The Promise..

About the Book :

Dad says, 'Go to work (how boring!)

Heart says, 'Have a blast' (yippee)

Dad kicks me out. What do I do now? (Lost!)

Friends are damn busy (Grrrrrrr)

I meet Pinky (It's definitely love at first sight, believe me!)

I join CAT class (whoa! I am in love)

My love life rolls on rocking (yeah, she loves me too. Great na?)

Dad is also happy (Son is finally studying. Duh!)

Rani steps in...nice girl, really cute (just a friend!)

She is my best friend but then...she says she loves me...

Oops... I kiss her (I didn’t mean to...)

But I love Pinky (Do I?)

And I have made her a promise... (I can't break it)

This is me, Ajay. (Lost and confused madly in love)

Can you really measure friendship and love?

Step into Ajay's world which is filled with frolic, fun, confusions and craziness to discover the truth about friendship and love.

About the Author :

A compulsive reader with a passion for writing, Chital Mehta is a 23 year old software engineer in Chennai. She believes that life is a gift that has to be cherished every minute. She is passionate about love stories because she believes love is the essence of life. Armed with her dreams, she believes nothing is impossible as long as one lives with profound faith.
Besides writing, she loves to discover new books, enjoy rains, hear music and laugh till her stomach aches. An enthusiastic blogger who loves to learn new patterns of writing, she is constantly in search of new stories that can create a difference in others lives.


http://www.infibeam.com/Books/promise-chital-mehta/9788183520133.html

Finding a soulmate on a site!!!

Well, the ones who fall in love marriage are pretty safe (though they have their own problems to deal with) which leaves the ones who have to actually search for a soul mate. And this search is being aided with matrimonial sites that are in boom these days.
One of my friends, Shereen, who had reached the marriageable age (if there is still something like that today!!!) and when she felt she needed someone to spend her life with; she bumped across a matrimonial site which allowed her to filter for grooms meeting her requirements. (Yeah, that’s advancement. Choose a partner by measuring your requirements).
Anyways, so my friend registered herself on the site. She browsed around through the profiles which seemed human enough to tolerate (most can be really funny ones) and chatted with them to know what they really were. It was, in my judgment, the most hilarious experience one could be entitled to.
Some of the best responses were:
Guy 1: Hi, do u know to cook?
Shereen: Well, yes. I can manage a few dishes…
Guy1: so, you aren’t a perfect cook?
Shereen: well, I can’t cook like a chef...
Guy1: But a chef also cooks right…
Shereen: …………………………….

Guy2: Hi
Shereen: Hello
Guy2: I want to know about your past first and then about you.
Shereen: huh!
Guy2: Yes, so tell me about your past.
Shereen: ……………………………….

Guy3: Hello Shirin
Shereen: it’s Shereen.
Guy3: ok Sheereen.
Shereen: It’s Shereen.
Guy3: yes, I got it. Sereen.
Shereen: …………………………

Guy4: Hello Shereen.
Shereen: Hi Raghav.
Guy4: I would like to know about you.
Shereen: yes sure. Please ask.
(It seemed to go fine with Raghav for two months. And one day…. )
Raghav: Hello Shereen. I have to tell you why I got a divorce.
Shereen: okay, tell me.
Raghav: Well, she got pregnant. But the doctor said he wasn’t sure so I had to leave her.
Shereen: huh!
Raghav: you see, I need my generation to go ahead.
Shereen :………………………………..( jerk)


Guy5: hello
Shereen: Hi…
Guy5: I earn 10,000 every month. Will give anything you asking for. Movie, cloth, dress, jewel and many. When we marry?
Shereen:……………………………………….


Well, after this my friend has actually given up guy hunting for a while. She says she rather live alone for a while. Well, who says finding a soul mate is that easy?

How luxury can sometimes be a torture!!!

