My experience with getting published in The Times of India

If you are here looking for information on how to get published in The Times of India, then you are in for a disappointment. I've spent every waking second trying to get information on how to make an edit page submission to The Times.

Alright, here's the deal. I am very new to this writing game and I am not familiar with the unwritten rules; so I play by the book and deal in black and white. Now, you know how it works in India; until you've tried a zillion times for anything, success is not guaranteed.

I've had success in getting my work published to wherever I've sent so far. So, why The Times now, you might ask? Every evening when my husband returns from work, he looks at my distraught face knowing what I've been up to and asks, "Again? today, too? Why? Why just The Times? There is Mint, DNA, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle and rattles the list." I sigh; if you have to ask you wouldn't understand. Call it my obsession or whatever you want. My morning starts with this paper everyday; it has been that way for the past 7 years of my life which makes it difficult to just turn away and give up in a day. Getting a work published in the edit section of Times of India is my dream, even if it's just for once. I know what you're thinking - very ambitious indeed for a person who started writing just a few months back. So what, I've had no rejections so far. I have a piece ready to be submitted to Times and my gut says, it wouldn't get rejected. I've closely observed and analysed every single column submitted in the past five months and I feel I am ready to try it.

Most of my writing ideas are inspired by day-to-day events and some occur in the middle of the night. Very few of these ideas transform from thoughts to articles.

Back to the Times of India story, I started this exercise of getting the editorial contacts a week back. During this period, my list of disappointment from the largest publishing house in India with a readership of 68.28 Lakh, has just grown and grown. Sample this : they have a few phone numbers listed at the back of the print edition. Since I live in Pune, these are local numbers. On calling them, I am told that the edit page articles are published from Delhi and I would have to get in touch with someone there - no information available about the Delhi contact numbers. That should be easy I thought - look up their website for the Contact Us page and just get the numbers. But, that was not meant to be. All the pages in TOI have only the Indiatimes numbers. An Indian lady with a fake westernised accent trying to pretend she didn't have a second in the world to spare was kind enough to give me the Times of India office number.

Did you know the editorial section in a newspaper office is different from the edit page section? I didn't: dumb schmuck. I thanked my stars when I spoke to a gentleman from the editorial section who promptly directed me to the edit page section..I've been trying to get through to someone for the past 3 hours while my long distance phone bill keeps increasing.

On a closing note, I've not given up; atleast not yet, just a little disillusioned right now as to why our publishing houses can't be more organized and give sufficient information on their websites or bloggers/writers/journalists in India who can put up this information such as this one.

What I would like to see are:

1. Editorial/ submission guidelines like the one for New York Times


2. Editorial Contacts such as this one at LA Times


3. This is stretching it a bit too far citing reasons for rejection, but wouldn't it be nice.


4. A rough time line before which you would get back for promising articles

I don't have stats to compare the readership of Times of India with New York Times; but what I do know is that it doesn't hurt anyone to be organized and give information right away without wasting your time and ours thereby inviting opinions at e-mail addresses which were not meant for this purpose. Time to think people!

Why ICICI Direct is not a good idea for Intra-day or Margin Trading?

In the life of a trader, there are only two types of days - great and worse; there's nothing in between that can qualify for being a mediocre one. I just experienced something worse than a worse day - totally down in the dumps; thanks to ICICI Direct for making my life so miserable. Interestingly, ICICI Direct was awarded the Most Preferred Financial Advisory Service in the CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards 2007; this going to a brokerage firm that sucks in margin calls.

Anyways, the latest episode with ICICI Direct is that during peak trading hours, the site is exceptionally slow which means you have to go through the process of placing an order to confirming the same a number of times before getting it done by when the price has changed and it makes no sense at all. This is still OK. But what happened today cannot just be forgiven. The damn site was down for a good 9 hours starting from 14:00 hrs. Just when I placed a margin order and before I could convert it to delivery the site went down. Calls to their customer service resulted in an automated message - "Due to an unexceptionally high number of calls queued, we'll not be able to connect you. Please try again later." It was obvious; there were hundred others trying to square off their positions profitably.

I was relaxed later that evening to know that my position would have got squared off automatically at a higher price, but that was not meant to be. The jokers at ICICI took the least price when the stock was falling momentarily and squared off resulting in a huge loss. The stock in question was MRPL. Their customer care representatives were kind enough to tell me that they were working hard on improving the site and that I should have read the Terms and Conditions carefully while signing up for the demat account which apparently states that they are not liable for damages caused by technical fault. What a nice way of covering your asses!

