Blog Marathon

Week 1, Post 2

Dad's Post:

Dear Readers,

After taking your opinion only, I am putting up Dad's post the way he wrote it. Let's see who breaks the code;) To me it seems pretty straight forward now :)


THIS HAPPENED 411 YEARS AGO


I can give the exact time difference to the people who would like to go into those details(the type 1 personality)As it is said that history repeats itself and there is a good couplet:

येः सच कि तरीखः दोहरति है खुद को ,लेकिन जो अच्हे होते हैं वोह् किस्से नहि -होते -

It means that repetition does not have what was good in it the first time.What actually happened in act 1 SCENE 1 was that shehzada asked Mehrunnisa how the pigeon flew away ,she threw up the next pigeon in the air ,exclaiming this is how!

Only 411 years later in act 1 scene 2the same story was repeated minus the best parts.For this i will have to fill in some details.

One of close family friends had to leave town for a couple of weeks and they were very fond of their pet parrot.They requested me to look after the pet so Mitthu entered our family.This was a amazing pet .while me and my wife(Of (in)eligble Bachelors fame) were discussing somebody and we laughed,immediately Mitthu echoed the laughter perfectly .Then we realized his latent qualities.

There was plenty of cucumbers in the garden for Mitthu to feed and he kept us amazed by his shear ingenuity.

The time passed quickly and it was with heavy heart that we had to return Mitthu to its original owners,there children were missing Mitthu.I went to the pet market brought a parrot,being of very good breed it started learning fast.

Now was the time for act 1 scene 2 minus the frills i.e.the shehzada Sid was missing ,though i can give you the exact lattitude and longitude from Botswana to india where he was at that moment ,so my daughter coolly opened the cage of the parrot to let it fly away.Neighbourhood boys and servants ran around looking at the tree tops,with no result.

We waited for our pet for next few days and as the days passed our hopes dwindled.

How we got a new occupent to this cage will be told to you in my next post.

Comments now ;)

Blog Marathon
Post 1 Of week 1

Singham, Moview Review.

*No Spoilers ahead*

Singham, in sanskrit means Lion. Each time Ajay Devgan did anything that was inkeeping with the meaning of the name, a lion roared a couple of times in the background.

It is this that killed me. In a good way. It is what made me want to stand on my feet in the cinema, whistle a couple of times and clap really hard.

I loved Singham.

I loved Singham for the tight,fast paced script, the mindblowing dialogues, the background score and the action scenes.

I particularly loved Singham's signature action stunt where Devgan would jump in the air in slow motion, and with a not too pretty grimace on his face, would bring his palm on the head of the poor bloke who had made the error of crossing Singham's path. The bloke would then bounce a couple of times like a ball. That did it for me. Really it did.

Ajay Devgan is exellent. He plays the character of a super cop well by ..well..underplaying it. The khakhi uniform, the spotlessly white Baniyaan showing from underneath, the ray ban shades, the stuck on muchchi- it was all absolutely perfect.

Full points to Prakash Raj. He is the perfect villan. Not stealing the actor's thunder but honestly, well....matching upto it for sure. I did not bat an eye lid (literally) when the two men confronted each other in what were some of the best scenes I have seen of late.

The story is simple. It plays on the age old formula of good versus evil. Of courage. Of standing up for what you believe in. Of standing up for what is correct and right.

But the star of the movie in my opinion was the back ground score. It added to each scene. It lifted the movie to another level, it made me sit up, it made me want to clap and whistle.


Singham is Ajay Devgan's Dabangg. Only it is much better. It does not trivialize issues. It lets big issues remain big. The stakes are high here. And there is little tomfoolery. It is serious. It throbs. Yes, it does. Its all muscle and brawn. But with heart.


I therefore, highly recommend it to people who love masala movies. Go watch it. If posisble dont watch it in a multiplex. If I were a guy in India, I would not even buy balcony tickets for this one.



4.5 stars from me. Only because I do not give any movie 5 as a matter of principle.


P.S Bloggers and all you creative people! The Book give away is on fire. Close to 100 entries already but hardly any from the most creative people I know!You guys! Do go to this link and have some fun and give the non-bloggers a run for ...err...my book ?lols!

Dear Readers,

Side note first: I have just started a flash fiction (less than 10 words) contest on the Facebok page of the book. Winner gets pretty much the first copy of the book my publishers post to me :) My way of saying thank you to all of you for your support prior to the release of the book!

