Paradigm Shift

I'm a witness to a radical transformation in myself. With passing time, the word intention is taking precedence over each and every other word that defined my life earlier and I'm getting closer to attain what perhaps is the most important thing in life. Knowledge.

Is it an effect of my journey? Maybe. I don't exactly know. The entire goal behind everything that I'm doing, be it meeting new people, hearing new stories, gaining new perspectives or reading new books is to become a better writer. Anything that doesn't lead me there is a distraction and I find myself aversive to that thing.

I want to learn right now. Learn so much that ten years down the line when I look back, I realize that I invested my prime years of my youth doing things I love, learnings things that would help me in doing things I love better. 

The second most important thing that this sudden transformation within me has brought is that it has lowered the hype of things around me. For example, recently I wrote an article for The Hindu, they didn't accept it, despite the fact that it was one of the most heartfelt articles I'd ever written. Had it been my earlier self, I would have gone crazy and hyper with anxiety waiting for their response - and if there had been no response, I would have become frenzied about it because of disappointment. Now, it hardly registers an effect on my mind. Getting that article published doesn't precede my happiness. I would rather be stable and happy, than letting a "thing" affect my happiness. 

Elucidating this fact further, recently I got through Young India Fellowship and indeed, it was one of the best things to have happened to me. I was elated, but I was normal at the same time. It was not like "The Only Thing" I have in my life that could make me jump and cry and all that. Even if I hadn't qualified, I would have travelled, maybe started-up a venture, re-applied the next year and be calm about it. I now realize what has happened to me. I have become calmer. No, it's not that things don't vex me. It is more about results not vexing me, because actions still do. I get really irritated with myself if I end up hurting someone emotionally. I get really annoyed if I see someone wasting his/her life out of sheer laziness. But "getting something out of something" has been replaced by a very simple yet powerful word called learning. Everything teaches. Everybody teaches. And I have suddenly started to love learning. Every little or grand ambition can wait, until I have learned enough, because that gives me a faith that yes, I would be able to pursue my ambition in a much better fashion if I'm sufficiently equipped with knowledge.

Third Book: Reason Behind Delay

I finished writing the third book - She is single, I'm taken - in March, before I went on my India trip. I had been in conversation with Rupa for quite sometime, which wanted to take over all the three titles of the trilogy. However, the earlier two titles were with Srishti, and as any small publishing house would have done, Srishti negated Rupa's offer of releasing the earlier books. I was fine with it. Srishti gave me a break; I was and would always be indebted.

But the third book was not yet signed with any publisher, so I was free to chart my own route. Rupa was willing to take it over and after a lot of negotiation, I was happy beyond bounds for they gave me a very good offer. Rupa, no doubt, is one of the biggest names in the Indian publishing. I sent my manuscript to Rupa in mid-March, for which they had been pressing, and left for my travel. Since they wanted my manuscript so much, I presumed that they would begin the editing process for the book.

I kept travelling while Rupa sent me an elaborate marketing plan which included interviews with all the major newspapers and review sites. I realized that all the PR and interviews that every author gets has little to do with the book that they have written and a lot to do with the publishing house they are associated with. Srishti has been a low-profile player: spending zilch in marketing and had carved out its own niche in the chic-lit 100 rupees space. I was happy that with Rupa, I would be getting not only a hefty advance but necessary PR, which I missed earlier.

Happily I came back in May and scheduled a meeting with Rupa's editor. I had already been given the agreement: which was very fair and transparent. At the meeting with Rupa, I had been told that their publishing schedule was packed for this year and my book would come out early next year. I was shocked. All the while, I was thinking that the editing process was being carried out but alas, they told me that it would have started only after I signed the agreement. And moreover, it would take at least three months to complete the editorial process.

Also, I was told that only the trilogy would be acquired by them, not my further books. I felt a little bit cheated. They wanted to acquire what was already selling; they were not betting on my writing.

I was in two minds. At one side, I had one of the best publishing houses in the country offering me whatever I could have wished for; while on the other side, there were thousands of readers eagerly waiting for my book, which I'd been delaying since February. In July, I chose to go with the latter and came back to Srishti. It was a tough decision for me, much like every other decision that I have taken in 2012. Srishti was quick at task as I outsourced the editing process to my friends and sent the entire thing to Srishti within a week.

I'm happy as now, the third is being rolled out and my next book, on my start-up, would come out by early next year - is also witnessing many interested takers.

