If it's the weekend, I'm probably not in Delhi

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 5/16/2013 1:50:00 PM

'By popular (which in this case means an aunt) demand, I will be doing a reading in Hyderabad this weekend. So exciting!!Here's the invite: Details:HYDERABAD!!SATURDAY MAY 18!! 6 pm!!Landmark Bookstore, Banjara Hills!!I'll be in conversation with Kinnera Murthy who is with a bookclub with the coolest name: The Bindass Bakwaas Bookclub. Also, like Bangalore, I will be happy to give tips to aspiring writers or anyone who would like some life advice, really. Or you know, talk about(...)'

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The PRoblem with PR

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 5/11/2013 12:13:00 PM

'Back when I first started to be a journalist, I entered with no preconceived notions in my head. To me, everyone was equal--from sub editors to reporters to page designers--and obviously the editor in chief was the head of it all, but the rest of us were all monkeys with typewriters. Before I joined my first job, I was given a little aptitude test (do they still do that?) where they make you fill out lots of pages about who you are and what you read and then line edit a story for mi(...)'

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Cat In A Hot AC Vent

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 5/7/2013 5:47:00 AM

'Yesterday morning, I came back from Bangalore at 9.30 am. It had been a weekend of six am flights--some down time in Bangalore on Sunday--but mostly, hectic, hectic activity. The readings went well, there was press and I felt a bit like a conquering heroine, book four all laid out in my mind, anxious to get back to work.Usually, TC waits for me by the door. A lot of people ask me what happens to the cat while I'm away. I've been lucky to have help who genuinely like him, I've seen t(...)'

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If it's Sunday, it must be Bangalore

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 4/30/2013 4:29:00 AM

'Time for more book tour related travel!This time, I'm heading down South on Friday morning, to my fatherland on Friday, and Bangalore on Saturday. Here are some copies of the invites, please share WIDELY.Cochin, FRIDAY, MAY 3!!6 pmPenguin Store, Bay Pride Mall, Marine Drive, Shanmugham Road, ErnakulamI'm excited about this, because my father says it's one of the prettiest bookstores ever--it's right on the sea front with a huge glass window you can watch the ships through. So I real(...)'

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This is when I miss you

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 4/27/2013 12:45:00 PM

'Notes to my sibling who could have been, but wasn't.  I've spent my whole life justifying your absence. I make out that one is far better, far superior to two, and oh my god, don't get me started on three or four. Sure, it works for you, I say flippantly to my friends with sisters, friends with brothers. But think of all the advantages I had--my parents and I like a unit, the absence of you led to the three of us being a family very different from other people's families. I had(...)'

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Three Great Camera Apps For Android: A Bad Photographer Blames Her Camera Phone

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 4/18/2013 4:39:00 AM

'Let's face it, it's hard to be a camera phone owner when your camera phone is just okay, and everyone around you has these dazzling 8 MP cameras or iPhones which could make even snot look pretty with the right filter. I have a practical, budget Android--I've been an Android user for the last five years--and while they don't last well for years and years (slow processors, bad battery life and so on), they do have some pretty cool free stuff that you can use to make your pictures pop (...)'

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The Con Master: An Update

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 4/12/2013 6:53:00 AM

'If you cast your eye gently to the right, you'll see my number one most read post is about Anirudh Aiyar, called Do You Know This Man? Since that post was written in 2010, I have received SO. MANY. EMAILS about him, basically telling me what he's been doing all over the place, that I thought it deserved a part two.So, here's what happened since the last time we spoke about him gently deceiving a friend of mine.The most interesting story I heard about ol' AA, was a collection of news(...)'

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Somebody left the gate open, you know we got lost on the way

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 4/9/2013 4:24:00 PM

'--> (listen to the song as you're reading this post)At 28, I found myself back in Delhi, minus one fiancé and a city I still loved. Now, nearly three years later, I look back at that person with a certain wonder. I can remember the heartbreak, the emotional exhaustion, but it seems as if it happened to someone else, in a different story entirely. That wasn't really me. I like to say Bombay is my spiritual home, but it was in Delhi that I began to find mysel(...)'

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Things

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 4/3/2013 4:50:00 AM

'Things that are free:1) A vast portion of the internet, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, THIS blog (yay), and if you look hard enough, television, books and movies.2) Nice walks.3) 5 pm music time.4) Smells.5) The joy of a good parking spot. The joy of holding hands with someone whose hands aren't sweaty or flabby or pulling you along. The joy of seeing a friend after a long time. The joy of having nothing to do on a Sunday. Joys.6) Sadness is also free, but expensive in the long(...)'

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Live blogging: a day in the life of a Coup

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 3/28/2013 4:06:00 AM

'As promised yesterday, I'm going to be live blogging our entire work day. Some of you (and I hate you) are away for the long weekend, but others, like me, if traffic is anything to go by, are on their way to or at work today, and so, this is basically for you.9.35 am: Cast of characters. Mansi (on the left) is the co-founder of Brown Paper Bag, here from Bombay for the launch of this thing. She's very small with a very big personality. Kakul is a recent hire here in Delhi, fresh fro(...)'