Visit here to take part in the competition that is already heating up!

Do take part. It is a LOT of fun. Plus you get my first copy of the book :)

My Dad, a doc by profession, is an exceptionally intelligent man. From what I know of him, I am convinced he has a photographic memory too.

He has written a small, very small piece for the blog. I had to read it some 5 times before it all made sense to me. That too after Mum had explained his post.

Now, I have two options, I can either elaborate his post or put it up the way he has written it.

Suggestions?


Love
RP

PS The Marathon has completed one moth! Yeaaayy! but the posts will continue for some more time. Only I am going to reduce the number of posts to two a week.

Neha's Guest Post

Blog Marathon: Tuesday Post
Reason why the post was not put up on Tuesay: RP dozed off on the sofa

MY / the non author’s STORY: I have often stared at crumpled ATM withdrawl receipts and shoved them back in my pocket. Have even tried looking into a pot full of boiling tea leaves, trying to find the sunset colours in it but I couldn’t.

Sigh, I wanted to write, and the great authors do hunt for these seemingly insignificant things for inspiration, don’t they?

Well, I am a surgery post graduate resident and the most “in my face” and obvious thing in my life right now is my residency. Its obvious I should write about it, but of course my lips are sealed. Though only till the day I pass and run out of my prestigious institute . ( holding close to myself the degree and the pass certificate). Plus there is no time to write.

I multitask like my most fellow comrades : am a doctor. But I don’t just, for eg. , say, order an xray to be done. I tell the ward sister “sister ji, patient ko xray room bhej do”.

She’ll say “theek hai” and go back to her more imp task of checking out the other sister’s nail paint.
I wait.
Then I go find the ward boy. “bhaiya please patient ko chod aao xray me” . He’ll say “ok, ma’am” with a broad grin and go back to whisling a new chartbuster.

Mornings are always beautiful for him. Never suffers morning blues like us lesser mortals.

I wait.

Then I shout.

Then I catch hold of his arm, forgetting I am a doctor, going to be a surgeon and push him a little (with my 5’2” height that is all I can do) “ bhaiya jaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaao”

Grrrrrrrrrr. Now u know why the ward boy is humming the new chartbuster and not me. That is because I am in the hospital till late night doing the moron’s or someone else’s work.

Doctors, sigh.

Well, that is my story :)

Non author : who shall someday return as the angry young woman to narrate her story. Adieu till then!

Ram pyari’s / the auhor’s story : Well, Well, she did get inspired by the fading mehndi of her hands. So she is the author.

Lovely, brilliant and adorable Ram Pyari.

Aapki Ram Pyari will soon be “Madame RP of the ineligible bachelor’s fame” (so, we pray, hope and wish)

By the way, I am one of the the lucky two people who have already read the book. (and if some Sherlock Holmes thinks I am Siddharth in written disguise, I’m not ;) ).

Will tell you guys why everyone should read the book!! :-

1) Its about “marriages”!!! Oh c’mon, they are like “the event” in our indian lives. It is not your, mine or sombody’s wedding. Its nani dadi chacha chachi mausa masi, masi’s mom in law, and also the very important and very own aunty from the neighbourhood’s affair as well. Did you ever see this aunty ever bothering to take interet when you were struggling to get into college or deciding what to do with your career when u passed out?? That is the charm of shehnais, marigolds, and the gold ;)

2) Girl power : its about “us”. Independent headstrong bold ( smug smile :)) career women who do fall in love, who do get caught up in the arranged marriage chaos. All of us HATE the idea of our pictures being mailed to total strangers. And to be told that some xyz guy( with a paunch, a bald head and with hundred other imperfections) has rejected us coz our nose is not dead centre or because we area a little fat or a little too thin.

3) Its cost effective. (am I sounding cheap? NO! JUST THINK AGAIN OF THE END OF MONTH DAYS, YOU HYPOCRITES)

4) We all need a few laughs. We do. And this one is guaranteed to give you more than a few.

5) Its 100% gripping. You will not put it down before you finish it.

