Moni's Nook

Law of Averages

2012-01-23T15:37:00.000+05:30

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

2012-01-11T12:47:00.000+05:30

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

2012-01-02T13:16:00.000+05:30

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

2011-12-23T12:14:00.000+05:30

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

Reaching out beyond the void

2011-12-11T13:20:00.000+05:30

Title: The Empty Space
Author: Geetanjali Shree
Translator: Nivedita Menon
Publisher: Harper Collins India
Pages: 260
I recently had the pleasure of reading The Empty Space, a powerful novel about death, life, and the empty spaces in-between.

This stunning novel is far from a simple story which ''reveals itself on its own, predictably.'' The author deftly draws us into exploring the momentous empty spaces between life and death, between overwhelming tragedy and regeneration in these times of insurgency, senseless violence and killings.

A bomb explodes in a university café, blasting to smithereens 19 young lives, the promise they held, and the dreams of the loved ones who survived their deaths. The last mother to enter the café and identify her dead son takes home his remains packed in a box. She also returns with a three-year-old boy, who was found in a small empty space amidst the carnage, miraculously alive and breathing. As the little survivor grows up and tells his story, the past “barges into the present and shifts life from its centre.” The parents of the dead boy are powerless to prevent the grey pall of their loss from withering “all the dreams and seeds and fruits and flowers and bees” of the present in one sweeping stroke. The parents and society refuse to see the surviving child as an individual in his own right. Made to take over where the dead son left off, the traumatised child refuses to speak or eat. It is as though the dead boy and he are all mixed up. “The new one just lies in his empty space, just lies there, who notices? It’s the old one who is buried again and again and then resurrected each time.” Entangled in memories of someone else, the parents may tend to his physical needs, but emotionally they are not with him. The dead son’s presence continues to control the family’s lives. The characters are powerfully portrayed. Their emotions, their motivation, strike us like that bomb blast, forcing us to rethink the enigma of the human condition. The surviving boy’s character shines through the bleak landscape of the book. He refuses to be negated by that one incident that becomes the driver and the keeper of the rest of his life, to languish as the ghost of someone else.

What I liked best about this novel was the positive strength of the surviving child. Also, the translation is beautifully done. My detailed review is publsihed in:Sunday Herald

exquisite miniatures by Nainsukh

2011-12-06T12:27:00.000+05:30

Indian minature paintings fascinated me from the first time I set eyes on them as a child in a lovely book in Lady Irwin School library. In later years, my little son and I would spend many holidays exploring Mumbai's Prince of Wales Museum. Their fabulous collection of Indian miniature paintings was among our favourite haunts. These intricately painted gems were marvellous down to the minutest detail. So many schools, each with their distinctive styles; so many wonders packed into tiny spaces. Who created them? What inspired them? What were their lives and times like?

Many of our artists of yore are nameless and faceless. While some of their beautiful creations have survived the ravages of time, little is known about these individual artists. I recently attended the inaugural lecture for Tasveer Foundation’s lecture series by eminent art historian Prof B N Goswamy, who threw fresh light on this beautiful art form.

From the 17th to mid-19th centuries, artists of the Himalayan foothills or pahari region produced exquisite miniature paintings, which are a vital part of India’s artistic heritage. Foremost among them was Nainsukh, whom Prof B N Goswamy ranks among India’s finest miniature painters. Working in the 18th century, Nainsukh left behind a treasure trove of portraits, court scenes, hunting scenes and glimpses of daily life. In the 100-odd surviving paintings and sketches attributed to him, we see a deceptively simple world rife with complex subtleties. With an incredibly light yet masterly touch, Nainsukh’s paintings breathe life into magical and intensely human moments from times long gone.

Nainsukh was born in Guler, a tranquil place in the hills, and created many of his paintings there as well as in Jasrota. He painted in a fresh, realistic and ethereal style, marking a change from the earlier heritage of rich, bold colours, robust human figures and breath-taking stylised language of art. Nainsukh’s work is marked not by emphatic accents, but by soft, delicate tones.
They appear simple at first glance, but a closer look reveals subtle nuances brought out through skillfully executed precise lines. Nainsukh captured the beauty of the people and their emotions, and the verdant hills where they lived.

My detailed essay on Nainsukh can be read in Sunday Herald

spiders, spammers, sweet tongued flatterers

2011-11-14T11:20:00.000+05:30

I haven't posted personal stuff here of late. I've mainly posted links to my published writing (yes' I wrote that stuff and they're my original ideas). But a recent deluge of fake 'comments' have urged me to speak out.

What is it with unscrupulous freeloaders and shameless self-promoters?

Every day for months, my blog's been swamped with thinly disguised 'comments' which are nothing but promos and links to the poster's e-commerce sites. These comments may be generated with plausible human sounding names by spiders and other mysterious creatures stalking cyberspace. But I'm human and can clearly see through the ruse.

Readers are most welcome to post genuine comments and generate legitimate and relevant discussions. BUT I do not encourage 'comments' here which have no connection with my blog's content, but are solely meant to promote sales of some on line stores.

My blog is not here for spammers to flood the comments space with free advertising.

Even if you add something like "content was useful" as a preamble to a promo of your commercial venture, such comments will be still be detected and sytematically deleted. Don't waste my time and yours.

If you want to promote your on line store for flowers, candy, gadgets or whatever, kindly advertise these in appropriate venues.

Sigh! and back to work.

Fate and the individual as a shaper of his own destiny

2011-11-06T20:09:00.000+05:30

Man of a Thousand Chances

Author: Tulsi Badrinath Hachette

Why do the just and innocent suffer for no apparent fault of their own? And why do some people get away with murder most foul? Why are some blessed with more money than they know what to do with, while others are forced to lead a hand-to-mouth existence? These and allied questions, which most of us wonder about at some point in our lives, are examined in the course of this novel. At first glance, middle aged, greying, careworn Harihar Arora seems anything but heroic. Striving to rise above petty joint family rivalries where he is the underdog younger son,Harihar secures a job as assistant to the curator of the Madras Museum. He struggles to make ends meet on a modest salary, and plug the unforeseen places from where his money leaks away triumphantly. Settling his darling daughter Meeta into a happy marriage is his primary concern, and the means he adopts to arrange for the money fall on the wrong side of conventional morality.

