Difference Between Proper Nouns & Common Nouns

On The Verge of Becoming A Writer

 

That night she was reading Salman Rushdie, an author she always wanted to read, not because of his well-known work particularly but because of the headlines he made for his work. She got hold of Midnight’s Children and was reading about what gave birth to such a magnificent work. It is always fascinating to know what force is behind any splendid creation. As she was melting herself into the work of Mr. Rushdie, she felt an urge, an urge that never left her alone whenever she read, an urge to relate herself to the characters of the book. She had this strange habit of relating herself to every character of the book especially the antagonist. I guess everyone who reads can relate. They say that the work of the author is the sum total of his experiences in life. Even the fiction is the product of more of his experience than his imagination. This she could tell from the books she had read; the writer’s take a lot from their personal lives.

This was the time of realization, she thought that her life story is also worth telling; at least she thought it to be interesting. And if she thought so, she can make her audience think so too, if she comes out to be a good writer. She put Salman Rushdie aside for the time being so that she could think of what part of her life she would want to share. While she was thinking she thought of Virginia Woolf, a writer she loved. She thought more of Mrs. Dalloway, one of the famous characters from her work, and how Virginia Woolf portrayed her using her own personal life. For instance, Mrs. Dalloway’s character realizes that she is bisexual in nature, of which Virginia Woolf herself was guilty about.

Putting one’s life instances in fiction seems to me a kind of forgery. But that’s how fictions come to life. They say fictions are more real than reality itself, I suppose this fact makes that happen. She thought she got to take inspiration from the writer’s work to become a successful one herself. But that might influence her work. Getting influence is not bad, but she wanted to produce something pure, something unadulterated. But then no work of art is unadulterated whether it was Picasso or Shakespeare, they all had someone or something that influenced them.

To Be continued….

In Search of a Beautiful Lagoon

She never knew a usual Friday evening will turn her life upside down. She wished it never happened. Though she has always been a girl acting on her impulses but this time she thought she might regret it. She had a feeling of being trapped and she felt she shouldn't have done it in the first place. She should never have ventured those unknown territories, these territories are not meant for her, she thought! But now she is in the unknowns not quite sure where the path might lead. She feels lost, as she cannot see the way out, the dark jungle has gone wild on her. Her current state of mind is nothing short of doubts, as she tries to find the path to her freedom again…freedom of her thoughts, freedom of herself. A girl who wants to be a bird and wishes to fly, has now flown to her own doom, she feels. She flew in search of a beautiful lagoon but landed in the middle of nothing. She wants to get out of it maybe, but little she knows that there is no way out now. But one thing stands sure she either will come out victorious or a sore loser. Whatever is in store, she wishes to find it soon as prolonged journey might tire her to an extent that she doesn't fly again. Also she wishes instead of her finding the lagoon, the lagoon finds her. She has gone very far this time in search of the lagoon, putting a lot of things on stake…

The girl has always been an adventurous one; she always had a wild streak which made her venture into the unknown. The unknown territories are not quite known for their kindness. She feared now…fear that she might get lost in the dark jungle…fear that she might not want to come out of the jungle. The darkness how much ever cruel it is…it tends to take the guest in its lap forever like a lover. She feared she might fall in love with the darkness and the lagoon search might not matter to her…

She might get engulfed by the dark jungle she has entered into, she thought…But as of now she just wants to put all her energies to find the lagoon.

Time will tell what is in store for her…

What if I fail?

“What if I fail Daddy?” Nancy who was preparing for her exams asked her father. Her father gave her a stern look, a look that could freeze water back into ice. She felt she had entered into an enemy camp by asking that question and she wanted to escape from there as soon as possible before she gets bombarded with words. Words that would have the capacity to rip her off her confidence, if there was left any. But to her surprise her father did not say anything, maybe he thought that his famous freezing look will suffice for now.  Nancy though relieved from the long question answer round, wanted an answer to that question. The question was ringing in her ears in a loop.

She did not want to fail because she knew the answer to the question. The possibilities scared her to death. Nancy knew that how much ever people around her support her but in the end life is an individual game. People around are just there as fillers, like an advertisement commercial between a test match. Everybody is responsible for their own performances, one either has to ball well or bat well.

Her reverie was broken when she heard her father politely say,”You would get another chance to try, my little doll!”Her father was noticing her ever since she asked that question. She had never thought of that answer. The answer sounded quite hopeful to her, but now she had another question in her mind. “What would my friends and relatives say?” Her father listened to the question and very thoughtfully answered, “that is there problem not yours, my girl!”  The girl said, “But daddy, I don’t want them to consider me a failure!” Her father patted her back and said “Nancy, you are not what people consider you; you are what you consider yourself!” Nancy felt as if a ton of load has been put off her chest. Her father’s words came as a breath of fresh air. Her father was speaking from the life’s experience. She was overwhelmed by the conversation she had with her father.  

Like Nancy we all at some point in time are confronted by these questions. I am sure we all have had our share of self doubt. But life is what we make out of it. Though like Nancy I have learned my lesson but still I think this question will haunt me forever, “What if I fail?”

Don't ever go to CCD - you make a better one!

Life at office can be great if your colleagues become your best of friends. I mean you share jokes, share lunch, laugh at the same stuff, bitch about your boss and what not…One thing I have learned from life that no day is complete without a hearty laughter and when you have friends and family who think alike nothing can be better than that.

