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Showing posts from 2015

My Gratitude List for 2015

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One post is not enough to sum up what a great and eventfulyear 2015 has been. So here’s the second post.  Looking back at the year that went by I realize I have so much to be grateful about. My Gratitude List for December is here. I feel elated to finally share it with you all. I am thankful for: 1.         Being an active part of an initiative- I had always wanted to take part in a group initiative, however small it might it. Taking part in the ‘ Secret Santa ’ initiative was so much fun. I learned a lot in the process- spreading happiness and cheer, believing more in giving than in receiving, and that there is no need for an occasion to gift someone, even a stranger. Bringing a smile to someone’s face can feel so good. I connected with so many like minded souls, read their words, felt inspired. The feeling of belonging was great. 2.      Being able to donate for charity- For the first time in life I made a donation from my own earning. I sponsored a family of four f

The Year That 2015 Was...

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2015 saw immense emotional growth in me. I found my strengths and held onto them tight- discovered many-a-things about myself. I grew more than a bit at an intellectual level too. There was parting and meeting with family and friends, a bit of homesickness too, but with a lifetime of experiences . Infosys, Mysore- Looks Greek, doesn't it? I got my call letter from Infosys in April, 2015. I was to join the Infosys training institute at Mysore- World’s largest corporate training institute, on 24 th May, 2015. Luckily I got one of my college besties as my roomie. And the awesome journey began. The place itself was enough to give you the feel good vibes- beautiful green campus, picturesque lake, world class architecture, and delicious food at the food courts. It was the best thing that happened in my life since years. The place itself would make you feel grateful and privileged to be there. It was as if ‘mundane’ didn’t exist there. Only your own adventure did. I was surrou

Down the Memory Lane #UnwrapChristmas

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It only takes a spark to get the fire going. And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love, Once you have experienced it You want to sing You feel like spring You want to pass it on… A few of us gathered together for Secret Santa tidings, divided by names and united through a common Christmas spirit of sharing. And it is in this spirit that we bring this blog chain to you. I am thankful to Roshan Radhakrishnan  for passing on the baton of spreading Christmas joy and spirit. It is here through words and my secret santee  that I #UnwrapChristmas on my blog for you. Christmas’s here. The season of giving, the season of festivities and cheer. It’s December and our perfect occasion for the year-end celebration has arrived. Families are preparing for picnics, friends and colleges are planning parties, and kids are excited about their winter vacations. Companies are organizing fun events for their employees-

The Bestseller She Wrote

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Book Blurb: He was a bestseller… She wanted him to make her one. Paperback king, Aditya Kapoor’s life is straight out of a modern man’s fantasy. His literary stardom is perfectly balanced by a loving wife and a spectacular career. With everything he touches turning to gold, Aditya is on a winning streak. Shreya Kaushik is a student with a heart full of ambition. Young, beautiful, and reckless, Shreya speaks her mind and obsessively chases after what she wants. And what she wants is to be a bestselling author. What happens when their worlds collide? Is it possible to love two people at the same time? Can real ambition come in the way of blind passion? Can trust once broken, be regained? Master storyteller Ravi Subramanian, delves into the glitzy world of bestsellers and uncovers a risky dalliance between a superstar novelist and his alluring protégé. The Bestseller She Wrote is a combustible cocktail of love, betrayal and redemption. My Review: This is the first book

“The Fall” [2006] – A Tribute to the Power of Stories

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   I welcome Arun Kumar of Passion For Movies whose reviews have an identity of their own and shows his undulated love for movies. I thank him for finding time and agreeing to do a guest post in Magic Moments. It's a huge privilege. So here's a guest post by him on one of his favorite movies.   “The Fall” [2006] – A Tribute to the Power of Stories   Sometimes, you make an emotional bond with a film and dissect or interpret its vision in different ways, while a fellow movie-lover would pan it by using the most loathful words. Tarsem Singh’s visually exuberant movie, “The Fall” (2006) falls into that category. Many critics deemed it as a self-indulgent, vanity project; or as a preposterously intolerable, childish story. Does Tarsem have abundant directorial ego that drove the likes of Jodorowsky, Lynch or Gilliam, who all persistently came up with outlandishly inventive visuals? I would say yes. As a movie-lover, this so-called ‘directorial ego’ has always fa

‘Sputnik Sweetheart’ by Haruki Murakami

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Book Blurb: A mystery story about love, the cosmos and other fictional universes Sumire is in love with a woman seventeen years her senior. But whereas Miu is glamorous and successful, Sumire is an aspiring writer who dresses in an oversized second-hand coat and heavy boots like a character in a Kerouac novel. Sumire spends hours on the phone talking to her best friend K about the big questions in life: what is sexual desire, and should she ever tell Miu how she feels for her? Meanwhile K wonders whether he should confess his own unrequited love for Sumire. Then, a desperate Miu calls from a small Greek island: Sumire has mysteriously vanished... This is the first book by H.Murakami that I read. The blurb has most of the story. So here I’ll focus on whatever’s going on in my mind after reading this novel. One thing that I realized by reading this, don’t read it for the sake of knowing what happens to the characters at the end. One reason- it is abrupt. You don’t g

