gaelikaa's diary

Commitment to the Unverifiable, this week's LBC topic, seems to be a euphemism for belief in God, about whom we know but of whose existence we are unable to verify.  At least, not in the natural world. So how do we know God exists?  Simple!  I read it in the Bible. When I was a kid growing up in Catholic Ireland, we were more or less given to understand that you didn't have to take the Bible seriously, that it was written in a very different time by immature people. We only had to do what the priest told us and everything would be grand.  Grand, altogether. I now know that that was a load of rubbish.  Complete nonsense and utter trash.  Sadly, many of the priests I met during my formative years mouthed platitudes and cliches and didn't believe even half nor quarter of what they were teaching us.  Of course, we didn't know what many of them were up to back then, but Jesus very wisely advised us (through the Bible) that anything done in darkness would one day be

It's been a crazy couple of weeks.  I made eight great new writing friends.  There were around 300 of us bloggers brought together by the Indian blogging hub, Blogadda, to #CelebrateBlogging and participate in the Game of Blogs.  The group in which I found myself, which subsequently named itself 'Bards of the Blogosphere', was the most diverse group, with members in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Delhi, Mangalore and Lucknow.    We collaborated on WhatsApp and email, had umpteen discussions  and took the given set of characters and made a book out of them.  Our Excel spreadsheet was our most trusted tool.  Some of us write prose, some poetry, some of us write long pieces, some of us prefer to write short pieces.  Some of us write light, humorous stories, some of us write darker, more brooding prose.  But somehow, this diverse group of bloggers took the set of given characters, Shekhar, Tara, Roohi, Cyrus and Jennifer and made up a plot and a story. As I've al

I've been so busy this year, I've hardly have time to breathe.  I've just been offered a chance to write e novels for a really nice publishing house and am currently looking at the contract.  It's quite an exciting time in my life, but a bit scary too.  What if no-one buys my book?  I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy stuff I've written.  I love writing, though.  I've just co-written a novella with eight other Indian bloggers and while I hadn't been interested in the project initially owing to work commitments and only took it up because the organizers called me up and asked me to participate,  I can honestly say that writing that story while collaborating with eight other writers on WhatsApp and email was one of the most enjoyable  experiences of my writing experience. Our book is in competition to get printed and I really hope it wins. The co-writing was so interesting.  I wrote the initial chapter of the romance story in the novella and the finis

The Loose Blogging Consortium, a small group of bloggers including  Rummuser ,  The Old Fossil ,  Maxi ,,  Shackman  and  Ashok , have been blogging along together for several years now, traditionally on Fridays.  With my hectic life, I often don't make it by Friday, but I try to blog along nevertheless.  I thank the group for the continued inspiration to blog when I otherwise wouldn't have done so.  This week's topic Personal Debt   is the contribution of  Rummuser , that amazing blogger from Pune. Now when it comes to debt and loans, I find myself on very shaky ground indeed.  I like the Shakespearean line 'Never a borrower nor a lender be'.  We're talking money here.  I also like a saying I picked up along the way.  'Never lend anyone money unless you're prepared to say goodbye to it.'   If someone is poor and needs money, why would I keep it?  I'd rather just give it away and never look for it again.  But the truth is that generally sp

CONTINUING THE NOVEL CO-WRITTEN BY THE BARDS OF THE BLOGOSPHERE read the previous chapter here SHADOWS IN THE NIGHT And now I emerge from the generator room, having disabled the power in the building.  I am the one in control here.  It’s a heady feeling.  I push the buttons, I make the decisions. For now, for this moment, I am God. In a way.  In a small, momentary way.  Just for now.  As the few souls who people the building stumble about helplessly, I know exactly what I have to do.  Whoever said he that does evil hates the light said rightly.  Under the cover of darkness, much can be accomplished discreetly.  The watchman, in confusion, doesn’t even notice when I move in behind him. Rendering him unconscious with a blow is easily done.  Tied up, gagged and helpless within minutes, he’ll be no threat to me now.  The building, a recently constructed one, with only a few occupants as yet, provides the ideal venue for my final act of revenge – the helple