Love, Laugh and Reflect turns two!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to Love, Laugh and Reflect

Happy Birthday to you!

Woohoo! It is the birthday of my blog “Love, Laugh and Reflect”. And needless to say, I am feeling so happy and joyous. 

Please take a piece of this strawberry cake. I wish I could send it across to each one of you.

Exactly 2 years back, when I started this blog with the promise of blogging regularly to myself, I hardly thought that this blog and the blogosphere would mean so much to me.

What started as a place to jot down my random musings and share news about my books, became a canvas of my creativity, a platform to review products and websites, share my travel tales and express my opinions.

The last one year was great for my blog. I got plenty of creative satisfaction and fulfillment. It provided the perfect canvas, especially to write and share poetry. It is because of this blog that I got the confidence to publish my first poetry book “The Heart Listens To No One…it hums its own song”. I released the Kindle edition of the book on Valentine’s week this year and plan to get the paperback released by June.

Since my blog played a big role in the making of my poetry book, I am giving it away on my blog anniversary for free.
Download your free copy from Amazon and please do leave a short review if you enjoy reading it. I would love to know your thoughts on the book and those who have already read and review it, thank you so much!

Also, there are 2 book hampers up for grabs (book hamper comprising a mythological fiction by Anand Neelakantan [Asura/Ajaya], a signed copy of any one of my novels or an anthology/popular fiction).

Do participate in the Rafflecopter Giveaway and the 2 lucky winners will win the 2 book hampers. The result will be declared here.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And finally, a big thank you to all my fellow bloggers, readers and the blogging communities- Indiblogger, Blogmint, Poets United and BlogAdda. Without you, Love, Laugh and Reflect wouldn’t have grown to this extent. You all have contributed largely to not only the blog’s growth, but also to my growth as a human being and a writer, especially the lovely souls who regularly comments on my post, no matter how busy they are. Special mention to Gaurab Mukherjee for motivating me to take blogging seriously in those early blogging days when I was too lazy to write even one post. 

Much love and gratitude! Thanks for being with me in this amazing journey!

And to my blog, I would say~ Thanks for making me fall in love with life a lot more, thanks for making me laugh even louder and thanks for helping me to reflect better about the mysteries of life.

Celebrating International Author's Day with a Giveaway

The International Author's Day gives me a splendid opportunity to thank the author who has been my guiding light, my savior and my teacher since many years. I really wonder how his books exactly had those things written that I needed to hear, that I needed to learn, that I needed to grow.

Well, I am talking about none other than the international best selling author, Paulo Coelho who has shaped my life hugely through his books. I have 11 of his books with me and some of his books, I have read more than thrice. 

I was wandering aimlessly in my life in 2011 when I came across this book called Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was written on the book cover that it is a fable about following your dream. I got attracted to these words and started reading the book, one lazy weekend. That was my first meeting with this author who taught me the importance of dreams. He helped me realize the deepest desire of my heart. Writing a book was a dream residing in the innermost chamber of my heart. But, reading Alchemist gave wings to that dream and taught me that if a person wants something from the core of his/her heart, the entire universe conspires to bring it to him/her. Soon, I realized my true calling when I started chasing my dreams.

I got inclined to spirituality, started believing in souls and soulmates in a wider context by reading Brida. Manuscript of Accra is one book which holds all the answers to the questions asked by a restless heart. I return to this book whenever I feel clueless.

When I read By the side of River Piedra I sat Down and wept, I learnt how to see the amazing in everyday. Veronika Decides to Die made me ask myself if life is always worth living and what is the importance to live life gracefully. Eleven Minutes made me dive into an unflinching exploration where the author has showed that sex and spirituality are closely related. 

If I start talking about all his books, then this post will be almost 5K words long. So, instead, I would like to share some inspiring and profound quotes of Paulo Coelho.

"So I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you" ~ Alchemist

"The two hardest tests on the spiritual world are the patience to wait for the right moment and the courage not to be disappointed with what we encounter" ~ Veronika Decides to Die

"No one loses anyone because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it" ~Eleven Minutes

"Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person. The universe only makes sense when we have someone to share our feelings with.”~Eleven Minutes 

"Waiting is painful. Forgetting is painful. But not knowing which to do is the worst kind of suffering.” ~ By the side of river piedra I sat down and wept.

