“I fell in love with you that very minute” replied Rhea kissing Frank lovingly.

“But, what’s in a name honey?” asked frank.

Rhea bit her lip before replying, “you have no idea how rich I became the day I fell in love with you, Frank”

“This is why I love you so much, for you are so frank!” replied Frank with a knowing smile.

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In recent times, I have seen many bloggers transform to successful published authors. At a time, when my personal life has taken priority over my passion for spinning stories in writing (for I still spin stories but for my little daughter). A few months back, the hidden desire to write a book myself resurfaced. I was so motivated by the thought that I actually started worrying what publisher to send my manuscript to, once I am done.

This is a classic example of building castles in air. I actually had a concrete plot in my mind (well when was I ever short of plots anyway). Typing down a few thousand words wasn’t an issue for I have actually written ten thousand word stories in three days flat. If you’re wondering if this was my status of preparation, my book should be ready by now.

Alas! that’s the only thing not done for I haven’t typed a single word.

It so happened that I was worrying about the title of the book on a Sunday afternoon when I dosed off while putting my daughter to sleep. Since, my mind was overflowing with thoughts about writing the book, I had a dream on the same lines. Dreams have the power to give all ventures wings. I dreamt that my manuscript was approved and my book was all set for a launch before media and the masses.

Dates were set and I was busy preparing for the launch, that’s where the trouble began. My publisher suggested the need of media attention for the success of my book, hence the need to prepare myself for interviews and public appearances. I tried to gulp the fear of facing live masses, just when the need to address the press started giving me shivers and goosebumps. The need to jump on the stage before celebrity faces and giving a memorable speech to mark the launch of my book was enough to press sweat beads on my brow and I woke up in fear, trying to get hold of a glass of water before I start my speech.

There was no podium, no media, no glare of flash-lights and no public to applaud my maiden venture of writing a best-seller. My irregular heartbeat and disturbed mind find solace in the soft snoring of my little daughter, while I turned on my laptop to erase the file I’d created to type my manuscript.

I just spilled the secret that has kept me from trying my hand at writing a book.

P.S.- If you are thinking my fears are unfounded, please read this article by Susan Kiernan-Lewis

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Maria on the other hand was busy with her toddler and trying her best to complete her first novel to meet her publisher’s deadline. She was unable to figure out the climax. Peter’s touring job left her struggling to meet up with her baby’s expectations to get any free time to work out her story-line. She wanted to surprise Peter about the book so she’d kept it a secret till now.

The trouble started when she would ask Peter all sort of imaginary questions to help her with story-writing. With work stress, staying away from his baby and fatigue taking over his sane mind, Peter started doubting his wife to be having an affair.

One fine evening, Peter decided to return home a couple of days earlier than his schedule to catch Maria red-handed. Maria was busy working on her story after putting the baby to sleep.

Suddenly there was a thud in the lounge. Maria was alarmed but then she didn’t bother to go and check for she wanted to finish the story that night. He could hear something rustle by the kitchen. She was determined to write the climax of her thriller novel to bother. But then the thought of her baby, made her get up. The baby was fast asleep but suddenly there was a loud screech. As if someone had stepped on baby’s screeching clown.

Sweat trickled down her brow as she tried to swallow the lump rising in her throat. She was scared, but she wanted to act brave. She grabbed a shoe from the shoe rack on her way to the lounge. She wanted to poke the high heel or hit anyone on the head with it, if need be.

She was slowly walking towards the light switch when tripped over something with a loud scream. Just them something clicked and the lights turned on.

Peter had just stepped in the house with his key and turned on the light to spot his wife nursing her hurt back and a man rubbing his head as if someone had hit him hard in the head.

‘Caught you’ was all Peter could utter with anger burning in his eyes. Before Maria could understand anything, the unknown man uttered, ‘Please don’t call the police’.

trying to dial a number, Peter retorted, ‘I am calling my lawyer not the police’.

Now it was Maria’s turn to shout, ‘Peter have you gone crazy? Why call our lawyer for a burglar in the house?’

‘Burglar?? who? I know you are pretending, he is your lover.’ replied Peter putting his cellphone on his ear.

As Peter and Maria got busy in their usual fight, the thief tried to sneak out of the door. Just then Maria hurled her high heel sandal to hit the man in the head with the steel heel.

The shoe hit the aim and she got the climax for her novel.

P.S.- I know, I have been missing from the blog scene. I am trying to get back to regular writing, but Bubbly keeps me very busy.

Hope you guys are having a great time this New Year.

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If you don’t have a sure-shot answer to any of the above then worry not for this isn’t the sin of your old age nor is it the outcome of your fading memory, but because I have actually been banned from blogging.

You read that right, someone/something is preventing me from writing on my own blog. But somehow, I have managed to sneak in to type this post at my fastest typing speed ever.

