Hey people,

Now that I have finally sent my last and final draft…

Hopefully all goes well and the first book in the series of Spark & Spice is released in 2 weeks… *fingers crossed* 🤞

Please give me some idea to promote the book to those who have never read any draft of the same.  Do you have ideas to suggest??

I am planning to make a Video Trailer like I did for The Masquerade. Also, a few posters…

…and I will post sample chapters and deleted chapters… in coming 2-3 days… + A few giveaways are on their way…

If you have more to suggest, please write in the comment box.

You can also send me DM at Instagram or Twitter. Or send me a direct mail using the ‘Contact me’ box on this page.

Thanks in advance. I’ll always be grateful to all of you, for being with me in every small and big step I take in life. It’s your love that carries me forward.

Loads of love. Stay blessed 💖💖💖

M.

Everyday, I pick up my tools
to express my feelings, to write
But every single day
turns into a hustle
A chaos, a fight

And then, suddenly, on some days
Stars descend on my crown
grace my world at odd times
leave me speechless
ringing music like divine chimes

Hope and despair alternate
Add beauty to mundane
life is blessed with sunshine
So, let’s bear with some rain

Someone is always listening
when we wish and pray
The Supreme Power, The Universe
Is always around
and HE listens
Even when we don’t say

We are not alone or lonely
In the toughest of days
He knows how to reach us
And bless us with what we deserve
in the most mysterious of ways

Let’s not doubt, or lose faith
Let’s keep believing
Always leaving a scope of magic in our lives
We never know where it takes us
Let’s Never Stop Dreaming 💖

~ Manita V ~

Hello everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well in your personal area of work and your families are fine too.

A lot of readers have written to me about their Final Year results, of 12th boards, and University exams as well. Many Congratulations to all of you, dearies 👏👏👏 It is no mean feat to survive this year with flying colours. It was a difficult year, with no outings, no coachings, and no college/school, etc. To stay sane and mentally strong, with all the pressures of performing well in boards and university exams, is difficult. You did it. Kudos to you!

I’ve been missing this blog, people who connect with me, and all of you who have been in silent support to me since always. I miss writing online and I miss myself who loved writing and connecting to you. Of late, I was busy in various personal pursuits that I wrote about in my last post, and writings kept getting delayed.  Even now, I am travelling due to work.

So much to do, so less time 😀 I guess, that is life. It will always be 💖💖

This weekend, I’ll start posting my short stories, and will finish the short story The Size of Love – Read Here

After that I’ll be writing a long novel here, and I have 2 stories in mind. I would like you to tell me what you want to read first –

A – Love, Lies, Etc. that I began on my other blog and wrote few parts

B – Sequel of Spark and Spice

Ever since I was editing Spark and Spice, which I am holding on since forever, sorry to everyone waiting, I have been almost in Spark and Spice world and knew that they had more to them. I am yet not ready to let them go and will write a sequel soon.  Same goes for Love, Lies, Etc. the story is etched in my mind, so I just need to begin putting it in words.

I try to reply to as many mails and messages I can. If I haven’t replied to you, accept my apologies.

Wish the best for each one of you. Rise and shine more.

Stay in touch. Love you all 💖💖

M.

PS – Also, suggested by one of you cuties, I will now post my musings as Maniries – ie short name for Manita Diaries… haha… I found it cute. Thanks for suggesting 😀

Good evening everyone,

I hope all of you reading this post are in the best of health and good times.

I had to make a post today for it’s a beautiful day – for me, on a personal level, as I have news to share, for all the people celebrating their festival today, and for all those of us who loved and adored our favourite show together.

To begin with, a very happy Eid al-Adha to everyone celebrating it. I hope you had an amazing festival with family and loved ones.
Times are tough and a lot of us had to restrain our celebrations for almost all festivals for over a year. May Almighty hear our collective prayers, forgives our sins, and bring the world to normalcy to be with our near and dear ones in good times and challenging ones.

Another almost-festival is the celebration of the anniversary of Kaisi Yeh Yaarian. Congrats to all the fans. It’s 7 magical years. Wowww!!!

KYY is legit the cutest show I have ever seen on ITV. Though I started watching only in 2017 but finished seasons 1& 2 in a week and a half. And I watched season 3 with everyone else. I will go on writing pages on pages if I start writing about the writing and execution of this show. It has been my topmost favourite. Especially, the way the characters of Manik and Nandini were handled, the way Parth and Niti lived them, they stood a class apart. They’ve represented many shades in one show and grown leaps and bounds with it.
They have been my muse for most of my creations. I’m so glad I found them.

And through MaNan and KYY, I found a lot of readers who followed me wherever I wrote and published. I’m always grateful to all of you.

Happy 7 years to the KYY family. May we celebrate more for years to come 🎉✨

Coming to the personal news that I had to share –

This is something about me and I always try to share all that I am doing and what I’m planning ahead. This is about personal growth in my career – I have a PostGraduate Diploma in Clinical Research and now, I’m taking another leap in my career and joined a drug development team that is researching the development of new skincare products and clinical trials about them.

I’m officially a scientist now. A Medical Scientist to be precise. More about it after the studies conclude and results get published, which may again take years. But at this moment, I’m loving it.

My heartfelt gratitude to all of you who always wish well for me and send prayers.
They work, trust me 💖💖💖 I pray the same for you. May God keep you on His precious list and shower His love and blessings on you.

A lot of messages ask me about the stories that I posted here. I’ll definitely continue and working on streamlining my schedule as loads of things have piled up. My social media usage is limited and all my focus is currently on setting a routine that gives me ample time to connect with all of you, help you in whichever way I can, and continue to write, as that connects us more than everything else.

I hope you and your families stay happy, healthy, and safe 🌻🍁

Third wave of covid19 may knock on our doors any day so please stay protected, stay safe, get vaccinated, if eligible, and maintain all safety protocols.
You are precious 💖💖💖

Take care. Stay blessed.

Love you all 🤗🤗

M

Hello Dear Lovely People,

It’s a Sunday and so, I decided to make a post today to keep in check if all is well with all of you. And to tell you more about what’s going in my life, like I always try to do.

I hope all of you are doing well in your lives. I hope the work and personal lives are almost back on track in your lives. Please don’t be complacent at this time and stay duly protected following all covid-safety protocols as we know nothing about the next wave of covid19 … how severe it will be, and when it will come.
Stay safe and vigilant about masks and social distancing.

As for me, I didn’t post for 2 weeks as a lot of stuff was going on in my life.

– I was asked to speak at 3 webinars

– Featured in an IMA MSN Karnataka (Indian Medical Association – Medical Students Network Karnataka branch) page for which I was asked to write my experiences as a doctor for junior doctors Read Here

The three webinars that I spoke about were for different schools and college students. As I work a lot with adolescents and kids, I am often asked to speak to them about skin health, hygiene, gender equality, health disparities, writing, and issues about self-esteem related to acne, hairfall, etc. I don’t have the recordings as of now. Once I get hold of them, I’ll upload them on my YouTube channel

This week has been amazing. It’s the anniversary week of The Masquerade✨🎉

My kids don’t want to call it an anniversary. They say it’s The Masquerade’s Birthday 😂😂

So, yeah, it’s my debut novel’s 1st birthday on 7th July 😀🎂 And with that, I have a piece of great news to share that it has crossed a major landmark in sales 🥂 Honestly, I never expected such an awesome response. And the reviews have been a bonus 🙏🤗💖

Thanks to each one of you from the bottom of my heart. All of you are precious to me and I can’t thank you enough 💖💖

One of my close friends has made a video for the occasion. Watch it and enter the contest below. 3 lucky winners will get a signed copy of Spark and Spice, to be released in August 2021.

I’m not able to embed the video in this post. Kindly see it on Youtube and read the contest below – The Masquerade Birthday Giveaway Video

The Contest – 

It’s a simple contest on Instagram. If you are on Instagram, do the following –

One – Follow Me there. A lot of you already follow me on Insta 😊

Two – If you have a copy of The Masquerade – Paperbook or ebook, click any picture WITH it, like shown in the video. It need not have your face. Just you and the book 😊

Three – Post the pic with hashtag – #TheMasqueradeBirthday and tag me 🤩🤩

That’s all 😀😀

3 lucky winners chosen randomly will get a signed copy of Spark and Spice, hopefully releasing in August 2021 🤞🤞🤞🤞

Results will be announced on July, 7th, 2021 – The Masquerade’s Birthday!

I have lots more to share and I will keep dropping posts randomly, with lots of short stories and long stories soon.

Until then… do take care of yourself. You are precious. And covid is a temporary test by God. Let’s ace it. This is what I tell my kids too 😊

Take care. Have a great Sunday.

Love you all 💖💖

M.

It has been a long time since I posted anything on this blog.

The last fortnight was one of the most difficult for me. Both my parents were tested Covid positive with high fever. My father has been fighting cancer for over 3 years now, and that was an added concern for us. My sister, who is also a doctor, took them for tests. And then, she and her husband, both tested positive. At the same time, our cousins have been fighting covid too.

It was a difficult time. The nights were long and sleepless. The days were restless. Regular monitoring of oxygen saturation, temperature, pulse, fever along with multiple instructions 4 times a day became a routine. Every ring of phone was scary. Every conversation had only one subject – how is everyone, how much is oxygen saturation, how is fever, who else got infected, are they doing fine, calls for beds and oxygen increased and so did phone calls for consultation from patients, from distant relatives, friends, friends of friends, and even remote acquaintances who wanted to know what to do in case of an infection and where to go in case of emergency.

This is not an isolated story from my life. This is what most of us went through in the last few days. This is what India has faced in April and May this year with the second wave of covid19 taking us by storm.
Fear, apprehension, increased workload, and stress due to multiple factors is at the highest at this point in time.

I was on the verge of a burnout due to increased psychological, and physical stress. The exhaustion left me drained to a level that often I felt like I was waddling through days without any time left.
But soon, I made a proper schedule for myself and regained the balance that I try to maintain at all times.

This post is to send a word of solidarity –  if any of you is going through any such mental, physical, psychological stress, please know that you are not alone. We are all being tested and we will somehow keep going.
The night may be dark and scary, but every night culminates in a beautiful day. This night will end too.

In the meantime, the following tips helped me. I’m writing them down here, hoping that they might help someone else too.

Allot fixed time to work – If you are working from home. The boundaries get blurred a lot of times when you are tempted to reply to emails at night or right after waking up, when you answer non-emergency calls from people who don’t care about others’ time, or when you lose track of time while on social media. If you don’t have fixed time for work, it will eat away all of your productive time leaving you drained.
Same goes for household work. My domestic help has been attending weddings since March. So, I’m paying her but not taking her services. It leaves me cleaning, doing dishes, and cooking. Fixing time for each activity does streamline a lot of time and schedule.
(My husband does sometimes help in cooking, but I’ve mentioned before that he is in a govt job that is counted as essential services. He goes to work, even in the strictest lockdown. So that leaves us without much help, yet with a constant fear of getting infected despite staying at home.)

Make a sleep-wake schedule and try to stick to it – Proper sleep cannot be compromised for anything. Once you get a habit of sleeping on time, and sleeping well, you will see how much it changes your routine for good. I make it a point to sleep at least 7-8 hours a day. Early to bed and early to rise works best for me.

Exercise – I resumed Yoga to stay fit. Choose anything that can be done at home, without stepping out for gym or park, which isn’t safe currently.

Healthy eating – Eat clean food – means non-processed, non-junk balanced diet –  with a good balance of carbohydrates, protein, fats, minerals, and vitamins. Regularly eat fruits and fresh vegetables. A schedule for healthy eating is as important as exercise for body and mind.

Stay Hydrated – Lots of water, all through the day, helps you going strong. Need to stay hydrated can never be over-emphasized.

Meditate daily – What food and exercise are for body, meditation is for mind. It calms you, relaxes you, and rejuvenates you for a long time.

Limit social media time – It wasn’t tough for me. I was never addicted to any social media. Whatever time I used to devote, I reduced that as well and now limit online news consumption, and try not to be drawn in anything that doesn’t help me grow or doesn’t relax me.