When Our Worlds Collide by Aniesha Brahma

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  Let me arrange my thoughts first- this book has made me so overwhelmed- ecstatic sometimes and sometimes unusually happy. I have read certain books and watched a few movies about fulfilling wish lists, going on ‘once in a lifetime’ adventure trips, and the likes of it. So I was apprehensive when I began reading. I couldn’t be more wrong. The characters were so fresh, so new and endearing that I sighed that they don’t exist in real life. Or perhaps they do? I beg Aniesha Brahma, our dear author to reveal. And the plot gets its essence from her soulful writing. It’s not your usual lovey-dovey tale. It’s about living in those simple moments of life and cherishing the memories ever after. I had read ‘The Secret Proposal’ by the author and was hooked by her writing. In ‘When Our Worlds Collide’ I couldn’t help but reread certain sentences, certain thoughts and quotes again and again. I vouch it, my love for words are to blame. The events and incidents recreated themselves in my

Michael's Mystery- Book Review

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Book Blurb: It was time for the Lords of the High Council to step in when the Grandmaster of Kryane is accused of murdering his own people. They had little choice but to prevent the collapse of the whole magicians order, so they sent Michael to investigate the allegations. The people of the desert planet were an enigma, but none more than Andesine, the healer assigned to assist Michael. Why did she report the Grandmaster? Was she involved, or was there something more sinister going on? The more people they interrogated the more they suspected that nothing was as it seemed. Not the murders, nor the Grandmasters' motive as everyone thought. Unable to resist the growing attraction between them, Michael and Andesine learn that they had to trust each other with their own secrets, and risking any future they might have. Time and again the High Lords had to step in to prevent chaos on Kryane, but time was running out for Michael and Andesine. They had to get a new Grandmaster

Tamasha

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  ‘Tamasha’ is deep. You need a great deal of patience and an open mind that neither judges nor assumes creativity, to appreciate it. Some of my personal thoughts, after watching the movie: 1.        We perhaps sometimes fall in love with the illusion of the person that we create for ourselves- our imaginative version of that person, not what he really is. And it hurts a lot when we realize it later. 2.        Some of us live life- the daily monotonous drudgery of routine. Some of us play it out. Play each and every moment as if it were a story, and we were characters in it. To escape the reality, we make our imagination our reality. 3.        Sometimes we hide our real selves behind a mask for the fear of judgment and ridicule. And in the process of living such a life, we actually forget what and who we really are. We forget the identity that we were, our uniqueness, in adapting the mask that the world wants us to become. Only if we are lucky, we are reminded of our re

The Lost Crown- A Book Review

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From the book blurb: “A symbol of wealth, power and prosperity, the crown was never meant to be found.” Carried away in the torrents of curiosity, Dr Ryan Johnson is accompanied by his happy-go-lucky friend, Christian Willis, to the golden city of Jaisalmer, India, in search of a crown lost centuries ago. They never expected a simple archaeological excavation to turn into a game of life and death. Problems arise when Ryan picks up a street fight and finds himself in a messy situation with a feisty, Deiva Chauhan. In a foreign land rich in traditional acts, his bachelorhood is at stake when he is simply ordered to act as Deiva’s fiancé. An easy ordeal if only the two could get along. Ryan discovers that his expedition was never an easy one especially if the only clue available was an old tale which to his disbelief said that magic was involved in hiding the crown. In a romantic adventure where Ryan’s beliefs are questioned and courage is tested, will he be able to stand up to t

When Our Worlds Collide

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About the Book: Akriti has led a pretty much sheltered life.  Zayn has been shuttled from city to city when he was growing up.  She is comfortable watching her life from the sidelines.  He wants to feel rooted to a place he can call ‘home’.  They meet each other quite by chance.  And both seize the chance to be someone they both need in their lives:  For Zayn, it’s a 'Partner-In-Crime'.  For Akriti, someone who just knows how to be there for her…  When their worlds collide,  It is not what either of them expected it to be.  Zayn has a steady girlfriend. And Akriti has a crush on him.  What happens when these two become friends?  The biggest adventure of their lives? Or the road to heartbreak?  What happens when two completely different people collide?  Do they become friends? Or, is their friendship doomed from the start?  'When Our Worlds Collide' is the story of two twenty-three-year olds, Who are finally growing up and finding their feet in the

The Rhyme

My sister had penned this, and I loved it! Read on.. ‘Ringa ringa roses..,’ the little girl sang fiddling with the rings, not bothered by the two men standing a little away. One of them threw the white flower that he was holding at the older man. ‘Pocket full of poses…,’ the girl continued the rhyme playing with the rings. The younger man took out a gun and pointed it at the old man’s forehead. ‘Haisha .. Huisha..’ His eyes looked merciless and firm while he got ready to shoot. ‘All fall..’ A gunshot. She let all the rings fall as the old man fell. ‘Down,’she finished. P.S:  This short story has its origin from the creative juices of my dear sister,  Samikshya Mishra . You can read more of her  stories  and beautiful  imaginations   here .

The Faith Of The Nine

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~ Book Blast ~ About the Book: The Third Yuga is slowly drawing to a close. Nam – the greatest Empire on Janani – is going to face some fierce winds of change. Seers foresee omens of death and destruction in the return of the Banished One – A God who will claim the ashes of this world as revenge. While out in the streets, rumours abound - of older forgotten powers stirring. Caught in this maelstrom of a power struggle between Gods are three ordinary lives: General Fateh, the most celebrated soldier in Nam who starts to question his faith, Ishan – a gifted orphan who struggles to comprehend his destiny and Abhaya – a young monk in search of truths about this world. Their choices and actions will shape the destiny of this scarred world that becomes the playground for vindictive Gods. In a world where Rakshasas arise out of left-over traces of Maaya and twilight forms the portal to countless worlds around us for Daityas and Yakshis to dance through, a God is only as power

Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju

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