If Only.. We Spoke

by Deepthi Shenoy

Life is a journey of so many small moments. Moments of happiness, of laughter, of love, of care, of warmth, of regret, of pain, of hurt. Often times in these moments, we speak in haste, damaging a relationship beyond repair and repent afterwards. Quite often, when situation demands that we speak up, we merely crawl back to silence, withdraw into a shell propelled by some unknown fear, but realize later, that, all the other person needed was a comforting “hmmm” or a simple “I’ll be there for you” gesture as some sort of understanding or more often than not, an acknowledgement even to their existence. There are many many many such moments in each of our lives which could have been probably different, if only, if but only, a small step was either taken to remain silent or speak out the golden words, depending on what the situation had demanded then! There is no rule book, definitely none on what fails or what works when it comes to when to choose silence over words. If there were, there would be no heart breaks at all. This book is a collection of such short stories which muses on how communication and more often even miscommunication affects our lives in so many different ways. Communication, be it in any form, a gesture, a smile, a hug, a simple message, a letter, a phone call, an email or just an idle conversation is very important for any relationship to survive, to thrive, to move forward. It is also important to avoid any miscommunication and presumptions which most of the times adversely affects one’s life. At times, silence is indeed golden and it helps that the words are not spoken. But at times, it helps much more when the words are spoken clear and loud!

107 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 18, 2017

About the author

I am a mommy, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, an engineer now focused towards project management, a co-worker, a mentor(I hope), a foodie, a blogger, a book worm, a dancer, an artist, a nerd(sometimes), an amateur cook and finally an author who has taken that first step to publish – well, yeah, I am all that and much much more!!!

Reviews

[Rathi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of short stories centred around the theme of unexpressed words/ emotions and their consequences. Since regret is the main theme, the dominant emotion is one of melancholy.
I thought Desert Rose was a pretty smart mystery and different from the other stories.
Deepthi's writing is evocative without turning sappy. 'Ringing waves' for example, brings forth the often neglected subject of spousal emotional abuse.
The two bonus stories are cute. I think the book would have worked much better if these stories were in between the other heavier ones.

[Balaji Sriraman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome! This short story collection is just an awesome series about life. Can't believe this is the first book of the author. Best wishes and worth every penny! Couldn't be named more aptly!