THE INDIAN COMMENTATOR

For some people, the ultimate purpose in life is to find permanence. They try to attain it by achieving a permanent income or settling with their family. In this process, there is always scope for improvement. What is permanent is real, a lesson we already know as children. Some lessons are learnt from childhood, some exist in our mind even before we are born. However, the person seeking permanence in life encounters the stark reality that nothing we earn or amass or call ours is permanent in life. Where is permanence? Is seeking permanence a delusion? Perhaps it is, when you seek what can be lost, like material things with an expiry date. When you seek things with longer expiry dates, they will remain with you longer. So, can we say permanence is relative, depending on the longevity of the things that matter to us? We must rightly jump to a conclusion here: permanence depends on the things that we consider, which also gives the relativity hypothesis a strong foothold. The question rem...

This is what I wrote in Facebook this morning. Advertising my author page.  I would like to shift straight to this new page. But I cannot afford to lose my touch with the virtual Colosseum here in this page, where we fight out our peaceful battles, without shedding blood. Gradually, slowly--is the mantra for change. So gradually, slowly, I will shift all my posts to this page  https://www.facebook.com/authoranulal/ .  Perhaps, I may even delete this profile page.  Have a great day. Remember, every day is a new beginning. Here is what I would like to share with you here on my blog: I have been trying several methods to publicize my new books: Those Tales Called Blue, Rani of My Daydreams , BuJi and the Indian edition of You Should Know How I Feel. I have come to my most important platform now, the space of this blog, where it all started. I started out as a writer in the comfort zone of this blog. As my readers, I would like to info...

Things have not been the same for me ever since my 34th birthday. On my 34th birthday, my wife, Dhanya gifted me with 34 books. Thirty-four print books, a backpack, and a brand new smartphone with facilities one could only imagine in a sci-fi story. Today, on 4 February 2018, I must acknowledge how differently my life has changed. Although I cannot bring my complete feelings into words, I could at least node my head at the change of scenario. It’s difficult sometimes, to give words to deepest thoughts. That was one of the reasons why I always shied away from reviewing author Paulo Coelho’s books; also Richard Back, Brian Weiss, and many others. I could not bring myself to the point where I could talk about these people’s works objectively. There was not even the case of subjective bias. I was just spellbound after reading these authors. Same is the case with that wonderful moment when Dhanya gave a big box weighing a ton. I remember myself thinking how would I be able to expre...

I am reflecting on the woman. I am inspired by the celebratory nature of 8 March. I do not want to argue if only one day should be celebrated as Women’s Day. I am not even sure if it should be “woman’s day” or “women’s day”. I feel petrified at the responsibility of speaking something about women. However, I must speak. I am a writer. The world listens to me. It wants me to speak. That is why the world gave me the attribute and the honour of the writer. Author Anu Lal is not an individual. He is the personification of the archetype of the seer . I am not humbled by this thought. Neither am I honoured. Instead, I am in fear. I do not think I can speak in depth about the conceptual side of a woman. From what I read at the University, every word I utter about the woman and the feminine would be used against me. I am not afraid of being criticised. On the other hand, I find it mortifying to be the cause of any damage to the women I love. I cannot think of hurting...

Read the poem that I wrote for my recently published anthology: "I write these words, my dear, for the time when wordless passion overrules the days of our togetherness. Saving what I wished I could tell you in detail in the pages of my memories. I write these words, my dear, for the days that make our tomorrow, so no one forgets what it was like to have met you and felt the need for you. I write these words, my dear, for those who wander in search of love; to tell them what they seek is in the depths of the bottomless ocean in the eyes of the beloved. I write these words, my dear, of the gift you are, my love. " Buy: Better Than All Happy Ever Afters

My dear one, I wish you a very happy Valentine's Day. It's not the day that's important. None of the days are important for that matter. What's important-and one should be double careful about it- is the quality time that we spend with our beloved ones. Remember, if you don't have time for your beloved one, you just don't have enough love. Sharing a gift with your beloved one is sharing time too. It's an act similar in its influence. Whenever your special person looks at the gift you gave, he or she is going to feel your nearness. Spend time for them, no matter what day you are living through or what year you are in. Remember, It's all about love. In my latest book , Better than All Happy Ever Afters , quotes from philosophers and poets, old and new, clarify this. Better than All Happy Ever Afters is a collaborative effort. Please support us. Order your copies here> https://pothi.com/pothi/ book/ anu-lal-better-all-happy-ev er-afters My b...

Writing mentality is a state of mind as well as a state of being. State of mind can be reached by taking the route to reach the state of being. Physically and psychologically, one writes. Both physical and psychological energies wane on long hours of work. Sometimes, writing is easy. Writing is hard on other times. One must understand when it goes through rough days. The smooth days must also be learnt. This will be helpful in the future. This means, you are going to do the same process in the future, no matter what. This is what makes a writer. The tendency to repeat the processes of writing to say the unsaid marks the genesis of a writer. Repetition is part of the process. Saying is part of the process too. Outward expressions of inner realities depend on the writer’s act. The act of penning words does not alone contribute to writing. Writing involves love. Writing involves passion too. Passion is not just the love for new events. Repetitions must ...

Two things have changed since I understood what Valentine’s Day is and why some people get excited when this day arrives on 14 February, every year. One—they have started using the term “V-day” for Valentine’s Day these days, as if it's Vagina Day or Victory Day or something. Two—some extremist parties have proclaimed Valentine’s Day a “No Love Day” in India. Adding to the farce, (I mean the second change I mentioned about Valentine’s Day) the Indian state of “ Chhattisgarh renamed V-Day as ‘Matru-Pitru Diwas’ , meaning the ‘day for mother and father’. In other words, by “loving” on Valentine’s Day, you might get yourself beaten up or in some unfortunate cases, killed. In Chhattisgarh though, you may be arrested and send to prison because the Matru-Pitru Diwas is announced by the government itself. Image Courtesy: www.mygatherblog.com I have felt it always easy, when writing non-fiction, to use a thought or quote from a book I read. Ideas and concepts from prev...

Every Independence Day is a moment to pause and look back in the political life of a nation. It’s like Birthday for a human being. You don’t need to celebrate it, if you wish so. However, each year, on that specific day on which one is born, the overwhelming sense of gratitude to parents, siblings, loved ones, friends and above all to the Most High, conquers one. Everyone feels it and from the standpoint of this centre of gratitude views the past with the pain and/or the awe of loss and present with the peace of hope. It is a day of coming to terms with the past and present. Celebration in the physical sense, perhaps, does not mean much. However, missing a chance to feel the grandeur of thoughts and internal awareness is, apparently a bad idea. From an individual point of view, taking a second glance at past events would greatly help in developing a sense of gratitude towards every moment alive. Thankfulness towards every blessing one has been receiving throughout also makes the i...