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May You & Your Family Hear the Bells

Wish all our readers, friends and supporters a Merry Christmas and a very happy 2011.
Thank you for the fondness and encouragement, inspirations and criticisms.
We look forward to seeing more of you and sharing more of ourselves in the new year.
Warm regards and many thanks
My Little Magazine

Death..

By Pritha Lal
Springville, Utah, USA

Fear it, we do,  shudder at the very thought,

Deny the very word, and run amok distraught.

Finality it may bring, reality it jars us to

Is death only the end of life, to mortals like, me and you?

To live without laughter is akin to dying

To love without hope can take its toll

To know you were wronged can be hurtful,

But to know you were cruel can really kill one’s soul.

TOP 10 2010 Desserts!!

Christmas is almost here; have you decided what dessert you are going to make??

Here are the top 10 desserts for 2010:

1) Red Velvet Cheesecake – Decorated in buttercream frosting

2) Coconut Cake with Coconut Buttercream Frosting

3) Classic Pumpkin Pie

4) Homemade Apple

5) Chocolate French Silk Pie

6) NY Style Strawberry Cheesecake

7) Pumpkin Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

8) Cherry Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Crust

9) German Christmas Cookies

10) Fruitcake

Don’t hate the player, hate the game….

The web was all ablaze over the Kardashian Christmas card that was posted online on Wednesday. There was plenty of love and hate about the picture.

From people loving it…

Yall see the new Kardashian Christmas pic? Omagahh! It’s precious!!! Love love love!

oo and i meant 2 say hw i saw the kardashian christmas pic i love it!! high fashion n @KhloeKardashian u look amazing!

As much as I don't like supporting that Kardashian Klan... just cuz they are randomly relevant... That Christmas pic is Fye! Lol

From people just feeling ok about it…

My wife immediately thought of the Blindside Christmas Card when she looked @ the Kardashian's pic

And people just down right being hateful…

Someone says Lamar odom looks like a slave in the Kardashian Family Christmas pic

Kardashian Xmas card pic looks amazing ... however brother Rob kinda blends in the with the staircase

Every time i see the Kardashian's Christmas pic I wanna vomit everywhere

For each tweet, blog or mention on some form of media, the Kardashians are getting them to talk about whatever it is they are doing.  People, we are all playing into the game.  I’ve said it a million times before, I can’t knock the hustle.  Love them or hate them, they are making money in ways you will never believe (and its more than just a sex tape.)



Playing in Makeup…CVS mini makeup haul

I am sickly and on my deathbed. Ok not so much my deathbed but I am sickly and I needed to get some cough drops and tissues so I wouldn’t spread my germs to everyone out there.  When I walk in to CVS, I never go straight to the aisle that I’m supposed to go to, but I go to the makeup. My eyes go automatically to the sale items and there are some goodies on sale! I went over to the L’Oreal section and saw that they have a few items on sale.  The High Intensity Pigments (H.I.P.) Shocking Shadow Pigments were on sale for 75% off!  I picked up 2 colors, Unashamed and Fiery.  They come in a small container that is 0.05 oz. each and comes with “Professional Brush”

Unashamed

Fiery

Unashamed is a purple-ish type of color and I decided to use the brush that came with it to see how things would work out.  If you are using this color, a little is all you need.  I poured a small amount into the cap and that gave me ample amount of coverage for my eye.

Unashamed

only used Primer on my eye

Fiery was a color that I was afraid of. It’s a hot pink color and normally I would have never picked up something like this but I saw a coworker rocking a hot pink eye so I figured I could too.  I was so right.

Fiery



Only used Primer



Both colors went on smoothly and needed very little product to use on my face. I can’t wait to buy more of these products.  They are normally 12 dollars and now I know how well they work, it would be an investment to purchase these at full price next time.

