Word Planes

Etching single words on paper. Just because you love them: Sky. Despite. Pure. Fort. Olive. Diwali. Film. Nudge. Blue. Yes. Love. Kanjeevaram. Enfield. Arrow. Tehzeeb. Epithet. Serendipity. Kubrick. Sohbet. Dil. Dil-vil. Luv-shuv. Epitaph. Minus. Raison d’être. Red balloon. Hopper’s New York. Epitome. Bonneville. Triumph and Disaster. Punjab. British Racing Green. I’m so done with you. Atomic. Marshmallow. Cambridge. “Heart is an organ of fire.” Le Mans. Of some sort. Mile-high. Salt Lake City. Mahogany. “Babette’s Feast”. Alas. Wimbledon. Cafe racer. Jinx. Ramjaane. Inshallah. Amen. Tathasthu. You are on your own. Skin-deep. “Man, Woman and Child”. Kyon? Kyon ki. Kismat. Open-ended. Mary Janes. Funny. Feynman. 4-minute-mile. Que sera sera. Fly away. Nice. Steve McQueen. Let go. Itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka-dot bikini. South of France. Built like a tank. Hinterland. “Smoky and the Bandit”. Veil. Hit me up. Dear Red. Mesmerizing. Do it. Robin Williams. Texas. Meandering. Irish pub. “On the Waterfront”. Mismatch. Tuscany. Master of my soul. HD650. “Trumbo”. Fix it. Prize-catch. Honey. Brace up. Saratoga. Whaaaaat?! Sss. Shh. -ish. Pst. Aw. Whoof. Ew. Grr. Bridging the gap. Tell me!! Seabiscuit. “Here I am, dining with you fine people”. Nibmeister. Come, see me. “Someday” -Knight & Day. Pantheon of greats. Agneepath. Picking up where you left off. “The Godfather”. Paper. Jump. Winding. Ars gratia artis. Janaki: D/O Janak. Parvati: Parvatarajatanayi: D/O. King of the Mountains. Cinder. Ella. Cinderella. Locomotive. Motif. “For you, a thousand times”. Tidy. Bitumen. Sisyphus. Now. NOW. NOW!! Mistake not. Platform. Fibonacci. Run. Two dozen roses. Rev up!! Haze. Mighty. Parthenon. Frugal. Wounds of love. Parabola. Bring in the archers. Scrum. Circa. German engineering. Moonstruck. Rush job. “Meet Joe Black”. How do you know? Sublime. Capra-esque. Plunge. Jazz. Razzmatazz. Star-crossed. Amphitheater. Summer dress. Connaught Place. Fallopian. Air Mail. OBE. Hop in. Brilliance. Maple. Short circuit. A David Lean Picture. “Eats, Shoots, Leaves”. Naginata Cross Concord. Scrimp. “A Little Romance”. Meisterstück. Try me. Deep learning. Bike messenger. Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Kashmir preamps. “Professor Marston and the Wonder Women”. Influenza. Minor skirmish. Steve Jobs. Roadside dhaba. Harbinger of things to come. Flat frequency response. Vantablack. Love child. Atomos. Never to hear from again. “You jump, I jump”. Beryllium drivers. Peace. Taaftan. Sissy. Le Coule. Barsaati. Nano diaphragm. Merch. Use both hands while making mistakes. Protect structural integrity. Los Gatos. Makhan. Any day. Quantum mech. Heyday. Florence. Nightingale. Aye. DIY. Ms. Mssr. Gmbh. Et al. Prodigal son. Digress. Milos Forman. Inexplicable. Duty. Come what may. To Do. Golden Ratio. Self-styled. Look, ma, no hands. Malpaso Creek. Everywhere. All-analog. Oscar de la Renta. People. Amalfi Coast. Lassi. Kingdom. Presence of mind. A24. But you weren’t there. Atypical. Christina’s Dream. Like a zoo. AI. Bite. Favoring. Twig. Unheard of. Felled it. “I am the guy who speaks the truth. You must be the other guy.” California Dreamin’. Hitherto. Signet ring. Common sense. Fenway Park. Jacked up. Postcard. No looking back. Farm animals. Partial eclipse. You wouldn’t want to mess with me. Mailbox. Parenthesis. Escrow account. Funk. Escaped unhurt. Droid. Here and there. Less said the better. Heer. Subliminal. “Field of Dreams”. Basketful. Snake eating its own tail is Benzene. “A Walk in the Clouds”. Practice, practice, practice. Steinbeck country. Mellifluous voice. Sit under the tree. Highway 1. Anything for you. Jot down. Lord Shiva. Cakewalk. Wait for your turn. Sea shells. Misattributed to. “I live here now”. A4 paper. Brotherly affection. New works. Odorless substance. “Trouble with the Curve”. On the house. Transitioning. How many chapters? Bogie and Bacall. Cultivated land. Rajashekhara. 32-bit Float. The shop around the corner. En route. With best regards. Orderly fashion. Thought you would never ask. Coat hanger. Quivered with anger. To go. Ballpark figure. Midnights. Dekko. You wouldn’t want that, would you? Sandpiper. The unsaid. Pink. Patiala. Pink Patiala. Dejected. This train, it keeps going in this direction and then in the opposite -doesn’t it remember where its home is? Art Deco. Little League. Pranayama. Shelved. “Phillauri” copied the idea from “Remember Me”. Human jukeboxes. Why are you standing that far? Dhak dhuk. Metronome. “12 Angry Men”. Necklace E for?! Acoustic version. How is the lobster? Library steps. Chuckle. Close pen. Suddenly I was my father’s son. Full moon. Check enclosed. Practical effects. Will call. Sailor. I don’t understand gyms. Why can’t people just jog? Blotting paper. Sit tight. A nurturing heart. Validate this. “Music and Lyrics”. Thought I would never see you again. Post office. Minnows. Now Hiring. Midnight blue. That ship sailed. Bot. Costs extra. “The Adjustment Bureau” is here. Premed. Why is an anagram not one? What did Caspian Sea? The Eras Tour is what the economy just needed. Chlorinated. Embattled. Mercurial by nature. Lap it up. Butcher’s Daughter. Jack’s Wife Freda. Killing me softly. Telling my whole life. Feather. Repercussions. Heading now. Course-correction. Rack of a lamb. Heart of a lion. All Employees Must Wash Hands. Not you. You are from India. Trench coat. Burberry. Umbrellas. All we need is rain now. Powered by. Dwellings. Shillings worth. Mustard fields. Siamese valve. End game. Peugeot Sound. Humble beginnings. Lady Di. Patience. In gross receipts. In triplicate. Impressive records. Saw mill. Hoot. Triangulation method. 116: Maiden century. Tara. O’Hara. In the womb. War cry. D) It’s written. Reminiscing. “Cinema Paradiso”. Strength of two. Braved the weather. Nazm nazm sa. Where do we order? FDNY. Chole bhature. Obliterated. Single-screen theater. Mid-sentence. Could I ride shotgun? Invictus. Cape Cod decal. Safe haven. Poppy seeds strudel. For a reason. Raag Malhar. Asics Kayano/US 13/ExtraWide. Saga. Tubeless. Tell mom. Love, S. “Roman Holiday”. Dawg!! Go, die. Maximus. Chanakyapuri. Leave everything. Amber. The Lion King. Given. Skyward. Keep walking. Harvest Moon. Geetanjali. English miss. Urvashi 70MM. Tiptoe. Song. Bid adieu. Rim-zhim. Dilly-dolly. Why do you wear two plaits, one forward, the other backward? We don’t know if you are going or coming! Free verse. Plot thickens. Stuck by lightning. Mirzya. “Six Degrees of Separation”. Elevator pitch. Hopping over the pond. David Gregory Roberts. Roll call. Dreary. Readings aren’t everything. “Certain blue enters your soul”. Within constraints. E pluribus unum. Ushered in. Karmanyevadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana. Why can’t people understand Pushing Vs Pulling? War bride. Fiat 500. Grief-stricken. Cul-de-sac. Mise en scène. Lenwich. Dil wich. Havana. Ooh na-na. F*ck GPS. Abhimanyu. Merger. Just come over. Ignorance tax. The price you pay for other people’s ignorance. Fun-loving. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu. Nothing. Vishwanath. Sea-bound. Giver. New England. All writing is suffering and smiling. Unplugged. Farm-fresh. Zebra crossing always reminds me of The Beatles. Is this normal? And a horse-drawn carriage is always a Hermes. Rain. Ilahi. Wake up. Abreast. Hot off presses. Science bitch. Flatlands. Staring into the unknown is so much fun. Folktale. Precise. Kinetic. Amélie Poulain. Don Juan DeMarco. Both meet. Meghsandesh. Vetoed. Slate. Jungle cat. “Casablanca”. Squad. You wish!! Vision in pink. Moon River. That’s what I said. Ghar chale? Isle of Man. Guggenheim. Mass Market Edition. Nu number. Who dis? Milk. Belle Époque. Taschen. Why are you doing this to me? Output Impedance<0.1. Who doesn’t like pie?! So near yet so far. Conserve. Mother. The dome of Chrysler Building. The crown of Statue of Liberty. Both same. Vinyl. BO. Mojo. BoxOfficeMojo. Three kinds of people: those who can count, and those who can’t. Leap. Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar. You no when you no. Kithey?! Keep’em coming. Red Velvet is a pleaser. Tries too hard. Red Velvet is a failed exercise in imagination that found a niche in the market. Burdened with. Contents. Paddle, paddle. Berries. Worry not. Index finger. Hesitated. Wyatt’s Torch. You can’t cherrypick data. National fervor. Manual labor. Sometimes the tree grows too fast. The roots need to catch up. Muse is a ruse. Apple Store. Revolutionary right when the Constitutional right dies. SNR. So good…I wept. Reddit. View from Tajgunj is better. Nottingham. Keep me posted. Perfection. One at a time. I don’t know how but every year, New York women end up losing all their savings just as summer approaches. They can’t even afford a bra. Conundrum. Have people stopped naming their babies Alexa yet? Brush aside. Gee whiz. Won’t. Residual. But why? MLK. Key lime pie at Crosby’s Kitchen. Empire Builder or Southwest Chief? Aside from. Chew. Tribeca. Chewbacca. Snowcaps. Did you just twirl?! You can’t ask a man to eat his veggies first when all he has on his plate is veggies. Bone-crushing defeat. Native speaker. Do we really need exclamation marks? Permanent black. Last hurrah. As is his wont. Cellphone companies have a secret nexus with sportswear brands. How else can you explain running shorts without zippers on side-pockets? Luxembourg. Drill. Nada. Pythagorus. Wonder why people buy whiteboards when the whole wall can be a whiteboard. Steam engine. Phantasmic. Hogwash. Vipassana. If by Kipling, what by me? Sanctum sanctorum. Dakota. Expound. Leopold Cafe. Oliver!! Labor Day. Haz-Mat suit. Gimme truth or gimme death. Is there a ‘Kin’ bag too? They better go together. Upsetting patriarchy in hot pink. “Yes, I added the please at the end.” Handcrafted. Marsupial. Canary yellow. Drizzle. I have two words: dynamic range. Free coffees. Longfellow Bridge. Runaway bride. Calypso. Extraterrestrial. Goods wagon. Lion cubs. Aisle after aisle. Countryside. Rhapsody. Congenital. Bread-winner. Ground water. Dodo. Freckles. Winter thing. Must be. Grind to a halt. Henna. There comes a time. Coup de foudre. I know what you are thinking, did he say one word or ten words? Best bang for buck. Who is Buck? Surely. Don’t call me Shirley. Outliers. Sidelines. Outliers on the sidelines. Unicycle is a showoff. Gary Larson. Freebies. Cog in the machine. For a film on A-bomb inventor, “Oppenheimer” is a mosquito bite. Have people no faith in linear storytelling anymore?! Route 66. Wine-stained dress. I am in for the long haul. “Broken Flowers”. Wallpaper. Folklore. Why is it that it’s always the roulette table that people lose money at in books and films? Take the FDR. Horrendous. I don’t understand fashion shows -why can’t we just sit on the sidewalk and watch people? G-men. Teetering on its. Cloudburst. Union Station. Typo. Gawd! Why you do dis to me? It’s a Cessna. Dealt with. Greek features. Milieu. Chola dynasty. A myriad of. Discretion. In cognizance of. “Hey There, Delilah, what’s it like in New York City?” Grassroots. Stained glass. Where do we go from beer? Er. Scarlet Letter. Marle. She looks like her in Marle’s Scarlet Letter. Angels have no gender. Only wings. Turned a new leaf. Three minutes and I run into a barney. Service Entrance in the Back. Giuseppe Tornatore. Cash flow. Tetrahedron. When brown sugar came first, why did they have to go further and invent white sugar? Coat of arms. Stashed away. Replica. “Junior Bonner”. Ornate. Chilly red. Turnpike. Dove. New York universities and property tax are so cute. Genteel. Bookmarks. Nearby florist. Tinder is such a nice choice of word for what the app intends to do. Ditto, Kindle. Dodgy end. Open-and-shut case. Apathy. Ireland needs a new name for its airlines. Lake Michigan. Señorita. Fixed-line. Even the biggest of libraries come with no coffee machines. It’s a conspiracy. Ditto, cafes offering chairs without backrests. Be gentle. Fiscal hesitancy. Salt of the earth. Decimal point. Extras. Paradoxical. Mud. You see green shoots of progress. I see a PR agency at work. Flora and fauna. Mnemonic. Cut a sad figure. Heated windows. Reciprocal. Sassy. First signs. Hammock is monologue. Seesaw is dialogue. Roller-coaster is drama. Accident is action. Rescue is thriller. Death is awards season. Happy-ending is box-office. Work is love. I like writing sitting at the kitchen table. Quizas, quizas, quizas. Henry Kloss design: Tivoli Audio Model One. Laccha paratha. Soon precipitated into. Proprietary interface. Iowa. “It was a good death”. On speed dial. Vice versa. Siesta. Mischief. Blazing sun. “Just because I speak with an accent doesn’t mean I think with an accent”. Greyhound. Stop being a pest. Fixie in blood red. Dogged determination. Mini Cooper. Sis. Lee Iacocca. No Thoroughfare. “Il Postino”. Blush. Imperial. Escape velocity. Off-white. Sierra Nevada. Correlated. What are you, 8?! 6?! Sorry, 4? Roadside diner. Ivory. Baby on Board. Dystopian. Free fall. In the sha-ha, sha-ha-llow. Take the bus. Nano microns. Dharmo rakshati rakshitaha. Gotcha. Raspberry red. How would you know? Majestic. Cello. What just happened? Pods. Batting average. Canine. Epic. Retract. Canal. Product development. Soaked overnight. Mistaken identity. Twitch. Stars look closer, if you look closer. Device. Mordant. “What more can the heart of a man desire?!” Subdued. Requiem for a. Ally. Rare metals. Groundswell. Random words. Candy-floss romance. Smell of flour burning. Who would’ve thought? Tan is overrated. Strathmore Paper Mills. Stables. Vintage. Coast-to-coast. Die in your lap. If I die in sleep in your lap, would I be reborn and waking up as your baby? Calypso. Notting Hill Shopping Bag. Mbappé. “Be the bread. Take time”. Kohl-lined eyes. Just don’t take too much time. Congenial. Fine strokes. “Smile. A little bow. And a wave.” Chartered plane. Well-ripened fruit. Good language as well as hood language. Blindsided. Hand-washed. 