Harihar is by turns both a victim and a mover of his own fate. Beneath the beguilingly simple surface of an interesting story are deeper philosophical questions which Harihar, and by extension, the reader, are compelled to examine. In the end, Harihar sees that “life, despite the worst of circumstance, was not a prison. Each day with every single thought and act of his, he was building his future lives. If he paid attention to the now, he would ensure an excellent, though indescribable, later.”

My detailed review can be read in Sunday Herald

simply SMS

2011-10-27T11:26:00.000+05:30

Some years ago, I wondered where SMS lingo was taking us. My piece once published in Deccan Herald still has relevance:

Carrying a cell-phone can be thought-provoking, especially when one gets those cryptic SMS messages. When folks type ‘pls snd txt msg’ in SMS lingo instead of ‘please send text message’, I see not the death of language, but new possibilities. I'm talking about change and evolution, not advocating SMS-isms per se. As I see it, some SMS-isms might very well seep into the language if SMS lasts that long. Chances also are, something entirely new may take the place of cell-phone communication and kill off SMS.

SMS lingo has evolved as the result of a genuine need in much the same way as slang. Many tend to look down upon such 'pedestrian' innovations which challenge the conventional boundaries of 'pure'
language. But we mustn't forget that the language we consider convention and
time-honoured and hence pure today, is itself the result of inventive usage
gaining popularity and ultimate acceptance.

Language, not just English but any language, is a living, growing entity.
Think of all the Indian languages that evolved from the original 'pure'
Sanskrit. Compare modern Kannada usage with Hale Kannnada, or even the more
historically recent works of Bankim Chandra or Vidyasagar with the current
trends in Bangla writing. Compare the English of 'Beowulf' with Chaucer's
Canterbury Tales, and compare Chaucer with Shakespeare. Then compare them with James Joyce and compare Joyce or Pound or Yeats
with (oh horror of horrors), SMS lingo.

Since languages are dynamic entities growing and changing with time and usage,
we can expect further change. Yes, even perhaps the inclusion of some SMS-isms in
due course. It would take time, but it would happen. Right now, SMS lingo offers interesting possibilities. They can, when
judiciously used, spice everyday communication with humour or bring alive a fictional character who uses such language.

An avalanche of innovations may be confusing and destructive. But a slow,
gradual process of evolving popular usage is a must for the growth and
development of any language. Imagine what would happen if humans adamantly
refused to accept change? We might still be grunting and groaning like the
Neanderthals because that was the original, 'pure' way of communicating.

Then again, perhaps we are truly reverting to the original way of communicating. Don’t SMS-isms suspiciously resemble the monosyllabic grunts of our cavemen ancestors?

face value

2011-10-09T12:35:00.000+05:30

We live in an unjust world where those who successfully present a certain image are given more prominence and respect. In an age of tapering attention spans, snap judgements are made and individuals labelled and slotted depending upon the brands they sport. Some of us may like to believe that we are valued for our inner qualities. But clothing as a means of self-expression is very much here to stay.

The way we dress helps others form an instant image of who we are, offering insights into our lifestyle and attitudes. Which brings up that age-old question; do clothes make the man or woman? Of course they don’t! Looks can lie and superficial clothing cannot change the essential character of a person. Why then does up-to-the-nanosecond fashion dominate our time, thought, newsprint and airwaves?
My detailed and somewhat tongue-in-cheek take can be read in Sunday Herald

timeless tribal art; an interesting tangent

2011-09-18T20:22:00.000+05:30

I recently interacted with self-taught artist Bishnu Prasad from Orissa. For many years, he studied the tribal cultures of Orissa as an assistant to anthropologists. Fascinated by the dying art of the Saura tribals, he creates paintings which are a vibrant fusioon of ancient Saura motifs and the artist's oown interpretations and innovattions.

These intricate paintings were an integral part of tribal life since millennia. But with conversion of many tribals into Christianity, they began renouncing old customs. “Today, their once common wall paintings have all but vanished,” laments Bishnu Prasad. Interested in painting since childhood, this self-taught artist has honed his skills for many years and aims to present his renderings of Saura art before the world.

The Sauras are among the most ancient tribes of India. Savari, the woman devotee of Lord Rama in the Ramayana, belonged to the Savara or Saura tribe. Jara, the hunter, who mortally wounded Lord Krishna with an arrow by accident, also belonged to this tribe. Today, the Sauras are best known for traditional wall paintings, which they call italons or ikons.

These intricate paintings have ritualistic significance, drawing upon tribal folklore and ancient animistic religion. The paintings are created around Idital, the deity of the Sauras. Each Idital contains many significant symbols. The paintings reflect the daily life of the Sauras and even the tiniest detail is rife with significance.

My detailed account can be read in Sunday Herald

A deeply moving love story

2011-08-29T10:44:00.000+05:30

I recently had the pleasure of reading The Exiles by Ghalib Shiraz Dhalla (Harper Collins, 2011, Rs.350)

The novel traces out the love triangle of Los Angles based banker Rahul, his beautiful and devoted wife Pooja, and Rahul's intellectual and artistic young lover, Atif.

The novel has a strong storyline and finely drawn, convincing characters. They falter and stumble through life seeking an elusive sense of belonging, of loving and being loved in return. The troubles they face, the upheavals in their lives, are partly the outcome of their own tragic flaws. The author succeeds in making us share the sensitivity and pain of these people; each a good human being in his or her own way. As we are drawn deeper into their intertwining stories, we feel deeply for them. We want to hug them and wipe their tears away. This intensely moving quality is one of the strongest points of this book.

My detailed review can be read in Sunday Herald

The Cousins Book review

2011-07-05T13:46:00.000+05:30

The Cousins
Prema Raghunath
Zubaan
2011, pp 209
325
This is the intensely moving story of Goutami or Goutu, for whom life in upper class Tamil brahmin society hides fangs of avarice, jealousy and petty vindictiveness under its facade of old world graciousness.

Barely a year old at the time of her mother’s death in 1921, Goutu learns early on to “fight, fight for everything, the hand-me-downs, the handouts, the charity.” She knows too well that her diamond-studded aunt and her cousins envy her inborn talents and want her out of their way, even dead. Cornered too often through her formative years, she cannot afford to indulge in feminine graces. The author succeeds in making us feel for Goutu.

Goutu’s life is inexorably entwined with her tormented older brother Achyut, her debonair cousin Krishna who beds all young cousins before their wedding night, and her dutiful, clever and coldly logical husband Seshadri. They are travelling companions through the journey of life, enriching each other’s perspectives over the course of time. Seshadri cannot tell a lie, not because it is a moral issue, but because “beautifying things or rendering them more palatable did not even occur to him.”