So, my advice is if you are contemplating of opening a e-brokerage account, then go in for something else.

LG is one month shy of turning into a 1 year old

The Seniol proudly says Lil' General is growing like a weed; I prefer to say he is growing every day, every minute in to a handsome lil' one just the way babies are supposed to. Gosh! Can you believe in a month he will be a one year old. And then, I wouldn't have to count his age in terms of weeks and months..I can just say in terms of years like we grown up adults, and make him feel like one too. Seems like yesterday when I started writing about all the weird stuff that was happening inside me; those temper tantrums in the first trimester; an indulging second trimester with all the announcement "we-are-pregnant" and a nausea accentuating the weight factor in the third semester. It is all over and the product is right in front of our eyes growing everyday with the growth actually visible; it is not like those unreal moments when our parents meet us after a few months gap when we are 30 and still comment, "Oh! you have lost so much weight; the face is not shining, are you not taking good care?" while the weight machine says another story.

Am I getting nostalgic? I don't know but one thing is for sure - I'm growing old. I set out to write the 10th month milestones and here I am talking totally unrelated stuff. so, back to the topic.

The weighing machine is on LG's side and the results are there for everyone to see. I would like to be told that I am doing a good job - hmm, of feeding him, obviously. The needle on the machine kept oscillating this month as he struggled from being a fussy eater to finally giving up on his stubborn momma to eat, eat and eat.

LG met a very special friend, Beethoven aka Caesar with whom he seems to forged a very strong bond. Even I am very fond of his dear friend and we make up stories to go on a walk; just to meet him.

Diwali was special; we visited Beethu at his house and he greeted us with sweets. Beethu has also grown very fond of LG and during his walks he just keeps pacing up and down near our gate and car park refusing to go ahead with his walk. If he sights LG, he gets very excited brushing all over him and once, he even pulled out LG's socks. LG reciprocates Beethu's love with the beating of his legs and a jumping motion on his pram; I've never seen so much happiness on the boy's face. This was the quickest thing he learnt - to learn to do bow, bow and bow. Sadly , "bow" has replaced "papa" from his vocabulary.

He got naturally weaned; acts like a grown-up boy and looks at feeding as if it is an inhumanly thing to do.

Enjoys foam bath; hates wearing clothes and puts up a fight while wearing diapers.

Potty aunty visits precisely at 7 a.m. every morning. Susu aunty has been over-friendly this month; she blames it on the weather.

The Seniol is maintaining a list of all things damaged around the house and calls LG his retirement fund. Ever since LG got to know what his dad was up to, he has been smart enough to act carefully and break things only when no one is watching him. You can't blame, you can't claim if you can't prove it, right?

This was LG's first Diwali and he was irritated than being scared.

One emotion he was unaware of until now - fear, has finally surfaced. He has suddenly developed a fear for heights. Climbing up and down the diwan was child's play earlier. Now, once up, he rarely ever comes down unless we pick him.

Ever since my cook left, LG has been helping me a lot around the kitchen every evening taking the masala containers out of racks, breaking oil bottles and such.

It's amazing how kids learn on their own; he figured he could use his dad's chest for one step and my face for the next to lift himself from the floor onto the cot.

His diet has increased and so has the variety. He hates red pumpkin; loves milk ka kheer; no-love no-hate for beetroot; loves capsicum; likes idli; hates dal; loves khichdi with curd; goes bonkers on seeing his milk bottle.

Alrighty, enough of LG. Now, a little bit about me. Because my schedules are so tightly linked with his. I am not going to hide the fact that I long for the time when LG would sleep so that I can get a few peaceful moments for myself. He is not a difficult child but requires a constant watch so I can hardly get any of my work done. And his sleep patterns are erratic so I don't get as much sleep as I'd like to.

LG is helping in reducing my waistline. No amount of cycling, yoga and exercises have helped me get back in shape. He draws immense pleasure in tapping hard on my tummy, so that's my last hope now.

If you've come this far, you sure have a lot of patience. Do me a favor and send your suggestions for a theme for LG's first birthday party.

