What I Have

What I have is just a cup of steaming tea, a pen in my hands, a book lying by my side and the evening wind on my face. From where I sit, I can see the horizon, the slow moving clouds and the promise of rain. U feel the delicate caress of the southern wind and the slow murmur of the trusting leaves. I can hear the distant chatter of ...

Look, there is a fly ...

Shoo... Get out of my tea ...

Where we we? Yes.

The distant chatter of the nesting birds and the cracking of the dry leaf as he is dragged across the roof. I can feel at the moment my pen slowly scratching the paper.

What do I have?

At the moment I have the little things, At this moment I know everything is perfect, Everyone I know is happy and I can imagine it.

I can see my family celebrating my brother getting into college, I can see my girlfriend reading my message and I can feel in my heart the smile that spreads across her face as she reads it. I can see two my best friends enjoying each other company, joking and laughing along as they walk the boulevard, probably gossiping about me, about something I did or said. I hope they are gossiping about me. I can see the home brimming in the eyes of a friend who has just stepped down into a whole new place and an whole new life.I can see the wonder in a friend's eyes as she watches the rain pour down, perched high up in her cosy nest. 

What do I have now?

 I have the little things, the little things that truly matters.

I Could Die Today

I could die today,
Not a  man who is all happy,
But neither a man so morose.

I could die today,
Not a man who is free as a bird,
But neither the one in chains.

I could die today,
Not the man, a saint,
Neither the devil, not Satan's heir.

I could die today,
Not a man of Midas' touch.
Neither destinies dreaded orphan.

I could die today,
Not a man who lived as nature,
Neither the man who heard not the rustling leaves.

I could die today,
Not the one to walk behind Buddha,
But neither the lost soul of Maya.

I could die today,
Not the man of all fulfilled dreams,
But one with all that matters in life and death.

For all I could care,
I could die today,
A happy man, A happy man in death.

Book Review : Ten Shades of Life - A Nethra

Fablery is a short story writing contest and it aims to provide aspiring writers an opportunity to come out of their shells and get published. The 'Ten Shades of Life' edited by Nethra A is a mosaic of stories that topped each genre in the contest. The diverse categories under which the contest was conducted and the relentless editing done my miss Nethra has ensured that the diversity has not been lost as the stories moved from entries in a story writing contest to the ones that appear in a collection of short stories. The individual authors Miss Cheyenne Mitchell, Monika Pant, Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan, Shankar Raman A, Bruce Memblatt, Karthik L, Reshmy Pillai, Deepa Duraisamy, Vinaya Swapnil Bhagat and Rahul Biswas has each produced an interesting original containing their unique signature fro the book.

The stories are bound to take the readers on a roller-coaster ride but the title of the book can be a little misleading. Most of the stories though are a stunning piece of fiction has not much to do with life or the virtues of life. Each story revolves around its own theme and there is no real continuity between them. This has to be expected considering that each has been crafted by individuals who where never in contact and who possess not much in common expect an unrelenting passion for writing fiction.

A better way to look at the book is to see it as a collection of individual stories that has its own unique flavor than as a collection of stories. The book contains ten different stories each from a different genre, and each the best in its own genre.

The Ten Shades of Life is an official Rupertt Aryeen Wind Recommendation

INCARDINES by Miss Cheyenne Mitchell

A rather intriguing story of a girl, her parents and the mystery surrounding their lives. The girl finds the answers to the question of her family that is slowly drifting apart in a book so coincidentally mentioned by her friend. The narration is rather porous and at times you do wonder how it all came to be so, many a questions are left unanswered and mostly most of it makes no sense whats so ever.

RED AND GOLD by Monika Pant

A romantic and touching story of love and belonging, The story touches you at someplace in your heart as the narration goes on. The story is intriguing and with a slight tinge of history in it, it just is a good read.

HARRY'S BLUFF by Dr. Roshan Radhakrishnan

A fast action packed thriller and so full of twists and turns and twists with in twists that you just keep on reading till you reach the logical end. A true nail bitter and it sure is one of the best stories the book has to offer.

SOMETHING LIKE THAT  by Shankar Raman A 

A light hearted and delightful comedy with its own interesting and well though out twists. its just another good read in this anthology.

WEEKEND IN THE COUNTRY by Bruce Memblatt

A appreciable attempt at horror, does it scare you no it does not, it does not even give you a shiver down you spine but its still a good story and the narration is very well done but its just isn't the horror story it is meant to be that's it. A story that many will find interesting.