0.4mm is the sweet spot for your cursive italic nib grind. Steadfast. Theoretical. Nude shade. Sikander. In the bowls of. Hold fort. Old Spice. Chickpeas. Oval. Metered taxi. Winter is responsible for the world population. In reserve. Uprooted. Coal. Bad at love. Regenerative. Pi. Runt. Eye-to-eye. Fixated with. Extra spicy. “You owe your dreams your courage.” Psychedelic. Self-assured. Moo. Since sliced bread. Pleated skirt. Final lap. Be good. Eat fries. Bullish. Okinawa. Washer and dryer included. Saddled with. Reckon. Scrubs. Mired in controversy. 16mm prime. Ink. Babushka. Swing seat. More fall sweaters. Bo. History. Plain. When you say, “he got a great right hook,” it’s an action film. When you say, “she got a great right hook,” it’s a romantic comedy. When you make both these statements in one go, it’s sexist. Hairpin bend. Unruly bunch. Extender. Truly remarkable. Rendezvous. Just grab whatever you can. Tapestry. Monsoon Malabar. Dictated terms. Atlas Stationers. Opening batsman. Massachusetts almost always wants to assert its intellectual superiority over other states -even its vehicle plates have a ‘look at me, I can confuse you with my intelligence’ numbering scheme. Contours. Yellowed paper. Choose love. Make sure a side order of fries is included. Tree of life. Well-parted. Collided with. To tell you the truth. Pirelli. Bloodied. Curated by. Sometimes you should stop writing and let life write for you. At the threshold of. Permission to cross-examine. Slopes. Figurative speech. That time of the year. Doodle. I am not much but I am an optimistic bunch. Circumference. Grew up with elephants. Tea and Sympathy. Commemoration stamps. Fiddled with. The Battle of. Curry-favored. Do I have to smoke, if it says ‘Smoking Section’? Recluse. Classic design. Abbey Road Studios. Medicinal properties. In one swift move. Where is the nearest inconvenience store? Controlling stake. Varied reactions. Polling booths. The Wheat Bowl of. Casual reader. Discretionary viewing. Redacted. When you gotta, you gotta. Cold-pressed steel. Preliminary examination revealed that. Hot sauce. Denoted by. Long vehicle. Snitched. Proxy servers. Demoted. Hardly ever. Will the standing committee raise, please? Wait, my bad. Property of. Adept at. Curdled with anger. Statutory Warning. Usurped power. Choir singers. Price factor played a role in the. Ilsa Faust. Under construction. Classical language. Zurich. Okay but not okay. Morning papers. Coronary. Red River. Bound by none. The representative from California. Coffee is diuretic. Whimsical. There are backpacks you carry. Then there are crosses you carry. Oral tradition. Turbo-charged with. Only a handful of. Be *very* careful while typing the expression, “the annals of history”. Sequential speeds. Magpie. Tauba, tauba. Used all his heft. Seasoned look. Duane Reades replaced corner cafes. CBDs are replacing Duane Reades. Endocrine. Union Jack. The best of the best. Routed through. Withered look. Presumptuous bastard. Condensation formed. Brooks saddle. The Reuters. We need to talk. Customary glance. Rejig. I always wanted to live in a palindrome. Coarse grind. Net worth. Rivers of tears. Neatly tied. Square jaw. Watering hole. Nucleus. “Ryan’s Daughter.” Truth serum. Orangutan. One bad apple. Are you in the industry? Mea culpa. Quotidian life. Her own person. Every time they say, “markets rallied,” I picture people in Fortune-500 T-shirts trying to outrun one another the moment whistle blows in Boston Marathon. Pathogens. Crusade. In a yard sale. Jimmy Fallon’s “Tell Your Kids You Ate Their Halloween Candy”. Troubleshooting. Nibbled on. I don’t feel displaced. I feel placed for the first time in my life. Lab sample. “Stop monkeying around” was my father’s war cry. Projected growth. Within earshot. Non-judgmental is a pseudo term. Holding crew. The Great Dome. A sunny disposition. Pained by. Empire. Tightened the nut. From close range. Retired for the night. Conflict management. Pertaining to. Hanna is always pining for love. Hannah always feels content. Spelling makes a difference, see? Pilgrim. Silhouettes. Liberté ou la Mort. Exile. “You can’t drink. You can’t fight. Can you eat?” -“Pure Country” (1992). How can such mundane words sound so lyrical?! Mitti ki khushboo. Investigative journalism. Drink flowers. “Kingsport Town”. Which one would you send your kid to? Dalton School or Watson Elementary? Watson Elementary. Duh?! It’s elementary! Long story short. British AD&D. Saans bhi kaanch si, kanch si kaate, kaate rey / O tere bina jind di raakh si, raakh si laage rey. Gong. Ugh. Reunion. Al dente. Oversubscribed. Life is reel. Bleachers. Chauffeurized situation. Restoration techniques. Versatile. Feline. People not sharing their fries with onlookers is animal cruelty. Rootless. Manchurian Candidate. Muzzle. Collector’s Edition. Bested. You women are stupid. All you need is love. Don’t you know how cheap diamonds are? Surged. Bluegrass. “The way you were going, you would’ve made Sacramento before the bus.” Mehnat ki kamayee. Hugging you is coming back home. Tube amplifier. Hounded. “What’s done in love is done well.” Ear worm. Upstate. Call me maybe. It rhymes. Call me maybe. Microeconomics. Classic rock. Just wondering what’s going on in that head of yours. This. Convulsed. Tudor house. Genelec monitors. Instant Pot saves marriages. Straw hat. Cursive writing. Logos in cursive fonts are plain ignorance. Pry open. Strictly speaking. Meritocracy. Daunting task. Seasons greetings. I will take the crust. Forbidden territory. “Shakuntala” by Raja Ravi Varma. Thunderous. Lorem ipsum. Hardline approach. Metallic. Positioned to. Lantern-carrying. Arjuna and the Matsyabheda. We go way back. Bulbous. Zikr. Itr. Whiteboard. Palazzo. Manual override. Context. I miss cows. School bus. Contigo voy a soñar con querubes / Contigo voy a pasear en las nubes. Bold. Quench. Plato. Be clear. Hetero. Noor. All writing is photosynthesis. Human warmth producing love. Vocals. Be well. Cold water. Mustered courage. Farnsworth house. Snow-clad. Jimmy Choo. “If you can’t say it at Christmas, when can you, eh?” Cobbled together. Fully furnished. Mason-Dixon line. Light house. Mysore Sandal. Red brick house. Tweed. Just eat yogurt. Bridal wear by Sabyasachi. There is con in “con Edison”. Birkin. Gotta. Pure madness. Without incident. Storage. DaVinci bridge. Recurring fantasy: I run into someone. They take me to the nearest Apple Store. We walk out with the most expensive iPhone. No dialogue. Cotton. Mystic. Ami. Sita. Lentils. Step on it. Let’s get wet. Crop-duster. Sista. La Honda Road. “Phantom Thread”. Wilderness. Sayonara. Reverberates with truth. Czarist. Give me a verb. Quarry. Convex lens. Roseman Bridge. Ciclo sin fin: cycle of life. Bass traps. Stay afloat. Plow. The uninformed. This is the image that comes to my mind when I think of the words, “the uninformed”: A thousand people sitting quietly in a dark theater waiting for the show to begin; and they have been sitting there for years. Turbine. Leather. String lights. Current toll reaching. Cuts like a. Floundered. Pacifica. Stewie. Masonic structure. Guilt-free consumption. Try outs. Radical thoughts. Sporadic rains. Consiglieri. Singular notion. Caught unawares. Men at Work. Celestial. There is an old African proverb: “If you don’t let the surviving lions speak, the hunters will get all the credit.” -“King in the Wilderness” (2018). Fork on the road. Bagged it. Sound-treated room. Umeed hai ki. Major hurdle. Contessa. Layered with. Fumbled in his. Rounded with. Most gruesome murders. Not the plain vanilla kind, mind you. Shooting star. Dirt cheap. Virginia for Lovers. Stonewalled. “To Each to His Cinema” (2007). Quarreling children. Birthmark. Religiously. Nodded off. Bit-perfect. Musings. Birch. Craftsmanship. Steeped in reality. Urban legend. Surgical strikes. Dekalog. Sahara. Ode. Step up. Repurpose. That’s the most beautiful sine wave I have seen. Can I hug the oscillator? Merciful. Vertebra. Break even. Who does her hair?! Comet. Shush. Brick oven. Predictive modeling is one thing. True love is another. Breather. Centered around. Picturesque. Menial job. Swift orders. Files. Unity. Measuring Cup. Reservoir. Verge. But this is something else. Table. The idea is to remain poor enough to pursue writing. Caterpillar. Family dinner. Crystallized. Form follows function. Or else. Alluded to. In verbatim. Crumbled like a. Machete killings. Collapsible engine. Wavering faith. Roman numerals look cute but, please, stick to what we can read without having to solve anything. Colt. Winter of discontent. Original. Breathtaking. All decked-up. Try reversing the polarity. Underdog. Windmills. Bourgeois class. Neck-to-neck. Agility. Honey cake at Iyengar Bakery. Pain au Chocolat at Cédric Grolet Opéra. Anything in Amritsar. In love with RME ADI-2 Pro. Far apart. Tensile strength. Allocation of funds. Dandy. Candy is dandy. In a sword fight. Graffiti. Reposed faith in. Oh my goodness. Pegasus. Concierge. Beached whale. There are men. There are desperate men. Then there hardcore criminals who would do anything for love. Then there is me. Just sitting. Making paper planes. Quail. Whoosh effect. Yellow Beetle. Hyphenated. Wishful thinking. Town crier. Why is ‘one world’ two words? We need a new word. Steel beams. Moonlit. Lasting impressions. Solids. “No Man’s Land”. How would Lubitsch do? Zindagi. My soul is on fire. Newfoundland. Aphrodite. Your life is your own baking. Drifting wood. Parallel universe. Work needs to be done. A bundle of joy. Chirping. Can we climb to the top? A muffin for a cupcake. Folks. Cinch. Clinch a deal. A cupcake for my muffin. Oceanic depths. Don’t listen to him. Let the dogs out. Organic. Loft. Gone riding. Tussle. Radcliffe. Cross the river. Malignant growth. Rubble. Fiefdom. Large format printing. Tube sounds better than subway. Take the tube. Sorting center. Life has a way of ROFL at you. Fleeting moment. May Day. Berated. Up with the sun. Barking up the wrong tree. Laundry. Liberty, Egality, Fraternity. This is developing story. Even-keeled. Peanut butter is goodness. A veteran of. Feel the pinch. Corollary is true. At a moment’s notice. Watch your step. We are like *this*. Brick by brick. Marketing gimmick. Chestnut drawer. Instant Pot recipes are literature. Empathy. Ghee. Veritas. Love comes to those who respond to love. Wedge. Pickle. Cobblestone streets. Demure. Indigo. Pint-sized. Splurge. Leica body. Away we go. Fall sweaters. Dal tadka. Major crush. Towering personality. “When white moths were on the wing”. Paradise Biryani. Not unkind. Tesla Vs Edison. Shelter from the storm. Daily column. Black sheep. Gossip is all bass frequencies. We all need a low pass filter. Puree. Husn. Croissant. PR nightmare. Stoicism. One-sided. New York runs on corner delis. World runs on TikTok. Me on love. Plaids. Coachbuild. An affront to. The purveyors of. Scaffoldings is an industry. Vespa. EVOO. What’s with you? Unleashed. Butterflies. Sleep tight. Cnrtl+Z should be a physical key. Brethren. Virata Parv. Oversized shirt pairs well with nothing. Nothing pairs gorgeously with knee-high boots. Piping hot white rice with nothing but ghee and salt is poor man’s French cuisine. Ghouls. Omnibus. An assortment of. It takes a village. Wild tracks. Cleaved it into two halves. Fermat. Lyre. Leave the bun. Take the cannoli. The very best of. Dried fruit. Caretaker. Unyielding. Keratin. One-time wonder. Sacrilege. No dearth of. “There is society where none intrudes”. Yoseka Stationery. Coordinated attack. Student debt. The avant-garde. “The Guest House” by Rumi. Chariot. Supernova is acting like a diva. Jingoistic slogans. In a nutshell. Schrödinger’s cat is seeing a therapist. Or not. Granite tabletop. Compiling error. Mermaid. “Life Is Beautiful”. Galore. Serpentine queues. A quizzical expression. Grand Tourer. Slim fit. T-bone. “The Thinker” got too much media mileage. It’s just a misunderstood statue. For all I know he must be thinking, “What to do about dinner?” Trounced the opposition. Galactica. All notions of. Elaborated her plans. Dollops of. What’s it gonna be? Trailing in. Endangered species. Take the red-eye. In disarray. Hummus is kindness. Chivalry. Get the stereo mix right. Gas guzzler. Congressman. Fireflies. Syncope. Rest is up to you. Case study. Syrup. “I would walk 500 miles / I would walk 500 more / Just to be the man / Who walked a 1000 Miles / To fall down / At your door”. See-through. Armageddon. Bolstered by. Tranquil. Plain sight. Ishq di baaziyan / Na jeetiya na haariyan. Sunroof. Pistachio. Those eyes, though. V12. Serenade. Pentagon called. Gusto. Much ado. Torpedoed. Squealers. “News of the World” is basically “Paper Moon”. So are “Blood Father” and “Logan”. All good films. Corona of the eye. Passive protests. Stipulated. Come away with me. On the editing table. Do you concur? Piercing. Over-bridge. Trotting. Dandelions. Robert Wang. The man who invented Instant Pot. Remember the name. Jazz night. Top brass. Sufi. Above permitted levels. Pirrip. Quality production. Every time I am hungry, I think I am dying. Posse. Netted. Cattle. Quasi. Cyclonic. Causeway. Pitted against. Twinkle in the eye. “Rise and rise again until lambs become lions.” Funeral fashion. Endemic. Tooted to be. Post-coital. The idea is not to grow up. Bow and arrow. Every time I think of Virginia Woolf, I can only picture her in Maine. Is this normal? Work bench. Rescue effort. Widener Library. Migratory patterns. You doing okay? Carpeted wall-to-wall. Inflammatory