Day 31. NaNoWriMo It Is.

Yipee I did it. The month long blogathon comes to an end today only to lead me to another commitment. Yes friends, I have accepted another challenge and NaNoWriMo it is. Another month long writing challenge which is much bigger than doing a Blog Marathon. For those who don't know about NaNoWriMo, it is a writing challenge which is taken up in the month of November every year by the writers all over the world. 

But before I speak about this challenge, I want to extend my heart felt gratitude to all my dedicated readers who showed up on my portal the entire month and helped me keep going. This year the blog marathon was a much better experience with more readers visiting the blog than last year. I hope I didn't disappoint you. I took care in crafting each blog post barring a few which couldn't come up that well due to unavoidable reasons as mentioned before. But overall it was an amazing month and I hope to bring up the Blog Marathon month figure to two next year. So cheers to that :)

So what's the NaNoWriMo challenge? You commit to write an entire novel in the month of November with word count of at least 50,000. You not only get the drive to finish an enormous writing task but also get connected with like minded writers from all over the world. For me the second one was more alluring. While I used to think about taking up this challenge every year, it never came into being. But I finally said 'Yes, let us do it!' because I enjoyed my blog marathon journey this time and wanted to continue my creative pursuit. I have connected with few writers online and believe me it is like a symphony when your soul finds solace in like minded people. And the joy doubles up when we are in the company of artists. So uniting with writers beyond the boundaries of country and race was in itself quite motivating. But still the credit goes to my writing group on Facebook and few members who were taking up the challenge. And quite interestingly our group there is called 'Kick my ass and make me create' so this is what I am going to do in the upcoming month. Kick my ass and write at least 1660 words per day to reach the audacious target of 50000 word count. So wish me luck friends. And keep visiting the pages here. Blog marathon is over but the blog will still be active. C ya friends.

Day 30. Mere Tumhare Sabke Liye Happy Diwali.

It’s Diwali today and I wish all my readers a very happy and auspicious one. May this Diwali fill your heart and life with inner light and wisdom. 

I kept thinking about a special post befitting the auspicious occasion but as the day progressed, time kept slipping out of my hands like dry sand. So in the evening as we got over with the auspicious Diwali celebrations at home, we went around the society to enjoy the brightly lit up society. Also on display was a wide array of colourful display in the form of rangoli which was beautiful and quite innovative also at places. I come from a fauji background and this was after a long time I was celebrating Diwali in a non fauji set up. Diwali is the most widely celebrated festival in India and rangoli like all important festivals is its significant part. Though this society culture is still new to me what impressed me was the efforts put by the residents in adding festive splendor to the common areas which can also be termed as the ‘No man’s land’. We all take efforts to decorate our homes and surrounding but not many take part in the collaborative efforts like these. So here is my 30^th day post dedicated to those people, their art and most importantly their zest in spreading happiness around.

 And this one I loved, the geeky light arrangement :)

Hope you all also had an amazing day today. C ya tomorrow on the last day of the Blog Marathon.

Day 29. Popular Comics Shop - Part II

Catch up with the first part of the story here.

“What is happening here?” One of them shouted without even giving reaction time to the boys and moved ahead to twist the ears of Rishi. The other one had also held Sameer by then. The curious eyes around turned wider with astonishment due to the recent development. Harsh knew what went behind the scenes for his friends to receive this treatment. The boys had not taken permission from their parents for their maiden venture. But the three of them were not prepared for this reaction. At least not so soon.

“What is happening here? What are we listening? You are taking money from your friends to share your books?” Sameer’s father took turn holding him by his collar. The crowd sensed the impending danger and started sneaking away. Some took along for what they paid while others quietly kept it back. They gave a look to the raided boys conveying that we will settle our scores later.

“Sorry papa.” Sameer blurted out the safest answer. But even that could not pacify the agitated parents. The idea of renting out books to their own friends was far beyond any explanation.

“What sorry? Have you bought the books from your own money?” Rishi’s father spoke twisting his ears harder.

Harsh didn’t want to face the wrath from his friend’s parents so he also moved away quietly leaving Sameer and Rishi. As he struck out of his gang, the wind gained a sudden momentum which shook one of the poles collapsing the flagging comics. A tear rolled down Sameer’s eye but he quickly wiped it away.

“Come home and I will teach you what it is like being a businessman.” Rishi’s father dragged him to their house. Sameer and his father also moved out of the scene as the dust storm gained speed and got accompanied with thin droplets. The white bed sheet and left books fluttered in the strong winds washing away the dreams of the young entrepreneurs. 

Day 28. Popular Comics Shop - Part I.

On a rustic summer evening when the children were still contained in their refuges, the trio was busy transfusing life to their dream project, ‘Popular Comics Shop’. Summer vacations had just started and it enraged the ‘Rajpura Colony’ with the increased chaos in houses due to its young inmates. Mothers yelling on top of their voices, siblings bickering, the loud animated sound of cartoon channels shrieking through the closed window corners, the day came alive in parts. The hustle bustle of the ‘Rajpura Colony’ during these months faded off as the days sobered down by the end of it. The central park of the colony was outlined by single row of houses on all its four sides. Mornings and evenings wore the same swollen up look in the park. There were the usual morning walking club types, who showed up religiously 365 days and then there were these free souls uprooted temporarily from their morning anchor.

