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Password of Love

A girl who can't speak. A world where silence is a virtue.. a world where people can't stop talking.. a world where people scramble to get ahead by bragging about their so-called achievements. Is it a boon or a bane to be unable to speak in this world?

A guy who is this regular guy-next-door, well mannered,  fun loving. He looks forward to a companion,  a soulmate whom he can share his thoughts with, his words and his life with and she would comfort him with her sweet songs and dazzle him with her words.

Does love need a formal spoken language to thrive on? Or can love have a language of its own,  defined by the senses that only the two united in love can understand?

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From the desk of Sara John, a new chapter 'Finding Meaning'.

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Chapter 1 - "8"

The number “8” always had great significance in her life. It was her birthdate and the most important things in her life as she grew up somehow summed up to 8. She felt, and gradually believed that 8 is indeed a blessed, lucky number for her. Contrary to what many people felt that 8 is actually not a very auspicious number because it is never ending. “You may not be able to get out of the never ending problems like the number 8, which does not have a proper end”, told a friend but she still loved the number 8.

Today 17th of November is yet another reaffirmation of her faith that number 8 is indeed meant to bring the best for her. After a long much yearned for time, she got to spend a well-deserved week with her man. Ofcourse, he also didn’t spare a chance to tease her when she first excitedly mentioned to him “Guess what, we are going to begin the first day of our week together on 17th, which sums up to 8!”

Much to her surprise, he replied excitedly, ”Oh great, Let’s ensure I meet your father to ask your hand in marriage on 8th, let’s get married on 8th, let’s have kids on 8th, let’s buy a house with number 8…”. Then she quickly knew, as her man never disappoints, in good and in not-so-good ways, this time too he didn’t disappoint. She just wanted to share with him the coincidence of the date being 8, but she was not expecting him to join in her revelry.

But one thing she know, eight was indeed a beautiful and blessed number for him and her. The countless pictures he has sent her depicting “8” as lockets for couples, “8” as ‘forever yours’; made her realize 8 is actually a “sign of infinity”. He gave a new meaning to her fondness for 8. He gave her infinite love, he gave her warm tight hugs which taught her infinite love, he gave her sweet passionate kisses that made her lose herself with him into infinite space. As a young girl she was scared of infinity, she shuddered at the thought of infinite darkness after death, the infinity of the space sent shivers down her spine.

But since she met him, she realize the beauty in infinity, she came closer to infinity in life which is the bright sunshine that overshadow the infinite darkness after death. An hour spent talking, laughing arguing animatedly with him was nothing short of infinity. He showed her the vastness of infinite potential hidden in her. Something as never-ending as infinity could be experienced in an hour with him. This feeling is nothing short of divine eloquence but when one experienced something everyday one doesn’t equate it with something heavenly.

But deep inside she knows, she valued her time with him how much ever it is because it is always equal to infinity! So when he teases her about her fixation for number “8” it doesn’t hurt her even one bit because after all he is the one who brought her closer to her fondness for 8, taught her the ture meaning and made her realize the depth of 8, the infinity hidden in 8!

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"a better word than tech savvy" - Rain

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Rules of Nature still rules...

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Coffee,  her first love - Rhea

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Novel Review: Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat Pray Love" - Reviewed by Sarah John

Dollops of learnings...

The book offers an insight into some simple, beautiful virtues through the soulful journey that the protagonist undertakes from Italy, to India to Indonesia. The smile on your face will refuse to leave you as you flip through the pages exemplifying the beauty of Italian language, having gelatos for breakfast in Italy with light romance all around, the spiritual sojourn in India and nature’s bounty coupled with ritualistic devotion in all things in Indonesia. The vivid description of the time spent in each country made me want to pack my backpack and set out on a journey to experience lightness and come closer to myself!

What comes as a great relief is that the book doesn't preach and neither is it philosophical. It gives a thoughtful perspective on the commonest things in life, giving words to what most of us would have felt at some point of time, but could not express well enough.

Elizabeth Gilbert uses wit, humor in the ordinary instances of life, which gives us some extraordinary lessons to take home. While experiencing the beauty of a scenic place, her friend Susan exclaims in delight that this place is so beautiful that I have to come back here one day. It takes all her persuasive powers for the protagonist to explain her friend that she is actually right there experiencing the beautiful moment. Through simple instances as these, Elizabeth Gilbert shows how people forget to live the present while they are busy planning the future. Those carefree days spent by Elizabeth in Italy having heavenly gelatos early morning, exclaiming that if heaven doesn’t make such things then I ain’t going there, brings a sunshine smile to your face.

Exemplary maturity is displayed in the book which highlights the importance of a well articulated prayer. God of course knows what each one of us wants, but do we know what we want?. This what the author asks her reader. Casting ourselves in helpless desperation at God’s feet is very easy and most of us would have done that at some point in our lives.

But, prayer is a relationship, half the job is mine. If I want transformation but can’t be bothered to articulate what exactly I’m aiming for, how will it ever occur?, she argues. These lines are an eye-opener to the many times when we meaninglessly perform some rituals or say prayers without feeling them.

