Write Tribe- day 2 - 7 am in the morning....

It was 7am already. Nita was getting late for work. She hurried to the shower and switched on the light.

‘Phat!’

The bulb burst and broke into a thousand pieces. Suddenly there was complete darkness and Nita stood stunned. She cleaned the mess, lit a candle and turned the shower knob.

‘Plonk’

The shower nozzle fell down and landed on her feet.

‘Aww..’

She jumped in pain and fright.

‘What a way to start the morning!’, she thought.

When she finally got ready, she realized she had very little time for breakfast.

‘Let me make a quick omlette.’

She poured the beaten egg into the pan and lo! the omelette flew out of the pan like Mexican jumping beans!

‘Is this some kind of a joke?’, she asked the pan in a stern voice.

The pan just seemed to smile and say,

‘Don’t give me that look. It’s your bad day, darling!’

‘Whatever!’, she said with a resigned look.

She limped (‘grrr.. the shower nozzle be cursed!’) to the doorway with an empty growling stomach.

‘Let me pick up something to eat on the way to work.’

‘whirrrrr…whirrrr…whirr…’

‘Now what? You have decide to conspire too, Mr. Car? Why won’t you start?’

She got down and kicked the tyre with her feet forgetting it was already hurt.

‘Awww…awww..no!’

She limped to the taxi stand and tried to hail down a cab. There was none in sight. She limped further hoping to find one. She had almost walked to the main road. Vehicles were whizzing past and she tried to protect her precious hair and face from the smoke and pollution using her scarf.

‘Watch where you are going, lady!’

She turned around to see a man in a car that had swerved just in time to avoid hitting her.

‘Sorry!’

Before she could turn back and continue walking, a huge truck came out of nowhere and crashed into her.

                                                                   *******

‘Hello good morning,
Let’s go, let’s rock,
Hello,
Yeah, come on,
good morning.’

Nita got up with a start soaked in her own sweat.

‘Darn, the alarm! It’s 7am already. But thank god! It was just a dream!’

She hurried to the shower and switched on the light.

‘Phat!’

The bulb burst and broke into a thousand pieces. Suddenly there was complete darkness.

Sweet and sour memories

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 41; the forty-first 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. The theme for the month is "SWEET AND SOUR"

A couple of weeks ago, we visited Dad's eldest brother who was bedridden. Bade papa was all of 85, yet full of life and energy. He saw us stream in to meet him and the most radiant smile lit up his face. 

"Come, come, come..." he beckoned us in and motioned for us to sit around him. 

Badi Ma, dutifully arranged for chairs to be placed around his bed so that he could see and talk to all of us. His memory seemed to be failing him and he pointed to my hubby, 

"This is....." he tried hard to remember.

"My husband, S" I added helpfully.

"Ah! yes, how can I forget!" 

He turned slowly to my sister and recognised her immediately. He seemed mighty pleased with himself and clicked his frail fingers in glee. Taking a cue, she brought her husband closer to him and told his name. 

"Oh, yes, I know, I know..." he said, not wanting us to know he had indeed forgotten the names.

The kids came around and climbed on his bed jumping around, seemingly oblivious to the old man on the bed. 

"Sshhhh....get down this minute," I chided.

"No, no..let them be," he brushed my comment aside, "I like it this way...if kids don't behave like this, who else will? you and me?" he laughed.

I was scared they'd fall on him and cause him pain.

We spoke for a long time about the good times and he would pause to reflect on those memories as if they had just passed by. He was struggling to speak with the slur in his voice, and badi ma dutifully translated what we could not understand.

Finally we got up to leave and he hugged each one us lying down. 

"I might not be around the next time you visit here" he remarked, as I took a last look before leaving his room. A thin smile trying to form on his lips but quickly fading away.

A lump formed in my throat at the thought of never being able to see him again. "No bade papa, you'll be fine," I assured, not so sure myself, "don't say such things."

He simply nodded and smiled, maybe at my immaturity, maybe at my childlike wish.

We spoke about him on our way back home. He had been an inspiration to all of us with his vast knowledge, his thirst for education for every single member of our large family, and his sense of humour and wit. 

The next day we had been travelling back home by train, when Dad called us to tell us that bade papa had passed away that afternoon. It was incredibly hard to believe that the man we had seen in flesh and blood less than 24 hours ago was no more. 

Badi Ma told us how happy he had been after we left. Till he went to bed, he could not stop raving about us and our kids and the wonderful time we had together, she said. 