Did I really waste a seat of IIT?

Having graduated out of IIT Delhi, I chose to be a writer. Like most of the IITians, by the time I finished my degree, I realized that I was not interested in engineering. I didn't want to push myself into the assembly line and take up a high paying job, serving someone else for any other sector like finance or consulting and I chose to go full time with my writing. I chose to do that I was interested in.

Once my struggle period got over, I encountered a weird kind of hostility amongst some people for me. I always find people who complain to me that I wasted a seat of my college. If I didn't want to become an engineer, why did I give JEE? Why did I waste government's lacs of money spent on me?

Generally, I do not reply to such an allegation, since people don't realize that a 17 year old guy, who hadn't yet seen the world, who hadn't done anything else other than dating his books for most of his high school, can't decide what does he want to do in life? It's only after he sees the world, gets exposed to different professions, art and cultures, that he could realize what is his real calling. And that's not all, sometimes, even after our college lives, we are yet to find our calling. For some, who know their calling, lack of family support or lack of will becomes the major hindrance.

Having chosen to pursue my inner calling, I would like to enable this feeling of satisfaction of discovering and pursuing what one really likes doing in every student. To accomplish this mighty task, I realize that we need a drastic change in one of the key issues of the youth. Schooling. Not only the primary, secondary and high school level, but also at the college level. The current system of schooling follows promote-the-best-forward ideology, which could be clearly elucidated by the fact considering any competition in which the school has to represent its student, teachers no doubt choose the best suited student for that competition. What about others, who might be equally or more interested in participating in that competition? Just because they could not discover whether they have the potential to excel in the other field, they get sidelined. What this results in is a narrowed development of an otherwise talented student, who gets involved in a particular activity and just because she's good in that, she is cut off from all the other interesting activities which could have otherwise opened her mind and made her personality all-rounded.

To explain with my own personal example, I had never written anything other than my answer papers in my school days. I came to IIT, started writing and realized that I was good at it and loved it. I pursued it, got better and much more interested. The reason I never wrote in school was because nobody motivated me to write in school. There were few students, who were good in English and they dominated the school editorial scene. Now surprisingly, none of those students are into writing. Tell me, had I been in the same environment  all the while, would I ever have been able to discover the fact that I'd a flair in writing? No, never.

From where I stand, I can see two ways to move forward in this regard. One privately, by starting a company which trains teachers in holistic teaching and conducts seminars in schools and colleges to enable students discover their hidden talents, by exposing them to different fields. The other is by promoting a club like environment in schools, which thankfully exists in a lot of schools, where people get to participate in group activities in different domains and take them on tours to witness what professional life actually is and when they say they want to become a doctor, they should understand by experience that it's not just about medicines, but also about carefully handling several lives, being hygienic, and on one's toes all the time.

I think that the current schooling system needs restructuring to impart more holistic education along with more exposure to different professional scenarios, so that people choose what they would really love to do and such digression, like me, from one's primary career line doesn't take place so often, leading to a situation where when a student decides to take up engineering, he actually wants to become an engineer.

Written for Stayfree Time for Change contest for indiblogger.

Unanswered Questions

As a matter of fact, there have been many questions that I'd been asked as a writer, which I never really answered. Now awaiting my second book's launch, I want to tell you how I really feel about myself as a writer.

As an author of a book, the kind of book - a campus based love story - I feel a bit dejected that I couldn't launch myself as an author known for writing a masterpiece. Regarding my books, I consider them  interesting racy reads, targeting a special segment of people - the people who are looking to attain pleasure in the form of fun from the book. My books have no literary giveaway or social message. It's just a fast-paced love-story mixed with a comedy of errors, giving a good dose of entertainment to the reader, if he's in a receptive mood. For readers with a literary bent of mind or those who read for enrichment of their ideologies, my book will pass as an average or even an insipid read. As a matter of fact, I myself have completely stopped reading any such works, by young authors like me, since I get too judgmental and instead of enjoying the book, I waste my time in getting exasperated with the author.

But come here and look at the positive side - if I had waited to write the so-called 'outstanding' book before publishing, it would have taken me at least 4-5 years to evolve as a writer by reading, learning and exposing myself to the art to be able to churn out a masterpiece and in the meanwhile, I might have given up writing. Even if I'd continued, I would have missed 4-5 years of experience as an author and the assurance of getting published any day I wish, which happens to be the greatest push for me to experiment with my writing. Not only that, I would have missed around 1 lac loyal readers and I would have missed tens of thousands of mails and constructive criticisms to help me learn what a reader wants. And even if I wrote an outstanding book later on, I would have always repented of not having started earlier. Also, as a matter of fact, masterpieces don't sell - you would be surprised to know that my first book has sold more copies in India than Salman Rushdie's last book Enchantress of Florence.

