Review | The Everything Store by Brad Stone

Hello and welcome to the brand new year 2019! I hope the new year is treating you well so far. One of my 2019 resolutions is to read more books, so I thought why not start the year with a book review? Y’all ready? Let’s start!

If you are reading this post, it means you have access to internet. If so, chances are you have purchased something online at least once. And if you have, there is no way that you have not heard about the internet behemoth, Amazon. Built from scratch by Jeff Bezos, Amazon is the superstar of online marketplace, and The Everything Store is a lovely narrative that captures that journey.

Personally, I have been a huge Amazon fan, and I almost exclusively buy things on Amazon, even though Flipkart in India is not doing too bad. Why do I choose Amazon? Because most often than not, Amazon has the thing that I need, and it has a competitive prices. Plus, I can’t remember even one scenario since I started shopping online when I have received a product from Amazon late or not in the shape that I expected it to. Customer service is prompt and polite, and you feel like you are dealing with people who care for your concerns. So, I was more than a little excited to understand Amazon’s journey through this book.

The name of the book is depiction of Jeff Bezos’s vision for Amazon: to be that store where you can get anything that you want, so much so that, there was a time that he wanted at least one copy of every book that has been printed on Earth in Amazon’s catalog. That, coupled with the conviction of being a customer-centric company, is what makes Amazon what it is. And this book depicts Jeff Bezos’ never-ending dream of doing what is best for the customer: giving him what he needs at the least price that’s practically possible. To do that, he has not only gone to the extent of upsetting his board of directors, but also the Wall Street and more often than not, Amazon employees themselves.

Amazon’s journey can probably be divided into two parts: The Journey of a Fledgling Internet Company and The Journey of a Behemoth. The journeys may definitely have differently evolved, but at the core of it, Amazon’s guiding principles have remained the same throughout the years.

The Journey of a Fledgling Internet Company

Jeff Bezos, as depicted in the book, was nothing short of a child prodigy. He was focused and determined, and ended up working a good job at the hedge fund, DE Shaw. He also saw an early opportunity in the internet and bet on it, and like a lot of Silicon Valley startups. started Amazon in his garage. The challenges he faced were similar to an early start up, but he also managed to entice investors and raise initial capital for it. There were two stories from this period which helped me understand the fundamentals of Amazon.

One was the story of Toys ‘R’ Us and how Amazon embraced the very seasonal toy business. The toy industry runs on trends. What is in fashion on Christmas becomes useless once the new year starts. Knowing that, Bezos confidently got his executives to channel millions of dollars into the the toy inventory, saying that he would personally drive the remainders away in his truck if they did not sell. And Amazon did end up losing millions in that deal that year (probably 1999 or 2000), upwards of ~$30M if my memory serves me right. But in that effort, Bezos showed that he was willing to take chances that could mean huge financial losses, but he was all in. This is a key lesson for entrepreneurs: the stomach to take risks.

Similarly, during the period when analysts predicted fall of Amazon in the early 2000s, at the heart of the dot com bubble burst, and the stocks kept falling like a self-fulfilling prophecy, Bezos stood his ground and told his employees that when the stock rises by x times you don’t feel x times smarter, so there is no reason why you should feel dumber when the stock plunges. Here was a man who was thinking long term, and was able to steer his company through tough times to favorable grounds.

In this period, you cannot but admire the man behind the driving wheel, in spite of all the stories of his temper tantrums and poor treatment of his senior execs.

The Journey of a Behemoth

As Amazon grew from a toddler to a giant, it started doing business in a ruthless manner: cutting down prices that manufacturers and sellers could not sustain, forcing them to negotiation by removing their stock from Amazon and digging a hole in their balance sheet, and practically driving smaller startups to buyout. Meanwhile, Amazon bots constantly hunt for the lowest price on the internet, and provides the same or lower to customers, even if it means losing millions.

One story from this period is of Diapers.com, a startup selling diapers and other baby products. As Diapers.com started doing good business, they were on Amazon’s radar, and Amazon started wooing them for a buyout. When they would not agree, Amazon priced the diapers 30% less than Diapers.com, and after a while, during which they put up a great fight, the young startup had to give in. Similar was the story of Zappos.com. From that book, we learn that there is a dedicated team in Amazon which looks out for rising stars like Zappos or Diapers.com, and goes mercenary style in its acquisitions.

