Respect the QUEEN in YOU!

Kangna Ranaut has hardly ever failed to impress me in any movie that she's acted in. She really has a strong sense of whatever role she is doing.
She completely gets into the role, to me she is the lady Aamir Khan. She being from a non filmy background, fought many stereo types before getting into the film industry.
Her recent movie, Queen, reassures my faith in her acting skills and that she has a great acting future ahead of her. This is only the start.
I am a big fan of women who can act and also look good. Gone are the days in cinema when women would just be told to dance around trees. Cinema is a reflection of the society, and the way our cinema is changing proves that the society is also maturing. Women now have a big role in everything that they weren't allowed to do before. They were not even allowed to leave their home. The man of the house was expected to be the bread winner.

Today's Indian woman is a strong woman. She knows everything, her family is conservative, but she is not cloistered and confined to the life that she was living few decades ago. Her worldview is not limited to getting married, and listening to her parents approval for most of life's decisions. Now she is able to stand up for herself and become a Queen.

In ancient India, women were treated equally with men. As a result of their newly gained freedom Indian woman have distinguished themselves in various spheres of life as politicians, orators, lawyers, doctors, administrators and diplomats. They are not only entrusted with work of responsibility but also they perform their duties very honestly and sincerely.
However, Male chauvinism has been responsible for trapping our women. We suffocate them in the name of security, safety and tradition. We are not comfortable with an Indian woman expressing herself. Some men don't respect women, the way they should be. Even Our parliament is not ready to give them the quota they deserve. In this day and age, where women are overtaking men in every field of life, from corporate houses to businesses to politics, women need to be recognised. The Indian women voter is 49% of the nation's vote share. It's time they stand up and support the party that stands for their rights, it't time the political parties make their views clear and make note of this rising breed of women who need to be taken seriously.

Women are special and they should go ahead and discover the Queen in them. RESPECT!

My first experience of writing a novel

I listened with dread to the message on the answering machine. “Hi, This is Shikha. Please call me when you get a chance.”

I began analyzing her every inflection, her tone, her pauses with an intensity that would have done a CBI profiler proud. Goddammit! She didn’t sound happy, she didn’t sound like she wanted to sign me. The last couple of months had been a blur as I had waited to hear if publishers were interested in signing a contract for my debut novel.

Now with that short message, my hopes went crashing to the ground. It was all over for me before it had begun. I spent the next ten minutes pacing the floor.

Phone her! I can’t! Phone her! I can’t! ….. I don’t want to hear bad news!

The inner dialogue continued, until even I tired of the drama, finally dialed her number and attempted a feeble nonchalant air, as if my books being rejected didn’t matter a damn. I was an artiste!
Published? Who cares about publishing when you can simply create!

“Hi Karan, We are interested in helping you publish your debut novel. It is a hilarious novel and we are sure it will do well.” she said.
I could feel her smiling, explaining details to do with the contract, fireworks were going off inside me. Feebly, I attempted a speech of thanks. Useless. There are some emotions that don’t translate easily into words.
This was it. My dream, which happened, again almost Accidentally. I couldn’t believe that it had happened, and pinched myself to be assured.

I remembered the journey again flashing in my mind. Devoting an hour a day and writing in order to finish my first draft. The constant ideas and instances that would come into my mind and how I would take notes and pen them down later. It involved a lot of thinking, you had to be in the mood to write. It was not that simple. It took around six months of discipline and self belief and finally it was ready. Then the next obvious step would be to get an editor to work on the draft. The constant follow up, the pestering and daily reminders to meet and discuss. Publisher’s are always busy handling many books at one time. So you really need to focused on getting your book become their current focus. That only happens if you are confident about your product. Then when your book is ready and dressed with the help of few editors and you are satisfied with the final output, you put it into market, emailing manuscripts and letters to leading publishers and then waiting few weeks for them to read it and give their feedback. The journey is nerve wracking.

Then when you finally get it published, the experience and happiness you get from your readers is the most satisfying one which you cannot put in words. It’s bliss, the realisation that you are able to share your thoughts, your feelings with so many people at once and touch their lives is self fulfilling. The book launch events, the PR events and constant visits to bookstores to make sure that your book is available all the time. An author’s role has never been tougher. Marketing yourself and the book are now a must do, in today’s day and age, you got to be on the social media. It’s a boon for author’s as we get to interact directly with our reader’s and hear their feedback. It only motivates you for going ahead and continue writing.

For me, finally It Happened and I hope it happens again!!