To Goutu, lying comes just as naturally. She embellishes bare facts to create an impression, escape from trouble, or not hurt another’s feelings. A solid yet unfulfilling married life leads Goutu to turn to Krishna, and fall for the dashing but unprincipled Subra.
The story takes us all over India, from a traditional Brahmin home near Madurai in the early twentieth century to Delhi, the seat of the British rulers in India. We follow Goutu on to England, where she venutres boldly to seek a cure for her physically challenged daughter, Meera. It is Meera, who with her deep insights guides Goutu in her twilight years to find inner peace.

The transitions from place to place and from points of views of the main characters, can be too rapid and abrupt at times. The sense of place could have stronger too.

The intensity of Goutu's emotions draws the reader to her and makes her life story a worthwhile and memorable read.

My detailed review is published in Sunday Herald

The Intolerant Indian

2011-06-20T09:28:00.000+05:30

Gautam Adhikari's new book, The Intolerant Indian (Harper Collins India) will whisk readers out of their complacent cocoons. With sharp, incisive prose, he shows us the sinister forces out to ruin the ideals of tolerance, of unity in diversity, upon which our unique democratic nation is founded.

The best thing about this book is that the author spares no one, whether it is the BJP, the Congress or religious fundamentalists. He exposes the double standards, the hypocrisies, the insiduous undermining of our nation by various forces.

While life is improving for India’s elite, a huge section of Indians are among the poorest in the world, lacking access to potable water, power, healthcare and housing. It is this elite that this book is aimed at. Adhikari turns to them, hoping they will step out of their comfort zones and strive toegther to uphold the ideals on which our nation was founded.

The book is lucidly written and can be read and easily understood by any educated reader who cares.
My detailed review is published in Sunday Herald

photo exhibition on The Great Outdoors; call for entries

2011-06-16T10:28:00.000+05:30

Call for entries for a Photo Exhibition on ‘The Great Outdoors’ highlighting
adventure sports & outdoor activities from August 4th to 7th, 2011 at the
Alliance de Francaise, Bangalore

After the resounding success of the four Editions of our seminar and the
publication of the book on ‘The Great Outdoors’, Essen Communications is
organising a Photo Exhibition on adventure sports and outdoor activities. The
proposed exhibition will display an array of action-oriented pictures on aqua
and aero sports, and terrestrial (land) activities by adventure organizations,
outdoor enthusiasts and photographers. Other highlights include a display of
adventure gear.

A. Sections
1. Aero Sports: Hot Air Ballooning, Micro Light Flying, Paragliding,
Parasailing, Skydiving, etc.

2. Aqua Sports: Banana Boat Ride, Canoeing, Country Rafting, Jet Skiing,
Kayaking, Sailing, Scuba Diving, Water Skiing, Wind Surfing, White Water
Rafting, Yachting, etc.

3. Terrestrial Activities: Artificial Wall Climbing, Birdwatching Trails,
Bouldering, Bungee Jumping, Camping, Canyoning, Cave Exploration, Cycling
Trails, Desert Safaris, Desert Treks, Game Fishing, Horse Safaris & Riding,
Jungle Safaris, Motor Rallying, Mountain Biking, Mountaineering, Nature Photo
Safaris, Outbound Training, Rappelling, River Crossing, Rock Climbing, Sport
Climbing, Trekking, Zorbing, etc

B. 1. Size ofprints -18” x 12”

2. Each photograph must bear
a. name and address of the entrant/organisatio n b. contact numbers (mobile &
telephone number) c. email id d. title/caption ( also mention location of
activity)

3. A non-refundable entry fee of Rs.100 must be sent by M.O. / DD favouring
‘Essen Communications’ payable at Bangalore . Return of entries is subject to
receipt of entry fees.

4. Final selection of entries will be made by a panel of experts.

5. Entries should be suitably packed and sent by registered post. All care will
be taken with the return of entries. But no responsibility is taken for any loss
or damage in transit or storage.

Deadline for receipt of photos on or before June 30th, 2011.
For enquiries contact: 95354 24795/ 94483 63336/ 98804 43532/
or email: essencom@yahoo. co.in

a 'comic' genius

2011-06-06T11:38:00.000+05:30

Once upon a time, Amar Chitra Katha Comics and Tinkle comics occupied every shelf and cranny in our home. My son and his little friends shared each copy, laughing, crying, fighting and making friends again over them until they fell apart in tatters. ACK comics were a magical part of growing up not just for their gang, but for millions of Indian Children.

We met Uncle Pai, the creator of ACK, in person at the grand finale of a quiz contest.My published account of that memorable day and a tribute to the departed 'comic' genius can be read in full in Sunday Herald

Violence as daily fare

2011-05-08T16:35:00.000+05:30

The media swamps us with daily avalanches of mayhem and gore. Wars, riots, natural calamities, it's as though the TV channels and their sponsors just can't get enough. Newspapers, movies, video games, death and destruction is always a click of the mouse or flick of a page away.

Are we becoming insensitive to the travails of others? Are we losing our sense of humanity and becoming anal retentive thrill seekers?

Is the media to blame? A monster our to dehumanise us all? Or are we at the root of it all? The media is, after all, a human invention reflecting what we are.

Read my detailed take in
Deccan Herald

Snapshots from the tsunami coast, Kashmir and Jharia

2011-04-18T11:40:00.000+05:30

I recently had the pleasure of viewing a collection of photographs by Srikanth Kolari. Srikanth launched our tete-a-tete by declaring that he was not a media-savvy man of words. He hoped his images would speak for themselves and impress viewers with their range of emotions and ideas.

His image of the hands of a coal mine worker (see left), like his other photographs, does just that. They show pain, struggle, fear and the grim determination to face another hard day.

Srikanth Kolari’s photographs of life in the burning coalfields of Jharia in Jharkhand, conflict-corners of Kashmir, and the tsunami-hit coast of Tamil Nadu urge viewers to seek out and interpret deeper stories behind each image. He portrays the many shades and shadows of grief, compelling us to confront deep-rooted scars and festering emotional wounds. A major underlying theme of all Srikanth’s projects is the problems faced by humanity. He strives to “focus the spotlight” on poor, marginalised people living on the edge.

