Meet Kay Mehra in ‘The Reluctant Detective’ by Kiran Manral…
I came across Kiran Manral on Twitter about a year ago and the first thing that struck me about her was her ‘exuberance‘ for life. She has her very unique way of describing things around her and her peppy observations always caught my eye. Be it the chronicles of her life with “brat” (her adorable son), her intricate observations on life and its many offerings, her dedication to India Helps or her innate support to VAW, I have always looked up to Kiran as somewhat of a role model.
Needless to say, when I heard that her début novel is coming out soon, I was literally counting days to when I can talk about it! Yes.. The Reluctant Detective is here to conquer your girly heart, make a place in your shopaholic-crazy world and here to bring that “I-know-what-you-mean” smile on your face!
The Reluctant Detective
My copy arrived last Friday and I have already dipped myself into it, head first. Fun, intriguing, girly, dreamy and filled with anecdotes, this is one book I am itching to finish. It has humor and all you women will definitely go “oooh yes! so true” when you read about the smudged nail paint and the struggles with the weight! Although, will speak more about the book when I finish it, in a different post.
But, this post is dedicated to the wish to dream and then owning that dream. A lot of us go through life wanting to do “this” and “that” and “even that” but very few of us make it the purpose of our life to live the dream. I believe that Kiran Manral is an example of doing what the heart desires, making dreams come true and living life as it should be… with complete abandoned happiness. As expressed earlier, her love for life, society and its people are evident from her online persona.
Kiran Manral is the woman to look out for, ladies and gentlemen and trust me, from the 2 chapters that I have read of the book, this will be a tough one to not like! It will steal your heart, make you smile and will be that comforting dark chocolate of books that you need when you snuggle in your blanket and decide to have some me-time! I am especially inclined towards novels that go into details of explaining the scene set-up and Kiran’s The Reluctant Detective is just that… it is almost like I am in the and taking the journey with Kanan Mehra.
So what are you waiting for! Time to open that ‘new tab‘ in your browser and use any of the below links to buy your copy today. Trust me when I say this.. you don’t come across such a so-real-that-it-seems-like-its-my-life kinda book everyday. And if you are not grinning, smiling and loving Life by the end of it, well, write back to me and I may drill some sense into you! 😉
And if you still wanna know more about what the book is about, follow the book blog and don’t forget to LIKE
the FB Page.
Day 24: Pliss Excooos….!
I have not written a post in 6 days. I can see a lot of you shake your collective heads and you can probably see me stare at my feet..! When I began the #BlogoholicsUnited challenge, I knew I could do the writing. I wanted something to stimulate the grey cells and make me want to write.
But then, Life happened.
Most of you may see the whole “been very busy” as an excuse. Or as Purvesh (fellow #blogoholic) may say… “It is just a matter of time management”. I agree. That plays an important part in the whole, “if you want, you can do it!”. I have wordpress 1.5 on my phone. I could blog on-the-go. I could take out 1/2 an hour before sleeping and write.
I could. I would.
One important point that many miss here… – Mental make-up to Write. Yes. Even if you excel at time management and kick its virtual butt, do you think, you have the mental strength to write? Do you think you can spend that 1/2 hour of commuting to write? Or would you rather shut your eyes and relieve yourself of the incredible stress you’ve endured all day?
For me, it is very important to ‘feel what I write’. I need to be in the character of my post. Half-baked posts annoy me, I am sure it annoys you too.
So what do you think? Should I do the daily writing as a task or should I actually ‘write’? Because I know when I started this challenge, I did not know the house of stress and overwork will break and fall all over me!!
When I say, I don’t have time to breathe, I really don’t! Been working 12 to 15 hours for over a week now. House responsibilities are only on the rise, family is here.. You see!
So, in all my honesty, I am not making up an excuse.. Merely, giving you a perspective of how stressed my life is right now. With the right mental make-up, I would be able to write… But till then, pliss excoos! 🙂
Day 17: A Promise. A Commitment – Part 3
The house was a chaos. Everyone seemed to be on their cellphones talking at the same time in different parts of the house. Ashi had switched herself off from all the chaos and was sitting by the window in her room. Day dreaming. Stealing glances at her beautiful platinum engagement band. It was Ramit’s choice. He had taken her to the jewelery store and had laid out 10 of their best platinum collections. “Pick the one you love the most “, he had said. She had chosen a simple platinum band with an elegant pink diamond on it. It looked clean, simple, honest and yes.. Elegant. Just the way she liked it. Ramit smiled. “This was my favourite ring too..”.