Also if you are looking for a way to get color on your eyes but not pay a fortune for different color eye shadows, Color Concept has eye shadows for you and they are only $4.99 for about 50 colors!  This can be a great gift or if you want to try out new colors.

lalaG

The Kennedys

Have you seen the movie poster for The Kennedys that is airing on the History Channel?  Greg Kinnear and Katie Holmes look eerily like John and Jackie Kennedy on the poster for the movie that will be showing in early 2011.  The Kennedys will be the History Channel’s first scripted movie series on the channel.  Also in the movie, Barry Pepper who plays Robert Kennedy and Tom Wilkinson as Joe Kennedy Jr. If you don’t know who Barry Pepper is, then check out some of his roles in such movies as Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, 61 and 25^th Hour.  Pepper is an awesome character actor. The Kennedys miniseries will go into more of the personal relationships within the Kennedy clan.

Everyone is talking about how much Katie Holmes looks like Jackie, but what about Greg Kinnear?  He looks exactly like JFK in that poster.  Maybe it’s the positioning of his head but….

Im so excited about this!

lalaG  

New Couple Alert!

She loves her a bad boy! Denise Richards (best known for Wild Things) and Nikki Sixx (of the band Motley Crue)  have been seen lately in each other’s company.  The two have known each other for years but have now decided to take things further.

Richards was once married to notorious bad boy Charlie Sheen and  Bon Jovi member (and her former best friend Heather Locklear’s husband) Richie Sambora.  Nikki Sixx was seen with tattoo artist Kat Von D (who dumped him for Jessie James)

Clutch the pearls honey!  Hope it works out for everyone.

lalaG

More details on the Nicole Richie and Joel Madden wedding.

Here is a sneak pic of Nicole looking stunning in her wedding dress by Marchesa.  More details have been released about the wedding.  Rev. Run officiated over the small ceremony that consisted of 130 people in attendance.  18 month old Sparrow served as the ring bearer while 2 year old Harlow was the flower girl. There was an elephant at the wedding!  Richie wanted the elephant there as a symbol of good luck.

Nicole looks absolutely stunning.

lalaG

Ryan Reynolds + Scarlett Johansson = DIVORCE

Yes, yet another couple has decided to split in 2010. The once couple, Ryan Reynolds (26) and Scarlett Johansson (34) who was married September 2008, has decided to end their relationship. The use to be couple, split about two weeks ago. Another magazine source informs that, Johansson enforced the split. Johansson reported that time was the major problem in their relationship. They seemed like they never had time for each other. Johansson working on "Green Lantern" and Reynolds working on "Iron Man 2" had conflicting schedules. Reynolds and Johansson released a report to TMZ saying "After long and careful consideration on both our parts, we've decided to end our marriage. We entered our relationship with love and it's with love and kindness we leave it. While privacy isn't expected, it's certainly appreciated." So there you have it, maybe we can make it without having another couple split before the year is over!

Glee news!

Gwyneth Paltrow will be back on Glee again this season!  Paltrow who delighted up with songs such as, Forget You and Umbrella/Singing in the Rain will be back on again as Holly Holiday.  No word yet as when the episode will air.

I love me some Gwyneth!  I can’t wait for this episode!

lalaG

Another hot couple split!

say it ain't so!

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens have split!  The cute couple have been together since staring in the High School Musical franchise.  Sources say that there is no reason that the two have split, that the relationship just ran its course.

In other breaking couples news, Elizabeth Hurley and husband Arun Nayar have also split up and have been separated for months now.  Sources say that Hurley has been seen with  Australian cricket player, Shane Warne. Hurley decided to let the world know of her separation via Twitter.

Is it because the UK tabloid News of the World published pics of you kissing your new squeeze?

lalaG

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden tie the knot!

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden were married on Saturday evening in a lavish but yet super private ceremonie that took place on Lionel Richie's Beverly Hills home. Very few details are being be released about the nuptuals, but Nicole walked down the aisle wearing a Marchesa gown that was custom made for her.
Brother Benji Madden served as best man for Joel and Samantha Ronson was a bridesmaid. Other guests included Gwen Stefani, Gavin Rossdale and Kris Jenner. "Best Friend" Paris Hilton was a no show.