Well, I had been home recently for the weekend to see my parents (usually, its for home food that I drop by but, whatever!!!). And as usual, no matter how many times my dad yells at me or explains me the tantrums of not booking my tickets in advance for the train, I wasn't going to pay any heed to whatever he said. That was just me.
And so I used my internet skills to book a return ticket back to chennai just two days before the trip. Alas, every single bus travel agency had sold the tickets (this only increased my desire to open up a bus travel agency even more). I used my sources and ocntacts and influence- and finally got a ticket in a bus which luckily happened to cross my home town heading to Chennai.
When I reached the boarding point, I learnt that it was an AC bus. I was like wow!!!AC luxury for just 450 bucks, I chuckled.
Around 9.30, the bus arrived packed with ppl wrapped in funny colored bedsheets. After my dad made sure that the bus folks would drop me safely (as if I can't take of myself, I am 23 for God's sake but a dad is a dad), he got down from the bus.
Thankfully enough, after a while, I was also given a thin bedsheet around which I immediately wrapped myself. As I made myself comfortable, I was treated to the unmistakable noise to a vijay starrer movie which must have been the most irritating thing I had ever seen on a TV.
Until 12, the loud noise banged around my ears as I fought the urge to break down the TV. And I happened to have a neighbour beside me. By the looks of it, I judged it as a 'girl', a really fat girl I think. She tossed and turned all night in her seat while I silently stuck to my seat trying hard not to give her any space of mine (after all it's my seat).
It was an AC bus, good. But nobody had told me it would be freaking cold inside that my nose, lips, fingers and toes were frozen by the time we entered Chennai. Why did they bother giving the bedsheet, I cursed under my breath.
As Fate would have it, we got stuck in a traffic at 6 am in Tambaram (traffic at 6 am!!! I think I hate metros).
Phew! and I finally got to taste freedom at 7 am when I stepped outside the bus kissing the warm air.
That day I learnt, luxury might not actually be luxury certain times. That wasn't the worst of my journeys but not one of my best ones either. (Maybe I should finally listen to my dad)

H-o-p-e vs F-e-a-r

Life is normal like it is always. Life in general is perfect with the day and night setting in and out. Atleast, that's when ppl say life goes on.
Even when things go normal why is there a fear of losing it all completely? Is there anything to lose at all? Why do we hold on to things that we ain't even sure will last?
May that's called hope. Fear awakens hope. Hope that things will not fall apart however bad they seem, hope that ppl will not drift away however bad times fall, hope that life can still be wonderful after the worst of situations....Hope, the powerful 4 letter word which battles with the other dreadful 4 letter word,F-E-A-R.
Well, I am not sure what triumphs in the end but I do know that hope makes it easier to go ahead, it makes it easier to open the door though you don't know what's behind. Hope is what keeps YOU going but fear shrunkens your boundaries and thoughts.
I believe, no matter how bad life gets on, clinging to H-O-P-E will definitely prove that the world isn't such a bad place to live in, after all.

is it all about finding the right one? or u being the right one?

Ever since I grew up, I had been influenced largely by books, movies and all dramas that involved love stories. I had somehow assumed that we all eventually had to find the right one for us or that there was right one made for us. Someone who would be just made exclusively for you would suddenly turn up, may be at the bus stop or in class or in office or when you take your dog for a walk or.....the list is endless of how you could bump into your soulmate.
well, then starts the phase oh-I-am-madly-in-love and he/she-is-really-the-right-one for me( like God sent). I almost feel like laughing at such theories now. Lately, I have realised that it was not falling in love that mattered, it was sustaining the love that mattered. In fact, there is no such thing called as 'the right one'. It's just what we have made up.
Most people are good to us but then towards the end we have to choose only one to share our deepest secrets and desires. It is more about finding that person that counts. And you surely can't expect that person to be -the-best-person-ever-on-earth. No, that person will also have flaws like you have yours. But nobody is ever perfect (yeah, you've heard that b4).
What I feel is that it's not about being perfect for each other but it's more about being comfortable with each other which includes being able to share stuff, laugh about, discuss things and also accept each other for what they are.
Relationships fail when people demand the same perfections which they had seen earlier but the truth is that there was never a perfect one all along, it's what you assumed to be.
So, it's better for the heart to not search for the perfect one. It's more to do with following your instincts cos they mostly lead you where you really have to be. Then you get about creating a great relationship by doing the right things for each other.
Love, after all, is abundant, it never dries up.

