Nikon L310 photos

Posting few photos clicked by me from my new Nikon L310 camera.

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Two hours lies in the eyes of my innocent one

If I had extra 2 hrs in a day, how would I spend it? I thought about this for several days and I never got valid answer until... 

 It was late afternoon and I was working on my next manuscript. My eyes were glued to the computer screen, whilst my fingers typed the words that were racing through my mind. In came a small furball, carrying excitement which would light up the faces of all. She jumped and barked, trying hard to pull my attention.

 “Go away, Lily!” I muttered, still not looking at her.

 However, Lily remained unmoved. She sat on the ground, her eyes focus on me. She wagged her tail and made a soft noise, desperately calling for my attention.

 “I am working, not now. We will play later,” I said with a hope that she would understand and go to another room.

 This time she barked a little more loudly and I knew she was saying Look here please. I sighed and moved my attention on her. Sensing that my attention was now on her, she danced in happiness, wagging her tail in rhythm. I smiled and patted her back approvingly.

 “Alright, I will give you a biscuit,” I said as I walked inside the kitchen.  Not to mention, Lily followed me excitedly. When she got the biscuit, she ran to her favorite place (the couch) to eat it.

 This is when I got the answer to the above question. My angel, who usually doesn't interrupt in my work, secretly wishes that I will spend some time with her too. If I get extra two hours in a day, I would devote it completely to my dog, who loves me selflessly. However, I also promise to spend some more time with her even if my clock reads 24 hrs, for she thought me to find happiness in small things. She deserves my time as much as I want hers.

Note: This post is a submission to the IndiBlogger-Surf Excel Matic contest, “If you had two extra hours in a day, how would you spend it?”. If you are a part of IndiBlogger, do not forget to vote for my entry here.

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In Conversation with Author Sonia Kundra Singh

Welcome Sonia! It’s an honor to have you on my blog “Things in Black N White”. To begin, can you tell us a bit about your writing style?

 Thank you. There are really no rules as to how to write. The language is supposed to flow, no careless use of sentences and no overuse of literary words that belonged to the era of Jane Austen. I like freestyle writing yet with I use it with caution, making sure that my readers have a pleasant time without having to take out their dictionaries. 

 How much does Indian readers loves Romance genre? How is your debut novel accepted by the crowd so far? 

 I think Indian readers are romantics by heart. And with the onset of Mills and Boons, I see copies flying everywhere. Love Me In The End is well liked by the young audience of mine and also inspiring those who are still searching for love in an arranged marriage. 

 Tell us in brief about your journey so far. What you learned and how you implemented it?

 It’s exciting to have your book in your hands once it’s published and it is not entirely an easy process if you are a first time writer. It’s always a struggle whenever you want your book out whether it’s the first or the second. Each time you are assessed and measured by the way you write and how you write it. Even if you are not putting your best foot forward, believe in yourself because you are the best judge of your writing. 

 Which is your favorite character in “Love me in the end”? 

 ‘Amitab Melhera’, the father of the heroine is so far my favorite character. I loved writing about him, highlighting the mistakes he didn’t know he was committing and all the while loving his daughter with all his heart. I have a weakness for interfering dads.

 After “Love me in the end”, what are the upcoming projects? Do you plan to write for different genre? 

 I am coming up with my second novel soon. It’s already under process and titled Love Me Like A Gentleman. It’s a romance again. I definitely plan to combine romance with thriller sometime very soon. Chik Lit is another genre I would like to explore. 

 After the first novel’s success, readers’ expectation grows. How are you planning to catch up with your readers’ expectation in next novel? 

 The first novel is always a testing phase to see if your readers like the way you write and it boosts your confidence further when it’s well liked as well. You cannot force a reader to buy your book unless they like the story. It’s a risk you have a take as a writer. My second novel is more on a sensitive side of people struggling with themselves as to what is right and what is wrong.

 Anything you want to say to your readers? 

 I just want to say that they have given me a lot of encouragement and love so far. I hope to continue making romance a very reality in your lives. Keep reading me!

Some more about Love me in the end :

A fanatically devoted father, a headstrong daughter and a devious rake make their way into the world of an arranged marriage, which is a sham. It was going to be the perfect match according to the father, but Ria was impulsive and Arman hated being tied to a girl he had never seen before. Ria was determined to put up a fight to the end and Arman, guided by his instincts, did not offer any help but to desire her with his heart. Could Arman convince her that he was the one for Ria?


To know more about Sonia, please visit her official website : http://www.soniakundra.com/

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Ganpati in Mumbai

One of the biggest festivals in Maharastra is Ganesh Utsav. You can find ganpati pandals in every next gully (lane) and they hold 20 – 40 foot big ganpati idols.

So, while the 10 days Ganesh Utsav is on, you need to take a day off or plan visiting all these places on weekends. Starting from your society’s own Ganpati pandal, start walking and visit all the pandals that come on your way. Admire the huge idols, pray feverishly and enjoy the Prasad. This process will eat up your entire day, but by the end of the day you will be super satisfied.

That’s what I did, started from nearest ganpati pandal, paid visit to every ganpati idol on my way. Sharing some of the photo with you.

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Nostalgic Moments

I am dedicating this post to Nostalgic Moment blogfest. There are few things which makes nostalgic and when I think of them, an involuntary smile stretches on my face.