A NOOTROPIC EGRESS by Karthik L

This story is quite frankly a rather strange mix of one of the most wildly used elements in stories featuring extra terrestrial intelligence that it borders on fictional cliche and the unconventional boy goes to Europe version. This is a strange story for all that matters and the story line is again porous and narration battles hard to hold water but fails. In my opinion this happened to be the most disappointing story that I found in this book.

THE SECRET OF AHIRAAH by Reshmy Pillai

This is a very interesting and engaging story with its own shades of history and life beautifully weaved in to it. This is easily one of the better stories you will find in the book if not the best one. The only problem I have had with the story is that it finished way too fast, if only it did last a bit longer.

WHERE DID YOU GO by Deepa Duraisamy

This is a beautiful thriller that would quench the thirst of any thriller lover, a beautifully crafted story set in the real with with no larger than life characters and a very powerful message carefully disguised in the lines of a thriller.

BARREN HARVEST by Vinaya Swapnil Bhagat

A bold take on the world of tomorrow , bruised and destroyed by the carelessness and ignorance of man today along the lines of George Orwell's 1984 and the Hollywood film equilibrium The authors attempts bravely to answer the question sod mechanized emotions and the mechanicallity of life in the future where humans become prisoners of their own inventions and discoveries. 

A GOOD DAY TO DIE by Rahul Biswas

A real life drama that envelopes the life of three firefighters and their friends and families, the complicated realities of life and the many things that they do in the name of self preservation. A beautifully crafted drama that is what this story is.

About the Editor

Based in Bangalore, Nethra is pursuing her Masters in Business Administration and is a graduate in Computer Science & Engineering. She is a voracious reader and a fiction writer, who puts quality writing over everything else. Her interest in good stories and writing made her start a platform, Fablery, which provides aspiring authors a gateway into the publishing world. She is also working on her novel that she hopes to complete in the near future.

My Little New Nest

Amazingly cute isn't it?

We have even got a nice balcony with flowers blooming there and one with a nice set of swings

 The only bad thing is I have to share it with +priyanshu raj and +Pushkar Maid  :'(

When it Rained in Chennai

It was raining in Chennai, At least in the part of Chennai where he was living. At first he sensed the day getting darker slowly and steadily. At first he thought it was another ruse played by the rain gods but this time around the things were different. The day got steadily darker and then there was the ominous stillness that always and inexplicably came before the rain. The twilight when the peacocks dance and the birds rush to their nests. The magnificent drum-roll that accompanies any beautiful rain. Then he could hear the soft sound of little rain drops kissing the ground.

He made himself a cup of coffee, slowly pouring it out into a mug like he had all of eternity to do that. He walked to the open balcony of his apartment. He could see that it had started raining harder and steadier. Little droplets were falling from the sun shade as a bunch of little marching soldiers. The outside was hazy and the balcony was partly splashed wet by the rain. He leaned over the railings, his nose almost touching the falling rain. He could smell in the earth that was just been showered upon, the air was thick with the fragrance of dry earth. He sipped the coffee and as the hot liquid game him a shiver down his body as it slowly went down. He closed his eyes and inhaled in the world around him and slowly opened his eyes to the heavens.

The dark clouds were rolling in, thick like a woolen blanket. The sky no longer belonged to Chennai but this sky belonged in his memories. He could see in the sepia his life in another city, his home. He could remember vividly how the rain clouds marched in like Alexander’s great army. The torrential downpour that drenched the land around him poured down his mind. He could feel the coldness of the showers and the amazement with his being was cleansed manifested as a small smile that spread across his face.

He remembered the years of his childhood, the endless days he spent watching the monsoon, the thunder and the lightning playing around like two long lost brothers in their reunion.  He remembered the streams that flowed near his house that was up to the brim and spilling from the sides. He remembered the birds that nested in the mango tree in his house; he remembered how she would hide herself in the thick canopy and how she dodged the falling waters. He remembered the wet trees and the green grass. He remembered the cows and the wet muddy trails that led in the plantations. He remembered his mother and she would get him a cup of tea when it was raining and how they would sip it together and watch the rain perched on their balcony.

He was I and being in Chennai for some time now, I miss the land where I was born and where I was raised. These memories rushed to me in a surge of emotions and nostalgia. I wonder how much more my life revolves around the beautiful monsoons of Kerala.