Ruchira's Ramblings

The Missing Key We found our compartment and after a brief, ritual fight over the window seats, settled down. There was a group photo (“Don’t leave me out!” “Stop pushing me-you’re still within the frame”) and then the whistle blew. The train chugged slowly out of the platform and moms and dads with waving hands jogged backward from our windows. “Cheers!” said the Pink Princess. “Three days of freedom- no parents, no homework, no…” “We are supposed to study botanical specimens on this trip.” The Bookworm frowned at Princess. “Hey, don’t spoil the fun before it’s begun.” I said. “It’ll be over soon enough anyway.” The Kitten brought out a cake she had baked for the journey, and I started tuning my radio to find the FM. We were all gearing up for the party when trouble struck. The Aspiring Loafer announced she could not find her key. Her suitcase was now securely chained to the berth with a lock that couldn’t be opened. Well, Loafer was legendary for missing things right under h

“Lend you my batmobile? You gotta be kidding, right?” The Batman exclaimed, glaring at me with equal amounts of outrage and disbelief. “You’re taking the batcopter, so you can spare-” “Do you even know how to hold a steering wheel?” “Don’t think there are any flipper compatible ones, Bruce,” the CatWoman sniggered, “I dare say even Wayne Industries is yet to come up with one.” I ignored the collective jibes that followed and tried to plead once more. “I can peck at the button controls. Look, how else am I going to deliver gifts in time to so many people?” How does Santa do it every year, anyway? Note to Self: Find out working up plans from reindeers. Must find one first though, opposite poles! “I don’t care,” Batman replied, “You’re not going anywhere near any of my cars.” This is so damn selfish! He’s supposed to help people. Well, perhaps he doesn’t consider me to be people enough.:( “Then let me come with you,” I said, “I’ll help you rescue Santa and someone else amongst yo

Good Reads for Good Causes 50 Stories for Pakistan by 50 writers Produced by Big Bad Media http://www.bigbadmedia.com Look at the image on the cover of this book.(it's right there on the side bar) A man and a boy knee-deep in water. Father and son? Uncle and nephew? Teacher and pupil? Or perhaps just a kid, lost, tagging on to an adult in the hope that he will be taken somewhere safe, dry? They are wading away from the light into the darkness and gloom. The unknown. Fear. Hunger. Disease. But they are also wading towards you. They can’t ask for your help. You must choose to give it. A simple way of doing that is to buy this book. Proceeds go to helping the victims of the Pakistan floods. Available from the Blurb bookstore: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1678288 £4.95 Shambelurkling and Other Stories is an anthology of children’s stories and poems from writers far and wide, with all profits going to National Autistic Society Early Learning Plus Programme. £3.99

'Shambelurkling and Other Stories' is an anthology of short stories and poems for children between 8 and 12 years of age, which has been compiled and edited by the lovely Marit Meredith ( The Pages Magazine ). The book is now for sale via Lulu.com as a paperback or download. Whichever format you chose, the National Autism Society will receive £1.06 per copy sold. And oh the most important part: It has got my poem - 'The Land of Dreams: A Fairy Rhyme' and also my story- 'The Missing Key.' It has got also got contributions from Rebecca Emin, Rachel Carter,Emma Kerry, Mandy K James, Cindy Schuerr,Trevor Belshaw, Jonathan Pinnock, Sharon Birch, Maureen Vincent-Northam and many others. I'm dying to read it all (*checks letter-box and sighs sadly*) You can buy the paperback version, or download the ebook version. For each copy sold, the National Autism Society will receive £1.06. A good book, and a good cause. Merry Christmas in advance.:) P.S: The book

[Fiction] Friday Challenge #180 for Nov 5th, 2010 Your Main Character picks a sliver of glass from their sleeve and gravely inspects it……..( now keep writing) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Fruit Punch Monica picked out a sliver of glass from the linen mesh of her sleeve and inspected it gravely. It was thin, sharp and jagged. She was lucky it hadn’t cut her arm. The front of her white boho shirt was all spoiled with fruit punch. A few people around them had stopped in the middle of their dancing to know what the commotion was about. “I’m so, so, sorry,” the light-eyed man was apologizing endlessly, “I just slipped. I swear I’ve got to get some new shoes. Here, are you okay?” He extended a hand. She could have got up on her own, but he was grinning so sheepishly, like he wouldn’t think she had accepted his apologies if she didn’t take his hand, so she did. It was a muscular and firm grip, but also warm and soft and… was t