I wonder if Lionel sang at the wedding???

Pics to come!

lalaG

Playing in Make Up

I have admitted countless of time, I am no makeup expert but I love to play in it. I’ve been watching a lot of television shows with women of color and I’ve wondered how they get such awesome eye shadow colors.  I’ve tried many tricks to help make my eye makeup more vibrant and shiny and nothing has worked.  On a recent trip to the hair store (yes hair store) to purchase some products for my hair, I wandered through the aisles and aisles of makeup that they happen to have there.  I came across the NYX line of products and always wanted to try it since seeing it on RuPaul’s Drag Race. I picked up some of the loose eye shadow vials and decided to try them out.  The one that I tried today is NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Penny Pearl.  If you are thinking that it is gonna be the same color as a penny, well you are correct, but on my skin tone, it’s a very nice color.

yes, i need better coverage!

What I used on my face and eye:  Cover Girl Queen Collection in Toffee  (foundation), Mac Power NW 43, NYX Eyebrow pencil Dark Brown (eyebrow), NYX Ultra Pearl Mania in Penny Pearl (eyelid), Urban Decay Eyeliner Zero (eyeliner).

I can’t wait to get back to the store and purchase some more to see how they will look on my face.  Each vial was priced at $1.99 each.

My Desert Rose

By Pritha Lal
Springville, Utah, USA

I gently crushed a red rose in my palm,

To the distant dunes, I let the petals fly,

Desert wind, I said, Carry this fragrance far and wide,

Just leave the bloody thorns for me.

To which I heard a reply deep within,

As if the scorching wind now gently mocked me,

 

Petals and thorns are both yours to keep, it said,

Love and pain will both remain within thee,

To want one sans the other, is to ask for a night without a star

Know that even a wilted desert rose, spreads its fragrance from afar.

As the sun rises again

By Anindita Baidya
Anand, Gujarat, India
The bus took her through long trails in the woods, by the undulated roads, passing by some rickety wooden houses. Innocent faces of the village children, with sleep still stuck at the edge of their little eyes, looked at the bus curiously while some dust-clad little bodies ran here and there. 
In an hour, the bus halted by the ‘bus stand’, which was a structure made of four crooked wooden sticks roofed by a blue-painted shade. Village Daam, they said. She alighted from the bus and paused for a while to breathe the fresh air.
She was there, at last. After 12 hours of long journey, she had reached the little tribal village of Daam, nestled in the hills of Dalma.

Rehana was there to gather the broken pieces of her life. She did not want to repent later in life for not having tried enough. And what was the measure for ‘Enough”, she did not know.

She had found herself at the crossroads in her little life. Rehana was already about to be engaged to Rex. Her father was suffering from abdominal cancer. Since the past six long years, she had kept her parents waiting, along with herself, waiting for Aahaan to decide about their wedding. But in six years, things changed and they did not really take a direction which Rehana wished.

With her father in the death bed, she decided to put an end to the wait and decide for once and for all. And that is how she landed in the small little village of Daam.

While travelling to the place, her mind was cluttered but once she landed in the village the cold wind refreshed her mind and she was instantly at peace. Now she knew why Aahaan never wanted to leave this place and never intended to quit his work as a medical practitioner in the village. Aahaan had decided to spend his life at this place.

Rehana reached the terracotta coloured single storey building, the only brick one, in the neighborhood. A medium sized pathway lined with jackfruit trees led her to what was named, ‘Mariam kee aashish’: the hospital-cum-home-cum-guest house of Aahaan which housed one doctor, two nurses, some staff and million dreams and commitments.

No sooner did she knock the door, a young, merry lad came out to welcome her, “Aap Rehana didi hain naa?” So, this boy already knew about her. A ray of hope remotely shone in her heart. “So Aahaan has told them about me…is he…….well, decided about the marriage?” she thought.