MOBILE FANTASIES

When I stepped into college, I was fascinated by the fresh air of being young. It amazed me that once you entered college, you ruled yourself . I was eager to taste the new found freedom .
After my first two weeks of college, I convinced my parents how badly I was in need of a cell phone and that I would be incompetent without it. Unfortunately, my parents fell for it. There was it. My first cell phone. A ten-digit number of my own.
I felt on the top as I could talk to my mates at any hour , any minute. The tiny gadget became my best pal and eventually I found it difficult to part with it. I took it along with me wherever I went. To the bathroom, to have dinner, in my books ,to almost all occasions, my mobile was my inseparable friend.
As time passed by, I felt devoid of human beings. I did not see the importance of having a conversation or at least let the person know that I was listening to him but my eyes stayed glued on the wide screen which beeped almost 24 hours. My dad was amused that my contacts were so wide that I had people talking to me whole time. When curiosity got the better of him, he checked my phonebook . He would not have been able to figure out anything as all the numbers were stored with a single letter alphabet to keep the name discreet.
Not that I used to have any professional important conversations as mine usually included “ “ wat ya up2” “ me brd? N u” “ ah, same her” “oh grt””. Well , at that point of time these conversations did matter a lot to me. I realized that I was not being dependent on my pals but on an electric gadget. The mobile was ruling me. It did not take long for the phone to take control over my actions.
Even if I were engaged in a deep talk or watching my favorite show, it was a beep of my phone which could put me to my legs at any instant. In the middle of a dark night, when I am sleeping with my eyes stuck to my eyelids and dreaming about fantasies, my adorable phone would vibrate cruelly under my pillow. Of course I had difficulty getting back to sleep, but I never seemed to mind this constant torture of my friend. Instead I gave in to whenever it ringed.
It was only as I grew up with time , I felt it was time to show my little pal “ who ruled whom” . I was determined to prove to my folks that I was not a mobile geek which was what I was named due to my attachment with the phone.
When I lessened the action of being a slave to my phone, I also felt how important people meant to me who yearned to have a human talk with me. That was it, today its me who is the master of my phone as it was supposed to be. I am no longer a slave to it. Though we are still together, we mind our manners.

MIss u....

"When you are far from me, I really think of you..and I am thankful to God that I can taste the taste of missing you"

Finally, in love...

I hated chennai when I first came here. It was just not the place I had ever dreamt of coming. Being smitten by the larger and more happening metros like b'lore or mumbai, I just felt Chennai was just like any other normal town. The only difference being, Chennai was just super huge with nothing great around. Atleast, that's what I have always thought about Chennai.
The long distance travel across the city through buses and trains was maddening and I always wondered why were metros this massive. But I do accept that metros are always huge but then the others metros always have something new to offer or so I assumed.
And so it went that I realised at one point that I would't miss Chennai a bit if I had to ever move out. 'The place sucks big time', I told my friends so that they would't have to out up with my misery.
I hated everything, the food being number one which would'nt have been much a prob if I were a south indian hogging over rice but rice just seemed to be another dish I detested.
Next, people. I was shocked when I discovered that Chennai, in many areas, was still as conservative as the smaller towns. They still held up to their values which bored me to the core.
An awful climate added to this was just enough to drive me nuts. At the end of my one year stay, I had decided ' I would never settle in Chennai, I really gotta get outta here'.
All things said and done, as life went, there came a gradual acceptance from me towards the city or may be the city had finally accepted me. What followed later was truly magical. I slowly found myself looking at it as my second home (first being my parent's place).
And even if I had to be out of town for a few days, I would eventually be looking ahead to get back to Chennai. I am not sure what is it but there is a strange friendship between me and the city, despite the bad climatic changes, despite the heavy downpours, despite the daily-same-dish-rice, despite the conservativeness, I had begun to respect Chennai for what it is.
I think I have finally fallen in love with it after I let the city offer me with all it's richness and love.

Kisses....!

"Kisses are like tears, the only real ones are those which you can't back"

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Videos | Genero.tv

of text messages n smileys....

When I entered the teenage phase of text messaging, almost all of my messages ended with a “take care, miss you dear” even when I didn’t mean it. My hands would automatically type it as of it were a form of saying goodbye. Even people texting me back used it often that I really didn’t care whether they meant it or not.

But lately there have been moments when I really want the other person to know that deep down I care for that person, that I really worry for the, that I want that person to be fine in whatever situation, that when I say ‘take care’, it’s like asking that person to safeguard themselves so that I can stay worry free. Because of the distance and time constraints these days, it’s impossible to meet your friends, so it’s obvious that we all tend to rely on the most attached-to-human gadget, the mobile.
You can’t see the person but we have adapted ourselves to express our emotions through calls and messages and smileys which can talk a million things about how you feel. It’s almost magical how much a smiley can express what you want to convey.
It was only when I wanted to express my deep felt feelings to the person sitting miles across from me, did I understand that text messages are not just text messages. They are the stuff that are formed by your emotions which are transferred into text to be told to another. Messages tell a million things about what you feel and think.