Her inability to sit through the long session chanting Gurugita is something what many would empathize. The fact that she finds motivation in none other than her little nephew will strike a chord in each one us.

The book inspires to get a grip over life when in distress rather than surrendering everything at God’s feet. It reinforces the virtue of staying strong rather than falling apart time and again or else it becomes a habit to break apart.  

Interspersed with generous doses of romance, humor, wit, fun, frolic, spirituality and kindness, the book makes for a soulful read!

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Password of love (The Novel)

This is a story of two people of this times, totally opposite by all means. Times may have changed but "Rules of Nature" still rules, opposites attract eachother and a fun filled life.

One is Rhea, looks like next door girl if one doesn't know her. Coffee, her first love and reading novels her passion. Slim and slender, studious with a regular accessory spec in addition to her heart warming smile. Compliments for her deep black eyes, ivory neck, turn on eye lashes, bubbling chuckle, mild dimpled blushes, innocuous polite talks, topped with innocence, were routine. God fearing and Caring, respecting elders... in short whatever goodness God can bless, she was the blessed one. The other one is Rain who brings showers of excitement in the lives of his dear ones. He's a simple, earthly,  unassuming guy who is very straight forward, but has certain specific bordering on obsessive ways with regard to attire,  food and  daily chores. His uncanny fetish for bikes and cars makes him a living encyclopedia for these. To add to this, his finesse with  all things technological, may want one to find a better word than tech savvy. His casual ease with  simplifying anything that's complicated makes him a delight to be with. He's so much on the go,  that his mind is evolved to be programmed on a fashion that every thing is processed in a systematic way.  But the flipside to this is impatience. Impatience bordering on such extremities that can lead to lashing showers! But there is nothing that cannot be mended with his dimpled smile,  floppy hair neatly combed to one side and the aura of positivity in his presence.  Everyone goes to him with their problems because he has that uncanny ability to emotionally detach from the situation for a logical outlook as well as he can empathize well with them. To the world he's the happy go lucky,  ever sniping capable guy,  but ask his dear ones to know that he's the force behind their every smile,  laughter and also tears. Such complete dedication and devotion that his loved ones are completely shielded from external harm only to be sweeped by his care, him, the reason for everything that matters in life, for life itself.

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Password of love -

This is a story of two people of today's times, totally opposite by all means. Times may have changed but "Rules of Nature" still rules, opposites attract first "eachother" and then "a fun filled life.

One is Rhea, looks like next door girl if one doesn't know her. Coffee, her first love and reading novels her passion. Slim and slender, studious with a regular accessory spec in addition to her heart warming smile. Compliments for her deep black eyes, turn on eye lashes, bubbling chuckle, mild dimpled blushes, ivory neck, innocuous polite talks, topped with innocence, were routine. God fearing and caring, respecting elders... in short whatever goodness God can bless, she was the blessed one.Born and brought up in a family with a long list of restrictions to hold her on ground, but her desires were out in the open sky - flying freely. Was an ideal daughter to parents, caring sister to elder sister,  loving aunt to her niece and nephew and above all a wonderful person and a best friend to all. Even the remotest thought were shared by people who even met her for the first time, quite an impression she made in first meeting. The other one is Dinesh, who brings showers of excitement in the lives of his dear ones. He's a simple, earthly,  unassuming guy who is very straight forward, but has certain specific bordering on obsessive ways with regard to attire,  food and  daily chores. His uncanny fetish for bikes and cars makes him a living encyclopedia for these. To add to this, his finesse with  all things technological, may want one to find a better word than tech savvy. His casual ease with  simplifying anything that's complicated makes him a delight to be with.

He's so much on the go,  that his mind is evolved to be programmed on a fashion that every thing is processed in a systematic way.  But the flipside to this is impatience. Impatience bordering on such extremities that can lead to lashing showers! But there is nothing that cannot be mended with his dimpled smile,  floppy hair neatly combed to one side and the aura of positivity in his presence.  Everyone goes to him with their problems because he has that uncanny ability to emotionally detach from the situation for a logical outlook as well as he can empathize well with them. To the world he's the happy go lucky,  ever sniping capable guy,  but ask his dear ones to know that he's the force behind their every smile,  laughter and also tears. Such complete dedication and devotion that his loved ones are completely shielded from external harm only to be sweeped by his care, him, the reason for everything that matters in life, for life itself.

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Password of love

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Password of love...

In this modern era, where emotions are not evolved as the Technology has. Mobile handsets have a longer shelf-life than feelings for someone. Still With the introduction of number portability, a relationship with the service provider lasts longer than relationship with beloved and moved on to other. It seems with mall mentality, "excess access" has become a trend. In the busy schedule of 9 to 5, emotions play their part from 5 to 9. Under 5 say week pressure, feelings emerges on weekends. Even the "kasme vaade" meant for deep love has taken a new form. From Adam and Eve's apple to gifting an Apple iPhone, From spending life together, it's now spending for life together is important. "Lambi judai" has reduced from years to no reply for half an hour or 30-40 missed calls, but the suffering experienced by lovers remained same. To meet beloved Navigating through peak hour traffic from Borivili to Churchgate feels similar to cruising the seven seas in old days. From mehndi to tattoo, from love birds to angry birds, from sending messages using pigeon to blue little bird twitter of today, from emotional attachment to 24x7 connected. Ways have changed but essence remained same, love.