Srikanth’s images from coastal Tamil Nadu show the many scars left by tsunami. The care-worn face of Amma Kannu shows stoic forbearance as she stands at the threshold of her dark, empty home. Her husband, a fisherman, was swept away by the sea. His body was never found. She herself was carried all the way to the mangroves and rescued by some villagers. She now lives all alone with her two goats and haunting memories. Today, fishermen continue to brave the waves in flimsy catamarans; tiny specks in the horizon vulnerable to choppy waters and angry grey skies. Even children take makeshift rafts into the mangroves and backwaters in search of fish. They have lost everything; their homes, loved ones, and their boats and fishing nets, the tools of their livelihood. Their memories haunt them and they fear the wrath of the sea. Yet, they have no choice for they must eke out a living. The progress of rehabilitation projects is pathetic. Ruins of slums along Marina beach await fresh construction. Some new houses provided by the local NGO in low lying areas of Kadalur district get flooded after just a few hours of rain. Yet, life goes on. It must. Fishermen and shoppers strike bargains in the daily fish market on Marina beach, Chennai. Dark clouds loom ominously overhead, while the furious sea roars in the backdrop. A crow flies off in a halo of light; a harbinger of hope or warning of disasters. Srikanth leaves it to viewers to make their own interpretations.

Read my complete account in Deccan Herald

flights of fantasy with Samit Basu

2011-04-04T11:07:00.000+05:30

I first met bestselling and critically acclaimed author Samit Basu during Bookaroo 2010. Participating in his session was an educational experience for a new author like me. Of course the 'education' came wrapped up in oodles of fun. Warm, unassuming, and inclusive, he welcomed ideas from his young (with a smattering of oldies) audience to come up with ideas for a wild and wacky new fantasy. So we had a whale of a time figuring out what a gang of rogue penguins, who were afraid of icy water BTW, would do in Antarctica. Fight flambouyant pirates, save the universe from sinking into a black hole, and outwit a martial arts ace fashionista woman warrior with a taste for chocolates and... we played and tossed about the most outlandish ideas and... voila! Did we see the core of a new story here? As everyone brainstormed, they agreed on one thing for sure. A hint of romance in our story? Yuck!

Samit Basu is a multi-faceted writer with a distinctive voice. Novels, short stories, comics and screenplays, he’s done it all with aplomb. He has created complex sometimes ominous, sometimes whimsical worlds featuring scantily clad centauresses, flying carpets, pink trolls, belly dancers and homicidal rabbits, all working toward or against destroyng a flawed, magical world and defeating the gods at their own game. His latest book, Turbulence, is more mainstream; with imaginative takeoffs from our real world. Aman Sen’s ragtag gang of rogue superheroes can together “stop global warming, turn the Sahara into a rice bowl, find alternatives to oil, stop the damned recession. The kind of things superheroes would do in comics, except the Rural Infrastructure Development League comics wouldn’t really sell well.”

Writing fascinating and imaginative entertainers isn't easy at all. It requires meticulous attention to serious craft.

Samit doesn’t believe writers are only 'agents of entertainment' . It's certainly not true that deep writing can’t be popular and accessible. "Most of the books that really stay with readers are both complex and popular", Samit says. "I don’t go around calling my own books deep, but they’re certainly not shallow, and they’re all fairly complicated, but they sell just fine. I don’t think anyone writes or reads for pure entertainment. I’m actually very serious about the writing. But I like writing about people and situations that are fairly eccentric, so it sort of flows from there. I think humour only works when it’s organic, when it flows from the characters or from the situations these characters are in. "

My interview with Samit Basu is published in Reading Hour

No more Fukushima

2011-04-01T13:39:00.000+05:30

While all of urban India gears for a blockbuster World Cup Cricket final showdown, some of us continue to share the pain and show solidarity with the people of Japan. Messages are being exchanged among writers and intellectuals voicing concern for the plight of the people of Japan. May the world never see another Fukushima or Chernobyl.

Renowned authors Mridula Garg from India and Yuko Tsushima from Japan have shared this deeply moving message

Dear Dear Mridula,

I want you the voice from India "No more Fukushima!".
I believe we have to now cooperate against Nuclear power plant
and also of course, nuclear weapons for our planet with deep,strong anger.

I know your own philosophy, and I learned from you the beautiful word "Dependence". All of us, all of lives are connecting, we are altogather in this world. Yes, it's true.I think now we should act as one of novelists for our planet and all of lives on this planet. At first we were shocked and then weeping for this disaster, but now we got angry with the voice "No more Fukushima!".

When we visited you in New Delhi, it was the time many Japanese papers said India and Paki will soon begin the nuclear war, and already American embassy or Japanese embassy returned to their countries.I am feeling now this case is very similar with our case.Every people on this Earth has so great fear about nuclear power always!
Please, tell your friends "No more Fukushima!" in India. Please, give your voice "No more Fukushima!" to me, I will send it my friends, the novelists, the poets and so on all over the world.
with deepest love,

Yuko Tsushima

***
Here's another message from Author and journalist Ammu Joseph:

May I take this opportunity to share a statement drafted by Romila Thapar and Praful Bidwai regarding the

grave nuclear crisis in Japan and its implications for India? The aim

is to enable citizens, and not just "experts," to engage in the debate.

The idea is to publish the statement in the press and on the internet to

build up public pressure for an honest and serious evaluation of the

situation, especially vis a vis India's nuclear programme. If you wish to endorse the statement, please e-mail Praful Bidwai asap. I'm sure the statement would be greatly strengthened if well-known creative writers like all of you (who can't be dismissed as part of the "anti-nuclear camp") sign on.

And do circulate widely
Ammu

Japan’s nuclear crisis is a wake-up call for India
We deeply regret the death and devastation caused by

the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and are gravely concerned at the disaster

at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power station,

where reactors suffered serious accidents damaging their cores, and released

harmful radiation, resulting in radiation burns and other injuries.
Fukushima’s radiation releases have contaminated drinking water in Tokyo, 220 kilometres

away. According to preliminary estimates based on data from a United Nations

agency, Fukushima has already released about one-fifth as much iodine-131 as

the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, and half as much caesium-137; both cause

cancer. The crisis shows that even in an industrially advanced country, nuclear reactors

are vulnerable to catastrophes irrespective of precautions and safety measures.