If you noticed a book review posted by me in your reader or your mailbox which happened to have disappeared in thin air the minute you tried to click to read on my blog, well, the author requested me to pull it down for she is looking forward to selling her novel to a BIG production house this January whereas I rated the book a generous mere two stars.

Coming to the main topic, the reason of my disappearance. I have been banned from blogging. The person behind it isn’t WordPress or Google or any copyright infringement police but my own little daughter. Yeah Bubbly. She absolutely dislikes my use of laptop even for 5 minutes. The minute she sees me touching the laptop her eyes are glued to my hands and what ever happens on the screen.

With every passing nano-second she gets impatient for she believes that this big black illuminated object steals her mother’s precious free time which she could have been spending with her (Bubbly). So Bubbly makes it a point to scream and get restless till I finally shut the laptop down.

I am here to tell you all, that I haven’t quit blogging and neither have I forgotten all you fabulous people out there. It’s just a matter of time and I’ll be back with my stories (hopefully).

Till then, party till you drop and do drop by to visit this space often every now & then.

Bye for now for I can’t upset her any longer, else someday this might happen –>

….Happy New Year 2012 in advance

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I know it sounds crazy and I coined the term out of my desire to create an alliteration. OK, let’s get to the main point.

I’ll begin with a recent example. Just yesterday, I was shopping at a grocery store when the bill was 283. In order to help with the change to be given the cashier at the outlet asked me if I had a two dollar change. I knew I had and opened up my purse and there it was. Searching items in my purse has never been a difficult task for I am a pretty systematic person who regularly updates and arranges her belongings. But that isn’t the issue at the moment.

Coming back to the grocery store. Though I found the two dollar coin in less than 8 seconds but my mind was stuck in the balance I should be getting back. I know, like always I was on a fast forward to future note. It’s simple arithmetical calculation, but those two were the real cause of my worry. I gave him bills of 100,50,10,20,5 and even some coins. So I should be getting back err… +7??? Ah had it been 98 then adding 2 dollars would solve it all, but I was stuck. Will I be getting back those two dollars in excess or less? How do I subtract? I was about to get these questions answered, just when the cashier handed me the change.

I am ordinarily a very content soul, I usually accept everything given to me with a grateful smile without doubting anything/ anyone. But money matters that have already confused me are the rare exceptions. I decided to quietly accept the cashier’s calculation and accept the change just when he announced,” there is some error with the computer. I hope the change is correct.”

My last straw of hope was nowhere to be found. I was lost again. The fear of a potential loss started hovering my ever-over-cautious mind. I gently nodded my head, took the change and stepped aside. I wasn’t ready to give up and continued with the Maths in my mind for the fear of loss. I was still in the premises and in case of error in calculation I could claim them right away

I could see the cashier glare at me wondering, how crazy can a woman of this age be. My mind calculated that I was paid three dollars extra and I decided to settle the issue. It was a matter of honesty and I so I decided to be the noble and honest citizen of the world I waited for the person at the check out to finish and politely moved to make my point. The cashier looked impressed and declared the computers were back to function.

The next five seconds he calculated my bill on the now-back-to-health computer and said,“Thank you for patiently waiting and getting back here. You saved me from lot of trouble, for there was an error in my calculation.” Everyone around could see my proud grin, which didn’t last any longer for the cashier continued,” you owe the store 4 dollars and ninety-five cents. Thank you”

My pride came crashing down and I heard my heart-break with a loud sound. Annoyed at my pompous behavior I settled the account and returned home like a  penny wise pound foolish

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I looked straight into his eyes and he returned the glare. I could see apprehension and hesitation clear in those big black eyes, whereas I tried my best to keep a straight face. The clock was ticking fast, I had to find a way out of this difficult situation. I could not muster courage to push the door behind him, nor could I force him to excuse me.

Anxiety was stealing my cool, I could feel a drop of sweat trickle down my back. We were both glued to our positions, not moving an inch, not even blinking our eyes. It wasn’t love but it was definitely making my stomach churn.

I had to make a move. I couldn’t let fear keep me glued there. I tried to scare him, but to no avail.

I looked around the room without losing my concentration to note every move he made. My eyes finally spotted a rod kept at some distance. I decided to get hold of it with a lightening speed.

The moment I leapt at the rod, he ran too. In the opposite direction.

He escaped to save his life and I thanked God for saving me from yet another big, brown, lizard.

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I learnt the important lesson of being patient from you. My mind buzzing with tasks to complete learnt to enjoy the beauty of relaxation for there’s more to life than finishing everything in a rat race.

I learnt the wisdom of taking it bit by bit from you, for too big a bite would take ages to be assembled in my system.

You gifted me the love of humming songs for myself, rather than downloading them. This form of entertainment never existed in my life before and I fear I’m losing grip on it again.

It was only cause of you that every page of life gave me the joy of anticipation, but it was the patience I learnt from you that kept me going.

You’ve given me so many reasons to love you, yet I feel no regrets in biding you adieu.

I know I sound like an ungrateful girlfriend, but I wish to inform you that I have found someone I love more than you.