Well, I have made it a point not to take text messages for grant cos when I say ‘take care’, I really mean it; I really want you to take care of yourself for me. I have changed my perspective of thinking that smileys and messages are for time pass cos they are the stuff that tells the other person that I am thinking of them right now.

Cheers to be a part of the text messages and smiley cosmos….

The Sinner of The Forgiver?

When I first heard of the infamous tiger Woods scandal, only curses for the golfer came out from my mouth. I wondered how on earth a person could have this much of filth in his head. Had he realized his enormous celebrity power, would he still have chosen to step on the line of temptation? I do agree, if the same incident had occurred elsewhere in another corner of the world with an ordinary man, it wouldn’t have caught the media’s attention. But Tiger Woods is no ordinary human being; he is worshipped by millions of people all over the world which is why the scandal seemed to have shaken trust in the golfer. The impact has been so bad that most of the brands to which he was an ambassador cut off all ties with him owing to his personal life which had sunken.

The media had thoroughly scrutinized on the spoilt remains of Tiger’s extra martial affairs. Like many other people, I felt Tiger was stupid to have done something like this even after reaching the heights of glory and having a wonderful wife with two kids. But life doesn’t have the same definitions for all, for it differs from me to you to him.

As time passes, things and events are long forgotten but the scar remains forever, the damage is done forever. As humans, we are prone to make mistakes, some forgivable, some unforgivable, some that affects us and some that affects others. But a mistake is a mistake which cannot be undone, cannot be repaired but there is one thing that sill gives hope. Realization. Being aware of how bad a mistake of yours has affected another and asking forgiveness for the same, is showing that you do know how bad it has impacted the other person.

Tiger Woods’ Apology :

“I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in. I knew my actions were wrong, but I convinced myself that normal rules didn't apply. I never thought about who I was hurting.Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them.
I was wrong. I was foolish. I don't get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife's family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.
I've had a lot of time to think about what I've done. My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before. It's now up to me to make amends, and that starts by never repeating the mistakes I've made. It's up to me to start living a life of integrity.
I once heard, and I believe it's true, it's not what you achieve in life that matters; it's what you overcome. Achievements on the golf course are only part of setting an example. Character and decency are what really count.”

I wouldn’t agree that because humans are prone to making mistakes, everything can be forgotten. No, that isn’t happening until realization dawns and draws hope for new horizons. I wish to take back the words I used to describe Woods right after the scandal.
All those out there who commit mistakes need a chance, a chance to prove that things will not fall apart again. I think people do deserve a chance!

Music for soul

Music, I have come to believe, is a great healer for the mind and heart. One for the oldest forms of art, it is but a great oceanic creation. It is almost magical what a beautiful piece of music can do to your senses. It can lift your mood no matter how low you feel, how lost or bad you feel. It transforms you to a completely different cosmos where you are only what you want to be. The transformation is a mesmerizing experience, one that pulls at the strings of your heart.

Have you ever thought of how wonderful is the world of music? The music which seeps into your ears trying to arouse a thousand different feelings in one moment is purely a moments of bliss. It allows you to relate your concerns, worries, feelings, expressions and hesitations through music. So, never lose interest from music for it speaks your heart.

Haiti's sorrow!!!

The day since the news of the Haiti earthquake broke out blaring in all the news channels and newspapers, I had been thinking of writing down a post about the quake. But today I suddenly felt , may be I shouldn’t write cos I don’t know how is it to see your family dying beside you, I don’t know how is it to see buildings crumble upon you, I don’t know how is it to see people dying around you without food, I don’t know how is it to see bodies being scattered all over, I don’t know how is it to see the dead being mass buried without a decent burial, I don’t know how is it to die at heart and live and I don’t know what is it when one day you wake up to find the world turned upside down.
I won’t tell that yes, I can feel the pain of what lakhs of homeless people are facing out there because I know I or you are here and not there. The pictures in the news channels and papers are very disturbing. In a Hindu paper, a picture of a man dumping bodies was shown. The dead can’t even hope for a better grave. Nature has shown its worst form of fury but why Haiti? Nobody can or has questioned Nature’s doings. We see, we cry, we fear but we live again. Life moves on no matter what comes upon.
Let us join to pray homage to those who are suffering the loss of loved one out in Haiti. Let us pray for God to give them strength and the mind to accept what is gone however painful it may seem. Let us pray for the dead for their souls to rest.
All said, I still feel I can’t feel the real pain which has created numbness all over Haiti. I just hope to cling on to this quote.

