The World Around Me

I see a world around me that feels near and yet so farI see a crowd of smiling content faces and hear voices filled with laughter and aspirationsI see hands finding refuge in hands and eyes gleaming in love And I wonder to myself what did I do wrong Why can't I smileWhy can't I…

Book Analysis: Birth Of A Duo By Chandrayan Gupta

I read a few new books recently by some very talented independent authors (and re-read some old favourites of mine) that I really wanted to talk about at length. However, I didn't want to start a review page of my own because, frankly, I'm not a reviewer and wouldn't like to take requests and neither…

The Importance Of Criticism

If there's one thing that all artists share in common, irrespective of the discipline they work in, it's their craving for appreciation. It's something that we live for, something that fuels the engine of our creativity; we love to be praised and to be commended for our work. Human nature is such that it always…

The Old And The Young

On a bench by the lake sat a teenage boy staring longingly at a photo in his hand and snivelling quietly. So lost was he in his own thoughts and in the photo he held that he didn't even notice when an old man came by and sat down beside him. "She broke your heart,…

The Art Of Bargaining

There are a few things that one must never do, like step inside a tiger's cage or go skinny-dipping in Antarctica or go shopping with my mother; the last of which is a mistake I've been forced to repeat over and over again since my childhood. My mother is a compulsive bargainer, one of those…

The Valley Of Eternity

Somewhere across the valley of eternity lies a broken promise of proximityA stubborn flame fighting a fierce tempestA lifetime's struggle against a moment's conquest The mirage of fulfillmentThe myth of sanityA stricken heart wallowing in its own vanitySoaked in the summer sunDrenched in the winter snowNothing gained by an everlasting wait but just a few…

Forgiveness

There was something overwhelmingly inauspicious about the night. An exasperating silence lurked over the atmosphere as if in the aftermath of an elapsing catastrophe. The shining cold beacon which stares down from the sky had perhaps closed its eyes and was reclining behind a coverlet of clouds. The stillness in the air seemed eerily uncanny…

The Definition Of Success In Self Publishing

We all have expectations when self-publishing a book. We all want the book to do well, we want people to read it, we want reviews and feedbacks, and we want royalties. In short, we want the book to be successful. But what really defines the success of a self-published book? The common parameter for gauging…

Memories Of The Deadman

I just finished watching the documentary series Undertaker: The Last Ride on WWE Network and I feel like I have to talk a bit about it and pay a little tribute of my own to the character of The Undertaker and the man who has been playing it for thirty years - Mark Callaway. For…

The Fascinating Thing Called Time

If you read my upcoming short story collection "Beyond The Grey Line" you will understand how fascinated I am with the concept of time. Most of the stories in it explore time in different ways and questions the singular pattern of time that we think is sacrosanct. So, is time really singular? Does it really…