43 Comments
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Shubha's avatar

In the process of discovering (and loving) your newsletter and I've smiled all the way through this post. Thanks for making me grin remembering the antithesis of my Antananrivo moment—when my friend asked me what 120/4 is and with full confidence and zero thought I yelled "8!". Have not and will not live it down.

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Haha, we all have these moments. Thank you for the kind words Shubha, happy to see my words making you laugh! 😬

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Unapologeticallyyourstruly's avatar

Splendid 🤩 and well written 👌Also now I have heard of Antananarivo ...

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you for reading and for the kind words :)

Antananarivo is such a fun name and almost a tongue twister.

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Unapologeticallyyourstruly's avatar

Lol....yes! And I honestly forgot it 10 mins later....😆

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

hahahahahaha. no worries. whenever you hear the Madagascar or King Julian, Antananarivo will cross your mind and hopefully this article will too :D

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Unapologeticallyyourstruly's avatar

Haha...😂 I bet it will...

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Vaibhav Rajput's avatar

This was too good, from where you started to where you landed. Beautifully written, loved it thoroughly; not for the humour as it’s always there but for its flow.

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Thank you bhaiya :)

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Kanika Pal's avatar

Brilliant storytelling Abhishek. Absolutely loved how you connected the dots in this one. Keep writing and keep growing. :)

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you Kanika :)

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Namrata Gohain's avatar

Brilliant storytelling! This can turn into a short film called Atlas.

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Kanika Pal's avatar

I agree with you, Namrata! :)

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you Namrata! I was very excited while writing this. Glad it resonated with you and other readers :)

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Nihil's avatar

The way you connected Hodor's origin story to your own Atlas redemption moment is brilliant! I love how you built that tension - the intimidating coaching center crowd, the confidence-crushing peers, and then BAM - Antananarivo becomes your superpower. Your humor throughout had me chuckling. Beautiful writing!

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you Nihil. Appreciate the kind words :)

Glad you enjoyed the writing!

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Mamta's avatar

You have cracked the art of climax placement. Maza aaya 👏

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Thank you Mamta. So happy you liked it :)

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Avichal Sinha's avatar

Life has so many seemingly random incidents which later connect. So glad to read about your such moment in a well written piece!

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Absolutely Avichal!

Thank you for reading this :)

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Rehan's avatar

Nobody needed to know about defiled trousers. Nobody.

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

You're my nobody bruh. You should know :D

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Millennial-Mam's avatar

Nicely written and yes I did read till the end and I wanted to share my story too.. but your title and story are so good, I will sit with this for a moment.. there are so many quirky lines.. and it's definitely a 'read till End' peice.. keep more coming !!

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you so much for such kind words.

I'll wait for your story :)

Will continue to share such essays. Please like, share, restack and subscribe (Sorry force of habit xP)

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Shreyaalogy's avatar

Its was actually a good read!!!!!!

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Thank you Shreya :)

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Isha's avatar

Another good read, Abhishek:) I am quite curious how do you get your story ideas, they are sometimes quite interesting!

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you Isha.

I don't have a process as such, but for this one, I intentionally wanted to write in a different way. And Utsav's articles have of great help. They really motivate and inspire you to write better :)

I was cleaning my cupboard because the house was getting painted and I came across an old Atlas book and all memories came flashing by. Then one thought led to another and I knew I had a good piece at hand. Then while writing the piece, in 4th iteration I guess, Hodor connect struck and here I am smiling at your comment :)

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Isha's avatar

Yeah I am yet to read his latest one, thanks for reminding me:)

Okay I have to be honest I really didn't get the Hodor reference at first since I haven't watched GOT, I had to google it, and I am still reading about it haha. But thanks for sharing how this idea struck you, and I absolutely agree, memories, if we’re paying attention, can be the greatest stories.

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Wow, introducing friends to new topics via my posts feels so good. I hope you like reading about Hodor and GoT in general.

And Utsav's articles are so so so Good!

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Vera's avatar

Oh my. The suspense was killing me, but I knew it was going to lead to something exciting and so very real. This piece had humor, but it has a lot of heart and a big win moment, which was fantastic to see! It’s so well written I can picture every moment.💙😭

Reminded me of a turning point in my public speaking journey. For about 2-3 years I tried to fit in with the cool kids, without any success. I was trying to people please too much. Until one evening I got question about how I’d help people if I were a motivational speaker, and I became tired of telling others what they wanted to hear, so I let myself go with the question and say what came up to me in the moment.

So, I started talking about how maybe it’s not good to have too much motivation, and how sometimes the worst people are very motivated. So, to solidify my case, I tried to exemplify an unmotivated serial killer, which of course didn’t work and they went nuts with laughter.😂Also made some feel extremely uncomfortable and it’s what got me the reputation of the girl with dark humor. Oh well.😭🤣

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

this was such a nice story with a mixed ending -- though I can see myself being in the group which was laughing their bums off, because I know you write fun stories.

thank you for reading the essay and sharing your thoughts on it. really appreciate the kind words :)

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Vera's avatar

Probably yes. Haha.😂

Always enjoy reading your work and look forward to it. It’s very alive. Wohoo for future posts. Can’t wait.❤️

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Thank you for being so supportive! :)

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

This was a great read bhai! Bahut mazza aaya :)

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

bahut bahut dhanyawaad bhai :)

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Tapan Desai's avatar

Such a great piece! Loved the way you connected the opening hook to your Atlas story. Also, the mythical head turning moment 😂😂

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

Thanks Tapan!

I almost mentioned this mythical head turning moment in the achievement section in my resume xP

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Geepi's avatar

The way you connected hodor to your genetics is awesome, the right timing. Good hook

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Abhishek Singh's avatar

thank you Geepi. Appreciate the kind words :)

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