This is the period when you fear Amazon. This is the period when you question the ethics which guides the company. This is the period which reminds us that business in itself is a jungle, and that the Darwinian theory of survival of the fittest definitely holds true. Yet, to a large extent, as readers of the book or Amazon customers, we tend to forgive the giant because at the heart of it, they believe that customer is king, and that all inefficiencies from the supply chain must be eliminated so that the best prices can be delivered to customers. In that way, Amazon is almost a saint.

I believe the true assessment of this giant will happen in the years to come. I believe Amazon has a long way to go, especially in developing nations when internet penetration is increasingly gradually. And in the process, it will evolve too as a company, hopefully in the right direction. And while today it seems strange that some other company may overpower Amazon, history has taught us it is possible. So, I’ll be on the lookout to see how someone takes on this giant and emerges on the other side, victorious.

The Everything Store is definitely a well-researched book. The best part is, it is impartial in its approach: while this book makes you cringe at the prospect of working at Amazon, you also learn that there are some amazing things happening, and you can’t but be in awe of that. To keep a balance between that is not easy, and the depth of the research is simply commendable.

If any of you is interested in biographies of people and companies, you should definitely give this book a try!

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That’s it for today! Watch this space for more updates, as we proceed into the new year. See you guys very soon!

Love,

Arpita

Train To Pakistan by Khuswant Singh | A Review

I just finished reading the Train to Pakistan by Khuswant Singh. I have read very little of fiction on India’s partition. Most of my knowledge about it is through the history books that I had read till tenth standard. Of course, I remember the partition being bloody, but the chilling extent of it has never been truly exposed to my mind. Until I picked up this book, that is.

Khuswant Singh’s prose is straightforward, within the expanse of 190 pages, he talks about a lot of things, and that too in exact amount of detail as required. Set in the backdrop of 1947 India-Pakistan partition, this novel sheds light on the religious massacre that happened during the time, where Muslims and Hindus on either sides of the borders killed each other and sent trainloads of corpses across. The writing is graphic. Singh sets his stage in the silent village of Mano Majra, a quaint one whose life is dictated by the comings and goings of the train at the railway station. Muslims and Hindus here live harmoniously, though through the course of the story it will change.

This book is a deep meditation of different kinds of people. It almost feels like the author wrote the book as a contemplative thesis of the human mind, shaped by love, hatred, political and moral education, politics and other elements. There are the religious heads of the Muslims and the Sikhs, who are predominantly peace-loving people and try their best to maintain peace. Then there is a morally-unstable District Magistrate and his counterpart in the police department, a Sub-Inspector, who want to do the right thing but do not really have the guts to do it. The other striking character is that of Iqbal Singh, the foreign-returned political activist who wants to make a name for himself by going to jail, but when the time comes for him to truly do something of value, he drowns his conscience in whisky and tells himself that in moments of chaos, the best course to take is of self-preservation. I do not completely hate the person. Maybe in his shoes, I would have behaved in the same manner. The more learned we become, the more we see the futility of our actions, which in turn drives us to become more apathetic towards life, more like a passive audience in a theater. On the other hand, there is the village badmash, Juggut Singh, a man who often gets in trouble with the police, who seems to tower above everyone else, both literally and figuratively, and do something that no one else is able to do. Somehow it feels like the remainder of Mano Majra, apart from Juggut, are like puppets in a show and cannot really control their destinies.

I have not read anything else by Khuswant Singh, but with just this one, I am a fan. His writing is very plain, his English far from superfluous, but it has a deep contemplative tone to it. He builds his characters well, lets us get into their head and understand their actions and see life from their lens. Which is why, you don’t really end up hating anyone in Majo Majra – you just feel sad for the lot of them.

This book opened my eyes to the extent of horror of Partition. Sometimes, given the current political scenario of India, I wonder if we are at any better stage compared to 1947. If we took a lesson from the pages of history, maybe we would stop playing the divisive game of the politics of religion, and begin to truly celebrate the diversity of India. This soils of this country has been reddened by blood time and again. Hopefully, we will leave it a better place for our children.

Have you read Train to Pakistan? How did the book make you feel? Do let me know in the Comments below.

Taste in books – Short review of Memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon

This Monday, I was travelling back to Bangalore from a week-long vacation at home. I had about half an hour to kill at Kolkata airport before boarding, so I decided to check out the book-store.