Me time – Set apart an hour or at least 30 minutes to yourself for doing things that make you feel happy. Do something everyday that fuels the soul too. It maybe music, or sketching, playing with kids, or playing a musical instrument, or anything that distracts you from difficult moments and sets a rhythm for hope. Things which make us feel good have an innate power to radiate positivity and fight despair. Good times will return but we need to keep ourselves safe until then. Not only physically, but mentally, and psychologically too.

These are things I usually do when my life gets off the track and runs haywire. I hope you are all good and taking care of you and your family.

People on my side are recovering. I wish the same for everyone who is reading this. My prayers are with all those who are infected and suffering from Covid19 or who have their loved ones suffering from it. May God be with you. May everyone get well soon 🙏🙏🙏

Times are difficult. Covid19 has been long overdue and it needs to go.
Until then, don’t lose hope. Don’t panic.

Stay strong. And hang on for a bit more.

Take care. Stay safe. Lots of love to one and all 💖💖💖

M

Hello dear lovely people,

I have been reading comments on the last update of Beyond Every Border, and I’ve read each and every comment, almost twice.

I’m deeply touched, moved, ecstatic… I have no words to thank all of you.
All of you simply made my last 2 days 🤗🤗💖💖
When readers like it, and respond back to let the writer know about it, it feels like all the efforts that were put in writing the story and updating it were worthwhile.

I wanted to reply to each one of you personally but I haven’t been able to do it. Apologies for that. I wanted to do it ‘aaram se’ but that ‘aaram’ never comes 😀
So, I decided to write a note to at least appreciate your effort. Please note, that I read all the replies and I always remember the readers. Your comments, opinions, feedback is special and precious for me.

The journey of Beyond Every Border is as heart wrenching for me as for all of you and I remember being on crossroads many times. It went through a lot of ups and downs, and how we cried with Anshuman and Manasvi.
A close friend of mine suggested that if I give it a tragic end, it will become memorable and classic. But I put my foot down…Noooo… I can never do that!!
No one can ever know how much I love my characters. I can’t do anything bad to them, at least not in the end.
Also, I don’t write to make people miserable in the end. This will fail my very purpose to write. Writing is my attempt to spread hope and positivity, to make everyone feel good, hopeful, positive, happy, and maybe feel love.

If even one person says that they felt good reading it, I feel good from the bottom of my heart. So thank you so much for the positive reviews. It encourages and motivates me, and inspires me to write more.

I have read the requests of bonus chapters and epilogue. Give me some time to think. I will inform you if I plan to write them, maybe after some time. I will soon come up with one of my stories and post it regularly, hopefully, once or twice a week. Need to plan before that because like all of you, even I love to write a story regularly, and take it from beginning to a proper end. I’m glad to have all of you here with me through these small life experiences called stories.

See you soon. Stay safe. Stay Happy. Love you loads. 💖💖💖🤗🤗🤗

M.

Hello everyone,

I hope all of you are doing well in your individual spheres, personally, professionally, with studies, or family.

Today is not an update day but since today is Sunday, I just dropped by to talk to all of you who make my blog so beautiful just by the your presence. Can’t thank you enough for that.

It has been days since we talked about random things in our lives. I do try to reply to comments on my updates, as regularly as I can. As that is the only way I can be in touch with you. I’ve read comments on last part of BEB but yet to reply to last few comments.

Last year was a roller coaster for all of us. Each one of us faced a different challenge, fought through tough circumstances, struggled with financial, or health issues. But there were some positive things too. We got more time to evaluate our life decisions, plan the future, study, and above all – we learnt to deal with difficult times in our own unique way.
Experiences teach us the most. So, I guess, we had our share of experiences to grow stronger and smarter.

I was mainly home-bound, like everyone else, for most of the year. I changed the perspective of viewing things in my professional space, and adjusted to tele-consultation as a new way of consulting. Now, that the life is returning to normal, and I’ve shifted to a new city, my online consultations remain the same. So, it worked for better for me.

In dealing with new situations, and due to some hiccups, my next book ‘Spark & Spice’ got delayed. I let it go because I didn’t want any pressure to affect my work. So, I let it sit for 2 months. And now, I’ve picked it up again.

I cannot wait to share the book with you because I’m having a blast re-reading Spark & Spice, and polishing it to be a novel. I’ve added many new scenes, and as usual, I’ve crossed the word count… haha…
So, I might post some of the new scenes here on the blog, the ones which don’t make it to the final book. It was a journey that is etched in my memories. And to be able to revisit them is pure bliss.

I became so obsessed with it again that I’m planning a new season of Spark & Spice. Still planning. Not finalised.
I will post it here after my current work is over.

I was thinking what I will do after I finish writing Beyond Every Border. I have a short story – The Size of Love – to finish, of which 7 parts are posted already. Then, there is another book – Love, Lies, Etc. – which I will continue here. Lastly, the new season of Spark & Spice. I’m not sure which one I will begin first. I’m totally impulsive when it comes to writing. Since it is not my full-time job, I can take the liberty to go as my heart says 🙂

I’m hoping for a May release of the book, now. I’m sad not being able to use Manik and Nandini as names. But since I’m editing off and on, since 4-5 months now, I am falling in love with the names Virat and Niyati. Hope you fall in love with these names, too.

I’ll share more about other characters of the story, their new names, new scenes, and more about the book every Sunday, here on this blog. So, watch out this space for further info. And if you have any questions to ask, I’m right here. 🙂

(Emojis not working on my blog… I feel so bad, I’m not able to send hearts, heart-eyes, and hugs to all of you…haha…)

Lastly, you need to tell me one positive thing that happened with you in past one year, or one good thing you did, learnt, or gained.

Please share. Let’s spread some positivity and happiness.

Love you all. Take care. Lots of good wishes. and gratitude.

Stay blessed.

M.

Hey all,

Just logged in to inform that there will be no update tonight. I am busy since morning setting up my new home in Bikaner.

As I had informed earlier that I was packing and shifting, it had been a little busy. Since last 10 days, I was staying in a hotel because the apartment we selected was getting painted and furnished. Finally, we moved in the new home today.

It’s lovely. I’m simply loving the new set up, my office space, new writing space, balcony… practically everything. It’s a refreshing new change. It’s fun, but it’s equally tiring and exhaustive, opening the boxes and setting up every room, arranging almirahs, and the new kitchen 😍

Also, tomorrow is my little one’s 7th birthday. Time flies way real quick. Seems like just yesterday when she was a baby, tiny enough to fit in my two palms. And now, she is big girl already 💖 Big enough to order cake made by mom 😀

Have a great weekend all of you.

Love you loads 💖💖💖

PS – Next Update on Monday.

Self-doubt

Swinging between confidence and self doubt
wondering where I am heading
whether all of it is worth it
or is it an illusion I’m treading

Feeling emptiness at times
and then going back to where it all began
It may not be worth anything
but it holds a unique power, a strength

To bring happiness and hope to me
and possibly someone else too
Sometimes, it is all that matters
feels like enough to continue

So I let it slide
every moment of self doubt
and flickering pride
And I continue to strive
to find a correct balance
a middle ground
A place where I can lose myself
not to be found
but to be read
not just as a glittering visual
but as a hauntingly melodious sound

~ Manita V ~

I used to have a nagging tendency to procrastinate. In the last year, I have worked hard to beat it to a substantial degree and to be honest, I did achieve a high level of discipline only to deal with the temptation to push away things that could be done at a later date.
But those who are like me know that how this tendency comes back once in a while.

That is why I had promised myself that I will not go online except Twitter for some random posts here and there, but no blog, no instagram, or any other distraction until I finish editing Spark & Spice, until I finish a backlog of medical reading done, and get some major work done regarding clinics and personal domain.

Hello everyone, so here I am, after meeting my plans for the fortnight, and winning a small challenge with myself that I will do it by the first week of December.

Apologies for not posting anything here, and making you worried. Thanks to all those who sent messages and checked on me. I’m touched.

As promised, I’m here today to tell you about the whirlwind of the fortnight that passed.

What a time, it has been -editing Spark & Spice, one of the books universally loved by people who’ve read it,  making changes regarding fixing of spelling and grammatical errors, adding dialogues, and lots of scenes, and falling in love with it all over again.

As I had mentioned earlier, this book is a long saga so it will be released in 2-3 parts. The first part is about Virat and Niyati’s love story in Paris.

I am keeping my fingers crossed, and trying my best to release it on Valentine’s Day 2021 as 14th Feb holds a very important part in the story at the initial stage.

If, and hopefully when, all goes well then exactly 10 weeks from today – ie February 14th, 2021, Sunday will be Spark & Spice Day – Keep it reserved 😃💖

Until then, I will keep posting about Spark & Spice on a post on EVERY SUNDAY like I did for The Masquerade as I want to keep you involved in the process of publishing. Each stage is a journey in itself. And I believe in enjoying the journey as much as the ultimate destination.

About stories on this blog – I will be posting an update on EVERY TUESDAY So, the next update of Beyond Every Border is on coming Tuesday and thereafter. The Size of love is a short story and that I will finish in between. Once, I am able to write regularly, I will take up other works left pending, like Love, Lies, Etc.

In the meantime, you can participate in Giveaways that I will announce in the coming week, and I will also announce the names of beta readers for Spark & Spice. It’s making me nervous and excited all over again, just like The Masquerade.

Coming to The Masquerade, I am thrilled with the numbers pouring in and the reviews that are nothing less than encouraging and motivating. Without going in exact details, let me tell you that it has done really really well and I have nothing but you to thank for it.
My heart is filled with Gratitude for all of you.
May God fill your lives with immense happiness, love, and good times.

Love you all 💖💖💖

Hello everyone,

I’m writing this quick post, almost on the go, but I promise I will write a longer one tomorrow.

I’m receiving so many messages and mails inquiring about my well being asking me why I am missing for a few days. So I thought that I’ll post about where I am and what I’m up to.

I haven’t posted anything for past 15 days as I wanted to finish an edit of Spark and Spice. I’m happy to announce that I achieved what I had decided to, and finally I can breathe in peace. Or else, I have a tendency to procrastinate.

Thankfully, I’m in a better space right now – finished an edit of S&S… and will now be free to write for the blog at peace.

More about S&S, new update schedule for BEB, The Size of Love, and LLE, about my own schedule, and more future plans tomorrow.

Do write to me what you have been doing in past few days? Are you getting enough time to focus on things you want to achieve? And how are you utilising days of restricted activity?

Missed you all & this blog, a lot!!!

Love you 💖💖

Take care, stay blessed 🤗🤗

M.

I remember when we were young kids, our Diwali festival would mainly be about 20 days of school holidays and 5 days of immense happiness, fun, love, and indulgence in goodies.

Decluttering old stuff, cleaning the entire house and getting it painted and repaired at whatever parts needed attention, starting as early as 15 days before the festival. Sweets prepared by my ma, making rangoli and toran outside the house, decorating the house with flowers, getting ready, applying henna on hands, entire family wearing our newest and heavy festival clothes and gathering for prayers, lighting clay diyas, going to the markets to observe the beautifully decorated shops, visiting houses of family friends, relatives and close friends. Exchanging gifts. Wishing on phone, all those who stayed outstation.
2 days before and 2 days after the main event, the festivities and prayers continued in a row, one after the other.

While growing up, a lot of ready-made stuff made entry in all our houses, and subtly became a part of Diwali preparation at ours, friends’ and relatives’ homes. Some rituals got a quick-fix treatment. Some were done away with due to lack of time. Everyone seemed to be busy and tied up as years passed.

But one thing always remained constant. And that was the ‘spirit of Diwali’
The spirit of togetherness, of family re-union, of staying in touch with our roots, and remembering that the essence of every festival is to share with the lesser fortunate ones, to care for people dependent on you, like your helpers, assistants, staff, to make people around you happy, to include neighbours, friends, and everyone known to you in even smallest of joys, whether lighting the lamps, or eating sweets.

Once again, this year, more than ever before, I hope the essence of the festival and the spirit of Diwali stays above everything else, instead of extravagant display of lavishness, and unnecessary show off of how fortunate we have been until now.

This year, this Diwali is falling during a pandemic. And let us all keep this fact in mind while we celebrate the biggest festival of Hindus. The increasing number of people, keeping the safety guidelines of social distancing and mask aside, geared up to celebrate Diwali is disturbingly worrying.

