Shruti Ponders

  It’s been about a month in the IIM R campus and I’ve been hearing remarks like these quite often than not: n    “Walking from the hostel to the mess is such a tiring job, why don’t we just order food online?” n    “I look like a hippie but I think it’s kinda cool.” n    “ Is the washing machine free? if yes, please put my clothes too”    *Insert puppy eyes* n    “Let's go home after holi.”   n     “Shruti I don’t know why but I don’t feel like studying and the worst part is that I don’t even feel guilty about it.      n    “Leave everything else, let me teach you Garba.”   n    “Guys let me sleep, my muscle needs to recover.”     n    “This green chutni is just so good”     For my friends who have tired me out by reiterating these phrases religiously for more than 3 times a day, you already know how much you mean to me. I know that you’re ...

I published my first novel ' The Change That has To Be .' in 2017 and it took me 2-3 years to draft and re-draft it. The journey is still etched in my memory and I have been wanting since a long time to share the lessons I learnt in the process of writing my book. After a lot of pestering from my readers, I decided to compile this catalogue of 3 main checkpoints that writers and potential writers can keep in mind while drafting their stories. My thoughts are so much in consistency with the writing style of Will Storr, the journalist whose writing I’m completely in awe of. Remember, each writer is different, each idea is different. And so are the ways they can be articulated. I’ll be happy to see both support and criticism to what’s going to follow and I’ll be even more eager to respond to your queries on storytelling. For those who are clueless about what their plot is going to be, fear not! The easiest way to begin your writing journey is by observing and looking around wh...

  Thinking about a new year resolution? Give this a read, and you may find one by the end. 😊 Before you go on to read my blog, there are some things I would like to clarify about my beliefs and myself. I identify myself as a secularist, who embraces all religions with open arms. I don’t like to a)             Bring religion or caste in my conversations b)             Spoil thrillers by giving away the climax But, in this blog, I’m prepared to do exactly this. This post might hurt some people, might empower some others and could possibly land me into further trouble. But I am not afraid of the consequences. I live in a libertarian, democratic society which I’m certain would allow a girl to express her thoughts freely. The one fact I like about India is that it is home to such diverse people from varied cultures, faiths, castes and social standing. But what is ...

  Life takes a beautiful turn, some say, and when it does, everything changes, mostly for the better. I often wonder how things can change without my consent? For all that my beliefs allow me to think, I know for a matter of fact that my destiny is my hands, and I will decide how my life will be. But I now realize that sometimes life comes with some questions and gives us a single track to find its answers. It may make you think that you’re the one choosing the path, or make you feel forced into it, but nobody knows who’s secretly planning what’s in store for you! I’m not so much of an overthinker as it would seem, I would rather just choose to sway away with things beyond my control. It’s more like an interesting challenge, a puzzle, a mystery. Indeed, there came a beautiful turn in my road, which led me to Chennai, the city of flyovers, as they say. But to me, it’s more like the city of sea breezes. Even in the scorching heat of the afternoon, I get to feel the cool breeze em...

  It’s 8 th March again, and my phone was flooded with messages wishing all women a happy women’s day. Apart from Navratri, it’s the only day women are officially respected and praised for their accomplishments. But how far have the feminists gone in reaching out to the masses on raising awareness about equality on a man and woman? I was wondering about it during my philosophy lecture, and bored of so much theory, my mind shifted to popular Bollywood beats like Munni badnaam hui and Sheela ki Jawaani. They were such hit songs in India’s playlist, but only some would have realised how derogatory these words are for women. It is in its own subtle way that womenfolk are demeaned by describing them as badnaam, jawaan or even tandoori murgi!! And all we do is shake our butts and dance to these tunes! It’s such a shame that we talk about rights and equality in a world that treats woman as commodities! I think we should first ask them to consider us humans, and then think of demanding ...

  I recently read the Shiva Triology, a mythological fiction, written by Amish Tripathi, the author of the bestseller. And the narrative of these 3 books were so captivating and compelling that I could find peace with myself only after having finished all 3 sequels- The immortals of Meluha, The Secret of the Nagas and The Oath of the Vayuputras! So, Shiva the Mahadev, or the God of Gods, as we know him- is he worshipped because he's a God, or did he rise to the stature of God because of his courage, determination and the desire to live for others?  The Shiva Triology brings in a completely new dimension to how Shiva came to be known as the God of Gods. It questions our very belief in the fact that he is a God because he is God. It makes it possible for Shiva to be just a normal human being made of flesh and bones who through his virtues and deeds came to worshipped as God. And this in itself is a lesson that all of us can rise to become better people, irrespective of where we ...