I picked up two books: Memories of Midnight by Sidney Sheldon and A Train to Pakistan by Khuswant Singh. I had not bought a book for myself in the longest time – thanks to the online library facility, Kwench, that my company provides. Besides – I had not read something really interesting that would make me want to invest financially and space-wise. But this time I wanted a good way to spend the two and a half hours flight (too used to having internet, and flight mode basically sucks), so ended up purchasing these two books.

I can’t remember if I have read other Sheldon books, but needless to say, he’s a popular author. Even if I have not read his works, I remember reading such fast paced, mystery thriller books growing up – I was quite a fan of the genre at the time. I loved Gone Girl when I read it in 2016. However, when I revisited the genre through Memories of Midnight, I can’t say I was quite excited. Some of the key traits that jumped out for me are:

• The fast pace of the writing, which is characterized by more telling than showing
• While the character development is not poor, it does not feel like a priority, but more like a secondary requirement
• The primary focus is on mind-boggling actions, bringing people back from the dead, showing larger-than-life (and in my mind, sometimes quite impossible) victories in business deals or courtrooms
• Lastly, there are multiple scenes which leave nothing to the imagination on the reader’s part – with too many obvious paragraphs which can easily be dropped to make the narrative stronger

While I have nothing against the writer or people who enjoy such writing (thrill is always exciting), from a writer’s perspective, a lot of the book felt like poor, lazy writing. I realize that over the years my taste has changed towards more muted, and closer-to-life narratives. I am interested in the story of the common man, the trials of regular life that s/he faces. Which is why I avoid most of Bollywood flicks, unless I am really in the mood for some drama.

However, I must credit the writer for his research on how different professions work: from information on oil fields to courtroom dealings to a psychiatrist’s clinic – this book covers a lot of ground.

All that said, I guess each author has a specific audience. In fact, even though the writing was poor, I did end up finishing the book, because I wanted to see it through to the end. Moreover, even though I had another book to choose from in the flight, I started with this one, coz, well, I was looking for a popcorn style book, made for light read! 🙂

How do you feel about these popcorn-style books? Should publishing houses continue to publish such books? Which are your favorite authors in this genre?

Advance Reader Copy: How I Tamed the Dragon Named Fear

I am ready with the first draft of my second ebook, titled How I Tamed the Dragon Named Fear! It is a non-fiction self-help book with an autobiographical element. The theme is fear and how we can handle it.

Before I embark on another round of edit of the book, I thought it would be best to get some feedback. I want to understand if the book is working the way I want it to – and what better way than actually have some people read it!

Hence, I will be giving out Advance Reader Copies (ARCs) of the book next Monday (Dec 19). An ARC is not necessarily the final version of the book that will get published. The idea behind ARCs is to get a feel of the reader’s reaction to the book and based on the feedback, make additional changes. I hope with the feedback that I will get through the ARCs, I will be able to make some important changes.

So if you’re interested and would like a copy, please let me know in the form below. In the comment, please mention the following:

• why are you interested in reading this book?
• the preferred format in which you’d like the book (pdf/epub)
• the date by when you will be able to share your feedback with me

Look forward to your hearing from you!

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‘I am Malala’

I don’t think I have spoken about this before, but the title one of the stories (I am Mala) in my ebook, Bound by Life, is inspired by I am Malala. At the point of writing that story, I only knew that Malala was a young girl who was fighting for girl’s education and had be hit by a bullet. I had no clue how huge her struggle was. The title that I chose for my story somewhat reflects the huge media coverage that I am Malala received, which made it a everyday name.

Most often, Indians (and if I may say so, the entire non-Muslim world) generalize Muslims to be bad. As Indians, when we think of Pakistanis, we think of people who caused bloodshed and the partition of the country. I, for one, have never imagined what life must be being an ordinary Pakistani. I have never thought about them at an individual level – that their girls face greater problems going to school, that poverty strikes them as hard as any average Indian, that their rivers are as polluted as ours and there are people who are fighting for good causes in Pakistan just as there are in India.

This book, for me, was an eye-opener. Fighters are there in all parts of the world. Some fight with Kalashinokovs. Some fight with their words and their pens and their blogs.

