (Salted Lassi for Starters :P)

* 3 Things I like about myself: My Tolerance, My Love for Mom, My Patience with Kids

* 3 Things I hate about myself: My Laziness, and thus My Weight Gain, My Ego

* 3 Things I'm wearing right now: A miniature hair clip, Shorts, T-Shirt

* 2 Truths and a Lie: I Love Living, I Hate Confessing my Love to Someone, I NEVER LIE :D

* 3 People I pass this tag to: Vibushan, Romeo Das, Sriram Agarwal

Hope you people do the tag, and pass it on.. Adios.. :)

Hidden

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 11; the eleventh edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Hari sat sweating on the leather couch, his pulse racing with every gone second. "Should I, should I not!" His thoughts were in a constant skirmish with one another. His phone rang; he answered. The voice said, "Remember, you are hidden, only some minutes to go!" He stared into oblivion for some time.

The briefcase screamed from the corner of the room, "PICK ME UP!", it seemed to say, "TAKE ME!" Hari got up from the couch.

He checked his tie in the mirror and when all seemed perfect, he shouted with all his strength for the one last time, "God, forgive me!!!" He started crying. Then, wiping his tears, he collected himself and started for the door. The briefcase smiled at him and wished him luck. He picked it up, came out of his hotel room, locked the door, took the elevator, smiled at the bellboy, reached the reception and checked out.

He walked some distance and hired a cab. His phone rang, it said, "You know what you got to do, ain't you?" He hung up cursing, tensed. He got out of the cab. Walked and reached the location. His briefcase shouted, "Not this one fool, the next one!" He stopped. He was tired of playing hide-and-seek for the past 5 days. He had to be hidden from everybody. But he knew, he couldn't hide from himself.

The train arrived and he boarded. It was jam packed; somehow he managed to get a seat in one corner. He sat, clutching at his briefcase.

He closed his eyes and drifted back into memories. His first bicycle: his father had saved for the money for 10 months to get one for his son; he rode on it for the whole day and had reached home bruised and aching all over. The first time he got burnt: he had accidentally stepped on  a burnt firecracker and his mother had shed buckets of tears. Praneeta, his first love: he had failed miserably to satisfy her for the first time and had broken up. His first salary: the gleaming sari for his mother and the coat for his father. His marriage: he had got married amidst a lot of fight; his wife was an outcast; but their love helped them win over everybody. The birth of his son: how his son resembled him was the hottest story amongst all relatives, still. And then, this phone call one day, on his son's 7th birthday. "Sumi, Arpan, where are you, Ohh God!!" he had shouted on returning back from office to home. The caller said, "Trust me, they are with us. Trust me even more, you fail there, your wife gets raped and your son, castrated!"

He opened his eyes, moist. The lady beside him, with her 2 year old son, asked him if he needed some water. The son eagerly offered him water from his pink bunny-shaped water sipper. He took a sip. His briefcase pleaded for some fresh air. He needed some too, he thought.

He came out of the crowd to the door and leaned outside. His briefcase breathed openly, quite aware it were the last moments. He opened his arms, looked at his watch, "It's time! Time to reveal the hidden!", he screamed.

11 July, 2006 - 6:35pm: There was a huge explosion on a fast train bound to Virar from Churchgate at Borivali station.

Hari, now unhidden, lay on the track minus his limbs, with parts of his briefcase and the pink bunny-shaped water sipper beside him.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.