You're stuck with me for life! - Neeti's past

Here are a few lines from my novel 'You're stuck with me for life!' 

 

'You're stuck with me for life' - the story of an Indori couple!! :)

From one proud Indori to another! Thank you for this review Sheetal Sharma. :)

 

On the bright side

My next short story 'On the bright side' is dedicated to my twin boys Atin and Amish. It will be released on Kindle on their birthday (29th October).

 

You're stuck with me for life! - Dhaba on a highway

 

These are some photographs I have taken of dhabas (eateries) on highways during my road-trips across Central India. These remind me of a few lines from my novel 'You're stuck with me for life!'

Neeti:

"Look out for decent dhabas" Ronit instructs me, "We need to stop somewhere for lunch."

"I see one coming up on the left." I inform him.

"Seems too basic." He says, narrowing his eyes in disapproval, "And there are no cars parked there. Try to spot one where a lot of cars are parked. Cars, not trucks, mind you."

His comment brings back memories from a long time ago. Papa used to joke that some dhaba-walas probably park old cars in front of their establishments to convince people about the quality of their wares. It seems people are more likely to stop at an unknown eatery if they find it somewhat crowded. Of course, people of a similar social strata are the ones that count in this equation, hence Ronit's comments about avoiding the dhabas with too many trucks. 

'Why not?' now available on Kindle

 Just as Preeti was about to walk out into the rain in the interest of reaching home at a sane hour and saving herself from the endless admonishments of her parents, she heard a deep male voice, definitely not that of the watchman, call out to her, “Excuse me. Ummm… Preeti, right?” She turned around and found herself facing Arjun. A few strands of his thick, wavy medium-length hair had fallen on his forehead and the clear skin of his clean shaven face had an ethereal glow about it. Technically, he wasn’t her colleague. They didn’t work for the same company, that is. It’s just that the offices of both their companies happened to be in the same building. But there was no way anyone in the neighbourhood hadn’t heard about Arjun. He looked too good to be ignored.

'Why not?'

now available on Kindle

'You're stuck with me for life!'

As I cooked pav bhaji for dinner tonight I was reminded of these lines from my novel 'You're stuck with me for life!'

Neeti:

Raj is a sweet kid, always ready to help his bhabhi. But he can be really cheeky too.

"Wow! It's like I have two mothers now." Raj said to me one Sunday, peering over my shoulder as I was making his favorite pav-bhaji.

"What?" I said as I turned around to look at him.

"Arre! Haven't you heard that dialogue? Bhabhi maa saman hoti hai!" He said, acting all serious and making sweeping hand gestures.

"Stop with the dialogues and go get pav from the bakery. I'm sure your bhaiyya is still sleeping." I said to him.

He flashed me a grin and said, "Did you keep bhaiyya awake all night or what?", before he vanished from the kitchen.

"Bhaiyya! Bhabhi is calling you to the kitchen to lift the oil canister! I'm off to get pav for lunch!" I could hear Raj yelling at the top of his lungs after a few minutes.

When had I ever said anything about oil? 

When Ronit walked-in a few minutes later he was so annoyed that the oil canister was almost empty and I wouldn't have needed his help with it anyway. 

You're stuck with me for life!

 

Here are a few lines from the novel:

I am standing on the highway, practically in the middle of nowhere, with potato chips in one hand and a bottle of water in the other hand. My car doesn’t work and this woman has suddenly decided to sprout a temper! What a way to celebrate my wedding anniversary! 

‘You’re stuck with me for life’ by Venuka Goyal.   

The story of a modern couple in Central India, stuck in an arranged marriage.    

Now available on Kindle, Amazon and Flipkart

'You're stuck with me for life!'

Some events on my trip to Ranthambore National Park many years ago inspired me to write my first novel ‘You’re stuck with me for life!’

Here are a few lines from the novel:

The canter, an open truck that can carry a little over a dozen tourists into the wildlife reserve, picks us up from the lobby of the hotel at around 6:30 am. There are a few tourists sitting in the vehicle already. As the canter leaves the hotel premises and picks up a bit of speed, I am truly thankful for the beanie-caps Amma made me pack for the trip. The winter morning wind is actually quite chilly. I put my hands inside the pockets of my jacket and take a deep breath.  Today is going to be better than yesterday. All is not lost. I can still go back to hiding behind my work back home. Ronit will forget about this trip soon enough.

 

'You're stuck with me for life!' by Venuka Goyal

Thank you Mr. Kabir Bedi for being so kind as to promote my book 'You're stuck with me for life!' while you were promoting your book 'Stories I must tell'

 

'Why Not?' a short story...

 

Why Not?