This year has been tough for everyone. If you are still safe from covid19, congratulations. Your hard work of nine months shouldn’t go waste. Please stay indoors. Celebrate the festival with closest ones taking every precaution.

If you were covid19 affected or had someone infected, please know that you are still prone to getting infected again, you are prone for long term mental and physical sequelae even if you had mild or moderate illness. Please stay indoors.

A lot of people lost lives. A lot means a number counting in lacs. A lot lost their means of livelihood. Small businesses faced a setback. Yes, it is important to revive economy. But in an attempt to revive economy, we cannot open the doors to death/or illness blindly. Do everything you want to do in this festival but keep in mind the safety measures. Never let your guards down.

Diwali festivities started yesterday.

This year, it is going to be a simple Diwali for me. In solidarity with doctors on duty even on Diwali day, friends who lost their lives, friends who lost someone from their family, people still in quarantine, people who are covid 19 positive and admitted in hospitals, we are not making it a grand affair this year, as we do it every year.

For my family, we are celebrating a quiet Diwali this year – with no gifts, no new clothes, no decorations, and no parties. It will only be prayers offered to the Goddess Lakshmi, home-made sweets for kids, and lighting local-potters-made clay diyas. The spirit of celebration is inside our hearts, and can never be dampened by adversity. A wide smile and gratitude towards God for keeping us safe stays above every gratification.

I won’t say that everyone should do the same. It is a case of ‘each-to-his/her-own’ – Celebrate it in your own best way that makes you happy, but  I do have a request – Please keep it as safe as possible.

– The lesser the contact with each other, the safer you are.
– The mask is the vaccine for now. Never let it slip down. It has to cover the mouth and nose, both. Don’t ease it away when you talk.
– Keep washing hands for a sufficient time after you return from outside.
– Use sanitizers when you go out to shop.

Masks and Social distancing stay the mantra for avoiding covid19 wherever you are. I hope you will remember that Covid19 is VERY MUCH here.

My heartiest wishes for you and your families. May this Diwali be safe, happy, healthy, and may God bless us all, restores every smile, and takes away coronavirus as soon as possible. It has overstayed its journey.
These are my only prayers this year.

Stay safe.

God bless you all!!! Love you so muchhhh 💖💖💖

{ All updates after Diwali ie 17th November}

Hello everyone,

First of all, a very Happy Mahanavami and Happy Dusshera to everyone who are celebrating Dusshera today. Some people have it tomorrow. So advanced wishes for that.

May this festival reiterate how we need strength and confidence in every fight. Both Ma Durga and Shri Ram teach us the value of good over evil, but only when we choose the right path. Once you know that path and follow it, you gain confidence and strength to move ahead.

Shri Ram and Ma Durga, both symbolize truth, honesty, justice, and righteousness. Never let anyone else tell you otherwise. Never allow anyone to misguide you by misquoting them.

So, it is festival time, at my place. Little moments of bliss between big moments of duties, work, patience, and sometimes, despair.

We, as a family, are celebrating all festivals in a very subdued and low profile way, this year. So no new clothes, no decorations in the house, except the basic things that we already have in the house, no shopping etc. It’s fine because once you know the need to stay safe and resolve to observe patience, nothing hurts.

I usually never buy sweets from sweet shops during any festival, as far as possible. During these times, the consumption of sweets is maximum and this gives a chance to profiteers to make money by unfair means. Almost everything from mawa to food colours and dry nuts used in sweets are second grade, adulterated, contaminated, and cooked in poor quality ghee, which is extremely unhealthy.
So, I have been making all kinds of sweets for Ganpati festival, Krishna Janmashtami, Navratri, and Diwali at my home since almost 6-7 years now. So it is nothing new, this year too. The same tradition will be followed by making food and sweets at home, followed by a simple puja.

I’m finally settled in my sleep-wake schedule, work, clinic etc… and getting good time to write too. Like you must have noticed in past few updates. I take time to settle myself because I don’t like messing with stories. Just because I don’t have enough time, so I can’t write in a rush. So, it got delayed for a few weeks.

I have around 100 mails in my mailbox. I haven’t replied to most of them. I used to personally reply to each of you. But these days have been hectic. So, apologies from me 😊🙏

I will start posting Fire & Ice again, tomorrow. It will be up on my other blog like my previous stories, few updates at one time – as a limited period offer 😃 I have learnt in a hard way, not to leave stories on internet, no matter how simple you think they are!

After the current short story is over, I will start writing Love, Lies, Etc. That means – soon!

I have to confess that I love, love, love editing Spark & Spice. More about it in a detailed post tonight – About character names and other nitty-gritty things.

Hope the festival season brings peace and prosperity in the lives of all of you. Please celebrate in a responsible manner. Stay safe. Don’t be carried away. Festivals come every year. It’s okay to keep a low profile for one year. The entire world is going through hell. We are not alone!

Hope all of you are doing fine.

Do let me know how you are celebrating the festival, this year.

Take care. Lots of love

M.

An advertisement made by a jewellery company was boycotted.
Not just any dubious company, but its Tanishq – a Tata enterprise – a group who is known for its patriotism, values, culture, and loyalty to India, who have donated hundreds of crores of money in every tragedy or pain the nation has faced. Their intentions can never be doubted. Never.

An advertisement promoting communal harmony that lasted hardly a few seconds was not tolerated. It had to be taken down by the company with an apology letter for hurting public sentiments.
An advertisement with no abuse, no derogatory language, no fights, no cuss words, no racial or snide slurs, no mocking or disrespecting of religions or hurting people of any particular group – basically nothing negative – has managed to trigger us.

Where are we going?
Are we going to oppose and outrage against peace initiatives, as well? Are we going to stick to questions like – ‘But, what about them???’

This is not the first time, it has happened. There have been many advertisements, promos, films made in the past that have tried to talk about communal harmony and National integration. And they were all pulled down, because of the outrage and threat from both communities at different times.

The issue doesn’t lie with one community. And the issue is not new. We have had a history of bitter fights, H-M clashes, difference of opinion, animosity at various levels, as severe as riots, for various reasons. That discussion is never ending. And I am not here to discuss that because this is not the correct platform and I am no authority.

I am here to discuss a few specific things, like why I feel that we are fueling unnecessary incidents, subtly promoting hatred, and gradually increasing the divide.

I have something to say about this incident. You may or may not agree with me but since it is my blog, I will go ahead and say it –

An advertisement is an expression of art and creativity. Attack on any creative form is gagging freedom of expression. An artist tried to represent peace in an ‘ideal’ form. I say -‘ideal’ – because it may or may not be far from reality as many have been accusing it as unrealistic. Firstly, it is not impossible. I’ve had 2 doctor friends married in Muslim households and they are very happy.

Even if I believe that they are exceptions, even then, I would say that which ad or film or book depicts absolute reality? They are all our pretty aspirations of an ideal happy society. What’s wrong in hoping for that? Where did the maker or the writer go wrong?
They simply used their power of expression in a certain positive way but it didn’t go down well with some people.
I don’t know what to say because I found nothing offensive in that ad.

Previously, as well, I’ve had my questions. But as soon as we ask questions on social media, we are labeled with offensive names. I was trolled so I stopped asking them. I didn’t feel the need to explain my intentions to anyone. But I realise that it is not the solution.

Clearly, lack of communication is not taking us anywhere. Maybe talking would help. At least, we can hope for that.

I showed the ad to my mom. She watched it and loved the necklace gifted to the girl in that ad. Then, I asked her if she found anything offensive in that ad. She refused.

If I speak for myself – As a doctor, I don’t discriminate between my patients. I don’t treat them as per their religion. In my personal space, I have more Muslim friends, than Hindus. Mainly, because I have lived and studied in Hyderabad. Interestingly, they are the ones least offended by my questions and doubts.
My close friends have had inter-faith marriages and they are in their tenth or fifteenth year of marriage. My readers were always from all communities. Not only communities, but several different countries.
I was never taught to hate anyone. Ever.

So, for me, it is difficult to understand the outrage over a sweet ad.

For a crime, murder, deception…yes, you should outrage and get the criminals punished and arrested. But that should be a universal and equal phenomenon. Not related to religions.

Attempts to talk about peace, however small, should not be disregarded. They are the only hope for humanity.

A section of people with a certain opinion doesn’t constitute the sentiments of an entire community.

We need to choose – Whether we want to bridge the gaps? Or create more divide?

Lots of love.

Take care.

………………………………………..

PS – If you have any positive words to write, any incident that promotes harmony, or your own experience, please share in the comments.
If you troll, spread negativity, or write hateful comments, kindly reserve your opinion for yourself, or else, I will delete them.
There is no place for disharmony and fights on my blog.

Perks of having your own blog 😃

Hello dear people,

It’s Saturday. Time for my Saturday ‘My Corner’ post.

I won’t try to write any experiences or thoughtful posts today. Nothing fancy. Nothing exceptional.

Today, the only promise I want from each one of you is to remember that you matter. And you matter a lot.

Believe that there must be something special in you that God Almighty chose to make a human out of you and not just another living being, a plant, or an animal on this planet.
No.
You were bestowed with a ‘human’ life. Precious. Magical. And supremely gifted.

You are special in the eyes of the Almighty. Then, it doesn’t even matter if other fellow humans don’t think of you as special, put you down, ridicule or mock you, don’t care about you, and don’t think of you in high regard. It doesn’t matter because it is not necessary that two people have matching opinions on any given topic. If they don’t value your awesomeness, it doesn’t make any less of you.

Don’t give others’ opinion so much value that it starts making you feel low or worthless. No one should be given the power to hurt you, physically or emotionally, to a level that it destroys your peace of mind.

You are enough to treat you as special. And that matters the most.

Your feelings are valid. There is no need to be ashamed of your feelings or existence. Love, loss, happiness, sadness, success, failure, ecstasy, anxiety, depression – are all valid human phases – each associated with specific emotions. Getting attached to people, falling in love, losing loved ones and material possessions, ups and downs in career and relationships, fights, arguments with friends, clash of opinions with random people, diseases, loss of health, feeling unhappy, and feeling as a loser – is common to all of us.

Yes, these feelings are common to all!
And all of us go through similar emotions while dealing with them. Some do it really well. Some struggle through it. But each journey is valid and important.

Today, just make a promise to yourself that you will never put yourself down. Stand up for yourself. If you won’t, then who will?

Stop speaking negatively about yourself to others and to your own heart and mind. Believe that you are amazing. And if you appreciate a certain quality in others, try to absorb that in your life. Emulate good qualities to become a better version of yourself. But don’t let it make you believe that you are any less.

You matter. Your emotions matter. Your feelings, your decisions, your struggles and your journey are important. All feelings are justified. And fair.

Life is sometimes unfair. It can be nasty and difficult. But despite all odds, it is worth it. For all the beauty, love, happiness, kindness, and emotions you have ever experienced are because of this life.

Choose life over everything. Choose yourself over everyone else. Choose love over other emotions. Choose to be hopeful when life brings despair. Choose to be positive that there is always, always light at the end of the tunnel. Just hold on for a bit more.

There is a solution to every problem. Just look around. Maybe you can spot one. And maybe you can show the light to others, as well.

And if you are unable to choose the above or find a solution, please seek help. Talk to professionals, therapists, family, friends. Never be ashamed of the inability to deal with your thoughts and emotions. It’s normal to seek help.

Since you have made it till here keeping yourself strong, you will make it far ahead, as well. Just keep that faith in you. You can do it.

Because, you matter.

Lots of love💖 Stay safe.

M.

PS – In the comments below, write about how you are feeling today –
good or bad, happy or sad, frustrated or peaceful – all feelings are valid.

You are accepted and loved, as you are 🤗

Hello Dearies,

I’m late for this week’s ‘My Corner’ post, supposed to be posted on Saturday. But this Saturday, 3rd, was my birthday and so I didn’t get time to write a post.

I make a lot of resolutions, every now and then – on New Year’s eve, on Diwali, during Ganpati festival, on random occasions, etc. So, doing that on birthdays is another ritual for me 😃
I love making to-do lists and writing resolutions in my diary. I achieve some of them, while break others, and carry them ahead to next list😃😃

So this birthday, once ah-gainnn, I’ve made a longggg list to resolutions, hoping to stick to my schedules, related to work, family, health, routine, and that includes this blog as well.

