My tiny write up that came in "The Hindu"

The topic was " Do you think that the spirit of Christmas has been commercialized?" Only responses that were within the limit of 100 words shall be accepted.

It had been a while since I wrote something with a limit on the number of words. The last time I did that was for my essay in the English Language paper at board exams I guess. So I had to curtail myself and after lot of editing and re-editing I sent them my response.
 We were out of station and returned home a week after the publish date. I had almost forgotten about it. I went over to my neighbor's and got the newspaper, just to check and was really excited to see that it got published! Its is 97 words long. Here is the write up and a snapshot.
It was published exactly as I had sent it. No modifications were made except for the title "Changing Times" which was their addition.

                             "Changing Times"  

 
 

Earlier stars hanging outside homes signaled the arrival of Christmas season. Now Christmas starts when the neighborhood shop displays a plethora of Christmas novelties. We had a cute miniature manger with small figurines of Joseph, Mary & Infant Jesus. Now its synthetic Christmas trees, all kinds of lights - psychedelic, neon, serial - ornaments not just for the tree but for all nooks and corners of the house. Santa arrived accompanied by neighborhood kids, singing Christmas carols. Now Santa is expected to place loads of gifts at the foot of a brightly lit over-decked synthetic Christmas tree!                           

Comments

Geetha Narayanan said…
Awesome Doly! Way to go....
17 March 2014 at 10:06
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dosa Digressions That are Here to Stay

Image
If you are an Indian, chances are that you love Dosa! Its a dish that is a staple of South Indian cuisine. But irrespective of whether one hails from the Southern part or elsewhere in India, I have never heard anyone say that they don't like the Dosa. To a lot of people, Dosa implies breakfast. These ardent Dosa fans have probably eaten only a Dosa breakfast since they can remember and probably will continue to do so till they die! Many, like me break their fast over Dosa two to three times a week while others make it their dinner. Some like it as a snack to be had along with a hot beverage like tea or coffee, to yet others its an anytime food. For the mall trotting crowd, Dosa is junk-food, while its a quick selling favorite fast-food at the thousands of road side eateries. To me Dosa is comfort food. I love to have it in a wide range of variations. The most popular version of the dosa recipe calls for white rice and urad. It could be had plain or with stuffing. Restaurants offe
Read more

The Ensuing Saga of an Experience Letter!!

While sifting through my documents, I realized that I was missing an experience letter from my first employer, lets call them ABC Ltd. I decided to contact them to try to get an experience letter. I knew it wouldn't be easy because it has been nearly a decade since I left the job and the organization has undergone some changes since then. Nevertheless I had to give it a try. I messaged my then boss(Contact 1) at ABC Ltd in Facebook asking him if he can help me. My ex-boss didn't work there anymore but gave me the contact number of one of his friends/peers(Contact 2) who did. When Contact 2 didn't pick up my calls for three to four days, I decided to present my case through an SMS hoping that if I tell him the reason for my call and how I got his contact number, may be he would answer my call. So after sending the SMS, I called again. And sure enough he picked the call this time. I asked Contact 2 if he could give me the contact number of the HR personnel to get an experie
Read more

Back to School !!!

Image
                                        Appu started first grade a week ago. Back to school is always exciting for us. The kids look forward to seeing their friends and I look forward to the shopping and to sending them off to school after two grueling months of herding the rowdy pack! As exciting as it may be, this time of year does come with some unwanted surprises no matter how hard you try to avoid them. After the first couple of days of perfectly planned and orchestrated bus logistics I thought we were settling in to a comfortable routine. But then, one day at the end of the first week, Appu forgot to get down at his home stop. Big sister was unaware that her brother didn't step out of the bus until it was too late. So she came back home a little panicked and told me that it looks like Appu didn't get down from the bus. "Not again!" I thought to myself. Devu went around our neighborhood to check if he was hanging out with his friend Aiden. But when she retu
Read more