She smiled at the memory. The wedding was 3 days away. Around her was Organized Chaos. Yes.. It was crazy, but preparations were happening. Her jewelery had been bought. Her wedding attire had been steam ironed. There was enough anticipation of how she will look on her wedding day. Ashi had decided to do the make-up on her own. Despite much protest from her mother and filmy dialogues from her cousins of how ‘unbridal’ she will look, Ashi knew how she wanted to look. She was after all an ‘Assistant buyer’ with Gucci.
Her mother had sqealed in horror. “Ashi.. You will not be a true blue Punjabi bride!! Where is the pink? Where is the gold? The sari is so light!! Ashi….!”
“Ma.. Ma.. Will you please relax? I know what I am doing. I don’t want to look like a walking-talking doll! I want to look elegant.. And I want to look different from the regular Pinky Punju Brides!”
Ashi was in the middle of sorting out her suitcase when she got the call.
“Hello”
“Hi, is this Ashi?”
“Yeah its Ashi, who’s this?”
“Hi Ashi, you don’t really know me.. But my name is Priya. I am calling from Mumbai. I wanted to speak to you about Ramit.”
Ashi sat upright. “Ramit? How do you know Ramit? What is it about?”
“Umm.. I don’t know how to put this across.. Ummm. .. I was engaged to Ramit 2 years ago. Before he moved to Delhi.. Umm.. And I need to tell you, please don’t marry him. You will regret it”
Ashi could hear her heart beat almost in her mouth. “What?? Who is this? Is this the Radio? Am I on air? Listen.. Whoever it is, put the phone down.. I am really not in the mood for this joke!” Ashi slammed the phone down and her hands were shaking.
But a small voice insider her heart told her that it was just a dumb joke that her friends must be playing on her. A small voice inside her told her that she knew Ramit too well to believe this. A small voice.
Ashi walked out of her room and went searching for her mother. The flower guy was about to come and the house had to be decorated before the guests arrived.
Day 16: To-do List a.k.a Knight in Shining Armour
If it were not for a to-do list, I would never be able to get my life anywhere! Trust me, I have a to-do list at work. I have a list for grocery. I have the famed bucket list. I have a list for clothes I need in the next 3 months. I have a list of shoes I desire. I have a list of places I need to see. I have a list of restaurants I want to try. I even have a list for LIFE!
Well, simply putting it.. I create my to-do list to get my life in order so that there is some sanity in the chaos. Somewhere, these lists in tiny bits and pieces of paper make me take my life in my hands and run the marathon of crazyville. With my to-do lists, I know that I could survive a hurricane.
So here is me presenting my to-do list till this year ends (at least!)
- Tattoo-ing. Yes, I have been plotting and planning for a year now. I have chosen my design. I have chosen my tattoo artist. All I need is a bit of time and find my guts. Pray for me, will ya?
- Weight-less-ness. My biggest weakness and cause for stress pimples is my weight management! I used to be a cow, you see. But more on that in another post, another day! But for now, I am not a cow anymore and I would like to maintain that. I would like to get fitter and continue to live a healthy life. So get toned!
- Tippity-tappity Dance. Somewhere I know my calling is dance. I know it. There have been many signs for me to ignore Dancing as just another hobby I like to do in front of my bedroom mirror. So here is me, making it official, that I would like to enroll myself into a dance class by the end of this year. I want to start learning again. And I need to take a step towards that. No?
- Take a little break, shall we? Live a little more. Travel a little more. Would have loved to be a nomad. But for now, living the life of 9-to-5er wanting to be someone who would like to take off every 6 months to a different destination. But for now, I would like to invest a bit more into planning meaningful vacations. I want to make a yearly plan of our travels and stick to them. Day dreaming takes us nowhere! I would like it if Pati and I can breakaway from the worldly duties and ‘Live a Lil‘… I can see you nodding your head, you know? 🙂
*fingers and toes crossed*
Ramblings of a Feisty Spirit 