I hope I can do some of them!!
I believe that all human beings work differently. And so are their ways. The best way to achieve your goals or do your work is to identify what kind of person you are and then keep reminding yourself that you should follow your natural instincts and mannerisms. Following someone blindly will never lead us anywhere.

As for me, I am someone who lives by deadlines and to-do lists. If I have a task before me, I will stay disciplined. I make a list, assign task and deadline to each and then work to finish it. When I had to finish ‘The Masquerade’ I was working day and night to get it on track. Once, it got published, I became too relaxed. And since then, I have been fooling around, too busy(read, lazy) to make a new target. The same happened with my blog, stories, and every creative work. Because obviously life is such a whining, cribbing baby that it wants your attention all the time. You only realize it later that while you were attending to life, as such, you missed out on a lot of things you needed to do for yourself.

When I am not following writing deadlines, I am definitely much relaxed, more eager to follow up on other important schedules, more available to friends and family, but on the other hand, I keep missing out on my stories, my thoughts, my readers and my blogs that keep me grounded and calm.

The truth remains – that life is too big, too wide, too deep, and too enormous to be grasped in our little fists. It’s like flowing water, like dry sand… No matter how hard you try to hold it, it keeps slipping away. No matter how much you want to have a slice of everything, something will keep missing out. You cannot have everything of everything…

And the essence of life lies in the manner how you find the balance to stay happy in this chaotic mess.

So, finally, here I am, another year younger, hopefully wiser, trying to become better than myself in every way that I can. But with a promise that I will keep writing. And I’ll be here with my posts and my stories, first here on this blog, and later as books.

I have made some schedules for my stories and upcoming books and hope to stick to them. I will share them once I am sure that I will be able to live up to them. Don’t want to keep you waiting until I adjust to them.

Thank you for being patient with me. Love you for your support and encouragement. I try my best to appreciate the love and kindness that I receive but many, many times I am not able to do so. It is hard to give individual shout-outs that people ask me to do, every single day. It’s tough to reply to every mail and message. But please know that I care. Apologies if I haven’t replied to your messages or mails.

Hope all of you are doing fine in your lives. All my best wishes are always with you.

Stay happy. Stay blessed.

Lots of love. Always.

M.

PS – I have a surprise as my birthday gift for all of you. More about it in subsequent posts.

It’s a Saturday. And as promised, here I am. To be with all of you, to speak to you and listen to you.

Covid19 pandemic is still living with us. The new normal has pushed us to be in difficult situations, making each day seem like a test for most. Some areas are still under lockdown and some people are living in self-imposed lockdown because they don’t know how it is going to turn next.

The best strategy for now continues to be – Using mask in public places, washing hands, sanitizing, and social distancing for a few months more.

While we keep talking about the physical health, we shouldn’t neglect the toll this phase is taking on the mental health of a big group of people.

Times are unprecedented. Covid19 pandemic has physically and socially distanced all of us from our friends and loved ones. For people, naturally attuned to living alone peacefully, it didn’t prove to be a big deal. But it is definitely challenging for all those, who are not naturally solo-dwellers.
A lot of extroverts and ambiverts are having a tough time coping with the reduced personal interaction with their group of friends and colleagues. Same goes for children who are unable to attend their school, enjoy in the park, or playground, or go to birthday parties like they used to, in pre-pandemic times.

Worse is the situation for people suffering from the infection, asked to stay in quarantine, maintaining a distance from everyone else. The long duration of isolation can easily challenge a person’s state of mind if his coping mechanism is not supportive enough.

Today, I wanted to talk about this stress of isolation, distancing, and loneliness. Specifically, to highlight that ‘being alone’ doesn’t have to mean ‘being lonely.’ We can all be by ourselves, stay alone, and still be happy. Only if we know how to do it.

If you feel that being alone makes you alienated, lost and sad, and you want to learn how to be happy while being alone, please read on. If not, you are doing well. Kudos!!

Everyday, I read on social media and news portals, how loneliness has affected someone’s psyche and thought process. How they became a nervous wreck because they were not surrounded by loved ones. A lot of people write to me to help them deal with it. They ask me to write about how to effectively stay alone, without feeling lonely, and how to remain happy and positive while doing so.

Living alone, and being happy is an art. Trick is to not let solitude affect you. Good news is that like every other art, it can be learnt and implemented effortlessly.

Here, I am writing down a few steps that helped me overcome the constant need to be around other people and taught me to be peaceful when I am with myself.

STEP #1 – Affirm the will to stay happy alone. If you ‘decide’ that you will try to learn and will stay happy and positive, whatever be the situation in your life, a lot of things become easier.
You need to tell yourself, at all times, that you will be fine. And that, you are good enough. You don’t need others to entertain you as you are self sufficient for yourself.

If you can’t be happy with yourself, then why will others be happy with you? Similarly, isn’t it better to be in your own company than being with someone who drains you emotionally and wastes your precious time. Even when you have fruitful relationships, you can’t expect people to drop everything in their life and be with you. It’s always a big achievement when you are living with yourself and learn to be excited about it.

Step #2 – Stop mindless consumption right away. It’s a bitter truth that mindless consumption and gobbling up of anything is detrimental to your physical and mental health. Episodes of your favourite shows on Netflix, or youtube, watching movies all day, all night, eating food more than you should, indulging in non-stop blaring dissection of the news on different news portals making you feel guilty at the end, making you feel like a couch potato, are all signs of escapism. It is not going to make you feel better. The moment the show ends, you will not know what to do with your life anymore. If that is the case, stop this toxic behaviour right away.

Entertainment in the right amount, at the right time, that makes you feel good is justified. But anything that distracts from reality, mindlessly, is not healthy entertainment. It is escapism.

The same goes for social media. If you find yourself addicted to social media in an unhealthy manner, you will know it as the moment you log out, you start feeling lonely, helpless, and clueless.

The trick is to detox, deactivate, and walk away from it for a few days. Take out a week for yourself – No TV, no internet, no social media, no shows, no dependence on anyone to make you happy. You will discover better ways to keep yourself occupied.

Step #3 – For that one week of detox, find an activity that keeps you physically busy but mentally free. Like washing utensils, cleaning the home, gardening, weaving, walking, exercising, yoga, painting, sketching, cooking… anything that you love to do but doesn’t require your brain to be absorbed in it. That makes you busy physically but your mind is free to wander away. Let the mind think whatever it wants and allow your deepest thoughts to connect with you.
Observe your thoughts and hold on to them.
Analyse.
Are they negative thoughts? Or positive?

Step #4: Make a journal. Write down all your feelings in that journal. Even if you are feeling lost and helpless without your family, friends, social media… write everything. Even if you can’t write much. Jot down the points and see how you talk to yourself.
Try to add to them, some thoughts filled with gratitude. Thank God for everything that you have. Feel grateful for your parents, the home, food on the table, health, air that we breathe in, education, job, ability to pay the bills, friends, knowledge, the privileges you have always had, the blessings in your life, every single thing that you can think of.

Step #5: Declutter your room, your home, your mind – Clean your space. Rearrange your living space and make it more beautiful, peaceful, the way you have always wanted it to be. Add nature – plants, stones, etc. Add lights. Shut out all the sources of negativity and clutter is one of them.
Shut out all the negative thoughts from your mind. Allow only positive thoughts to enter the sacred space of your brain.
Treat yourself kindly. You cannot keep criticizing yourself and putting yourself down. Let the world do that job and prepare yourself enough to stand up for yourself.

Step #6: Practice Self love and self care:  Take a relaxing bath. Pamper your soul with calm music. Make a routine and promise good health to yourself. The 4 pillars of good health are –
A peaceful sleep for 7-8 hours every night
A healthy diet
Proper exercise schedule
Meditation & calming rituals

Treat yourself with a nice meal. Appreciate yourself every single day and work on aspects that you’ve always wanted to grow.

Step #7: Discover yourself. Slowly, your mind will start confiding in you. Find out what you love to do the most when you are all alone. You may like to write, or sing, or dance. You can learn new skills. Or rekindle new hobbies. Learn cooking, or a new language, or a musical instrument. Discover passions. Join a few courses and improve your profile.
You may want to read books. Or magazines.

Step #8: Make plans. Give yourself deadlines and try to meet them. The plans can be professional, personal, spiritual. Just write what you want to do and fix a time for that activity. If you can’t keep up, it’s okay. At least you are trying. A challenge will keep you going from one goal to another.

Step #9: Go back to regular routine – mindfully this time. Once you are comfortable with yourself, you can now go back to social media, TV, surf internet, chit chat with people, listening to news, but a little mindfully this time. Give everything a set time, within limits, and log out after you are done with the day’s quota of internet consumption.

Step #10: Define the purpose of your life. A life without purpose withers away but doesn’t make a mark for itself. Make yourself useful and you will never need people to make you happy.

Always remember – You are a wonderful person and you were created to add glory to this world.

Each one of us is a complete and whole unit. We were created by God as an individual. We add beauty and significance to each other and together we can create magic. But it doesn’t mean that alone, we are nothing. We are magic in ourselves.
Alone doesn’t have to mean lonely. No. We are capable of being happy and positive on our own. In fact, we can make this world a happier and positive place if we don’t pour our negativity into the Universe.

Try the above steps if you have been struggling with loneliness. I hope these suggestions help some of you. Do write to me about your views on isolation. And the problems you faced overcoming it. Does it bother you, or are you happy alone?
I look forward to hearing from you.

Stay safe. Stay blessed.

Lots and lots of love.

M.

Hello everyone,

I sincerely hope that all of you are doing well in your lives, both at professional and personal fronts.

All those who are happy and content, congrats, you are on the brighter side of the spectrum. There is no feeling like that. All those who are not, please don’t lose heart and don’t give up, yet. Just hold on for some more, the dark clouds never last forever. And I can say that with experience. You’ll be fine, very soon.

To say that I missed this blog, my stories, and all of you who are no less than my extended family, is an understatement. Every single day of past so many weeks, I used to get up in the morning, with an elaborate plan that I will write updates on updates, my corner posts, will make available other stories, edit and do what not. And trust me, every single day passed with a snap of two fingers. In a jiffy.

My deepest, core thoughts keep communicating with me complaining to me that I don’t give them enough time. And when I do, they completely absorb me, overwhelm me, and make me a channel of their voice. I note down in my diary about the topics that I wish to write on. I make plans about my stories and future books. I read. I listen to music. And every single day, I decide that I will write. But it doesn’t go as planned.

I was always a night owl. I used to study for medical exams till late night. I read and do everything constructive work, late at night. After the world goes to sleep and the calm of the dark night sets in, the creative juices flow. So much so, that going to sleep before 2:00 or 3:00 am, felt early. But life starts early in the morning, right? After my kids started schooling, I had to get up early, around 5:30 am or maybe 6:00 am. I realised that I loved early mornings too. The serenity of rising sun, the cool air, the breeze, the calm in the atmosphere did wonders to the spirit. So, if we sum it up, it left me with only 4-5 hours of sleep at night, sometimes, even 3 hours of sleep.
Which is,by the way, a very unhealthy thing to do.
Everyone knows this. But being a doctor, I am more aware of how it works against all of the body systems. One must have adequate sleep. At least 7 -8 hours of sleep, especially the night sleep. Not like working all night and sleeping all day. That is not how a human body is designed to function.

Previously, I used to be very regular with updates. The reason for my regular updates was that I used to write and update late at night. In the last few months, I’ve made a deliberate effort to take care of my routine and take a healthy dose of sleep. So, even if I have a hundred things to do, I postpone them for the next day, put my wandering mind to rest and force myself to go to bed at around 10:00 0r 10:30 pm.
Of course, slip-ups do happen here and there. But mostly, these days, it is early to bed and early to rise for me.

Yes, it did demand a lot of readjustments in the regular schedule. It took some time to get adjusted to the new routine. Sometimes, I used to get up at 2:00 am as I am not used to sleeping more. Sometimes, it was 4:00 am. Sometimes, I used to stay awake for the entire night as I couldn’t go to sleep at all. Clinic work and consultations were shifted to afternoons. I used to think that I will write in early mornings, as I do it late at night. But every morning brought with it new challenges, more work, to-do lists and by the time, I finished them, it was time to go to sleep.

