Storizen Magazine April 2021 | The How and Why of Publishing Audiobooks

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Book Reviews

The How and Why of Publishing Audiobooks

Swapna Peri

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Editors Pria Raiyani Saurabh Chawla

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EDITOR'S NOTE

HOT OFF THE PRESS Akhtari by Yatindra Mishra - HarperCollins India

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COVER STORY The How and Why of Publishing Audiobooks

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- Pria 16

HOT OFF THE PRESS Noise by Daniel Kahneman, Cass Sunstein & Olivier Sibony

- Penguin India

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HOT OFF THE PRESS The Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Good News by Meghna Pant - Penguin India HOT OFF THE PRESS

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HOT OFF THE PRESS All Drama, No Queen by Andaleeb Wajid - Penguin India

HOT OFF THE PRESS Bene Appétit by Esther David - HarperCollins India

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HOT OFF THE PRESS Queen of Fire by Devika Rangachari - Penguin India

HOT OFF THE PRESS Thought Economics by Vikas Shah - Hachette India

Tiananmen Square by Vijay Gokhale - HarperCollins India

HOT OFF THE PRESS More by Philip Coggan - Hachette India

- HarperCollins India

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HOT OFF THE PRESS Makers of Modern Dalit History by Sudarshan Ramabadran & Guru Prakash Paswan

STORIZEN CONTRIBUTE The Baggage Handler Part 2 - Swathi Parasuraman

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STORIZEN CONTRIBUTE Manic Women of Eron Part 2 - Manjima Misra

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Beneath the smells, and sounds

- Haritha T Chandran

- Madhumathi H

STORIZEN CONTRIBUTE - Vineeta Kathuria STORIZEN HEALTH The Most Effective Weight Loss Tips - Saurabh Chawla

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STORIZEN POETRY A Bit of Wisdom - Vidya Shankar

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STORIZEN POETRY

Chakkaravaratty, Fornication and Other Sins

You are What You Watch

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STORIZEN POETRY The Endless Run: Life - Aparna Mukherji

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from the editor

calling all writers!

DO YOU WANT TO BE A PART OF STORIZEN FAMILY? You can also be a contributor. Mail us your entries at talktous@storizen.com. Your smart ideas and inputs help us create our informative issues.

"Time flies and as I look outside from my window, slowly sipping the tea, I didn't realize that we are reaching the middle of the year. 2021 had just started!

As time progresses, the preferences change. People nowadays are exploring new avenues which I delved on for a long time. The reading habit is somewhat decreasing day by day as the readers are switching over to technology. Audiobooks are taking a significant place in people's lives now!

So we decided to cover the topic and ease out for the authors to reach an entirely new audience altogether. We are super glad to have the feature - "The How and Why of Publishing Audiobooks" in this issue. If you are planning to record an Audiobook but don't know how to start, this article will surely help you out in getting started.

Bibliophiles will surely get the latest and the hottest new releases to soothe their reader's cravings. Presenting to you ten book releases every month. Go grab your copy now!

On popular demand of our readers, although it was planned earlier it got delayed, we are super excited to introduce the Storizen Health section in this issue. We have great plans to include lifestyle topics aka Health and Fitness, Food, Travel, Fashion, and many more in the coming months.

This month we apologize for not publishing any book reviews as the team is not feeling well!

Packed with wonderful fiction, mesmerizing poetry, this issue has many surprises you would definitely fall in love with.

Do read, like, comment, and share with your friends and family.

Happy Reading editor@storizen.com Saurabh Chawla, Editor in Chief

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Put your headphones on, start listening to your chapters, and side by side keep marking or noting down the areas where there is a scope for improvement.

The How and Why of Publishing Audiobooks Text by Pria Two years ago, we published an article in Storizen, 'Death of a Reader'. As the literature is taking a new turn with the new ways of storytelling, audiobooks have come a long way.

The one and the foremost reason for publishing your book in an audiobook format is to increase the reach of the book. Since the launch of the audiobooks, there has been a significant increase in the audiobooks audience across the world.

Why produce audiobooks?

As said earlier, one of the most important reasons for publishing an audiobook that is also compelling is to reach an untapped audience. Since many years, the brighter side in the

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the publishing industry has been the sale of audiobooks. People are keen on listening more than reading. This shift in behavior has led audiobooks to be in high demand.

Authors today are inclined towards publishing their audiobooks besides the written novel to reach an entirely new audience which according to their thoughts was nonexistent.

Self Publishing Audiobooks for traditional publishers The era of self-publishing had taken traditional publishing for a ride there are lesser wait times, authors don't need to go through the pain of submitting their manuscripts to numerous publishing houses and waiting for years to get your book out. In the digital publishing industry, self-publishing has relieved this pain for authors.

They can straightaway publish their book whenever they are ready with one click and ready to sell it. The hassle of marketing the book is still there. Over the years, the demand for self-publishing has risen, especially in the audiobooks section.

Another best thing in self-publishing one and the foremost reason for 10

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publishing your book in an audiobook format is to increase the reach of the book. Since the launch of the audiobooks, there has been a significant increase in the audiobooks audience across the world.

Why produce audiobooks?

As said earlier, one of the most important reasons for publishing an audiobook that is also compelling is to reach an untapped audience. For many years, the brighter side in your book is that the authors get the revenue from the sale of the book coming directly to them. They also get to choose the timing of publication, formats e-books, hardcover, paperback, audiobook, enhanced ebook.

The authors choose the selfpublishing way because they tried with the agents and traditional publishers but did not get the desired outcomes.

Whatever the goal may be, you must aim to publish a good audiobook. If you don't do that, of course, your sales and reputation will suffer a blow!

Making your audiobook ain't be easy also. You may have to struggle to find the narrator, the right distribution channel, the platforms, APRIL 2021

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and not to be forgotten, marketing plan for promoting your audiobooks so it reaches the right audience.

Recording it yourself vs Hiring a Narrator/Producer Recording your audiobook can be a daunting task. It feels like you are into the process of writing that book again, from scratch!

The amount of time spent in retakes, breaks, editing the work, listening to the book, again and again, to make sure that it's done perfectly can take helluva of your time and energy.

If you decide to go further step and make that investment of hiring the narrator or producer to narrate your book, you can definitely save some time out there for sure. But it can be an expensive affair.

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Moreover, take a look at your accent and the listeners who are going to actually listen to your audiobooks.

Will they be able to get your accent?

Maybe they get yours but what if they don't understand the narrator's accent? So you need to check this before hiring the narrator for your audiobook.

