The Musings of a Wandering Mind: A Collection of Short Stories

By Shrabonee Paul

Inspired by reality, shaped with imagination, these stories beautifully capture the lives of the characters that take us through a journey into their lives . The stories subtly embrace the plethora of emotions of love, joy, sorrow, anger, fear or faith through myriad experiences of the people narrated through the pages described so beautifully that they feel so real. Set in a multi cultural societal backdrop, the stories will take you away to places which you can visualize beautifully between the lines.
If you are stealing moments away from work, or just whiling away some time, or sipping on your favorite cup of tea or just trying to read a few lines before sleep settles into your eyelids, or just one of those who don’t have the patience to read novels… This book holds a humble collection of short stories that helps you unwind and enjoy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781984540737

Shrabonee Paul

Shrabonee Paul is an Organizational Development Analyst- industrial psychologist by profession and an Artist by hobby. Even while she has been in leading roles with global corporations in her profession, Paul’s creative talents have always found a parallel presence displayed in the form of paintings, writings or photography over the years. As a lover of nature and spirituality, her writing manifests her appreciation for the simple beautiful things of life and helps us value things that we often take for granted. The lucid language and vivid descriptions make the stories come alive, and seeps effortlessly into the reader’s heart.

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Copyright © 2018 by Shrabonee Paul.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 10/16/2018

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CONTENTS

Preface

The Rain

Only Love is Real

The Moon Walker

Phoenix : Escape into life

Stranger things

Then & now

Tree of Life

If only you believe

The funny man

Not just a story

PREFACE

Life never ceases to amuse us. It offers a story, a unique experience and a tale to reminisce in almost every day of our lives, if only we have the time to stop and appreciate the moment. In the fast paced world and the actively busy lifestyles today, we are probably overlooking and ignoring some of these very beautiful experiences around us that not only open the doors to a whole new perception about our lives but also of those around us. Caught in the web of the infinite offerings that the internet brings to our smart-phones and laptops, how many of us had lifted our eyes from the screens to look around to watch the real world around us? There’s a new thing to discover in everyday. There is a story waiting to unfold in all these interesting things that are there just around us. I don’t know if I should owe it to my romantic heart or my philosophical mind, but I’m thankful that I had taken moments to observe and thus had the chance to cherish these little things that cross my path everyday and the musings and imaginations that I could weave around them that helped me pen down the stories.

This book is not just a collection of short stories. It is a plethora of emotions and thoughts that have been wrapped in the panorama of life subtly articulated through the pages that has unfolded between the thin line of reality and imagination. Set around the Indian socio- cultural backdrop, this book is a humble tribute to those very simple things around our lives that left their impressions on my heart and soul over the years. Be it the people, the relations, the beauty of nature, or even the inanimate things around us, the effort was to bring about a story around the everyday things that we often take for granted and sometimes forget to appreciate. Despite the fictional built, the foundations of these stories are laid around the realities in which we live and breathe, with an effort to capture the subtle emotions that make the experiences worth remembering. The short stories

My efforts would not be complete without thanking some of the people who have touched my lives in various ways thus inspiring me to write. I’m ever thankful to my parents and my teachers who have given me the very privilege to this life, my thoughts, my perception and my expressions. It is their foundational support that has inspired me to write and thus phrase my thoughts into words and develop the knack for creative writing.

I am thankful to my husband, who has literally pushed me to compile and publish, but I’m thankful to him for not being a patient reader, thus inspiring me to take up the challenge to engage big plots in small stories. It’s true, our spouses really know how to bring about the best in us, by creating challenges that we otherwise would not undertake.

I have to thank my friends, my colleagues who have always been my best critics and inspirations because they not only shared my passion but also encouraged me and been my true support. If it hadn’t been for their candid thoughts over my writing blogs, I would not have enough courage to compile this book. It is their love and faith in me and the constant encouragement that shines bright in my life.

To KRISH & ADITI : My most adorable darlings.

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THE RAIN

My drowsy eyelids flutter away as the beeps go off. My fingers trace its way to the phone’s snooze button. It’s Monday morning I was reminded, and with that thought I turned over and hugged my pillow tight trying to catch a few more blinks of sleep. I had so much work to do, so many meetings lined up, then there was the undesirable new change in the office transportation service rules and operations and my best friend at work was on a day off. Just all I need to feel like a grump…. The alarm goes off again.

I dragged myself out of the bed and opened the balcony door to utter my usual morning prayer to the sun. A gust of cool monsoon wind breezed through my hair sweeping it off my shoulders. I looked up and saw a beautiful glowing cloudy morning, the dew drops sparkled on the leaves and the sun was beaming from behind the clouds. The morning looked amazing.

I was then living in a beautiful city set up in the heart of India, known for its culture, heritage, natural beautiful locales with a touch of historic feel of the bygone eras. The city offered a beautiful blend of heritage and the modern contemporary offerings that easily found a way into the hearts of people of all generations. With its active and positive work culture the city was also a hub for professionals. The city offered a plethora of sports and activities for those who loved the outdoors as well. And above all the people were nice and warm. It did not take long for a newcomer to feel at home with this place. And so within just a few years, this city had earned a very special place in my life, as I lived every day to the fullest to enjoy everything that the city had to offer.

And just my luck I used to work out of one of the prettiest offices in the city, at the Cyberabad district . The Cyberabad was a new work district set up primarily for the purpose of being the headquarters to some of the most reputed global Information Technology organizations. This place was beautiful and serene in its natural beauty and had some of the best architectured contemporary office spaces designed that was home to a gamut of American companies in the heart of India. Every office space added to the beauty of its surroundings with the landscape gardens and lawns and sometimes lakes that blended technology with nature in an ethereal state of the art environment.

The beautiful green lawn and the open gardens by my office created a delectable charm that can keep you away from your desk for hours. Despite my busy schedule I stole moments to take a warm cup of coffee or sip my tea by the large glass window at the office cafeteria or take a stroll on the lawn outside, feeling the soft wet grass with my bare feet dangling my shoes at the edge of my finger as I took my walks. It’s one of those days when the heart wants your dearest ones around all the time to chat over sweet nothings. I missed my friends.

By the time I rolled off my work for the day the skies were murmuring deep. Through the open stretches of land next to the large empty plots by the office I could see distant isolated streaks of lightening play near the horizon. It was even drizzling when I walked out to the porch. The cabs lined up on their monsoon drill and the employees were dashing through the open spaces of the porch to avoid as much of the drizzle as they could and settle inside their designated cabs. Luckily I found a friendly colleague and we chatted on our long drive back home to our end of the city. By the time the cab hit the road by Banjara Hills the raindrops started splashing up by the window sill. I was feeling the drops on my fingertips.

We had a long drive back home. What would have been an hour’s journey was extended by several more minutes with the peak hour traffic snarls and the rain that slowed down everything. This side of the city better known as Secunderabad as known for its busy main streets with every small or large retail brands having their outlets by every nook and corner of the main roads. The inner lanes of this side of the city was the home to many thousands of people who had found their haven either in one of the many apartments that stood amidst the multi storied high rises or the individual bungalow that made this place a perfect blend of modern and old architectural amalgamation. But with the fast city life and the consuming power of the modern lives, the old was dying and the contemporary buildings and commercial spaces were spreading their tentacles on the region.

It started raining heavily by the time we approached our side of the city which was more than an hour’s drive from