Small individual incidents in them can spiral into serious mishaps. The

earthquake cut off primary power supply to the reactors. The backup power

failed with the tsunami. Loss of cooling water precipitated the crisis. Two

weeks on, Fukushima remains a threat to the public.
The Japanese nuclear crisis is a wake-up call for India, which has launched a huge

nuclear expansion programme. Yet, instead of acknowledging the gravity of the

crisis, our Department of Atomic Energy has cavalierly minimised it, described

it a “purely chemical reaction”, and declared that Indian reactors cannot

undergo serious accidents.We strongly believe that India must radically review its

nuclear power policy for appropriateness, safety, costs, and public acceptance,

and undertake an independent, transparent safety audit of all its nuclear

facilities, which involves non-DAE experts and civil society organisations. Pending the review, there should be a moratorium on all further nuclear activity, and revocation of recent clearances for nuclear projects.

War and redemption

2011-03-13T10:09:00.003+05:30

photos: left; Joshua inviting pople to hear his sermon.

Joshua Milton Blahyi AKA General Butt Naked reacts with childlike joy at the end of an intense grilling session with Ryan and his colleagues.
Right: An Afghan farmer in his poppy field

I recently viewed Ryan Lobo's latest collection of photographs and interacted with him. In the course of researching the heroin trade in Afghanistan and filming the award winning Redemption of General Butt Naked, Ryan travelled through war ravaged Afghanistan, Liberia and Iraq. Journeying through dangerous territory among desperate men, Ryan and his colleagues faced grave risk to their own lives. Travelling in armoured military vehicles accompanied by private security guards, they often had to seek safe spots on news of approaching Taliban forces. In the course of his travels, Ryan shot his own still photographs, which he feels can at times tell a deeper story relevant to all humanity.

During a bloody 14 year long civil war, Liberia was abandoned and forgotten by the rest of the world. In this chaos, the warlord Joshua Milton Blahyi emerged as one of the world's most brutal mass murderer. He is estimated to be responsible for the deaths of over 20,000 people either personally or through his army of child soldiers. Joshua and his followers went forth to fight and kill dressed only in boots and guns. Many believed that fighting naked made them invisible and invincible to enemy bullets. What sets Joshua apart is that at the height of his power, he abandoned the battlefield and had a wake up call. He turned to a pastor, Kun Kun, who urged him to confess his sins to those whom he had wronged, and seek their forgiveness.

Ryan and his colleagues followed the contrite Joshua as he approached his victims, offering food and money though he himself was nto a rich man. His camera records intense moments; a man beset with his own bloody history trying to hold on as he faces people who sometimes hear him and forgive him. Often, he faces hostility and msitrust. Images of these victims show various expressions of doubt, mistrust, hostility, anger, and peaceful resignation. "I cannot conclude what went on in their minds," Ryan says. He captured with his camera these intense and somewhat chaotic moments. The experiences of these individuals are part of the greater story of humanity, with its never ending cylces of war, peace, viollence, atonement and sufferings.

It is difficult to assess a man like Joshua, Ryan feels. His violent crimes and his repentance are both true, different facets of a complex individual. some images capture Joshua’s relief and even childlike glee at the end of grilling sessions. “Repentance, contrition and murder are equally real and true in Joshua’s case.” In this unfolding story of perpetrators and victims, how could a man like Joshua transcend his personal history? “Some questions are not meant to be directly raised or answered,” Ryan says. “These ideas came to me as we shot the film, and I tried to let the larger philosophical story of humanity speak through my photographs.”

My detailed account can be read in
Deccan Herald

The price of innocence: Jimmy the Terrorist

2011-02-27T13:00:00.000+05:30

What makes an ordinary youngster from an average Indian town turn to violence? Each of us is born with innate talents and capabilities which only require the right environment to blossom. This is the story of Jamaal Ansari, an ordinary lad from a nondescript small town in UP, who breathes his last as Jimmy the terrorist. The novel examines with deep sensitivity the complex socio-economic and political factors that turn a young man "neither cursed nor blessed with extraordinariness" to become sensationalised by the media as some monster. Jamaal, like his father before him and like billions of youngsters all over the country, was merely hungry to be acknowledged, to claim the right to live with social acceptance and dignity. With well-crafted prose, the author succeeds in making us empathise with Jamaal; to want to know and understand the forces leading to his untimely and violent end. Ironically, death brings the alienated Jamaal posthumous fame and acknowledgement by Moazzamabad as one of its own, albeit as a terrorist.

This book explores situations, issues and characters with depth and sensitivity. The author's mastery over language and economy with words results in just the right number of pages of lovely prose, touching the reader's heartstrings or hitting where it hurts, but never meandering with seeming pointlessness and excessive verbosity.

One only wishes that the people outside Jamaal/Jimmy's mohalla, the people who make this world the harsh and unjust place it is, were portrayed with more detail and dimensions. The outsiders are mostly out and out baddies, who make brief appearances and wreak havoc in the lives of Jimmy and others like him. Fleshing them out a bit more would further strengthen Jimmy's poignant story.

My complete review is in Sunday Herald

Conversations with Usha K.R.

2011-02-16T17:24:00.000+05:30

It's been pure pleasure to know author Usha K.R. Warm, welcoming, always ready to offer encouragement to floundering new writers, she is a gracious human being. And oh, she's a lovely hostess. We last met in her home in Bangalore. The scents of cinnamon and fresh baking, the aroma of steaming filter coffee, went well with writerly conversations. My complete interview with her is published in Reading Hour Jan 2011.

Here are some excerpts:

Critically acclaimed author Usha K. R. radiates inborn charm and grace. With soft-spoken serenity, she can make you feel an instant connection, while her twinkling eyes belie a keen intelligence. Her first novel, Sojourn, was followed by The Chosen.

Shortlisted for the for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (2008) and winner of the Vodaphone Crossword Prize (2007), Usha K.R.’s third novel, A GIRL AND A RIVER, is exquisitely crafted. The author has brought to life the freedom movement and its effects upon the people of the former Mysore Princely State. Mylariah's rise and ultimate degeneration, Sethu's callousness rather than any active malice, which causes terrible tragedies; it is all brought out beautifully. Dr. King, Ella, Shyam, Shanta Kole, Kalyani, all the major and minor characters are well rounded and multifaceted. The protagonist Kaveri's tragedy is summed up beautifully when we finally find her in a 'home' for lost causes. There is a Kaveri in almost every family in the region, blooming with life and hope, and then burdened over the years with neglect and disappointment. Her story repeats itself in many silent tragedies.