"The secret of life is to fall seven times and get up eight times." ~Alchemist

"Many times the wrong train took me to the right place" ~ Aleph

I would like to thank Paulo Coelho for writing such masterpieces and enlightening me with his books.

Okay, now after thanking my favorite author in International Author's Day, I would like to thank my readers for supporting my work always. I have a giveaway for my readers ~ a signed copy of my book. 

She is a successful author, a loving wife and the world's best mom. Her doctor husband dotes on her, her teenage daughter idolizes her and her readers yearn for her writing. Shouldn't all that respect and love make her happy? Yet, she is devoid of inner peace.

 In the wee hours of the night, her slumber is disturbed by horrifying nightmares. All her harmony is abducted and lost amidst the bunch of hidden letters kept in her cupboard. Those letters were written long back by her cousin,presently a patient at a mental asylum in Kolkata. 

Haunted by her inner demons and tired by the long-time secrecy, she decides to put end to her misery by surrendering to her husband and daughter, The Hidden Letters. . . 

Will she lose her husband's love and daughter's respect? Can she forgive herself for her own selfishness which rendered her cousin's fate malignant? 

If you want a signed copy of my latest book The Hidden Letters, then do participate in this Rafflecopter Giveaway. You need to follow some simple steps and it will take just a minute. In case you have already read the book, then do spread the word so that your friends can participate in it. You can check the reviews of the book in Goodreads

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please Note: The giveaway is open only for the residents of India. If you are a winner, then you will get a mail from me on 19th or 20th July. All the best! :)

It was my absolute pleasure to be a part of the International Author's Day blog hop hosted by Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay.

The Hidden Letters: A short EXTRACT and GIVEAWAY!

From Page 141 of "The Hidden Letters"

Time can be a person's biggest friend and also a person's biggest enemy. When time was ripe, Anaya had everything and now when time was against her, she had to give up her happiness. Time could make a person, it could break a person and most importantly, there was no way to control time. Anaya thought about the bizarre game of time as she stirred sugar in three cups of coffee. She knew this would be the last time she was having morning coffee with her husband and her daughter. Anaya was well aware that Olivia would nag her as she would wake her up early in the morning. However, Anaya went to Olivia's room and pulled the curtains of her room, making the sunrays kiss Olivia in her slumber.
"Mom, let me sleep. I slept at three in the morning."Olivia said pulling the blanket over her eyes.
"Oli, get up baby. Your mom wants to have the morning coffee with you today. Get up, darling." Anaya kept Olivia's head on her lap and caressed Olivia's hair.
"Is there some special ocassion today, Mom?" Olivia said rubbing her eyes. Olivia's words made Anaya smile sadly. Only Anaya knew the reason why this morning was different.
"You ask too many questions, Oli. It's just that your Mom wants to spend some time with you and your Dad. Got it? Now get up and come to the living room fast. I have to wake up your Dad too." Anaya said kissing Olivia's right cheek. 
Anaya went to her bedroom and saw Nishith sleeping peacefully. He did not have any idea how his life would change in a few hours. He did not know that he might be compelled to hate the person he loved the most. Anaya swallowed the lump in her throat as she gazed at Nishith in sleep.
"Goodmorning, Nishith." Anaya said caressing his forehead.
"Anu, why did you take the pain of waking me up?You have been writing the entire night. You need sleep." Nishith said as he opened his eyes.
"Quiet," Anaya said putting her finger on Nishith's lips.
"I hate it when you don't sleep properly, Anu." Nishith said getting up from his bed. 

The above is an extract of my second book "The Hidden Letters" and the lines resonate within me. 
Is it really possible to forgive the person you love if you get to know after several years, that he/she has hidden an integral truth from you?
It is a very special book for me for two reasons. Firstly, the character of the protagonist, Anaya is very dear to my heart and secondly, because of the true love that exists between Nishith and Anaya. For the purpose of Valentine's Day, I thought to conduct a giveaway of this book. All you need to do is enter the Rafflecopter giveaway. It will take just a minute. You need to either like my facebook page or follow me on twitter or tweet about the giveaway. For more chances of winning, do all the three things. One winner will get a personalized copy of the book.

You can check out the reviews of "The Hidden Letters" here 
Flipkart: goo.gl/9Z3OW8
Amazon:  http://goo.gl/bwdTmq

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway