Miss Bhawooq ©

We saw our love burn down to ashes. I clearly remember it was a night of full moon. We were at the beachside having one last vacation together. I was wearing a short white Scallop Trim Open Knit Cover Up dress. I could feel the breeze fizzling in my messy hair. As I walked barefoot on sand I heard him calling me, I looked back. He was wearing a cotton pant white in colour along with a blue shirt with his buttons opened, showing his abs. He was running towards me. As he reached near me, he gasped for air. I smiled and asked him if he brought the necessary things. He said yes. And that was it. When it was the hour for the ritual. He gathered some sticks and a mighty fire roared. As I stood facing the fire, he stood next to me. He bent down and opened a tiny bag. In it were letters, gifts, cards and all the things I gifted him. I too had a cute little bag that had dried flowers, ring, and other gifts that he gave me in the span of our relationship. We put all t...

They ask me why I do not like to be social? Why do I keep a particular distance with people? Why am I independent in such a way that I can never be dependent on others? . People say life is all about the consequences of choices that you make I say life is all about the consequences of what has happened in your life with or without your permission. . Seema was 4 when her mom put her into a nursery. She was pretty happy to make New friends. She was the teacher’s pet. Everybody loved her. But she received a special kind of love from Mukesh uncle, the peon. His touches did make her feel weird, but he traded her feelings with a bar of chocolate. She turned out to be asexual. Her body parts just shut itself. It's a common case from people suffering from sexual assault once a doctor said. . Rohini was 7 when she went to her neighbour's house To play with Aman Bhaiya. She took her toys thinking he really wanted to play with her instead there he Pushed her at the w...

Life is like a little message in a bottle to be carried by winds, tides and faith that it will reach to the destined person. Leo told me you wrote a letter, put it in a bottle and threw it in water for the tides to take control before it reached me. He said it thrilled you. In my anticipation, I am always at the seashore waiting for the note you wrote to me. In fact, I bought a house on the shore so that I could spend the entire day waiting for your letter to wash away on the shore.  Earlier I was angry with you. I always had questions in my heart as to Why did you have to leave? Couldn't you wait until we saw each other one last time before you go sailing? But then I remember you saying, the sea has its own way of making lovers meet. And that I'm your second love, the sea being the first. It is 6 years since you last visited. In these years I received 3 goodbye notes of sailors and one love note but not yours. I wrote to you 312 letters. One every wee...

Recently I received an anonymous letter asking me to write about what women want? If their silent treatment truly meant something. If their ‘FINE’ actually is a sign of some problem. If they can be real! Well, to start with, I think I might be the zillionth person to write on this subject. Because there are thousands of articles and books talking about the complexities of women. There are ten thousand other write-ups talking about women being an unsolved mystery.  But I wonder why the assumption? Why not have a tête-à-tête with them? Why not be courteous enough to listen to what really they need? The world is full of pretentious people. They sure do make you feel like they are listening to your words, emotions, your well being. But somehow they end up listening to only that part which might either benefit them or which they think can be used against you in long run. Being a women doesn’t mean being needy or manipulative as the world puts it up.   Being a w...

Ahmedabad has witnessed more than 800+  exhibitions last year yet the  standalone stores are preferred to be the only go-to options for the new breed of fashionistas. This might be the case because they want to explore more, maybe in a set-up that allows them to browse through with their girl-friends without having the pressure to buy immediately unlike the exhibition where one needs to act fast to buy things before the exhibition ends. The story of India is that fashion phenomenon that is all organic and natural embracing – regardless of the age-group. There is something for everyone. The story of India has a unique and innovative concept. It wants to save the lost dying tradition of india. It is inspired by the artisans of India. And it supports natural, handcrafted designs that would enhance the luxury in the everyday life. Miss Bhawooq had an opportunity to meet Sapna Patel, the currator of Story of India. A simple women with extraordinary ...

Do you know what the capital of our county is? Delhi? Correct!Parents and teachers must have taught you to read general knowledge. To read about longitude and latitude, to read about how rich India's culture and heritage is. But Do you know about Geeta Choppra case , Soumya case, Jalgaon case, Anjana Mishra case, Ajmer case,Suryanelli case, Mathura case, Bahraich case, Imrana case, 2013 Mumbai gang rape case , Bhanwari Devi, Nirbhaya, Nirbhaya 2 and now Asifa? Many of you might have heard about them in Radio and television and must have read about the horrifying experience all these above mentioned had? Did you ever think of sitting with your parents and discussing such topics? No? You know why? Because deep inside your heart you know everyone will blame clothes, girls limit and timing. Deep inside you know that system, Judiciary, fights between different religion everything is bullshit. The problem here is that we all like keeping quite over something. Because we unheard the first...

Originally written for Ciceroni Six labels from Ahmedabad How many times have you experienced this? You spend one hour surfing through online sites and scrolling down till you find the perfect outfit in the favourite colour; after checking it out thoroughly you add it to the shopping cart and eventually when you are about to check out, a faint realisation strikes and argues ‘Hey, this is expensive. It can wait for the next month’. You exit the site without buying. Familiar right? While we don’t mind splurging once in a while, we all tend to stick to our budgets. Finding affordable fashion is a mammoth task for most of us. It is a serious effort to scour through the local markets, surf through umpteen sites and finally freeze on that one particular brand that is not only high on fashion quotient but is also pocket-friendly. Ciceroni Team brings you High Street Fashion under INR 1500 from six eclectic designers based out of Ahmedabad. They are trendy, bohemian, chic...

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” - Norman Vincent Peale December is here already... The month that brings in the festive fervour, the one that spreads warmth and happiness, the one that makes you take a stock of the year gone by and the one that creates a hope in you to paint the new canvas with fresh and vibrant colours. And also because, HO...HO...HO it’s Merry Christmas. Celebrated across the world as the birthday of Jesus Christ, Christmas is best termed as the ‘Holiday season’ when families travel miles to be with each other. It is that time of year where we want to be surrounded by our near and dear ones and be taken over by childhood festive nostalgia. Though it is a Christian festival, in India, Christmas celebration has entered many a urban household regardless of the religion. Christmas is synonymous with Santa clause, Christmas songs, plum cakes and gifts besides the decorative pine trees...

"Where words leave off, music begins." There are some words that transcend the language barrier, some that resonate with multitude of cultures regardless of the boundaries; where the word in itself becomes the source of joi de vivre. ‘Music’ is one such word. Sometimes, we cross paths with some exceptional individuals in our life and that changes the entire course of the way we think and react. One such priceless encounter was meeting the Sitar Man aka Prem Joshua and experiencing the live music that was played in an event at  “Upvan” Rajwadu, Jivaraj park, Ahmedabad. Music has always been a matter of energy. Sentimental people call it inspiration but in reality it is actually a fuel. A fuel to your soul. A rendezvous with this unrivalled man who plays music that once admitted to the soul, becomes  sort of spirit that never dies. This man along with his band needs no introduction as he is the pioneer of a crossover sound that is nestled at the cusp of...