Sweet and sour memories these, souring before we could enjoy the sweetness of it all. But these are the ones I will cherish all my life. I am happy we were able to make the visit that day, or I would have lost the opportunity of bringing him whatever little happiness we did, in his final moments.

RIP Bade Papa.

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. Participation Count: 04

Write tribe- Day 1- Seven things about me!!

The Write Tribe Festival of Words kick starts today. It is a seven day blogging festival with SEVEN as its theme will be celebrated from the 1st to the 7th of September. 

Some 88 Bloggers have already registered for this first Write Tribe Festival of Words. Looks like it will be a rollercoaster of fun and creativity!!

You can join us in this celebration too. To sign up fill this form or visit the Write Tribe blog.

Looking forward to meet you in this Festival of Words!

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To start off I decided to tell you seven things about me. 

1.       I am crazily fond of kajal.

Irrespective of whether I’m going out or staying at home, I make it a point to smear my eyes with kajal every single day. Yeah…that’s how crazy I am!! Little wonder then, that I find kohl lined eyes incredibly beautiful.

2.       I lust after Kishore da’s songs.

I guess everyone who knows me also knows how this man makes me sooooo crazy. Maybe we have a past life connection!  I listen to his songs day in and day out irrespective of whether I’m writing, or cooking or reading….I'm listening to him now... and I know all his songs by heart…yea…I can pick up the song with the very first note….!! My favorite Kishore da songs are "phoolon ke rang se, dil ki kalam se" and "pal pal dil ke pass"

3.       Small things make me extremely happy.

Hubby always tells me how easy it is to make me happy. A small praise here, a little pat there, a bar of chocolate, and that would be enough to make me really happy!! But I can always sniff out flattery and I loathe it…

4.       I am more sensitive than mimosa pudica…

I cry when I see emotional scenes. Yea…even if I have seen that several times before!!  Marriage and ‘bidai’ scenes make me very teary eyed as do death scenes!! I end up making quite a ‘scene’ of myself, crying myself silly!! I am very scared of horror movies, and when I watch them, I usually sit next to my hubby with a secure pillow in front of my face!

Hurtful words, insensitive words, even a higher decibel of the voice….have the ability to trigger my tear gland within no time!

5.       I am an outdoor person.

that's my gang..the 3 missing people are clicking this snap and hence not visible here! 

I love travelling, and lucky to have a hubby who shares my passion…luckier still to have a gang of friends who share this as well!! We were initially a group of 6 couples, who over the past decade have increased to 24, with two kids each!! Weekends, long holidays, and the silliest of reasons are enough to get us off on a nice getaway…we have travelled with heavily pregnant girls (well into the 8^th month!!) and little infants ( as small as 3 months old!), in brief nothing has stopped us from taking our little trips!!!

6.       I still love to drink milk.

While everyone I know, goes ‘yuck’ at the mere mention of milk, I can drink tons of it! I like it flavoured with rose, or almonds or just plain with sugar…and I like it cold.  No tea or coffee for me. now, now...don't crinkle your noses!!!

7.       I make friends at the drop of a hat.

And I keep them too! I can be extremely comfortable in the alienist of surroundings and making friends acquaintances out of total strangers is no big deal for me. Of course not all acquaintances turn into friendships, but those that do become close, I make every effort to keep them that way.

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A first....

A Victory

That's a screen shot of my story that got published in the August issue of Tamarind rice , an online magazine. Kind of felt nice to see my name in print! The issue was about freedom and my post was just about that! Read the story on page 10-11 of the august issue and let me know how you liked it!!

Some more yap yap yapp....

It is not everyday that someone asks you for an interview and so when Rahul from Desire v/s Destiny asked me to share a few tidbits about myself, I thought why not ! So I've shared a few random thoughts about myself, my favorite things, my favorite bloggers and a whole lot of other things. Basically a sneak peek of who I am. An excerpt from the interview....

     1. Can you tell us a little about yourself? your blog , and your aspirations and your hobbies !!

The first thing you’d notice about me is how much I talk! I hate being alone with no one to talk to (though my mom says I have this innate ability to make walls talk too if I’m ever left alone!!)

After a successful 12 yr long career in the Pharmaceutical and Banking sector, I am a full time home maker, and mother to two amazing boys.

I blog at “The little princess” (www.titli15081977.blogspot.in). Someday I hope to see books authored by me flying off bookshelves (and hopefully the reason isn’t an impending earthquake or Tsunami!) 

Read more about the interview here at :

Interview with Titli