The lad, who said his name was Shibu, led Rehana to a guest room which had a neatly made cot, a writing table, a prayer corner and enough drinking water. Then Rehana’s eyes fell on the small glass bowl with jasmine floating in water. Memories of past gushed in to fill the room with a familiar aroma. So Aahaan remembered how she loved jasmines and would always have the flowers in a glass bowl in the apartment she had in Kolkata, where the two of them had spent countless moments drowned in love, passion, dreams, smiles, sunshine and rainbows….Rehana was now sure that Aahaan still loved her intensely and could not let her go.
Shibu informed that Aahaan would return only by late afternoon since he had four faraway villages to visit. Aahaan had left very early with his team but had ensured that Rehana’s stay was comfortable. Her return journey was scheduled for early next morning.
Shibu supplied her hot water for a refreshing bath and by the time she was ready, her lunch was ready too. She took her meal in solitude at one edge of the big dining table in the large living room. Shibu had prepared some hot Chila (a dosa made of rice powder) and steaming chicken curry. While she enjoyed her refreshing hot meal in the winter afternoon, she looked around to observe the room which was an evident display of the neat taste which Aahaan had.

After lunch, she moved around the hospital and the neighbourhood. To Rehana’s surprise, she discovered that most of them knew her. It seemed Aahaan often talked about her.

By late afternoon, Rehana was actually beginning to imagine herself living in this secluded place; she mentally planned her future years, managing a comfortable home for two of them, raising children and she also planned that her Ammi would stay along with them, right here. Only if Aahaan agreed to all these, she thought and smiled to herself, mocking at her elusive thoughts.

Aahaan arrived at about 5 p.m. while Rehana was sipping some tea, sitting at the footsteps of the kitchen. The screeching sound of the wheels of the jeep Aahaan was driving sent untamed waves of excitement in her arms and down her spine. In another minute Aahaan was standing just in front of her.

Her Aahaan. Her tall, well groomed, neatly dressed Aahaan. Her Aahaan with million dreams in the deep black eyes. Her Aahaan with the most assuring smile in the world.

Rehana was holding tight, the reins of her wish to run into his arms. She had tanks of tears which would burst any time, she had questions more than her mind could hold, she had complains, she had doubts and more than anything else, she had love. Unending, unfathomable love for Aaahaan.

After tea, Aahaan found a calm solitude place for the two of them. To ‘talk’. They sat on a wooden bench near the hospital, overlooking the Dalma hills. Sitting at the lap of the mighty and beautiful Dalma, Rehana was ready with her questions. Strangely, her voice failed her when Aahaan took her hands into his…

“Look Rooh,” Aahaan started, “I know, I understand, why you are here. I also know what I am here for. My life belong to these people here..you know everything about this place, you also know about what I feel about the people, about my life’s commitment. I have done enough injustice to you. For six long years, I have led you…..to nowhere. I am your culprit. You know where this relation is headed to….to nowhere. It is time we come to a decision. Rex is a nice person, I am sure. He will shower you all the love, care, affection and wealth which I cannot. He will also care for Abbu and Ammi and will build a comfortable life for all of you. As for your Aahaan, you and I will be forever friends for life’’

Rehana looked up at the Dalma. The evening grey clouds were hanging low by the hill side, as if they were trying to concentrate and keenly witness, whatever was happening in Rehana’s life.