In most parts of the world, Halloween is celebrated – in some form or another – this weekend. Your challenge this week is to write a horror scene ( or something horrific) using a wet noodle, a styrofoam cup and a feather. So here's my first go at Fiction Friday - hope its not complete rubbish. ________________________________________________ Perfumes and Lipsticks I ignore the rusty letterbox and grope in my pocket for the keys. As the key is about to turn, my hand falters. Someone’s dropped an empty white cup in front of my door. Rage and buried melancholy fights within me, the rage wins. I crush the cup under my feet and kick it away. I turn the key. Click. In the kitchen I open the hidden pocket inside my bag and take the knife wrapped in cellophane to the sink. When the last drop of red is gone, I turn off the tap, replace the knife and open the window. It is getting cold. The wind from the North is dry, slightly chilling, and it brings a strange scent with it- almost

50 Stories for Pakistan Helping the victims of the floods Produced by www.bigbadmedia.com Book Preview

Just a quick update- you can buy the book here: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1678288 50 Stories for Pakistan features work by the following authors: Robert J. McCarter, Joanne Fox, Erik Svehaug, Susan Lanigan, Anne Mullane, Lisa Ricard Claro, R.J. Newlyn, Nuala Ní Chonchúir, Martin Webster, Jonathan Pinnock, Trevor Belshaw, Julia Bohanna, Iain Pattison, Laura Eno, Dave Clark, Pam Howes, Alun Williams, Annie Evett, Jennifer Stakes, Rebecca Emin, Marjorie Tolchard, Marit Meredith, Paul Malone, Ewan Lawrie, Jarred McGinnis, Alex Tomlin, Gail Richards, Benjamin Solah, Ruchira Mandal, Alyson Hilbourne, Ramon Collins, Darren Lee, Riaz Ali, Nasim Marie Jafry, Heather Parker, Shazia Bibi, Andrew Parrott, Brigid O’Connor, Rob Innis, Tony Williams, Annemarie Neary, Emma Newman, Robert Long, Beryl Brown, Vanessa Couchman, Joanna Campbell, Sylvia Petter, Rosemary Hayes, Paul Anderson, and Alice Turner.

Like I said, it is being published by Big Bad Media, specifically by Greg Mcqueen, &it has 50 stories by various writers including myself. Sales proceeds go to Red Cross. Buy the book, & make a difference. A Fluttering by Robert J. McCarter A Little Bit of Heaven by Joanne Fox A Little Help? by Erik Svehaug All Bound for Morningtown by Susan Lanigan All The World's a Stage by Anne Mullane Angel by Lisa Ricard Claro Astral Footfalls by R.J. Newlyn Cherry In The Summer by Martin Webster Desert Culture by Jonathan Pinnock Detention by Trevor Belshaw Evelyn Walsh and The Miraculous Wig Club by Julia Bohanna Getting Wood by Iain Pattison Grandma by Laura Eno I Don't Even Have a Name by Dave Clark Just Like Her Father by Pam Howes Ladder to God by Alun Williams Leather Tack and Tears by Annie Evett Lines by Jennifer Stakes Listen by Rebecca Emin Lucy and the Tuit by Marjorie Tolchard Morning Toast by Marit Meredith Mr Harris Gets A Fright by Paul Malone No Ball by Ewan Lawrie

So I finished my M.A Part2 exams way back in June & so for all practical purposes, I've nothing to do with my beloved university till the results come out I-don't-know-when.And I've read some books since then- Rushdie's Midnight's Children which was mesmerizing, then Shashi Tharoor's brilliant novel Riot (hey, I thought the guy only tweeted! Ignorant me!), then a non-fiction book by Amitabh Ghosh about Pokhran and nuclear weapons (well, when I bought the book from a railway station platform, I thought I was buying fiction... but anyway, Ghosh is still good, even though he totally flummoxed & disappointed me with the ending of Calcutta Chromosome) & then a Bengali translation (by Rajsekhar Basu) of the Mahabharata- which left me clueless about the roles of fate and free will in the epic, and then, guess what I ended up reading next? The vegetarian vampires cometh, netizens- yess, I've finally read Twilight. Bella - you're the most disgusting,