But the best part is that once you reach a stage where a schedule is set, it feels beautiful. As for me, it has done wonders for my body and mind. I feel more rejuvenated every single day. I am geared up to do more, learn more, be more productive. I have lost around 10 kgs of extra weight that I always wanted to get rid of. And I feel fitter and healthier than before.

I was never addicted to social media. These days it has reduced to only a few minutes, each day, but I don’t miss it. I miss only my blog and my readers and so I am here, to tell you about what I was up to in the last few days.

In this process, I had a few people worried for my well-being. I started getting panic messages on several sites asking me if I was fine. Apologies for not updating about my schedule here. But I am touched. I feel deeply, truly blessed to have received so much love here, something which I will never be able to reciprocate back. You are all gems in my life.

I may have replied to a few of you. Couldn’t reply to all. But I decided that I’ll be here, every Saturday, with a personal post at ‘my corner’ to keep you informed about me and to write about all the topics that you want me to write. It’s a perfect Saturday for me today because I am here, writing to you. And I have time, so I am writing BEB after this. I hope and pray, all Saturdays be like that 😃😍

Happy Perfect Saturday to you too!! 💖💖

Stay blessed. All the love, sent your way.

M.

PS –

– I will post BEB in the evening today. 

– Do let me know in the comments if you are a morning birdie/or a night owl… and how do you manage your schedules around it? Does it suit your routine? And are you happy the way you are or want to change?

Hello everyone,

It has been a few days since I updated anything. I reduced my social media presence as well and was hardly around. I hope that things around you are fine and you are doing well in your respective fields.

As for me, I was a bit overwhelmed with the way things have been unfolding around me. Sometimes, things are going well and even that becomes stressful. Since my clinics were closed, I had completely shifted to online consultations, counselling, and mentoring, which has thankfully picked up well. So, now I was busy the entire day, with lots of things piling up together. It took time to streamline the work.

But that was not all.

Since I was not writing and not getting any ‘me-time’ to watch something on the internet or read a good book, I started feeling weird, and blank. It was like an ‘out-of-body’ experience. As if my body is working round the clock but my mind is attuned to supporting it without putting any brain into it. With robotic precision, everything went on, till I started feeling drained and clueless. I don’t know if it has ever happened to any of you. But it happens with me often. And when that happens, I try to take a break and try to set a schedule in a way to include reading, writing, music, and spending more time with my kids in it. In short, to be back to things that make me feel alive. That make me feel happy and content.

That, I guess, must be the spark in us. That makes each and every individual feel complete and meaningful.

A lot of things will make you feel useful and accomplished. But only a few things will bring back that contented smile on your face when you feel like you don’t need anyone else to make you happy. When you know that you are glowing from within.

That spark, I have finally managed to get back 😃✨

Let me know how you are managing through the stress of Covid times. It is not easy to deal with unseen circumstances in these testing times. So kudos to all of us.

And also write to me, if you would like to share about the ‘Spark 🌟’ in your life that brings back all the smiles after a tough and testing phase.

Take care.

Love you all… Stay blessed…

M.

{Will update today!}

Hey all,

This is nothing special. Just a simple chat post 🤗

Of late, I have been very very busy with so many things going around me. And I was planning for so long to talk to all of you about how you have been, if everything is fine at your end, how is the lockdown/Covid19/opening up treating you…
Hope you all are managing well at your end.

As for me, I am doing fine. By God’s grace, we are managing well and there is nothing to complain. Seeing so much going on around us can be unnerving and stressful. For now, being grateful for all that we have is the only way to sustain this difficult period.

I have always believed in working ahead and leaving everything else for God Almighty to take care🙏 We can only do our job with the utmost sincerity. The rest is not in our hands.

Keeping that spirit, I have been editing my next story and writing a new book, too.

So, I’m editing Spark & Spice – No major changes in the story, no scenes will be deleted. In fact, I am planning to add a few more scenes while I am revising it and feel like writing more. It is a long story, of epic proportions. Almost thrice the size of a book. So, either I would make it a big bulky book or make it a series/trilogy kinda thing. Same goes for Tangles & Ties, and Fire & Ice, which will follow this one. They are all long stories with so much to say and I don’t want to delete anything.

But there is one thing that I need you all to understand. You will be reading most of my stories here as I love to interact with all of you. But these are all first drafts. I write and post immediately. No second reads, no beta reading, no proofreadings, no corrections… Now, when I edit, I weed out repetitions, redundant words, things not making sense, and excess wordiness in the final edit, that you might not even have noticed in the first draft. If we compare the first drafts with the final products, we will never be able to enjoy the story. Here I post chapter-wise, through many months of writing…I may not be very good at consolidating new parts with old parts… so I correct that aspect while editing 😊

Now, coming to the NEW STORY. I am writing a new story as an idea had been crawling in my mind for so long and I wanted to write it down- But I want it to be read at one go. So, probably, if it gets completed in time, that can possibly be the next book too.
I will keep you posted about more on this.

I will continue writing Love, Lies, Etc…I’ll start posting next week.

Thank you so much for the love and support to The Masquerade!
Bowled Over is the correct word that would describe how I am feeling right now😍😍
I’m thrilled at the response.
I knew that people will like it because I had worked really hard but the love I have received is tremendous & phenomenal… like, people who don’t know me here, who haven’t read any of my work before, and are casual readers are loving it too and it means so so so much to me.
I mean, I know you all love me and my stories and you read my work. So I had confidence in all of you. But to gain acceptance outside of this blog was big for me.

Do let me know if all of you are fine. Often I think of people, in touch with me here, and wonder if they are doing fine in their lives. Do let me know if all is well.

Love you all💖💖

Take care. Stay safe.

M.

Wish you all a very Happy Friendship Day! 

It means a LOT to me to have a bunch of people around me, who I feel so close to that I can easily share my thoughts with them.

You all are ‘that’ bunch – People who understand me, who are patient with me when I am stuck with something important, who care about me when I am low or not well, people who are happy with my success and happiness, and who are sad when I am upset about something. You have been there through every thick and thin, and all ups and downs in my life… And I feel proud to say that each one of you is an important part of my life.

Things feel incomplete when I don’t share them here. When I am not regularly posting my stories or random posts at ‘my corner’…I miss your presence…

I feel grateful, privileged, absolutely plain lucky!!! 😀😀

Thank you for being there!! You make me feel out of the world 🤗🤗

Love you all 💖💖💖

Stay blessed. Stay Safe. Stay Happy!!

M.

PS. I sometimes wonder about some of you who have moved on and have simply disappeared. I remember a lot of them. I just hope that all is well with them and they are doing fine. Take care 💕

I know I had said that I will update today but a lot of time got spent today in talking to people who were facing an issue while commenting and logging in the blog.

Some even thought that I had purposefully left them out. If any of you is thinking like that, please rest assured that it is nothing like that. You are not the only one suffering.
A lot of people are facing issues and comments are not getting posted. Please understand that my life is too sorted for petty issues like deliberately leaving some readers out of commenting. I can never do that with anyone. Ever!

So, I have again made some changes in the settings and hope people can comment again. I had changed some settings to allow only people with valid email id’s as I didn’t want anonymous comments. Some people leave silly comments and I wanted to know who they are. But now that my readers are facing issues, I decided that you all are more important than 2-3 random people posting nasty comments. They don’t get the luxury of my attention.

Anyway, all is good at my side. And I will be posting the next update of BEB tomorrow as I am not able to sleep unless I write the next part.
Yes, I get as restless as all of you 🙈😍

And let me know if you can post comments now. Just write – ‘I can’ in the comment box. After that, whether you comment on the update or not is up to you. But at least I will be relieved that there is no technical glitch 😊

If you can’t comment – Use this message box to say – You can’t comment –

Take care. Good night.

M.

So, the title and the dancing emoticon will tell you that I am happy, excited, nervous – all at once – with this news.

The Masquerade is listed – Yes, yes, yes!!!! 💃💃💃

I have literally NO Words – No words!! No emoticons!!
I tried searching for GIFS – They are none that can describe me actually. I can freaking scream and yet I am speechless! And I have literally tears in my eyes and I don’t know why.

It was one dream that every writer has – To see his/her name on a book cover!! This was one dream that I had always nurtured. And I am living that dream right now!!

Thank you loads to each one of you. My deepest heartfelt gratitude. It wouldn’t have been possible if you had not given me the confidence that I write fine and should give it a try.

I have so much to say —

Now, that the book is listed before time, I am uploading 3-4 podcasts together, so that by 15th, I read 2-3 chapters and make them available at one place for you to read.

For the time being – I have changed the LANDING Page of http://www.manitav.net to The Masquerade page as it has literally EVERYTHING – Podcasts, Blurb, Videos, Creatives, Posters, Sample Chapters, Giveaway, etc. So that you don’t have to search for any of it.

Do have a look – 

The Masquerade Complete

Next – GIVEAWAY winners will be announced tomorrow, ie 14th July 2020. If you have already ordered the book, you can let me know, I will keep your name saved for Spark & Spice giveaway.

I have been receiving hundreds of messages asking about my writing journey. I had decided that the day my book gets published. I will post a series of BLOG POSTS about WRITING, concepts of writing, process, journey, how to get published, and what goes behind the scene. I want to help people as much as I can but I wanted me to be at a stage where I can say – ‘let me tell you how it goes!’
I can now show you the way, but I can’t hold your finger and take you across. It is tough to reply to each so I will reply to questions here on every post.

I know, I haven’t been posting updates of my stories. I had even kept myself free for this month. But I forgot that a mom and a doctor are never free 🙈😀

Beyond Every Border, the next update is long and super intense and every little distraction destroys the flow of my writing. I hope to finish it tonight. I have npot removed it. Don’t panic. Find recent uploads on the menu on the Home page. It’s there.

Love, Lies, Etc is an intense story, another one too close to me. I am purposefully delaying it because of so many commitments. I avoid doing something instead of doing a shabby job. Have a little patience about it. I know you will 😀🤗

A word for people who had their Results in these days –
If you scored well – Congratulations! If you didn’t – Chin up!
Know that ‘scored well’ is not even a number. It is just a feeling. It is an emotion. It’s all about how you feel. Some people are not happy even with 90+ score and some are chilled even with bare passing marks. Not that any is a criterion. But you should know what is your basic aim in life – to become something that you are proud of – YOU!!! Not your parents, relatives, friends, society – no one!!
But YOU!
Be something that you are proud of, make a satisfying career doing things that make you feel satisfied, be a good human being, be useful to others around you and society in general, try to stay happy in whatever you achieve while striving to excel and be the best in everything you do. hard work always pays. Remember that.
And these school exam marks are not a destination. They were just a part of the journey. MOVE ON!

Last but not the least – Covid 19 is coming closer. The cases are on a rise. A lot of known people are now found to be infected. A friends’ grandparents, distant relatives, some people in the neighbouring colony – Parth, Bachchan family – so many positive cases – Now we are hearing about people we know. They will all be fine. I know because our prayers are with them. But please please stay safe. Please!!
It’s always better to stay safe. Stay home. Venture out if you cannot manage at home. There is no harm in staying extra cautious.

It’s just a matter of few days! They will pass soon!

Stay strong. We are together in this.

Love you all

M.

……….

On request, I have edited both this post and the landing page to insert links for the book —

For Indian users – amazon.in – Link

For international readers – amazon.com – Link

If amazon is not delivering in your area, you can try getting the ebook. It will be available on Amazon Kindle app.  It’s a FREE App…
The book will be immediately delivered to you on your phone or system. It will be pocket friendly too. I will advise students and almost everyone who is not getting books delivered to their area, to get the ebook.

The Book is also available on the following sites

Hello everyone,

Apologies for disappearing after my Instagram live. I was juggling with some chores, had poor internet connectivity, didn’t write anything worth sharing so I didn’t come here. I was not sure if The Masquerade will be released on 15th so I delayed the podcasts too.

Today, it was Sunday. I was comparatively free. So, I am trying to be active again 🙈😀

So, I am here to announce a few things —

First of all – Thank you soooooo sooooo much for the wonderful response to my Instagram live. It was incredible. I was nervous before that. But I was so thrilled to see you all there. Those who couldn’t join, I missed you. You can watch it below.

