‘Timeless Echoes’ is Here!

Timeless Echoes is just a click away now. Click on the link to download it and hear the echoes that would reverberate around you, reminding you of lost opportunities, repressed desires, cherished moments and hope that shimmers through clouds.

Here are all the links:

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When Echoes Vibrate

Lilies in the garden spoke to me
Birds sang merrily
Clouds of gloom disintegrated
When I let these echoes vibrate

Mute watchers warbled
Fluttering fervently around me
Stirring hopeful messages
Of joy and bliss

When smoke of your love
Tried to asphyxiate me
When dreams got besieged
I flew on the wings of words

Fears receded when
Sun spread its gold
Creating a fusion of colors
Silently illuminating life.© Balroop Singh

The Editor’s Review:

Half of what we say are lies although they might be considered true, but truth with one’s self is an accepted bundle of lies except for those rare moments of self-realization. These lines right at the start of Timeless Echoes, ‘Each moment is precious, we try to cage it within our heart, where it perches in perfect rampart, embalmed by memories,’ reveal how this book is a healer, promising to lay bare the ills of the soul as it soothes, cleanses, and nurtures; instilling in us a will to learn and live without fear, and a will to not hurt others: ‘Why can’t our hearts feel the hurt we hurl at others?’

Balroop’s new book is a steadfast repudiation of those ills that we painfully hide under the covers of our flesh to present the polished exterior as truth. This magnetic collection of poems highlights our precious human lives with all their varied emotions and imposing relations: the lives often blinded by the strictures of the self-made duplicity, an excessively common phenomenon. ‘Listen to your heart, my friend. It knows you well,’ she writes.

I treasure these ‘forgetting fragile facets of love, facade of fading memories, echoes of dwindling love, is all I have now, yet love echoes refuse to subside’ believing that love echoes are soul-launched signals, ready to hug our pretenses to forge a divine assimilation because the struggle has always been with the self that we excommunicate to build up a wall, which obscures the travails plaguing the core. And finding a path to the core is the cure since there’s no villainy in the soul.

As Balroop proclaims ‘love is such a strange emotion, it gives less, it claims more…the facade of love is so delusive,’ I concur how our infirmities require urgent banishment, more pressing now than ever. And once I’ve made peace with the self, ‘the dark corridors are like meadows, they glow with my presence.’ Yes, without an iota of my own falsehoods plaguing me.
–  Mahesh Nair

Thank you for your support.

Please share this post at your favorite social networks.
Balroop Singh.

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A Warm Welcome… #Author Jacqui Murray

My blogger cum author friend Jacqui Murray, who rides on the wings of reading and writing has landed here today to share her latest book launch ‘Born in a Treacherous Time.’

I am amazed at the readability factor of her book, as I have read it faster than I had anticipated and would like to share my review before we begin a chat with her.

‘Born in a Treacherous Time’ by Jacqui Murray explores that period of time, (1.8 million years ago) which was most challenging for mankind, when survival and finding food were the major issues, the only weapons to kill were stones or sticks and predators could attack any moment. I haven’t read any other book in this genre and have never given a serious thought to how humans lived in pre-historic times. It is interesting to note that nature ruled human beings! A feeling of revulsion hit me when I was reading the details of eating raw meat, with blood dripping from their mouths.

Only a few books have such a magnetic power! This book pulled me more because the protagonist is a woman – Lucy who had a ‘capacious’ brain, could invent tools, understand the herbs and plants that heal and is strong enough to save Baad, one of her male companions from the attack of an eagle. An element of mystery makes this fictional account of early man quite fascinating.

Murray’s superb handling of characterization, with the basic instincts of bonding, care for each other, urge for learning and raising children stands out to lend authenticity to the plot. However it is the resilience of human spirit and hope that shimmers through out the book.

Book Blurb: Lucy and her band of early humans struggle to survive in the harsh reality of a world where nature rules, survival is a daily challenge, and a violent band threatens to destroy everything Lucy thinks she understands.
If you like Man vs. Wild, you’ll love this book. If you ever wondered how earliest man survived but couldn’t get through the academic discussions, this book is for you. It will bring that world to life in a way never seen before.

