Jack In The Box is a collection of selected short stories that I have penned down over the years. As the name suggests, its like the toy, where the jester suddenly pops out of a box when you slowly turn the handle thus giving an element of surprise. Similarly, my stories have an exciting journey and they take on you by surprise with dramatic endings.
My stories are simple like life itself. They have my imprint on them, my encounters with life and my experiments with truth, all blended with a texture of imagination. The stories are incidents in day-to-day life of a common man.
मजमा that means a collection in Urdu, is a collection of my selected Hindi-Urdu songs and poems that is one of my favorite hobby. I don’t write on a specific emotion, rather I try to write on everything I observe and feel. I call myself a poet of नवरस: the nine emotions as per ancient Indian art.
My pen-name is अजब that means someone who is really weird; exactly like me. I try to write in various languages other than Hindi. I have tried writing poems in Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali and Sindhi. Although, not everything got a nomination in this book, but the ones with a mixture of Hindi and Urdu have come out really beautiful.
Footयात्रा is a travelogue of my no-money walking pilgrimage in 2014. It was an experiment for inner transformation and to check the existence Guest is God attitude in India; in the modern times. I walked for 20 days with two friends. I witnessed the best and worst of human behavior; in me and others.
This book is a humble attempt to narrate the story through my eyes and words. I’ve tried my best to keep the book simple and very visual.