statements. Airfield. In the wing. Animated conversation. Low-pay. It rained that night. Go away. Shed some light. I can live in a bakery. Prognosis. Nailed it. A symbol of. At war with. Clarified butter clarified all my doubts. Curbside Pickup. Not on my watch. Statuesque. Why do people wait till fall to start wearing fall sweaters? One helluva. Beacon Hill, please. Coagulating agent. Rousing welcome. Egalitarian. Fishing rod. Orphee!! Game point. Quite unnecessary. Came as a death knell. Get the geometry right. Tie that. According to. Oh, no. Dastardly fashion. If pigs could fly, I would be eating chocolate for breakfast. Shazam it. Ogilvy. Cafe car. The next Ed Sheeran. Bountiful. Gone corporate. Pass the sugar, honey. Er, pass the honey, sugar. Er, honey, please come sit next to me, sugar. Marginal. Functional. Where is my deputy? Reinvent. Aghast. Say it. Drove up the demand. Move the bishop. Rosogolla. Is a user’s manual literature? Edgy. Motorsports. What if life gives you a lemonade, straight up?! What do you do?! Thoroughbred. Archimedes. Seek. Must Love Dogs. Heat dissipation. Sincerely, yours. Might there be an actual “1, Mississippi, MS” followed by “2, Mississippi, MS” on the other side of the street? Wired. Strata. Factory. Breath of fresh air. Full-bodied. Pulled it up. Million moods. Begin with shoes. Oven. Filed a. Garlanded. Incandescent. She had an episode. I had a cake. The curious case of. Minutiae. Laid on the grass. Sticky situation. Glued together. Placebo effect. Heightened sexual activity. Or lack thereof. Crayons. Filibuster. Dilated pupils. Flanked by. No brainer. Latent heat. Sheltered childhoods. Dailies. Meet me in the hallway. Only if it has Parthenon-like columns supporting the structure, though. Clove-scented. Kiln. Sufficiently advanced AI is no match for plain bad writing. Circuit breaker. Spilled blood for. Charcoal. Put to motion. Apple of the eye. The airplane thinks it can fly faster, if it didn’t have so much pressur to deal with. Rekindled romance. Presidential pardon. “If the sky / that we look upon / should tumble and fall / Or the mountains / should crumble / to the sea / I won’t cry / I won’t cry / no-no-no I won’t / shed a tear / Just as long as you / stand by me / Stand by me / Stand by me.” Core curriculum. Bird. Ill-conceived. If you can’t explain it with graphs, it’s not funny enough. Premeditated. Lineage. Wide release. Pinstripes. What do we have here? Nuances. Comely figure. Carpet-bombed. Quartz movement. Cantankerous. Makes a pretty picture. Warm-blooded. Just go with it. Oeuvre. Unveil. Up the ante. Cube it. Restore. Moi. Gods of the plains. “The Big Short”. Streisand effect. Must compile a list of restroom codes and make a flyer. Hand me the ruler. Warehouse costs. Feedback current. Wooden. Here I am. This is my colosseum. GDP. Succinctly put. I judge table designs. EQ. Peter Biskind. Brick and mortar economy. “You would think there were ten of me”. In a hyperlinked world. AGM. Terracotta. Corrigendum. Poignant moment. Massive. How far would you go when you haven’t gone far enough? Figurine. All-consuming. In F minor. BMW logo is propeller blades. Intense scrutiny. Side strokes. Earthy humor. Penalized for. Minutes of the meeting. Whacked. True blue. Subterranean. Why is Destiny always a woman’s name? Sheets of rock. Constantinople. Tall growth of. Fiduciary. Made of bark. Veja is a Brazilian company. “Ricki and the Flash.” In shambles. Majored in. Disjointed. Vicissitudes of life. Source material. And I was like. Javelin throw. In the tristate area. Yesterday. Chai means tea. So, don’t say ‘chai tea’. That is stupid stupid. Guest sign-in. Falling over. In a world. Longshoreman. Alright, babe. “Everybody Comes to Rick’s”. Colorado has nice-looking plates. Petty cash. Verbose. Be like a water drop on a lotus leaf. Blasted off. Unrestrained. What are our options? Excellence. Figment. Safety pin never goes out of fashion. Identified as. Verticals. Just like how people are adding ‘she/they’ ‘he/him’ after names, we need people’s SNR, Signal-to-Noise ratio, too stated outright: amount of rubbish out of every 100 words spoken. Just so we know whom to treat patiently and kindly. Red sand. Pedestrian effort. Close encounters of every kind. Zoned out. Standard deviation. Cats and dogs. Died during a give and take. Curt answer. SNL. A pair of sawhorses is all you need to build your future. Cookie crumble. A searing romance. Every time the poster announced, “A Searing Romance” I ran to the nearest theater and slapped them hard with my kiddie bank coins. Undying spirit. Bottomless enthusiasm. Immeasurable gratitude. “America is my country. Paris is my hometown.” Self-contained. This summer. What’s for breakfast?! Verbs. Booted out. “Lilies of the Field”. Export the stems and take a backup. Glacial. Single-handedly. In theaters. Montblanc Heritage Rouge et Noir “Baby” (Ivory) for her. The humble Sailor 1911 King of Pens Urushi Ebonite (Pine Green) (Broad) for him. Pressed for time. Marshrutka. Revolt. Upstream. Had a numbing effect on. Arrowhead. Dramaturgy. Metallurgy of drama. Economy class. The economics works. Went to town with it. Repo man. Acropolis. Jumbled sequence. Cordoned off. Track and Field. In peril. The trifecta of. Fact. Stripped off. On full steam. He is my copper. How about a story without any *portals* in it? Louis B.Mayer Library. Paraphernalia. There stood a. Understood. Is the pixie-cut to hair what polkas are for dresses? Open source. Implicitly. Fertile imagination. Range finder. Who did this? You must watch “The Lives of Others” tonight. Ostracized. Unchained Melody. Swollen river. It’s like saying Santa Claus doesn’t exist, duh?!! Duluth. Foxconn. Follow the stars. Colonial hangover. Wayfarers. Staccato. Detached. No fall back option. Coriander. Pieced together. Down Under. Cumulative effect. “Amadeus”. Lift the gates. Sawdust. How do you take back the unsaid? Come here. A behemoth. Stitches came off. Bernoulli. Unlimited. Marathoner. Venus nipples. Breakout star. Night-blooming jasmines. Milling about. Sparks flew. Cocoa. It’s all arranged. Centrum. Deftly. Part number. Hvaldimir. Aplomb. Self-explanatory. Careened to the right. Fit like a. Follies. Midfielder. Junta. Decks. Prioritized. Solemnized in a. With the fish. Basmati. Cascading hair. Nuclear shelter. Cogito, ergo sum. Savage. Sauvage. Savage sounds better. Sauvage smells better. Piecemeal. Ton. Pregnant with silence. “To be is to do” — Socrates. “To do is to be” -Sartre . “Do be do be do” -Sinatra. Parked in the hangar. Precluded. To top it all. Anguished soul. Follow the signs to exit. Like we are in love with their merch and don’t ever want to leave the place. Bastardized version. Not in a lifetime. Stardust. Crush. “The Goodbye Girl”, the 2004 remake. Gravy train. Next time someone says, “Do your math,” say, “You do your meth, first. I will do mine later.” Typeface. School of fish. Wings. It’s all you. XKCD. Took a nosedive. “I love you but he pays me”. Cartographers. A school of fish. Pillar of strength. Light the candles. Bake the cake. Wear the apron. Just the apron. And I promise I will do the dishes. Beguiled. “Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Signs of recovery. Heart on sleeve. In a split second. Sailor 1911L (H-F). Hugger. Bruised. “Paheli”. Billboard №1. If paper were edible, one could eat one’s own words, no? Rear-ended. Product portfolio. Lean and mean. Battleship. Mustang. Amelia Earhart. Carmina Burana. Succulent. In Harrington Bone stitch. Père Lachaise. Reportedly. Quinoa. Password. It’s’ raining on the roof. Equitable. Legit. Instantly. Opium of the masses. Jet-setting. Stocks tanked. Calipers. Why is it called a booby-trap? Friendship bands. Sample menu. Love Story. Crimson red. Ignore this. Narrow gauge. Chip off the old block. I am looking at the dailies and. Zip up. War games. Holed up in. Ruffled a few feathers. Non-sequitur. Election year. Plus size. Bring in the accordion. Natural harbor. You must be having a million thoughts in your head. How can you put them all in such a small laptop? Lighthouse. All rise. Take your pick. Preamble. Funnel. Cut loose. Piston-filler. Suffice to say. Cynosure. “I am here now”. Roll with the punches. Eggplant curry. Fearless. In a New York moment. Ink cartridge. Winged creatures. You had me at parantha. Threadbare. Chums. Contrapuntal. Eyes lit up. Trade winds. Broiler. Grow vegetables. Objects in the mirror may appear bigger. Foundation. Plurality. Nimble. In a cabinet reshuffle. Coalesced into. Onward. Rock. Arrow 10 deserves a place at The City Museum of New York. Enterprising. Capitol. Traced back to. Railroad. Mike Masuyama. Fertile. Lutyens’ Delhi. Predatory pricing. Shahi tukda. Or else. Taciturn. Never ask me what my favorite vegetable is. It makes me hungry. Ask me who my favorite actress is. Wait, don’t. Strike that off. Normandy. Audible. Talismanic. Closed hearings. Witchcraft. Made a song and dance of. Busloads. Neatly folded. Next time Apple Store says it can recycle your phone for free, say, “that’s a good one.” Cuss words. Bee-keepers. Figure-8 polar pattern. Torrential rains swept the country. Yaduveer. Toolshed. Voodoo woman. Tut-tut. Strains of vocals. Diss tracks. Baby Aspirin. The New York Times Rest Sellers. The books that didn’t make it to the Best Sellers list. Spar with. Looking for network. Animal kingdom. Straightened it out. Manicured lawns are the product of suburban anxieties. Cinder. Asunder. Subjugated to. Conical in shape. Vroom, vroom. Which one: “Left a void” or “Left a crater” or “Just left”? Familial. Moviola. Sidecar. Matriarchy. Think of disinformation like this: somebody spits on your face. You don’t mind because it landed right inside your mouth. You spit on someone else’s face. They don’t mind because it landed inside their mouth. And it goes on. And this is how disinformation stops: by closing your mouth. Pink salt. Bermuda Triangle. Zero emissions. Verdi. Litmus test. Splendor in the grass. Bow-like. Epidermis. Drenched in rain. Station wagon. Incommunicado. Rolling Stones gather no bass, if your low pass filter is too high. Mincemeat. Passive income. Slender. Pathfinder. Hot pants of such exact length that the fold of each bum cheek is revealed only when the corresponding leg takes a step is precision engineering. Cowbells. Poised to win. Extraction. Cheddar. Uno. Marinate. “If There Is Something” by Roxy in “Flashbacks of a Fool” is very cute at first, heartbreaking, the next. Taciturn. Street corner. Crisscrossed the country. Anomaly. Zinc. Men’s lives are simpler. Women have to deal with the question, “which shade?” every waking moment. Native son. Capillary motion. Paparazzi. Insidious. We are all in the gutter. Form-fitting. Carry on, doc. Dimmed the lights. Stubble. Child’s play. Defense Department was once called Department of War. And you think Cambridge Analytica went defunct after the controversy. Neatly pressed. Freshly-squeezed. Monotony. Ten-second Tom. Rich with iron ore. Facsimile. Blindsided. Virtuoso. There are things you buy. Then there are things you buy just because they came in that yellow. Besieged. Atmosphere. Nupitals. At the first stroke. String instrument. Raised concerns over. Sorrowful eyes. Lavender shade is all coy. It is read PRX. Not RX. PRX (stylized): Prescription. Rigmarole. Gleamed with perfection. Pleasantries. “Citizen Kane” is crap but “Rosebud” is a cool name for a diner. Turtlenecks are overrated but Steve Jobs was cool. Twitteratti. Pig iron. Needle. She had her poppy-seed strudel. I had my misery. She read “The Promised Land”. I am still looking for mine. Oil on canvas. Me on her. Blasphemous. Tin box. Amusing. Not excluding. Fits like a glove. Superfluous. Petals. “It is good to love many things, for therein lies true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.” -Vincent van Gogh / “Lust for Life” by Irving Stone. Peeled of. Off-axis rejection. Deal of the day. Orange pickers. That Schoeps sound. Drip irrigation. Zeitgeist. Spotted deer. Coleslaw. If I had a girl, I would call her a cat. As in, “My cat is out with her girlfriends,” “My cat is a Swiftie who can code,” “Oh, no, my cat is purring in the bed again,” “STOP talking to me like that or I will put my cat on phone!!!” Dogma. Conjecture. Vessel. All-black. Clarinet. Grade the answer sheets. Athena. Wheeled in. Caesar is such a lovely name for the chimp in “The Rise of the Planet of the Apes”. Unearthed. Casserole. Under STP conditions. Transatlantic. Okies. “There are some natures too noble to curb and too lofty to bend.” In molten state. Reflectors. Legislature. Prudent. We just got these. Unassuming. Mural. Potpourri. Turban. Staircase leading to. Ural. Lassie. State and Main. With bated breath. French fries keep some from killing themselves. Unscrupulous. One long rig. “Mississippi Burning”. Haberdashery. Minutes passed. Ribbon mic. Floor-to-ceiling. Where is my borsht soup? PYT. Ennio Morricone. S&P. I once had a misunderstanding with my principal in school days. He called me ‘problem kid’ and I thought that’s probably because I was always sitting in the corner and solving problems. Now I do my math before assuming anything. Anteroom. Is it true? Lone star. Plain white canvas shoes take a lot of imagination. Atlantis. Upward spiral. “You going home for Christmas holidays?,” me. “Yeah, flying tomorrow,” she. “You women all are the same,” me. Bracketed. Seminal works. Late evening edition. Those who say, “We make our own bread” probably never heard of destiny. Smudge. Braided. Oft said. Take that out of the equation and. Lip service. Idling engine. Sand paper. Counter-intelligence. Mid noon. “Captain Fantastic”. Voices. Tastebuds. Shorthand for. Gasoline prices. Mating season. Difficult