Meet the characters of ‘The Boy Named Joy’!

Meet Joy – The boy named Joy is always happy no matter what! No mom and dad, no money, not even a decent dress to wear or meal to eat…forget about fancy toys or gadgets, but strangely, he is always happy. WHY IS THE BOY NAMED JOY ALWAYS HAPPY??? Everyone wants to know. Is it because of some secret treasure?

Meet King Boo-Hoo – The child king Boo-Hoo is always sad no matter what! He lives in luxury in a magical fun palace surrounded by amazing gadgets. He has adoring parents as well as caring staff. They dare not make him cry or else he has the power to drown the kingdom.  BUT WHY IS KING BOO-HOO ALWAYS SAD? Everyone wants to know.

Do you want to know too…? Do you want your kids to learn about a secret power that Joy has? 

Find your answers in the upcoming picture eBook – The Boy Named Joy, illustrated by my 8-year-old. Coming soon on Amazon.com. Follow this blog for updates.

Crimson Sunset!

Divine magic of crimson sunset caught before it could vanish forever. No two sunsets are the same and each day brings new colour combinations on sky canvas – lovely lavender, rich purple, fiery orange, spiritual saffron, sensuous red, glorious yellow and more textures, varieties, patterns…endless! This sunset was amazingly different from all other sunsets.

The Lake, Wild Flowers and Sunset!

Behold how the lake looks this summer after months of staying frozen and white! Yellow, white, purple and pink wild flowers outline the shimmery delight while the departing Sun gently touches it with scarlet and gold. Suddenly, it is full of life with sweet birds, butterflies and insects. Truly, what a transformation!

Below is the lake in winters….

Amazing, isn’t it! Change is the only constant!

Fall Colors this Morning!

Fall colors greeted me this morning as I walked to drop the little one to school. The Sun seemed to be in playful mood as it lit and subdued the nature’s canvas at intervals. Thought of sharing the delights with you.

From my apartment

Yellow leaves everywhere

A glorious tree

Another sweet tree

A hillock celebrating Fall

I hope you liked them all!

A walk in a Japanese Garden

My friend and fellow blogger Millie Thom‘s recent blog on a Japanese Garden inspired me to walk over to our nearby Japanese Garden this morning. This little 2-acre garden is a part of a community college campus. My son and I had a great time inhaling the rejuvenating air and admiring the refreshing views. Thanks Millie for the inspiration and hope you all like the clicks.

The Japanese garden is created to present a miniature and idealized view of nature. Rocks are symbolic of mountains while ponds can represent seas.

All the architectural elements and components including water, waterfall, stones, bridges, lanterns, benches, meditation shelter, plants, shrubs and trees etc have deep philosophical aspect too.

Love this striking red bridge!

A waterfall peeps through the foliage!

Little fish friends came over to say hello!

Another curved bridge!

A pathway.

Beyond the garden!

Check Millie’s lovely blog post here

A letter to my classmate!

   
Hello,

Hope this letter finds you good. I felt an immediate need to write to you after visiting your facebook profile via our common friend’s profile. I was looking for a tall, gawky person but saw a different man there – aged with lined face and a pot belly. I was aghast! There was no sign of the boy who would enter the classroom bustling with energy, taking on the world in his languishing stride. 

It seems as if time has flown since I last saw him after our board exams (Kabuliwallah syndrome… remember the story?). We were sixteen then… fresh and so full of excitement to take on the world. I had half expected to find the same boy and initiate a chat with him. But for the first time, I experienced how much the world has changed… how much I have changed! In a flash, I felt being transported from teenage years right into my thirties.

He and I studied together from kindergarten till tenth. Although, we were never best of friends! Infact, I remember the boy was mean to me a number of times and I myself was not a model of good behaviour but we were comfortable around each other. I also visited other classmates via your profile but everyone has changed. Most of us have put on weight, have moved to different places, undergone varied experiences. Life truly has taken a toll on us.

