tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-53412459834079157952024-03-17T20:03:26.094-07:00Encounters of an Everyday KindNot only the taxi, auto, rickshaw or bus rides.But other encounters. Every kind, really. A look at life. This side, the other side. Dark, soulful, comic, tragic but always happening-throwing up experiences and dialogue. I was captain of House Encounter in school,some things do carry on...Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.comBlogger114125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-52854477797261883052021-03-26T21:32:00.003-07:002021-03-26T21:32:49.172-07:00A Reminder-poemMy love is a wound on your left thigh
It will not fade with time
The wound on the heart does
But I have left a reminder.
~Abha Iyengar, March 25, 2011. (Upal Deb compared this to Lorca’s poetry!)
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-30254313956908774792020-12-07T23:19:00.005-08:002020-12-07T23:19:47.722-08:00<p> <span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl q66pz984 gpro0wi8 b1v8xokw" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/editing?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZUuPtA1ul7jDFt9CrwR09atS_ROU-j8SnqGWVtXVXwL3HqXcLxnY-xhruwp-umyg5i_FxtZXmBpJDJqiFstagVpoLBoXWtDRP05ggElHKbUaw&__tn__=*NK-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">#Editing</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a class="oajrlxb2 g5ia77u1 qu0x051f esr5mh6w e9989ue4 r7d6kgcz rq0escxv nhd2j8a9 nc684nl6 p7hjln8o kvgmc6g5 cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x jb3vyjys rz4wbd8a qt6c0cv9 a8nywdso i1ao9s8h esuyzwwr f1sip0of lzcic4wl q66pz984 gpro0wi8 b1v8xokw" href="https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/appreciation?__eep__=6&__cft__[0]=AZUuPtA1ul7jDFt9CrwR09atS_ROU-j8SnqGWVtXVXwL3HqXcLxnY-xhruwp-umyg5i_FxtZXmBpJDJqiFstagVpoLBoXWtDRP05ggElHKbUaw&__tn__=*NK-R" role="link" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; background-color: transparent; border-color: initial; border-style: initial; border-width: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; display: inline; font-family: inherit; list-style: none; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-align: inherit; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;" tabindex="0">#Appreciation</a></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></p><div class="o9v6fnle cxmmr5t8 oygrvhab hcukyx3x c1et5uql ii04i59q" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 15px; margin: 0.5em 0px 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;"><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">"I gave two of my short stories for editing to Abha, and I'm really glad I did that. Her edits were thorough and meticulous yet they didn't alter the flow and idea of my writing.</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">Moreover, she returned the edits much before the deadline. Every writer needs an editor like Abha to bring more finesse into their work."</div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></div><div dir="auto" style="font-family: inherit;">~Ramya Srinivasan</div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-83857522910217160652020-07-14T04:00:00.002-07:002020-07-14T04:01:07.503-07:00Testimonial for my editing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">'Mrs Abha Iyengar is a professional and dedicated editor. Her dedication and efforts are quite praiseworthy especially because the quality of the manuscript is enhanced after her editing. She is soft spoken and handles the work assigned in a very sincere and professional manner. She is one of the best editors one can find online. Her evaluation is thorough and comprehensive. I wish her all the best.'</span></span><div>
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<span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Ankush Kumar, author of a self-help book. (June 23, 2020)</span></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-28090260751596102682020-07-14T03:56:00.001-07:002020-07-14T03:56:55.078-07:00More Praise for My Editing from an Indian Doctor in Australia- Dr. G.S. Oberoi<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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During this pandemic lockdown I found myself staring at a heap of papers (short stories) stowed away over last so many years in various dark corners. The challenge was - ‘where from here’. Then appears Abha Iyengar – like a light in the darkness. Soon those scribbles start to look like distinct characters forming a tellable story. Result- ten stories and a collection (Stories- that remained untold). Thanks Abha! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>Gajinder Oberoi</i></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-29446395901796461852020-07-14T03:50:00.003-07:002020-07-14T03:50:55.692-07:00Abha Iyengar’s Shrayan is an Indian fantasy novel that explores the individual’s struggle for both social and self-acceptance--- Review by Smita Sahay at Women’s Web<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Abha Iyengar’s Shrayan is an Indian fantasy novel that explores the individual’s struggle for both social and self-acceptance.</div>
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Review by Smita Sahay at Women’s Web</div>
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All of us have a hidden place within ourselves, the place of longing and of escape from the dissatisfactions of life. But is it as easy as it sounds? Abha Iyengar’s first novel, Shrayan, is the journey of a creature, half human, half animal, through rejection and self-awareness to self-acceptance. He seeks and struggles to be understood in a world where he does not belong. </div>
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Iyengar liberally dips her quill into mythology and magic. The book is a fable of sorts; it brings to us a world of dissatisfied, imperfect characters, humans, semi-humans, or fantastical, fighting their own battles. Through these characters and their struggles, the reader learns something about herself too, for instance, learning to make peace with her unfulfilled desires.</div>
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Shrayan, a dweller of the underground, finds his first friends in snakes and Sapera and discovers dance, which gives him strength and solace throughout his life. Sapera’s brother Vishwasghat murders him and sells Shrayan like an animal. Fate rescues him and he reaches a school. This is where he discovers beauty and love for the first time. He learns Kshatriyam, a martial arts dance form, and he learns to read and write. However, due to certain unfortunate circumstances, he is forced to run away and he battles with his own bestiality. Eventually, he reaches a place where he finds food, shelter and a job with a baba and his hunchback companion. But will this last or will Life continue to test him?</div>
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Iyengar has brought magic realism and fantasy together. Shrayan has hooves and fur, but speaks, walks, eats and dances like a human. He reaches the fantastical land of happiness, where he meets Nordic beauties, snake-dragon women and a giant named Trishna, which means hunger. Iyengar brings in Indian arts, in Kshatriyam, mythology, in the dance drama unfolding the love story between Krishna and Rukmini, philosophy, in conversations Shrayan has with Lotus, Madira and Manila, and Indian culture, in kundalini. </div>
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The narrative is conversational and engaging and lots of unexpected plot turns and character appearances keep the reader immersed. Love takes myriad shapes, and so does sexuality. Fatherhood recurs in the many relationships that are formed and lost. Most of the characters are silent and complex with histories, strengths and failings.</div>
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However, sometimes the conversational, chatty narrative takes away from the magic, and some motifs, such as that of the recurring snake, probably symbolic of something, could be more plausibly accommodated in the plot. Some character appearances and plot turns would have been more impactful with a deeper treatment. One also wishes that some other characters whom Shrayan meets through his journey, show up later and have more role in the story and his life. A clearer sense of the passage of time would avoid confusion and make Shrayan more concrete in the reader’s psyche – his is called “…the body of a young man‘s” at the beginning of the story, and he is in his early twenties towards the end of it.</div>
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Short chapters, easy language and a dramatic narrative make the book a light read. The speculative fiction and magic take one to far away journeys. Speculative fiction is an evolving genre in Indian literature in English. In this book magic, relationships, fate and a semi-human character come together in a contemporary Indian context, to make you reach into your own insecurities and imperfections. The next time you worry about your own hooves, think about how far Shrayan walked on them.</div>
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*****</div>
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Thanks, Smita Sahay.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">As a writer and editor and
sometimes book reviewer, I pick up some nuggets through casual conversations,
some word that flies in the air, or a work I suddenly stumble upon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shall give you some instances to illustrate
what I am talking about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">In 2013, Sudeep Sen invited me
to review the Harper Collins Book of Poetry edited by him, and the review appeared
in Cha (http://www.asiancha.com/content/view/1424/394/). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While reviewing the collection, I was
introduced to the work of several new poets, one of them, John Siddique, whose
poems really resonate with me. This is one of the unexpected throwbacks of
doing voluntary work; you gather your diamonds on the way. And later, I found in
John Siddique’s collection of poems titled ‘Full Blood’ which I bought, that he
actually has a very beautiful poem in there (among so many others) which is titled
‘Abha’. I posted this on my blog: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">http://poetryilove-abhaiyengar.blogspot.in/2016/06/abha-by-john-siddique-in-his-collection.html!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I recently participated in
the Seemanchal International Literature Festival in Bihar where I met a young
Bengaluru writer, whose body is home to several tattoos. I admired a few and
she gave the reason or occasion that made her get them one by one. There was
one on her forearm, however, which she said she had got done ‘just chumma’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Just chumma?” I raised an eyebrow.