6) Its about mums too ;) your typical run of the mill mum. We love them. But, ah well, at times, well, you know what I mean. Please refer the book for details :)

7) Its by your Ram Pyari, and my didi. I haven’t known her for very long. But for some reason I absolutely adore her, can just pour out my heart to her and turn to her for help. Maybe because she is such a sweet heart. ( also she gave me a VERY COOL snake skin belt ;) )

8) Guys! Have you seen her pics??? Have you seen those coats and those high boots? You got to give credit to the fact that she is one classy chic! ;)

9) At the risk of sounding desperate and freaky : c’mon my fellow comrades, doctors, the residents,all the tragic heroes : lets raise a toast to this lovely young lady and her book. Pease find out time to read it. Its fab and it’s a stressbuster. AM KIDDING, I mean to address all you guys, the readers. Am sure you will enjoy the book as you have enjoyed reading RP’s blog

Dearest Ram pyari, am sure with your readers love and support the book is going to rock the bestsellers lists. You totally deserve it. Good things happen to good people. Lots of love from me. All the very best.

Dearest readers, thank you for bearing with me, if you did. Don’t u worry, the next post will be from Ram pyari, should clear this post’s hang over ;).

Love from me

Neharika



Thank you Neha for the lovely post. Yes, you one of the only two people on the planet who have read the entire book (except my publishers/ editors, i hope) and it was lovely to read what you had to say about my book. Love.

RP
HE7FF679B4GZ

I think she is dead

Blog Marathon: Sunday Post

So, I met her first at my own wedding. She was preparing for her MD entrance exams then and while her exams were just round the corner, she had refused to let them stand in the way of her attending my wedding. Needless to say, I was touched.

She came home at about 10:00 am on the day of the wedding and I took an instant like to her. I felt I was meeting someone I have known for a long long time....it was weird in a way.

Anyway, thats not the story. This blog post is about what happened the day after my wedding. Obviously, my 'vidai' had happened and I was not there when this happned, but this is how it went.

So she had been up till late in the night for my vidai, had come back to our place and crashed. You know how it is with the house of the bride the day after the wedding. Ours was no different. Chaos reigned supreme.

The morning after Mum was in the kitchen making tea when she thought she should wake her up.After all, she had a train to catch.

So Mom went to the room she was sleeping in and whispered her name.
No response.

She spoke out her name loudly.
No response.

She again spoke out her name, louder than last time.
Still no response.

Mom literally shouted her name and tried shaking her.
No respose from her but my Masi who had been sleeping next to her was wide awake by then.

Right, now Mom is paranoid. Sample this:

Me: 'Mom, I have a head ache'
Mom: Beta, it might be brain tumour. No, it has to be brain tumor.

Me: Mom, I am tired.
Mom: Thats a common symptom for cancer. Oh my God.

You get the drift. So anyways, coming back to the story. So there was Mum, still recovering from the vidai of her lovely daughter, without any sleep, standing infront of a girl who lay still. The girl was not moving. Neither was she responding. That is when Mom is believed to have said this to no one in particular in a horrified tone:

'I think she is dead'

Masi gasped and in true filmy style brought her hand to her mouth for effect.

'oh My god!', Mom is believed to have panicked.

She then went to Dad's room and conveyed to him the news that she believed that the sweet girl who had come to attend my wedding was dead.

'Please chaliye, dekhiye to kya ho gaya hai usko', she said pulling my Dad out of this bed.

Dad,a doctor by profession, then went to her room and checked her for life.

'She is fine', he said turning to look at her.
'but...' said Mom confused.
'She is just sleeping!' said Dad as he gently shook the poor, tired girl awake.

On that lovely note, let me introduce to the bloggers, Neha, who is going to write the next gues post. She is a beautiful, intelligent and veryy sweet soon to be surgeon from one of the top MD colleges in the country. I have the honour of knowing her and you will have the chance to read her first guest post.

Stay tuned.

Love
RP

Bhai

Blog Marathon: Thursday Post

So my brother called me up again. These days he generally calls me up and speaks to me in a serious baritone about:
1.what I have been doing for the marketing of the book.
2.Scold me a little bit about not doing enough
3.shout at me a little bit about what he things is going wrong
4.give me a few ideas that I have been stupid enough to not think of myself

In all act like the big brother he is not.

My brother, a doctor, is a year younger to me and calls me 'didi'.

So, he called me up yesterday.

'I have booked movie tickets for Mum and Dad' he said.

