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Ustad ji calling

Reading a short story and flashing to a Zakir Hussain tabla solo require a lot of dots and a strenuous explanation to string them. thankfully the brain doesnt obey straight lines, nor logical decision making. Any excuse to listen to Ustad ji’s solos or his work with Shakti is good enough.

manan dedhia

Hong Kong 1

manan dedhia

Gol

Rain clouds in the skyi dont know why they make me bluewhen thinking of you. it's all a bit of a haze. i remember the setting but not the conversation. Damp air, cold floor, cloudy skies and a quiet building. after hours, just a few of us. Engrossed in some conversation. scrutinizing some aspect of a play. excitement and trepidation in equal parts. vulnerability and posturing squaring off. wish i ...

manan dedhia

Identity and Rights

Jarring and magical at the same time..Beautifully written.

manan dedhia

Chapter 18: The Weight of Being Enough.

Morning didn’t arrive softly.It came with noise.Utensils placed harder than necessary. Cupboards shutting with intention. Words waiting at the edge of silence.Kaia stood in the kitchen, pouring tea into two cups, her movements steady despite the tension building in the room.“You came late again.”Her mother’s voice broke the silence.“There was work,” Kaia replied, steady.“There is always work,” her...

Komal Gujar

Solo Adventure in the Himalayas: A Travelogue

Foreword and pre-read warningSolo, well no, it wasn’t supposed to start as a solo but yes this trip was more or less an impromptu decision.A fortnight before this trip I was speculating on various trek options. Incidentally for some reason or other, none of the options materialized, with the irritation of the mind and my restlessness mounting up I realized I needed to just take a call and move.The...

Vivek Garge

The Unspoken Connections: Love in a cafe

It was just another of those days when I was sitting at the coffee shop sipping through my second cup of coffee and having just finished Paulo Coelho's “Veronika decides to die”.I had three hours still to go for my second meeting and it was too much of an effort to travel unnecessarily through Delhi's arduous traffic.The book had still not gotten over me, I was still contemplating about the fact t...

Vivek Garge

Exploring North East India: A Journey on Two Wheels

I have always wondered if people are cautious or concerned about age. When I drove solo to Uttarakhand in June many thought I had gone bonkers. How can a person at the age of 55 start traveling alone? I never knew if my actions were concerned or dismayed the people around me. After all, is it not the time to start planning and walking into the sunset? It is paradoxical to hear the same people say ...

Vivek Garge

Sip, Read, Review– “The Song of Our Bond” by Pinki Bakshi

It is a story (1970s-Eastern India) of two girls from different backgrounds who gradually become close friends. Over time, fate takes them to different places and they lose contact as the distance between them grows. Yet when they eventually meet again, it feels as if nothing has changed.The diversity of their backgrounds is presented subtly through food, music, and language. These elements show h...

jaee jadhav

Chapter 17: After Sunset Decisions.

The email came at 4:12 p.m.Westbridge Holdings: : “We are positively inclined. Awiting revised implementation framework before final confirmation.”Adrian read it twice.Positively inclined.Not confirmed.Not yet.He leaned back in his chair, thoughtful. They were close. Closer than expected. But the revised framework they were asking for wasn’t minor - it required recalibration, projections, timeline...

Komal Gujar

Exploring Self-Made Maverick A Review of Dr Reza Zahedi’s Inspiring Book by Sameer Gudhate

The first thing that came to my mind while reading Self-Made Maverick by Dr. Reza Zahedi was a memory from a basketball court many years ago.I was already past the age when most players begin slowing down. Yet there I was, tying my shoelaces before a state tournament, hearing the usual whispers: Why continue? Why not step aside?Sometimes the world quietly hands you a script about how things are su...

Sameer Gudhate

Unveiling October Junction A Review of Divya Prakash Dubey’s Novel by Sameer Gudhate

Some books are read.Some books are experienced slowly, like a conversation that returns to you every year.October Junction by Divya Prakash Dubey felt exactly like that to me.Imagine meeting someone in a city that itself lives somewhere between reality and dreams. A city where time feels slower and conversations linger longer. In that setting, two strangers meet — not to build a conventional relat...

Sameer Gudhate

Sip, Read, Review  – “A Tale of Two Kitchens: Mothers, Meals and Memories” by Lata Gwalani

This is the story of two women (one mother, other mother-in-law of the author) from different cultural backgrounds who brought their families together through - food!One represents Tamil tradition, known for simple and balanced South Indian flavours. Tamil cuisine developed from agrarian practices and temple culture, with rice, lentils, coconut, tamarind, and spices forming its base. The other rep...

jaee jadhav

The roads less taken

I recently signed up for a \Thindi Hopping\ event, an organized walk to explore authentic breakfast spots in and around Malleswaram. I joined in for few reasons1.  A break from routine: I was stuck in the daily grind, even on weekends, rarely doing anything new or interesting. This felt like the perfect excuse to get out and do something different.2.  Exploring a new side of Malleswaram: I only kn...

