Surpanakha's story

Occasionally doing a Google search of one's name can throw up all sorts of suprises.

I'd submitted my short story 'Dhatura' to Indiacurrents Katha fiction contest last year. My story was not listed among the declared winners of the contest, and hadn't heard a peep from them since. The contest rules say they can use selected stories for a period of one year in any way they choose, but till date, nobody ever informed me that the story was indeed 'selected' for anything at all,

Now after a few days short of a year, I Googled my name and, surprise surprise, found my short story Dhatura published in

Indiacurrents

The story is based around an episode in the Ramayana, and it's for adults. People I meet often label me as a 'children's writer'. I understand how convenient it is to pigenonhole people into slots. Time and attention spans are diminishing by the minute, and everyone wants to gloss over things before moving on to something else.

I DO write fiction for children and teens and thoroughly enjoy it. But I also write fiction for adults and non-fiction as well. Writing in each genre requires focusing one's thoughts and ideas and working hard to polish every sentence and paragraph. My writings remain an unseemly bundle refusing to fit into any practical and easy to classify slot.

fashion photography as art

Fashion photography as art? Meaning those inane airbrushed images of models in clothes which nbody will every wear in real life? I always thought of fashion photographs as a marketing and publicity tool, glossy stylised images to make viewers drool or gape over people and situations light years away from real life concern. To me they were aids to escapist tendencies, entertaining images to pass idle time.

Viewing Norman Parkinson's iconic fashion plates from six decades ago gave me a fresh perspective. Norman Parkinson was the original innovator. He took fashion photography from formal studios out into the fresh air. Exotic locales from Africa and Asia formed the backdrop for many of his iconic images. Dashes of humour, touches of the absurd made his images unique. He managed to balance multiple effects and pull of an aesthetically pleasing whole. Imagine a dainty model in high fashion clothes posing beside a cow, or a snake charmer intently guiding his snake to dance! Spectacular backdrops weren't a must for his shoots. Some images are shot in blank London alleyways or nest to a rustic barn in the English countryside. Only Parkinson could carry off such ideas.

Later fashion photographers have by and large merely carried on with the concepts pioneered by Parkinson.
My detailed article can be read in Sunday Herald

teaching and learning

    
I've never been a professional teacher. I'm a lifelong learner. I had a briefest of brief brush with teaching many years ago. Some rose tinted memories are shared in my personal essay published in Teacher Plus Magazine 

Law of Averages

Say it loud. We're average and we're proud! Do we, as a society, worship the average and nurture mediocrity? Do we, with our actions and inactions, not only uphold the mundane and below-par, but also resist agents of change? Aren’t we guilty of huddling together in our comfort zones of the pedestrian mainstream? Don’t we often find ourselves systematically focusing our efforts on pretending that superlatives in any field simply cannot exist? We complacently justify ordinariness in every sphere of life. Mediocrity in public life and leadership, in books, or sports; this seems to be what the public wants and supports. But, does popular appeal alone justify shoddy work? Must we, Indians, continue to aspire to the lowest common denominator?

On the flip side of the coin, what’s wrong with being average, which also means normal, ordinary and usual? Must we be tossed into some social compost pit because we aren’t all Gandhijis and Einsteins? Does anyone have the right to judge us for swaying to commonplace but catchy tunes or enjoying hastily-patched-together pulp fiction? Last, but not least, must ‘average’ necessarily be equated with lack of skill, intellect and overall abysmal lack of quality?

My long rant on the subject is published in Sunday herald

chinese photography

IT"S NOT IT _ TOOL (Chu Chu/OFOTO/Tasveer)


I recently had the pleasure of viewing an exhibition of contemprorary photogrpahy from China. One of the most ancient and progressive civilisations in the world, China is surrounded by an aura of mystery. Making giant strides in economic growth and technological progress, China continues to remain enigmatic to the rest of the world in many ways. An exhibition of the work of six contemporary Chinese photographers, which has been made possible by Glenfiddich, Tasveer and OFOTO Gallery, Shanghai, seeks to throw fresh light on the complex culture of China today.

Chu Chu’s series, ‘It’s Not it – Tool’, for example, shows everyday objects such as a wok, a spanner, scissors and a hammer from unusual perspectives, encouraging viewers to perceive them as objects of art transcending their mundane functionality. These larger-than-life images in black and white shades encourage an appreciation of their forms, rendering the familiar with fresh aesthetic appeal. Viewing these objects from unusual angles and perspectives, one wonders about the human stories behind the people who created and used them.
China is the world’s most populous country. Yet people are conspicuous by their absence in most of these photographs. What we see is things they have created and used; homes, skyscrapers, elevated roadways, tools and objects of daily use. Through these images, these Chinese photographers are exploring and responding to cultural and economic sea changes sweeping their land, and their effects on their deep-rooted cultural values. Works such as these have intrinsic artistic value. They do not pose direct criticism or political challenges, but are suggestive of wider issues, urging the viewer to ask far reaching questions and seek answers.  My detailed article is  published in Sunday Herald

wishlist for 2012

As a 

As a new year dawns, what do ordinary folks like us wish for ourselves and for the world? Here's my wish list for 2012, May democratic values and peace rule, may every child have proper food, healthcare, education and most of all, the hope to be born. And if we do follow our human instincts and end up nuking our earth or smothering it in noxious wastes, let us take heart. Let’s hope to colonise Mars and discover other habitable planets out there to explore, exploit and devastate. Read my detailed take in Sunday Herald
   

season's greetings

Neighbourhood kids of different faiths sang carols at our doorstep celebrating Christmas and welcoming 2012 with the Spirit of unity. Here are the cuties dressed as angels, magi and all. Taking a cue from them to wish all friends a wonderful Christmas and a fabulous 2012