Genre Wars One aspect of the audiobooks industry is the genre of the book that is being narrated. Nonfiction, selfhelp books can be easy to narrate than fiction ones, especially thrillers and mystery novels. The feel of the characters, the plot are somewhat difficult to create than its nonfiction, self-help book counterpart.

Time Matters It usually takes about five to ten minutes to record about 1000 words,

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depending on how fast you can speak. But that doesn't make it the final version. There is more time that goes into the editing.

should also be of top quality. The microphone, the headphones which you would be using to record and listen should be of top quality.

Narrating a book is not a small or quick project. You have to shell out some time for the task, read each chapter of the book aloud, narrate each chapter, putting life into it then work with an audio engineer or yourself, editing the audios. Once this is completed, you will have to check the final audio file for errors, meaning you have to listen to that again from the beginning.

We recommend using a premium quality microphone by Blue Yeti. The positive side of this microphone is that they are USB compatible, so you can connect to any PC or any sound system having a USB port (almost all of them are coming with a USB port. in addition to that, this mic has 3 Condenser Capsules, 4 Pickup Patterns, Headphone Output & Volume Control, Mic Gain Control, and it's Plug & Play, so no additional software installation required!

There is also a possibility that you may have to re-record an entire chapter, so allow some contingencies while recording your audiobook.

Make sure to get the right equipment Making sure that the audiobook you are producing is of good quality, the equipment needed to record

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When it comes to headphones, I recommend using the one from Sony.

Though it might seem costly, consider it as a one-time investment.

I personally use Sony MDR-7506, and I would recommend you if you are really serious about your audiobook narration and editing.

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Coming to editing the audiobook, you may also have to invest in some editing software to keep things smooth. You can use Reaper. Other options include Garage Band and Audacity (both free).

devices like Fan, AC, etc so it does not hamper the quality of your audiobook.

Final Touches and Release You have narrated the audiobook, the editing is done. Now it's time to finally proof your audiobook and make sure that it's ready for the market.

Noise cancellation is also an important aspect when it comes to recording an audiobook, that's why having the right set of equipment is an essential element to keep in mind.

Put your headphones on, start listening to your chapters, and side by side keep marking or noting down the areas where there is a scope for improvement.

So the best way is to narrate the chapters of your book and see if there are any additional, unwanted sounds like of the traffic, electric and electronic

Give the audio file the final touch-up needed and publish the audiobook so that it is available for the audience.

Spread the word among your readers, fans, friends and encourage them to

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check out the audiobook and share the feedback!

Happy Recording!

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Follow us on Issuu and never miss another issue from us (As told to Pria) (Check out storizen.com for full coverage)

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About Pria - Young mesmerizing freelance blogger, social enthusiast, an economics graduate from Jharkhand University with Master in Child Psychology. She is hardworking yet crazy, a passionate reader, an ardent music fanatic, an avid caffeine lover, and a maniacal animal lover too.

She has been a part of numerous anthologies, articles, and write-ups for newspapers and magazines which are multi-linguistic. She has also written screenplays for YouTube series.

pria@storizen.com

APRIL 2021

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HOTthe OFFpress Most of us show noise neglect. Leading to unfairness, inefficiency, and reduced productivity, it pervades everything from medicine, law, public health and food safety to forensic science, bail verdicts, child protection, performance reviews and personnel selection. If we want better, more accurate outcomes for the things that matter we must recognize and reduce noise. It will save money, improve public safety and health, increase fairness, and prevent avoidable errors.

In NOISE, Daniel Kahneman, Cass Sunstein and Olivier Sibony explain this littleknown phenomenon, why it happens so frequently, and explain how to counter it.

Their findings are as fascinating as they are alarming.

Packed with new ideas, and drawing on the same kind of diligent, insightful research that made Thinking, Fast and Slow and Nudge groundbreaking New York Times bestsellers, NOISE explains how and why humans are so susceptible to failure in judgment — and what we can do about it.

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HOTthe OFFpress

Thirty-four-year-old Ladoo, a simple middle-class divorcée from Rishikesh, wants only one thing from life–a baby.

She eats gondh halwa, drinks badam milk, and takes folic acid, to slow down her ticking biological clock and become the world’s most fertile woman.

When an accidental meeting with a gynaecologist reveals that her ‘eggs are drying up’ and finding a sperm donor is her last chance of having a child, Ladoo races against time to find the right baby daddy, whose kundali matches her, while addressing her own mixed feelings about whether Mr Right Donor can also be Mr Right.

Along the way, Ladoo must figure out whether motherhood means marriage, whether being a single mother means loneliness, whether ‘my body, my rules’ applies to women, and whether doing something scandalous is outrageous or courageous.

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HOTtheOFF press

Written by former foreign secretary of India, this is an eyewitness account of the Tiananmen Square incident of 1989 and its aftermath.

STORIZEN EVENTS

More than three decades later, the Tiananmen Square incident refuses to be forgotten. The events that occurred in the summer of 1989 would not only set the course for China’s politics but would also re-define its relationship with the world.

China’s message was clear: it remained committed to market-oriented reform, but it would not tolerate any challenge to the supremacy of the Chinese Communist Party. In return for economic prosperity, the Chinese have surrendered some rights to the state. A democratic future seems far away.

Vijay Gokhale, then a young diplomat serving in Beijing, was a witness to the drama that unfolded in Tiananmen Square. Coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, this unique account brings an Indian perspective on a seminal event in China’s history that the Chinese government has been eager to have the world forget.

Vijay Keshav Gokhale (b. 1959) was the thirty-second foreign secretary of India. He also served as Ambassador to Germany and China, and as High Commissioner to Malaysia. His three assignments in Beijing spanned an eightyear period over three decades. He now lives in Pune.

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Queen of Fire by Devika Rangachari

A riveting tale of power and betrayal Award-winning author Devika Rangachari writes about the legendary warrior queen, Rani Lakshmibai Feminist tale of a fearless queen who stands up for the rights of her people

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STORIZEN EVENTS

Dr. Devika Rangachari is an award-winning writer whose book, Queen of Ice (Duckbill), was on the White Raven list, won the Neev Young Adult Book Award, was shortlisted for the Sahitya Akademi’s Bal Sahitya Puraskar and has been optioned to be made into a movie/ television series.

ABOUT THE BOOK 'I will not yield!'

Lakshmibai the widowed queen of Jhansi, is determined to protect her son's right to his father's throne, and the welfare of the kingdom she is ruling Faced with the British machinations to take over her kingdom, at a time when all of India is aflame with the fire of the first War of Independence, she has to prove her valour and sagacity again and again But will this be enough to save all that she values?

but determined to live up to his mother's boldness and courage.