The novel ends in a note of hope embodied by the offspring of Kaveri’s brother Sethu and Kaveri’s daughter, who is her niece and also her granddaughter.

Usha K. R.’s latest novel, Monkey-Man (2010), takes a fresh and insightful look at life in Bangalore, India’s fastest growing city. As a new millennium dawns, a strange creature attacks passers-by in the streets of Bangalore. Is it a malevolent avatar, or a sign of the displeasure of the gods? Is it the grotesque mascot of a city that is growing too fast, or merely a lost monkey? Shrinivas Moorty, a teacher in a city college, call center professional Pushpa Rani, Neela, secretary to an influential man, and Sukhiya Ram, her office boy, are the first to sight the strange creature. They are invited by popular RJ Bali Brums to discuss their experience on his popular radio show.

The lives of these characters become intertwined in unexpected ways. They also personify the multiple hues of tradition juxtaposed against and vying with modernity and westernization; a theme running through the heart of Bangalore and many Indian cities.

Neela, for example, continues secure yet stagnant in her sinecure job, spreading concentric circles of pettiness and inefficiency of the old order. Pushpa Rani successfully overcomes a deprived upbringing to take on the world from her desk at a call center. Rising from a city where glass and aluminum skyscrapers overlook shanty settlements, and where ancient temples stand proudly in the middle of busy streets, the story of Monkey-Man entices the reader into a deeper understanding of human nature.

What were your influences in the early years? And later on as you matured as a writer and published author?

UKR: I can’t think of any conscious influences, but I admired Jane Austen for her polished irony, her restraint, her ability to do so much with so little. Reading Austen, Dickens and Henry James brought ideas and possibilities of exploring the dilemmas of one’s world and engaging with it intensely but quietly. At the same time, there was Indian mythology, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata with their direct story telling, their colour and their noise. Shashi Deshpande’s early work brought home the fact that English was an Indian language and could be the language of fiction, my fiction.

How do you develop your characters? Were Kaveri in A Girl and a River, and Pushpa Rani in Monkey Man, for example, based on people you knew?

UKR: Here, I must quote Amitav Ghosh who when asked if he based his characters on real people, said: If the answer was ‘yes’, I’d say ‘no’. There may be a single trait or an impression you have of a person which seems to sum up his or her essence, or even a person or event you read about, and then you spin it out, depending on the requirements of the story and the circumstances you place the character in.

Many authors say that there is a little of themselves in their stories and characters. Do you feel this is true of your own writing? Do you rely heavily on personal experiences, write from what you know, or do you rely more heavily on research and external knowledge.

UKR: Initially you begin with personal experience and then realize that direct experience can only take you thus far, and you would have a very limited board of characters. It is a mix of personal experience, research and reading, animated by one’s intuitive knowledge of people and circumstances.

duh'oh!

2011-02-11T13:14:00.000+05:30

An editor just mailed me saying she didn't "get' a story I'd sent her. Fair enough, but this leads to the question, what DO people 'get' when they read something you've written. An opinion piece of mine was published recently in Deccan Herald The widely appreciated essay was meant to be tongue-in cheek and sarcastic. It was certainly not 'preachy' but meant to make at least a few readers introspect before finding fault with the 'authorities' for causing everything that ails the world. Guess the irony/sarcasm/fun element must have gone over the heads of some readers, who not only could not 'get it', but are jumping to conclusions.

A Google search brought up the same article cited in full in a lawyers' forum. Being lawyers, the poster has cited my name and the original URL of the publisher before quoting it verbatim, so I guess this probably takes care of copyright issues. or does it?

The same posting has received the following comment on that site:

"A very nice illustration of what we are but we only clamour about and do nothing because Indians are the biggest hypochrites.In straight term these preachings are for others and others means others which means not for us and that is what we have been genetically made by our maker and we feel proud in it.The presenter of this article is Monideepa but she could not shed her another identity,i.e SAHU.She wanted to identify herself not as Monideepa but as belonging to a SAHU clan.Quoting text from other source is not for herself but for OTHERS as mentioned earlier. Come on folks dont just waste this column to PREACH others if you can not follow yourself.Thanx."

so this person is saying that I , as author of the original article, am "quoting text from other source is not for herself but for OTHERS" Now it's my turn to not 'get' it.

In writers' groups, we discuss again again how we should not underestimate the readers' perceptiveness and bluntly and crudely point out the meaning of each and everything we write. But then one always wonders. Shoddily written and oversimplistic books seem to be doing excellently in the marketplace, while novels and stories involving more complex artistry gets fewer takers.

An open ended story can leave quite a few people flummoxed.

A writer friend recently lamented the apathy of the publishing franternity towards more complex and intelligent writing. Following the advice of his agents, he is painfully trying to "dumb down" his book according to perceived market demands. "So," he tells me, "I have been (quite angrily) spending the last few days turning my literary social thriller into a marketable thriller (that's why I was not in a mood to reply to any mails, sorry for that). "

My question (I welcome insights from anyone happening to read this post ) : How much complexity in writing is actually accepted and understood by readers today?

Must we all succumb to market forces and make do with writing trite and oversimplified stuff?

How much must we conform, and if so, to what standards, to be understood and accepted?

we are like this only

2011-02-06T12:15:00.001+05:30

Hoo boy, don''t we all love to crib and carp about the way things are being run in this country? We have all the time in the world to wax eloquent about all that ails us. But god forbid, if there's ever an issue needing our attention, we sink from the occasion and vanish from the scene of crime. We're the guys who clean our homes and toss our garbage at the neighbour's doorstep. Indian males of all ages, shapes, sizes, IQ levels and economic strata, habitually take a leak in public places while complaining loudly about how filthy our cities are compared to the best they see in phoren lands. Sheesh! why blame politicians alone? We are like this only, and politicos too are 'simbly' people like us.

My essay on what makes us the way we are published in Sunday Herald

Regained in translation : Banaphool's short stories

2011-01-30T11:10:00.000+05:30

Reading Arunava Sinha's recent translation of Banaphool's short stories was like revisiting a dear friend after years. I had first read Banaphool's writings in the original Bangla long ago during my school and college days. To re-read them in an accessible and smooth English translation was a great pleasure.