 

Neeti's life

 

Life is a journey. In the end all of us die so the end can't be something to look forward to; it's the journey that matters. It's the journey that teaches us how to learn, how to grow, how to heal, how to love; it's the journey that makes us who we are. But in the journey of life, we often find that we are mere passengers. We can open a window for fresh air, we can try to reason with the driver about what turn to take, but many times we find ourselves on paths that we never chose. As passengers there is only so much we can do. As passengers we accept the situation and adjust.

'You're stuck with me for life!' Now available on Kindle, Amazon and Flipkart

https://www.amazon.in/Youre-stuck-life-Venuka-Goyal-ebook/dp/B09BL5F118/

Monsoon bhuttas on the highway...

 

'

Neeti:

 The Sanwer road looks so different today. Plain, barren and cold. In the monsoon it was green, glistening and full of life. We had come here to have the famous Sanwer bhutta. Even though I have been living in Indore for almost seven years, I had never gone to Sanwer before. Raj and I were standing by one of the makeshift stalls, overseeing the vendor as he roasted the local variety of corn on the cob for us. The vendor looked up at the overcast sky as he fanned the embers in the small black sigdi on his wooden cart. The fragrance of the corn was mixed with that of the soil. The indication of the approaching rain did not deter us from waiting for the bhuttas to be roasted to perfection. Soon it started to pour and Raj rushed back to the driver seat with one bhutta in each hand.

"Bhabhi, come quickly!" He urged me to follow suit.

As I approached the car with the rest of the wares, Ronit slipped to the middle of the back-seat to give me room. I was wet, it was windy, but I felt warm. We were five full-grown adults in a small hatchback but I could feel only Ronit's presence. His legs brushing against mine, the fragrance of his cologne overpowering my senses. He laughed at Raj's jokes and fussed over how Amma was eating her bhutta. My presence went unnoticed. 

 

'You're stuck with me for life!' Now available on Kindle, Amazon and Flipkart. 

 

Neeti's insecurity

There are a lot of people to help with things around the house. Nevertheless, there is still a lot that needs to be done in a big household with in-laws. But this work between home and school keeps me busy and keeps my mind focused. It doesn’t give me enough time to sit around and feel sorry for myself. Also, this effort is nothing compared to the depressing vibe of living with Maa. The Maa without Papa, that is. I am not as strong as Bhaiyya. I don’t know how he tunes out Maa’s rantings and mood swings. Whether she screams in the middle of the night or breaks all the glasses in the kitchen on a whim or decides to hack down all the plants in the garden one day, he seems to just be able to hold it together and not be affected by it. Whether she is diagnosed with depression or intermittent explosive disorder, my brother is stuck with my mother. Even though my mother has gotten better over the years, I don’t think she will ever go back to being the person she was when my father was alive. I already feel bad for my future bhabhi. If I can’t handle my own mother like this, how will she handle a mother-in-law like that? Maybe that is one of the reasons why Bhaiyya isn’t married yet. How can he marry someone and subject them to Maa? In fact, if Ronit knew the real me, he would probably not want to be married to me either. Divorce, no matter how uncommon, is not completely unheard of. But it’s best not to dwell on that today.

'You're stuck with me for life!' Pre-order eBook now on Kindle.

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09BL5F118

 

Ronit's heartache

 

She was perfect but my life wasn’t. And that was it. That’s where it ended. My love story with the woman of my dreams. It ended because she could not be the daughter-in-law that my family was looking for. And that day I realized that if the woman that I loved could not be my parents’ daughter-in-law, then some day my parents might insist upon a daughter-in-law that I could never love. By choosing to support my family in a time of need, I may have bid farewell to love forever. The romantic kind of love. The kind of love that makes your life magical. 

'You're stuck with me for life!' Pre-order eBook now on Kindle at a special introductory price.

https://www.amazon.in/.../ref=cm_sw_r_wa_apa_glt...

Neeti's nightmare

 I see myself walking on a wide never ending road. A road that is straight and even and comfortable to walk on. As I walk blissfully wearing a colourful dress that blows gently in the wind I can feel the joy in my heart reflected in the twilight sky above me. A sky that is a beautiful canvas of pink, yellow, and blue. A sky that fills my heart with hope of endless possibilities. Suddenly, a divine switch flips. A switch that turns off my beautiful sky into a blank black screen, a screen on which lightning strikes at the horizon, a lightning that fills my heart with dread, a sense if dread that is mirrored in a gale that ruffles my wavy shoulder-length hair and tangles it into a maddening mess that I absolutely fail to manage. In the madness of the moment I notice the clouds, the dark clouds that spit out a moon, a moon that illuminates the tall and muscular frame of my brother walking silently beside me. He is not looking at me though, my brother. He is looking resolutely at the horizon as he forges ahead. His presence reassures me, a ray of hope in the endless darkness. I try to grab his arm but the moment I reach out to him, he flickers like a hologram. I try to call out to him but no matter how hard I scream, he does not register my presence. He is walking faster now, moving away from me. I try desperately to catch up to him but no matter how fast I will them to go, my legs refuse to run. The clouds engulf the moon leaving me in utter darkness and despair. Suddenly, I fall into a bottomless pit.