So let it be. The first book - at the age of 18 - as just being the witness of my first big leap of faith to foray into something that was way beyond my wildest dreams and eventually getting published, consistently selling around 30k copies in 2 years, interacting with over two thousands readers from across the globe and then coming up with a sequel and currently working on the sequel to the sequel. It's much more than awesome. It's actually the best thing that happened to me, ever. I might have started my writing career with a cliched novel but it gives me immense faith and grit to paint my tomorrow as a serious fiction writer and look forward to become a full-time writer someday after I publish my masterpiece.

My first or second book aren't the books which my father could proudly present to his boss saying that his son has written it, they aren't the books which will win me awards, they aren't the books which will make me super rich, but they are the books - the little milestones in my writing life - that'll one day bring me all those things. And I'm really glad that it happened. Amen.

P.S. And guess what, it's paying my bills currently, as I'm immersed in full-time travel.

Tomorrow

My next 10 years, prospective book titles:

1. Oops trilogy - Light fiction
2. Graffiti - short-story collection
3. 365 Days - Fiction, book of tweets, more like a play
4. The Book - A love story
5. As I'll Die in Sometime - Thriller, Dark
6. Abdul - Fiction
7. Tale of a plot - Novella
8. Mother - Fiction, Dark
9. The Last Book - Fiction
10. Coma, Comma - Novella
11. The Muddleheaded Prime Minister - Satire
12. Coffee? - A romantic play

Experiences. Past three months.

Often comes a time, when things start crumbling and everything starts falling apart. It only awaits a new beginning. In the last three months, things in my life have been greatly influenced and changed, owing to diverse reasons and I've certainly started to identify myself more as a person in synergy with the new age of activism. I'm a different person now. Earlier my purpose of existence was entertainment, more precisely self-entertainment via several sources such as writing, music, reading etc. Now it has changed. I've evolved as an activist now and want to champion the causes that I feel passionate for. I wish to utilise all my talents together to bring a change in issues that bother me and society on a whole. In this regard, I've come to realize that writing and networking are the two ultimate weapon for creating a revolution and I feel really grateful to God to pursue the two.

I want to share some amazing things that I've come across and been involved with in the last two months.

Social media creativity and activism

• Diary of a SLUT - I came across this article on the day it was written, since I happened to personally know the writer. And without any effort on the writer's part, this article has gone viral, just because of the content and the power in her cause. Her mission has been read by 10000 people and amplified by over 2000 people across the globe, in just 15 days, without any pass-it-on-otherwise-it-will-bring-bad-luck tactic.
• Let's do ABCD during convocation - A movement to bring a change in the convocation tradition of IIT Delhi, to change the prevailing decreasing CGPA order to call out names to alphabetical order. It sparked off with just a status message and within four days got the support of more than 450 IIT students and alumnis. The petition has been placed in front of Director and his response is awaited.
• Get well soon, Mr. ABC - We participated in a prominent B-plan competition and won the 2nd prize. Unfortunately, we never received the prize. That prompted me to take use of the social media to bring out the corruption of such a reputed college and forewarn the prospective candidates from appearing. I wrote to the organizer for over a dozen of times but no response came, when ultimately I'd to resort to the use of social media. And it proved effective. I just sent this incomplete letter to the Overall Coordinator, and told him that I'm going to make it public after the next three days. One day later, my account was credited with the required amount.
• The Lazy Writer's Competition -I launched this competition to crowdsource the title of my novel. I managed my own PR and through twitter and social engines popularized the competition. During this process, many of my interviews were published and a wonderful response was seen from my readers and bloggers likewise. It was an enchanting feeling and ultimately I even found out the title from amongst the submitted titles.
• 365 Days - my fourth book - is a book full of tweets. The social bug caught me. I thought of utilising my time spent on the social media and began writing this book. Unfortunately, I've stopped in between for quite sometime now. Will resume as soon as I get time.