High quality English translations of many literary gems from our bhashas are now being published. It's a boon for book lovers, for we can now read masterpieces orignially written in a language not our own.
Banaphool's simple language and spare style belie great depth and rich nuances in his writing. The twists of plot reminiscent of O Henry; the fine touches of irony and humour; understated emotions of great depth and complexity; discovering poetry and beauty in everyday things; These stories are worth reading for all this and much, much more.

Read my complete review published in Deccan Herald

Bookaroo 2010

2011-01-02T11:18:00.000+05:30

(young Riddle of the Seventh Stone enthusiasts eager for autographs )

(friend Sonja Chandrachud's session with ghouls and goblins galore )

Participating in Bookaroo 2010, recently held in New Delhi, was an amazing experience. Personally, it was reliving my childhood when students of city schools sat around me enjoying a daramatized reading fom Riddle of the Seventh Stone. Anita Roy, my ever supportive editor from Young Zubaan was lively and exuberant as ever. The best part was when the youngsters caught up with me later and mobbed me for autographs and said the session was "awesome".

Obejctively sepaking, while the enthusiasm is contagious and the number of visitors are increasing exponentially at India's first and biggest children's literaure festival, there's a long road ahead. The vast majority of our millions of educated middle class parents and teachers are yet to be convinced of the importance of inculcating a love for reading among young people. Parents will readily spend hundreds of rupees on fast foods and junk foods, but books, no matter how well written and produced, are widely considered a waste of money.

Also, we are yet to overcome the colonial hangover. A large number of Indians still consider Indian books to be inferior in standards to foreign books.

There are plenty of people who do not want to read, who know all there is to know and don't care about anything else.

And, there are also events like Bookaroo. May there be many more! Here's my complete roundup published in Deccan Herald

happy new year

2010-12-31T17:03:00.000+05:30

HAPPY 2011
We of the vermin underworld wave antennae, click pincers, flutter our wings and wave our tails to wish you all a fabulous 2011. We the heroes of Riddle of the Seventh Stone are waiting for you in every online bookstore (and regular ones too) Meet us, love us, take us home and introduce your friends to us. But please, say no to harmful chemical pesticides

the brave new world of books in 2011

2010-12-28T11:03:00.000+05:30

What will the world of books and reading be like in the year to come? Crystal ball gazing with authors and publishers threw up a wealth of perspectives. The toughest part was to guide the experts with the right prompts and then assimilate the many wise and witty things they had to say on a subject close to their hearts. And then, I had to steel my own heart and organize and reduce everything into a concentrated and coherent (hopefully) whole. More fluffy fast reads and novels on the cell phone hijacking the publishingindustry? Here's our take published in Bangalore Mirror:

2011 will bring “at least a few new novels that will electrify, provoke, move, and entertain,” predicts Anosh Irani (Dahanu Road). Shreekumar Varma (Maria’s Room) foresees more “artistic— but not necessarily `literary’ people entering the world of books.” Anita Roy of Zubaan Books is “looking forward to the next in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies trilogy. We’ll see more high-quality, non-fiction such as Samanth Subramanian’s Following Fish, Ramchandra Guha’s Makers of Modern India and Mahmood Farooqui’s book Besieged on Delhi in 1857.”

Shreekumar Varma notes that “nonfiction rules now. Short stories, poetry and plays have to beg their way in; a worldwide trend not restricted to India.” Gita Aravamudan (Unbound: Indian Women @ Work) feels “the longevity, importance and popularity of a book depends not on the genre but on the quality of the work itself.”

Manjul Bajaj (Come, Before Evening Falls) welcomes the new spate of quality English translations of regional fiction with “mainstream publishing houses such as Penguin and Random House India throwing their hat into the ring.”

Read the full story in Bangalore Mirror

a cock-eyed look at the year gone by

2010-12-26T11:15:00.001+05:30

With apologies to Dickens, 2010 was the best of times and the worst of times.

Scamsters ruled the roost, and their misdeeds grew more boldly outrageous, delighting crooks and disheartening the common Indian citizen. With TV, radio and cable channels a dime-a-dozen screaming for attention, the best way to grab wayward eyeballs (lacking grey matter to back them up?) was to highlight the heights of unscrupulousness. The Adarsh idealists, the conmen allegedly out to make fast mega crores from the CWG, every crook and their nearest and dearest grabbed centrestage until some media darlings stole the show by getting themselves entangled in dubious tapes. Days before the opening of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the nation’s prestige tottered with the collapse of a vital footbridge. Accommodation for athletes from 71 countries was reportedly not ready, and UK inspectors turned up their noses saying the facilities were “unfit for human habitation”. The preparations for India's largest ever sporting event raised doubts of mismanagement of crores of rupees for years.

Cheering the hearts of every patriotic Indian, 2010 proved that the fine art and science of hera-pheri isn’t restricted to our countrymen. The world over, basic human nature oozed through superficial veneers of principles and honesty, and people everywhere cheated and lied just like us. In the world of sports, Tiger Woods’ alleged extra-marital shenanigans, cricket match fixing, use of banned performance-enhancing drugs and other unsporting concerns overshadowed the ideals of fair play and sportsmanship. The whistleblowing website WikiLeaks kicked up a ruckus by releasing a whopping avalanche of secret documents with details of incidents of corruption, friendly fire, civilian casualties and deaths relating to the war in Afghanistan. Among the biggest leaks in US military history, its aftershocks rocked even the White House.

Read my complete essay published in Sunday Herald

valuable compendium of Indian thought

2010-12-13T12:29:00.000+05:30

I recently read Ramachandra Guha's Makers of Modern India. This book is especially helpful for many of us who are keen to know more about our great thinkers and leaders: their ideas and thoughts and writings. The rushed pace of modern life leaves few of us with enough time to delve through huge volumes of thought provoking writings of our great leaders and nation builders. Prof. Ramachandra Guha has selected and compiled excerpts along with lucid and learned introductory notes to help today's readers gain insights into this rich heritage.
My full review of the book appears in Sunday Herald.

Laadli Media Awards 2010-2011

2010-12-07T22:36:00.000+05:30

Please support and attend the The 3rd Edition of the Southern Laadli Media Awards 2010-2011.
The awards ceremony will be held on December 10th, 2010, at Chowdiah Memorial Hall from 6.30 pm onwards. This award function on Gender Sensitivity is being organised by Population First and United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA).
The word laadli in Hindi means the beloved girl-child.UNFPA-Laadli

Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity (ULMAGS), first launched in March
2007, is sponsored by Mumbai-based Population First with the support
of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The award has been instituted by Population First, a communications and advocacy initiative focusing on the serious population and health issues facing India, looking at these from the perspective of women's rights and social development. The award acknowledges, highlights and celebrates the commendable efforts undertaken by various media to support gender-just perspectives from the field of advertising, print media, electronic media, including television, radio, documentary,web and blog, that challenge dominant social stereotypes, analyse social, economic and political development.