kid. One-stop shop. Lucas Tower. Unequivocal. Insubordination. Pour some sugar on me. Crash course in. Bibliotheque. Offered to help. Train of thought. Not budgeted for. Bewilderment. Ki haal ay? Forest brigand. Invariably. Julia Child. Civic sense. Insatiable. Achtung baby. Dealbreakers. Corralled in. Bandied about. A quick succession of. Rooting for. Kiss of death. Myopic. You don’t sue family. You only do hunger strikes. Embodiment of. Monolithic. Sovereign state. Commonality. Slippery slopes. I can both read and write. Gold ballerina flats. Circadian rhythms. Textile exports. Petite. “Bright Star”. Can you stand next to the blue mailbox? Napkins. Vulcanized rubber. Prominent veins. Grassy knoll. Benu pens. I respect cats. I have worked with some myself. And they are welcome in my home anytime but, no disrespect, a cat can never be a dog. This is the difference: cats make you want to stay in bed and indulge yourself in all things you love. Five minutes with a dog and you want to step out and change the world. Cats make you take. Dogs make you give. Cats know what they are doing. Dogs don’t even have an idea the effect they have on you. Cats are disinformation. Dogs are the truth. Prices slashed. Modicum. Deftly. Mesopotamia. Just beginning to realize. Pocket edition. Corn fields. Idiomatic. Open gate version. Class divisions. Even the font of Birkenstock is solid. Fruit of the loom. Singed. Singled out. Pottery. Extra curricular. Chromatic aberration. Dear Diary. Frosted windows. Stats don’t lie. People do. Large condenser microphone. Caravan of. She soon hit the high notes. Pond. Appelboom Stationers. Embroiled in. Batted for. Kissinger’s cronies. Super foods. Padded shoulders. Felt invested. Here comes the static. Stately manners. Balmy weather. Touch all bases. Ascenders. When you pair a knee-length skirt with knee-high boots, and walk your walk, we see periodic glimpses of your genius where they two meet and then not meet. Houseboat. Conditions apply. Failed scrutiny. Vigor. Shukr. Neon. Geese. Customer grievances. Burlesque singers. Engineered to perfection. Open sesame. Isolated conditions. Professor Akston’s diner. MoAB. Dictaphone. She came with pedicured content. Dilapidated church. Every morsel. Asli sarkar. Clear skies. Hard nut to crack. At your disposal. Word. Left them in a trail of dust. Fig. Hexameter. Civilian clothes. Freshly minted. Paddy fields. Some step out sporting such a perfect shade of yellow that you feel like stopping them and saying, “I don’t want to know your name, I won’t even ask you out on a date but I must tell you your yellow made my day.” Row. Crown jewel. 4-wheel drive. David Zaslav is probably the best thing ever happened to Hollywood in the last 10 years. Pining for. Security breached. Denim. Recount. “She is just a little girl trapped in a tall body,” I tell myself every time I cross paths with a basketball player. Maxim. Act-II. Phew. Tortoise shell glasses. Smooth landing. Father figure. Listen up, guys. Peripheral vision. Sequestered in. Prototype. Skeletal crew. Think of destiny as this nameless village in the Wild West that you can’t find on the map. The buggy is any given day in your life. The horses are your emotions. Your mind is the rope. Your wristwork is the choices you make every second. There, I said it all. Don’t ask me where I am from and how I got here. Canyon. Numbers are in. Mirror sites. Inclined to. Treatise. On the banks of. Prismatic. Copious amounts of. Minored in everything. Half moon. Trickled in. Abridged version. My best friend. Berth. Fedora. Clustered reading. Some walk dogs. Though it looks like the other way around. Zig. Hard cash. Pre-war era building. In a jiffy. Getting braces is coming-of-age for some. Getting punched in the teeth, for some. Headquartered in. Neanderthal. Try getting early access. Honest to god. Stripped-down version. Y’all. Lace, lace, lace. Furiosa. Word on the street. Monochromatic. From now on I shall refer to my fountain pen as ‘my blade’. As in, “Can my blade talk!!”, ‘My blade is always hungry”, “Oh, no, my cat is purring in the bed again. She needs my blade!” Old sneakers. Papaya. Suvidhaa. Typified. Sun-dried. Counsellor. Perpendicular to each other. Shepherded into. Chaperoned. Oblong blocks of. Some are chicken-happy. Some chickens are happy. Mutually exclusive statements. Copenhagen. Spurt of growth. Cinematheque. What became of. Ombudsman. Running water. Spherical shell. That’s what they say. Crunchy. Destined for. Being romantic is easy. All you have to do is not forget what the soil smells like when it rains. Parchment. Jugular vein. Finale. When the subway ride to Met Gala has on display better fashion than Met Gala. Azure skies. Snide remark. Break the cycle of birth and rebirth. Eat fries. Integrity. Location, location, location. High incidence. I am looking at the numbers and. Long dappled. Mother Nature. At crossroads. Flinched. Walk randomly. Typical. Gift an eraser with a note: “From one STEM kid to another”. Tributary. Chakrvyuh. Vakrtund. The long arm of. How many cusecs? Parable. Nought. “PipingPotCurry” website for Instant Pot recipes, I recommend. Drew swords. Ingenuity. Like peas and carrots. Keep the losses to the minimum. There is something about. Studies proved. It is said that. Stealth mode. Vesper Lynd. Sedimentary. Dieter Rams. Lonesome dove. Vasco da Gama. Crumbs. I have a thing with scholars of religions. They see phallic symbols in everything. It’s hard. A good year. Chiseled features. Forked every dollar. Angular. Restricted content. “Are you in the line?” “No, I am from India.” Pedestal. Detox. Moved the mountains. Initial readings suggested. Trailways. Steamy sequence. Made a bid on. Collect call. Rooh. Vyuh. Moh. To the nearest decimal point. Open-face helmet. Take anything living. Kill it. Deep fry it. Brand and sell it in a chain store of its own. And you will be a billionaire in America. Millimeter. High octane chase. Cynical look. Glass by Ball Corp. Summoned the elements. Afreen, Afreen. Low tide. In the octaves. Pathless woods. Compression gone wrong. If A<B and B<C then A<C. Wrong. You should’ve checked with A’s feelings first. That’s political correctness messing with math. Crickets. Hunger pangs. Placards. Hybrid model. Short interval. Gnawing at. Bruce Wayne. B. Wayne. Be vain. Slick. Roundabout. Just be. Predetermined. Deliverance. Unrestricted access, please. Vexing. Nixed it. In jest. Fighting chance. Romp. When I see someone sporting animal prints, I stop short of asking, “Did you use a gun or a knife?” Photo-finish. Escalated tensions. Sartorial. Made in NY. Rickety. Is a minefield. In an all-cash deal. Parachutes out. What is normal? Amigo. Botched up plans. Water under the bridge. Corroborated with three sources. Daily grind. Rooftops. Time stands still for nobody. If batteries are included. Guns don’t kill people. Flawed arguments do. Soaking it all in. Brush-fires of freedom. Crackling with humor. Slow cooking goes a long way. Downstream. Frisked thoroughly. Hearsay. “This is coast too, George. New York is coast too.” Taut membrane. Flagged off. Coen brothers. Fault plane. When people say, “… in the tristate area….” without giving us their exact location. Openness. Americana. Step-down generator. Feudal mindset. Soup of the day. Wikipedia Is Not for Sale. Eureka moment. Got the best of. Titular role. When you are standing in a long enough line at Starbucks, you have earned your right to dance. Misnomer. Inattentive. Black pepper. Sly humor. Creaking floor. Bump. I do my own recce. It upsets my enemies and well-wishers alike. Haphazard. Uphill task. Storybook endings. Instinctively. Component. Kid is alright. Semicolon; hesitates a lot. Fletcher-Munson curve is what’s wrong with the industry. Halfway house. Fumed with anger. Cross-section. Burnt orange. If Kekule had studied Escher diagrams, he would have dreampt of the snake eating its own tail a lot sooner to discover Benzene structure. Mechanical keyboards. Silo. Mandela. Crystalware. It’s hard to trust something when it comes neatly tied. Arguments, in particular. Thawed. Nervous. Moral fabric. Dervish. Chemistry is easy. Place two right things next to each other and they start talking. Men and women are hard. Neither makes a move. Like their LinkedIn profile would be affected, if they did. Minuscule. Tree-lined. Allotrope. Upend. Cervical. Loose ends. Black earth. White cotton. Personification of being content. Rann of Kutch. Write. Write. Write. Convertible. Monopolymer. Fallen angels. “But every touch is ooh-la-la / It’s true-la-la-la”. Pininfarina. Simmering tensions. Bifocals. Kissa. Fountain of. Persistent. Story idea: A Scarlet Letter meets a Purple Heart. Permutations and combinations. Litter. Boxer twins by BMW. Flood gates. “A woman happily in love, she burns the soufflé. A woman unhappily in love, she forgets to turn the oven on.” -Sabrina (1954). Personalized account. Never paint in broad strokes. Salvation. Flower bed. Then she got all metaphysical with me. Quarks. Colleen. Sprightly. Narrative feature. Stiffly beaten egg yolks. Gleeful. Bawdy. Wrench. One look at a peacock and you can learn everything out there about blues and greens not acting like black and white. Naval exercises. Youthful jest. Founding principles. There is cooking. Then there is quiet cooking. Bell tower. Nicaragua. Tu jo dariyaa mein utrey / Saara panai gulabi / Talli talli ho lehrein / Machhliyaan bhi sharaabi. Shipping container. Hollywood accounting. Flagstaff. Restless. Verona. Milk from grass-fed cows. So fancy. Plant-based food. People crack me up. Old truck. Rings of Saturn. Unorganized sector. Sanctions. Here comes the best part. Hence. Be Kind, Rewind. Accounts for. Eventful. Necessary evil. “Love is a smoke made with fumes of sighs”. War-torn. Student driver. You are not going to like this. Peerless. Altered states. This is how best I can explain the word, ‘quandary’: you want the full-moon to come up and adorn the sky while you are with her. But she needs to get back to her place before moon can come up. Would you pray the full moon never came up or would you pray she just leave? Predicament. ‘Duvidha’ in Hindi. As in “WTF!! What kind of a duvidha is this?!! Linen. Blue chip. Midsize sedan. Bama Rush. Mechanical winding. No non-sense day. Hands in pockets. Deity. Trudged along. Nomadic. Polished. Give it up. Contradictory in terms. Prominent features. Stone-like. Chop chop. Flickered. You see children playing with clay. I see China doing maps. Within. Devoted. Smitten. Guide dog. Unattainable. Abominable. Pledged all. Discouraged. Everyone is New York. Logarithmic. Suitably. Give a nice story idea on a single sheet of paper and Aaron Sorkin will masturbate into it repeatedly until all you can see and smell is his semen, and call it ‘An Aaron Sorkin Film’. And you can’t say he ruined the film ‘single-handedly’ or he will find you, come to your house, and ask you for another sheet of paper. And people have been giving him sheets of paper for too long. Instead, give the same story idea on a sheet of paper to Christopher Nolan. He will tear it into 100 little pieces, drop them from the top of a 120-story building, and give you a jumbled screenplay in the same order the pieces of paper fall on ground, and call it ‘A Christopher Nolan Film”. So what do you do? You take the same original story idea on a single sheet of paper to Wes Anderson. He will lose it on his way to Ikea, lie about it, and give you a toy house made with Ikea wallpaper, and call it “A Wes Anderson Film”. And that’s when you realize you should instead take that original story idea on a single sheet of paper to Greta Gerwig. She will take it from you, conference-call Saoirse Ronan, Timothy Chalamet and Margot Robbie, put them on hold, ask her husband to shut up and listen, call her professor at Barnard to check if she can still use her library card, and fold your sheet of paper into a bookmark for the classic novel she would borrow to write a screenplay that has every single page and every single character from the book in the same order and call it “A Greta Gerwig Film”. And that’s when you wise up and take the original story idea on a single sheet of paper to A24 Films. They will take it quietly, source the semen-tarnished paper bits from Sorkin, random paper shreds from Nolan, wallpapers from Wes Anderson’s toy-house, classic novel backdrops from Greta Gerwig, bring in a Korean director, slap an eerie soundtrack on, make $100M at box office in horror genre, attract a $4B acquisition bid from Apple, get a few Oscars using mothership’s marketing muscle, and say you are a racist for not recognizing their multinational cast, if you say you don’t understand their films. And that’s when you realize you should just send Aaron Sorkin a box of paper napkins, Nolan a kaleidoscope, Wes Anderson a nice summer dress, and Greta Gerwig a Kindle with some of the tuition money you saved from dropping out of MIT, and use the rest to make your own film and release it through A24. Pancreas. Epsilon. U-boat. Bushwick. Deduced. Meticulous approach. Asymmetric. Wheelchair-friendly. Phuket. Dosti. Weaker sections. Dead presidents. Lentils. Or else. “Deserve has got nothing to do with it.” Burgundy shade. Hysterical. USPS truck. Fireworks. Baseball cap. Unit B footage. Concessions. She makes me feel like Pluto. Witness to. Sheen of. Hurdles. Transliteration. Gatherers. In denominations $20 or smaller. Ticking. Redecorated. Chandelier. Stormy seas. Flustered. Rear wheels. Namiki Emperor. Those mittens are hot. Visual apps. “That boy” -Stockard Channing. “Nah” -Rosa Parks. “Pst” -Elizabeth Holmes. Pyrotechnics. Victorious. Bicarbonate. Scuffle. Keep quiet and type fast. Chevalier. Kalakshetra. “That ship sailed” is such a painful expression. Endorphins. Re: FWD: (no subject). Structural integrity. Bastille. Runway. Every time they said, “free range eggs”, I pictured chickens having a blast in some Catskills summer resort. Walk-in closet. On second thoughts. Roots. Beets. Beetroots. Kuch bhi?! Dead heat. Pruned. “I could be Jell-O” / “No! Crème brûlée can never be Jell-O. You could never be Jell-O” / “I have to be Jell-O” / “You’re never gonna be Jell-O”. A small patch of land. Mother pearl. Threw a spanner into. Neo-realistic. 