“You mean, for a chumma? A kiss?” for that is what chumma means in the general understanding
of the term.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ME4eg7RYTQ"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ME4eg7RYTQ</span></a><span style="color: #0b5519; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">She laughed. “No, chumma is a
Bengaluru word, meaning ‘just like that’.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">“Oh”, I grinned, “you mean
‘aiwein’, which is what is used in Delhi to denote the same thing?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">We began to laugh. But for
me, this was a delightful term which I would make a part of my arsenal. When I
say arsenal, I mean I would use it sometime somewhere in my writing or one of
my talks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">I was also introduced to some
poet hitherto unknown to me like Abdul Ahad Saaz, whose poem finds its mark in
me: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">मैं</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">बढ़ते</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">बढ़ते</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">किसी</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">रोज</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">तुझको</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">छू</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">लेता</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">कि</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">गिन</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">कर</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">रख</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">दिये</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">तू</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">ने</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">मेरी</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">मजाल</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">के</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">दिन</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";">~ </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">अब्दुल</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">अहद</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"> </span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714"; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Shree Devanagari 714";">साज़</span><span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";">which translated reads:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";">I would slowly move forward and touch you
some day<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";">But you have counted out the days of my
impertinence<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue Light";">Another word making the rounds sometime
in Darjeeling post the festival was the word ‘itemgiri’. It was a Mumbai
phrase, and one I thought had to do with Bollywood item numbers (raunchy
songs), but it turned out that this phrase is for boys who hang around outside
college gates eyeing girls. So they do ’itemgiri’, and it is supposed to be an
inherently youth-centric pastime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">At a recent gathering at
Habitat Centre where the discussion was on women at the work place and how an environment
could be created there for their safety and wellbeing, a word that cropped up
was ‘mamitsu’, which is an Italian term that translates into ‘being soft inside’.
It was a term used in the discussion to ask for a certain degree of vulnerability
and understanding to occur in the workplace. This was another word that has
uniquely found its way into my arsenal of words and expressions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">And so this carries on, people
and places and the words they carry with them that add dimensions to my life. Words
and expressions fall upon you indirectly and get imbibed into your system for
further thought and action. Or you let them lie within you to just nourish you
on your journey as a writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">*****<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">© Abha Iyengar, 12<sup>th</sup>
February 2017. First published in Different Truths.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-48461336724181905992019-11-20T04:54:00.002-08:002019-11-20T04:54:22.205-08:00Another recommendation: Gargi Mehra writes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: large;">
<div style="line-height: 19.26px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 19.26px;">
<span lang="EN-US">Thanks very much to Abha for reviewing and providing quick and quality feedback on my flash fiction stories. Abha pointed out exactly where the stories were not working and gave detailed suggestions as well as line edits. I’m very pleased to see the improvements in both pieces and I’m excited to send them out after working on the given comments.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<div dir="ltr">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Cambria, serif; margin: 0px;"><span style="color: black;">Warm Regards,<br /><span class="il">Gargi</span> <span class="il">Mehra</span></span></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-65887402254197609192019-08-04T04:02:00.001-07:002019-08-04T04:02:07.888-07:00Another Endorsement<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px;">
<a class="profileLink" data-hovercard-prefer-more-content-show="1" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1240362969&extragetparams=%7B%22__tn__%22%3A%22%2CdK-R-R%22%2C%22eid%22%3A%22ARCKOsWzeO8-hxrC5Bh9swUw6hoFeXa6bwoCWM4otyY0S-GVk49YD53VJq2DZ-R447frVFXysaEwICyU%22%2C%22fref%22%3A%22mentions%22%7D" href="https://www.facebook.com/vrinda.baliga?__tn__=%2CdK-R-R&eid=ARCKOsWzeO8-hxrC5Bh9swUw6hoFeXa6bwoCWM4otyY0S-GVk49YD53VJq2DZ-R447frVFXysaEwICyU&fref=mentions" style="color: #385898; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Vrinda Baliga">Vrinda Baliga</a>, author of the short-story collection 'Name, Place, Animal, Thing' (2017), writes of my recent editing of her stories:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
"Abha edited my short stories with a keen eye for detail, and I am very happy with the results. She is prompt and professional, and a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend her services."</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-top: 6px;">
Thanks so much, Vrinda, for your endorsement.</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-10067469538031897842019-06-28T07:54:00.000-07:002019-06-28T07:54:09.787-07:00More Praise for my Editing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
Dr. Ameya Bodre, Head, Clinical R&D, SINE lab, IIT-Mumbai writes:</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
'I got an opportunity to share one of the stories of my debut collection with Abha and I am more than happy with her edits. I think this story was a bit different from the others I'd written, and I felt I experimented with the style and narrative. She provided useful feedback without outrightly asking me to make any major structural changes. She didn't remove any chunk of text but finely edited it to retain its essence and yet sound crisp and effective. She introduced important transitions in the plot that changed my reading experience of this story. I would surely recommend her edits for all budding and established short story and fiction writers!'</div>
<div class="m_-5074289740349278604gmail-yj6qo m_-5074289740349278604gmail-ajU" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin: 2px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 10px 0px; width: 22px;">
<div class="m_-5074289740349278604gmail-ajR" id="m_-5074289740349278604gmail-:113" style="background-color: #e8eaed; border-radius: 5.5px; border: none; clear: both; line-height: 6px; outline: none; width: 24px;">
<div style="background-color: white; color: #500050; font-size: 12.8px;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-67405335463583841032019-06-17T02:59:00.003-07:002019-06-17T02:59:31.289-07:00TEA WITHOUT SUGAR by Anonymous<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "System Font Regular";">These days I take my tea
without sugar,<br />
And I like the music turned down low.<br />
I have less appetite for small talk, </span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit, serif;"><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">And I like books that are short but truthful. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I love you but I don’t want to own you. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">When you’re gone, I will miss you</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">But not too much; I have my writing. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I start shows on Netflix and abandon them. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I look up at the sky and am transfixed. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I look also at the banyan tree’s roots </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">On some nights while going home; </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">The roots hanging long and still, </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Like a sleeping woman’s hair </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Hanging off of the edge of the bed. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I have less and less to say to people. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I tune into silence with alacrity, </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Like it’s a preferred radio station. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I am casting off old darlings </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">One by one; sugar, sound, drama. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">“Well, dear, life is a casting off. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">It was always that way.” </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I remember those lines </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">From an Arthur Miller play. </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Am I getting older and wiser, </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Or merely older and colder? </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">How to be sure? </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">Maybe I don’t want to be sure;</span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">I’ll cast off that darling too; </span><br />