Sukanya Patil

Unveiling Heart Overruled — A Deep Dive into Debanjana Mukherjee’s Bengali-Tamil Romance

There is a particular kind of love that does not begin with conversation. It begins with watching.While reading Heart Overruled — A Bengali-Tamil Romance by Debanjana Mukherjee, I kept returning to the image of a sixteen-year-old girl at her sister’s wedding, standing amidst marigold garlands and ritual chants, quietly memorising the face of a man who barely registers her presence. That first enco...

Sameer Gudhate

Discovering the Intricacies of Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi through Sameer Gudhate’s Review

There’s something unsettling about the idea that six ordinary days can reroute an entire life.Not years. Not decades. Six days.That quiet tension hums beneath Six Days in Bombay, the latest standalone from Alka Joshi, and it caught me off guard. I went in expecting historical richness and atmospheric detail. I did not expect to feel personally confronted by a young nurse’s hunger for a life larger...

Sameer Gudhate

Chapter 16: Behind The Glass Doors.

The message from Adrian came at 11:17 a.m.“Client presentation tomorrow 10:30 a.m. Conference Room A. You’ll lead the relationship strategy.”Kaia read it twice.Lead.Not assist. Not support. Lead.A steady breath left her.She walked into his cabin five minutes later, notebook in hand.“You called for me?”Adrian looked up from his latop.”Yes. We’re pitching to Westbridge Holdings tomorrow.” He slid a ...

Komal Gujar

Chapter 15: The Silence Between Glances.

Morning unfolded like it always did - Measured, routine, predictable.But Kaia wasn’t.She stepped into the office with her usual grace, but the lightness that normally followed her seemed absent. Her hair fell softly over her shoulders, her bag resting neatly by her desk. Every movement was proper..Controlled.Adrian noticed.He had been pretending to review a file, though his attention had been fixe...

Komal Gujar

Exploring the Depths of City Without Stars by Tim Baker A Review by Sameer Gudhate

There are cities that glitter at night. And then there are cities that swallow light whole.Reading City Without Stars by Tim Baker felt like walking through one of the latter — a place where hope doesn’t disappear dramatically; it erodes quietly, layer by layer, until even the sky feels complicit.Set in Ciudad Real, a fictionalised border town echoing the tragedies of Juárez, the novel drops us in...

Sameer Gudhate

Gita Press

I set out to study the enemy. And I found it deep within.Just kidding - a co-ordinated campaign to market a fundamentally different ideology and set of beliefs to people who neither asked for it nor wanted it. May offer some explanation of how we landed up in this quagmire. Of course the people take some blame for this - but just like Facebook meddling in places where they have no business meddlin...

manan dedhia

Chapter 14: The Morning After

Morning arrived the way it always did at Chapter and Brew.soft light slipping through the windows, the hum of espresso machine, the scent of baked comfort warming the air.Kaia unlocked the door, just like every other day.But today, something was off.She moved through the cafe with practiced ease - switching on lights, setting chairs right, tying her apron - but the rhythm felt slower, heavier. Her...

Komal Gujar

The client

The other day I was watching a new series ‘Space Gen’. Got to know about it due to its viral vedio of its promotional event, how the chair was blocking the main poster. Reminding us how the low budget movies get promoted when compared to the huge budget films. Planned to see it just for the main lead actor and it being produced from TVF and also certainly due to its theam on Chandrayaan. You can...

Sukanya Patil

Sameer Gudhate Presents the Book Review of Operation SINDOOR by Lt Gen K.J.S. Dhillon

The night I began Operation SINDOOR, the house was quiet in that fragile way silence gets after the news has exhausted itself. The phone lay face down. Outside, a distant train horn stitched the darkness together. I didn’t open the book expecting drama. I opened it expecting clarity. What I didn’t expect was to feel as if I’d stepped into a low-lit operations room where time moves in half-seconds ...

Sameer Gudhate

This side.

“Ekad baa”..I called my daughter “come this side” as she was strolling all over in the train to explore it. I was calling her repeatedly and this word stuck in my head. Me being an over thinker, the thoughts lingered for no reason.Ekad Ba - in Kannada ( north slang) - come this side Ee kadea Ba - in Kannada ( Bangalore / south slang ) come this side Eekade Yeaa - in Marathi- ( come this side)Ika...

Sukanya Patil