'You're stuck with me for life!' eBook Coming soon on Kindle 

Ronit is frustrated

It’s strange walking with Neeti like this. Things were not like this with Vaishali. We would walk together holding hands, sometimes I would keep my hand on her waist and she would rest her head on my shoulder. We used to enjoy going for walks late in the evening. I can’t imagine that level of comfort with Neeti. She is so conscious of the surroundings and somehow distant. This one time I took her to a cake shop and bought her favorite choco-chip cake for her. When we were waiting for the cake to be put into a box for us I casually put my arm around her waist. She jumped away from me, looked around and then glared at me as if I had committed a crime or something. It's not like I was trying to make out with her in the middle of the street! She is just so annoying sometimes! Why should I care though? I didn’t marry her because I necessarily wanted a wife. I simply married her because my parents needed a daughter-in-law.

'You're stuck with me for life!' Soon to be published. 

Neeti is bored

Lying down comfortably in the plush bed at the hotel, I can see intricate floral patterns lining the moulding of the ceiling. One pink flower after every third green leaf. I count fifteen flowers on the long side and twelve on the short side of the ceiling. I am extremely conscious of the large wall-mounted TV staring at me, daring me to turn it on. But what is the point of coming so far away from home if I’m just going to sit in the room and watch TV? It has been an hour since we came to the room and Ronit is still sleeping. He didn’t even bother to change into more comfortable pajamas and jumped into bed in his jeans. Can’t be too comfortable sleeping in those. That too with a T-shirt that has an uncomfortable looking collar. 

I don’t understand this concept of being so lazy on vacations. On working days he is so active and full of energy. From his morning workout, to long days at the office, to evening errands and grocery runs, he is quite a Duracell-bunny. But the moment the weekend approaches, he becomes a completely different person altogether. He wakes up late in the morning, has breakfast, and goes back to sleep. Then he wakes up for some time to have lunch, and then it’s time for his afternoon nap. All that is still fine at home, but right now we are at a new, exciting, and beautiful place. I can’t waste my holiday like this. I need to be in charge of my own entertainment!

'You're stuck with me for life!' eBook soon to be published on Kindle. 

Unbelievable!

Ronit:

I am standing on the highway, practically in the middle of nowhere, with potato chips in one hand and a bottle of water in the other hand. My car doesn’t work and this woman has suddenly decided to sprout a temper! What a way to celebrate my wedding anniversary! 

But really, where is all this attitude coming from anyway? First she wants to see that ridiculous park. Then she wants to control my vacation and make it into a military drill. And then she wants to yell at me for breaking my own car! Who breaks their own car? Obviously it was an accident! And who yells at the victim of an evil speed-breaker? That too, a victim who is shortly going to have to shell out a significant sum of money to fix the damned radiator! This is practically inhuman! And now she is behaving as if she is doing me a great favour by bringing me these potato chips. These chips which will make me grow fat and have a heart attack! What can I do about it though? I am the fool who got emotionally blackmailed into bringing home a daughter-in-law for my family. I have no option but to eat these deadly high-calorie chips and hope to die quickly when the heart attack comes.

'You're stuck with me for life!' eBook to be published soon on Kindle. 

He doesn't understand, of course!

Here are a few lines from my upcoming novel 'You're stuck with me for life!'

Neeti is on a road-trip with her husband on their first wedding anniversary. Things are not going as she had hoped.

Neeti:

As the sun sets on the evening of our first wedding anniversary we are not gazing at the Taj Mahal together, real or replica. We are sitting in our broken-down car being towed into Kota city by a very questionable-looking van with a very scary-looking crew. We are moving very slowly, keeping to the leftmost lane.  As we approach the city, I can see the bright tail-lights of more and more cars ahead of us. Suddenly, my phone begins to ring. It’s my mother. 

“Hello.” I say in a measured tone as I pick up the phone.

“How are you beta?”, asks Maa, “Have you reached Kota? Have you checked-in at the hotel?”

She sounds quite tense.

“Yes Maa. We have reached Kota. We are right outside the hotel.” I lie.

No point in adding to her stress. 

I look towards Ronit. He glances at me with a questioning look on his face.

“Was the journey comfortable?” Maa goes on.

“Yes, it was very comfortable. Achha, Maa, I need to go and check into the hotel now. Can I call you later?” I say, wanting to bring the conversation to a quick end.

Lying to my mother is not easy for me.

“Yes of course beta. Take care.” she says.

I cut the call.

“It was Maa. I didn’t want to worry her.” I tell Ronit.

“What’s the big deal?” He asks “I told Amma and Baba everything. Why lie?”

He doesn’t understand, of course.