<span class="textexposedshow">The need to feel sure.</span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "System Font Regular";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit, serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What was that?<br />
Do I need anything?<br />
No, my dear.<br />
Well, maybe a cup of tea,<br />
If you’re having some too.<br />
Warm, not piping hot.<br />
And no sugar.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br /></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-15044959365929472132019-05-26T02:51:00.002-07:002019-05-26T02:51:36.874-07:00Further Praise for My Editing Skills<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="gE iv gt" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; cursor: pointer; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px; padding: 20px 0px 0px;">
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</div>
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</div>
</div>
<div class="" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">
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<div class="a3s aXjCH " id=":yy" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.5; overflow: hidden;">
<div dir="auto">
Ma'am,<div dir="auto">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto">
You were referred to me by a common friend of ours who gave very good review about your style of working and editing. So I decided to avail your services and true to the review I got about you I too had a wonderful experience working under your guidance. Your schedule for editing was very time bound. The clarification asked for was duly addressed and the editing of the novel was good. Moreover I got to learn quite a few things about presentation, Grammar, structuring of sentences and paragraphs. Thank you ma'am for all your patient help and guidance and all the insight into editing. It was a wonderful learning experience for me. I admire your professional and friendly approach to work. I hope I get an opportunity to work under your guidance in near future again.</div>
<span class="HOEnZb adL"><span style="color: #888888;"><div dir="auto">
<br /></div>
<div dir="auto">
Piyush Rohankar</div>
</span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-60595416042585733142018-05-30T01:03:00.004-07:002018-05-30T01:05:33.651-07:00In praise of my editing skills<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;">Thank you Abha for copy editing and proof reading my book even before the dead line. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;">You have done a wonderful job and it was a pleasure working with you.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;">I greatly appreciate the work you have done for me, and for your valuable time and patience.</span><span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;">Thanks to you my book is ready for publishing.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;">Warm Regards,</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica"; font-size: 13pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #757373; font-family: "helvetica";"><span style="font-size: 17.3333px;">B.P. </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-6000778221735193502018-04-15T02:25:00.001-07:002018-04-15T02:25:26.315-07:00In praise of my work<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Authors attempting daring leaps out of traditional form deserve to be read especially if their work is done with focused intent.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I am pleased and enriched for having read it (Flash Bites) as well as your novel, Shrayan.'</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">`Rich Perrotti</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-10890055912494056912018-02-20T20:17:00.003-08:002018-02-20T20:17:50.479-08:00Book Review of Yearnings: My poetry collection<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #79753c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">https://hashspeaks.blogspot.in/2011/02/book-review-yearnings-by-abha-iyengar.html<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #79753c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thursday, February 17, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">Book Review: Yearnings by Abha Iyengar<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.flipkart.com/yearnings-abha-iyengar-book-9380112176"><span style="color: #9e0c09; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75"
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">I'm not a
great reader of poems, but as a lover of literary expression in any form, I was
drawn in by Abha Iyengar's sample poems from her book <i>Yearnings</i>. Drawn
in enough to immediately order a copy of her book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">As the
title makes clear, this collection is about longing, love, loss, passion and
related emotions and situations. What I admire about Abha's poetry is its
impressionist style of communication--it paints a quick, terse picture whose
aim is to capture the moment and the emotion, and it does that effectively. In
art, too, I have a deeper admiration of Impressionism than Realism. Realism
merely portrays what the eye sees, albeit in careful, loving detail but
Impressionism carries the heart of the artist as well--it is his choice to
capture the subject in that particular moment, angle and light, and this choice
and his quick strokes show intense focus and urgency to record and love that
person, place or action at that moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Yearnings
is a collection of 67 short poems that are a pleasure to read and re-read. In
these poems, there's none of the embellishment that a lot of poetry falls prey
to: the frills and lace that really point to nothing. Instead there's solid
content, honesty and truth. For example, here's <i>Travel</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">If you
give me a look<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">vistas
open up<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">If you
blow me a kiss<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">winds
gather up a storm<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">If you
hold my hand<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">my
fingers touch smooth pillars<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">In
unseen corridors<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">I
travel blind<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">but
belong.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Another
one I like is <i>Aroma</i>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Sometimes
it takes just the aroma<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Of
freshly ground coffee beans<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">To
make me fall into your brown arms.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">I am
vacuuming<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">The
carpet,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Wiping
the sweat off my<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Hot
brow,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">And
the whiff comes from across the hall<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Of
somebody casting the magic spell<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">With
the help of a potent witches' brew.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">I
switch off the vacuum and<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Remove
my shirt.</span></i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Some of
the other poems I enjoyed in this collection are <i>Ice cream, Strange Lands, A
Table, Two Poems, Echo, Grief, Shadows, Everything Natural </i>and I<i>
Conserve</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.5pt;">Yearnings
is available from <a href="http://serenewoods.com/book_details.php?id=419"><span style="color: #674015; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Serene Woods</span></a>
and <a href="http://www.flipkart.com/yearnings-abha-iyengar-book-9380112176"><span style="color: #9e0c09; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Flipkart</span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #79753c; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.5pt;">at <a href="https://hashspeaks.blogspot.in/2011/02/book-review-yearnings-by-abha-iyengar.html"><span style="color: #9e0c09; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">3:59 pm</span></a>
</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=11484674&postID=7766180870435658137"><span style="color: #9e0c09; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape id="Picture_x0020_2"
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;">1 comment:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 30.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"><a href="http://www.monideepa.blogspot.com/"><b><span style="color: #9e0c09; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-no-proof: yes; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"><!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
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<b><span style="color: #9e0c09; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.5pt;"><a href="http://www.monideepa.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #9e0c09; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">monideepa</span></a></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.5pt;"> said...<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.5pt;">The poems
are lovely. Abha caputres so aptly the many delicate nuances of romance. A
must-read for die-hard romantic dreamers and everyone else too</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-6380515608932250352018-02-09T04:10:00.000-08:002018-02-09T04:10:18.298-08:00Book Review: Many Fish to Fry, by Abha Iyengar (Pure Slush) Posted: 26 Apr 2015 01:00 AM PDT by Andreé Robinson-Neal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If it were possible to have your eyes closed as you read, it might also be possible to feel, smell, and hear the <span class="il">story</span>. You might be saying to yourself, “I can hear the <span class="il">story</span> if I buy an audio book,” but that is not what is meant here.</div>