Award winning historical novelist Devika Rangachari brings to vivid life the interior life of this nineteenth century queen, thrust into a position she does not desire but must assume, and of her son, who is cowed by the challenges he has to face

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HOTthe OFFpress Farida's parents passed away in an accident when she was twelve. And for years, she's had to fend off Reshma Phuppu, a distant relative plotting to gain control of her parents' house in Bangalore.

When all the drama gets too much, she runs away to stay with her best friend, Priya. Farida deeply feels the absence of a family, and only has memories of her distant cousin, Irshad. She's had a crush on him since she was a twelve-year-old, but they lost contact when her parents died. Nearly two decades later, Priya's boyfriend, Ajay, serendipitously finds Irshad.

Andaleeb Wajid is the author of fourteen published novels, including More than Just Biryani, Asmara's Summer and Twenty-nine Going on Thirty. Her young adult novel When She Went Away was shortlisted for The Hindu Young World GoodBooks Award (2017). She enjoys writing about romance and food, and is also a creative writing facilitator at Nutcracker Workshops.

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HOTthe OFFpress

Akhtaribai Faizabadi, or Begum Akhtar as she was better known, was a legend even during her own lifetime, and one of the last of the great singers from the tawaif community.

Akhtari documents her eventful life and her music through essays and reminiscences by some of her closest friends and associates, and by people who knew her work deeply – including the likes of Bismillah Khan, Lata Mangeshkar, Shubha Mudgal, among others.

The volume also includes a long conversation between Acharya Kailash Chandra Dev Brihaspati and Begum Akhtar, and interviews with her disciples Shanti Hiranand and Rita Ganguly.

Yatindra Mishra is a poet, editor, and scholar of music and cinema. He has written Girija (2001), Devpriya (2007) and Sur Ki Baradari (2009) about the life and work of thumri singer Girija Devi, dancer Sonal Mansingh, and shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan respectively.

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HOTtheOFF press In late-nineteenth-century Kerala, a man flamboyantly rode a villuvandi (bullock cart) along a road. What might sound like a mundane act was, at that time, a defiant form of protest. Riding animal-pulled vehicles was a privilege enjoyed only by the upper castes. This man, hailing from the untouchable Pulaya community, was attacking caste-based discrimination through his act. He was none other than Ayyankali, a social reformer and activist.

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In late-nineteenth-century Kerala, a man flamboyantly rode a villuvandi (bullock cart) along a road. What might sound like a mundane act was, at that time, a defiant form of protest. Riding animalpulled vehicles was a privilege enjoyed only by the upper castes. This man, hailing from the untouchable Pulaya community, was attacking caste-based discrimination through his act. He was none other than Ayyankali, a social reformer and activist.

Featuring several such inspiring accounts of individuals who tirelessly battled divisive forces all their lives, this book seeks to enhance present-day India's imagination and shape its perception of the Dalit community. Based on original research on historical and contemporary figures such as B.R. Ambedkar, Babu Jagjivan Ram, Gurram Jashuva, K.R. Narayanan, Soyarabai and Rani Jhalkaribai, among many others, Makers of Modern Dalit History will be a significant addition to the Dalit discourse.

SUDARSHAN RAMABADRAN is a writer and columnist. He is an alumnus of Vivekananda College, University of Madras, and the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai.

GURU PRAKASH PASWAN is one of the national spokespersons of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

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More by Philip Coggan

The 10,000 Year Rise of the World Economy

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APRIL 2021

STORIZEN EVENTS

Philip Coggan is the author of The Money Machine, a guide to the city that is still in print after 33 years, and Paper Promises, which was Spears' business book of the year in 2012. He writes the Bartleby column for the Economist and is the former writer of the Buttonwood column. Prior to joining the Economist he worked for the Financial Times for 20 years.

ABOUT THE BOOK There are 17 ingredients in a typical tube of toothpaste, from titanium dioxide to xanthum gum, and that's not counting the tube. Everything had to come from somewhere and someone had to bring it all together. The humblest household product reveals a web of enterprise that stretches around the globe.

More is the story of how we spun that web. It begins with the earliest glimmerings of long-distance trade obsidian blades that made their way from what is now Turkey to the Iran-Iraq border 7,000 years before Christ - and ends with the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. On such a grand scale, quirks of historical perspective leap out: futures contracts and commercial branding are among the many seemingly modern APRIL 2021

components of the global economy have existed since ancient times. Yet it was only in the 18th century that a cascade of innovations began to drive up prosperity in a lasting way around the world.

To piece this fascinating saga together, Philip Coggan takes the reader inside medieval cottages and hi-tech hydroponic farms, prehistoric Chinese burial mounds and modern central banks. At every step of our journey, he finds that it was connections between people that created our wealth. Will the same openness continue to serve us in the 21st century?

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HOTthe OFFpress Since 2007, entrepreneur and philanthropist Vikas Shah has been on a mission to interview the people shaping our century. Including conversations with Nobel prizewinners, business leaders, politicians, artists and Olympians, he has been in the privileged position of questioning the minds that matter on the big issues that concern us all. We often talk of war and conflict, the economy, culture, technology and revolutions as if they are something other than us. But all these things are a product of us – of our ideas, our dreams and our fears.

Vikas Shah MBE is an entrepreneur, philanthropist and investor. He is Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship (The Lisbon MBA with MIT Sloan) and an honorary professor at the Alliance Manchester Business School. He has built businesses in diverse sectors aroud the world, is a consultant and advisor to numerous entrepreneurs and organizations globally, and is a regular columnist for British Airways Business Life magazine.

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HOTthe OFFpress In Bene Appétit, Esther David, herself a Bene Israel Jew, attempts to record some of these traditions before they are lost, describing each community’s lifestyle, customs and food habits in detail, and also revealing some closely guarded recipes of Indian Jewish dishes like chik-cha-halva, rose biscuits, jumping potatoes, hameen, arook, Jewish biryani, pakoda curry, chicken with gongura leaves, agaragar jelly and many more.

Esther David is an Indian Jewish author and illustrator belonging to the Bene Israel Jewish community of Ahmedabad. Her novel, Book of Rachel, received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English literature in 2010. She has received the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Research Award, USA, for the study of Indian Jewish cuisine.

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GET FREEDOM

The Baggage Handler Part 2

by Swathi Parasuraman

“I don’t have any brothers or sisters. Do you?”

“I have a younger brother. He’s abroad working as an engineer.”

She displayed an innocent interest in his life, which no one ever had. It made him feel special and made him consider his existence relevant. Like he mattered, even if it was to a young child he had never met.