They did not have much to talk. Aahaan continued for some more time but the words did not fall into Rehana’s ears. The cloud was getting denser and bigger.
“Will you say SOMETHING at least?” Aahaan insisted.
“Hmm? Well…no, can I have a cup of tea?” They had their dinner quietly at Aahaan’s co-worker’s house. A couple invited to dinner at a friend’s place? She thought and smiled once again. Her mind never failed to tickle her with deviant thoughts!
The wind was harsh as they returned after the dinner. Rehana spent the night in the guest room. There was a heavy storm followed by torrential rains which damaged the telephone and electric lines. So, as planned, she could not talk to her Ammi and Abbu nor watch her favourite , “Man versus Wild” on TV. In the candle-lit room, she was lying, in the cosy white bed. “What a gentleman Aahaan is, he let me sleep in a separate room!” the stray thoughts again smiled in her mind. It was raining very badly outside. She put off the candle and dived into a deep slumber.
The next morning, while they waited for the bus, Aahaan said, “You will be okay, happy and healthy, Rooh, promise me.” The cold foggy morning made her eyes so wet that she could hardly look up.
They could hardly spot the bus arriving in the dense fog. The bus driver and conductor took some time off to have a cup of steaming tea while Rehana and some other passengers boarded the bus. Aahaan’s voice was shaky and wet, “Goodbye Rooh, keep in touch please”. After she had placed her bag in the seat, she came down to shake hands. As she again boarded her bus, she turned her head to utter softly, “Aahaan, I can never be JUST FRIENDS with you. Goodbye.......!”

The bus left for the nearest town. As it moved through the u-turns in the valley, the sky became clearer. In another hour, the sun shone. After the storm yesterday, the clouds had cleared and the sky was much much clearer today. And Rehana headed homewards..

“Jiski aakhon mein katee thi sadiyaan
Usne sadiyon kee judaayi dee hai
Phir wohee laut ke jaanaa hogaa
Yaar ne aisi rihaayii dee hai”

My recent eBay purchase.

I recently purchased a denim skirt on eBay for the very low price of under 10 dollars and with shipping and handling the total came out to $13.95 for everything total.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my skirt that I bought, but there are a few things that I thought was going to be different with this. First, from what I thought the length of the skirt was going to be, is different from what it actually is.  It’s an ankle length skirt; I thought it was going to be a bit shorter than that.  If I can’t make it work at that length, then I can away have it shortened. Second, it says it was a black denim skirt; it’s not exactly black but more than a dark blue. 

I would buy again from this buyer but I would ask better questions and ask for more pics next time.

lalaG

Mini Makeup Haul at Walgreens

Makeup at Walgreens

I am not an expert makeup blogger.  Compared to some people, I am just a beginner at applying makeup.  I know the basics but there is so much more I need to learn about. The one thing that I am starting to get really good at is eyeliner.  I can remember the first time I tried eyeliner at a Mary-Kay party and I thought I was gonna poke my eye out with that stuff. Now I can apply it in one swoop and not mess up at all. 

On Tuesday, I needed to go to Walgreens and pick up some items and as I walked in I saw it…. The orange tags on makeup!  The orange tags mean that items are on sale, from 20% to 75% and sometimes more.  I was more than excited because I love a good sale.  So I searched high and low.  There were some items that were still too much out of my price range and then there was stuff I didn’t even need to buy.  Then I came across eye pencils from Wet N Wild.  I always buy eye pencils because it’s hard finding the right ones.  Sometimes I find some that go on perfectly but then either fade or melt away by the days end. The others that I might find are hard on the eye and you have to practically poke your eye out to see the faintest hint of color on your eye line.  They had a few on sale so I grabbed a few colors, Gunmetal (green), Gold Pewter (Gold), Antique Amethyst (Purple) and Cobalt (Blue).  I love color and the brighter the better, I’m not gonna shy away.  I was also looking for more of these colors in richer hues, so today was my lucky day.  Each pencil was $1.59 each (I don’t remember the original price)

I did a swatch on my hand and putting them on they were pretty soft and no tugging was happening and I applied it to my hand.  I would have put it on my eyes and taken a pic but I have another blog that I’m gonna show you my handy eye work, and well my camera sucks at those pics.

1.Gunmetal
2. Gold Pewter
3.Antique Amethyst
4.Cobalt Blue

I would buy these pencils again and at full price (lol) and I will do some pics with them on my eyes.

