I’m thrilled to announce that I will be participating in the Blogging From A To Z Challenge this year! I participated in the 2014 challenge, and I have to say it was both exciting and exhausting. It also left me somewhat burnt out. But this year, I’ve had more time to prepare and I’ve decided to stick to a theme, which I think made this whole process so much easier!
I want to take my blog to the next level #Blogchatter
I was tagged by Eshita to write this post.
After a few years of blogging, most people wonder – what next? Their posts are going out to the interwebs, they have some followers, some readers, but what can they do to grow their blog?
Book Review: Our Moon has Blood Clots by Rahul Pandita
Rahul Pandita was fourteen years old in 1990 when he was forced to leave his home in Srinagar along with his family, who were Kashmiri Pandits: the Hindu minority within a Muslim-majority Kashmir that was becoming increasingly agitated with the cries of ‘Azadi’ from India. The heartbreaking story of Kashmir has so far been told through the prism of the brutality of the Indian state, and the pro-independence demands of separatists. But there is another part of the story that has remained unrecorded and buried. Our Moon Has Blood Clots is the unspoken chapter in the story of Kashmir, in which it was purged of the Kashmiri Pandit community in a violent ethnic cleansing backed by Islamist militants. Hundreds of people were tortured and killed, and about 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits were forced to leave their homes and spend the rest of their lives in exile in their own country. Rahul Pandita has written a deeply personal, powerful and unforgettable story of history, home and loss.
Moving into fear
A quick face painted with acrylics
How do you deal with fear? A lot of people will tell you it’s only by moving into whatever it is that you fear that you can overcome it. But how do you move into what you fear? How do you go boldly (or not so boldly) ahead into a situation that gives you the shivers? I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t have a clue.
Then, I took up painting. And as I tried and experimented and failed and tried again, I realized – this is how you move into fear!
You move into fear by sticking with something even when you’re scared and have no idea what the hell you’re doing. It means taking a piece you don’t like and working it until you do. And if you still don’t like it, chalking it up to experimenting and experience, and then cutting it up to use as the base of another piece, so you can reframe and redo.Continue reading
Delhi Lens: Art Show: Deck of Cards
On a recent Saturday, while I was struggling – and failing – to paint a vase of impressionistic flowers, a friend invited me to join her for the preview of an art show at the British Council. Titled Deck of Cards | Taash ke Patte, this is a unique show that juxtaposes the state of Indian art in 2016 with that of the UK from the 1970s.
It all started in 1976, to be precise, when a UK-based gallery sent 54 leading British artists a playing card and asked them to interpret that card using any medium of their choice. The show, when it opened, was a resounding success. Over the years, the entire collection has toured to over 22 countries and resulted in a physical pack of very artful playing cards that are still available today.Continue reading
Of Epilogues & Sequels
ep·i·logue
ˈepəˌlôɡ,ˈepəˌläɡ/
noun
noun: epilogue; plural noun: epilogues; noun: epilog; plural noun: epilogs
-
a section or speech at the end of a book or play that serves as a comment on or a conclusion to what has happened.
There are a lot of books that pull us into their world, and when they end, we wish there was a sequel. Or something more. We long to know what happened next.
One example is the Harry Potter series. Seven books later, and the internet still breaks every time J.K. Rowling gives us another little snippet from that world. Or Erin Morgenstern‘s Night Circus – where is the circus now? Whatever happened to Celia and Marco?
One book that’s been haunting me recently is Helene Wecker’s The Golem and the Djinni. This is my epilogue to the story.Continue reading
The Word
I’m fairly new to choosing a word of the year – last year was the first time I did this exercise. My word was Transform. I mapped out the areas of my life that I wanted to change and put down some milestones against them. And then, I wasn’t quite sure how to make it work…how it would be any different from regular New Year resolutions that you make on 1 January and break by the end of the month – if they even last that long?
Best books of 2015
I read over 50 books across a variety of genres – literary fiction, fantasy, YA, memoirs and more – in 2015. Here’s a round-up of 8 of my absolute favorites. Please enjoy.Continue reading
Intention setting: The impact that one word can have on your year
December is a month for reflection – for some quiet contemplation on the year gone by and planning for the year to come. While a lot of people set goals and New Year resolutions, I’ve learnt that this really does not work for me. What does seem to work is desire and intention. But first, we start with…
Book review: The Golem and The Djinni by Helene Wecker
What is it that makes us human? Is it blood, bones and skin? What then of a woman made of clay, or a man made of fire?
Is it our thoughts, our actions, our hopes, dreams and sorrows that make us human?
What then of the wizard who only wanted fame, power and life eternal? What of the Djinni who only hoped he hadn't harmed anyone while he was enslaved? Or of the masterless golem, who had to fight against her nature to make sure she didn't scare the people around her?
Or is it our actions that make us human?