Roy always knew it would end someday. She could move cities, she could lose interest, her parents would find out and stop her, a million other reasons. He knew fully well, but deep in his mind, he had already started to think of her as a father would a daughter. Having no one he could call close, he channeled all those feelings into this secret bond.

After five years, the notes finally stopped. Roy noticed when there was a gap of around 8 months after the last note, and beyond that, nothing. It was as he expected. But that didn’t stop the pain cutting through his chest like glass.

One night, he found himself shedding tears alone in his room, a sense of having lost something precious. He prayed that this girl would be happy and safe in the future. That gave him some measure of comfort.

For a long time afterward, Roy was subdued. He no longer dreamt up APRIL 2021

stories. A stray bag here or there piqued his interest. But for the most part, that old excitement was gone. By now no one from his old colleagues remained, it was a completely new set of baggage handlers, a group who considered him a veteran and kept out of his way. Things went back to normal.

One thing he couldn’t stop though was the habit of of brushing back a flap on any red bag.

After a few more years, he eventually had to retire. The airport authorities, realizing that someone so old could eventually turn out a liability, graciously asked him to step down but not without a substantial retirement package, owing to his long years of service. They even gave him a plaque with his name and services inscribed.

When all the farewells had been done and his locker emptied, Roy made one last tour of his work place. The bag belts, the sorting rooms, the docks, the tarmac. His eyes lingered on the bags that were coming in and the handlers rushing about. A loneliness engulfed him. This was his world, the world of baggage handlers, where each bag carried its own secret, its own story, its own message. He didn’t know how he would live apart from it.

He decided leave from the main exit of the airport and plunged headlong into the rush of passengers, trolleys, STORIZEN MAGAZINE

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announcements, gleaming floors and LED screens flashing with flight details.

A group of passengers rushed by him. He stepped aside to let them pass and started to walk ahead, towards the exit.

Suddenly, he heard a woman’s voice, sharply ringing out.

“Arya, don’t dawdle, for heavens sake we’ll be late!”

He whirled around, wondering if he had misheard. It was a family of three - a mother, father and a daughter. The daughter seemed to be in her mid-teens.

She had her eyes glued to her smartphone, fingers scrolling, while she tried to keep up with her harassed parents. A minute later, she grinned and shoved her phone in her pocket, running to her mother’s side.

I am a freelance writer based out of Bangalore whose work has been published in Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, the Kitaab Magazine, and Women’s Web I would like to submit a short story on a heartwarming between an airport baggage handler and a little girl who is a passenger. I hope you can consider it and your readers will be able to enjoy it as well.

“Relax Mom, I’m right behind.”

Her dad gave her a playful punch and she returned it, squealing happily with laughter. Just before they disappeared into the crowd at the security check, Roy glimpsed her bag. It was purple but there was a keychain hanging off it. He squinted, trying to make out its shape.

With a jolt, he realized what it was. A unicorn with puffy tail. A faint memory came rushing back.

I’m 6. I like unicorns which have puffy tails.

Roy smiled and walked out the exit, his heart singing.

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a a Misr m i j n a M ory my t s t r o A Sh

F O N E M O W C I N A M ) 2 T R A P ( ERON

Mrs Honborn said in a commanding tone, “Sit down Gini.“ Gini sat down on the faded yellow coloured sofa.

“Now tell me Gini. Do you know anything about your biological parents?”, asked Mr Honborn softly, with an almost inaudible voice.

“No. I asked everyone. No one knew anything about my parents.”

“Very well. You can stay with us you know. We will take care of you.”

Gini swiftly pulled out a gun from her bag and pointed it towards Mr Honborn and within a few seconds, Mr Honborn was lying dead on the mosaic floor. Her famous fingers were a means for murder- a possibility that had horrified the town on her birth.

Then, Gini looked at Mrs Honborn and grinned.

“He killed my father, didn’t he? You were his mistress; he was your socalled lover. So much for love. So much for love.”

“So, Mr Honborn had murdered Gini’s father in order to marry Gini’s mother.

So much for sexual jealousy. So much for sexual jealousy.” said Mrs Honborn triumphantly.

CHAPTER 3 It was a long thrilling night on the terrace of Josephine’s apartment, with a cool breeze enchanting the atmosphere. They were bursting crackers and munching popcorn all night,staring at the sky for hours.Josephine and Eizac were APRIL 2021

celebrating their nation’s conquest of Koptik House. Many countries had tried to break into Koptik House. But it was only Eron which had succeeded in hoarding all the exotic flowers living in Koptik House. Josephine decided to name the flowers Jeevika. Jeevika flowers were their gateway to building artificial intelligence. These flowers could perceive, but could not speak.

If you shouted at these flowers, they would turn into a pale grey. If you put them in water, they would turn into a bright red. Jeevikabecame the nation’s pet and was sought after like the rarest breed of dogs nearing its extinction.

Josephine and Eizac were laughing their hearts out on the terrace.The sky was colourful because of fireworks.But they decided that they must begin the war again. They must remove their king Galax.

“Where is my voice?”- these words appeared on the door of Koptik House after a day of the nation’s famous conquest.

“We must tame the flowers.” Josephine said, getting up from the terrace floor.

“Yes. Jeevika must go through brainwashing” replied her brother Eizac.

“No. Call it conditioning” retorted Josephine.

“Well, use euphemisms if you want,but we both know the gravity of our crimes.”

Josephine shouted,“Crime. How dare you call it crime? We are fighting for our rights! Kings are criminals,not the subjects.”

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“Violence is a crime,irrespective of our intentions and end goals.” said Eizac firmly as if he was reading out one of God’s Ten commandments.

“Violence must be the means if we seek justice.”

Josephine said nothing. It was exhausting to talk to Eizac.

Josephine went downstairs slowly.

“We were more ruthless than our king.

We stole some Jeevika flowers from a nearby shop and killed those flowers by depriving them of water.We crushed the dried flowers and buried them in the soil of our garden. Two days later,we were arrested. Our father Kolin was rich and we got bail.But this was our plan. We were thieves. We would prove that the king is incapable of maintaining law and order in our nation. We would wreak havoc in our nation.”, announced Josephine in front of the three other rebels.

They were a group of four. Four youngsters who had decided that the Koptik House Revolution will go down into the otherwise dull textbooks of history.

Garima was smoking a cigarette. Harsh was drinking a glass of wine.Josephine was staring at the ceiling and her brother Eizac was glued to his phone.

They were classic examples of youth gone astray,oratleast that is what the newspapers said about them.It didn’t matter on which side of the political discourse the media outlet was. Leftwing, right-wing, pro-establishment and

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anti-establishment,all media houses were against them. And yet,they fought.