Effect of information

• Auto-wala - All the Delhiites, if you're tired of the rampant rates charged by the autowallas, then note this number: 01142400400. The moment I came to know that there exists a complain no. if the Delhi autowallah charges more than the meter rate, I exercised it incessantly. I've lodged a complaint of about 12 autowalas and haven't paid a penny extra since then.
• RTI - Another important right in the hands of the common man. I'm going to file an RTI against DTU, in case they don't give us our prize, which we won in a B-plan competition. We are tired of mailing.

Graduation. New Home. New Activities

• I found a fully furnished 2BHK flat in Malviya Nagar. It's good, independent, airy and shabby - come on what would do you expect of bachelors from IIT. It's a home cum office. My landlord is an entrepreneur himself, check out brandbaron.com
• I tried nude photography. Don't ask me who was the model! ;)
• www.thewittyshit.com - I won't say anything about it. Check it yourself. My child has grown big and has become quite famous.
• I wrote to Anurag Kashyap relating to him one of my novel's plots. He's yet to respond. Perhaps he won't.
• I'm single. Yes, you can try your luck. :P

Good day.

On the movement called ABCD

It all started when I talked to one of my favorite seniors, Ashish Kushwaha, around 15 days ago. He related to me that they will be calling us in the order of decreasing CGPA during convocation. I was disturbed when I got to know this. I just couldn't help myself visualizing the sad face of my parents when they would've waited seeing more than half of my department-mates collecting their degrees, to catch a glimpse of me. I could see them feeling a bit discontented at the public display of my inferiority in front of others. It's not that they don't have trust in me or they don't support what I'm doing; it's just that, much like every other parent, they expect me to outperform everyone in everything I do. Well, that's justified on their part, after all they have put so much hard work on me and I'd been, much like every other IITian, one such student in the past. The feeling of disappointment clouded my mind for two days.

The feeling subsided, the anger dissolved. Some days later, I received a mail regarding convocation procedure, from the IIT administration. When I went through the procedure which involved rehearsals, I lost my mind, on the fact that the same feeling was going to be pushed through my vein not once, but twice. I was utterly frenzied and in a split moment, I updated my status message with a self-pacifying, impulsive, condescending status message, which looked like this:

The angry status update caught immediate attention from people around. Within 10 minutes, our very dear Saurabh Gupta, IR #1, commented on the status saying that he too was against this. His one comment provided me enough impetus to take steps to get rid of the damn thing! I created the google form and shared it on my FB profile. And soon, it spread like fire. My friend, Vikas Prajapati, being the first one to ignite the movement. I was amazed to see the support and response. 180 responses in 12 hours, 320 in 24, 435 in 48 hours. Every time when I think about how it has turned out, I get thrilled. A viral movement within IIT has been instigated on just one angry note. Anger, if directed towards a right cause, can actually bring a positive change(let's hope so).

Saurabh Gupta - the inspiration, Vikas Prajapati - the first supporter and I are going to meet the Dean, UGS; once I return back to Delhi on 4th July to take the matter further. I'm thankful to all the supporters, I just hope that the administration understands our cause and embraces a positive change, which is fair and just to everyone.

And regarding all the academic performers who are concerned, you don't need to worry - they specially award the best academic performers, after the degree has been conferred. Cheers to your academic excellence.

P.S. Please take no offence of the status message, since it was impulsive and self-pacifying, for I felt bad. Geeks are talented. Even Zuckerberg was one, who made this little viral movement of ours possible.

NOTE: the DNA of IIT has changed. From 2012, they started calling students in alphabetical order. Our little movement registered its effect. 

I'm a teacher, finally

P.S. Bootstrapped as an entrepreneur, it's time to get all my talents together to pay my bills! You'll find many such posters stuck in the Malviya Nagar area.

P.S. I always wanted to teach someday. Thanks to entrepreneurship, my dream has come true.

P.S. Sorry for hiding the number. I didn't want to make it public. You know, I'm such a girl!

Name my child...

Hello friends,

It brings me immense pleasure to unravel the synopsis of my next book. Please go through it.

They were far away. They had been coercively separated. Half a world apart. He was in India, while she in US. Some say that long distance relationships do not work. They knew just one thing: love works. And they possessed just one asset: hope.

It worked for them, even without knowing about each other for weeks, even without hearing each other's voice for months, even without seeing each other's face for almost half a year. Six months after they were separated, she was coming back to India for just a week. Their excitement touched the pinnacle of joy, in hope that their timeless wait was going to be over the moment they would behold each other's light, their life would see a new morning of togetherness, their joy would make them cry like never before.

But unfortunately, it doesn't work this time.