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Something Other Than Writing

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 3/27/2013 3:31:00 PM

'You know I rarely talk about my Real Job on here, it was a policy I started ages ago, back when I was with The Tabloid, and carried over with Indian Express, who objected to employees mentioning work stuff online, and then, I guess it became a habit. But, I'm going to blur the lines here a little bit, and actually bring up what I've been completely consumed with this last month: the bpb loyalty card, called the Coup Card, you buy it, you get 15 per cent off at Delhi's nicest places.(...)'

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How to date a writer

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 3/23/2013 4:50:00 AM

'You are in bed together, both of you reading, when she begins to read bits of a bad review online aloud to you. By the end of it, she has gorged on every comment, analysed what so-and-so might mean, wondered whether she will ever write the best book ever written.You toss away a comment about writing and it being an ongoing process. She is up in arms, "You don't like my book?"  You carefully say--it is all about being careful in this moment--that you liked it, you loved it, but (...)'

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Late Night Fiction: Annotations

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 3/18/2013 5:11:00 PM

'He made notes in his margins, circling words and adding his own comments, like a dialogue in his head. He wasn't a book collector, only a consumer, and when he was done, he sold his books at a by-the-kilo price to a kabaddi-wala, who carted them away along with newspapers and old wine bottles.She was visiting Delhi for three interminable months. To visit an aunt--ostensibly--but mostly so she could be put out of the way while her parents finished divorcing. She was 22, but they trea(...)'

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Launches & weekends

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 3/17/2013 4:33:00 PM

'I'm writing this on a tiger-striped couch in the Good Thing's apartment in Juhu. Outside, the traffic noises have abated a little bit, that's one thing Juhu has over Bandra, the traffic seems less clusterfucked, it's more of a pleasant roar than a constant screeching.Walk to Juhu beachThe other thing Juhu has over Bandra is the beach and a pretty walk to it, pedestrian-filled and cobble stoned. This is not to say my love for Bandra has abated, in fact, it still sucks a bit that you (...)'

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If it's Friday, it must be Bombay

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 3/11/2013 7:56:00 AM

'ARGH, BAD BLOGGER, BAD BAD BAD.If I could encompass these past few weeks in two words--actually I'll just make it one word: shoes. Spring is here, and I'm changing up some parts of my style. A lot of my shopping has been online these days, what can I say? Work is so swampy I don't even have time to blog, book stuff has been a little stress-y, so in order to get my retail therapy stuff, I shop.So, I bought these gorgeous pair of kickers. Colour blocked heels from Done By NoneAnd in m(...)'

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A Manifesto For Readers & Writers

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 2/10/2013 7:23:00 AM

'At the Delhi Literature Festival yesterday, I was on a panel with Jai Arjun Singh, Anna Vetticad and Arunava Sinha talking about new media and writing. And during the course of this panel, I argued that readers were being pandered to too much, they have a lot of power now, and while this got me some laughs, it made me think of a larger manifesto to bring back writing as an ART, and not so much about your Amazon/Flipkart reviews or Twitter followers.  The following are a list of(...)'

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Win a signed copy of Cold Feet!

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 1/18/2013 10:03:00 AM

'Here's all you gotta do:1) Write a short-short on love eg: first love, love later, betrayed love, unromantic love, love for your cat, your tennis coach, your left foot, sex, kissing etc etc. Broadly love, but I'll leave the interpretation up to you.2) (a short-short is micro fiction, so 140 words?)3) Send this marvellous minute piece of writing to me here, OR Facebook it to me here.4) Post a comment saying you've participated so I can confirm it. You can also choose to share the Fac(...)'

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excitement overloaded

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 1/16/2013 11:54:00 AM

'verse one:i bought a new carmy very own new carit's white with funny looking headlightsand a sweet curvy roofthat the manufacturers call "swaying"i call it lola--it's obviously a girla horn that's low pitched and altoa slender form that squeezes through trafficand all. my. very. own.lola makes me happy in my Deep Insides.verse two:for my birthday, my parents gave me a flat boxwhen i asked what was in it, they said 'plates'why would i need plates? i asked, i meanit's very sweet of yo(...)'

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Cold Feet launches in Delhi!

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 1/9/2013 5:50:00 AM

' Really quick post to invite Delhi people to my book party tomorrow, Thursday, January 10, at Kitty Su. RSVP here.  I'm super excited about the party, primarily because it'll finally feel like I have a book out. Releasing your book at the end of a year is a terrible idea, because it gets swallowed up by all the year end recaps and so on. Plus this was the December of Horrible News, so we couldn't have--even if we wanted to, which no one was in the mind space for--had the p(...)'

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Eulogy for Girl X

Author : eM      Blog : The Compulsive Confessor      Date : 12/29/2012 2:15:00 PM

'Feminism is not a dirty word.Feminism means you either have a vagina and believe that doesn't make you inferior or you know someone with a vagina and believe they're not inferior.A vagina is not an invitation.Your body is not an invitation. In fact, it's members-only and the members are whoever you'd like them to be.That means you can still take pride in your long legs, your shapely calves.You can love your high breasts, your slightly low but large ones. You can wear flattering neck(...)'

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