They fought to get back what was the rightful autonomy of Koptik House.

Kotik House does not belong to anyone, Josephine said. Our king does not have the right to seize the flowers of KoptikHouse,Eizac declared.

Next day’s newspaper headline read “Koptik House does not exist “.

They were all astonished.Then where did the Jeevika flowers come from? The headline was followed by a picture of the king with his cunning smile and was not followed by any article or text.

Of course,no citizen of the nation had seen Koptik House. Josephine and her gang had not found any photograph of the House. But they believed in the House,because it was their only way to regain their lost autonomy. Indeed, when Koptik House would find back its voice,they would find back their voice,said Josephine.

“The king was killing humans recklessly and we four are killing Jeevika flowers recklessly. The mystery of Jeevika flowers has to be solved”, Eizac said.

Josephine did not know love. She knew only freedom. And little by little, she learnt to spare the lives of the Jeevika flowers. For she may not love flowers, but the flowers must be free to live. The king may not love her, but he must let her live freely.

She was absconding.She was fleeing from media. She was were running from the king.And the whole world welcomed her as she and her gang flew to other nations of the world.

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“Strangely,ours was the only nation that did not like us. We were flying from country to country. And we realized that no country liked our king. We ran from nation to nation. And we could not stay in any nation for long.”noted Eizac.

“And at the end, we were tired of running. Our faces were white as sheet.

How long can we run from our king?

They would soon catch us. After all, we were thieves. But the king was a mass murderer. He has no right to rule over the justice system and law enforcement of our country.Suddenly, I was getting scared of how impulsive we four were.

But,we must find out the truth. What was Koptik House?” wrote down Josephine in her diary.

“And we realized that the entire world was against us four. Koptik House was fiction. It was an imaginary place created by global and national media.

There was a worldwide conspiracy against us four. The whole world wanted to prove that we were criminals.They knew that we would

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steal the flowers if they created a narrative that there was a treasured location with exotic flowers.

But Jeevika flowers were magical- this was no fiction.But where had these flowers come from?”

Josephine wondered aloud.

Josephine woke up from her dream. “I was horrified. I was a criminal in this nightmare. And in real life, I was the opposite. I knew love. I believed in obedience. And I knew that the magical Jeevika flowers were tokens of romantic love in the real world. And I was a wife. I was the wife of the king.

The king would order the exotic flowers specially for me. And I could not imagine revolting against my husband.” wrote Josephine in her diary.

CHAPTER 4 “Under the starry sky, we did not know when time passed and how it was daylight again. The grass was wet from yesterday’s rain and we were not scared of catching cold. Josephine, our

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mother, beautiful mother called us from behind, with her angelic voice. We both ran to her and kissed both of her cheeks-red rosy cheeks. I touched her hair, her arms and buried my head in her lap.

Next day, our mother was nowhere to be seen. It looks like both mother and father have abandoned us. It has been a few days since my father disappeared. Today, my mother has vanished. The silver lining in this situation was that we were not dependents. We both had high paying corporate jobs and could sustain ourselves financially. But we did not know how to survive emotional and psychological trauma.

Next day, we filed a police complaint.

We reported the disappearance of our parents and got the case covered by major media channels. We expected sympathy from journalists.

My parents were investigative journalists and their disappearance was not entirely astonishing.

Next day, the news headlines said that six dead bodies had been found in an isolated hut in a rural region called Falis. We decided we must go and see the bodies ourselves.

The bodies were not of our parents.

They were of six children, each child of a different faith. Their families had been traced and they were Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Jains and Buddhists.

Falis, an otherwise remote region, was known as the quintessential model of inter-faith harmony, of religious

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peace and brotherhood. The murder of these children was symbolic, a dark message from terrorists who could not bear to see peace among different religious communities.

Eventually, we came to know that our parents knew of the conspiracy against the children from confidential sources and had tried to track down the criminals, taking law into their hands.

Two months later, the criminals were caught, arrested and imprisoned for life.

After a rigorous questioning session, they revealed that they knew nothing about our parents.

After a year later, my parents came back. I did know exactly how I felt about this- it was a mixture of shock and relief, bewilderment and gratitude.

“Where were you both?”, the words spilled out from my mouth.

“We went on an assignment of tracking criminals”, said my beautiful mother, in her angelic voice.

“But did the criminals know that you both were on a mission to catch them?”

“No. We were in disguise.”

My father said firmly with a stern expression to me, “Ask no further questions.”

My father was the king of the nation in disguise. His commands were words of law for everyone. I must shut up and ask no further questions.”

Alice closed her diary, after she was done writing. Alice was Josephine’s daughter.

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CHAPTER 5 Alice went out to roam in the streets of Falis with no destination in mind. She was wandering tirelessly, until she spotted someone following her. This was nothing strange. She belonged to the most notorious family ever. Of course, there would be stalkers. She was walking straight and suddenly turned around to have a clearer look at the figure following her. It was a woman. And the woman looked at her eyes first, then at her fingers.

Making a swift turn towards the right, Alice dashed into the wall. There she was, the bewitching beauty, smiling at everyone who dared to look into her grey eyes, with her forehead bleeding as a result of a deliberate clash with the wall. And glaring at those, who had the audacity to look at her fingers. Gini’s fingers, her grandmother’s fingers were meant for murder. She had heard it from the folks of Falis. Some men would also say that Gini had murdered the six children belonging to six different faiths.

Falis was a town in Eron, a country with a constitutional monarchy. They had a President, a White House and a King.

Alice’s father and Josephine’s husbandLord Galax was the king who ruled over Eron. However, only the wife and daughter knew that Galax was also an investigative journalist. Dressed as the ruler of Eron and ultimate legal authority of the nation, he would conduct raids and sting operations. And then, he would pretend to be anonymous and publish reports under a pseudonym – Henry.

Josephine had just dreamt about herself as a young raging revolutionary.

She shared her dream with her daughter Alice. Alice sunk into a medley of thoughts. How different is it, to wage war against media and to wage war against the state? One would be state terrorism and other would be a civil war. And they both have such different implications. Now that her father was both a journalist and a king, revolting against him was a paradox, a dichotomy.

Manjima Misra is the author of two books: 'Indian Feminine Fury' and 'Unapologetically Mad'. She is pursuing M.A. in English Literature at the University of Delhi and is also a distance learning student of English Language Teaching at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. She completed her B.A.(Honours) in English literature from the University of Delhi and has worked as a writer for various digital media platforms such as Feminism in India and Qrius.

