Something Old, Something New
- A DRA Production
Seven bestselling authors. Seven incredible second chance romances. One epic anthology.
What would you do for another chance with the one you love?
Something Old, Something New - a unique novella anthology - tries to answer this question with fantastic, different, desi dramas.
Whether it is shapeshifters or shifting interracial relationships, single moms in small towns or rich alpha heroes, friends-to-lovers or passionate ex-husbands; this anthology has something for everyone.
Something Old, Something New explores the many different facets of love, forgiveness, fated mates and more in seven, distinctly Indian tales!
My Warmest Sorrow by Preethi Venugopala
What would you do when you come face to face with your past?
When Ajay, now an IAS officer, is added into his college WhatsApp group, he is welcomed warmly by all his classmates. Except by Diana.
Diana is still living with the repercussions of what had happened in the past. She is thrown into despair by Ajay's presence in the group.
Diana and Ajay were inseparable while in college. Their relationship had transitioned from being best friends to love overnight. But then fate had intervened in the form of Diana's tyrant father who had separated them ruthlessly.
Five years of silence has created a wall of sorrow between them. Their interactions in the class WhatsApp group are nothing like what they once used to be. Every moment is churning out more anguish and unpleasantness.
How much have they changed?
Is love still hiding underneath their public facades?
What are the lies they are hiding?
Read an Excerpt from My Warmest Sorrow
My mobile phone rang as I unlocked the door to my flat. Who was calling me now? It was eleven o'clock on a Wednesday night.
As the project deadline was looming near, I had stayed back in the office till nine to complete the chunk of work I had scheduled for today. Structural designing demanded full dedication, even for a small-scale project. And my current project was unbelievably complex.
Wearily, I slumped onto the couch and rummaged in my bag to locate the phone.
"Diana, you won't believe what happened today. And, where were you? I called you so many times," shrieked Ashima, my engineering classmate, the moment I answered the phone.
I rolled my eyes but a smile curved my lips. Ashima had a flair for theatrics. What was it now?
"Go slow. I just returned home after a gruelling day. We have a deadline this Saturday.”
"Eek. Be like me and find a government job. The perks of a government job are endless. Private jobs suck, " said Ashima.
"Now, now… you must go to that magnificent job tomorrow, right? Why are you staying up all night?"
Ashima had been like our dorm room alarm while in college. She dozed off at exactly nine and got up at five in the morning, every day, without fail. What had kept her awake today? Or had her so-called relaxing job altered her lifestyle?
"Idiot, check your WhatsApp messages. I don't want to spoil the surprise. Thank me later. Goodnight for now."
No! I wasn't in the mood to drown in some WhatsApp group debate she might have started. Mostly, she called me for some additional support when she was on the verge of losing. Who was she arguing with today? Rahul or Avinash?
Most of my classmates were politically active and any new government decision or policies would undergo acute post-mortem inside our class WhatsApp group. Rahul was a devout follower of the Congress party, Avinash was a self-confessed Modi Bhakt and Ashima was a red comrade entirely. On some days, their arguments would last long into the night. I didn't have the energy to jump into another such nonsensical discussion. All I wanted to do now was eat and sleep till the alarm rang at seven tomorrow morning.
I switched on the geyser to take a quick bath. Then I transferred the biryani I had bought into a plate and placed it into the oven to reheat it. In the present Bangalore climate, nothing stayed warm for long. I was not fond of the winters. It wasn't the cold that bothered me, though. The winter season brought back long-lost memories, making me long for the warmth of a specific loving embrace. It also reminded me of my twenty-two-year-old self who had almost given up on life.
By the time I returned from the bath, there were two more missed calls from Ashima. What was wrong with this girl today?
As I dug into the tasty biryani, I turned on my phone data. Notification beeps began. I swiped left till I found the WhatsApp icon. I had 1200 plus unread messages just from the 2013 Civil Gang, my class WhatsApp group. Some serious discussion must be happening. I groaned inwardly. I was certainly not in the mood to drown in nasty arguments. But Ashima would probably kill me if I didn't hop in and speak my bit.
Avinash and Ashima had sent me private messages as well. What was so urgent?
Curious, I opened the group chat. Avinash had added a new member. Though our class had a total strength of 60 students, there were only 45 were members in the group currently. Many of my former classmates were pursuing higher studies whereas some had landed jobs in distant lands. Hence, we had lost contact with many of them in the five years that had elapsed after graduation. Occasionally, a new member would be found and added by one of the admins. Then there would be a mad rush to get reacquainted with the new entrant.
The name of the person added today drove away all my lethargy in a second. I blinked twice to confirm if I had correctly read the name mentioned in Avinash’s welcoming message. Ajay Menon. Ajay… after all these years?
About the Author:
Preethi Venugopala stepped into the world of words during a sabbatical from her hectic civil engineering job after the birth of her son. She began as a blogger and wrote fiction to pass time. Her debut novel ‘Without You’ came out in 2015 and was received well. She was then mentored by eminent author Anita Nair at her writing platform ‘Anitas Attic’ in 2016. Since then, she has published 7 novels on Amazon and more than 15 short stories in various anthologies and platforms.
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Thanks a lot for featuring our anthology. Happy Valentine's Day!
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