Insight Stories

जखम  नातं आणि मन जखमांनी रक्तबंबाळ होऊन वाहायला लागतं तेव्हा तिचा आटोकाट प्रयत्न नाती जपण्याचा फारच केविलवाणा वाटायला लागतो तिला नेहमीच सवय, उसवलं की शिवायची  टराटरा कपडे फाडावेत तसं तिच्या मनाच्या हजार चिंध्या करून  तो एकदम निर्धास्त कसलीच तमा नसल्यासारखा आणि ती मात्र आपल्या नेहमीच्या सवयीप्रमाणे ठिगळ लावत केविलवाण्या प्रयत्नात - अनु शाह This posts was published as a part of the 'Words Can Heal' series. You too can participate and explore your creative side. To know more,  read this blog post . Check out books from the Insight Stories shelf.

We struggle to capture and live in time And even end up labelling it as money Until we encounter a moment which narrates in silence What it means to live beyond the clutches of time Then we can laugh at the fleeting feeling Of being in control of time Throw away our pretentious garbs And walk the path of innocence - The Last Nomad  This posts was published as a part of the 'Words Can Heal' series. You too can participate and explore your creative side. To participate,  read this blog post . Check out books from the Insight Stories shelf.

बऱ्याच वर्षांपूर्वीची गोष्ट आहे. थंडीचे दिवस होते. मुंबईतली असली तरी थंडीचं कौतुक (होतं आणि) आहे आम्हाला. शाळेतल्या मुलांकडे मोबाईल फोन नव्हता तेव्हाचा काळ. तेव्हा मिळणाऱ्या अनेक सुट्ट्यांपैकी सगळ्यात आतुरतेने वाट पाहायचो ती दिवाळीची. पण याचं कारण ही तितकच वेगळं होतं. नरक चतुर्दशीच्या पहाटे, चक्क चार साडेचारपासून घरी गजबज सुरु व्हायची. त्यावेळी आमच्या सोसायटीत एक प्रथा होती. सगळी मुलं नवीन कपडे घालून चक्क पहाटे सहा वाजेपर्यंत फटाक्याची पिशवी घेऊन मैदानात उतरायची. फटाके फोडून झाल्यावर घरी फराळ आणि मग पुन्हा खाली जाऊन धुमाकूळ. तर अशा पहाटे दादा तयार होत असताना, मी उठून खिडकीजवळच्या पलंगावर निजायचो. बाहेरच्या काळ्याकुट्ट आकाशाच्या पटलावर घरचा कंदिल संथपणे तरंगत असल्यासारखा वाटायचा. कितीतरी वर्षांपासून हा एकच कंदिल आम्ही लावत होतो ज्याचा आकार उडत्या तबकडीसारखा होता आणि त्याला छोट्या छोट्या अंडाकृती रंगीबेरंगी काचा होत्या.  दादाची हाक ऐकू येईपर्यंत पलंगावर पडून बाहेर त्या कंदिलाकडे पहात राहायचा छंद मला नकळतपणे लागला होता. मधेच कुठेतरी दूरवर एखादा फटाका फुटल्याचा आवाज यायचा आणि मग पुन्हा शां

This illustration was created by artist Parag Gawade (Instagram: @inspire_721 ) for an excerpt from my novella, The Last Nomad. You can read the excerpt at the end of this post. While many authors think of them as secondary or an unnecessary interference among words, I think illustrations are very special. They add a different tone to the story. Of course they may not go well with every story, but illustrations or quick sketches also help to make reading more engaging in the age of online streaming where we 'watch' more than we 'read'. I am excited to work on my first illustrated short story. In which format will you like to read it? A. Paperback  B. Kindle C. Ebook (pdf) D. Series of blog posts Let me know your preferred choice in comments. Thanks! Here are some of my favourite illustrated books. A Midsummer Night's Dream : Shakespeare’s Greatest Stories (Abridged and Illustrated) Get this book The Little Prince: Illustrated abridged Classics Antoine De Saint-Exup

Wriggling and crawling, emerging from an insignificant egg Disgusting as bird poop, you began moving over the branches Fearful like a miniature monster, you chomped off fresh lime leaves One morning, in the guise of a leaf hanging upside down You began to wither as if death would arrive anytime soon In the stillness of dull days that went by The lime tree bore an odd flower, called butterfly - The Last Nomad Check out books from the Insight Stories webstore.

A baby elephant in a zoo struggles a lot to break free from the iron chains, tries hard to remove the constraints in his movement and struggles for freedom. The baby elephant being small, less powerful than a grown up elephant, is not always successful in his attempts. But do you really think an adult elephant, the largest land mammal cannot break that chain! Then what is it that stops him from trying one more time to break the chain, to achieve what he always wanted? He, as a baby, believed that he CANNOT break the iron chain. How much ever he tries, his efforts will go in vain, as they did when he was young and etched a lot of pain. He grows up believing that his attempts are of no use and he stops trying. BUT, he hardly knows that NOW he has the ability, capability, and strength to break the chains. Regardless of his ability, he is held back by his old false belief and he stops trying in the present, when now the goal is realistically achievable. We too, at times are chained mentall