The cookies turn out crisp on the outside and soft and crumbly on the inside.

If I were to ask, ‘what is it that women, the feminine gender have in common with each other’; many of you would say it is their ability to procreate. And, I agree. God did bestow women with the ability to bring new life into the world. Now, some of you would also say that the commonality between all women is that they know suffering. I would agree with you on that too. Yes, we women do know suffering. But, more that the suffering, it is our fortitude; our strength that like a common denominator unites us and gives us an identity. Wouldn’t you agree?

Who or what is a demon? Is it a manifestation of our carnal desires? Or, is it a projection, astral or otherwise, of a part of us that we keep hidden even from our cognizant selves? Is it something that lurks inside all of us, maybe in our subconscious reaches, just waiting to lunge out? Are demons born or are they created by us i.e., humans/the society? Or, contrary to the above, is a demon an actual physical being? Is it an entity separate from us, offering irrefutable proof that evil exists?

very often we come across fantastic stories. They have a beautiful introduction that sucks the reader in right away. They also contain a fantastic build up of conflict and are backed by powerful characters. Those characters remain in the readers’ memory - Their quirks, their idiosyncrasies and their endearing habits. However, when it comes to conflict resolution and the denouement, many times, even such fantastic stories fail.

A fallen leaf is an anthology of fifteen short stories that revolve around the above theme. These are stories of normal human beings living their mundane, boring lives. The characters are real life people whom you can relate to for they are the ones that we meet in our everyday lives and yet tend to ignore.

Tell me, how often do we pause to wonder what the life of the sweeper or the vegetable vendor is about? Almost never…right?

The book is a collection of 17 short stories and also some mini-tales.

The best part about summers for me, is the peaches. I love the fruit.

If you are going on a short journey, have an afternoon free or are stuck indoors on a rainy day – pick up your copy of Hawk’s Nest and let the pen scribes transport you to their settings. I guarantee, it will be time well spent.

I think there are probably very few kids who do not like Oreos! Those delicious, dunkable cookies are the best treat (that’s what my kids say) to have with a glass of chilled milk. So, sometimes, I love to bake them as brownies. Trust me, they make for such lovely brownie treats to satiate those late night sweet cravings. And, they taste a million times better than the regular fudge brownies.