10 Items or Less. Sun’s anvil. Decorated officer. Lucy and Desi. Focal length. It’s election year, but here is some nonfiction. Kill Bill yellow. Workers’ strike. Enticing. Mooted. Some girls wear snug-fit. Some wear smug-fit. Tea bag. All in place. Modifier. Ubiquitous. Cookie monster. General Post Office. When you drop your middle name, you are saving trees. Pushcart. Lukewarm response. Tagging along. Grand Central. Market jitters. Denim was originally invented for coal miners. Premier night. Irreversible. Pedagogy. Can I show you a constellation of scars? Tirade. Shack. Wieden+Kennedy. Primary care. Victorian-era. Kalamkari artist. Isosceles Triangle of Sadness. Undisputed. I am Joes’ Body. Media center. One-pot dish. Son of the soil. In one go. Tender. Do we have any ambition in Africa? Ribcage. Surfeit. Paramedic. Geostationary is being delusional. Everything bagel is not being humble. Fine print is not fine. Fuzzy logic is not all that fuzzy. Stanza. Dark chocolate. Toy train. Contractual obligation. How many nits? Paradigm shift. Gallery space. Some girls wear both sunglasses and headphones just to spite me. Go ahead, wear Crocs too. Like I care. Dichotomy. Chef’s special. In the realm of. Please don’t wear Crocs. Stir-fried. Government shut-down. Uncanny resemblance. In the eye of storm. Self-prints. Landing strip. Becoming. Cast-iron pan retains heat longer. Pilot Custom Urushi Vermilion. Ice-cream cart. Re-redo. Tempted into. “Ishq wo balaa hai / Jisko chhua isne wo jalaa hai / Dil se hota hai shuru / Par khambakht sar pe chadhaa hai / Kabhi khud se, Kabhi khudaa se / Kabhi zamaane se ladaa hai / Itna hua badnaam phir bhi / Har zubaan pe adaa hai” >> Love. It’s such a problem. Such a pest. Those who have touched it got their fingers duly burnt. It begins in your heart. Ends up ruling your head. It has gotten into fights with itself. Into wars with the world. It has crossed swords with even God. The wretched thing’s reputation is so ruined that nobody should want to touch it now. And yet, stuck on every tongue is love, love, love. Interoperability. Mortal remains. English (SDH). Censured. Golightly. Walked gingerly. Comes with an eraser at the end. Relentless. Animal house. Covenant. Gender bender. “Realism, economy, sensuousness, beauty and magic.” Underwater. Typecast in. Soiled clothes. Blood work. Rare occurrence. When in doubt, quiche. Biker lane. Willful. ‘Shipment’, if it’s transported by air. ‘Cargo’, if it’s sent by sea. Fructify. Cashmere. Slant rays of the sun. I speak spinach. Do you? Baby bump. Nestled in. With no respite. Corrugated. No soup for you. Fat cheque. Medusa. Drummed his fingers. Sow. Much to his chagrin. Rocket science. Censured. Sparkle. Genre-defying. Dalai Lama walks into Brooklyn Pizza. Orders a cheese slice. Gives a $100 bill. Cashier moves on to the next customer. Dalai Lama demands, “where is my change?!” Cashier: “Your holiness, the change must come from within.” Battalion. Saucer-like. Chalked. What does the consensus say? RN. Six feet under. Overall. Steady demand. Ponied up. I love you but. Twinning. More butter. Comedy club. Home owners. “I don’t know about my love / I don’t know about my lovin’ anymore / All that I know is / I’m fallin, fallin, fallin, fallin / Might as well fall in”. Post-Roe. Gutsy. Madras stripes by Royal Enfield. Farmers’ Market. Misappropriated to. I just can’t wait to meet a beautiful woman and tell her, “Meet me at the post office”. Carpool. On the rotary. Calcium. Starlink. Trident. She/them. Me/sad. Rhombus. Vignetting. Robotics Lab. Deathbed. Area code. Symphony. Conglomerate. Dissatisfied look. Satellite beamed first images. Overalls. All set? Press junket. “What’s your dream job?” she asked. “This,” I stopped short of saying, “talking to you.” Depth of field. Geisha. From pillar to post. Switch. Look at the traffic in India and you will know why we have a thousand gods. Merge duplicates. Velvet sound of AKM chips. Forgive people left, right and center. Pure catnip. Rollover. Encourage greatness. Today’s numbers. Chocolate-coated. Travelled the length and breadth of. Nil. Bovine. Turn off the lights. Footboard. Telepathic. Shelter in place. Chord Mojo. English rose. Leftovers are science. Contested from. Penalty kick. Zulu. This is how you can make mistakes and get away with it: identify yourself as stupid. Mummified. Cumin. Bellybuttons, though. They do nothing and yet they do so much. Gear box. Infinitesimal. 24x36 poster. Fix the economy. Amulet. Sacrosanct. Fetch happen. Construction job. SteadyCam. Why did they have to discontinue Yamaha NS10? Cake fights. Layover. “As Good As It Gets”. Countless ways. Scholars and phallic symbols, though. Baseball diamond. Take me home. Conversations with Filmmakers by University Press of Mississippi. In a heartbeat. Mudslinging match. Snail mail. Take the matter to. Puffs and curls. Don’t fly too close to the sun, if your wings are made of wax. Just my half cent. (Figures adjusted to inflation). Flippant. Shoestring budget. Undefeated. Good deeds. What do cats do with all the tongues they get? Embassy. Dazzled. Closeted with. Here comes the. Acquiesced. Children’s laughter. Imprints. Midnight rides. Handsomely. Devastated. Territorial army. I love the fashion-blind. There is freedom in it. One often wonders what it is that makes a convincing romance. Pure romance. Not rom-com. Rom-com is a cop out. Rom-com is when pure romance realizes it can’t succeed in its mission but gotta keep a funny face so investment can be recouped. Rom-com is street-smart. Pure romance is punishment. And like iron that meets its shape and purpose only by going through fire, it burns, dies and stands up without a murmur when it’s time to meet its raison d’être. To write rom-com, one needs only intelligence. To pen pure romance, one needs intelligence, war, economics, history, philosophy, politics, psychology, probability, naysayers and near-death to come together to guide oneself. Rom-com is ice-skating. Pure romance is digging your way out of Shawshank Prison. “Casablanca”. “The English Patient”. “Out of Africa”. “In The Mood for Love”. “A Little Romance”. “Il Postino”. “A Walk In The Clouds”. “Untamed Heart”. “Edward Scissorhands”. “Chocolat”. “The Bridges of Madison County”. “Benny & Joon”. “Shakespeare In Love”. “Amadeus”. “Million Dollar Baby”. “Ford v Ferrari”. Some that tried hard. Presenting yet another gem that did: “Cinema Paradiso”. In the original ‘New Version’ Director’s Cut. In all its 173 glorious Italian minutes. Not the butchered cut of 124 minutes. Come, taste love. Not gossip. Love is not what you have when it comes in but what you do when it does. Verb your nouns for deeper meanings. Love. For what we do in love echoes in eternity. Pipette. Gluttony. Hum labon se keh na paaye unnsey haal-e-dil kabhi / Aur woh samjhe nahi yeh khamoshi kya cheez hai. Contiguous. Midwife. Keyed in. If you ask someone, “When do you want this?” and if he says, “Yesterday”, slap him hard and say, “Oo, sorry, that’s not me. That’s me from the future.” Deluge. Hippo. Gunning for. Truncated. Nerd-like. Qualitative research. Kudi. Ring of fire. Discerning audience. Hyper. Kudos. Blue collar workers. Rapid fire. Organ pipes need fixing. Velociraptor. Timid. Disheveled. Sometimes you have to watch an English film dubbed into a foreign language with English subtitles on, if you want to understand what’s wrong with America’s energy policy. Quadruplets. Tides changed. 1989. Horn-rimmed. Train-wrecked. “Two little mice fell into a bucket of cream. One quickly gave up, drowned and died. The other struggled so hard that cream turned into butter and he walked out”. Louvre. Sentinel beings. Escape button. Ginormous. Triggered. Overgrown. Arc. Distressed metal. Jobs. Organism. Manor. Anchored in. Off-putting. Blanks. “Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment”. Mirror-finish. Dickensian. Truckloads. M&M’s. Tarantula. Moors. Gargantuan proportions. Underground. Chrome-plated. Show me the ugliest fashion accessory in the world and I will show you a crossbody pouch. It was invented so you can look at it and use the same to puke into. Form follows function. See? Attuned to. Washed it down with. Garden of good and evil. Long strides. Shipping label. Bicentennial. Mystery bidder. Currents. Beyond comprehension. Cornerstone. No Banana republic. Train-hopping. Floundered. Coolly dropped a million. Paternal instincts. Jericho walls. Wherewithal. Groundbreaking. In the ruins. If her eyes are of copper sulfate blue and if your words had a corroding effect on her morale, they will shed tears and turn green by morning, the iron sulfate green. Approach road. Cesspool. Ithaca. All-pervading. Walnut. Solemnly. Upbringing. Rigorous. Jigsaw. Undeniably. Dough. Bench-warmers. How do you make it a whole again? Well-meaning. Reaped all its. Alternate reality. Elbowed. Credibility factor. Exposition. De-regularization. The New Wave. Somebody explained the difference between a rebel and a revolutionary: “A rebel is one who doesn’t react against the society, who understands the whole game of it and simply slips out of it. It becomes irrelevant to him. He is not against it. And that is the beauty of rebellion: it is freedom. The revolutionary is not free. He is constantly fighting with something -how can he be free? He is constantly reacting against something -how can there be freedom in reaction? Freedom means understanding. One has understood the game, and seeing that this is the way that the soul is prevented from growing, the way one is not allowed to be oneself, one simply gets out of it with no scar on the soul. One forgives and forgets and remains without any clinging to the society in the name of love or in the name of hate. Society has simply disappeared for the rebel. He may live in the world or he may go out of the world, but he belongs to it no more, he is an outsider.” Lab whites. Disputed land. Toddler. Parisian. Itch. Pulled short. Well-versed in. Submerged. Who do I have to screw here for a bowl of vermicelli pudding? Peaceful protests. Unconditional love. Coterie of friends. Taxes apply. In a whimper. Deep South. Coach car. Sub-judiciary. Flagpole. Track record. Peppered with. Cuckoo’s nest. Round table conference. Premium jeans. Chronicled. Never skip breakfast. You will take bad decisions. Bespoke. Shipwreck. 12dB. Deciphered. Not stroked. Vociferously. Salt and pepper. Considered null and void. On trombone. Hut. In denial. Diversion ahead. Hut-hut. Jet-lag. Ascetic. Mist. Take a swig. Devil may care. Mariner. To a grinding halt. You know how they say a good dress is like a poem? Well, you can always find me in an abandoned factory. Hare. Blundered. Impromptu. “Apple blossom in her hair”. Undaunted. Give me the long version. Dewy-faced. When I see a bad logo, I am like, “I don’t know who you are or where you are from, but I will find you and come home and…” Oligarch. Combo plan. Pumped up. Up in smoke. Awash with. Sonnet. Riddled with. Go nuts. “I work in AI,” she said. “That’s the best pick up line I ever heard,” said I. Mutiny. Short order cook. Witness to. Compost. Milky Way. Anorexia. Bard. Double-breasted. Location-scouting. Crowning glory came when. Madonna, Madonna. Serene. Truce. Nitrous oxide. Awning. Tonight’s fixture. Perusing. Mock-up. Nenjam ellam kaadhal / Dhegam ellam kaamam / Unmai sonnai ennai / Nesippaya? / Kaadhal konjam kammi / Kaamam konjam thookal / Manjathin mel ennai / Mannipaaya? / Rupture. Present day. Lugging around. Miraculously. Uprising. Pendants talk. Tiny whispers, always. You gotta really listen. Square root of. Newspaper man. A good dressing down. Underpass. Open for business. Combinatorial. Trivial response. Des Moines. Messenger bag. Dinner table. Crestfallen. Undercurrents. Town square. I have a paper due. Avowed to. Faraday. Gunned down the decison. In stock. Lovefool. Zeroes and ones. “A fish may love a bird, but where would they live?” Laconic. Annual event. In-depth. Touch down. Rabbinic. Sinew. Hardbound version. Won’t put up with this. Trafalgar. Pending review. Character. Muffler. “5 to 7”. Blistering heat. As is the tradition. Seedy bar. The survivor guilt can be so intense among war veterans that they buy huge Harley-Davidsons immediately upon return. Willow tree. Through osmosis. Sloppy seconds. Second cousins. Gregorian. Reached a showdown. “A Clockwork Orange”. Core strength. Dark alley. Worst fears. Immediate concerns. Dominant wish. Sweet spot. Trending now. Mrischakatikam. Aforementioned. Lingered. Messianic. Dodged to the left. Straight-faced. Mark of the. Gharana. Calamity. The house of. Tow truck. An intimate portrait. Gerrymandering. Tender coconut. Crucible. Journeyman. I don’t understand nutmeg. Fail-safe. Bubble. Outlaws. A light touch-up. In-built mechanism. Hot spot. Squire. Tribe. Gandhi didn’t say, “Got milk?”