November 8, 2014 will be marked as one most hilarious and fun days of my life. That day when my friend and I were coming from office, we decided to have coffee on the Rajiv Chowk metro station and that marked as a turning point in our friendship…They say a lot can happen over coffee and they are actually right! No we did not change our preferences; we still are attracted to the opposite gender. But yeah a lot happened…we made a promise to each other and made a decision that we will abide for our lifetime… ‘That we will never visit CCD again’

Let me narrate you from the beginning…we entered Café coffee Day, took a corner seat because the centre ones were all filled. (Of course that is just an excuse; we would go for corner seat even otherwise). We got seated, I took the sofa seat and she sat on the chair…We went there to have some mature discussion about life and stuff and of course to have coffee. Right after five minutes she went to place an order and came back all smiling at me…I can never forget that face of hers…she sat quietly without saying anything and I asked for the bill and that’s where the fun starts…The bill had an amount of whooping 780Rs. It was hilarious in a shocking kind of way…I mean really two cups of coffee for that much amount! I Still can’t believe it! We saw the bill and literally forgot everything. We laughed like hell and came to following conclusions:

• ·         We will never come to CCD again…
• ·         Even if we come we will not place a senseless order.
• ·         We will think thrice before placing an order.
• ·         Two cups of coffee at 780/- @ CCD = 20 coffees @ Mc Donalds
• ·         My friend will never take my advise while ordering anytime we go out…(She has literally put a ban on my ordering)

After this incident we both have realized that how foolishly we spend on things that are not even worth…Yes that coffee was not even worth! Our office boy makes a better one!

We have to give it a thought before we enter such hotels and restaurants before we end up loosing all our money to them. They serve us shit and we people buy that shit because it is expensive and served in a fancy bowl…

It was a Stupid Saturday! This incident will always make me laugh!

Thanks Kanika

We are Mutual Murderers! (Societal Eclipse)

Change is a constant variable. And I wonder why our society is not changing. Last write up that I wrote I very proudly proclaimed that it is not the age that is important but the right match. I now think I was wrong… Rather I am proven wrong. In India our whole life is centered towards marriage, we have to study hard to get a good match; we have to earn good to be a suitable match…everything we do should be socially acceptable to live a life, or in other words to find a match. I always thought that education helps in reformation…but seems in India even education is a hopeless tool because more than education it is the society that plays an important role in our decision making. It is not the educated mind that takes the decision but the mind that is molded by society. It seems that we have been blinded by the pointless counters of society. Reasons and logic do not seem to work with society! We let the people around us control our lives to an extent that we no longer respect our lives. It’s true that a man is the product of the society he lives in; and a lame society gives birth to a lame man and a lame mind.  India is the best example of a worthless society, where a 29 year old girl is forced to commit suicide just because she did not get a suitable match.

I was taken aback when I read this news.  A well educated girl of a very well educated family (mother-principal, father-doctor) hanged herself to death just because she did not get a right match. Honestly, at first I thought she was stupid to have done this, I actually cursed her for committing a crime like this…not taking life seriously…but to think of it on a deeper level it is not suicide but murder. We murdered her. We who make this society are murders. It was a cold blooded murder. I feel guilty because I am as much a part of society as anyone else.

When I was writing the last write up, it was on a very light note that I mentioned about it…I never thought that someone can be a victim on that level. This makes me think and question the progress that we claim to make. We are not progressing, we are regressing because I am sure incidents like this did not happen in ancient India, where a girl had to kill herself just because she is 29 and not married.  I know I am talking of an altogether different India but if this is the state of present India then it is better we do not progress. It is the societal eclipse that we are encountering, oblivion that it will engulf all of us. We are nurturing darkness in the garb of our futile and fatal societal norms.

Suicide is anyway illogical but I have never heard of a more illogical reason than this one.

May her soul rest in peace!

Marriage - Right age or right match?

Two decades and seven years have passed, quite a lot of time to think of it. Everybody says it is time to tie a knot and some even say that I am past the perfect age of getting married. Really! I want to ask what actually is the perfect age to get …….? I am sure everybody would have a different number in their mind. Let me share with you my experience, the reasons I have listened to. The marriage drama at my home started at the age of 21.Thankfully my parents were not involved then, they knew that it was indeed a tender age to be married. I still remember how in one of the marriage functions, one of our loud relatives pointed me out and told my parents about the prospective party. I just stood dumbstruck over there…really didn’t know how to react back then! Well my parents handled the situation wisely. Now to think of it if I would have got married at that time, things would
 have been a lot different…firstly I would not be writing this, secondly happiness and freedom would have been a question mark and what not…Mind you the last statement about happiness and freedom is not a statement against marriage, it was about the after effects! ;) I am not at all against marriage, rather marriage makes me very hopeful and worried about my soul mate because he would have to bear with me not matter what!

Coming back to the right age for marriage…I think the right age for marriage will always be a controversial, at least in the Indian context. Some say that the right age for girls to get married is right after their graduation when they are 20-21 years old…I really don’t understand what makes them think that way. A girl who hardly knows the worldly ways is expected to take care of a family and a full grown immature (sometimes). And when a girl turns 25, people bombard her and her parents with all stupid questions they can think of, for instance- ‘has she chosen someone already’ or ‘r u not searching a groom for her’ or ‘have you registered on a matrimonial site?’ and what not. I personally find this matrimonial business a little funny, I mean c’mon! My mother too goes crazy sometimes she makes search a prospective groom on a matrimonial site…and I always find it funny, making fun of the profiles with my siblings and it becomes epic when my mother too joins in the fun…

And when you are past 25 forget about relatives your friends too join the brigade with them…to be precise all the married friends. Their simple question like ‘when are you getting married’ with a special stress on you, leaves you speechless. I swear you don’t want to talk to them again…just because they are married doesn’t mean that was the right age to get married. Now if I continue writing I may write something offensive... so here I put my thoughts on hold.

At last I want to say it is not the right age but the right person that matters!