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Earthly Angels

“This, I want!” he said delightfully, looking at the brown, chocolate covered doughnut encrusted with tiny little colourful pieces of candies. The lady behind the counter was prompt enough to immediately execute the little boy’s order until Preeti, his mother interrupted suddenly. This was Riya’s day out with her darling angels Ritik and Siona, Rih and Shio as she fondly called them. Most of us love angels and many of us believe in them. Riya had a special affinity towards angels. Angels are those beautiful beings who reside in heaven and are very close to God, believed a little Riya when she was a young girl. A peaceful smile on a serene face, with magnificently large, white wings spread out and surrounded by an awe-inspiring glow, this was how Riya imagined angels looked like. Her angels, ‘God’s angels’ as she believed it to be, always stood by her whenever she needed them, in the smallest of her fears throughout childhood.  They have a calming influence on her until today. As she grew up, Riya’s angels took human form. As we grow up, we see the good and the better, the not-so-good and the worse in life. The best and the worst are mostly, the defining, the rarer moments of life for most of us. So, otherwise, normally, 25 year old Riya mostly came across good and not-so-good events and people in her life. But she was blessed to have met a few angels on earth. Whether we believe in angels or not, we all would have experienced an angel in our lives at some point in time, who rescued us or delighted us at a time when we least expected. This is one of the most beautiful graces in life, to have met an angel on earth. The earthly angels are no less angelic than heavenly angels. Angels on earth are the purer souls, real people with a face. They appear in front of you, when you need them the most. If you are lucky, they would be a constant in your life, always strengthening you from inside with their mere thought or presence. Riya was lucky to have constant angels in her life. Two of them were with her that moment. On Saturday, after a long week at work, Riya decided to indulge herself with her little angels while they indulged in the heavenly aroma of freshly baked doughnuts. Riya’s angels were Ri, her 3-and-a half year old nephew Ritik and Shio, her 9-month old neice Siona. They make Riya feel at ease and shielded from her inner vulnerabilities and outer uncertainties. But Riya also had Preeti, along with her Ri and Shio. In Indian tradition, it is customary to put a black spot on a child’s face to protect the adorable child from jealous and evil eyes and ensure no harm befalls him. But, in this new age era, many-a-times human beings take the form of being a black spot on adorable situations. These are those kind of people whom you would typically not be able to stay alone with for more than 30 minutes. Thus, Riya’s adorable time with her adorable angels had to be protected from jealous and evil eyes. So, there was Preeti to accompany Riya. Preeti – Ritik and Siona’s mother and Riya’s elder sister, was a beautiful looking lady, always dressed to her best, with all possible matching accessories and never a hair out of place. Having two toddlers to care for never deterred Preeti from compromising on the way she stepped out of home. She was a caring sister and a concerned mother. She thought about others and enquired of their problems occasionally, but she just could not empathise with them. She was too engrossed in her easy and good life which she thought to be tough and bad, sure enough it would have been that for her personally.  A broken compact case, a badly stitched dress, an increasing waist line, a dominating mother-in-law and her child’s sickness, all had equal importance as glaring problems in Preeti’s life. And she was always battling with one or more of these similar kind of issues. Riya always loved to indulge her sister. So when Preeti wished to go out with the kids, Riya obliged after the usual sisterly tiff between them. Preeti always had this urge to be the deciding force, the urge to get the best out of the money spent, but Riya cared less for such things. This is the reason why Preeti spontaneously intervened when her son ordered  an ordinary looking chocolate doughnut encrusted with just tiny little colourful candies. She found it to be a tad too simplistic compared to the other delicious, sumptuous looking, chocolate filled doughnuts with a flower shaped icing on top or the one with creamy designs and a cherry on top. They finally settled for four doughnuts, all bought with Preeti’s final nod. They all sat down with their attractive doughnuts, fresh and warm, filling the air with a sweet light ‘baked’ aroma. Little Shio, propped up on her mother’s lap, innocently stared at the yummy, dark brown, shiny round structures with a hole in the centre. Ritik tried cutting his doughnut with his plastic spoon, but very soon enough threw away the spoon. He held the sumptuous big doughnut with both his palms and took a hearty bite with his mouth; as Preeti and Riya looked admirably. Silently, Riya thanked her sister deep inside atleast this one time, for her obsessiveness about choosing something. As they sat digging into the warm, fluffy, sweet doughnuts with chocolate smeared faces and fingers dripping with melted chocolate, the boundaries of age blurred and angels smiled in heaven. God would have said, “Listen my children, these are the simple joys that life is made of!”