A Bowl of Elusive

Mia's parents have been looking for a groom for her. And they haven't found one in a few years. She is turning 31 shortly and her patience is wearing thin now. Mia didn't really oppose her parents when they brought up the topic of arranged marriage a few years earlier because she didn't have anyone in her life at that point. And thus started her matrimonial adventures. Mia was a plump , jolly and enthusiastic woman who had an undying zeal for life. She was educated and had a decent job, paid her bills on time and didn't owe anyone a cent. And yet, the last rejection (like many others before it) made her feel small. This guy, after having whispered sweet nothings into her ears for five months straight, rejected her after meeting her because "his parents wanted a slimmer wife for him". What added insult to injury was the fact that this time, even her father suggested that she "should work out and try losing some weight". Almost all rejection

The day before yesterday, the office cafeteria served Balushahi during lunch. I was in between a heated debate with some colleagues when I bit into the Balushahi. As the flaky sweet crumbled between my teeth, I was suddenly transported to another time, another place. I suddenly had tears in my eyes and a strange pain in my heart. This little piece of sweet had managed to remind of him, my father. Back in 1997-98, I lived in Choudwar, a little industrial settlement near the city of Cutack, with my father and a tyrannous caretaker who abused me. While the years spent in Choudwar, which eventually led to my father's death, were traumatic as hell, they're peppered with some of the fondest memories I have of my father. He had been mostly unaware of the hardships I was being subjected to at the hands of the woman he'd hired to take care of me. But he sensed that she was strict in her approach and every other evening, he'd take a break from work and sneaked me out f

And just like that, Neel found himself all alone. Somehow, the last few years were over and he was just left behind, a shell of the man he once was and out on his own. He knew he had to rebuild his life and he just couldn't begin to fathom where to start from. He had to do something about the house as he couldn't, for the life of him, manage to clean and maintain such a huge place. So he decided to move in with some friends. The move was smooth and by the end of October, Neel was settled in at his room in the new apartment. He had set up all the essentials to keep him content and that was the beginning of his second life. Now for the loneliness, Neel had a few ideas. He signed himself up for online dating, hollered at a few old flames and explored the vast playing ground called the internet. He came up mostly empty, of course. Turns out, you need the green if you want the scene. And Neel wasn't rich. So soon, Neel was off the dating sites, cut off from most of the ol