Love fails. Hope survives. Or vice-versa?

What happens next? Come and find out yourself in the continuing story of Kanav and Tanya....

With time, a writer evolves. Though, this novel touches the ticklish spot in you as well as the previous one could, with various witty romantic conversations, hilarious events, rare nerdy descriptions and scandalous revelations; this one also contains many moments of introspection, such as - the discovery of passion, the impact of 'cool' parents, the importance of faith and the meaning of respect - portrayed through numerous conversations, diary entries and poems; written to give you a takeaway which could strike a deeper chord with you.

About the title that I'm expecting from you, some guidelines:

• It should be less than 20 characters long.
• It should be in proper English; no shorthands, no Hindi
• Should have a subtitle, which completes and complements the title
• Preferred: Witty title, that could make a reader hold on to the book at first go.
• If you've some other idea, feel free to propose.
• It should be 100% original.
• No plagiarized titles supported.

How it'll work:

• You post the title of your desire on the fanpage.
• To give a fair chance for everyone to get voted, every alternate day, I'll upload a jpeg version of all the posted titles on my fanpage, with your name attached to it.
• As more and more people like it, your chance to get selected increases

Disclaimer: In the end, my publisher should approve of the title. In case he doesn't, I'll be forced to consider some other title. However, the winner will get acknowledged and get the promised personally signed copies.

Dedicated to your smile

It took me almost a year to complete my second book. I've started writing it in June, last year. I made all of my readers wait a lot, for which I'm not sorry. But what I'm really sorry about is giving false hopes about the time when it will get published. I had been over optimistic that I would be able to complete it quite fast, but alas, it took a long time.

Unlike my first book, which was completed in three months, owing to my newly found passion for story-telling, this book took more time. I don't want to give excuses but I realize that writing could happen best when the mind is uncluttered. Over the last one year, I'd been really involved in my start-up thewittyshit.com, and as a result I hardly ever had an uncluttered mind. Now that I'm done with the sequel, I feel immensely relieved and happy. First, the long wait is over. Secondly, I'm happy with how it turned out. I've experimented with some nuances of story telling that I've learnt as a writer in the last two years, such as embedding different forms of writing such as a poetry, one-liner, verses, letters, diaries, emails, chats and SMSes together, which proved difficult considering the gap in flow that occurs while reading. I am happy that I could embed them almost perfectly in the storyline. I began the sequel with the motive to finish Kanav-Tanya's story with this book, but as it turns out, their story needs another book to get completed, making it a trilogy. There were too many sequences to fit into just one book.

Though after writing my first book, I thought of writing a serious book, but when I began writing a serious book, I realized that though my thinking has matured to think of complex and dark plots, I needed a lot of reading before justifying its writing. So I decided to take a break from ambitious literary writing and decided to first test myself on the familiar grounds before venturing further. The most amazing experience while writing humour is the moment when I burst out laughing while reading what I had written. Writing is entertaining, you know. But I wait for the day, when reading what I've written would make me cry. That'll be the day will I actually consider myself a complete writer.

This book is special, because it came out of nowhere. It touches just one fourth of the plot that I had initially planned for the sequel. But, it's complete in its own. Though it would require you to read my first book to get familiar with the characters, but even without reading the first book, by the end, you would get the hang of the entire story. I've not named it currently, since I've a social media marketing campaign in my mind, where I would invite titles from my readers. I've included some of the interesting Kanav-Tanya conversations that I've been putting up all the while on my fanpage in the book, to let the reader enjoy the slapstick witty humour that paint their romantic lives.

The book has been divided into three parts, in much like a story form:

1. The Beginning,

2. The Middle, and

3. The End

There are a lot of long interesting conversations in the book, conversation being the thing I think I'm good at, I've tried exploring new avenues. For example - slapstick conversation, witty, sarcastic, a quarrel, an emotional one and even a drunken one.

Here goes my favorite line from the book:

No monk would sell his ferrari, without making out in its backseat.

Hope you've a good time reading the book, it's supposed to come in two months at max. I've dedicated it to your smile, in hope to sustain it throughout the book.

My Dream Girl

When it comes to me imagining what my dream girl should be like, there always comes an image of a girl who's passionate, caring and independent. These three adjectives are all that I want in my dream girl. I've not mentioned that she should be beautiful. Do you know why? Because those three qualities would make her the most beautiful woman in my life.

Now, coming to the explanation part.

Why passionate?