‘There has never been any darkness that has never given to light’

Am I with the Right Partner????

I just came across this article few days back.. just sharing it over here...
During a seminar, a woman asked," How do I know if I am with the right person?" the author then noticed that there was a large man sitting next to her so he said, "It depends. Is that your partner?" In all seriousness, she answered "How do you know?" Let me answer this question because the chances are good that it's weighing on your mind replied the author. Here's the answer.

Every relationship has a cycle...In the beginning; you fall in love with your partner. You anticipate their calls, want their touch, and like their idiosyncrasies. Falling in love wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to DO anything. That's why it's called "falling" in love.

People in love sometimes say, "I was swept of my feet.." Picture the expression. It implies that you were just standing there; doing nothing, and then something happened TO YOU. Falling in love is a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few months or years of being together, the euphoria of love fades. It's a natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's idiosyncrasies, instead of being cute, drive you nuts. The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship; you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage. At this point, you and/or your partner might start asking, "Am I with the right person?" And as you reflect on the euphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when relationships breakdown.

The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the person you found. People blame their partners for their unhappiness and look outside for fulfillment. Extramarital fulfillment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is the most common. But sometimes people turn to work, a hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances. But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your relationship. It lies within it. I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else. You could. And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen carefully to this): The key to succeeding in a relationship is not finding the right person; it's learning to love the person you found.

SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. You have to work on it day in and day out. It takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it demands WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make it work. Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your partner). Just as there are physical laws of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships. If you know and apply these laws, the results are predictable. Love is therefore a "decision". Not just a feeling.

Remember this always: God determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let GO!!

--
Don't compare your life to others'. You have no Idea what their journey is all about!!!
-Theion

My battle with an ulcer

I was just trying to gobble up an entire plate of bhel poori when I experienced the most painful moment of my life. I just couldn’t have any more of my favorite dish because it was my mouth ulcer that was probing with pain each time something spicy went inside my mouth.

Reluctantly, I resorted myself to all that contained only sugar, water or salt. In short, I was living on a diet which only patients consumed. That was not all. For a week, not only had I difficulty with food but I even had a tough time with talking to people. I was living the life of a dumb person trying to communicate in a sign language. And when my friends couldn’t understand a thing, I was like ‘God save meeeeee’. It was in this instant I realized how hard it must be for the dumb to communicate across and how frustrating when the person opposite doesn’t seem to understand.

And so it went on a week, me trying to battle the mouth ulcer with numerous tips given by my close pals and the google also.

1. Gargle with salt water thrice a day( I did and it just hurt like hell)
2. Change your toothpaste which doesn’t contain sodium laureth sulphate ( I dutifully dumped my toothpaste to get a new one)
3. Consume Vitamin B complex tablets (I did- I can’t write the side effects hereJ)
4. Have ounces of water ( and stay in the loo)
5. Have some age old primitive greens ( which tastes like yuk )

After all this, the ulcer would remain stuck to my mouth hurting me at every possible encounter with food and forcing me to use the sign language as often as possible. Man that was one hell of a week of my life.

Anyway, one night, after the thought of me having mouth cancer crowded my mind, with horrible imagination of dying without reason entered, I knew I had to see the doctor.

The doctor’s visit was one hilarious experience. The doc who seemed not more than 50, dashed out a list of tablets and ointments which burnt a hole of 300 rupees in my pocket. I wouldn’t have worried about the money. What got me worried was that he declared the ulcer as a ‘STRESS ULCER’. I wanted to laugh right away, but I didn’t. I knew I hadn’t taken stress so hard to give myself an ulcer. I wondered then, if stress could give an ulcer, three fourth of the world’s population would have been affected by a mouth ulcer.

It was only after the doc’s visit that I actually developed stress but miraculously the next day, the ulcer started diminishing to my utter surprise. What worked is not known to me but I will never forget the stress ulcer which gave me the utmost stress.

To be in love

"If I could have, I would wish to wake everyday to the sound of your breath on my neck, the warmth of your lips on my cheek, the touch of your fingers on my skin, and the feel of your heart beating with mine knowing that I could never find that feeling with anyone other than you"