. He said, “Got goats?” Microcosm. A plethora of options. Skewed sex ratio. Audacious. Listings. Intimacy is a language. Riverbed. Getty Images. Tickets to. Insoluble. Artisanal. Revenues. Dunk, dunk, dunk. Quarter mile. Would be nicer. Geared to. Happiness Index. Countless ways. Syndicated column. Sheath. “Less, but better”. Humdrum. Condensed version. No affiliation. Bare hands. Serialized. Does the anvil have any job other than being ‘on the anvil’? Bulk order. Minute-by-minute. Pebbles. A firecracker of an idea. Micro observations. Lesser of the two evils. Impermanence is a thing. Loading docks. Hang on a second. Stir-crazy. Just window dressing. Treason. Ancestral. Going through tunnel. Night watchman. A cornucopia of. Eased up on. Kept the cash registers ringing. Split second. Karen Blixen. Big city. Micro mesh. I dig you. Torpedo-like. Follow the sun. Vernacular. Unscrew. Elephants don’t know their own strength. Tentacle-E. Veneer. Divine intervention. Gurney. Entrusted with. Shia LaBeouf in “Borg vs McEnroe”. Frisbee. Lunar calendar. Met with anger. O-ring. When duty calls. Clamored for tickets. Draconian law. Chamber. Shia LaBeouf in “Peanut Butter Falcon”. Feeder mechanism. Ribbed. Biased. Duct tape. Hello Kitty. Choose love. Bête noire. “8 is a lot of legs, David”. Fault lines. It’s not you. Rags to riches. Ethnically enticing. Slapstick. Technically speaking. Drapes. USPS trucks are cute. The blue and red stripes on off-white are sexy. Much like the Steve McQueen Le Man’s jacket by Tag Heure. Rebuffed. Broke the pipes. Swan song. How much for these puppies? Tome. Honest Trailers. Big book of. Wet cloth. Aau toh subha, jaao toh mera naam sabaa likhna / Barf pade toh, barf pe mera naam dua likhna. Air quality. Cruella. Weak consumer appetite. Pocket rocket. Rhubarb. Will men ever become cliterate? Nautical miles. Firebrand politics. Craigslist. A princely state. Thin skin. Thick skull. Math is the mother language. Every other subject sucks at math’s teats. Buy your math major friend a cake. Red earth. Mastering fears. Out of print. Reckless driving. Cucumber salad. Blooper reel. Reconciled with. Prima facie evidence suggests that. Not one to. Winning streak. Baby elephants, though. Operatic sequence. “Hope is the bird the feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark”. Crescent moon. Masterstroke. Management is restructuring. Heavily armored. On cue. Mystical. A ponytail has a mind of its own. Carte blanche. Retroactively. Snow leopard. Verbal. Down the chimney. Jaded reaction. Set the record straight. Kinematic. Sliders. Took him to the cleaners. Vagaries. Past participle. Reared its ugly head. Backdoor. Six sigma. It’s here, it’s not here. Subjects. Curing process. Well-being of. Lowly MIT professor. Neatly tucked in. Cutting edge. Malnourished kid. Revisionist history. Daily regimen. Volatile situation. General belief. Common rustic. Plain mismanagement. Cigar-shaped. Summit. Horse whisperer. Teenage delinquent. Sheer will. Purple is pink that has lost all its shame to pursue its worldly passions. Brown is pink that never did it and regretted not doing it. Pink is just pink. You never know what it has on its mind. Concentric. Fabric of time. State borders. Orgasmic. In no specific order. Deathblow. Rich dividends. Conveyor belt thinks everyone is stupid. It keeps repeating itself. Aboriginal. Shrilling cry. Unpacked. Birds of the same feather. Well within reach. Body politic. Give me a car, a camera and a country and I will wake you up singlehandedly. Zeroed in on. Unanimously opposed. Eternally grateful. Pleasantly surprised. Mourning deeply. Commas, not periods. Merci. Downer. Cartilage. When somebody holds you prisoner to a one-sided conversation, excuse yourself to use the restroom. And don’t return. Surplus stocks. “Christina Rosenthal” by Archer. Veranda. Soon spiraled into. Penance. In descending order of price. Red hot. It only gets better from here. Daisy-chained. Hung like a cloud above my head. Renewed. Left, right and center. Kingdom of heaven. Fructose. Stop the presses. Lashed at. Facts of life. Events unfolded. Bread-Butter Continuum. Post-modern pessimism. Crumbling armory. A fistful of. Hooked to. Entering turbulence. Truth by ES9039MPRO. Eco warriors. Featured artist. The Problem of Time. Under the shadow of. Is becoming an epidemic. Triumvirate. Missing a tooth. Plundered. In the midst of. Wait, what do we have here? Monocled. Despicable. You mean this wretched thing? Long-horned. Dot-like. Terabytes of. Bulldozed. Equestrian. Soup kitchen. Sexual tensions. Morse code still works. There are attention-seekers and then there are those who wear T-shirts with slogans printed in size 6 font. Soda pop. Tatum O’Neal in “Paper Moon”. Kensington Lock. Dress Code: Casual. Focal points. Cookie jar. South of the border. Took it in his stride. Greatest second act. Tess. Tresses. Stresses. Tess stresses on tresses. Caved in. First-class citizens. Crossfade comes here. Kill joy. Vespa is to two-wheelers what Converse is to shoes. Ferried. Ambled in. Corel formation. Racing stripes. When you are very hungry and don’t have money for food, go for a long walk along the avenues with the most beautiful sidewalk restaurants. You will become a better writer. (Don’t do it too often. You will become a communist). And if it is fiction you are after, describe in detail the food you didn’t eat. And if it’s poetry, live in a room above a French bakery. Resolute. Laid it thick. Calf muscles. Smithsonian. Come clean. Prior appointment. Etymological. Lens cleaner. I didn’t do anything. Provincial. Ripped apart. Very fancy. Midas touch. Aggravated assault. We should eat now. Places in the heart. Spice train. Felix. Beret. Incense. Attaché. Lead. Ballet. Champagne. Dossier. Why spell one way and pronounce in another? It’s like the French kissing on the cheeks. What’s the point? You either do it or you don’t. You don’t duh! Carburetor. Valiantly. Buzzer. Wiry frame. Special ops. Paternity leave. Invoked. Ribs. And I don’t even eat ribs. Fishing for coins. Stuffing. Valkyrie. Stupefied. Prague. Foldable tent. Non-verbal. 12th century. Commissioned by. Gamma rays. There will be passion. There will be love. There will be madness. And by God, there will be dying in arms. Signal crossing. Metamorphosis. Not in alphabetical order. Crosstown. Various artists. Earned his stripes in a. Jump-started. Non-profit. The fountainhead of ideas. Peaches. On fast-track program. Scooter. Bit by bit. College Street Coffee House. Posthumously. Blizzard. Cherubic smile. Striker. You don’t expect people to like self-flagellation but you want industries to embrace self-regularization. Sure. Thrift-store find. Dream-like sequence. Chief whip. Is the consensus. Straight from heaven. Tree-huggers. Dave Eggers. Eggs Benedict. Benedict Cumberbatch. Emerged from. We don’t go there. Anything would make sense, if you slapped the right soundtrack on. Ladder of success. Kinky. A gamut of emotions. On the floor. Sand Hill Road, please. Begin with desserts. In the minority. One size for all. Get things in order. Cheeky bastard. Shreds of random. Derivative. Empirical. Piano needs tuning. Show me well-mannered and I will show you repressed. Fire hydrant. A handful. Subtext. Get your fix at. Facets. Faucets. Frost. Proust. Breather. Nether. Some wish to find true love without running the risk of shame. It’s like wishing to make passionate love without needing to get undressed. Birdseed. Xeon. Bugle. Per se. Popsicle. Gazette. Pioneered in. Screened carefully. Bottled up. A good bag can make a day. Steam vent. Hold court. Incorrigible is not a compliment? Retrofit. Held in arms. Small scale businesses. Icicles formed. Long hand writing. From Ganga Jamuna Saraswati to Brown Harris Stevens. Out-of-body experience. Colloquial. Eddie current. All spruced up. Bestowed upon. “The Electric Horseman”. Soon-ish. Discordant. And the adjoining unit. Rations. “Those who wish to sing will always find a song.” -Plato. Centipede. Longings. My, my. Kazan on Kazan. A brief interlude. A plain wish to slap. Schroeder from Peanuts, though. Aankhen kitaabi tu khole to padh loon / Kaajal si likkhi chhaapi kahaaniyaan teri mere saiyyan. Resonated with. Do you HAVE to? Starred up. Troubled waters. “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”. Giant slayer. Basement bargains. Madagascar. Strutted her wears. Call the cab. “Rahtid. Obeah evil.” Regimental. Frenzied mob. Abhijnanashakuntalam. Whisked away. My foot. Humans are the only animals that refuse to be themselves. Muted. Crockery. Divisive politics. Puppy love. Dropped a bomb. Crème brûlée cart, though. Visuals are just in. Rapport. “Now I can die and go to heaven.” Mastery. Nitpicking. Penguin is here. Full on. Decisive win. Heavenly abode. Iteration. Just give me sand. I am not so crazy about the sands of time. Repertoire theater. Doomsday machine. Tailgated. Kubrick’s script for his Bonaparte film was on display at MoMA. Mimamsa. Khakis. Accrued. Nocturnal. Post-doctoral. Rigid, yet. Collared. Day job. Silken voice. V-shaped graph. We shall fight them on the beaches. We shall fight them on the sidewalks. We shall fight them at Starbucks. Backup disk. Pointer. Custodians of. Loafers. So to speak. Flesh wound. Market penetration. Constant hum of traffic. Janitors with self-respect. Marooned in. Summarized with a kiss. Precursor. It is certain Schröder is at his piano. It is uncertain where Schrödinger is. Peninsula. Chucked. Debatable. Tracing paper. Minority holding. Tinsel town. Succor. Gravel bike. Reprint. You disappear into the fog rather than walking into the sunset when you can’t explain your life. Femur bone. Substance in. It’s a full house. Naphthalene balls. Winds shifted. Decisions, decisions. Picture show. Alchemy of. Recanted. Stepped into the ring. Paps. Olive branch. Why is Tom Cruise always asking people to open the door? -”Open the door, Benjie”, “Open the door, June.” He should really stop running so much and open doors for himself. Reverie. Stateless. Redistribution. Music to ears. Big chunks of. Down the memory lane. Bravura. Zigzag. On the marquee. Alloy wheels. Gaiety. Sprouted. Papyrus. Riviera. Medium. Piety. This is how best I can explain “Fail-Safe” mechanism in cutting-edge technologies: You tell your girl she is the best kisser in the world. Even when you have kissed only one girl in your entire life. Biplane. Multilingual. Fileas. Starch. “How you do anything is how you do everything”. Zen saying. Optical fibre. Canteen. Limited stops service. Simple pendulum. Fracas. Without a care. Power-play. Just spout it out. Shimmering. Retrospect. Occupational hazard. “Trysts” by Robin Robertson. Standing desk. She had a meltdown. Dwindling. Pittance. Tour de force. Oath-taking ceremony. Kandinsky painted on both sides. Betrothed. Crux. Spirit of America. And zipped away. Take a bow. Felt the tremors. Shining armor. Literally. Watershed moment. “Hunger is a good discipline.” Send GIFs. Inconsequential. Spinach solves problems. Reverberated. Gena Rowlands in “Gloria”. Populace. Decidedly so. From show-and-tell to show and don’t tell. Just in. Color-blindness can cut costs. Tonight Only. Aam admi. Giddy up, giddy up. Monosodium lives. Purge. Benign. Well-regarded figure. El Camino Real. What, this ragged little piece?! Admit One Only. Cityscape. Get real. Bombarded with questions. Saxophone weeped. Good dog. Skyline. Pure logic. Wrong side of the tracks. You can’t shout in heaven, “Who is responsible for seating?” You inquire gently. Corner kick. Espresso-maker. Either or. A quick pass. Trials and tribulations. Snakes and ladders. Unabated. All but. Under duress. State your price. Deserted. M’lord. Cobbler. Dunkin’ Donuts dropped Donuts. Even they didn’t know how to dunk without dropping. A shoo-in. Capital markets. Bohemian lifestyle. Any which way. Bundled out. Crosshairs. Room to grow. Export file as. Batting cages. Every which way. New York or nowhere. She had a fitting today. She had a fit today. Focus groups are all hocus-pocus. Jaw-dropping. Factory settings. Triveni Terrace Cafe. Credits include. From out of town. Push button. Flight information. Fight disinformation. Lattice work. Snap response. “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.” Unionize, unionize. Cinderblocks. I would rather. Reduced to. Blurb. Stick figure. “How do you say in French, “My sister has an yellow pencil”?” / “Ma sœur a un crayon jaune.” / “How do you say, “My brother has a lovely girl””? / “Mon frère a une gentille petite amie.” / “And how do you say, “I wish I were my brother”?” -Sabrina (1954). Health benefits. Ponderous. Sabbatical. Privy to. Shipped out. Helter-skelter. Uncanny ability to. Debutante. Theorize. Knee-jerk reaction. Chosen few. In square feet. Terrorized. We have been sending radio signals into space for decades with the hope to receive a signal back from some intelligent life out there. And everyone goes crazy when I look at women even for a second. Lumber. Revered. Overdone. Curious case of. Through osmosis. Clairvoyant. Early on. Made a mockery of. Kill-switch. There are critics of Mills and Boons. There are critics of Pure Reason. Can somebody introduce them to each other? Foothills. Butane torch. Withdrawal symptoms. Short prose. Rigor mortis. Potential Energy must have grown up with ADHD. Nobody ever recognizes its existence. Gubernatorial. Reddish. Some of the original text is missing. Biscuits. Act of God. Flash of genius. Pestered her with. “Sunshine State”, “Garden State”, “Empire State”, “Evergreen State” -I am yet to come across a car plate, “Just a State”. Epoxy. Kangaroo court. Candle stick. Soon became the talk of the town. The return of the. Despondently. That was a close call. After much delegation. Butchered cut. Winter is coming. Handwoven dreams. “A Moveable Feast”. Mitwa. Rainfall. Comme ci, comme ça. A bold stroke. Cotton mills. You brought it upon yourself. Couplet. Brisk business. Coming to terms with. How do you plead? First, I will take her to a nice restaurant. Offshoot. Double check. Awe-inspiring. Oh, no. Crept up. Built to last. Juicy bits. Fought valiantly. Not an iota