-> Because only then will she understand me and I'll understand her.

-> Because she'll have something else, other than me, in her life to make her life worth living.

Why caring?

-> What's love, without fun and care. What's life, with nobody to share.

-> Care is not about preventing me from falling down, but it's about standing by my side and encouraging me to stand up.

Why independent? Not only financially, but mentally as well.

-> Because I'm a lazy dog and I hate responsibility. Okay, on a serious note, because I'm a mortal.

-> Because I want to respect her for what she is, not what she gives. I want to respect her self-respect.

-> Because I want her to learn life the hard way, along with me, so that we can understand each other better and live life fully.

Now, why all the three?

Because, that's what my mother is like.

Because, that's what she is like.

Because, that's what I admire.

ENNUI - On Present

I'm having a funny phase in my writing life. I'm at my creative best when it comes to wits, observations and conversational humour, but I'm facing a difficult time sitting and completing my novel. The reason, that I feel to be responsible behind this is the fact that while writing the novel, I'm lacking attention - not from my side but from the other side. I'm not sharing what I'm writing with anyone even though I desperately want to share, just because I want to complete it first, since I would not be doing justice to my creation or to my readers' eagerness by sharing just a small portion with them. I'm facing a writer's block, a rather strange one, where creativity is not restricted but perseverence is.

The end result is that I'm writing such meaningless notes, which tend to convey some meaning but actually conveys that I'm perplexed and weird - which has some meaning, but it's utterly useless to me, since I already know it. I don't know what I'm writing but I am noticing that I speak when I write and that's quite pleasing since I can notice that I can type at the speed at which I speak, which can be hell fast at times. I'm listening to a song called 'Another Day in Paradise' by Phil Collins. It's a simple 90s english song which has more of synth and less of guitars and drums. Phil Collins has a typical 90s voice, which seems similar to the commentator of WWE. The tune of the song is uncomplicated, fittingly romantic and the drum-beats remind me that it's based on the most basic beat that one learns in drumming. I also realize that such beats are available in almost all the versions of synthesizers, generally in the first ten of the 'style' beats with the name of '8 beat pop'. However utterly meaningless it may be, I'm wondering that you still are reading it with the hope that there will be something that would be interesting somewhere, whereas the matter of the fact is that it is, if you realize that I'm just writing what comes in my mind to break the block that I'm facing. It's called free writing. I don't know whether it works or not, because when earlier I tried it, I came up with a story called 'The Wait' in my blog 'Graffiti' and I was quite happy with the outcome. Presently, it's more about the present. The song has changed to 'Depend on me' by Bryan Adams. I like him, because he's sung some of the nicest romantic songs I've ever heard, my favorite being 'Have you ever really loved a woman?' I like it because I have. However, in this free flowing writing, I better should not spill my life's story, since writing an autobiography now after breaking this writing block is not my intention.

One thing that strikes my mind right now is the feeling of being good at something. It's an amazing feeling when you realize that you're really good at something. The feeling doesn't emerge from the fact that others like you, but rather, it emerges from the fact that you start liking yourself. When you feel your status messages are worthy of being preserved, when you feel the tunes in your head are worthy of being recorded, the feeling of having an idea worth pursuing and the feeling of a person worth sharing your life with just because you're good at making him/her happy; these are some of the most enchanting moments one would ever encounter. I feel good to feel good about something that I do, something that I am capable of doing. As a matter of truth, I also believe that no great thing can ever be achieved without that good feeling from within. I'm feeling good right now, since I'm actually in now, with Jagjit Singh's wonderful voice singing 'Kabhi yun bhi to ho' in the background. I like music. I like writing. And I like living. I think that's my dose of free writing, it's time to get back to the task waiting to reach its end, time to tell the story, time to live another world - within a book.

Good night. Thanks for listening. :)

Happy Ending

There is a reason why people like a happy ending. It makes you feel good, despite all the struggles that occurred before.

I've had a happy ending. The end is paving way to a new beginning, where things would turn different. Not that I want things to change, but I can't help the fact that they themselves are changing.

P.S. I like my state. It's called singlehood.

Dear Mother

Dear Mother,

I've been fortunate to be the reason for your happiness since my early childhood. Perhaps that's why you named me Harsh. It has always been my endeavour to make you proud of me in things that I give my heart and soul into. Lately, I haven't been able to give you that contentment which you had always expected of me. I'm not sorry about it since the truth of the matter is that the thing that I've given my heart and soul has still not borne fruits and is going to take a long time. And you've got to wait, along with me, to celebrate the fruits of my passion.