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CHAKKARAVARATTY, FORNICATION AND OTHER SINS

BY HARITHA T CHANDRAN

STORIZEN CONTRIBUTE

The day was hot as a pot of curry steaming in the stow. Humidity threatened to sublimate Anu's body entirely. Sweat seeped out of her body and turned to glue that stick bodies on contact. The custom of walk home from the friend's home was becoming a tedious affair.

Walk home, she evaluated the ordeal this summer had become to her.

Summer presented itself with a spurious grandiose to Anu. All the school year, she longed for summer to come that would precipitate endless pleasure in her life. The polaroid of memories of previous summers crowded her conviction and infiltrated her judgment. But neither it delivered the promise of the clamorous bliss nor the active company of friends. The disappointment was sprinkled in each dawn of May. Obstructions to her summer bliss came in in parts. That summer's adversity began when her best friend Seetha left her village to enjoy the summer vacation in Munnar with her maternal grandparents. Thalassery was bustling with people in the warm march. But

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nothing beats the grandiose of Munnar.

They had plans to spend innumerable hours wandering in the city malls and devour every flavor of ice cream over the summer holidays. But Seetha left unceremoniously and left a void on Anu's schemes for summer.

The next crater to her perfect summer came when her parents forbid her from swimming in the temple pond, which had become a ritual ever since she learned to swim. She was deemed too old to swim in her wet shimmies while adult men circled the Chuttambalam with prayers. Each summer in the lap of the serene stretch of water, she found a peace of mind that she would search for and not see for years to come in every nook and corner of the world. But she did not know that yet. The act of denial stripped her of comfort, too precious to be taken away from a thirteen-year-old.

But moreover, it alluded her to think of her body.

By the last Autumn smell of breast milk had dried out from her sebums. She was sprouting hair in places she was too shy to look at. Shameful curves protruded out of her, and her nipples

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procured a tinge of murky night. Her clothes no more concealed her alterations and her shame.

Anu walked through the busy crossroad in her town. She sensed a change in how some men look at her and found something ineffable happening to her body. She hadn't been aware of the constant presence of men in her biosphere. Summer gave her time and idle occupancy to notice the otherness in them. They occupied the space and time differently from her. All these years, she grouped people into three categories; adults, tenacious and spiteful, little girls like her, and vile creatures called boys. But summer presented a new cohort of humans for her to examine -men. She wondered whether this ecotype existed around her before this summer. It was as if summer apparated this kind of man into the face of the earth. Her arms gave in, and saliva pooled up in the back of her mouth every time men addressed her.

Years later, she would understand the word to describe it was arousing.

Grown men around her seldom took notice of her. She was still a child in their eyes, a child with growing bosoms hardly contained in her child clothes.

She felt mortified every time a grown man looked her in her eyes. Her cheeks turned to ripen tomatoes, and she fumbled to find words that stuck stubbornly at the nape of her neck and id not come out. She found it despicable to feel this way. Virtuous girl's brains are not infested with 44

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thoughts about men. She wouldn't share her feelings with any of her friends. She knew better than that. She felt a firm conviction that none of her friends felt this way. She was a miscreant simmering with guilt. She wondered why she had such a deviant shameful heart.

This summer, she started to take notice of the bulge between men's legs.

Unbeknownst to her, her nipples stood erect in response. An unfathomable misery haunts her sanity, and she felt like a deer caught up in the headlights.

She grew ashamed of her crime every time her eyes traveled the distance to find the unholy object. But she couldn't, for the love of her life, look away. She grew weary of the body that betrayed her good intentions. But thoughts turned macabre with every night. She dreamed of men in her sleep caressing and performing wanton rituals with women and felt sinful of her existence.

The only saving grace for the summer was ripened mangos that weighted the trees down to the earth. Born in fertile Kerala's lap, finding varieties of Mangoes was a boon that she was showered upon. Coming back from her friend's house, Anu's mother announced from the kitchen that her relatives had been home today and left Chakkaravaratty, the fibrous variety of mango for her to consume. She leaped in joy at the thought of the fruit.

In the hallway to the kitchen, she heard a peculiar sound coming from her uncle's room.

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With the curiosity of a thirteen-year-old, she peeped in through the almost closed door to find bodies of her uncle and aunt perform a quaint ritual with animalistic fervor. Her heartbeat like a drum as her uncle repeatedly thrust through her aunt. She watched as these exhibit of man and woman tear and suck at each other. Something in her whispered to her that she was witnessing something wicked. But she struggled to tear her eyes away. She stood there, transfixed, unaware of time ticking away—her gods and demons wage wars over her head over supremacy over her thoughts. But alas, she couldn't look away.

Clamour from the kitchen jolted her back to sanity. She sprinted to the kitchen with a thumping heart. Mangoes were waiting for her to devour as promised. Chakkaravaratty had a green peel with a haze of yellow dusted over them as an artist had hastily added strokes of paint over a canvas. The fibrous fruit was to be consumed by sucking into it. With utmost ardor, she lowered her mouth into the fruit and began sucking. Suddenly, a peculiar sensation took possession of her body.

She felt her inner triangle burst with liquid, her mouth fills with saliva. Filled with abhorrence, she threw away the fruit and darted to her room.

For years to come, she would burn under the heat of her sinful encounter at her uncle's room and find her mind, Chakkaravaratty mango and fornication corrupted.

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Haritha T Chandran is a Malabari doing PhD in Tu Dortmund. She is interested in writing about Malabari women navigating through different facets of traditionalist society in postmodern times. She has her stories published in various magazines in India.

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YOU ARE WHAT YOU WATCH!

BY VINEETA KATHURIA

STORIZEN CONTRIBUTE

We think as parents that we have that wisdom to decide what our kids should or should “not” watch on TV. Because we are “adults” and we know what can be good or bad for them, we know which content can have an impact on their brain development – how these online content on Netflix, Hotstar, Prime can leave an impression on their innocent minds.

But have we ever considered– what kind of content should “WE” watch?

What can be “good” or “bad” for us?

Subconsciously, we really don’t know how the kind of content we see is actually influencing us! Believe it or not – it changes our behavior, our language, our attitude, in fact, it changes our perspective to see relationships. Many research studies support this theory. Trust me, when I started watching “SUITS” I started using its slang and even the legal language too.

DESENSITIZATION Let me share my experience which made me realize that how it

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subconsciously changed me Whenever I used to read about news of brutal murder – it used to disturb me but now I have seen far more violence and gore in “Game of throne”, “ASUR”,” MIRZAPUR” than now when I read about any the brutal killing in the newspaper it has become a normal thing for me. Seeing so much violence on television has desensitized me.

