Petals!

Nothing in life prepared me for falling in love for the simple reason that I had always thought that love was meant for reel and not for real. Funny, the opponent became the proponent. Today, I strongly believe that love is the only way to build a life together. Of course, there are ups and downs that are like waves, sometimes they take your breath away and leave you frightened and helpless and vulnerable. But that's the beauty of life. You've got to believe in rising over those ups and downs. And, the one thing that can make it all worthwhile is love, being able to find and share love with someone who you know is the only one. The secret to life is not in your plea for happiness or in your desperate quest for finding it somehow, somewhere. It all starts in that golden space you forget to look into - that's your heart, the threshold of everlasting joy.  It's always been there but guess what? You never looked there. This time, try.  

Some books don't spark any expectations in you. When I picked up this book written by Arpit Dugar, I had no idea what to expect and to be honest, no expectations at all. With its cheeky title and red blurb that caught my eye because a couple seemed to be close to smooching, I thought, "Why not give the young author a chance?" I liked the protagonist - Avinash - and could understand right at the beginning that he didnt want to get married but didnt want to hurt his parents so he goes ahead with the bride seeing routine. He tells the girl - Neha - that he doesnt want to marry her and she asks why. Forced to share his story with Neha, memories unwind right from the time he was born to proud, affluent parents. In his narrative, I liked the way he connected to 'places.' He speaks so warmly about Jaipur that you really feel persuaded to visit the pink city. He talks about his brief stay in Ranikhet where he lived in a hostel. Do you know Ranikhet got its name becaus...