The road that I've currently chosen is tough, full of prickles and deadly thorns, with the presence of countless possibilities - both heartening and disheartening. It's going to take a lot of time to be able to achieve anything which would make you proud of me, which would enable you to say proudly to your friends that your son is an entrepreneur, that your son pursued something different and made a mark of himself. The road is deadly; it might be possible that in the middle of the journey, I get so bruised up that I am not able to carry myself further. Forgive me, if that happens. The road is treacherous; it might be possible that at the end of the day, I sit back and realize that I've made tons of mistakes that I shouldn't have. Reinforce my faith, if that happens. Because it was you who taught me not to fear mistakes while chasing my dreams. I wouldn't stop. The road is unknown; it's possible that at the end of the day I realize that the road was not worth going into and I've to crawl back to the place where I began. Congratulate me on my experience, if that happens. I know that my path is risky. But that's what excites me. That's what gives me a thrill. That's what tells me the meaning of this life. That's what I attain bliss from. And that's what defines me.

Believe me mother, when I say that I heartily enjoy what I'm doing, despite knowing the facts that I might not be able to lead a comfortable life for the next two years, that I've become the least prospective bridegroom in consideration for any of the well-off families, that you have to fight the whims of the society which constantly pesters saying that I had been stupid in choosing the road less travelled over the conventional options, that it might ruin my chances of living a life free from hassles, that I might end up being bankrupt if things don't turn out as expected. The good thing is I'm not scared. The better thing is there is no bad thing, just because of the good thing. I'm ready to take the leap - leap into the unknown just to know where my end lies - across the sky or beneath the ground. I can't promise you success but I can promise you my hard-work, and I'll make sure that I leave no stones unturned to touch my dream to perfection.

Coming from your womb, I'm fortunate to be endowed with all your traits - determination, passion and love - which gives me the confidence to trudge this dangerous path with unmatched vigour and resilience to make the impossible possible. From my end, I can assure you that I wouldn't stop, not until my last breath - to sculpt my passion into a living icon. Please don't worry, and be happy, just because I'm happy.

With love and faith.

Your Son

Harsh

10 things to do in 2011:

1. Write two books - Can't allow my laziness to spoil me anymore.
2. Travel abroad twice - Sometimes, extravagant breaks add spice to your life. My camera will rot in dust, otherwise.
3. Gym - God hasn't given me a pretty face. Why not make my body pretty?
4. Earn a B.Tech degree - Otherwise, my parents would bestow me a get-out decree.
5. Become very famous - yes, that drives me. Is it bad?
6. Date hot chicks - Yes, I'll be getting out of IIT, this year.
7. Set-up a plush office in Mumbai or Gurgaon - You got to make your parents happy, don't you?
8. Network with big people - my job requires me to do so. I like it. Who doesn't like smartness?
9. Drumming - Come on, there should be a place to vent out my anger.
10. Jog - who knows, I might be lucky to meet you!

Here I am

The placements have been the most amazing experience in my IIT life. I've got to learn so much about people, about professions, about companies, about competencies and about life. Besides that, I've got so many interesting stories to pen down, which I am incorporating in my coming novel.

Talking about life, it has two ways. One way leads you to where you want to be. Other leads you to where you need to be. Often, the latter takes you to the prior.

The Road Less Travelled

The sad fact of life is that when you want to trudge into a road less travelled, people don't show faith in you. Rather than appreciating you for going into something out-of-the-league, they try to bring you back to the traditional path. It irritates you.

They can't see what you are seeing. You just have to silently work and nod against all their advices and suggestions, letting them know that they're so right and you've been foolish in your ambitions. The moment of joy comes when someone unexpected comes to you and says your decision is right.

Well, very few people understand passion. Don't expect them to understand. Don't try to make them understand. Just say yes to all their advices and follow what you want. Ultimately, when you will emerge out successful, they would have known that it's not too bad doing something out of the league.

@My friends at IIT: I prepared for consulting just because I dreamt of being in McKinsey. Now that I didn't make it, I've no interest in going into any other consulting firm as a compromise. I've other options available. Hope you understand.

Thanks for reading. Wish me luck in the comments if you appreciate my choice to become a full-time entrepreneur rather than taking up a job.

