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.

The events and characters in this story are fictitious. However, the message from the transgender community is not. It is the result of a talk given by a transgender at an MNC in South India. I am not at liberty to name either the transgender or the MNC but I do hope that I have been able to effectively communicate her message to the readers.

Are you a person who loves the aroma of cinnamon wafting through the kitchen in the early mornings?

The lemon zest makes all the difference!