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Anjali’s fingers were hard despite the softness of the cream she was kneeding into <span class="il">Reena</span>’s face. They were a worker’s hands, the hands of a woman who washed clothes, did the dishes and cooked the meals for the family along with her work as a beautician.</blockquote>
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Abha Iyengar’s <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.lulu.com/shop/abha-iyengar/many-fish-to-fry/paperback/product-21847967.html&source=gmail&ust=1518264366090000&usg=AFQjCNFAEvbwUqWK_b8GW4Yo9r3YkAavSg" href="http://www.lulu.com/shop/abha-iyengar/many-fish-to-fry/paperback/product-21847967.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Many Fish to Fry</a> is filled with touchable, smellable, hearable moments on each page. She takes us to Paharganj, a neighborhood in Delhi, to meet a variety of memorable characters, including <span class="il">Reena</span> Vardharajan (which was shortened to “Rajan” because “Vardharajan” is so long, isn’t it?) and her family; Parvati, <span class="il">Reena</span>’s part-time maid (who is a barely tolerable and weak replacement for Murali, the former full-time servant); Anirban Dasgupta and his wife Proteeksha, the Punjab/Bengali couple who live next door in Flat No. 69; jewelry maker Sanjay Singh and Neeru his wife; and the ever-effervescent private detective Harinmoy Banerjee. There is also the matter of fish, interwoven intricately throughout.</div>
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Thanks to her beautician, <span class="il">Reena</span>’s love for jewelry making has been rekindled. She meets Sanjay as she embarks on her new career as a part-time business woman. Making jewelry provides her an outlet, something her traditional mother, traveling businessman husband, and busy children struggle to understand. She takes over the dining room table to craft her designs and spends afternoons visiting Sanjay and other merchants in the roadside shops to the dismay of her husband.</div>
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When [<span class="il">Reena</span>'s] seriousness with her work began to interfere with her attention to the little details around [her husband Anand], thing she had taken care of earlier because she had nothing else on her mind, he expressed his disapproval.<br />
“You are getting too involved. Why do you need to do all this running around at your age? … I miss the hot <em>rotis</em> you make for me. you have no time to talk to me … and the <em>dhobi</em> just can’t iron shirts like you do … did.” …<br />
She had expected him to be highly supportive.</blockquote>
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But when a <em>Hilsa</em> fish shows up unexpectedly on her doorstep, followed closely by an unexpected meeting with Harinmoy Banerjee, a colorful private investigator and self-labeled Super Sleuth who rings <span class="il">Reena</span>’s door looking for Proteeksha, the next door neighbor from Flat No. 69, <span class="il">Reena</span> embarks on an adventure filled with intrigue, laughter, tears, and gossip. And of course, fish.</div>
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<img alt="" class="m_9100997724873778061alignleft CToWUd" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh28c24_ZbHvOivvfo_lt46yygB1W6rkIoIU9lCsODbXcgRmOe_C7zJsXvPCDEleS3lKg_NOVRfIoM_sl5f0QlUK_NKXoOWQb2S_DdSzbXdBSIh4tM0pT8EvU5kPy49L7gB5UHC8pHygWzBw-r9ovyJl5U9CCh7GX5LDgBYu_oh-DmOn0WLVv_V6TtuxE-sCAPBfN7rqg=s0-d-e1-ft&resolution=320" style="margin: 10px;" width="212" /></div>
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Iyengar skillfully mixes language and cultures into a delicious stew that will suit any taste. She intermingles traditional Hindi and Bengali words and phrases (there is a glossary of terms in the back for the less initiated) with Western terms familiar to any English speaker of the 20th and 21st centuries.</div>
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Her words come off the page to tickle the palate. The sound of the traditional words and phrases, when read aloud, are lyrical to the ear: phrases such as <em>Na rehega bans, na bajegi bansuri </em>(“If there is no bamboo, there will be no flute,” meaning “If the source of the trouble is removed, then the trouble won’t occur,” according to the glossary) and <em>Daane daane pe likha hai khane wale ka naam </em>(“On each morsel is written the name of the person destined to eat it”) are just two examples.</div>
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As Chris Galvin Nguyen, the writer of the book’s forward indicates, <em>Many Fish to Fry</em> examines Indian social issues and suggests what it is like to move beyond tradition through the use of “real-life trends of language and culture in India.” For weeks after reading it, you will be challenged not to end every sentence with Harinmoy’s classic <em>Is it not, dear?</em></div>
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This is not Iyengar’s first book, but it is her first with Pure Slush. She has a number of other published works worth checking out and can be found at <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.abhaiyengar.com&source=gmail&ust=1518264366091000&usg=AFQjCNEVKK-4rKsJaOi5PkSR_baIquwKQg" href="http://www.abhaiyengar.com/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.abhaiyengar.com</a> and <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.abhaencounter.blogspot.in&source=gmail&ust=1518264366091000&usg=AFQjCNHJKMKJS-i8_xOJRpsAqDTEmEGtPQ" href="http://www.abhaencounter.blogspot.in/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">www.abhaencounter.blogspot.in</a>.</div>
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आभा आयंगर, मिनाक्षी अमोल और मनोरमा बक्शी पैनल पर. अनोखी क्लब की ६० शो. हिंदुस्तान अखबार द्वारा प्रायोजित. </div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-90783956780699275342018-01-02T23:56:00.004-08:002018-01-02T23:57:24.981-08:00Praise for my editing skills 3 - Piyush Rohankar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.800000190734863px;">Ma'am,</span><br />
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You were referred to me by a common friend of ours who gave very good review about your style of working and editing. So I decided to avail your services and true to the review I got about you I too had a wonderful experience working under your guidance. Your schedule for editing was very time bound. The clarification asked for was duly addressed and the editing of the novel was good. Moreover I got to learn quite a few things about presentation, Grammar, structuring of sentences and paragraphs. Thank you ma'am for all your patient help and guidance and all the insight into editing. It was a wonderful learning experience for me. I admire your professional and friendly approach to work. I hope I get an opportunity to work under your guidance in near future again.</div>
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<i>Thank you, Piyush!</i></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Trainstorm-An
Anthology of Alternative Train Poetry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Ed. Dr. Amitabh
Mitra<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The Poets
Printery, East London, South Africa<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Date of
publication: October 2016<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Pages: 174<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Price: Rs. 475/-<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">ISBN:
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>0620718307<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "times new roman";">ISBN
13: 978-0620718301</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Available here: http://www.amazon.in/Trainstorm-Edited-Amitabh-Mitra/dp/0620718307<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">‘Trainstorm-An
Anthology of Alternative Train Poetry’ is called ‘alternative’ because it is
about the journeys that we take through our minds and our lives, linked somehow
with the train journeys.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">With 50 poets
and 80 poems, this anthology titled ‘Trainstorm’, edited by Dr. Amitabh Mitra,
chugs through our lives, bringing back memories of train travel, recent and
past, forging a link between the poems and our own experiences.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Alberto Russo’s
poem ‘Choo-Choo Boy’ aptly connects the older man he is talking about to his
childhood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Usha Kishore
talks of a ‘platform of long ago/crowded with thoughts’ in her poem ‘Pettah’, in
‘Railgadi’ she is ‘Flying across time like an arrow,/ across plains and hills,
across singing/rivers poured into the silk of memory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Nibedita Sen’s
‘Delhi’ is along poem, divided into different sections, very much like a train.
She defines The Delhi Metro. ‘On a super-fast serpentine track it
wheels/Towards an enigmatic destination…’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">Lynda G.
Bullerwell has a beautiful poem titled ‘Ghost Train’ where she asks us to ‘Take
the slow train to reality because there is no colder place/where you cannot
dream letters into sand and share words/with strangers…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In ‘Train Ride’, R.K. Biswas’ poem, we come
across how being ‘wedged between sweaty knees/rustling buttocks in synthetic
saris’ on a train can lead to desperate measures. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">With diverse
poets writing of their train journeys, through different lands, stopping at
different places, at different points of their lives, this anthology also
preserves a form of travel which is still popular but may soon disappear in the
years that come. Horse carriages are things of the past and trains may follow.
But till this happens, the joy of a train ride is an experience to remember.
