Thursday 21 September 2017

"Beyond Secrets" Available for Free Download - 21st to 22nd September'17


Dear Friends,

I have received an overwhelming response to my blog and book in the last few days. I am grateful for all the love and am sending a small token of thanks your way. You can get my book for free for two days starting today. Here is the link to download the book -  https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0752CNY9N

No worries if you don’t have Kindle device. You can read it on your phone by following 3 simple steps. (You need to have an Amazon account to get the book. It's easy to create one if you don't have it already.

3 SIMPLE STEPS TO GET THE BOOK ON YOUR PHONE

1) Click on this link: https://www.amazon.in/dp/B0752CNY9N
2) Select "Buy Now" or "Buy for Free"  (There will be also an option "Read for free"- It is for people who have subscribed to Kindle Unlimited so you may not be able to buy from there)
3) Follow the instructions thereon

OR
1) Install Kindle App on your phone
2) Search for "Beyond Secrets" by Alka Dimri Saklani in your Kindle App.
3) Select "Buy Now" or "Buy for Free"

If you want to learn more about the book you can visit: https://www.alkadimrisaklani.com/books

And I am willing to accept return gift😉. Show me some love and leave an honest review on Amazon after reading the book; the best gift I can ever receive. Every review fuels my passion for writing and connects me with the person reading my words. And yes, you are most welcome to share the article and help me spread the word.

Keep reading, keep connecting.
Love,
Alka

Sunday 17 September 2017

LIFE IS A BOX OF MEMORIES



Life is a box of memories, each in the form a butterfly. And I have named almost every butterfly.

The butterflies named childhood are the most colourful. They are in plenty; whenever they spread their wings they adorn my present. They gift me a smile. Every single time. But day by day they are flying out of my reach, returning to their origin. I wonder where those moments are right now; must be stored somewhere, maybe in some unknown dimension of universe yet to be discovered. As those butterflies fly away the myriad of colours in the box of my life is decreasing, but still I have a lot to boast of.

The butterfly named youth has a plethora of shades ranging from bright to dull, dark to light, intense to mild. Some are heavier than others. Some are closely attached to others, they fly in groups, I can’t see them one at a time. They all come together and then when they leave, they leave behind a trail of raw emotions. Emotions that tell a story, some complete, some incomplete.

There are countless butterflies from different phases of life. It is impossible to name them all. Some I didn’t name deliberately and some just wished to be free from any category. And sometimes I like nameless things. Kind of strange but it’s true. I like nameless relations, nameless emotions, nameless aspirations. It keeps us away from scary reality and liberates in a strange way.  

Some butterflies just flew out of my reach though I tried to chase them and then there are those stubborn ones who are not ready to move an inch. They stay hidden in a deep corner as if afraid to face the present, as if scared time will steal them if they resurface. Though they are so strong that they can conquer the present if they soar up. I wonder if they have signed a life time contract for that little space in the box.

And this forces me to wonder what kind of butterflies I am creating in my present. Are they colourful? Are they stubborn or weak? In future will they gift me a smile? Or tears? Are they enough to decorate my box when the older ones fly away?

By the way, how many butterflies are there in your box? Are there any stubborn ones? I am sure there are.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’ 


PS - To read a free sample of my novel "Beyond Secrets" click here

Friday 15 September 2017

DESTINY


Title of the story – Life
Level of completion – 37% (Well that’s my age and for the % to be accurate I assume I will live for 100 years)
Author – Destiny

Hey wait. That’s not all about the book. There is a co-author as well.

Destiny wrote a pretty beginning, some sweet- sour moments and some bumpy rides in the story of my life.

Sometimes when the darkness was scary and I was helpless to create light I wrote patience and hope and I kept moving, just moving, like writing meaningless lines in the journal of life. When the light finally shone, I found meaning in those meaningless lines. Nothing is meaningless. When destiny was writing pain, naively, I was writing strength as if in coded words, that was decoded, step by step, as I crawled out of the darkness towards the light.

Sometimes my efforts failed in keeping a relationship or faith or a desire but it was just end of a chapter, not my life. I wrote a new chapter with new perspectives. There were new paths to be discovered and new aspirations to be chased. Though sometimes I turn the pages and delve into the chapters that ended abruptly, but then soon I move out. When destiny showed me a full stop, I fought with it to turn it to a comma.

Sometimes I was amazed and angry and sad with the decisions of destiny. I thought life was unfair and I only had questions. But far off answers were there, hidden beyond the layers of time and piece by piece the jigsaw puzzle pieces fell in place. I still have questions, but I know answers are there, may be far off, may be in the last chapters. May be. But, I am sure answers are there. And I will carve the path till I reach there.

Sometimes I write a dream and destiny rubs it off. I stare the empty page, oops sorry, the rubbed off page; oh, the difference between an empty page and page that is rubbed off, the wrinkled page. I straighten the wrinkles and write again and again and again. There are dreams that finally defeated destiny and some that I am still rewriting. I have lost the count, how many times that dream has been rubbed off but I am still rewriting, so it’s not the end yet. Yes, its tiring, very tiring but I have enough ink in my pen yet. The ink of hard work and faith. I won’t let it dry.

Destiny is the author of my life. True. But in bits and pieces, I add in my part. As destiny bestows on me myriad of situations I try to weave a story that is beautiful.
So, to complete the description of the story,

Co-author of the story called life: Me

PS. The quote at the beginning is from my novel "Beyond Secrets". You can read a sample here.