Adsense : My first check from Google

It was an anxious moment where every cent was counted and every click contributed to breach that first milestone. My first check from Google gets dispatched next month; it happened faster than I thought ..I first signed up for Google Adsense three years back and then deactivated it within three months, for no apparent reason. Just didn't see money coming in ever and it was such a waste of time to log in and see if there were any clicks at all. And, then it all changed this May with traffic increasing on both mt sites - this one and LG Rules. So, I decided to activate it again and see if it meant anything. It did; it took close to five months to reach that first milestone.
The last few dollars took for ever, some days going by without any click despite the reasonable traffic and I was on an edge wondering if it had something to do with the design of my template. Most of my visitors come through Search Engines, very few being regular readers. If you are wondering if any of those tips to make quick bucks and increase adsense revenue helped, then the answer is not really. All of them say the same thing; write everyday - choose your words right, pay attention to SEO; blend your template; just worded differently. You just got to experiment until you figure out what works best and give it time.

To my regular readers : Thank You!

Changing careers : a different perspective

I MAY never go back to doing what I did for 7 years until a year back; if circumstances are favorable. But, as they say, never say never, so you never know what future has in store. There were times I enjoyed the ride and times when I waited to get out of the rut; the rat race was getting to me. But, let's face it - one needs a paycheck at the end of the month to keep the family wheels running. In total honesty, the paycheck was good and was the only motivator to keep going. That job of 7 years was my career - I still love programming a lot but from the confinement of my home; that I thought would last a lifetime. Nothing wrong with it. How many of us change our careers mid-way? It was a reliable source of income and I never cared so much at the end of the month when money got deposited into my bank account. Sometimes, I would never check until it was the 4th or 5th day of the month. It was taken for granted.

And then, all this changed dramatically once I quit. It was my choice. Had little to do with Lil General's arrival. Whether or not LG came, my quitting had been in the scheme of things. Let's just say my mid-life crisis arrived early; I did not go through a quarter-life crisis. Being a cyber coolie was making our lives miserable, slowly killing the lively spirit we had within us. And, my job at Pune with Cognizant was one of the major contributing factors for this. LG's impending arrival provided the right reasons to take the plunge. I made the decision, quit my job and in the last couple of months at work put together a plan as to what I wanted to do.

The plan worked to a great deal in the beginning. With LG's arrival, it all came to a screeching halt. The transition from being an IT professional to a stock trader /freelance writer was hard. Any switch in career is going to be hard. You have worked all these years with a fixed mindset. To leave all that, and start from scratch with no experience was tough. To be your own brand ambassador, hunting for work and making sure you get paid for what you do was and is difficult. But let me tell you one thing - the thrill I got from my first $50 check was something that even my hefty last paycheck did not give. Every penny I earn today is hard earned. I keep track of every dollar that comes in. I never had a goal while I worked before. Now, I have quarterly targets and I work towards earning that which makes it all the more challenging and makes life interesting. Trips to Bahrain to watch Formula One can no longer be taken for granted. They have to be earned the HARD way.

It's been a year now since I quit the corporate world. There was one question that always bothered me which was a trigger point to this mid-life crisis. When many Americans lost their jobs to outsourcing, they could still make a living. An average Westerner is versatile as compared to an average Indian. Any American you find would be passionate about one thing like making motorcycles in their garages, writing, painting, carpentry etc other than what they do as a day job. So, someday even if they lose their day jobs they can go back to doing what they are passionate about and still make a living. If India is faced with the same situation as America was and we lose our jobs, do you have a plan as to what you would do? Blame it on our society, on our educational system, on whatever you wish but the fact remains most of us don't pursue anything apart from what we do for a living. I know I know you are dismissing this whole chain of thought of mine as someone from a psychic. But, do you have an answer? What makes you so sure that we'll continue to be the cheap(sorry, cost-effective) labor ten years down the line?

V says, "Do what you like with all your heart and money will follow." I don't know how far it is true. I have no idea if I will ever make what I made in a month any sooner but it has definitely been worth the try.

Kellogg's Cereal for Breakfast

In India, breakfast is an elaborate affair, just as any other meal of the day is. Depending on which part of the country you are in, your choice varies ranging from Idli/Dosa/Pongal in Tamil Nadu to Khara/*.Bath in Karnataka to Poha in Maharashtra to Paratha up North. You get it, don't ya? We Indians take the gastronomical department very seriously; our life revolves around it. Before the dinner dishes are cleaned, the ladies in the household get busy detailing the menu for the next day's lunch.

But, our household is a little different from the rest. Our breakfast has largely remained unchanged in the last five years. We take pride in the fact that we have a healthy breakfast in the form of cereals mixed in a bowl of milk on all working days. This was born out of convenience when both of us were working and continues to this day. It works great for us with so many choices for cereals available these days - in different shapes (cheerios), colors (chocos?), texture (muesli!) etc. My all-time favorite has been Kellogg's Fruit Harvest which sadly is not available in India. Kellogg's Muesli is good here. Good Earth Muesli (never heard of? ;they run frequent ads in Femina), produced by Avesthagen, is not easily available at all stores but a few supermarkets carry them. The composition of oat flakes is high and tastes yuck; only the ads and the stories are great. If you want to save time and rather spend those 15 minutes reading the newspaper; eat a breakfast devoid of oil and cholesterol with a proper balance of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals, then try cereals!