The poets in this anthology help us believe this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">The anthology is
brought to life with the black and white photographs taken by Dr. Amitabh Mitra
of trains and platforms and railway tracks and the fleeting countryside. This coffee
table book has a beautiful painting done by Dr. Amitabh Mitra as its cover of a
train coming at us, riding through a storm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-2699999649169979092016-12-19T23:12:00.006-08:002016-12-19T23:12:47.085-08:00Review by James Goddard on Goodreads of The Gourd Seller and Other Stories-December 19th 2016<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1843862323?book_show_action=false">https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1843862323?book_show_action=false</a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">When writers write novels, they have all the space they need to delineate their settings, to allow their characters to grow, and to explore issues away from the core plot that they think might enhance the readers’ understanding and enjoyment of the story. A novel is usually at least 60,000 words in length, and usually much more. I know this from my own reading, and from my attempts to write novels—two of which currently stand at more than 100,000 words.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">To my mind, writing short stories—not novelettes, not novellas, but true short stories of, say 7,500 words or less—is a more difficult craft than novel writing. Short stories demand discipline of a writer, they demand clarity of thought, and, perhaps most difficult of all, they demand the ability to be economical with words. A writer of short stories must be able to differentiate that which is essential to a story from that which would be nice to include---if only there was the space. The shorter a short story is to be, the more the writer must bring these things into play. This, I feel necessary, preamble brings me to Abha Iyengar’s slim collection of eight stories, ‘The Gourd Seller and other stories’ (Kitaab, 2015).</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">Frequently dealing with difficult themes, such as sexual assault and the buying of silence, as in ‘The High Stool’, mental cruelty and the unwanted attention of a grandfather, as in ‘A Family of Beauties’, and the role of women in Indian society, it is to the author’s credit that the stories never become maudlin or angst filled diatribes, Abha Iyengar’s abilities as a writer are too deft and well controlled to allow that to happen. What she succeeds in doing, is to allow us, as onlookers, to feel what her characters are feeling, to understand the emotional turmoil that sometimes reveals itself within them, and, often, to admire their tenacity in finding ways to improve their lives.</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">The clarity of Iyengar’s prose manifests itself on every page of ‘The Gourd Seller and other stories’. We come across well-honed sentences and descriptions that delight, such as this, from the story ‘Drought Country’: ‘Mother is stiff, austere; she does not speak much and her eyes soften only sometimes, when a stray thought enters her mind or she hears an old song on the radio.’ Which of us could fail, even though there is nothing in the way of a physical description, to have an image of this old lady in our minds?</span><br style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px;">So it is with Abha Iyengar’s stories, some are beautifully jewel-like, other’s, because of their grim subject matter, are finely-crafted artefacts. All of them, however, are works of art that are testimony to the power words can have, to shock, inform and entertain, when used by a real artist.</span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-20952396529536349852016-10-15T21:11:00.003-07:002016-10-15T21:11:32.790-07:00Review of The Gourd seller and Other Stories at Earthen Lamp Journal by <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
Review of The Gourd seller and Other Stories at earthen Lamp Journal by Sushmita Sridhar<br />
<br />
http://www.earthenlampjournal.com/bookreview.php?review_id=91<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.earthenlampjournal.com/bookreview.php?review_id=91">http://www.earthenlampjournal.com/bookreview.php?review_id=91</a></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-42263843061860616182016-07-18T07:30:00.003-07:002018-02-16T02:30:32.506-08:00PRAISE FOR MY EDITING SKILLS 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hello Abha,<o:p></o:p></div>
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To be honest I was a little reluctant, in sending<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you a recommendation, because I have never written one, and I am no mood to write a formal brief, therefore consider the below words as a recommendation or comments or in whichever way you may wish too.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I wrote this novel<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>with a thrust to establish myself as a writer and to prove a point to myself, therefore I had been very clear to bring out the best in an possible way and you did exactly the same, you took it as a challenge to clean and edit the manuscript <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>appreciate you for doing the same. I wrote this novel with a crunch of sexism involved and I really wanted it to stay, when I had a word with you I could sense a strong feminine voice which made me a little reluctant as would you be able to justice to my writing or not but thankfully you did not let your personality overshadow the character that I was trying to build which proves your professional mind frame which for sure deserves cheers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You completed the assigned task well before time and with sheer dedication, which is clearly evident in the manuscript, also your habit of detailing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and other creative ways of pointing out errors was an add on.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If was to rank the entire process I would give 5 out of 5, it couldn’t have been better.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I wish you all the very best for future endeavors and I hope we get to work together again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Regards<o:p></o:p></div>
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D. H.</div>
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D.H. is the author of a contemporary romance novel awaiting publication.<br />
Within the year, the novel was published by Srishti Publishers and has become a bestseller. :)</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-82180484769371298222016-07-18T06:41:00.001-07:002016-07-18T06:41:21.671-07:00The Vegetarian-Book review-on Goodreads<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The Vegetarian is a deceptively simple book, but very complex in what it tries to convey. Nothing is laid out on a platter and the reader has to try and figure out what it is that is driving the main characters to do what they do. It indicates that the lives we lead are difficult to understand, and why we behave the way we do even more so. A married South Korean woman suddenly stops eating meat. Since almost all South Korean cooking involves and includes meats of various kinds, this puts her husband and her embarrassed family into a quandary, and then of course, they try to pressure her into eating meat. she does not even cook it, touch it. We also see how interwoven the family connections are, for it is not only her story, but also the story of her sister and brother in law, and the story of the world in a way, and how what we consider normal life is just a thread away from disintegration. I won't let on more, for it would spoil the reading of the book, which I do recommend. in very simple language, the author leads us along a path that is frightening in its reality. The translator has done an excellent job. there is an element of the surreal in the book, so if you don't enjoy that kind of writing, it may not appeal to you. For me, it was amazing how well the author writes. I would recommend this book wholly. needless to say, it's the Booker prize winner for 2016.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Speech as Guest of
Honour at book launch of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Sargam Tuned’
a MULTI-LINGUAL anthology published by Writer’s Club on 10<sup>th </sup>July
2016 at IIC.</b></div>
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{Fellow panelists: Shri Laxmi Shankar Bajpai as Chief Guest,
Shri Ashok Madhup, Shri Ratan Sadh, and Mr. Pawan Jain of Aagman}<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Dear friends and fellow poets,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">It gives me great pleasure to be here. My <b>thanks</b> to
Mr. Pawan Jain, Aagaman Group, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">for</span> inviting me as Guest of Honour for this event.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">The <b>launch to take place today</b> is of a
multi-lingual anthology of poems titled Sargam Tuned, edited
by Amrit Raj and Ruchi Khandelwal, young poets and members of
Writer’s Club. I am sure this must be making each participating poet
very proud of their achievement and rightly so. It is by taking small steps