It’s sad you aren’t a part of my life anymore, but I want you to stay only in my memories and nowhere around.

Dear slow dial-up connection, you’ll be missed for your patience.

With a heavy heart I say goodbye to those countless hours we spent together trying to get my assignments done and files downloaded.

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Picture courtesy: Glogster.com

It wasn’t long before they were all gone. Sweating, I slowly placed last of my cash, one bill at a time, in the excited hands of the girl sitting across the table.

I was finished…broke…in no time.

Monopoly can be scary!

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Continuing my series, “Life lessons from my blog” I’ll be highlighting many such lessons blogging has gifted me with.

If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.

Of the hundreds of blogs that I regularly read or more correctly I have subscriptions of , most fit in two major categories. Personal  & Mommy blogs.

The one character that these two variety of blogs beautifully reflect that is different from all others is the virtue of celebrating their individuality. The fascination and ease with which their writers carry themselves and their overwhelming fan-following for everything they do in their daily lives.

When I started blogging almost 4.5 years ago, I was very conscious on the selection of topics to write. Though I started blogging with a personal blog, but I was very aware or say worried of what might people think of me if I dared to bare how silly I was. As time moved on I evolved. Not by myself but with the help of the fabulous blogs I have been reading over these years.

Have you ever noticed how much we enjoy reading anecdotes that make us feel that we aren’t the only crazy souls walking on this planet? Writers who make us realize how lucky/happy/blessed we are with whatever we do in our daily lives? Don’t you just smile when someone narrates their daily life as it is without any twist or salt & pepper? I do

What is it that makes us smile at those posts written with honesty and without the worry that their readers would consider them foolish or irresponsible or would judge them in any or every way? It is the quality of being oneself in fully honesty. The contentment these writers draw from this realization keeps them going. This is the secret that helps them churn out interesting tales day-after-day.

What would be better than feeling comfortable about all you do. Feeling happy about all the decisions you make in life, no-matter what their outcome might be ? But it all begins with one step at a time. The stepping stone being ready to be yourself, no-matter how embarrassing it might be.

Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.

Read other parts of the series, ‘Life lessons from my blog’ here…

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Picture Courtesy: daytobeyou.com

It’s not only children who grow.  Parents do too.  As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours.  I can’t tell my children to reach for the sun.  All I can do is reach for it, myself.

~ Joyce Maynard

The lessons I have learnt in the past three months:

5. Instead of aiming for perfection try striking the best balance you can.

It’s a mistake I often make. Trying to keep the house spotless clean after sleepless nights in a row and trying to cook everything from the scratch to satisfy my itch for perfection in all I cook sometimes bends me beyond my elastic limit. The outcome, pain, frustration and irritation on being such a fool.

4. Have faith in yourself and always remember,being a good mum isn’t tough and neither is it complicated.

Your baby isn’t here to judge you. She/he loves you unconditionally whether you dress him up in clothes with no thought of color scheme or the trends in vogue. No matter you get them the best of toys or the simple home crafted ones,they’ll just love you for who you are to them. So don’t waste time working on being a good mum, for every mum is simply the world for her baby.

3. We all make mistakes. Don’t freak out, just learn from them and move on.

When Bubbly was born I had no clue how to handle her. Whether I was supporting her enough was always on my mind while she was in my arms. I know it sounds silly but I really couldn’t stop worrying. In the process, I was not being able to enjoy the pleasure moments of our bonding offered. There were even times when Bubbly almost slipped from my hands.My heart stopped beating for a long minute,but, I did regain balance. Loosing sanity over the mistakes we make isn’t fair. It’s far better to make mistakes and learn from them rather never trying to do anything for the fear of making mistakes.

2. Don’t compare yourself to other people. You’re unique and I personally feel, no one has got it all.

It’s a tricky situation. I try to keep it stuck in my mind, but I am often guilty of comparing myself with other parents around. Many times even the way I remember how my parents brought me up. But as time has rolled on, I have realized every mum/dad knows her/his kid best. So follow your heart. Go by your instincts. You might not be right every time but you’ll learn to be responsible for your actions. You’ll learn to observe minutely for the signs that’ll be of immense help to you in future.

1. Don’t let guilt step in your life.

Whenever we talk about parenting, the number one topic that rings in the minds of most moms is Mommy Guilt. I do not believe in the concept. After all we moms are human beings too. Only a mom can understand how precious a baby is for her. Then why burden her soul with feeling of guilt for every small she choice she makes? I think it is unwise and even cruel to a mum to judge her if she decides to spend few moments for herself or makes choices that sound selfish to the world sitting idle to judge everyone other than their own self.

Always remember,every parent is a human too. Don’t see yourself in the mirrors others build with levels of expectations set to unpractical limits. Instead see yourself through the eyes of your baby, who loves you for who you are irrespective of what you are in the eyes of the world. ~ Chatterbox

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Picture Courtesy: mychildhealth.net