M.C.V. EGAN ❧Defining Ways❧

Thanks Suzanne for this support blog post“One of my favorite reads this year is Christoph Fischer’s book Ludwika, which has been longlisted for the Summer Indie Book Awards 2016, Historical Fiction.Consider voting for Ludwicka for Best Historical Fiction:http://www.poll-maker.com/poll533529x7C28e4CB-22Source: Please Vote for Ludwika! – Suzanne Jenkins

Source: Please Vote for Ludwika! – lovely support post by Suzanne Jenkins

I visited Mumbai (then known as Bombay) as a 10 year old for the first time and kept staring at everything in awe. The tall buildings, the trendy clothes, the double decker open buses, sea shore, fancy food items it all seemed to be a part of some fairyland. I wanted to come and be here forever!

That dream was long forgotten till I came here once again exactly after a decade for my first job interview. It was a heady feeling. My first flight (paid by my company), my first solo trip and my first job – the excitement was too much to handle. Perhaps it was during this trip that I fell in love with this city. I loved the way people moved around without a care or worry. They seemed to enjoy life.  I loved its smell- salty and fruity it defined independence for me. Since then I kept making frequent trips to this place on some pretext or other and my madness kept increasing with every trip. I was falling more and more in love with it. Those journeys in the metro, people all around yet the feeling of not being in crowds Mumbai always seemed to be celebrating something. For me it was life, Mumbai celebrated life every single moment and I wanted to be a part of that celebration. Add to it the fact that it was considered the Mecca for financial services and hence the ultimate destination for any career oriented investment banker i.e. what I was then. This place topped my wish list of places to live in and work at.

Little did I know that Universe always remembers all that you ask for! In an unlikely turn of events I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder and hence had to quit my high flying career. The Mumbai dreams long shelved, all I cared for now was to be healthy enough to stay independent in every sense.  I moved to Mumbai a year ago under unplanned circumstances. Gone was the craving to celebrate life as I struggled to stay afloat. I concluded this is perhaps the growing up phase people talk about. Mumbai was just another crush and I had outgrown it. I had travelled extensively by then and seen places grander, bigger and better than Mumbai. Maybe it no longer had that special place in my heart as now I knew there were better things in the world I could turn to incase I wanted to. But I was so wrong.

Gradually I once again started going out, commuted in the metros albeit rarely and it is there that a deep sense of realization struck me. I loved Mumbai. I always did. As a lover, the fascination and madness was still there. It thrilled me and I am glad I never pursued a career in this city because then I would have married my love and ended up making it a dull boring routine. Those long hours of commuting, hectic work schedules and zero personal life is what all my colleagues always complained. I would laugh at them then challenging that I would never succumb to such boredom. I was in love and what do you expect from someone who is heads over heels in love?  But today I beg to differ.  Had I also taken up a job here, the spark I feel for Mumbai would have vanished soon because then I would have come face to face with its ugliness. I love its mysterious nature and would want it to remain like this – an endless love affair!

Today when I travel in a metro which is occasionally I can do that with a smile and enjoy it because it is exhilarating for me still. I see everything that one can need to survive being sold in those train compartments from gas lighters, ear buds, sewing kits, make up related things, shoes, bags, clothes, chopped vegetables, snacks, books, toothpicks, first aid kits and what not. Neatly packed in tiny sachets all within affordable prices it feels as if life is being sold in smaller portions. Take one to pull you through 2 days and come back for more! I giggle at my thoughts when a girl standing opposite to me notices my calm demeanor and asks,” Are you new here? You seem to be enjoying this rush.” And I simply smile and nod in agreement.

About the Book:

Give life another chance. Laugh a little longer. let go of your past. Hold onto what you love. In short LIVE rather than just exist!

Some told, some untold, some heard and some unheard – this collection of stories will make you look at life in a different light and make you ponder over its definition of it till now.
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Quotes from Metro Diaries 2:

All the money his parents earned sadly could never buy a moment’s peace for any of them as they kept drifting away like lost constellations into the space. Together they surely were in a way, but light years away in every manner. There was absolutely no connection between them. They just were like every other thing that existed in the universe… the oceans, the sky, the earth, the stars, the sun and the moon. You couldn’t change anything about them even if you didn’t like the way they were. – The Last Kiss (Metro Diaries Part 2)

You are enough in everything and anything you do in this world. Others are here to serve as a distraction so that they reach their goals before yours and become winners. – The Last Kiss (Metro Diaries Part 2)

At times in life we always see what we are being shown and not what lies behind that cloak of disguise. We believe all that comes our way without doubting that there could be a trick or maybe just a hallucination. – Charlatan (Metro Diaries Part 2)

Life they say is a like a jigsaw puzzle and we are all like those pieces trying to find where we fit in. – Labour of Love (Metro Diaries Part 2)

Perhaps she had forgotten the thumb rule for survival here. There is nothing called yours here.  No will, no desire, no dreams, no ambitions….nothing. Not even your name. – The Plummet (Metro Diaries Part 2)

What else do you do when you are a teenager? Life seems to be one long party full of fun and frolic with your best friends all around. You just know your world is full of rainbow colours; sweetness of chocolates filling it and abundant beautiful dresses to doll you up.  Love and relationships take a different meaning altogether now making you look at everything around including yourself in newer light. – Love v/s hate (Metro Diaries Part 2)

I always felt I knew what I wanted in life. But today I realized how wrong I was. I was chasing mirages as the reality kept going away from me and now I am left with nothing in hand – Rags to Riches(Metro Diaries Part 2)

People make memories and then reach a phase where memories make people! – Mou Athena (Metro Diaries Part 2)

About the Author:

Namrata is A Lost Wanderer who loves travelling the length and breadth of the world. A published author in various anthologies and magazines she enjoys capturing the magic of life in her words. She is forever in pursuit of a new country and a new story.

Contact the Author:

Website * Facebook * Twitter

Last weekend I had the pleasure to take part in my first Historical Novelist Society Conference. The event was held in Oxford and was a fantastic experience. The setting in such a history-laden cit…

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Orlando, Florida – october 7, 8 & 9 – 2016

Indie Bookfest celebrates Indie, Hybrid, and Traditional Authors and Artists and their freedom of expression. Join some of your favorite Authors for a convention filled with workshops, panels, parties and more! You won’t want to miss the sessions throughout the day, where several panelists will be speaking on a variety of topics relevant to readers, book lovers, and writers.

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