that we move towards what we want to achieve. it is also a wonderful step taken by Writer's Club to bring into being an anthology that includes some of the languages of India, and English too.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><br /></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">I can say the you are a in a good space right now because you have a platform like this, and others, and the availability of social media networking that enables you to put together your poems, get them heard and get them published. when I was your age, there were no such avenues, and poems sent to the few literary magazines often went </span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">unaddressed. in fact, my poems were selected by kamala Das for Femina, at a time when she was poetry editor for the magazine, but I only got to know of my poems being published in the magazine by a third party. I had to bring this to the magazine's notice, and then they acknowledged it and also gave me a small payment for the publication. But this was just chance that let me know of the publication, otherwise I would have considered my poems worthless perhaps. Now, you have the means to get published, there are many avenues, and you must take full advantage of this. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But, you must read a number of poems and poets, for as Shri bajpai has said, we must not forget the traditional methods of writing poetry in our attempts to move into the free verse phase.</span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">What can I say about poetry? A wiki definition says that
poetry is </span><b style="color: #1a1a1a;">a literary work </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">in which the expression of feelings
and ideas is given </span><b style="color: #1a1a1a;">intensity</b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> by the use of distinctive style
and rhythm. Another definition: A poem makes </span><b style="color: #1a1a1a;">intense</b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> use
of </span><b style="color: #1a1a1a;">language</b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">, which results in a far greater concentration of </span><b style="color: #1a1a1a;">meaning</b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> than
is commonly found in prose.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">So basically, a few words which carry INTENSE meaning. It
calls for ‘Verbal melody and artistic rhyme’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">When we start out as amateur poets, often at a very <b>young</b> age
because we are experiencing this plethora of feelings, our poems will be raw,
full of feeling. As we become better and more experienced poets, our poems gain
not only because of our experience, but also because of our greater exposure to
poetry and <b>our work become more layered, more concrete and more
structured</b>. This is a process like any other in writing. Yet, our poems
will connect only through the intensity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I believe poetry begins from a place of pain. That is what
drives it forward. Because, if we have a smooth, and often uneventful
life, our poems will be just that, <b>light and full of froth</b>. Poems
gather depth through the telling of a pain. This pain is an individual and
collective pain of humanity, it is both. And through this sharing we can
experience/taste each other’s soul for the lines are from the
heart and soul more so than the head. Poetry is beauty, sadness, pain,
hope, glory, defeat and all else that we spill into it, and all that we
read into it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Poetry is not a use of big words or the glorification of a
feeling. It should not be cut up and analysed in order to be
understood. When poetry is an honest expression of the heart, it will be read
and heard and <b>it will be understood.<o:p></o:p></b></span><br />
<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;">I would like to read a couple of my
poems, both in English and in Hindi</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/abha-iyengar/on-being-a-writer/10155088980545398"><span style="color: #353535;">On Being a Writer</span></a></span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Blue ink should spread your blood on the page<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Just flow and age<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Let it make no sense,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Life is nonsensical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Red blood will die within your veins,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">if kept in chains.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Blue ink spreads for eternity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;">Song of Love</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;">I</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I don't know when he'll return<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I never know where he's been<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">All I know, I'm his Bulbul<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">Singing his song of love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;">II</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I woke up to the song of love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I heard it in my dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I'm listening to this song all day
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">And cannot have enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;">III</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">The mind fills with his music<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">The body strums his song<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">This taste of love I experience
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">This taste cannot be wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;">IV</span></b><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">I close my eyes and listen<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">With beating heart I hear him<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">His song of love flows on and on
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;">and asks if I can feel him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p> The Hindi Poems: </o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-size: 13.0pt;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">All works © Abha Iyengar, 10<sup>th</sup> July 2016</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 13.0pt;">I am happy to say that I received a resounding applause for my
poems. And I was honoured to be in the presence of a great poet like Shri Laxmi
Shankar Bajpai.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggS_wRt4ZpBPvFP43skiQP5AKONtmARtLwd7acLM7Pow4u2YQpidmtugYE6hrPXQc3p8UNBc3VCE0FMiWCQbbMmPFW737vQiHtBhg3LfZusG3fEJ1DmUODGY-WDOBjGGhAuLwimWonpgj_/s1600/IMG_4443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggS_wRt4ZpBPvFP43skiQP5AKONtmARtLwd7acLM7Pow4u2YQpidmtugYE6hrPXQc3p8UNBc3VCE0FMiWCQbbMmPFW737vQiHtBhg3LfZusG3fEJ1DmUODGY-WDOBjGGhAuLwimWonpgj_/s320/IMG_4443.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-23687257601139353352016-05-22T06:16:00.002-07:002016-05-22T06:16:47.399-07:00#CatchUpOnGrowth: Horlicks Growth+ to Ensure Kids No Longer Fall Behind on Growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<o:p> </o:p>It was a wonderful gathering of Indibloggers at The Lalit in
Delhi. I love The Lalit for its sophisticated and quiet ambience, its
understated elegance. I was attending a
meet after a long time, and it could be because Indibloggers hold fewer
gatherings in Delhi. But as before, this meet was also a wonderful gathering of
diverse people with diverse voices, the common factor being that all of us
blog. There was no waiting period here, one began with lunch, so the appetite
was sated enough and people could interact and connect before the main event
started.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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In the hall, abuzz with excitement, silence soon prevailed
when the games began. Yes, the introductory game of choosing a number from 1 to
10, and you had to talk a little about yourself and hope for a great prize,
like a rose, or an apple or a thousand bucks.<br />
<br />
Arvind Passey was lucky to get the thousand bucks; Rahul Prabhakar was luckier to get a couple of roses, one of which he gifted to a friend he was seeing after a long time. Another contestant said she loved an apple (after some cogitation), and received one.We were all confused for a while and the contestant’s hopes must have skyrocketed for that split second, before she said she did like an apple, and was given the fruit. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI6bN1sH3eLh6vZoL8pZG0fQRWkGFavrg_3l89bBACdvZ5ZeaIV-iBKTTPGtfTyH3FgMXsh7cYNsBLTvHhnY-nRTtqnF6kOenttFwyZrasUiyylXICGj9AETQ7giZ5oISkakfv9uJ-dNJ/s1600/13240650_10153673818682883_98885387325639774_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibI6bN1sH3eLh6vZoL8pZG0fQRWkGFavrg_3l89bBACdvZ5ZeaIV-iBKTTPGtfTyH3FgMXsh7cYNsBLTvHhnY-nRTtqnF6kOenttFwyZrasUiyylXICGj9AETQ7giZ5oISkakfv9uJ-dNJ/s320/13240650_10153673818682883_98885387325639774_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do I like apple?<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></td></tr>