Why being poilte doesn't work in India?

In a country with a population of over 1.3 billion, you didn't think getting things done would be a walk in the park, did you? By things, I mean simple stuff like having the electrician over to fix your leaking geyser or expecting the fully-paid for book shelf to be delivered as promised on Sunday without 10 reminders.

Reality bites and the fact is being polite just doesn't work in this country. Everywhere everyone is in a mad run to nowhere; ready to stomp over the next person and it takes a great deal of patience to get anything done. Callousness is inbuilt; perfection is elusive and expecting one can only lead to a stressful life and a weak heart.

There's always a incident or a bad experience that acts as trigger point for every post. For this one, it was my experience with getting my gas burner fixed. In May 2007. I exchanged the old gas stove for a new 4-burner prestige stove thinking it will come in handy for multi-tasking and make cooking faster. Within a month after buying, two burners stopped working or were on a very low flame making it useless. I've been calling the customer service of Prestige for the past 60 days and every time I am promised someone will show up at my doorstep before 8:30 p.m. Gentle requests, raised voices, threats to return the stove - nothing has worked so far!

What's cooking for Diwali ?

We are a multicultural family namesake, falling heavily towards on one culture for all occasions, festivals etc. i am fortunate that way for not being forced by in-laws to adhere to rituals with a 10 page long to-do list of what to do, what not to do, what to eat, what not to eat, what to gift and who to visit. Oh! Believe me we know of quite a few couples who get diktats of when to goto the loo. We are a very flexible and easy going family with no hassles, no expectations and no qualms about anything; the downside being that this casual outlook doesn't go down well with everyone! I know this was a digression but I feel better having got it out of my system for it ruined my Diwali evening partially! Its a bane in today's times to make others feel good. My wise husband said, "Never ever argue on Religion and Politics. Opinions on these are like a*holes and everyone has one." But you know how women are, don't you? You stand to win a Nobel if you can determine what they want. Seriously.The toughest species created on Mother Earth - it would have been a saner place without this species, so complex that it sends my head spinning! And men are transformed to women after marriage.

Alrighty, now to the Diwali part. One of the Diwali traditions when we grew up was to make sweets at home and distribute it to friends in the colony. I've continued this tradition even after marriage and didn't want to blame LG for my laziness this year. Making sweets and namkeen while LG is awake is a big task. It took a little effort and hanging out after dinner in the kitchen to get the goodies done, but I was determined to have it out of my way. Two namkeen and one sweet in three nights isn't bad, right? Coconut Burfi - a hot favorite wasn't perfect in its usual white, a little charred but tasted yummy. Thengozhal and tape came out crispy and tasted way better than any I've done before. I started making these delicacies a little too early ahead of Diwali or they were very less in quantity. Blame it on the husband who stays up late; sneaks into the kitchen; hunts for the hidden sweet dabba; fishes out a piece and restores it in its place for the wife to discover on Diwali morning that the dabba is a lot lighter than its original weight. Running short of home made sweets to distribute to people on Diwali morning, I just got them nicely packed gifts from a store nearby. The Rangoli ritual was an elaborate affair and the fireworks part very brief this year..pictures will come in soon.

The two day long Deepavali-Diwali; the first one for Lil General, went on well. We had a good time - dressing, eating, shopping and hanging out together!

Diwali Rangolis

Here are the two Diwali Rangolis that I put up in our house and some from the neighbourhood. Mine are kolams (patterns made by joining dots) while people here generally draw beautiful Rangolis. One of my favorite activities on Diwali's eve is to walk around the neighbourhood looking for the best Rangoli.

Growing up : Girls and groceries

I was eight when I recall being sent to the sweet shop in the colony first time with a Rs.10 note to buy jalebis for myself and my brother. This was year 1986. and perhaps the first time when I handled a Rs. 10 note all by myself. I was thrilled at the thought of shopping for the family, doing the mental math and getting the right change back home for the sweet shop guy was known to cheat. I did a good job and with time other tasks followed : buying vegetables and other groceries from the kirana shop.