(All products were paid for by me!)

lalaG

Kim Kardashian cannot be stopped...

I will NEVER knock the hustle that Kim Kardashian has running through her.  Kim knows that fame and beauty will not last forever, so might as well benefit from it now.

Kim has gotten together with the Brissmor Company to create a line of watches.  These watches will not like anything you can pick up at the mall.  Some of the watches will have up to 8 karats of diamonds in each. The unveiling of The Kim Kardashian Premier Signature Watch Collection will be on December 7^th and will be available for purchase in 2011 online and in major retailers.

these are some very nice watches....I would buy them if i could afford them.
lalaG

My eBay shopping experience!

As we all know I have a shopping problem but with funds being tight, I needed a new way to fuel my addiction.  While reading some of my fellow blogger pieces on what they found, I came up with a solution… I should look on eBay for some stuff!  I would buy stuff on eBay all the time but for some reason I just stopped.

I spent countless hours on looking for items to purchase. Would it be clothes or shoes? Shoes was the pick since I hadn’t bought any in a while and I needed some to collect dust in my closet.  There are thousands upon thousands of shoes to look at and I had a hard time deciding. There are a lot of factors that come into play when you are looking to buy stuff on eBay like how much you want to spend, where do you want to buy it from, is it new or used, and so much more.

And then I found them… booties

i should have taken more pics...

They are the perfect height for me and the best thing is I can walk in them.  They are never been worn and not a popular name brand.  The best part about this… they were less than 5 dollars.  It cost more to ship them than to actually purchase them.

They came in the mail less than a week later and they were in perfect condition.

Final Verdict: I will buy more stuff from eBay.  In fact I just bought a skirt and it should be arriving any day now…

Brushstrokes

By Ananya Mukherjee

Singapore

“Here, your turn,” said the man in the black cloak, pushing a file across the table. His voice was as cold and dispassionate as it could be. Maybe his livelihood had made him that way, Rhea thought. She looked into the purse for a pen and her fingers touched the hair of an old paintbrush. The sensation left a numb spell on her fingers as she desperately tried to look poised and in control.

“Take this one.” Aadi slid a pen at her. An ordinary black pen with a golden nib, but she knew it was his favourite.

Rhea held on to the pen, nervously reading through the checklist their lawyers had meticulously drafted. But words were getting jumbled as she skipped paragraph after paragraph, unable to concentrate or comprehend the legal jargons and their implications. She was losing focus on the words. Actually, Rhea was losing much more. Her world was falling apart.

Aadi was looking away, his eyes were on the phone; he was impatient and was hoping to pack up the ordeal as fast as he could, or perhaps, he was simply awaiting an important call. His eyes caught Rhea looking dazedly at him or maybe beyond....and he raised an eyebrow as if to ask..”What?”

Rhea managed a smile, a very fake one and nodded her head. It meant “Nothing” and signed on the papers. Unintentional as it was, the nib broke with her signature. A strange metaphorical semblance.... .yes, it was as good as signing on her death sentence.

 Divorced. Signed, sealed and delivered. The verdict was over.

“Thank you,” the man in the black cloak took the papers back handing out copies of relevant documents to either of them.

“How long will it take for the banks and all other institutions to recognise this and get the records straight?”  Aadi asked picking up the documents.

“As soon as you hand over a copy of this paper, sir,” the man replied, and with a gesture as businesslike as only he could manage, Aadi shook hands with the lawyers, thanking them for expediting a long and painful process of legal separation.  Rhea didn’t have the heart to hear anymore of the conversation. She dialled a number.

“Hello Mamma.”

“Rhea, is that you? Are you okay?” She heard her mom’s anxious voice at the other end of the line.

“Yes, Mamma. I am fine. Mamma, can I come home?”

“Of course you can, my baby. What do you mean? What happened?” Rhea’s mother’s voice was restless. Then she sensed the discomfort in her daughter’s voice and immediately asked, “Is it over?”