I am delighted to have you here Jacqui. Please meet my curious muse who has some questions for you.

1. How did you think of such a different theme for your latest book?

   

   Click to look inside

At the root of Born in a Treacherous Time is Clan of the Cave Bear. Beyond that, the question of how man survived in primeval times filled with Sabertooth Cats and Mammoth was an idea that simply wouldn’t let go of me! I tried to push it away over and over and Lucy (the main character) just wasn’t having any of that. So I finally capitulated and agreed to write her story!

2. Why have you given so much energy and intelligence to Lucy and not Raza?

I suppose because I identified with the female protagonist. I wanted people to understand her, why she did the things she did, her power to go beyond norms, her creative thinking when solving problems. I am planning a sequel to this book which will focus more on the males though still not Raza (probably). 

3. How much of the story is imaginative?

I spent considerable time researching all the ‘paleo’ topics for this book–paleoclimate, paleogeology, paleoanthropology, that sort. I came to realize that what we know about this time so long ago is limited and fragile, often based on a handful of artifacts. The best any scientist can do is extrapolate based on this evidence. So that’s what I did. I’ve read other stories of ancient man that gave their characters the power to read thoughts and more. I didn’t award any characteristics (such as that) without evidence it could be true.

4. Do you think emotions guided people of treacherous times?

Yes though I’m unclear how much. Science is also unclear how much. As a result, I include emotion as one of those traits that make us uniquely human and allow my people to act based on emotion. Truthfully, it would be pretty boring without the pizazz of emotion in scenes, wouldn’t it?

5. You are right Jacqui. Jealousy and kindness seem to be as old as Kelda and Lucy. Have you picked these traits from modern times?

Man’s instinct to survive is hard-wired and likely uses tools like jealousy and kindness. But emotions that rely on more modern actions–like specialization of jobs or detailed planning–I avoid. I won’t in the next book though!

6. You are a prolific writer, reader, blogger and a teacher too besides being a home-maker. Tell us the secret of managing so many things together.

I keep a TODO list which I constantly check. I also don’t allot endless time to any one project. I have deadlines and meet them. Without that, I would constantly tweak everything!

Thank you for honoring us with your visit Jacqui. We wish you and your book a roaring success.

Book information:

Title : Born in a Treacherous Time
Series: Book 1 in the Man vs. Natureseries
Genre: Prehistoric fiction
Cover by: Damonza 
Available at: Kindle

About the author:

Jacqui Murray is the author of the popular Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy, the Rowe-Delamagentethrillers, and theMan vs. Wild series. She is also the author of over a hundred books on integrating technology into education, adjunct professor of technology in education, webmaster for four blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice,  a columnist for TeachHUB, monthly contributor to Today’s Author, and a freelance journalist on tech ed topics. You can find her books at her publisher’s website, Structured Learning.

Connect with Jacqui:
Twitter  Pinterest Linkedin Blog  Author Amazon page

 Please share this post at your favorite social networks and visit Jacqui’s author page at Amazon. I am sure you would like her book.

Balroop Singh.

 

 

5-star Book Review for Balroop Singh’s “Emerging from Shadows”

I had to share this as Deborah’s creative presentation of the review of my book is filling my heart with gratitude!

Her succinct style of appreciation is thrilling as well as heart-warming.

Thank you for your kind words Deborah!

BowmanAuthor and Writer/Editor

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Book Review: Emerging From Shadows by Balroop Singh

When you have such accomplished friends as Maniparna who respond with a brilliant review of a book…you can just be as spellbound as I am right now. I am enthralled by the richness of her language, the choice of her words, the profound understanding of poetry and her in-depth analysis of my poems. Gratitude seems to be a meaningless word to thank her for her serious endeavor to interpret and bring out the subtle meaning of my poems.
I am blessed with such a blogger friend (an outstanding poet) whom I met online when I was struggling to find a foothold to survive in the blogosphere. She has kept her promise of reviewing my latest book ‘Emerging From Shadows.’