Today I am sharing a photo which makes me nostalgic – A Chinese food. I wish I could share this food with all my readers :D

Anyways, back to the topic. When I was in Larsen and Toubro Infotech in my training days, we had a common canteen (which was 1 km away from our working place) where they use to serve food to all Infoknights. And we use to walk 1km away just to eat the food, as our office building was on gate 7 and canteen building was on gate 1.

My friends (Aniket and Amruta) and I use to walk together to canteen, gossip while eating and then come back to our desk. At some point we got bored of same food, so one day we stopped by a small Chinese hotel near gate 6 and enjoyed our feast. Slowly, it became our routine to visit this hotel every Friday and we use order same food all the time – 2 Fried Rice, 3 Manchow soups.

And we just don’t use to eat the food but use to crack jokes and laugh loudly. The hotel manager clearly looked irritated by our act. I still remember that irritated look on his face. My friend Aniket was practically scared by manager’s deadly looks as he was the only male member in our team and chances were that he would be soft target to the manager’s anger.

So, every time I eat Manchow Soup, I remember training days where we use to have loads of fun.

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Remakes gone wrong

Almost every Indian has accepted the fact that Bollywood movies are “so-not-original” and their stories are inspired (borrowed) from Hollywood movies and Tamil movies. I am not saying that we lack creativity, but I wish our story writers would work hard on creating something unique and new, where we could proudly say that “Yes! That’s the good movie and it’s not even a remake”.

Okay fine, remakes are good but how much justice they do to the story?

80% of audience comes out of movie hall cursing every possible person who is related to the movie.

1. Deewane hue pagal : I know even reading the name has made u flinch. I am sorry for mentioning such a funny name and more to that such a disastrous movie.Well this Shaheed Kapoor, Akshay Kumar and Suniel Shetty starrer movie tops the chart of “remakes gone wrong” awards. It is a clear remake of one of the best and funniest Hollywood movie ‘There’s something about Mary’ and not to mention its cool cast Cameron Diaz, Matt Dillon and Ben Stiller. At any day I would watch this movie, but the Bollywood remake gives me headache.

2. Dil Bole Hadippa : The name is enough for me to recall Rani Mukherjee as a chotu sardar playing cricket in men’s team. The same goes with Hollywood movie She’s the man, where Amanda Bynes sneaks in boys hostel impersonating as her twin brother and joins the boys soccer team. But seriously, Dil Bole Hadippa stands nowhere when it comes to She’s the man. That was the super cool movie and funniest of all. I would recommend this movie to all my readers.

3. God tussi great ho : Everyone has seen Bruce Almighty and not to mentioned how much everyone loved Jim Carrey for his awesome performance. Then Bollywood decides to bring Salman Khan in his place and Amitabh Bacchan as god. Well, they took good cast, but what about the story? It sucked and never reached the height of Bruce Almighty. Some scenes in the movies were headless, pointless and useless. God tussi great ho would have turned into good remake if (and only if) the story writer would have used some creativity.

4. Mere Yaar ki Shaadi hai : If you remember a movie My best friend’s wedding (Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz) not just concept, but also the title is used. Huh!

Mere yaar ki shaadi hai was literally disappointing, leave alone Uday Chopra’s performance. On the other hand, my best friend’s wedding was a cute movie and one of the best performance by Julia Roberts.

So, to all my Indian readers, if you believe all these remakes I have mentioned above sucks and if you haven’t watched the original ones, please watch them, they are far better than remakes.

(PS - I have seen all the movies which I have mentioned above and hence this is my personal view on the remakes).

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Symbolic Ganesha

With the arrival of Lord Ganesha, we all are geared up for the most celebrated festival in Maharashtra.  Everyone celebrates this festival with enthusiasm but we fail to understand what Lord Ganesha actually has to tell us.
If we observe Ganesha carefully, we will understand that the idol in front of us is a symbol. Yes a symbol!
Let me explain the symbols one by one.

• Starting from Lord Ganesha’s big head, he wants to tell us to think big and better.
• His big elephant ears symbolize that we should listen more and listen carefully to each and everything around us. Learn the art of listening and use this to think big.
• Moving to his tiny eyes, he wants to tell us to look carefully and improve our concentration. The small tiny eyes symbolize the concentration power which is important to achieve success in life.
• His small mouth indicates us to talk less, but listen more. 
• His long and strong trunk symbolizes high efficiency and adaptability to environment.
• Lord Ganesha has only one tusk for which he is called as “Ekdant” (one tusk) is a symbol depicting that we should always retain good and positive thoughts in life, while throwing away negative thoughts that ruin our concentration. 
• He holds an axe in his right hand which tells us to cut unnecessary bonds and attachments. In his left hand he holds a rope, which says that we should always climb towards our goal. 
• And of course Lord Ganesha blesses all his devotees with his right hand and saying that he is always with us in achieving our goal.
•  In his another left hand he holds modak(a sweet) which symbolizes that we will always get sweet rewards for our hardwork.
• Ganesha’s big round belly is symbol saying we should peacefully digest all good and bad in our life without letting it affect us and our goals. 
• And last but not the least, we see a small mouse sitting in front of him on whom Lord Ganesha rides is also a symbol through which Ganesha wants to tell us that desires unless they are control can cause destruction, so we should not let the desires over power us. Rather we should ride and control our desires.

May Ganpati Bappa bless you all with success, prosperity and wisdom in life.

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