Every time I read a book on a specific cause like Malala’s, I end up wondering how powerful the word (written/spoken) can be. Even a girl as young as Malala was seen as a threat by Talibans because she had been vocal. I am in no position to judge the ideologies guiding the Talibans – they are fighting their own fight. I simply want to appreciate the education that I have that allows me to write on this platform and be read by you all. In this age of social media outrage, we take blogging/tweeting so granted that at times we forget that it is actually possible to change the world with the written word.

I am Malala helped a large part of the world wake up to the fight that the people of Swat had been fighting. Even though this story is Malala’s, in so many levels it is also the story of thousands of individuals spread across the world who are fighting against diseases, natural disasters, poverty and terrorism on a day-to-day level.

Once in a while, when you read a book like this, it makes you realize how lucky you are to have a job that pays your bills, to have your family in a place which is not under a constant threat of natural/man-made disaster. It makes you feel grateful for the things you have in life. It inspires you to believe that yes, you too can make a difference in the world, in your own small way.

This coming year, I pledge to use my blog in some manner to make a difference in the world. I do not know how or when, but hereby I plant a seed of desire in the fabric of the universe to help someone, somewhere. If Mr. Coelho is to be believed, the universe will surely help me!

The God of Small Things – Final Thoughts

The nice thing about books is they generate numerous conversations. While I was nose-deep into The God of Small Things, my roommate said, “How long will you keep reading? Ab bas bhi karo! (Translation: Stop it for now!).” Another flatmate flipped through the pages of the book and said how much the book had depressed her when she read it – so much so that she left it midway. I, for your information, did not leave it midway. Though I had every intention of doing so at first and in the middle.

The day I got this book through Kwench and was into the first ten pages, I wanted to return it right away. However, post-understanding the voice of this book, I learned to appreciate the beauty in it.

The God of Small Things is poetry in prose. The clever adjectives, the poignant yet vague details are part of a poem that takes Time to sink in. A few times I felt that I need a few more years to appreciate fully where the author was coming from.

The peculiar thing about this book is, its strengths are its weaknesses too. The moving back and forth in time generates active interest in the reader, increasing the want to know how things came to what they are today. According to the author,

“…the secret of the Great Stories is that they have no secrets. The Great Stories are the ones you have heard and want to hear again. The ones you can enter anywhere and inhabit comfortably. They don’t deceive you with thrills and trick endings. They don’t surprise you with the unforeseen. They are as familiar as the house you live in. Or the smell of your lover’s skin. You know how they end, yet you listen as though you don’t. In the way that although you know that one day you will die, you live as though you won’t. In the Great Stories you know who lives, who dies, who finds love, who doesn’t. And yet you want to know again.

That is their mystery and their magic.”

– The God of Small Things

Following this reason, Ms. Roy lays bare the facts of the story early on. You know what has happened, and the story eventually comes around, after meandering this way and that. However, at times, having known the end, I found myself continuously going through different permutations and combinations in my mind, trying to form my own idea as to what might have happened on that fateful day (when things changed) that led to the pervading gloom of the protagonists’ lives. It was distracting for me, because I could not simply enjoy the story as it was being told. I was wondering if it would not be better if things were told in a simpler way, facts led bare as and when they happened, rather than the whimsical back and forth-ness in time.

Reading this book is like being in a daze. You are with the characters, you know sad things are happening in their lives, but after you close the book it is not really the characters’ pain that stays with you. Your head  is not populated with their world. There is a strange disconnect. For example, until quite late into the story, I had no idea how much Ammu loved the twins, how the twins themselves were connected – in short I was clueless about the personal interactions among the characters until quite  late – that is most probably because of the absence of that kind of dialogue and actions in the beginning. For example, we do not know what any given day, a normal day, in the lives of the people in Ayemenem is like.

One interesting thing about this book is the repeating catchphrases (Anything can happen to anyone, Things can change in a day etc.). They stay with you and make you nod your head when they appear. At the same time, especially when the story is going slow in the middle, it plays with your patience – you wonder if it isn’t entirely unnecessary, whether a straight time-frame might have suited the story better.

That said, for an aspiring writer, The God of Small Things is a treasure. It is the most experimental book that I’ve read so far. While reading it, you can see for yourself which devices work in a novel and which don’t. You can see for yourself how well being vague may actually work in a book if done well. Most importantly, The God of Small Things gives you the freedom of experimentation – it is like you have a palette and a canvas to yourself and you can do as you feel with it. For me, the author has re-created the English language itself, by choosing to use it as she willed, exploring the boundaries of the language, bending and twisting it. For someone like me whose first language is not English, this factor is very significant, because for most of us the language feels like a solid object, with rigid rules. Ms. Roy’s language is fluid and it flows of her will, not the other way around.