I have also recorded the LIVE with comments intact. That I will post today on my youtube channel. 

I am writing BEB. I will probably post it tonight. At around 10 pm.

Someone had asked me to post about Hope. I think she was Isha. I will write it and post it under My Corner at 11:00 pm, after BEB.

I will make a post about The Masquerade and post it along with Episode 1 of the podcast at 6 pm in the evening.

And I’ll be here to answer your queries if any 😀🤗

Listen to the Introduction of the podcasts below. I will post each of them here, at Spotify, on Instagram, Facebook page, and Twitter. Listen wherever you feel comfortable. And leave the feedback.

So, stay tuned at 6 pm today.

<iframe src=”https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/show/6ZqHN6tmFTWIbvhhrVm1Gk&#8221; width=”100%” height=”232″ frameborder=”0″ allowtransparency=”true” allow=”encrypted-media”></iframe>

See you at 6 pm, 10pm, 11 pm IST here.

Hope everyone is doing fine. My prayers and wishes for each one of you.

Love you. Stay blessed. Stay safe.

M.

Hello Everyone,

So, this post is basically to thank you for your responses to the last part of Beyond Every Border. I haven’t been able to reply to you as I keep losing internet at night. So, I decided that I will do it in the morning.

It has been an amazing journey to just BE with you all. Writing stories with ups and downs, twists and turns, getting feedback in different forms from each one of you has been nothing but a blessing. Posting updates with PaNi as muse has been an enchanting experience I will never trade for anything less.

Thank you for standing by me and waiting when I am busy, tied up in work, not able to write and waiting for updates without complaining (much 😋😅!!)

Thank you to encouraging me to record podcasts. This was my first time – And I have to tell you that it has been a learning experience. For long, writers have been saying that a book reads differently when it is spoken or heard. Felt that experience for the first time. It is incredible. I will advise all writers to record some parts of their books and write-ups and see how they actually ‘sound’… it brings a lot of clarity.

Thanks to Shikha – for guiding me to post it at Anchor. It is a lovely platform to record and upload podcasts. Still learning to post them on other channels – Instagram etc so that I post on all the social media sites as advised by everyone.

Thanks to Megha, Geeta, and Pratiksha for making beautiful ‘Fan-art’ and posters for The Masquerade. It was a beautiful surprise. I will post them with podcasts. It has been my privilege to have people connected to my books.

As The Masquerade is my first book in paperback, it is too precious to me.

But then, all of them are! So thanks to all of you for loving them.

Mostly, thanks for encouraging me to do a ‘Live on Instagram’. This is my first and I have never done anything like that before. So, obviously I am nervous. I hope I learn with time and gradually improve.

Do join me today. At 6:30 pm.

And yes, now I am going to reply to all of you on BEB. Thanks again.

love you all 🤗🤗💖💖

M.

When all the big things stop making sense and big plans begin to sink, it’s time to look at little things in our life and focus on baby steps to feel blessed, feel grateful, feel motivated and encouraged to start again and feel hopeful all over again.

People ask me if I am busy these days – No, I am not. I specifically kept myself free for this month, starting July 1st, to focus on book promotions and to be back to writing updates. But then, things come up unexpectedly and one of them is poor internet.

So for the past 2 days, I didn’t have the internet, despite having time at hand. It kept coming and going so I could browse a few sites, twitter, etc, but there was hardly any speed or continuity.

So, this morning when I woke up to find the signals at level 4, I quickly picked up the laptop to write this post.

Let’s see what we can do with time at hand. I have decided to focus on the promotion of my book and I really hope that the book gets listed soon —

I’ve taken the advice from you and recorded a podcast for 3-4 pages of my book. I will start posting them in an episodic format and may continue to read till initial 1-2 chapters of the book, depending on how it goes 🙈😄 Coz I am a total novie there. This is the first time I have recorded something. I hope to improve with time 😀

Also, does someone know of a good site where podcasts are uploaded? Or should I do it on Instagram and here, on the blog? YouTube? Honestly, I am still exploring options.

Someone asked me to do an Insta live… Again, I’ve never done anything like that before. In fact, if you’ve followed me on social media, I never do things like – #Askme or live kinda things… one, I am too awkward a personality to pull off a ‘Live’…or an #Askme… so I don’t know…
Moreover…What will I do in a live if no one joins 😃🙈🙈

So, do let me know if I should try that.. maybe to announce the podcast…

I’m overwhelmed with the interest the book and its cover has generated on Twitter and Facebook. I’m overwhelmed. I’m touched. And deeply grateful. Thank you sooooo much.
It’s humbling, actually 💞

I’ll upload my fictions as and when I get time. I have taken another advice from one of the well-wishers and decided not to make a schedule, for now. It creates pressure when I am not able to write, or have poor internet and I feel really bad for making people wait, after promising.

For the time being, I’m planning to post further BEB on the other site, I had made for Manan fics, so that this site doesn’t get overwhelmed and doesn’t crash. 

Do write to me, if you want me to write about a topic. A lot of people tell me that they have no passion in their lives and nothing to focus on.

So, tonight, I will write about how to find passion in your life. If all goes well, and if internet is smooth, I’ll be here at 8:00 pm, talking about the passion in our lives and how to find it.

Till then, keep smiling. Believe that you deserve the best and the best is yet to come.

Stay safe. Stay blessed.

Lots of love

M.

Hey all,

Thank you a million bunch for the smashing response to the launch of Cover and Official page of The Masquerade.

I knew that the cover and the blurb of The Masquerade are good and I will do justice to them. But I didn’t expect THIS BIG and incredible response from the readers and friends.

I am Overwhelmed. I have no words to thank you all.

As for the work front that I wanted to tell more about – it’s here

Due to COVID 19, we are still in the containment zone with police curfew in our lane. We are getting used to it. My clinics are shut. I have shifted it completely to online consultations. I am consulting people for Skin Care right now. The other site for Holistic medicine is in preparatory stage and I want to take it up only after my book releases. ie. After July 15th.

I’m not taking anybody for counselling or emotional talk, right now, as I am running short of time and don’t want to commit to more people than I can manage.

So, check out my website, if you wish to. I will be taking skin related queries on blog posts, there. So, you can join if you want or refer to a friend or relative if they need skin consultation –

It is at – www.neuskinplus.co.in

By God’s grace, my patients have returned back to stay in touch online and it has picked up 🙏

Everything else is going as usual. Household chores continue as all other routines.

Do let me know how is everyone doing. How is your side with regards to coronavirus aka Covid 19?

I try my best to reply to everyone. I have replied to ppl on Twitter and Instagram. And 2-3 people here as well. This is my way of thanking you and expressing gratitude. I will reply to the rest by tomorrow.

Take care.

Lots of love.

Manita

I didn’t post anything in the last two days as I am deeply disturbed by the tragic news of Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise.

We have lost another young life today. So promising. So bright. Immensely talented and so full of dreams or hopes. It feels like a personal loss to so many of us.

Sushant had been the daring one. The one who took chances, took risks, showed us how things are done with hard work and determination to achieve your goals, how not to give up on passions and dreams.

He was the role model for middle class ‘outsiders’ who had only hard work to back them and nothing else. I respected him for his sheer grit and talent. The social media and internet is flooding with his achievements, talents, qualifications, superlative skills and intelligence. And how benevolent he was.

It pains to see that he is gone now. His death came as a shock that rattled me deep.

But it wasn’t a natural death. It was a suicide.

For what?? For things that could have been prevented?? Are we, as a society, facilitating people dying? So easily???

I remember an engineering student, a teenager patient who used to visit me for skin treatment, sharing with me that he wanted to make it big in Bollywood. Like a typical well-wisher and mature elder in age and experience, I was worried for him. I told him to finish his degree first and then try to become an actor as Bollywood is ruthless and full of nepotism, and it is too uncertain. He gave me an example of Sushant and said that when he can start from scratch and reach there, so can I.

THIS was Sushant’s impact. After him, a lot of middle-class youngsters who want to achieve places without Godfathers and parents to spend an exorbitant amounts of money to launch them, have lost hope too . A lot of dreams, hopes, ambitions, and a confidence to make it big have died. And that feels so painful to imagine.

I have been reading about how he was depressed for so many years, how he had no one to share his life with and so many other things that might have lead to this outcome. The fact remains that none of us know anything clearly about him. Neither about his personal life nor about his struggles, his pain, his hopelessness, and what triggered the moment when he had a thought that life was not worth living anymore.

We are really not in a place to comment on his mental state or his struggles. We can keep speculating and sharing theories but it doesn’t help. Nothing will bring him back.

10.8 million followers and that guy was alone. Let than sink in. And let that ring loud and clear about how fickle and fake social media is.

It is easy to talk about mental health, depression, self-love, and self-care on social media. But it is too tough to handle any of them, if it befells you. It is easy to speak about all these things but takes only an empath to imagine what a person goes through when faced which harsh circumstances and difficult challenges.

People offer a shoulder to others to cry on whenever such incidents happen. They write long essays about mental health and how they can help. They tweet poetry and things like ‘my DM’s are open and share whatever you want to. Reach out to me.’

But these are the very same people who turn around once the limelight goes off and then become a part of so-called groups, lobbies, fandoms of celebrities, societies, religious outlets, Bollywood cartels, left-wing and right-wing of politics… you name it and you see these groups… targetting and harassing people for posting anything they don’t like. Calling names, shaming them for looks, preferences, ideologies, and opinions, comes naturally to them.

But have you ever thought what goes on the psyche of a person when you gang up on him/her and bully them for having an opinion? No. You didn’t.

Bullying and targetted harassment have become a thing on the internet. Mocking people for their background, colour, ideology, orientation, or opinion, religious beliefs and traditions they follow is not limited to Bollywood cartels. It is on all of you who facilitate this normalizing of picking on people who don’t agree with you.

People call each other ‘intolerant’ and do exactly what intolerants do. It seems too cool to slash a person’s identity by giving savage replies, putting him down by personal attacks,  dragging their families and professions to give indirects and intelligent sly.

Look at what bullying, harrassment, sidelining, lamenting does to psyche of people.

If you attack people in packs and bully them endlessly, then you are part of the problem.

It is not just bollywood. It happens everywhere. Every school, college, educational institutions, offices, artsy workplaces, professional lineages – favouritism and nepotism is a rule, trying to put down the real talent and making them a secondary player dependent on the mercy of big-wigs in the arena.

Social media is a reflection of this mindset. And every single day, you will see people fighting so harshly as if they are being paid for fighting and dragging others in the mud.

STOP this dirty act, already.

If you want to do something for Sushant and people like him, then REFUSE to become a  part of any such cartel which wants you to chase others like a mad dog.

STOP bullying. STOP ganging up on someone if they don’t agree with you.

DON’T pose yourself as the saviour or the messenger of compassion, if you don’t know anything about mental health..

TAKE CARE of your own health. Mental stability, calmness and peace is very important. Love yourself enough to not need anyone else to make opinions for you.

READ and form your own opinions.

VALUE your time and energy, and all that you can do with that. Don’t spend it on fake show-offs. Social media is fickle. I repeat. It will get you nothing in the end. Do something concrete, do something constructive, get a degree, get a job, learn real skills and make yourself useful to society.

VALUE your close friends, siblings, family. Even they might be going through some stress and suffering it alone, while you were busy on social media, sulking for things which don’t even matter in the long run. Take care of people closest to you – family, friends, best friends, 4-5 people who are in regular touch with you.

EVEN your maids, helpers, staff… they might be as disturbed as everyone else is, and may have no one to talk to. Ensure that they are in the right frame of mind.

LEARN to ignore things that disturb your peace of mind. Learn to ignore an opinion that you don’t like or that doesn’t resonate with you. Someone telling you that you are fat or ugly or moron or unintelligent reflects on that person’s ugly thought process. It doesn’t make you one. Walk away from such people. You don’t need them.