of. Photon. First draft. “A kiss is a secret that takes lips for the ears.” Reported earnings. Through and through. Up to *here*. Built to last. Euphoric. Tip of the. Came with a rider. Grab and go. Was a clean cut. Lunch break. Engineered to. Cringe at the thought of. Tories won. Raven. Guesstimate. Just litigating. Well-entrenched. Blacktop. Who do you report to when you see “West Side Market” on the East Side? Tenacity. In lieu of. Square pegs in round holes. Glossary of terms. Cathartic. Unclogged. Bulletin. Tertiary. Carbon family. I once went to a potluck. With my scriptbook copies. Cravings. Windbreaker. Mindful of. Rudimentary. Safeguard. Give me the skin. Brittany. Well-oiled. The far side of. Redressal. Using significant energy. Can you or may you? In turmoil. Confetti. Barbaric. Chippendale. Just. Situation ripened. Is an on going debate. Sunk. Flummoxed with. Jig. Interlocutor. Crude. Raving. When the French converse among themselves, it sounds like they are all whispering some state secrets while politely hiding hemorrhoids pain. When the Germans talk with one another, it sounds like they are not happy with the way the economy is going and they need stronger beer. When Italians talk, it feels like they are all going to go home and have a lot of group sex. When Americans talk, it sounds like they have given up on healthcare and ready to die. When Chinese talk, it sounds like one of them stole a chicken from another and everyone is angry with both. When Indians talk, it sounds like they can’t wait to watch the really bad Bollywood film that just turned out to be a blockbuster to everyone’s surprise. When the Japanese talk, wait, the Japanese don’t talk, they just work. Carousel. Collier. Don’t hit the deer. Patchwork. Ventilation. TinyURL. Misjudged. Visceral experience. Wisecracking. Look what the cat dragged. Paperback. Floor is yours. Buenavista. Shawl. Viscous. Mic-drop. Erupted with. Natural habitat. Jammed the lines. Hard hat. What the mainstream media doesn’t tell you is full moons have a toll on people. Acute. Live stream. Vignettes. Pelvic thrusts. Labrador. I have a Zoom meeting. Low center of gravity. “Ratatouille”. Lay it down. Adverse weather conditions. Indirect speech is being passive-aggressive. Actuary. Fluid motion. Catcalls. Works for the city. Dynamo. Predominantly White. Rock of Gibraltar. Crypto. Reader’s Digest. Clandestine. Saw tectonic shifts in. Heading your way. Emeritus. Perennial. She makes my heart feel like the second cousin to Achille’s heel. Color-coded. They say art is the most intense mode of individualism the world has known. And while every job in the world can be an art in the hands of the doer, individualism is still suspect. One look at the disparity between what we worship in books and films and what we embrace in real life and we all know where we stand. Individualism is trouble. Original thinking is a concern. Conscience is annoyance. Get out. Conformism is professional. Partisan is playbook. Hunting in packs is new-age. And yet arts continue to fight back. “Cool Hand Luke”, “On the Waterfront”, “High Noon”, “12 Angry Men”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Dead Poets Society”, “Professor Marston and The Wonder Women”, “Tucker: Man & His Dream”, “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”, “Six Degrees of Separation”, “Thelma and Louise”, “Trumbo”, “Captain Fantastic”. Arts always fought back. To uphold what practical living can’t afford to. To preserve individual dignity. Soul’s right to breathe. To let you be. Once in a while, at least. For a fraction of a second, if even. And that little window in an isolated cell for an individual can be a whole wall removed for mankind one day. And if you don’t let that little tuft of grass grow through that crack in the concrete, you are suppressing every scream for freedom that art is. And art is in everything we choose to do in our damnedest lives. Raided the fridge. Closed conference. Away we go. Defies logic. Gaussian. Character assassination. Mascara. Blitzkrieg. What are your intentions? Jagannath. Juggernaut. Hamsa. Lufthansa. Fast reflexes. Conglomerate. That’s how you know / That’s how you know / That’s how you know. Derby. Landslide. Quipped each other. Initiated into. “Miss Misery”. Jeep. Catalytic. Personal favors. If garrulous is here, could quarrelsome be far behind? Cape Horn. Emancipation. People tear me up. Reverb is an industry. McQueen jacket. This is unprecedented. L-Train Vintage. Two kinds of people in this world: those who believe in love. And the rest who eventually will. Snow-piercer. Erroneous zones. Flair. Garam masala. Carnal knowledge. Attenuators. Male tendencies. Existentialism begins with grocery shopping. Abacus. Quagmire. Ergonomic. Romanized. Deal with it. Sellotape. Pallbearer of. Ardor. Flat noodles. “Zorba, the Greek”. Bus fare. With elan. Jostling for space. Workstation. “I am just a little bit caught in the middle / Life is maze, and love is riddle / I have got to let it go / And just enjoy the show”. Internal combustion engine. Ramifications. Over the mountain. Cavities. Sirens. Turnstiles. Machine shop. Throw butter into everything. Even sex. Neutral ground. Editorial content. Clutched. Mainland. Filled to capacity. Archaic practice. “Some guys run and some guys stay”. Typeface. Slingshot. Buy fruit. Accredited to. Highly likely. For the asking. “Economic models of the future are perhaps best understood as astrology faintly decorated with calculus equations. Perforated. Fallacious. Consumer electronics. Suave. A confluence of. Those who listen to people who talk endlessly without actually saying anything are the same people who try to make memories on birthdays by getting so drunk that nobody can remember what happened. Creating nothing by spending money and time is an art form. Passing accuracy. Polymath. Development hell. Transmission. With due process. Deep-fried. Showpiece. Retouch. In all fairness. Lockheed Martin. Terrorized. “Her tender-taken breath”. Negative Fahrenheit. Zanzibar. Cut to. Guesswork. “I am gonna sing when the spirit says sing. I am gonna march when the spirit says march.” Dictation. Straddled the two worlds with ease. The build up to. Severance package. Caramel custard can. Caramel custard will. Fast forward. Snagged it. Flashbulbs. El Mariachi. Lululemon sales are skyrocketing. “Mothered” sounds spiritual. “Fathered” is all physical. “Neighbored” is porn. Nerve. Aspirational. Junkyard. She wears red flats. Blood red. Think of a dagger retracing its path out of a heart. Get the picture. Airborne. Locus. Systemic. Mulling over. We need more naturalists. Corridors of power. Traffic snarl. “Why is ‘Faith’ always a woman’s name and ‘Dick’ a man’s?” — “Love, Lust and New York”. Through stratosphere. A mean yellow dog. Misaligned. Ishq-e-di chashni. Window shopping. Retribution. John Deere dealer. Soy. A cow walks into a bar. Shamans. Community gardens must be kept open during nights. People cry exclusively at nights. Steady hands. Reckless bunch. Stable release. If you want to know the character of a man, give him power and see what he does with it. If you want to know the character of a woman, tell her you love her and see what she does with it. Psychology is all about and empowering people and sitting and watching. To men, power is power. To women, love is power. Farmer’s market. Mochaccino. 149 Flex nib. Squared off. Depression-era. Body type. Crooning. Truck bed. Documentation. Stiff upper lip. Revitalizing economy. Open road. Can somebody bring class action law suit against winter? Curved edges. Mandatory ignorance. Nearly caused a stampede. Repackaged. Dietrich. But the numbers are staggering. Away from the cacophony of. True love is handmade. Short drive. Sleeveless. Game point. Artist-in-residence. Real artists on the road. Bouncy. Joint commission. Décolletage. Steely resolve. What’s the damage? Push, push, push. Don’t listen to them; “Spanglish” is a very good drama. Summoning every drop of. Harder, harder, harder. Eco reserve. Holidays are upon us. White tiger. Don’t be such a baby. Underground movement. Oak-like. Mini Cooper S Convertible in Chili Red for her. Vespa Primavera 150 for him. Mulberry tree. Sparkle. Demonstrations. Slab. A jar of. Reddened. I got you, I got you. Clay mounds. Mutter paneer. “What’s the word? ‘Shoo?’” Pineapple upside down. What do we have here? Cocooned in. Hypothesis. Taxation without Representation. Clobbered a ton. Steel factory. Downed the shutters. Moniker. Gypsies. Man gotta do what man gotta do. Drivetrain. The audacity. “There was a big, high wall there that tried to stop me / A sign was painted said “Private Property” / But on the backside, it didn’t say nothing / This land was made for you and me.” Cilantro. Rumble. Caressed. If you loved school, this is for you. If you hated school, this is for you. Fully grown. Seconds hand. Pagoda. In delicate balance. “Denys will like that. I must remember to tell him.” Rasterized layers. Verve. And sundry. Primary targets. Small hours. You need to work your way up into mediocrity. Not easy. Chief sponsor. The rhythm of it. Tollbooth. Notes below. Clumsy hands. And you know that for a fact? Gulistaan. Heralded a. Rotten. Delicate features. Down and out. Creating happiness with nothing at all is the mark of real men. Coal-fed. Boogie woogie. Alaskan. Deep within. Give me the break up. Drive up the hill and. Asterisks. Dil hain ke manta nahi. Color-calibrated. Into very thin slices. Evermore. Rangasthalam. Living, giving, loving. Gypsum salt. A storied life. Was a toast. Yum. Nebula. Bunk seats. Angered gods. Pure Titanium. Butter fingers. Hellhole. Clasped a. Peddled his way into. Racket. Not ready for prime time. Wingman. Party to. This bag is full of second chances. Elevator to. Microbial. Unrest. Cross-country. Upon us. Clung to. Tongue in cheek. Windfall. Tall tree. And then this. Scrutinized. When someone says he/she is a train-wreck, quickly give him/her a real tight slap. They will confess they were lying. Hand-crank radio. Fixed-width. Quickly salvaged the situation. Talaiya sookhi / keekad sookha / bheetar sookha re. Ferrous alloy. Tidbits. Not for the frail-hearted. Measure for measure. Annihilated. Second grade. GoodReads. After a false start. Figures adjusted to inflation. Tower. Crib. Stupendous. Corollary. I am so poor our life together would be a O.Henry story. Walkathon. Typhoon. Petrified forest. Thereof. When in doubt, ask yourself, “what does a petrified forest look like?” Fluoride content in. Redrawn lines. Waqt ki qaid mein zindagi hai magar / Chand ghadiyan yehi hain jo aazad hain. Turning point came when. Reed-like. Shattered. Bore a distinguished look. Preposterous. Front row seats. Magnetometer. We blew it. Beehive of activity. Necking is just fine. I am not that crazy about nectar of Gods. Lone hill. Turncoat. Drama. Measure the curvature. Monastery. Pick a side. Monocoque steel frame. Tipping point came when. “Soft fall and swell”. Discreet. Reassuring words. Sunday Times. Radiance. Sometimes you don’t die. You just wait for the next person to come and take the baton from you. You are not relieved till then. Centerfold. A valley of words. Dentures are off. Predestined. Damascus. Lover. Where is my ride? Spoof. Mysore Silk. Stillness of water. Where are the master files? Ensued. Speak now. Cutthroat. Regrouping. Tutored. North of. Courtesy. Reduce waste: kill yourself. Treasury. Fine-woven. Used all his might. Priority mail. She couldn’t wait. Geology. Pressure and time. Apple cider. Glacial speed. Economy boosters. Pizza comes in a big box. Because, when someone grabs it from you and runs, he can’t run far. Think. Peace talks. Fade out. Battery health is 72%. Winter boots. “It matters not how strait the gate / How charged with punishments the scroll.” Purely for sentimental reasons. Marzipan. Upload pics. Matlab ki duniya. A cowboy died / Before his horse could / Out rolled an Enfield / Riding it is the cowboy. Fennel seeds. Liberal arts. Strayed into. Never underestimate the power of a plain white background. Haggard. Clothes swap. Was a rewarding experience. Defense mechanism. A senior moment. Viewing angle. Next time someone says, “It’s in there somewhere,” just place your hand on your belt buckle. Say nothing. Just place your hand. And look confident. Product design. Outback. Reportedly. Hangar. Consular. On the contrary. “Skinhead, deadhead / Everybody, gone bad / Situation, speculation / Everybody, litigation / Beat me, bash me / You can never trash me / Hit me, kick me / You can never get me.” Snatched victory from. New direction. Adhered to. “Aaj din chadeya / Tera rang varga.” Aaj = today; din = day; chadeya = risen; tera = your; rang = color; varga = like; The day has just broken and the warm sunlight is that precise shade of yours”. All-round pick. General Assembly. Coming up. You know how some text, “Send nudes”? “Bring fries” is my common refrain. Primate. Authored a win. Rowing team. Colonial hangover. Tomato soup. She may be a b*tch, but she is my b*tch. Everything I Do, I Do It for You. Vidhana Soudha. Medical devices. Sheer audacity of it. Most ‘New York moment’ moments are just stupid. Just like how most people are idiots. Wait, because. This entails. Make it go. Write. Create. Inspire. Die. Or just die. F-stop. Tell your dog I said hi. Walkabout. Of the possible outcomes. True love is daily attendance. Whipped cream. This way, sir. Just an old saying. Purely of sentimental value. Signed by the author. Frozen lake. Key players. “Sitting in eighth period, thought I was in trouble / Dean called me on the loudspeaker on the double / I stepped in her office like, “Yes, Ms. McClarkson?” / She like, “Girl, ran out of my lip gloss and / Write down