Like I said previously, this is one book that totally makes you choose sides: you either like it or your don’t. And indeed, The God of Small Things is a deeply melancholy book, so take care to know someone well before you suggest it as a must-read.

Cracking the ‘The Da Vinci Code’

My brother started college last month. He wasn’t much of a reader until recently. He borrowed The Da Vinci Code from a friend and brought it home for me to read in the weekend.

And what a read it has been! I have always been fascinated by mystery (then again, who isn’t?). But this book is so much more than just a mystery. It contains almost everything that awes and fascinates me: mystery, symbolism, intriguing mathematical concepts, history, Art, architecture and exotic locations.

I come from a country which has been home to a people of different faiths for centuries. I have always been fascinated by other religions, especially Christianity. In fact, when I was a child and was learning about Christianity in history classes, I kept making the sign of the cross at every chance I got. However, my knowledge of other religions is only rudimentary (I am a Hindu). I have been meaning to start reading world history books (I vaguely remember the Renaissance period and the Dark Ages from school), but did not know where to start. It would probably be inaccurate to consider The Da Vinci Code as a history book, but for me it was a good start.

Learning about an alternate version of Christianity gives me a glimpse at how the religion has developed and spread. I understand that this book is only a work of fiction and do not believe everything that the author has stated to be true. In fact I researched quite a lot for the authenticity of the claims that Dan Brown made in the book (e.g. about Mary Magdalene and Sarah). But as an aficionado of good storytelling, I must say that Mr. Brown has done one hell of a job. He has cleverly included bits and pieces of history into the book. I have always enjoyed learning about the origin of words and found some good ones in this book (allow me to spill: I was most satisfied by the description of the origins of the word ‘horny’, for I have always wondered how it came to mean what it means in today’s context).

For a brief period in college I was studying the Impressionist Art for an article in my college magazine (which was unfortunately never published) and I enjoyed the Brown’s descriptions of The Last Supper, Mona Lisa, Madonna on the Rocks. I kept searching the images in Google to learn more. And I am so much the wiser because I read this book (but don’t you start to quiz me on Mona Lisa now).

In good story-telling, it is essential to ignite an interest in the reader to find out something more. I have been reading a few books in the last two months and though I have enjoyed them, not one inspired me enough to finish the book in two/three readings. I had been reminding myself what a fast reader I was when I was younger, and wondered what happened to my love of reading until I read this book. And thank God for that! I was really worried that reading had lost its charm for me.

As much as I enjoyed the story-telling, the characters did not interest so much. Maybe, for a Harvard professor, I expected Robert Langdon to be more clever. Apart from his knowledge on symbolism, I felt like he was like a child in the quest of lost treasure.

Nonetheless, Dan Brown has rekindled the love I have for reading and for that I must thank him. There were just so many pieces of historical information (like Opus Dei, Heiros Gamos) which I might never have known had I not read this book. Agreed, the views of the author may not be historically correct, but it is a starting point for me to read more. From here, I trust my mind to find more answers, and unearth more questions in the process.

Have you read The Da Vinci Code? Do you think it hurt Christian sentiments? Or do you feel that as long as a writer writes something that you truly enjoy, you will give the author creative liberty? Please share your thoughts with me.

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P.S.: Today, 19th August, is the last day of the reduced offer on my first Kindle ebook, Bound by Life. Buy your copy on Amazon for just $0.99 today!

Review of To Kill a Mockingbird – A Guest Post

Today’s guest post in Re-living the Classics is a review of To Kill a Mockingbird by the wonderful Belinda. I love reading her beautiful personal anecdotes! Be sure to check out her site!

Would you like to have your review of your favourite classic featured on this blog? To do that, contact me through the form given after today’s post. Be sure to mention your name, email and the name of the book you wish to review. Thank you!

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Review of To Kill a Mockingbird

Guest Post by Belinda

First, thanks to Arpita for this opportunity to review one of my all-time favorite books. While I originally had planned to take a look at Madame Bovary, current events and the imminent release of Harper Lee’s second book (Go Set a Watchman, July 14, 2015) compelled me to change my mind.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (1960) is a story of a small town in the southern U.S., where things move slowly but certainly, and a small spark of hope for the future exists. It’s a tale of friendships, family and the forgotten, and how in the end they all fight for each other.