Scattered Thoughts

Balroop is one of those first few bloggers I got acquainted with since the beginning of my blogging journey.  I’ve been reading her blog Emotional Shadows for quite a long time and, the depth and profoundness of her words never have failed to amaze me. So, when she offered me an e-copy of her newest publication, Emerging From Shadows, (her fifth book) a collection of poems, it was quite a pleasure.

Forty poems, composed and curated by the author herself, adorn the book. All the poems, though not related to each other, seems harmonious to me as I finished reading. As if, they are pearls of the same string and, together they exude a feeling that resonates with your mind in more than one way.

Balroop’s poems liberate the mind of the reader from darkness to light. Life, for us, is not a bed of roses. It is a roller…

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Do You Believe In Arranged Marriages?

Whosoever invented arranged marriages didn’t have love or sex in mind, as both appear to be more attractive outside a marriage.

An arranged marriage is much more than that…it is a life time commitment through thick and thin, it is like wading into deep waters, knowing well that we may drown if we lose the focus, it is accepting the obligations of not only taking care of the progenies but also the parents of each other and their relatives.

The cultural encumbrances of such a marriage may frustrate you at times but nobody ever thinks of walking out over trivial issues.

All this and much more is revealed in Vishnu’s book.

This post has been inspired from my dearest friend Vishnu’s latest book – ‘Arranged Marriage.’

Marriage may be an ‘over-rated institution’ but all enter into it to taste the bittersweet fruit that it offers.

Why not plan it – asks Vishnu!

Why not give the responsibility of arranging it into the hands of experienced gurus, grandmothers and aunts, who only think of your welfare and happiness.

Vishnu delves deep into the seriousness of marriage as a sacred bond, which can last forever if we tread carefully.

He is immensely focused in this book and presents a superb case for arranged marriages, without actually forcing them down your throat.

He discusses the pros and cons of such a marriage, which is more a union of two families than two persons.

If you wonder how others can prove to be more successful in choosing the right partner for you, then this book is surely for you!

If you have dismissed arranged marriages as obsolete, retrogressive and stifling, then you must read a fresh modern perspective it presents.

You must read it even if you have migrated oversees but would like to pass on your culture and your traditions to your next generation.

This book can be very interesting and informative for those who don’t have any idea about Indian weddings, which are planned most meticulously.

Though I know an arranged marriage very well, having gone through this roller coaster ride most successfully, I still enjoyed reading this book as it incorporates subtle humor to bring out certain solemn details. Despite that, the author does not make fun of any of the age-old traditions, which dissuade many a young couple to go in for an arranged marriage.

This book also took me down the memory lane…

I am reminded of a story, which was a part of high school supplementary reader, and after reading it each year, we had to discuss the basis of marriage.

The youngsters, at the brink of discovering what is love, enjoyed this discussion the most and would come out with the most incredible arguments. Most of them would justify marrying for love and looks. They wanted a free choice, didn’t want to involve a third person and live for love!

Culture and tradition was thrown to the winds at that stage of life and I would always conclude… ‘it is good law doesn’t permit teenage marriage.’

Once the youngsters grow up into mature individuals, they laugh away their adolescent dreams and beliefs and marry, quite willingly according to their parents’ wishes.

There is no magic wand for a successful marriage. It all depends on your own commitment, forbearance and patience.

Arranged marriage ensures the cultivation of all these virtues to come up to the expectations of family, society and cultural norms.

Fawn Weaver must be having an arranged marriage in mind when he said, “Marriage is like watching the color of leaves in the fall; ever changing and more stunningly beautiful with each passing day.” There cannot be a better analogy than this for an arranged marriage, which matures with time, goes through various stages, sheds its worn out leaves and thrives on hope that fall brings.

I hope you have enjoyed the analysis of this book. There could be another perspective. I would be eager to hear that.

You can grab a free copy at Amazon.com

To pick up Vishnu’s book, Arranged Marriage: Run to the Altar or Run for Your Life, click here. It’s available free on July 20th and July 21st, 2015.

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Thank you for your support. Please add your valuable comments, they are much appreciated.

Balroop Singh.