WALK AWAY from what irks you. Your favourite star doesn’t need your saving from trolls. They have already achieved so much that they care two hoots for trolls on social media. A random tweet is not going to make your star ugly, non-actor, or loser just because some non-entity said so. Who is he or she to opine about a celebrity? No one. Yes, that’s right. People want to become famous like this because trolling attracts attention. Don’t give them that satisfaction. So, stop wasting time in fighting on social media. It will affect your personality and make you a bitter person, affects the positive social system, affects the psyche of the person who just wrote something to either purposefully rile you up or maybe gave an honest opinion. And more than everything, it annoys people who read it.

Still, if you can’t stop yourself, and it is only natural. Like, I try my best not to react to negativity on social media or even in personal life. But when I have had enough and I can’t stop myself, I give one reply and then refuse to be dragged in pig-fights. People who have nothing to do in life will always try to make you like them. Don’t give them that happiness.

NO NEED to explain your stand, or justify your opinions to strangers on the internet. Your opinions, your thoughts, ideologies, beliefs of a lifetime cannot be explained in 280 characters. No matter how hard you try, people will not try to understand. They listen to only what they want to listen.

IDENTIFY self-made and independent talent in every industry. Not just Bollywood or media or politics. Take efforts to know who is working hard to achieve on his own and has been delivering good results. SUPPORT them.

DO NOT SUPPORT anyone who is bullying others, has formed a cartel to sideline talent, made a group to target people, or facilitates harrassment of any kind. DO NOT SUPPORT them. I am angered when I see videos of people selectively targetting Sushant for being a TV actor, for posting long motivational posts on social media, for his styling… none of which was problematic in ANY way. Their insecurities worked against him for he was far too talented for nepotism brigade.
I refuse to be part of any such group in real life, social media or organizations. And I refuse to spend even a penny of my money for them, or even a second of my time for mediocre stuff they dish out in the name of entertainment.

Let us all STOP TALKING and START DOING. If you can change yourself even slightly, it will help your own mental health and of those who are closest to you.

FIRST, you have to ensure that you are not part of that system that normalizes hatred in any form and ensures that more Sushants need medical help to get over with what they are going through and no one to stand by them at the time when they are lowest.

BE that voice, that help, that support which a person close to you needs.

WE cannot bring Sushant back. But, together, WE can ensure that there are no more Sushants around us, taking their lives because the society failed them.

Rest In Peace, Sushant Singh Rajput 🙏 May you leave a message that rings on for a change in the society.

Take good care of yourself and your family. Stay safe.

Lots of love to all of you.

M.

Hello, dear lovely people,

I hope all of you are doing well. I pray for the health, safety, and well being of you and your families.

We are going through tough times and the only way we can sail through these days is by maintaining patience, hope, and faith in God. Everything will be fine in a few weeks. Just keep praying for everyone you know and for the world, on the whole.

It has been some time since I wrote an informal post like this one. The lockdown period has been different for me as it has been for all of us. Everyone has been going through a different struggle during this time. Different – but not difficult – as I believe that I am in a comfortable position as compared to what many others are going through.

For me, the lockdown period has been all about – more work, physically and mentally. My online consultations take up my mornings and evenings. Between them, I try to fit in cooking and other household chores. My husband works with the Government of India and he is in a job that is counted as emergency & essential services. So he is stuck out of town, on duty, and hasn’t been home since March 18th. He is safe, but away. So, here I am, taking care of home and kids, apart from clinic work that has shifted to the laptop.
On the whole, life is fine. Hectic and tiring. But nothing to complain, actually. The saving grace is that there are no time constraints, schedules to follow, or pressure of routine. No stress. No rush.

My prayers for the people worst hit by this phase – daily wagers, small businesses, people who are affected by Covid-19, and their family members. What they are going through is the real difficult phase and I hope things ease up for them, soon.

I am trying to squeeze in my writing in between. But I don’t take stress to do it. Writing has always been my stress-buster and I wish to keep it that way. The day it starts feeling like a pressure, it will lose it’s charm and will start appearing like a job. I don’t want that. So, I write and post whenever I feel like. But I understand that it becomes torture for people waiting for an update. To wait every day and not getting an update is frustrating. So, I decided to post a schedule regarding the updates, my posts, etc.

Here it goes –

Fridays – My Corner – My Blog post
Saturdays – Beyond Every Border
I will try to make all posts around 7 – 8 pm, IST. So, basically, it’s the weekend that I’ve decided so that we don’t forget 😀

This friday on My Corner – blog, I will tell you about the fate of all of my stories – What happens to Spark & Spice, Fire & Ice, Tangles & Ties…where you can read them… plus, all that is currently happening with The Masquerade… and more…

Also, I completed T & T on 26th March. It will be one month to its completion on 26th, i.e. 26th April. All T & T fans have read it by now. If you haven’t please finish reading it as I will take it down on 26th April. My past experiences have been disappointing and leaving a completed story online makes no sense.

Thank you for everything.
Take care.

Lots of love,

M.

Hello everyone,

Hope all of you are fine and safely quarantined inside your home. Please, please, please stay inside until and unless it is very very very very urgent and you have to step out. And when you do, please ensure that you and your family follow ALL safety precautions.

We are going through a tough time. Hope it passes soon and the peace, health, and hope prevail all over the world.

My prayers and wishes for all those who are suffering. Each and everyone, esp. Italy. Please pray for them. They are the hardest hit. And for all the others too. Including our country who was well alarmed in advance, yet some idiots chose to bring it upon others by their selfish interests.

Anyway, let’s not talk about that. With all the negativity going around and depressing news everywhere, I find it better to go back to the world of fiction that has been my saviour in every tough time. It keeps me sane and sufficiently distracted.
I’m back to writing as I have sent The Masquerade after corrections.
I will be posting Beyond Every Border and a new story for now. Don’t ask me for now about others as I will not be uploading lots of stories together. It slows the site and makes them vulnerable of theft.

I have sent my maids, helpers, staff – everyone on paid leave. So, my quarantine life is all about cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, reading books to my kids, playing with them and some social media. Do write to me about how you are spending your quarantine.

And by the way, you can check my new story here – Till Eternity And Beyond

Lots and lots of love, good health, and best wishes.

We will all survive this catastrophe well. I’m so sure.

M.

Hello everyone,

How are you all doing? I know the situation is tough right now and we are all in almost a state of lockdown. I just came here to tell you all that please don’t panic. We will get through this. 

Coronavirus is tough. But we are tougher.

Just be patient. Be vigilant. And stay safe. If possible – quarantine. If not – please follow all safety guidelines by WHO. We will survive!!

In case, you feel worried, you can talk to me. I came here to tell you that ‘I’m here’…to listen and alleviate your anxiety.

I have quarantined my family and myself as my clinic was seeing mostly non-emergency cases and they can wait for 2-3 weeks. It is important for all of us. Hats off to all those doctors who are dealing directly with coronavirus infected patients. My prayers are with them. And everyone who is working hard to keep us safe.

Social media is scary and you cannot read more news without getting panicky. I have decided to utilise this quarantined life to finish my stories and be here with you.

I will start posting Beyond Every Border tomorrow. And update Tangles & Ties too. For me – writing, editing and posting stories – is the only way to stay sane and get over every tough phase.

Let me know how you are coping up.

Prayers and positivity have immense power. Never lose them in any case.
May God be with all of us! 

Lots of love

M.

Good morning everyone,

I really hope that all of you are doing well. And are healthy and calm during this Global Catastrophe of Corona Virus Pandemic. I wish you good health and safety for all of you and your families.

Whatever part of the world you stay in, please stay safe. Stay vigilant. Don’t Panic. Stay calm. But stay updated. Don’t turn a blind eye to safety measures.

If possible, do update me about the situation in your respective country. I keep worrying if you are safe.

It took a small particle-sized virus of around a few microns to tell us how we were going so wrong, at many levels and we need to go back to basics.

Officially a Global Pandemic now, Coronavirus outbreak has shook almost every country and all health administrations worldwide, without any discrimination. It refuses to be controlled as of now, till the last update. The new updates tell us that recently declared ‘free’ or cured people who were previously positive are now being tested positive all over again. That is, the virus is reinfecting. That means it doesn’t go from the system and stay inside our body, waiting for the right time (read low immunity) when it is conducive for it to grow again. This is a proposed theory right now. In short, we don’t know much about this novel virus. It is new to us.

Coming to India – The situation is like we are sitting on a ticking time bomb. It can blast at any moment. And stopping it is in OUR hands.

As of now, India, as a country of 1.3 billion people, has been doing good when it comes to containing a pandemic as contagious and as ruthless as Corona Virus. But no country, no authorities, no hospitals or doctors can do anything when they are not supported by the masses. We are limited in resources after all.

While the swiftness and diligence of Indian Govt. in taking steps to contain it and fight it are impressive, I am deeply disturbed by the callous approach of citizens of the country. How do you think we are able to stop this if we continue to do what we feel like?

We have to educate ourselves, take steps on a war footing, be on front foot and fight!! And the basic steps are not even difficult.

One of the most important things to do is SOCIAL DISTANCING –

All those who can, please please do this. Stay at home. Don’t go out unless emergency. Don’t attend lunches and dinners, no matter how important it is. Don’t eat out at restaurants. Avoid public parks, cinema halls (closed in many cities now) gyms, pools, wherever people collect in high numbers and close contact. It’s just a matter of a few weeks. PLEASE follow this.

Schools are closed in many states and so are places of recreation. And there is a reason to do so. The Govt. wants you NOT to collect in groups. That is why OFFICIAL orders of closure have been issued. That DOES NOT Mean that vacations have started and you roam around without any holds, like the way some people are doing it. Have some responsibility for the small kids and older people who you might be infecting and they might not be as strong as you to sustain the infection.

The image of a swarm of people at Juhu beach, Mumbai, taken yesterday is both alarming and depressing. How can people be so irresponsible? Please don’t do this. Stop yourself and others too.

Countries like Italy, Iran, Korea, Germany, Britain have one by one fallen victim to this virus. We don’t want to join them.

Just imagine, can we afford this situation in our country?? We are at high risk – High population, overcrowding, limited resources, overloaded hospitals and scarcity of doctors and paramedical staff… we are ON The Edge!!! Everything goes against us.

NOW, it is only ‘WE’ who can do something and avoid getting infected. It’s time to bunker in. Cook at home. No harm in saving some basic necessities, for around 2-3 weeks to stop going to supermarkets and malls. Stay isolated and avoid people.

Those who have to go to office and need to step out – Please follow WHO guidelines –

• Wash hands after touching metallic objects, using office loo and regularly (for around 30 seconds minimum and 1 min ideal ) following the standard protocol of hand washing.

• Do not touch your face, eyes, ear, mouth with your hands. Hands have fomites.
• Sanitise regularly when out of home.
• Do not shake hands with people, do not hug or step close to strangers.
• Sanitise phone screens, laptops, office desk, files and pens after exchanging it with others
• Stay at 1 m distance from everyone … EVERYONE… whether they are infected or not. There are many asymptomatic carriers and transmitters ( who have not affected themselves but can infect others, esp high rish individuals) You can be one of them too.
• Stay hydrated
• Self Quarantine in case of fever or flu like symptoms.
• Wear masks if you are sneezing or dropping nasal droplets
• Sneeze in the fold of your elbow or in a napkin

Go through the WHO site for further details about what to do and what not to do – 

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public

DO NOT GO OUT IF IT IS NOT NECESSARY!!!!

I repeat – DO NOT GO OUT IF IT IS NOT NECESSARY!!!!

The right time to take an action is NOW!!! India has ONLY 30 days before the pandemic shifts from Stage 2 to Stage 3. We are at stage 2 right now.

Let’s play an active role in being responsible citizens and cut down every route of transmission of this virus.

We can do this. We will fight it and survive!!!

Lots of love to all of you.

Stay blessed. Stay positive. And let me know how you are doing at your end. And if you have suggestions to get past this pandemic.

M.

Hello Dear Lovely People,

A Very Happy Women’s Day to all of us!

Since morning, you might have seen numerous quotes, messages, creations, and videos about women who made a mark for themselves, women who are strong and invincible, women who inspire…

So, I will not write anything more about the same. We have read and written a lot about stronger, sharper, beautiful achievers in our lives who have been a pillar of strength, inspired us and motivated us in different ways. It’s time to claim our dues as well 😀

I strongly believe that we should love ourselves unconditionally. We shouldn’t judge ourselves too harshly and be the worst critics that we can ever have. Let’s not hate or dislike anything about us. There is a world out there to do that job. That job is not ours 😀

Each one of us was made unique by God for a reason. Let’s celebrate that reason and be our own unapologetic, special selves, who don’t shy away from being the best version of themselves.