'Great', I said smiling 'they wanted to watch a movie?' I asked.

'Not really, Mum has not had a chance to go out too much so I just bought the tickets as Dad won't buy them'.

Dad wont buy tickets because unlike the rest of his brood, Dad is not that big a fan of movies. Not a big fan of paying theatre tickets. He frankly finds them over priced. I mean he enjoys movies but he would much rather buy a DVD and watch at home.

'Hmm...ok' I said. When had my brother, the tiny little cheeky boy who could make me laugh and cry like crazy turned into this man who was sensitive enough to know what Mum and Dad might like?

'But I am telling them you bought it', he added casually.

'What? Why?', I said surprised. A few weeks back, I had tried buying surprise movie tickets for Mum and Dad from London, but due to some issue with my India credit card, I had not been able to do it. I had told Bhai about this.

'Generally, they will like it more', he said casually.

I shook my head. Really when had this happened? When had that joker grown up? Right under my nose without me finding out anything?

'Okay', I said slowly very touched.

'Call Mum up and tell her that you have bought the tickets', he ordered.

'I will do that', i said.

'No, do it now. I am waiting'.

So, well... I called up Mum to tell her that I had bought her tickets that cost Rs 300. She was so happy and thanked me many times. She told me that she had hardly gone out in the last week and would love to go out for a movie. And then thanked me again and again.

'Thank you thank you', sang Ma, very happy. I heard Bhai in the background.

'Ma, why dont you say thank you to Bhai too?', i asked.

'Why?', she asked.

'Just like that', i said.


I spoke to Ma today. She told me how she was so touched with my gesture that she had even told Nani about the movie tickets. She had, she told me told Bhai many times since she found about the tickets that she had a fantastic daughter who even though lives thousands of kilometres away is concenrned about every little / big thing.

'What did Bhai say?', I asked Ma.

'Nothing, he just smiled', replied Ma.

May God bless you Bhai. I hope, pray and wish that your wishes come true. You are the most fantastic brother possible on this planet.

Love
Didi

Blog Marathon: Tuesday Post
Reason for delayed Post: Because I forgot on Tuesday that it was Tuesday

So, apparently, on Tuesdays I forget that it is Tuesday and hence I do not put up a post. I generally remember Thursdays and Sundays (for the post) but I forget Tuesdays. Also, I generally remember on Wednesday that it was Tuesday yesterday. Last night(Tuesday Night), I was sitting in my bed at 10:00 pm trying to write something for Thursday not realising that I needed to put up a post right away! I know I need to get my head checked. I will. Soon.

Now coming to Nikhil's post. Like Nikhil said, we were together at work. We (we were a group of 4 Management Trainees) were such a crazy bunch then. I had so much fun being with the gang that I dont think anyone has ever had such a cool gang of office friends. We were all straight out of some of the best B schools of the country, all of us were in awe of how much money we were making and I was in my home town(yipppeee)!

That one year at home after Bschool was the most fantastic! And for reason.
I was at home. I had decided who I was going to marry, and I was the bride to be ( people girls who are married will know what different treatment you get when you are the bride to be)

I was working, studying for GMAT, preparing for the wedding...and had ossumm friends. They were lovely days, full and happy....I miss those days sometimes...

Anyways, coming to the post, I am given to understand that there is immense speculation about which of Nikhil's multiple points are true?


My take on them:

After marriage when she moves to London, RP is going to:

· Develop a British accent, mait!

No, I dont have an accent. Not yet I think. I sometimes have to change my style of speaking just a little bit when I speak to people here, but no, I def do not have an accent.

· Color her hair blonde, and keep a hairbun.

Seriously, come on!For the record, my hair is jet black and I generally leave it open. I will wait for a couple of decades before I start setting it in a bun.

· Sport a overcoat, and goggles, and boots look.

Yes, that is true. I have many over coats now. I have two lovely pairs of boots that look amazing with jeans. I have always had goggles. So yes, true true true!



· Shop the hell out of D&G, LVMH, and Bvlgari. Goodbye Mango. You were too mass market!

*Sigh* I wish this were true.

· Keep a pet, and carry it around everywhere.
I will NEVER EVER do that! Pets freak me out.

· Smoke a cigar. Or rather not. She hates it. Cancel this one specifically for her.

Correct. I will never smoke.