where you get yours from / ’Cause I must admit that bubblegum / Is poppin’, is poppin’ / Is poppin’, “she ain’t fronting””. Tinsel town. Hang on. Pulled a. Correlated. Air Force One. My man. Good woman. Thermometer. Hedging bets. Double choco-chip. War veteran. Should I get a white cow with black spots or a black cow with white spots?! Questions, questions, questions. Clerical error. Allegedly. The Nighthawks. True love can be a retroactive experience, if you are lucky. Serialized in. Flushed down. Sprung up like a. When someone says you made a mistake, just tell them you are dyslexic. They will buy you coffee. Works all the time. Take it one step further and pay $19 when they say your bill is $91. Humbled by. Just the thing. Sextuplets is such a misleading term. Pungent. Faraway land. Myopic, in my opinion. One love. Plaintiff’s statement. Front pocket. Please watch “The Blues Brothers”. Autodidactic. YMMV. Big font. Boy meets girl. Girl breaks heart. Boy hates girls. Girls love boy now. Very straightforward. Eucalyptus tree. Refiled through. Business end of. An awful lot. Is the bedrock of. Primarily. Vanishing act. Dot your i’s… t’s are fine… you can cross them tomorrow. Played it cool. What’s at stake here. Programmed to. Trust you keep this between us but. Arangetrum. Burning coal. Free recall. “With riders” used to mean something else. Mayflower. Consent. Viewers’ discretion required. Swag. Don’t kill the messenger. Beaver. Eager beaver. It’s happening. And I, you. Steamed buns. Act tough. Say you are from the Bronx. Cut your upper lip. Mention the street number. Or, just act normal. Say nothing. Don’t cut lip. Brearkfast counter. Paris, je t’aime. Below minimum wages. Sigmund Freud. In the event I. Baby. Bubbly. Babe. Chubby. Profit during peacetime. Advisory board. Heightened awareness. Starry-eyed. Omitted. Spare me your pathology. More like. There is no ‘k’ in ‘team’. Tighten the bolts. Extra time. No dues. My eyes! My eyes!! Sweatshirt. Guacamole. Rivaled nothing. Kick-ass. Recess. Things that never go out of fashion: Safety pins. Rubber bands. Pencils. Post-It notes. True love. Idiots in majority. Originals on the run. Side effects include. Tummy. Rub your tummy. Rub your tummy and tell me how it feels. Counted steps. David Zaslav, though. Collect yourself. ‘Trapezoidal’ needs a simpler name. Like the shape is not confusing enough already. As a rule, the harder something is to understand, the simpler its name should be. Love. Women. Attendance. Math. Tight spot. Painstakingly crafted. W 64 and Amsterdam. In the absence of which. Yesterday’s news. Whichever comes first. Yo. Si. Lad. Redistribution of wealth. Bedrock of. Fern. Is love the opposite of hypothermia? Sneak peak. Chalk. Pure-play companies. An appetite for. “Menus-Plaisirs — Les Troisgros”. Rethink. Boardwalk. Willy’s. The nerve center of. Rarefied level. Architecture Daily Classics. First taste. Ethic. Might as well. Series A funding. Eggs Kejriwal. Throttle response. Radish. Two kinds of screens in this world: touch screens and DO NOT TOUCH SCREENs. Whiplash. Mezzanine. Glimmer of hope. Kilimanjaro. Guys in the bar. Manor. In poor taste. Curve ahead. I visit Apple Store often even if I have no money to buy anything. It’s a family thing. Filmed on location. Sultry nights. Mannerisms. Prelude to. Mortified. The X-factor. King’s ransom. Sudden recollection is all bogus. The portrait of an artist as a. Sapped all her energy. Leaked information. Guidelines. Under ambition is a thing. Long face. 73.1314% of the furniture in your home comes under ‘non-essential’. Packed a punch. Ashville, NC. Milk container. Walk into a room and say, “They deserved it!!”. And when they inquire, “Who?!! What?!”, just look at every face and walk out of the room. Hurt people. Ruin the room tone. Pulpy orange. The Razzies. Nefarious deal. Mystery caller. Conjugal rights. Fitzgerald. Requesting assistance, requesting assistance. Caught in crossfire. Under microscope. Heard voices. This is merely speculation. Opening statement. Brussels sprouts are from Brussels. All doubts evaporated. What’s all the ruckus? Messy hair. Deconstruction. Two kinds of people: those with an excellent memory, and those, wait, what was I saying? Porridge. Ransacked the place. Achieved a breakthrough. Victor Levin’s “Destination Wedding” (2018) is a cute film. It’s up there. Cross my heart and. And I be like. Is withholding vital information. Full on. Vichy. For the reminder of the day. Valedictorian. Like everyone else in the class is a loser. Botanical gardens. Not the zoological kind, mind you. Prospects are bleak. Pull yourself together. How sure are we? Be warned. These things happen, you know? Basically. Riff. Sparks flew. Hoover Dam. Rotund. Exalted. Taylor’s Version. Battleground. Do the following. Pay extra attention. Take a hike. A Beginner’s Guide To. Ask not a man if he has any loose change when loose change is all he has. Very rude. Indie film. Prohibited area. Melted in his arms. If you say so. A nation at war. Covered in mud. Karela fry. That would be swell. What are we doing here? Details emerged. Where is my rosogolla train?! Painfully alone. Bells and whistles is a big industry. Curb your dog. You are good, though. Transfixed but fixed it eventually. For someone who offers advice to people, you talk a lot. “Like a moth drawn to a flame” is such a romantic expression. Bread crumbs. When heart of the matter is matters of the heart. Scholastic abilities. We need a simpler word for ‘scholastic’. Too scholastic. Had a soothing effect. Get me fries. Feelings are hurt. Haay main marzawaan. Next time someone wishes you ‘holidays filled with cheer and laughter’, take it in writing. Pledged allegiance to. At arm’s length. Perennial favorite. Appreciate it very much. Shenanigans. Through the roof. Two kinds of people in this world: lovers and quitters. Club kachori. Phone bill. This Fall. Kabootar. For all I know, the Tank Man of Tiananmen Square was just searching for a free public Wi-Fi and got tired of the system. These things happen. Rooting for. Monday blues. Sustainable development: don’t even open your mouth. Canal street. Maiden name. Gestapo. When someone is having a wet dream, don’t stop them. Don’t get your hands dirty. Intonation. This is how you can silence the voices in your head: eat food. On Richter scale. Area Under Surveillance. War-torn. I would like an appointment with David Zaslav, please. Flexible hours. VW Type 2. “Date. Buy yourself a nice fall sweater, at least,” I keep telling myself. Done neither. Coffee grounds. Flagged content. Crowd-puller. Nuts. Social experiment. Chat noir. If you rub someone the wrong way, do you hear any noise? Beatific. Lessons in. Now it’s a full-blown affair. Pushed into a corner. “Stop splashing water” is so fascist. Vicious attack on. Rubbed against. Meet me on the corner. The name Fiona always reminds me of the movie, “Shrek”. And, Olive of “Little Miss Sunshine”. And, June of “Knight and Day”. Unifying vision. More bananas. Bring both your eyes together and try again. Do you speak French? Far from the madding crowd. Indira sarkar. Tiger yawning. She had a dizzy feeling. I had the usual kind. Roasted peanuts. Fashioned a win. Two kinds of people in this world: those with French fries in their hands and those who don’t want to get caught looking. Hull. Selma. Wet paint. Have courage and be kind. Gave me a tight rap. Winter is upon us. Again. Jacked up prices. Lafda. Tingling sensation. Medieval times. Hard act to follow. She is a completely different person under STP conditions. Staff quota. Almost there. Hallucinatory. Infectious laughter. This gotta be the. It’s an honor being part of the carbon family. Strong ties. Not like sodium that is ready to f*ck at the drop of hat. ‘For all practical purposes’ is such a superfluous expression. People are acting so rich when they say your actions are in poor taste. Fully sedated. Market sentiment; I always wanted to see what it is like in person. Anti-war sentiment, I can picture. Guy with Trader Joe’s bag standing in the path of a war tank. Everyday is a new experience. Sure, you wake up first. When someone says, “by any stretch,” request them to use hand gestures. What can you possibly do after reaching dizzying heights? Patiend wheeled in. If it’s not ill-conceived, trust me, it’s not fun. Ask my parents, if you aren’t sure. When someone says, “you think this is too kinky?”, say, “absolutely not” and wait for what they are prepared do next. Without pedigree. Cornerstone of. If it’s twins, give high tens. Impress them with your math. I have difficulty trusting someone who says, “Nobody should know this but”. Shook the nation to the core. << Always wanted to picture this expression but I just can’t find the right visual. Don’t waste food. Snatch it from people who look too happy already. Surrender all arms. Don’t rush on legs. Legs can wait. When someone says, “let me break it for you,” take two steps back. Be dramatic. Ella, enchanted. Dick, disenchanted. Me noted. Always. This is an accessible station. Like all others are spotlessly clean. Love is a four letter word. Type it slowly or you will get it all wrong. Why can’t those people who say, “the last place you would think” just begin from there? I am boycotting winter. In a brazen attack. Like the killers stepped out of home with guns and naked. Say, “Get the drift?!” even when there is no drift anywhere. Confuse people. They deserve it. When someone says, “it’s okay not to be okay”, spit on them. “Right wing candidate”, “mishap” and “died”. Please use these three words in one sentence. When someone offers you cash, don’t accept it. Unless it’s $816,154 or above. I have difficulty trusting people who say, “it feels like an oven in here”. How can they say such a thing? When Ariana orders a latte at Starbucks, in grande size, and they call, “Ariana!! Grande!!”, and add softly, “Latte”, and it makes you think of “Ashwathama hatah”, and softly, “Kunjaraha”, have you come too far from home? Ant hill. Neutralized. Beach bum. First sip. Egg whites act so entitled. Formative years. Suffragette. Water drops. Icy look. Fruit basket. Be stupid; cut across the class divide. Some are too cool to eat food. They just breathe and get by. Properly measure before saying, “miles ahead”. Respect science. Trespass. And say God is your shepherd. Nobody will say anything. We wouldn’t have satellite towns, if we didn’t have nuclear families. Think. Why do people leave keys only on the mantlepiece in books? It’s hard to trust someone who is spotlessly dressed and too cool to smile. Bring it to the front. Use lasso tool. When someone says, “I don’t care”, look closely into their eyes and say, “Can we at least order a dessert?” Works all the time. Suckers. Practice speaking truth without fear. Walk from the bathroom to bedroom naked after daily shower. Good exercise. Ever catch people catching their breath? Beautiful sight. When someone brings the whole country to a standstill, move a little bit. Wiggle your toes. Upset people. If you hear voices in your head, trust me, they are all merely speculating. Act cool. Eat fries. Put the STEM kids in place. Take their calculators away. Next time someone says, “Do your math”, say, “Watch your language.” Next time someone says, “It’s very organic”, say, “Prove it.” Next time someone says, “It’s a paradigm shift,” say, “Expound.” Next time someone says, “It’s freezing in here,” just laugh, say nothing. “I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’ / Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world / Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’ / Heard ten thousand whisperin’ and nobody listenin’ / Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin’ / Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter / Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley.” Dylan. Prefix. Tripod. Streak of. Mug. White fence. In the bloodstream. Way too big. Sunday kind of love. Earthen pot. Reaching out. Baroque style. Input. Salacious details. Utopian fantasy. Piano black. Evidential. You are getting to be a habit. Bend of language. Max Pro 1TB. In tune with. Boil the water, first. All is fair in. Remained resolute. Temporal. “Kitchen garden that smells of herbs in the day, jasmine in the evening. Through the gate is a giant poplar. Figs, apples, pears. Grapes on the south slope, olives on the north.” Save up. Keep faith. Fight hard. If all you can do is crawl, crawl. Bookends.

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The article above is an offshoot of
the essay, “What Makes One Beautiful”
which in turn introduces the readers to
my anthology film on New Yorkers here.

(Printer-friendly Version)

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Love, Lust and New York

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What Makes One Beautiful

Mother’s Favorite Song

Notes on Phantom Thread

The Philosophy of Bollywood Song

The Love Story of Lord Shiva

Word Planes

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Me Screaming at People

Politics I Didn’t Choose

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Quotes from “Word Planes”

Quotes from “What Makes One Beautiful”

Flyers

From the Same Author:

Love, Lust and New York

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What Makes One Beautiful

Mother’s Favorite Song

Notes on Phantom Thread

The Philosophy of Bollywood Song

The Love Story of Lord Shiva

Word Planes

.

Me Screaming at People

Politics I Didn’t Choose

.

Quotes from “Word Planes”

Quotes from “What Makes One Beautiful”

Flyers

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Quotes from Corner Table

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You Can Hire Me