The blazing sun was trying to hit frivolously on the lamenting souls peeking occasionally through the dense clouds and the sky was groggy with a muddy demeanor. It felt dull and lifeless impregnating lethargy even down below. A sand storm might hit before it starts pouring. At least it will bring some respite from the raging temperatures. Sameer, stood in his usual grey shorts complimented with a bright yellow round neck T-Shirt and black loafers, examining the makeshift stall from a distance. Something was amiss. It didn’t appeal him much despite of their fastidious efforts since morning. The shop has to appeal to bring in business. The books collected from the three houses were neatly laid out on a wooden table covered with a plain white table cloth. The shop looked alluring with pierced inverted books on a thin rope flagged over the book stall, secured by the two wooden poles. The structure where the books were placed was assembled together employing spare furniture from Rishi’s backyard. The table was topped with a wooden bench resting in a metallic frame. The overall arrangement was sheathed in a flawless white bed sheet, pinned on edges and embellished with latest editions of the popular children books, comics. The idea of having a comic’s book rent shop was conceived to make some extra pocket money and invest it into buying the latest comics.

As the day progressed, the brand new shop started alluring its curious probable customers even before the entire stock was laid out. The hovering wide eyed children checked out the latest edition of their favourite comics characters. While some of them placed hands on their pick and reserved it, there were others who ran home to get money for their indulgence. And soon the word about the comics shop spread like a wild fire in the Rajpura colony and excited kids were seen rubbing against each other’s shoulders to pick the book of their choice.

The proud owners of the stall, Sameer, Rishi and Harsh were now having a tough time attending to their customer turned peers. The rates were reasonable. One book for ten rupees and that too for three days! The deal was good. Money started pouring in the tin money box and it certainly lifted up the spirits of the trio. The hustle bustle next to the grocery shop gained attention of the passing by people who tried to pierce through the thick blanket of kids who were still waiting for their turn. There were only few books left when the stall was approached by some unwanted visitors. They had a furious look on their faces which was accentuated by the raised brows and they tore through the crowd to face the much in demand trio.

“What is happening here?” One of them shouted without even giving reaction time and moved ahead to twist the ears of Rishi. 

Day 27. Lets go vroom ....

Yes, we went vroom today starting our Diwali break. A ten day long break which started with a long long drive from Pathankot to Delhi and driving was such an incredible experience with excellent road and route full of some amazing food joints. Travelling by road comes almost naturally to us faujis and is always the first choice as far as I am concerned. Whether going on posting or chutti, driving down to our destinations is something we love. And for my kids, its now in their blood as they have been dragged into it by their fauji parents ever since they were lap babies. Well this is me and my babies.

Today's drive was comparatively shorter with just around 500kms but the excitement was no less. Well good food is obvious when we talk about land of Punjab and Haryana but even our Uncle Mc Donalds is also such a welcome change whenever we hit out of Pathankot as we don't one here. So eating en route to Delhi, which is a frequent affair with us, is always a mix of Junk and finger licking Indian spread. While the entire route has both International food chains and desi brands, our stops are generally fixed depending upon the distance. So even today our first stop was Dasuya food and fuel terminal which is 55kms from Pathankot and our first Mc Donalds stopover. This place also serves the options of Subway and Cafe Coffee Day. Mc Donalds is our kids favourite food destination because of the happy meal combo and even I don't mind them indulging as they prove to be the sturdiest of their entire toy lot.  Mc Donalds... I'm Loving it :) and today's toy was cool.

I'm Loving It

Mom Son Duo Posing With Happy Meal Toys

The second stop was the Rajpura Miles mall which offers the a wide range of factory outlet options also along with food options of Mc Donalds, KFC, Subway, Dominos and the famous Rajpura Haveli which is a local chain of multi cuisine eating joint.

Does It Double Up The Fun Too?

And the last one was the Haldiram food joint before we hit Delhi outskirts. Our menu here used to have one fixed closing order every time, pipping hot desi ghee Jalebis. But we were quite disappointed today as our favourite jalebis have been scraped off from the menu :( 

Food Here is Gooood 

After this break we soon entered the strolling and maddening Delhi traffic. The frustration was toned down with the FM tunes which is one thing we look forward to whenever we move out of Pathankot and reach some place where FM channels are active. The rest of journey till Noida was spent tossing and dodging the traffic blues. Here are some more clicks from the day.

The Lady Chauffeur With Her Geeky Passengers 

My Chariot

Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye. Have a Meethi Diwali

Hope you liked the glimpses in a nutshell. I shall cover this travel extravaganza in a wider perspective and much detail next time but I am almost dead after this day long journey. See you all tomorrow. 

Day 26. Wordless Wednesday - 11

For this week's photo prompt, I chose this picture which I clicked sometime back in a party. This one amused me as well as made me smile. What do you think about it? Please send some quirky captions/ titles for this one.

For last week's photo prompt which was this,

This is what you said,

Smita: Perfection cloned 
Katherine: No poke go

Linking this post to Wordless Wednesday.

Day 25. Terribly Tiny Tales - 01

Starting the Terribly Tiny Tales series. Hope you like them. If you like them please drop in a comment.

#Infidelity, #Terriblytinytales