“Yes, Mamma. It’s all over.”

“Come home immediately. Take the first flight you can get out of that wretched country.”

“Yes, Mamma. I have booked tomorrow’s flight.”

Okay. Good. Wait wait, let me take down the flight number.”

“It’s Air India IX 812.”

“Fine then.  Your papa and I will be waiting at the airport.”

That night Rhea decided not to go back to her temporary new home. It would feel terribly dark and lonely, knowing that she was alone again in a foreign land. Her three years long marriage had ended bitterly. She had caught Aadi cheating on her and she had caught him red-handed. Yet, as an expatriate it was difficult to know where to turn for advice and reassurance. Laws in Dubai were not the same as elsewhere. In addition, Rhea spent days and nights delving into bouts of conflicting emotions such as betrayal, guilt, anger, sorrow and above all vulnerability.

“No, I am not going to give up on life, not yet” she told herself. “I am going to make my last night memorable in Dubai.”

Rhea checked into a small hotel at the outskirts of the bustling metropolis, overlooking the desert. She reclined on the low majlis in her room with a mug of khawa, a traditional Arabic coffee, and looked at the miles of endlessly pristine desert and red gold dunes in the distance. “So empty, yet so beautiful,” she thought packing her essentials in a trolley suitcase. Her flight was at 1.35 pm. Rhea checked her ticket and passport and ran through a quick list of necessary items on her mind. The exercise left her feeling very incomplete. What was the use of carrying anything from Dubai when she was leaving the most beautiful part of her life behind?

The flight was on time. As unemotional as she could get, she went through the immigration formalities and boarded the aircraft. Generally a quiet person, Rhea didn’t want to interact with anyone. She had specifically requested for a window seat and as the flight took off leaving behind the trails of a past she couldn’t carry, she thought of her parents. Mamma and Papa, who were so against Rhea marrying Aadi. They never liked him. Her father, a retired Colonel in the Indian Army was a strict honest man. In contrast, the bohemian ad film maker Aadi, who artistic acumen was too vague for the Colonel was a misfit in the Coorgi family tree. After his service to the nation, the Colonel had chosen to settle down in a beautiful seaside cottage along the port town of Mangalore. She would be home by evening and if all went well, would start another life from tomorrow. Bound by the Arabian Sea and Western Ghat Mountain ranges, her parental home was like a painting that perfectly blended with the city’s landscape of rolling hills and freshwater streams, coconut palms and red clay tiled roof buildings.

The first few hours like always were full of food and entertainment, regular in-flight shopping and tempting duty free offers. Rhea’s mind was too cluttered to enjoy these services today. She kept looking at the watch, hoping she would be landing soon. There were clouds floating by, lightweight released cotton balls that looked so carefree but could hold such tears within, such that when they broke down they could flood a whole city. She could see the red tiled roofs dotting the green swaying palms along the coastline.

”Ladies and gentlemen, as we start our descent, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. Make sure your seat belt is securely fastened and all carry-on luggage is stowed underneath the seat in front of you or in the overhead bins. Please turn off all electronic devices until we are safely parked at the gate. Thank you,” a mechanical voice announced.

Rhea sat upright on her seat and missed Aadi for the first time since she left Dubai. She hated flight landings. The pit of her stomach roared and made strange noises as the aircraft descended. In other times, she would cling to Aadi’s shirt sleeves, and say her prayers. Today, she dug into her purse and clutched Aadi’s paintbrush...his first gift to her and closed her eyes tight.

Then there was a deafening noise like a tyre burst and a complete curtain of enveloping darkness.

With jet speed, the Boeing 737-800 Air India Express IX 812 flying from Dubai to Mangalore on a normal summer evening landed beyond the touchdown zone, overshot the table top runway and crashed into a ravine, killing 158 passengers on board.

From the debris, they found the charred remains of a body thrown on the tarmac tightly clutching on to the only meaningful possession she had. It was a worn out artist’s paintbrush.