I tried hard to find some semblance, something of the past in your picture but …I gave up.  You looked comfortable around your family…a typical man of the world who goes to work in the morning, returns home tired and waits for dinner to be served at night. Your wife is beautiful and kids are cute. One of them resembles you. I am glad life has been good to you. But again, you are so unlike him. He was fidgety and non-conformist. You are a stereotype family man!

He was ambitious, boisterous and haughty but you seem to avoid confrontations. He questioned everything and you seem to accept everything. I like that you are happy and settled but I liked him better – my happy go lucky classmate who would make the class laugh with his pranks. He was non predictable and creative, you are adjusting with what life has offered you. Good for you!

 I smile thinking that once upon a time,  my classmates were an intrinsic part of my world. I had enjoyed their encouragement and would take any discouragement to heart. Many a times, they were harsh and judgemental.

My classmates held the power to make or break me. I didn’t know then that all this would change so drastically. And that I would no longer have to compete with or conform to anyone’s notions. It felt good when I moved on from teenage angst towards maturity but in the process, I took you all for granted. I had never thought I would never find you all ever again…not in the same way. 

I get nostalgic remembering the last parting image of my classmates – excited bunch of boys and girls who loved to chat,  bitch, scream and dream. Where did they all go?

Lately, some of you crept into my memory and reminded me of those sweet-sour school years. Perhaps, wanting to re-live the past encouraged me to visit your FB page.  I wanted to meet you all and have a chat online. But I guess…I have lost the connect.

If my letter encourages you to find him – the gawky teenager, somewhere deep within you, then kindly let him know that I am thankful to him for being a part of my childhood. 

May be, my letter would make you  curious and you would want to check back my profile. But I warn you – you will hardly recognise me – a married woman with kids. You would not know what to say to me.

But perhaps if you let that tall boy visit my profile, he might find the quiet girl who loved doodling and reading. They will connect, have great conversation and laugh together like youngsters do. Please find and send him once for I am sure we all miss the innocent, musical laughter of our wonder years! Then, may be we will reconnect again with our past.

Best wishes for everything,

Your former friend

  
Images courtesy Google

And she finally met Shah Rukh Khan…

 Pratibha and I have been friends since college days. Right through those wonder years to our present day, we have been avid fans of Shah Rukh Khan. No criticism, no controversy, no debate has lessened our affections for him!

There is something about SRK…something unexplainable…perhaps that x-factor which makes him a roaring success in Indian film industry. He is a study in contrast in some of his superhits  – easy going as well as passionate ( Raj in DDLJ), submissive as well as persevering ( Suri in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi) and funny as well as heroic ( Rahul in Chennai Express). But romantic roles best suit him…little wonder then that ladies – fifteen to sixty – all swoon over him.

Well, Pratibha and I had always nurtured a dream to meet him. During my years as a journalist, I met a lot of actors but the dream man remained elusive. However, to my immense jealousy, she got to meet him in Dubai recently.

Understandably, she is over the moon! Well, here is what she has to say about her romantic rendezvous with the superstar.

“So finally I met SRK.. The man who has epitomised the word Romance in the history of Indian cinema. A person who with sheer hard work, luck and belief in himself, achieved the stature of being the King of Bollywood .Ya, I met this dream man in person today. I wanted to tell him so many things… but I was tongue-tied. Already, I was getting more than I had asked for. I felt my heart beating fast before meeting him and the moment I saw him.. I was like O MY GOD… This couldn’t be real!! And then the organizers of the event asked us to get a picture clicked and leave the room.

But how could I leave without even shaking hands with him? I said No and refused to leave without meeting him in person. And then the gentleman himself stood up and invited us to come. Wow…this was getting larger than life! I grabbed this once in a life time opportunity and gave him a tight hug. I also added what I had been wanting to tell him since long long time – I Love You. He said, “O My God, that’s sweet”!!! So here I am …all smiles with a singing heart 😍😍💃💃. Hoping to stay like this until I meet him again!”

Her dream has been realised…mera number kab aayega???

( This post is co-authored by Shivangi Singh and Pratibha Sharma)

Images courtesy Google