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Oh these technology-driven days, when apple just made you
want Apple instead.<br />
<br />
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtExygxVStvX8Vn93jTvxTUW3kF01Z4geciBiuxPz1yCzefG7Ewgs80ofvfGpRWH8zaSZj4_Qa8NoHf2OLtVFZBG7yvkfvM2bNaQfWEPhSWLhVgmlJjTQy1Ncet-BCIMj-uzORW0MULE2/s1600/IMG_4335.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKtExygxVStvX8Vn93jTvxTUW3kF01Z4geciBiuxPz1yCzefG7Ewgs80ofvfGpRWH8zaSZj4_Qa8NoHf2OLtVFZBG7yvkfvM2bNaQfWEPhSWLhVgmlJjTQy1Ncet-BCIMj-uzORW0MULE2/s400/IMG_4335.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Natasha Badhwar introducing the panelists</td></tr>
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<span style="text-indent: 0cm;">And then there was a panel discussion on nutrition and
growth in children, with moderator Natasha Badhwar</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">, a proud mother of three and a blogger, entrepreneur
and media professional introducing the panelists. The panelists were Dr. Rajiv
Chhabra, HOD of Paediatrics at Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon; Ms Satinder Kaur
Walia, who currently runs a centre named 'Learning at Potential', a centre for psychological and educational assessment; and </span><span style="font-family: "lucida sans unicode"; font-size: 13pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0cm;">Dr .Jyoti Batra, currently working as the Head Dietician
at Batra Hospital.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqLV4Du0hqKriDAzXWqXqlOzxW5BgdGOcA7laD9ezyKfF84oYouFD8TIM2_ETEwNIVhMJpNLTHy02AWCILDwoi_slb-YJF-Sntsat_QSlwDGfp7nR6JSvibE-c7Zze1UISUG6lm8TvfI4/s1600/IMG_4336.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBqLV4Du0hqKriDAzXWqXqlOzxW5BgdGOcA7laD9ezyKfF84oYouFD8TIM2_ETEwNIVhMJpNLTHy02AWCILDwoi_slb-YJF-Sntsat_QSlwDGfp7nR6JSvibE-c7Zze1UISUG6lm8TvfI4/s400/IMG_4336.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The panelists</td></tr>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Peer
pressure: discussion during the tea break, where weight conscious suddenly
(what you see and hear does influence you immediately), I opted for black tea
with honey and lemon instead of my standard milky fare with sugar, with a new
blogger friend who is the mother of pre-teen kids, went something like this, “Peer
pressure, which was discussed by the panelists, is so true. My daughter loves
sabzi-roti which she will take to school for two days of the week. On the third
day, she will take a sandwich. Not because she likes it, but because everyone
brings sandwiches to school for lunch.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">There
had been a discussion regarding the nutritious value of ‘paranthas’. ‘Paranthas’
were considered nutritious by the panelists. That threw me and I brought the
issue up. Paranthas are loaded with oil /ghee, and did not figure in my
dictionary of ‘nutritious’. The comeback was, ‘All mothers today consciously
put less oil and never use ghee. And… we were comparing paranthas with pasta,
the latter being maida-based. And…we could stuff them with vegetables.’ Everything
is relative in life, and if I remember giving up those (lip smacking, mouth
watering) paranthas made by my nani as a kid because it was adding to my girth;
now, in comparison to fast foods and junk food, paranthas, consciously cooked,
are nutritious. Mothers I spoke with in the coffee-break agreed with the
panelists, saying that home-made paranthas were a good choice over market
hamburgers and pizza. I totally agreed with this part of the argument.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">But
there was lots more learning to be done. I think the panel discussion was the
best part of the program because the panelists discussed the issues without
forcing any idea or product down our throats. They were informative and the
primary concern was to answer the concerns of today’s rather anxious mothers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Some
points that surfaced were:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Busy parents have to be
willing to cook food for the children rather than agreeing to their demands for
fast-foods which lets parents off the hook as far as cooking is concerned, but
adds to growth related and weight related problems. (Ms. Satinder K. Walia)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Physical growth is closely
linked to psychological growth and well being of a child. A child who is low in
nutrition and does not have the normal growth rate, would need his/her diet to
be monitored and supplemented. Here, supplements like the Horlicks product
being introduced today, specially formulated for such children, would help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Again, An overweight child
may often be deficient in nutrients. Here too, conscious diet management would
be required. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">1 Parle G biscuit is
equivalent in calories to one roti with ghee. So parents saying that their
child has only has 4 biscuits, need to do a rethink. (Dr. Rajiv Chhabra)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Stuff paranthas with healthy
vegetables. Make burgers at home with wheat burgers instead of maida burgers.
Fill with cottage cheese etc. instead of processed cheese (Dr. Jyoti Batra)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">The Indian preoccupation
with making kids drink milk is overdone. Too much milk will cause loss of iron
in the body, and can make a child anaemic. (Dr. Rajiv Chhabra)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Calcium received has to be
properly processed by the body, for which Vitamin D is required. Vitamin D is
received in the early morning from exposure to the sun before 11 am, with as
few clothes on as possible. Between 11am and 4pm, children should be kept out
of the sun because then the sun is too strong. (Dr. Rajiv Chhabra)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">8.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Most of the factors contributing
to parental anxiety stem from today’s life-style, the availability of junk
foods and the lack of exercise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Post the coffee/tea break, the product Horlicks Growth+
was introduced to us. Mr. Amaan Khan Marketing Lead for Horlicks for the Indian
Sub-Continent at GSK Consumer Healthcare. He spoke about the product. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He showed us a film with mothers talking of
how their children lost out in various ways (class performance, sports,
self-confidence) because their physical growth was not in keeping with the
normal parameters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBa9WOsV6n8sAL8hZhoaCqRNrHcWEDVZDAcDhuftawzfk4UYdIDuPf2q_GB57Kql6TZWXdz5tmtXO_ciiZwgxyMAwn_OgAPnYZu3dLRWWhZ3gvrfWwIv2fACPMmodANRq2dicOmYSu48B/s1600/IMG_4337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGBa9WOsV6n8sAL8hZhoaCqRNrHcWEDVZDAcDhuftawzfk4UYdIDuPf2q_GB57Kql6TZWXdz5tmtXO_ciiZwgxyMAwn_OgAPnYZu3dLRWWhZ3gvrfWwIv2fACPMmodANRq2dicOmYSu48B/s400/IMG_4337.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Amaan Khan speaking about Horlicks Growth +</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">And since the clock could not be turned back, it was an
eye-opener to the need for making sure that children did meet the normal
parameters. One way to ensure they did this would be by giving them the
Horlicks Growth +, of course, under the doctor’s guidance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">We were served a little of the drink in a cup each on
our tables. Let me tell you it tasted delicious. I was served vanilla flavour,
which I prefer over chocolate, which is the other flavor available in this
drink. I liked it so much that I wanted to know if adults like us, not growing
but enjoying the taste of this product, could opt for it too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Dr. Aditya Kaushik, who heads Medical Affairs for Indian
Subcontinent at GSK Consumer Healthcare, said that no, we could not make it our
Sunday afternoon drink. It was specially developed after several years of
research to meet the needs of those children between the age group3-9 years, to
trigger the growth in those falling behind the growth curve (in height and
weight). Results are visible within 6 months, according to their trials. Horlicks
Growth + contains high quality whey protein, growth amino acids and vitamins,
minerals from natural sources.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">GSK Consumer Healthcare has extended Horlicks, India’s
leading Health Food Drink (HFD), into the advanced nutrition category with the
launch of Horlicks Growth+. It claims to be the first brand in the category
clinically proven for catch up on weight and height in children aged 3-9.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TEQXMDQrNMgT9mbh07JPCeKB7tFsvwnOjmJRl1CiVo8YpkPx-y8VzAZxTLei65BoHc1aHCzTY-C0ijnjJnTYKa4eXlm_5EedYt7i7Nzd-s_sjY_0m87k8jZ0PxnBA8a_Z4n5hy14IgTS/s1600/IMG_4338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TEQXMDQrNMgT9mbh07JPCeKB7tFsvwnOjmJRl1CiVo8YpkPx-y8VzAZxTLei65BoHc1aHCzTY-C0ijnjJnTYKa4eXlm_5EedYt7i7Nzd-s_sjY_0m87k8jZ0PxnBA8a_Z4n5hy14IgTS/s400/IMG_4338.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Differences in Growth</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">It tasted so good, that I was a trifle crestfallen to
hear that adults could not drink this as a drink or a supplement of any kind.