Undoubtedly, Watching television is fun, There's no denial to it. The entertainment industry makes billions of money by producing television programs that delight and entertain us.

Whether it's a funny comedy, an actionpacked crime drama, a sporting event, or a musical reality show, television programs offer a little something for everyone. But we must choose our content wisely!

A good movie will entertain, educate, and inspire the viewer in many ways. I remember, after watching “Uri” I have seen the proud feeling of being Indian in the audience’s eyes and how can

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anyone forget “How’s the Josh!” “HIGH SIR!” A great tribute to the Indian Army!

It arose patriotism.

MISLEADING IDEA OF HAPPINESS AND LIFESTYLE On the other hand, I have seen many series where it's shown that the best tip to heal a bad break-up is to go out and have sex with a hot stranger in a bar!

Really! That’s how you will get healed?

The idea of having fun is to go and get drunk and do something CRAZY! “NO STINGS ATTACHED Relationships”, “Friends with Benefits”, “Casual Sex” is the new idea of having a cool lifestyle. Some enjoy it and move on by changing partners and some hurt themselves emotionally which not only shakes shake their confidence for a lifetime but it leaves a deep wound that reflects in their personality and behavior like trust issues.

INFLUENCER Movies/Series has always been the biggest influencer not only in this time but historically too. Leaders such as Adolf Hitler successfully used films as propaganda tools during World War II. Movies shape culture, teach us history, can create awareness on multiple aspects of life. When I sawRoadies – Season I, I so wanted to become a “Roadie”. When I watched “Homeland”, “Baby”, “The Family Man” – I compared my career with their reel characters and thought I’m caught up in a boring job I should be “Jack Bauer” of “24”, “Shivani Roy” of “Mardani”. So Yes! Movies or Series influence our career choices if not career then definitely the kind of attitude that one carries in their respective job.

The more we see such content the more we feel that this is how society works – the new normal!

I don’t know whether it is “Cool/Not Cool” but there are many other ways to make your life more happening!

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There is a huge database of inspiring, educational, fictional, emotional, comedy content out there – It has the power to change the mindset of people.

It's up to us what mindset we want to choose.

It's okay to change your taste in clothes but do not change “YOURSELF” by following online content.

Vineeta Kathuria is a project manager in a Robotics Automation Enterprise and is an imaginative and vivid observer who loves to keep an eye out for stories she feels are hidden all around her and then pin them down.

She is an accomplished Toastmaster, a dedicated marathon runner, when she is not reading and writing, she plays badminton, cycling plays with her dog, and spends time with family and friends. The thoughts and sentiments poured down in this article are purely based on her personal experience.

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MOST EFFECTIVE

WEIGHT LOSS TIPS

by Saurabh Chawla

STORIZEN HEALTH

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational purposes only. It does not intend to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any diseases. Get the help of a certified medical professional or a certified dietician before making any changes to your diet or exercise regimen.

People struggle with weight. Even after trying too hard, they feel that they are not doing enough to lose that stubborn fat from their body. If you search for weight loss tips on Google, you will get millions of results citing the miracle drink, miracle exercise, etc. to lose weight in 7 days, 14 days, 30 days, and hat not.

I am going to share the best and the most effective weight loss tips for people who are struggling with their weight. These tips, no matter how much extra weight you have put on, will surely help you lose weight effectively.

Before we begin It's the most crucial step before you even start your weight loss journey. It's to find the cause of weight gain. Despite overeating, stress-induced overeating, lack of sleep, etc., there are certain medical conditions like Hypothyroidism that may lead to abnormal weight gain. It's better to get a complete body check-up done to rule out any medical condition.

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Calorie Deficit This term is the first thing every diet consultant will tell you when you embark on your weight loss journey. A calorie deficit means having fewer calories than your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). BMR is the metabolic rate of your body at rest (or in simple terms, the calories you burn while you are resting).

If we do the math, 1 pound or 1 lb of body fat is comprised of 3500 calories.

So in order to lose 1 lb of fat in a week (7 days), a calorie deficit of 500 calories per day is needed.

Now how to track the calories? This is the most challenging aspect people face during their weight loss journey.

There are several apps available to track your calories intake or simply if you are consulting a dietician, he or she will create a diet chart for you based on your food choices.

Workout This is something people stay away from or at least do not stay consistent.

No matter what you do, at least you should plan one hour per day for any physical workout or activity. I would suggest cardio activity with some bodyweight exercises, to begin with.

You can do squats, lunges, push-ups, pull-ups, planks besides a walking session.

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If you haven't done this for a quite long time, I would suggest start with simple walking and slowly move on to complex body movements in order to prevent yourself from any injury.

For the people who have been doing this for a while now, can start with running (i prefer sprint rather than jogging) as it will help boost metabolism for a long enough time to burn that stubborn fat.

If you are planning to join a gymnasium, then also I would recommend doing bodyweight workouts first to get your body prepared for the weight training.

If it feels boring, you can indulge in any sports or even swimming for one hour four to five days a week.

Staying Hydrated This is also one of the greatest challenges for most of my clients and people in general. They don't drink enough water to stay hydrated. If you look closely or even search on Google, Up to 60% of the human adult body is water. According to H.H. Mitchell, Journal of Biological Chemistry 158, the brain and heart are composed of 73% water, and the lungs are about 83% water.

By that calculation, if we calculate roughly, a person weighing 70 kg should drink about 4.2 liters of water.

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But that s a rough figure and should not follow harshly. Staying hydrated is more of a feeling than following the numbers.

If you feel thirsty drink water.

Another issue is that if you feel thirsty you should not go for aerated drinks but water as the aerated drinks will dehydrate you further. Aim for three liters of water minimum to stay hydrated. If you have been quite active physically, then you can increase your water intake based on your needs.

Increase Protein Intake The most crucial thing in weight loss is the intake of protein. It has many benefits but I will share two of the most important according to me - one that in order to lose weight, one has to preserve the muscle mass and protein helps significantly in that and second, protein has a thermal effect meaning it will increase your Basal Metabolic rate resulting in more calories burned even while resting.

How much protein is required? I recommend ideally 0.8 to 0.9 grams per kilogram of your body weight. In general, if a person is not a heavyweight trainer or does not indulge in extreme sports, then 56 grams lean protein for a sedentary man and 46 grams for a sedentary woman.

Protein helps you stay full for long resulting in fewer cravings and more APRIL 2021

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calories burned even at rest. Who would not want that?

Note: It doesn't mean that you skip the other macros (carbohydrates and fats).