A lot has changed since then. Times have changed. Kids these days carry Rs.100 with ease as pocket money to school and buy burgers for a snack during their morning break. All we got was a Rs.5 soiled note to fix the cycle tyre to get back home just in case it got punctured. I am not complaining. We grew well and we grew fine; knew the importance and worth of money.

It is but natural for one to expect grown up girls these days to be street smart. So, it came as a surprise when we saw a teenager struggling to buy a bunch of dhania. One evening last week, on our way back home, we stopped by the local vegetable vendor. we were particularly impressed by this girl - not by anything she did but the way she was dressed and looked. All seemed well until she asked the lady how much the kothimber was for? She paid and then hesitantly looked at the bunch up and down and sideways, unable to determine if it was alright. She cast a quick glance at the vegetable lady and asked, "Yeh achcha hai na..nahi tho mama vapas bhej dhengi mujhe?"`That innocent look on her face said it all..she was really concerned by the quality of the bunch she had picked up. After reassurance from the lady, the girl was on her way. The lady was quick to comment to us, "itni badi ho kar dhania khareedna nahi aatha". But the incident made me think. I am sure given Rs. 6K, she can pick up a good mobile phone for herself. Why is domesticity being looked down upon? Is it not a part of one's growing up? Was this girl just a one off case or did she represent today's generation?

LG is 10 months old and the boys at home rock!

The monthly newsletter is a few weeks late this time. Lil General completed ten months on 18th October while his grandparents were here. Two months shy of completing an year, the boy is growing fast, his antics increasing by the day and doesn't lose a minute to surprise us. If you are short of energy you know who to look up to. Vivek and I are seriously considering to moving to a Cerelac - dal rice - Porridge diet. We believe this is better than any Red Bull. The only time during the day when we have a peaceful moment to ourselves is the time LG naps.

October was a month of heavy duty socializing that took us on a 10 day trip to Amritsar, meeting friends in Delhi and a visit by my parents on our return. Meeting new people did a world of good to Lil General's separation anxiety. Both sets of grandparents were anxious before they met him as to how he would react on seeing them, if he would play with them etc. All their doubts and fears were put to rest. it took him a few minutes to be all over them. Conquering my dad's tummy was like being on an expedition to Mt. Everest for LG, a feat that he couldn't achieve. But there's always a next time. Visits to grandparents naturally meant more and more gifts that his wardrobe can hold.

LG and his paternal granny competed in who could sleep the most while his grandpa stayed guard while LG slept, never leaving him alone even for a minute. His dadaji just couldn't have enough of him and played with him the most. Retirement, in his words, makes you feel lost. Suddenly you lose the purpose for living and get drawn into a mode of depression. LG's visit did a lot of good to him that way. One of our fond memories from Amritsar was the visit to Golden Temple and the lovely dinner at Pizza Hut. The guys at Pizza Hut took very good care of Lg while we ate and did a small dance that LG appreciated without even so much as blinking his eye. Maybe, we too should shake a leg for him.

The air hostesses became instant fans of LG. There was a lot of opportunity for brushing his hands over their face and pulling their hair - I must say they didn't mind their makeup going awry.

He has been able to sit well, without support. He can stand and walk with support. We just have a few weeks on our hand to move stuff around the house that are at a 2 feet level to over 4 feet.

Though "thambudu" didn't put an instant smile on his face, he connected with my mom in a special way. Laughing so loudly every time she gave a lemon to him to make him open his mouth so that I can feed him (yea, those were the fussy eater days) made her happy. He was fond of her new bangles. The only person he spared from biting frequently was my mom but her glasses were under attack often.

Dad ought to thank his stars for all his gadgets went back with him safe and sound. I can't guarantee the same next time though.

The potty stories remain - do I even need to start ranting the details about texture, color and smell. This makes me feel he is not a ten month old but a well grown up old.


He still blows raspberries, beats his chest out of happiness and has learnt to say pa-pa. No ma-ma yet. Vivek has been training him and I HATE him for that because he said pa-pa first. The boys rock when they are together. But doesn't matter because I know he loves me more and doesn't need a reason to smile at me. Bites me hard, pulls my hair and scratches my face. I know I make his day and that makes me happy.

Oh, before I forget, he stopped crawling on his stomach in Amritsar. I loved the way he used to do it and was so fast at it. There were times when I thought I should go around the house that way for a week - the only way I'll lose all the fat. He learnt the art of crawling on his fours. It is amazing how kids refuse to do what they did when they reach a new milestone. It would be a matter of weeks before he stops crawling and starts walking. What remains with us is memories and the footage on video camera. (I haven't been doing a very good job of filming him :( )