It’s also a story of vast racial injustice and a man not willing to be resigned to it until he’s forced to be. Mostly, it’s the tale of girl growing up and learning about all that happens and all who live in this small town she calls home.

Jean Louise Finch, who goes by Scout, lives with her brother, Jem, and father, Atticus, in the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama.  Scout and Jem befriend a boy named Dill, who visits his aunt each year during the summer months.

Scout, Jem and Dill are fascinated by their reclusive and ostensibly frightening neighboring, Boo Radley. For two summers they watch and wait for him to appear. The third year, they’re bewildered to find small gestures of friendship seemingly from the shy man, yet still don’t catch sight of him.

That same year Atticus is appointed to defend a black man accused of raping a white woman. The entire town becomes captivated by the trial, and the consequences of the outcome shape events for months to come in a dramatic and poignant way.

The children’s fascination with Boo and the unfolding of events that follow the trial come together in the final pages in a way true to the rest of the story, the town and its characters.  This type of ending to such a complex story is rare. So often the plot line becomes convoluted or melodramatic.  Not the case here.

 The books narrative style is fluid, with bits of irony used to communicate the complex issues it covers. It’s a story you can read time and again, always with a different perspective: once with a look at racial injustice, another with an eye to class and culture in the American South of the early 20^th century. It addresses human nature on a broader scale in the character of Boo Radley and how the town dealt with him in their words and actions.

I can’t recommend this book enough. It captivates me from the first sentence every time I read it, which is about once every three or four years. I couldn’t wait to read it again for this review, and look forward already to the next time.

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Would you like to have your review of your favourite classic featured on this blog? To do that contact me through the form given below. Be sure to mention your name, email and the name of the book you wish to review. Thank you!

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My debut book review: Bound By Life by Arpita Pramanick

My heartfelt thanks to Mr. Shreedeep Gangopadhyay, who is my professor as well as a fellow blogger, for the wonderfully detailed review of my book, Bound by Life. Thank you so much, sir for taking the time to do this.

Fiction lovers, please visit his blog and go through some of his stuff. He is an aspiring author and will be sharing some of his stories on his blog soon!

The Violet Diary

  

Through Bound By Life, the author brings off the hardest of all things for a story teller to communicate the extraordinary ordinariness of most common happiness of the common people.

Being the recipient of advanced reader copy of Bound By Life-an anthology of short stories by Arpita Pramanick, I’ve just finished off this book in one shot. As a beta-rA eader, I have framed some opinions about the aforesaid book which is, nonetheless absolutely personal.

Writing short story is not something that is come-at-able by dint of only the assimilation of plots, idea and the characters. What it needs most is weaving the story around some simple things in a lucid manner that must be very much soothing to the reader with a conflict of some kind intelligently crafted in the tale. Also the very first sentence of the tale should grip the reader and carry him/her forward…

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Blogging with regularity: Introducing the regular features on Scribbles@Arpita

I have been blogging since March-end, so, it’s close to four months since I started. During this time I have experimented more than once with blog, both in terms of content and appearance. Today, I’d like to familiarize my readers with the recurring features on my blog.

As most you should know by now, my blog is mainly about writing (and becoming a writer). Usually, I post on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The Wednesday posts feature reviews/interviews/my suggestions to other authors.

On Saturdays, I am more experimental. As part of the Saturday Specials, in May I ran a weekly series of Guest blogs. In June, I am writing short stories. I plan to try newer things with this feature (maybe book reviews and short stories by guest bloggers/interviews with new authors).

 Here are the links to my regular features for your easy perusal:

Interviews: Monthly

Reviews: I haven’t formed a pattern for this yet, but this is also going to be monthly.

Short Stories: In June these formed part of Saturday Specials. In future, I intend to post monthly/every two months in this category.

Saturday Specials: I try to mix and match with this feature. So far I have published Guest Blogs and Short Stories.

With time, I am evolving. So is my blog. I hope to experiment more with the regular features in future. I love browsing ideas for Saturday Specials in the beginning of every month. It feels good to be the God of my own world: I am free to decide what I post here, and I can choose from endless possibilities.

As a reader, would you like to see any other feature on my blog? Please let me know in the comments.