They are equally essential and all the macros including proteins should not be out of proportion. Eat everything in moderation.

bump of calories disturbs your metabolism further resulting in weight gain and several other issues.

In order to lose weight, I would suggest at least seven hours of deep sleep every night. Believe me, it will help you in losing those extra inches faster.

These are some of the important and most effective weight loss tips. If you follow them consistently, you will definitely see results!

Sleep In modern times, people are staying awake the whole night binging on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and other OTT platforms. This results in a disturbed sleep cycle and in some extreme cases, insomnia. Now as you are awake watching your favorite show, you start munching on that chocolate bar, popcorn, or even Maggi. This extra

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Saurabh Chawla is a Certified diet and Nutrition Consultant and the Editor of Storizen Magazine. He has helped numerous of his clients with Thyroid related weight loss.

For personal consultations, you can contact him.

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STORIZEN POETRY

A Bit of Wisdom

by Vidya Shankar My wisdom tooth, the only one of four that came in, Decided to grow a little crooked, partially impacted as it was, But the molar was healthy, and un-infecting my gums, So, undisturbed we left it, my dentist and I, Hoping the tooth would reciprocate the understanding.

Our trust was not broken, the tooth kept to itself, Tucked away harmlessly in a quiet corner of my mouth, For a score or so years. There never was much use for it, anyway, But that didn’t cause me to forget tending to it. And so passed the years till one day, I felt an uncomfortable jabbing, And we knew it had to go.

We made preparations for the farewell; my dentist set to work— Pliers, forceps and levers rocked the stake, gently at first, then determinedly, Till the binding gave way. The roots loosened, And just as suddenly, as if there never had been a tussle, It slid out ever so smoothly.

My beaming dentist, relieved that the extraction ordeal was finally over, displayed the bloody trophy…

I could see that it was pretty healthy, not decayed at all, Unlike the unfortunately abused organ I had to lose To hysterectomy!

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STORIZEN POETRY

Is it because denticles don’t have their roots embedded in society’s unreasonable, unfair, unjustified dictates—as unfortunate wombs often have to be?

Wombs that make some women a progenating machine to stack the earth with squealing lives born more out of compulsion than love?

Perhaps yes, perhaps I am just overreacting...

I am in pain, you see!

With a couple of conscious breaths, I gently free my meandering mind from that purposeless pain and bring it to the now, to the present pain that’s slowly awakening from its anaesthetised state.

So, my body has a gap once again; thankfully it’s not a gaping chasm like the previous hysterectomical time— only a wisdom-less dentition, Yet I wonder, what with the wisdom extracted, Will that help me become wise in the ways of the world at least now?

Vidya Shankar, a widely published Indian poet, writer, editor, English teacher, and a “book” in the Human Library, says poetry is not different from her. The recipient of literary awards and recognition, she uses the power of her words to sensitise her readers about environmental issues, mental health, and the need to break the shackles of an outdated society. Vidya is the author of two poetry books, The Flautist of Brindaranyam (in collaboration with her photographer husband, Shankar Ramakrishnan), and The Rise of Yogamaya (an effort to create awareness about mental health.) She finds meaning to her life through yoga and mandalas.

@shanvidwinsalways @vidya.shankar.author

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STORIZEN POETRY

The Endless Run: Life

by Aparna Mukherji From morning to night You run endlessly To earn bread and butter In the process of running the race, You forget that your dreams are shattered.

Do not let your dreams die Do not say your dreams goodbye With fresh day and a new morning Sun Make your dreams come alive Weave new hopes and dreams again Enjoy the glorious days Live each day with excitement and fun.

Sow hopes of seeds Nurture the hope of plant with love and care To reap the fruits of success Sooner or later Do not halt or stop in life If you get tired Give your body a rest Get up again with enthusiasm To pass life's test With flying colours Keep running in life Till your last breath Dodge life's curvy balls Enjoy the birds' chirping sounds Unwind and enjoy little Happiness which you get around.

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In a few words, Aparna defines a woman who beholds high aspirations and firmly believes in expanding her horizon. She holds a Master degree in English from Mumbai University. By profession, she is an online Senior Content Writer and Blogger who writes informative articles for various Indian, UK and US blogs and websites.

Her poems got published in the digital Reflection Magazine and in the Indian literature website named Facestory's.com. She is a budding author too. Her first story on romantic theme got published in a book named "Memoirs Of Love". Her second story in another anthology will be publishing soon.

As a person, she is open-minded, downto-earth and amiable in nature. Her world revolves around creativity. She wishes to make her mark in the literary world, hoping to leave an indelible imprint on her readers' minds.

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Beneath the smells, and sights...

by Madhumathi H As she peeled the skin, slowly Magical smell from the orange Filled her heart with memories…

How beautiful and convenient it is To remember a beloved, as a fragrance A color, a texture, or as a song…

Relishing Rose milk, she remembered his words That made her blush His stolen kisses, the most!

Sandal incense from the temple Pulled her back to the day When she leaned on his shoulder in silence, in tears While he listened to them, like God ‘Seemingly’ silent, yet She went back home, with light and hope in her heart…

You lemon! How dare you made her laugh so loud At the library! His tangy humour Surfaced on her mind, at the wrong place Well, if not for them Who would have blotted her tears…

Pulling her favourite electric blue sari She ran her fingers on the silk river That flowed like joy, every time she draped it Reminding her of their first meet, serendipitous…

Oh that soul-soothing melody of the Maestro The tune that carried the colors of her dreams Melting into a honeyed song, in the voice of the moon…

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STORIZEN POETRY

Is it really beautiful and convenient To remember a beloved, as a fragrance A color, a texture, or as a song…

Or This is how love wants to be remembered Tattooing a deep ache each time, in a myriad patterns of memories…

A bilingual poet-writer(Tamil, English), Madhumathi is an ardent lover of Nature, Poetry, Photography and Music. Her poems are published in Anthologies of The Poetry Society(India), AIFEST 2020 Poetry contest Anthology, CPC- Chennai Poetry Circle, IPC – India Poetry Circle, Amaravati Poetic Prism, and in e-zines UGC approved Muse India, Storizen, OPA – Our Poetry Archives, IWJ International Writers Journal, Positive Vibes, and Science Shore. ‘’Ignite Poetry'’, “Arising from the dust”, “Painting Dreams", “Shards of the unsung Poesies" are some of the recent Anthologies her poems, and write ups are part of.

Besides Poetry, Madhumathi writes on Mental health, to create awareness and break the stigma, strongly believing in the therapeutic and transformational power of words.

Contact: madhumathi.poetry@gmail.com

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