· Cook a dish, burn it, and make Sid eat it. (The burn is accidental, the making him eat is not)

For those who have doubts. I cam back from work at 7:15 pm yesterday. Was dead tired but made Tarka daal, rice, vegetables and 10 rotis from scratch in one hour flat. Also for those interested, I am inviting some 6 people over for Sunday Lunch where I will be doing all the cooking. *Superior look*

· Haggle with the shopkeepers and vegetable vendors (if they exist there) to give her a discount, in pounds :) This out of the innate Indian within her.

I actually dont like haggling. But I dont like paying the price the shopkeeper asks for. So I haggle, though I dont enjoy it at all. Here in London no one haggles with anyone. I leave the haggling for India. Its one of the things I miss most about India. :)

· Join a kitty club or whatever you call that, play cards with her gang, and crib about her daughter in law as she grows old.

I come home from work dead tired, still do what is required for the book on the blog, the Facebook page, send emails, cook dinner and by the time I get into bed I am so so tired that I could cry of tiredness. And you talk about Kitty parties?


· Watch daily soaps like 'Balika Vadhu', 'Na aana is des laado', 'Yahan main ghar ghar kheli', 'Sabki laadli bebo', and of course, 'Chajje chajje ka pyaar' whenever she is home. Gosh! Why is television content going backward?

*Sigh* Right, so after the work, the book stuff, the cooking when I get into bed my lap top comes with me. There is a lovely website that streams Indian TV and I spend an happy 15-30 minutes watching my favourite shows. I feel connected to India that way. Currently I watch X factor very regularly. So yes, this is absolutely correct :)

· Call her family at least 5 times a day.

I call them atleast 10 times a day.:) Correct.

So in total 3 points are correct :) well done!


Now you guys know me better. Thanks a ton for the guest post, Nikhil :)

Love,
RP


PS The Facebook like page ( top right for the widget that will take you there) for 'The (In)eligible Bachelors' is sitting at a tantalizing 592. Pitch in folks ;)

Blog Marathon: Sunday Post
Guest Post by Nikhil
More about Nikhil here.

Raam Pyari

A big Hi to all RP fans! (Who might as well choose to unsubscribe from the fan list after seeing this sudden drop in blog quality).


As you would have noticed, RP is totally living up to her promise of posting three posts a week. And for those few occasions when she does not feel like writing at all, she has asked for some fillers from some near and dear ones. That's what she calls Plan B. Sid, of course, is one of such persons. Poor Sid, I wonder the multiple threats he would be facing these days. I remember his brave attempt at writing (dictating) 'Jack and Jill went up the hill'. Way to go, buddy. I am on your side.


By now you would have guessed that I am under similar pressure to write a blog post for the lady. After giving it a deep, serious thought for almost 23 days, 19 hours, 41 minutes and 3 seconds, I thought why not give you some snippets about your author's life, the quintessential RP. After all, I have had the luxury of knowing and observing her at our previous workplace. Note that I will be restricting myself to only the fun part here, as RP hasn't yet wire transferred the full amount she promised to pay me to write good things about her. Of course, I don't need to comment on her writing skills and the passion behind it :)


If you have followed her posts well you would not disagree even slightly over the fact that she is the biggest drama queen to have been born on this earth. If the words that come out of her are melodramatic, try imagining about the ones that do not and remain only thoughts in her shaitan mind. She has a reaction on almost everything! She has always been like this, and was the same when we used to work together on some high priority problems and discuss the same in the company's conference rooms. Problems like who's dating who, which boss is the most sadu, etc etc. Work was taking a toll on our lives. After all, we were the youngest future leaders of the firm!


Interesting story this. One fine day we got to know that RP is getting married. Hona kya tha, the office was abuzz with speculations, some said out aloud and some only grapevine. From the boss to the peon, everyone was talking about her. Miss popular. What follows is a not-so-comprehensive, whatever-I-could-recall list for you guys.


After marriage when she moves to London, RP is going to:

· Develop a British accent, mait!

· Color her hair blonde, and keep a hairbun.

· Sport a overcoat, and goggles, and boots look.

· Shop the hell out of D&G, LVMH, and Bvlgari. Goodbye Mango. You were too mass market!

· Keep a pet, and carry it around everywhere.

· Smoke a cigar. Or rather not. She hates it. Cancel this one specifically for her.