But it was good to know that children who really need this product now had
something going for them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV21-jqcYwMOgz15ZLJEcJDjMreTf-PDrjqLpUvEfhLszgJXKL-h2ck-k7g19xZmluME5bMI8ez9_n-5fIwih4gdwGo4nfRO0EA2iIfK4THXhQdfxUiMoqO5pRrh1nMVGMcDk183XFOFUX/s1600/IMG_4341.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV21-jqcYwMOgz15ZLJEcJDjMreTf-PDrjqLpUvEfhLszgJXKL-h2ck-k7g19xZmluME5bMI8ez9_n-5fIwih4gdwGo4nfRO0EA2iIfK4THXhQdfxUiMoqO5pRrh1nMVGMcDk183XFOFUX/s400/IMG_4341.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">How Horlicks Growth + helps growth spurt</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1mgM9G4AgoqUPbMTRBgfqW2Ew3s60pLHysBNetW7RBnTE3-Lnl1ck_jQaFSKz4u-WziY1MOSdzPj7aBOabg2tn1aodRDgf0ckSE6S6I7xfVGh4cCFGk8HeknslTRkIO-3JFWwERZybIh/s1600/IMG_4338.JPG" imageanchor="1"></a><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Parents were also told that they cannot just buy it off
the market and give it to their children. They have to get a doctor/pediatrician
to prescribe it, which the doctor would do only if s/he considered its
requirement. I like the fact that this was no out and out ‘buy this product for
your self and your child at any cost’ tom-tomming of a product by a company. I
liked the cautionary tone and I appreciated the fact that the spokespeople were
insistent that it is geared for some children alone, who Really Need It. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Of course, it is an expensive product and cannot be
bought by all and sundry, being aimed at the urban middle class with money to
spend on their children. I wish there was something cheaper available for the
rest of India, but maybe Horlicks is already thinking of that. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">Coming back to the Indiblogger meet, that was not all. After
this we had a Human Card shuffle (fun), and joined hands with nine others to
form teams of ten members, to produce 20 second videos, and the best team would
win. My team was team No. 3 and we called ourselves the Transformers (you know,
transforming children), and we had a blast producing the videos, in which I was
the sasu-maa (any takers?) giving my wisdom and ahem! age.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXk2ok4ud3ntlXr327sFrPzaKENAvz_lfK2-YOnDj8w-99BbpfNqG3mzmzzd_tZtnZjZgx9QlX9jjZCUtduukYuP6piYVofuNVo_mtYexBD8Y2zml5Hwa7Mv8h_g46GTb-f0TVq4eRTUR/s320/13226937_10153673854907883_825755688522634029_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our team hard at work</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vlRB-RPs9YFM5XgVI_9G2Pjc9nFK-KABdcq4yhXogUNkzMhEx2PplVoD9AFgCAAiNR6NHkDHqCiOZ_aKCf5Q1sB3g-0Kh73luIU74hUiSmCtzQDCrwhoWOFw_Xvs1XVOOBnD52C69Zjt/s1600/13245439_10153673853647883_8895178619095471044_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vlRB-RPs9YFM5XgVI_9G2Pjc9nFK-KABdcq4yhXogUNkzMhEx2PplVoD9AFgCAAiNR6NHkDHqCiOZ_aKCf5Q1sB3g-0Kh73luIU74hUiSmCtzQDCrwhoWOFw_Xvs1XVOOBnD52C69Zjt/s320/13245439_10153673853647883_8895178619095471044_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We share a light moment(you can see my spectacles on my head)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnXk2ok4ud3ntlXr327sFrPzaKENAvz_lfK2-YOnDj8w-99BbpfNqG3mzmzzd_tZtnZjZgx9QlX9jjZCUtduukYuP6piYVofuNVo_mtYexBD8Y2zml5Hwa7Mv8h_g46GTb-f0TVq4eRTUR/s1600/13226937_10153673854907883_825755688522634029_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"></a><br /></span></div>
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Our Te</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><o:p> </o:p></span>My personal takeaway:</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">The
takeaway Horlicks product, shown here. Thank you, Horlicks and Indiblogger Team,
I am grateful, but I wish something I could use could have been added to this? </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemWAnb3_jyExcjhU2efdtFU4I9V1v6W5F8e3WeygCNmlYRSxxKJq9VFB8AeM3_CAjtpY5oy50XQiFaBWX6UFBrnna1-LMfcsWQqwcSys_sJ-t-CowBXSdivZbpaGg_xg92v8i3BZI4wBN/s1600/13254350_10153673833802883_3684660005589596384_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjemWAnb3_jyExcjhU2efdtFU4I9V1v6W5F8e3WeygCNmlYRSxxKJq9VFB8AeM3_CAjtpY5oy50XQiFaBWX6UFBrnna1-LMfcsWQqwcSys_sJ-t-CowBXSdivZbpaGg_xg92v8i3BZI4wBN/s320/13254350_10153673833802883_3684660005589596384_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horlicks Growth + beautifully packaged</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">I
cast off my inhibition regarding making instant videos. Watch my blog space
from now on, for some instant homemade videos.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">I
look at each biscuit as something I cannot, will not, chomp on without thinking
of the calories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">I
will read my magazines and novels sitting in the early morning sun outside,
soaking up the sunlight and get that vitamin D.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 54.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo3; mso-pagination: none; tab-stops: 0cm 11.0pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";">More
than ever before, I realize that what is needed is a lifestyle change so that
our children grow healthy and well.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjl9qywNoTr33Xhyphenhyphen3TzwEild3h1gIr0J-um-CbXPR9QQpsmzkdoVGVRZBVtqyKLZc25ukF-CJcXMUvUbyYUipZE1wEJlOgejDsI-vEMqeOK0wFhnIu0tOcuONQLZgEgYClke6KKbay0ey/s1600/13076919_10153673834432883_4558688313270524260_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIjl9qywNoTr33Xhyphenhyphen3TzwEild3h1gIr0J-um-CbXPR9QQpsmzkdoVGVRZBVtqyKLZc25ukF-CJcXMUvUbyYUipZE1wEJlOgejDsI-vEMqeOK0wFhnIu0tOcuONQLZgEgYClke6KKbay0ey/s320/13076919_10153673834432883_4558688313270524260_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And that's how much I enjoyed being there!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode";"><br /></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;">Here's the link to Horlicks Growth + <a href="https://growthplus.horlicks.in/">https://growthplus.horlicks.in</a></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-via="abhaiyengar">Tweet</a><script type="text/javascript" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></div>Abha Iyengarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17804103917796069764noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5341245983407915795.post-20596646819335415642016-02-02T00:44:00.000-08:002016-02-02T00:44:09.107-08:00REVIEW OF SHRAYAN Fel Jaramillo Rosario reviews SHRAYAN on infibeam on 22/2/2013<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Roboto-Regular; mso-bidi-font-family: Roboto-Regular;"><span style="font-size: large;">SHRAYAN by multi-awarded poet and novelist Abha
Iyengar is the kind of book that renders you in deep reflection after reading
it. Could it be that our search for the fulfillment of our deepest aspiration/s
will eventually wind up in a solo journey back to ourselves? If so, what is the
point of aspiring for a greater self at all? But this is not an excuse to say,
I am what I am, because without the journey outside our respective spheres and
into the bigger world, we will never arrive at that exulted state that allows
us deeper understanding and appreciation of who we are and that includes our
imperfections, be they real or perceived. This is a good read. No, allow me to
correct myself. Shrayan is a great read especially if you follow the journey of
the main character closely (yes, like a stalker) and you get to see the changes
in him. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Roboto-Regular; mso-bidi-font-family: Roboto-Regular;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is not just a physical <b>metamorphosis</b>. It is also a personal
analysis of our evolution and the influences that shape or deform us. We search
for acceptance outside ourselves (from others) not realizing that the kind of
acceptance that can make us truly happy is one that comes from within, from us.
The author drives this point home very effectively through Shrayan's various
transformations. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Roboto-Regular; mso-bidi-font-family: Roboto-Regular;"><span style="font-size: large;">The message of <b>freedom</b> is also very strongly delivered here.
We often make the mistake of roaming far and wide, away from ourselves, in
search of it but freedom is not for the world to give. On the contrary, the
world keeps us in bondage. Our many desires, induced by what we see in others, are
self-inflicted enslavements. We may reach the pinnacle of our aspirations and
still feel that nagging void within us. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Roboto-Regular; mso-bidi-font-family: Roboto-Regular;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the end we want to break free from
all the trappings and "perfections" of life. There is no state of
<b>perfection</b> outside ourselves. That is only an illusion, as Shrayan found out.
There is a Shrayan in each of us raring to get out on a journey. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #373737; font-family: Roboto-Regular; mso-bidi-font-family: Roboto-Regular;"><span style="font-size: large;">SHRAYAN met my
expectations on so brilliant a storyteller that is Abha Iyengar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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