Let’s make today – a moment to be our own fan. Like Geet in Jab We Met says – “Main khud ki favourite hoon”
Let’s count our qualities and attributes that are different from others, that have benefitted, and helped others. Or maybe done something nice for someone and we felt great about it.

In the comments, I want you to write about ONE special incident that made you feel that you are a special, unique, extraordinary person. Whether it is about academic achievement, or a creative art, ma’s help, or papa’s pride, when someone has praised you, or you felt good about yourself, even if it is a small thing like helping someone in studies or a big accomplishment… write it here for us to know the moment when you felt really proud of yourself.

I don’t want to read – ‘nothing is special in me’ – because this is not possible. Each one of us is special. It takes an eye to see that quality.

Let that eye be Our Own!!!

Let us love ourselves before anyone else does. Let us celebrate ourselves.
Not just today but every day!!!

Lots of love,

Take care,

M.

Hello Everyone,

I’m here for my post on #FridayConnect.

I am late today as it is the MahaShivratri festival today. Every festival, every holiday, every Sunday and every other day when your family is free and at home, maids are on leave, and there are hundreds of additional things to do, like preparing for prayer ceremonies, making special food, cook and clean, I miss my parental home.

And that is the topic of my post today. Let’s appreciate people who silently make lives so beautiful and worthwhile for us, without asking anything in return, except a gesture that we are happy.

My parents have lived a tough life. I’m sure all the parents have.
Being parents, providing for a family, raising children, educating them, teaching them values, making them confident of themselves and stay right there at every step of life, assuring them support is no less feat. Doing all this with limited means is another level of challenge.

When we were very young, I have seen my mother cooking, cleaning, taking care of us as we couldn’t afford maids. She did all this in mornings and evenings as she was a working woman. She never took help from us, saying that – “All I want from you is that you study and make a good life.” She toiled day and night while we studied at the same time.  My father used to say that – “Books are the only best friends who don’t leave your side. Whether it is an academic book or fiction, they are priceless, because they teach you things you haven’t even faced yet.”

My parents are people who didn’t talk a lot about ‘women empowerment’. But they taught us by gestures what feminism and women empowerment means in true sense. They were both in Govt. job and with their limited salaried income, they decided not to splurge on luxuries but to spend on educating their children and inspire them to learn skills.

Today, I met my parents. And every time, I am with them, I make sure they know how much I value their presence in my life. Whatever little I have achieved in life is because I had these two people in my life and there is no way that I can ever pay them back.

My post for today is meant to highlight the importance of people who inspire you, steer you towards the right direction, motivate you, be with you… By the few words they speak, they have the power to change your entire line of thinking and give you the peace you have been searching for.

Tell me, in comments — Who is that strongest influence in your life? And what words do they say to motivate you?

Lots of love,

M.

………………………………….

Edited — 

A lot of people are messaging me that – ‘I haven’t done anything significant. So, I don’t know what to write.’ One person has written that she couldn’t study more, so she felt low after this post.

First, I wanted to delete this post. My purpose in posting is never to flaunt about anything that I have been doing, whether education or following other things, including writing.

But then, I didn’t delete it — My purpose is to help you realize the value of people in life who move you forward. In my case, it was being able to get an education. But I also respect my friend who left studies half-way to support her family and found a job. She is as responsible and empowered as any other woman on the planet.

In fact, even if you don’t work, you are empowered and strong —
if you know how to take care of your family,
if you are a gentle compassionate person,
if you have ever fought against atrocities or injustice,
if you know how to stay strong in tough times,
if you know how to be someone’s pillar of strength when you are breaking inside,
if you respect yourself,
if you respect people who do something for you..
If you are proud of anything that you have done or any trait that you feel makes you special —

Then, you ARE special.

And there are people behind us who ensure that we stay true to who we are and who we become… they can be parents, family, husband, siblings, children, friends, colleagues and sometimes, people you have never met…

We all need to value that inspiration and keep them safe 🙂

Take care

Hello everyone,

As promised, I’m here with another post on #FridayConnect… A day when I try my best to connect with people who write to me and try to connect with me. I love you all dearly.

Whether or not, I’m able to reply to you on my other posts, emails, messages, or on other social media, but this one place, #MyCorner, is a place where I promise that I will always, always reply to you… otherwise, there is no reason to have this corner especially for us!!

It’s Friday again… and what a day it is … It’s Valentine’s day!

It’s a day to talk about love, express love and I can see love is in the air. So, why don’t we talk about love… So much has been said about love… poets have written poems, sonnets, songs serenaded to their loved ones… painters have painted love in abstracts… people have crossed miles in search of love and authors have written books… It has been the most inspiring emotion for all artists and non-artists alike…

I’ve always wondered how diverse are different versions, definitions, theories about love… None is all-inclusive or comprehensive… And still, each is complete in its own way…

So, let’s talk about what love means to each one of us…today, I’ll write in very short about what love means to me. And after that, I will be waiting to hear what ‘you’ think love is…

For me –

Love is a deep-seated feeling that brings you peace just by knowing that the other person is happy and safe. Love is the sense of security and warmth you get with someone that you will never need to find it in anyone else. Love is knowing that whatever mistakes I do, I will be accepted. I can say the truth and will be understood. I won’t have to defend myself. Love is respecting someone’s identity, existence, likes, dislikes, and individuality. Love is trust. Love is chemistry. An unexplained connection that is beyond the shallowness of lust and basics of attraction. Love is the inherent need to know that someone you love is fine and you will sacrifice anything in your capacity to ensure that. Love is the ability to tell someone – that you are independent to make your choices. Don’t worry, go ahead, I have your back! And should you fail, you can fall back, I’ll be there to hold you.

Those who are not in love, call it complicated. People in love – find it pretty simple… 🙂

So… It’s your turn now. Tell me, what does love mean to you. Write in the comment box below… I would love to read your views…

Go ahead. I’m waiting to hear from you…

Lots and lots and lots of love,

Happy Valentine’s Day!!

M.

………………………………………….

Read here for more posts on #MyCorner – My Corner

Hey everyone,

This post is just a random post in ‘my corner’…
mainly because I was missing you guys 🙂

It has been long since I actually wrote a personal post which was not an update. Every time, when I felt like writing a post, some, or the other issue arose and it got delayed.
Sometimes, I try to reply to comments on the updates and sometimes, I am not able to do so. And I miss that touch.

As I wrote last time, that I was doing some courses. Then, I was facing some issues at the professional front, some other projects kept piling on, currently kids have exams, the clinic is regular routine. More things keep adding on to these…

But then, such is life! Isn’t it?
Things will never get simpler. We will have to squeeze out some time from our schedules for things we love to do 🙂

So, let’s catch up today! I would love to hear from you all… talk to you…listen to you…
I hope to share how life has been to us in the past few months. What’s going on currently. What are we doing these days…

I’ll start with me… Other than kids’ exams… things that take up my time are –

~ I’m at the designing stage of my upcoming novel – The Masquerade. ie. Cover design, internal design, formatting etc. As soon as it is decided, I will share it with you.

~ I’m also planning a few basic steps into the promotion of the book, to spread the word about it.
I don’t know how I will do it as it is a huge task and the internet gives a plethora of information. So, right now, I am only collecting information. Let’s hope it goes well.

~ I’ve given a new look to the blog… yeah…yeah… yet again 😀 😀
trying to make it easier to navigate for all… do let me know if you are still facing issues.

What about you guys?! Tell me how you are and I really, really hope all is well with you.

Take care.
Stay blessed. Love you all

…………………………..

I will try my best to be with you guys on Fridays 😀 

#FridayConnect

For more posts on ‘My Corner’ – Read here – https://manitav.net/random-notes/

Hello, my dear lovely friends,

It feels so good to write to you after a long gap.

The last 3 months have been the most difficult days of my life but I’m glad that I am able to deal with the situations in a better manner. Every dark day teaches you something… every tough time prepares you well for the future…

So, I’m back.

A lot of people ask me if things have improved on my side. I would say that they are in a state of transition. Not necessarily better but I’ve learnt to live with the situation and work harder to make it better on my side.

I may not be able to highlight more details as it is an open platform but I’ve taken some bad decisions in life which cost me dearly. I had suffered losses of huge amounts, both monetary and personal, trusted wrong people, lost relationships and it led to personal tractions at various levels.

Things improve, you learn more, learn to fight back and find ways to survive… I’m glad, I did. I will write about all my lessons in another big post.

For now, it is a happy, holiday time and change of year… so let’s focus only on positives…

1. I’ve made the blog simpler. Now you can see all my works in one place. Just click on the icon and it will take you to the concerned page.
2. The latest posts are kept at the top…so all those who said that they missed my recent posts can now check which posts they missed and catch up on all recent updates, newest first.
3. I’ve added a new platform… ‘The Guiding Light – a project’… it is for everyone and anyone who needs moral support in life. I did…!!! And I know what it means to have someone listen to you. I’ve been talking to a lot of readers who had issues and without naming them, I want to put out some very very common problems that we might have… I hope someone who is not able to open up will be benefitted…It’s a huge work and I can’t do it alone… we are all together… So, in case any of you want to contribute to that project by writing about any incident of your life that broke you, almost killed you and was too tough to bear, please share how you overcome it and what helped you through it…It might help a lot of people out there…
   I will add mine… my experiences… my lessons… my two cents…
4. AND… The Biggest News for the Last… The Masquerade – My Debut Novel is now finally ready after a year of hard work, multiple proof checks… 5 full-fledged revisions, re-writings, edits, deletions and what not… It will now go for cover design and formatting… I really really hope it crosses all technical stages soon… I cannot wait to share with you all that I went through while writing this novel… It is my first literary baby who is going to see the book form and I can’t be less than a proud mom… I want to write EVERYTHING that I went through during this book… I will regularly update my experiences under the category ‘The Masquerade’,  it is on the front page of this blog. I will update it every 2-3 days as there is so much to write and share 🙂
5. I’m taking one book at a time – So, Tangles and Ties will be updated first… three days a week – Tuesday – Thursday – Saturday…
   Beyond Every Border will follow after that.

So, Like I said – I had a lot of projects to do in the last few months before I started writing again – This is what I did…

1. I added more peels and lasers to my clinic
2. I joined a few medical courses + a fellowship – I’ll tell more about them after I finish them as no use talking before it is done 🙂
3. I was not sure if I’ll stay in the same city or I might have to change cities and leave the clinic so I wanted to brace myself with added certificates and courses for more exposure in Clinical Research and Writing –

   So, I also joined a course –
   ‘Writing in Sciences’ by Stanford Online Medical University and finished it with a Statement of Accomplishment with 100% score and Distinction. It is an online course, available for free and adds a lot to your knowledge if you are interested in writing about scientific publications.

   I started it on 15th October 2019 and finished it on December 11, 2019

   It’s here –

   

Oh, by the way – Manita is my pen name which I use for writing fiction for the past 10 years and I intend to continue with it in my novels as well… coz I love it…

… Mamta is my parent-given name and for my clinical practice, official usage.

4. I also finished ‘The Masquerade’ which was giving me a tough time for so many months… FINALLY… It’s Done 😀 😀

I’ll write more about it in coming posts… Do let me know how these last few months passed for you… for me, it was a tough, depressing, distressing time with so much in hand that I couldn’t take time out to be upset… so I took on more pile of work, courses, jobs, editing assignments, increased clinic hours and a target to complete the book that it didn’t give me time to reflect on how sad I had been if I didn’t have enough work.

That’s finally my mantra that I have realised and wanted to share with you that the more we are busy and involved in things around us, the less time we have to feel bad about a certain situation.

Let me know what is your trick to help yourself out of any sticky situation.

As we finally say goodbye to 2019 – let’s hope to see struggles, problems, pain, and stress to leave soon.

Lots and lots of love to you all… I feel so much at peace when I talk to you…

I’ll forever be grateful to each one of you for following me here and being there for me 🙂

Stay blessed.