On Failure

Ha! I experienced failure. It's hard, you know. The effort it takes to overcome the urge to break down, to cry out loud, to droop down and to surrender to the circumstances is immeasurable. The day for which you'd been preparing for months comes and passes by, slapping hard on your cheek saying that you didn't deserve it. Who likes it? You? Me? None of us. I know it's hard. It's harder to be hard in this situation. You can't let your loose side be visible to someone else. Ha! Nobody likes to be seen in tears.

The sun has set, it's pretty dark outside. It's cold. And it's biting. Biting hard. Life is so unfair. You never know when it can turn its back at your face. And trust me, its back looks yuck! It's smelly, dirty and detestable. At the bottom of your heart, you feel like slamming it really hard. Hard - I mean real hard. Things aren't easy, you know. Especially when you've thought so much about it and even thought so much after it ... it seems like a blank wall. They tell you the game isn't over. There are plenty of other opportunities in the coming days. They are silly. They don't know the game that you were preparing for is over. Over. And it's never gonna come back. Sad, isn't it?

I don't know why but I'm feeling a bit like a rider. The destination where I was planning to stop wasn't right, I think. Thankfully, my horse knows where it has to go. And, it's on the right track just because there is someone more intelligent than me who's directing it(read God). It's time to get to know my horse well. Synergy, as it's called, lies here.

Story

Life's pretty much monotonous. Thanks to being an entrepreneur, every day there's something new and exciting, so much so that now these new exciting things don't excite me as much as they used to do before. That gives a reason for monotony. The one thing that entrepreneurship has taught me quite well is how to take success and failures in a spirited mood, because for an entrepreneur, every second moment is a challenge and the entrepreneurial life is full of failures with few successes. But at the same time, it brings an insuppressible urge for quality - you can't tolerate anything that's below average - you want everything to be perfect.

Since you're reading this, I've a good news to announce. I've been shortlisted amongst 21 finalists in an international story competition organized by Scinti. The voting phase is on and my story 'Short of Change' is competing for the top 3 spots. Help me win the contest by liking - Scinti page and then liking this link - Short of Change.

Your like will help me win. Please do. Thanks. :)

P.S. Love yourself. It makes you feel wanted even if you're not.

IIT Life

Ten Best things that I've done in my IIT life:

1. Tasted all the grades - 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; except the E and F grade, which touch-wood, I don't want to taste.
   
   
2. Climbed the insti-top and got caught. The security officers were really tough-asses. Glad mine was tougher.
   
   
3. Did a mini-project under the worst professor of the Physics Department, Tarey, name unchanged to make sure intentional libel. After surviving three failed nervous breakdowns, two unsuccessful murder attempts and one almost successful suicide attempt in the process, he gave me an A grade. Sweet guy. Glad, I survived.
   
   
4. Fell in love. Fell out of it. Fell in love. Fell out of it. And the process continues ... unfortunately, with the same girl.
   
   
5. Wrote a book. Yes, being in IIT without even a book written by you - seems too sad and boring. That little fame, jealous peers and big money - who doesn't want that?
   
   
6. Made some real good friends. Fought with them. Befriended them. Kicked their asses. Let them kick mine, making sure I hit them twice as hard as possible.
   
   
7. Blogged. Yes, that's the best hobby ever. You would never ever get bored. Even if no-one reads your blog, you can always find that irritating little sucker called YOU who goes and reads some of your juvenile crappy bullshit, smiling in self-admiration.
   
   
8. Explored hostel LAN - completely. Yes, I've watched all the good movies, fast-forwarded; all the bad movies - at the normal pace. Yes, I'm a bad guy.
   
   
9. VIDESH YATRA. IIT-life without a hefty dose of firangs during summer looks quite incomplete. I went to Glasgow, UK, lived in a royal suite, traveled whole UK and earned my first money 1000 pounds, and invested them all in fun and more fun.
   
   
10. Cracked PJs. Not the poor ones, but the pathetic ones. Some of them being so bad that the persons hearing it felt a sudden shock wave up through their bodies until their head sprang up like the-center-shock guy and their legs shot in revenge at my cute little chubby ass. If you stood there in that serious condescending face of yours just because you didn't crack PJs, don't feel proud. You missed a HELL lot of fun.

Ten things that I'm yet to do in my IIT Life:

1. Get drunk.
2. Get drunk.
3. Get drunk.
4. Get drunk.
5. Get drunk. Now that I'm done, I think I'm done. Good night.

P.S. If the numbers seem wrong, don't mind. You're probably drunk too.