· Cook a dish, burn it, and make Sid eat it. (The burn is accidental, the making him eat is not)

· Haggle with the shopkeepers and vegetable vendors (if they exist there) to give her a discount, in pounds :) This out of the innate Indian within her.

· Join a kitty club or whatever you call that, play cards with her gang, and crib about her daughter in law as she grows old.

· Watch daily soaps like 'Balika Vadhu', 'Na aana is des laado', 'Yahan main ghar ghar kheli', 'Sabki laadli bebo', and of course, 'Chajje chajje ka pyaar' whenever she is home. Gosh! Why is television content going backward?

· Call her family at least 5 times a day.

· Ask for hardship allowance if her company makes her stay beyond 1800 hours.

Thankfully, in my cognizance, only two and a half of these things have actually happened, yet. Which ones, you are free to make your own guesses! RP, did I miss anything major?


Having said that, hats off to her, for moving to an unknown land, managing office, home, and a future bestseller in an excellent fashion. Brave girl! And for being a special, special friend. With whom you can connect right where you left, whether it is after days, or months!


So that was for you, RP. Keep writing and entertaining. And wish you all the luck for your book :)

Blog Marathon : Thursday Post
What's in a name?

Naming anything, however insignificant, is difficult. I had trouble naming my favourite pencil when I was in class 3.

The little chicken I had as a pet ( who incidentally died the day after it came to us, *adequately sad Sigh*)...well...let me not even go there. I was awake the whole night thinking of a name for him/ her ( I never really found out the gender and I am not sure how you do that in the case of chickens). I finally decided that 'Chooza' would be an appropriate name and dozed off in the early hours. Only unfortunately Chooza was dead by the time I got up.

When I was in class 6, we got a not so small puppy. A girl puppy. I recall that we, as a family debated for days and days without being able to decide the name of the girl-puppy. It is a different matter all together that the puppy refused to respond to any name except the one it was used to. And it is again a completely different matter all together that the name the dog used to respond to was, of all names possible, 'Shweta'.

And it is again a completely different matter that at that point in time we knew 3 human being shwetas including a very dignified Shweta Aunty who incidentally stopped visiting us as regularly after we got Shweta.

Shweta Aunty. Poor Shweta Aunty. She came to meet us soon after we got Shweta. During her stay I had to (and I repeat, had to) say things like:

'Heel, Shweta'
'Stay Shweta'
'Sit Shweta'
'Stupid Idiot Shweta'

Trust me I had to say all of this. The situation demanded that. Shweta Aunty gave us a superior condescending glance and walked away not to return for a long long time.

You wonder what happened to Shweta? Did Shweta and I form a lasting bond that we humans can form only with dogs? Did Shweta live for 15 glorious years bringing us much joy, love and laughter? Did I feel that a part of me was gone forever when Shweta was put to sleep?

No.

None of this happened.

She ran away. She ran away with a mongoose. And no, I am not making this up. 2 months after we got her she ran away with a Mongoose. Our neighbour saw her elope and alerted us. We searched and searched in the near by slums:

'Bhai Sahab, aapne ek oodbilaw aur ek kutte koh saath dekha hai?'

Yes, we asked this question to the slum dwellers who looked at us as if we were mad. A little naked boy running in the mud was the only one who said he had seen the pair and took us to the sewage pit.

'There?' my Mum asked.
'Yes' he said. And laughed. And ran away.


Anyways, so the girl puppy ran away.
Eloped.

Anyways, I digress.

So the point is that naming anything is quite difficult.

Naming your first book is Oh-My-Gawd difficult!

So many many many months back when I had hardly even started Chapter Number Two of my book, I went to watch a movie here in London. As the credits rolled I literally jumped off my seat.

Because somewhere on the screen was written 'Happily Ever After'.

It was music to my ears. It was magic to my eyes.

That had to be the name of my book. Happily Ever After.

Happily.
Ever.
After.


So that is what I named my book straight away. Right there, unfinished bottle of pepsi in my hand, no idea where the story would go, but the book was named.

Happily Ever After by Ram Pyaari. How lovely!

A couple of months passed. Wonders of wonders, with a full time job also, I managed to finish the book. The lovely people at Rupa & Co. agreed to publish it (God Bless those kind souls).

And then it happened.

They did not like the title of the book.

In the meanwhile I asked around. As it turned out a LOT of people did not like the name. Some said it was too girly, others said it was plain boring. Some even said that they would not pick up a book called 'Happily Ever After'. (Apologies to authors who actually have a book called 'Happily Ever after')

Hmmm.

So I had to agree with my publishers. Maybe, I thought ruefully, it was not a great name after all.

So I brain stormed and came up with new names. That list included potential disasters like 'Marry who?' (Yes, I thought of that name as well. I shudder now.)

I sent the names I thought of to Sid, my brother and Nikhil. Nikhil rubbished most of the names I had suggested and came up with a list of names he could think of.

Sitting on number 2 on the list sent to me in an email was a name with which everyone now knows my book by- The(In)eligible Bachelors.

Right, question.
Who is Nikhil? Nikhil and I worked together for about 3 months, both left the company but the friendship stayed on :) And this post was actually an introduction to Nikhil who will be writing the next post!

Here is the link to Nikhil's blog :http://solitaryduel.blogspot.com
If you like this, please do come back on Sunday as he will be posting his first guest on my blog :) Come back and encourage him with your comments!

I need to say just one more thing about the title now. Three words. Heartfelt and genuine.

Thank You, Nikhil.

RP

Blog Marathon: Tuesday Post

I am exhausted. There is so much happening that I am just trying to keep breathing and doing what is required.

(Try to) Keep Calm and carry on. That is the mantra

Today I was just thinking that at this rate I will have a heart attack soon enough. You know what was the next thought that crossed my mind? God, please, not before the book comes out.

I almost burst out laughing when I realised how my brain is working these days.

None of the things happening are bad. I am travelling, I am working long hours, I am finalizing details about the book, I am trying to market the book, I am cooking dinner, I am going out with my husband to watch movies, I am calling up my Mum ten times a day to give her some detail that would mean nothing to anyone but her...but it is all adding up to a lot.

There are always pending emails to answer, pending work to be done, laundry to be done, utensils to wash, room to tidy, office to go to, calls to make.....*sigh*


Anyways, there are a few pending guest posts lined up. I am trying to goad those people into writing it. Lets see if i can succeed (see! more work! chasing these people. People who have promised a post, please thoda sharm karo!)

Right, my day is done now. I need to eat, watch X factor on the Internet and sleep.

Good night!

Sunday Post

Ramdom Post

After many many many years, I am putting up a random post. As always in bullet points :

1. I went to the Wimbledon (Yeaaaayyyy)

2. I saw Mahesh Bhupati.

3. I saw Leander Paes play. Yeaaay. He lost. Not Yeaaaaay

4. I snooped around and soon figured out that the girl sitting in front of me was Rhea Pillai, Leander's wife

5. To encourage Leander Paes, Rhea would shout 'Chal Lee, Chal'.

6. Some of the Indian supporters also picked up the 'Chal Lee Chal' chant

7.Straweberries and cream is over rated.

8. I saw Delhi Belly and was shocked

9. I saw 'Buddha Hoga Tera Baap' and left mid way

10. I also saw Transformers and almost fell asleep

11. I am horribly excited about the book. When will Mid august come?

12. The FB page ( http://www.facebook.com/#!/theinEligiblebachelors) has 486 likes. Yeaaaay.
12.5. 14 remain for the magic number of 500. *Hint* *Hint*

13. Believe it or no, some Bollywood actors, TV actors, boxers, authors, reality stars, script writers, theatre personalities have commented / liked the page

14. How they landed on my page- I do not know. I just know that I am very grateful for their kind words.

15. Shirish Kunder, Editor/ Director has even shared the link of my book page on his FB page with a message that reads 'check out the new talent'. I know it is crazy. And no I do not have contacts in Bollywood. And I am the 'talent'. Yeaaaayyy.
15.5 Like I said, it has been crazy on that Facebook Page.

16. I LOVE X Factor India. I think I have a crush on Sanjay Leela Bhansali. He is uber cool.

17. I want to read this book called 'Even Silence has an end'.

18. I promise I will go for the skating class this weekend. Good.

19. I promised the same thing last weekend. Not Good.

20. And the weekend before. *Sigh*

21. I dread Monday mornings. From today onwards, I wont :)

And enither should you. Have a nice week. Enjoy your work. We are all lucky to be employed.


Raam Pyaari.