At the Southern Region Award function, Awards will be given to journalists, and media organizations in various categories (TV, radio, print, web, blog, etc. in various languages). Besides advertising, PR and media personnel, the function will be attended by eminent persons from all walks of life. The highlights of the function are the Award Ceremony, a cultural programme and speeches by the Chief Guest, Guest of Honour and Population First officials.

We do hope you will lend all support to our sustained efforts for a social cause and and make the forthcoming Award function a memorable and meaningful experience.

For further information, contact Susheela Nair
Karnataka State Coordinator, Laadli Media Awards
94483 63336
Email: laadli.south@gmail.com/sushinair@yahoo.com

For details see ULMAGS brochure attached @ www.populationfirst.org

http://www.populationfirst.org/events-occur/2010/the-laadli-media-awards-for-gender-sensitivity-2010-11

Dahanu Road, by Anosh Irani; book review

2010-12-02T11:08:00.001+05:30

Anosh Irani takes his readers on a soul-searching journey though the expansive story of three generations of the Irani clan and their relations with the oppressed Warli tribals, who were the original owners of the flourishing orchards in Dahanu on the outskirts of Bombay. Anna’s tea shack personifies the ethos of Dahanu, a place where “languages bashed into each other, on some days a train wreck, on other days a tasty mix bouncing into temple bells, sinking into yellow laddoos and other sweetmeats, the Jains trying not to let any of the languages defile them, the Marwaris welcoming the defiling and murder of words, the sulphur dioxide from the thermal power plant coating the languages, giving them an acidic smell.” The Zoroastrian Iranis with “the power of centuries” behind them have fled from oppression from the Arabs in Iran to come to India and rise once again as doctors, lawyers, artists, businessmen and the landlords of Dahanu.

This is one lovely read I enjoyed, the best among many good reads in recent times. Read my published review in Deccan Herald

Sponsor run to prevent child sexual abuse

2010-11-24T12:44:00.000+05:30

Here's a message from Payal Dhar,author of the brilliant Shadow in Eternity Trilogy and a personal pal. Please support her noble cause.
Moni

I did the Great Delhi Run of the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon on 21 November 2010 to raise funds for the RAHI Foundation, an NGO that works towards ending child sexual abuse in India. Contributions are still welcome, so please continue your support and join my campaign against child sexual abuse.

Sponsors so far:
i.Swapna Kishore and Rajesh Naik
ii.Niklas Åkerlund
iii.Anita Roy
iv.Nandita Dhar
v.Monideepa Sahu
THANK YOU
About RAHI’s work
Did you know that more than 53% of children in India are sexually abused? Sadly, most of these children never speak of their trauma and suffer in silence due to the denial of such abuse in our country. Without understanding and help, it is practically impossible for a child to survive sexual abuse without being deeply scarred for life. This support is exactly what RAHI provides, along with other critical services promoting awareness and prevention of child abuse. RAHI’s activities are in the areas of Training, Education, Counselling, Research and Communication. You can visit their website to know more.

How will your contribution help?
i.Provide counseling to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
ii.Train parents and teachers on how to protect children from sexual abuse.
iii.Educate 15,000+ young people on incest/child sexual abuse prevention through RAHI’s College Peer Education Programme.
How to contribute
There are many ways you can donate.

i.It would be best if you could send me a cheque (contact me via the comments form for address, if needed). The cheque must be in favour of Concern India Foundation and payable at Delhi. Please include your full name, address with PIN code, phone no. and e-mail ID.
ii.Online: Click here to donate online, and REMEMBER fill in the following details:
Donation type: SUPPORTING SOMEBODY’S RUN FOR ADHM2010
Runner category:I PLEDGER
Name of the person you are supporting:PAYAL DHAR
iii.Cash: We’ll find a way of getting it to me.
Concern India is the official charity partner for this event. Funds raised by NGOs will be routed through them for purposes of transparency and accountability. Names of donors will be listed on their website. They will provide you with an 80G Tax Exemption Certificate that will allow you a 50% tax exemption on your donation (only for Indian donors). This won’t be possible for bank transfers and PayPal payments, though.

Please support my cause. Donate generously and help protect children from sexual abuse. I will gladly accept whatever amount you can give.

~Payal Dhar

Irom Sarmila, Fragrance of Peace

2010-11-24T12:34:00.000+05:30

Irom Sarmila, a political and civil rights activist, journalist and poet, has been on a hunger strike since 4 November 2000 demanding the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (henceforth AFSPA), a draconian law that allows the security forces unrestricted and unaccounted powers in areas that are declared “disturbed”. Under the AFSPA, the army is “allowed” to arrest, search and even shoot to kill based on mere suspicion that it is necessary to do so to “maintain public order”.

The Act was first applied to the north-eastern states of Assam and Manipur in 1958, and subsequently amended in 1972 to extend to all the seven states in north-east India — Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. The enforcement of the AFSPA has resulted in innumerable incidents of enforced “disappearances”, arbitrary detention, torture, rape and looting by security personnel. (Read more about the AFSPA at the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre.)

The Manipuri people have protested, demonstrated and petitioned against the AFSPA, with the support of civil society groups, political parties and human rights group, both Indian and international. Sarmila’s unique battle for peace has become a powerful symbol for all those engaged in fighting for peace in the region. She began her protest ten years ago after 10 civilians were gunned down in Malom by the army. Taken into custody and released every twelve months by the state for attempting suicide, she is being force fed to keep her alive.

Zubaan has published a collection of Irom Sarmila’s poems called Fragrance of Peace, which has been translated into English from Meiteilon (Manipuri). A compilation of twelve poems, the volume “provides a moving account of the underbelly of one woman’s lone struggle for peace” (from the blurb). The book was to be released in Imphal during the 10th anniversary of her hunger fast for the repeal of the AFSPA, but permission to do so was denied.

You can support Sarmila’s campaign by buying copies of her book since all proceeds from its sales will go towards it.

Buy Fragrance of Peace
Price: Rs. 125 (+Rs. 25 for postage).

Do pass on the message.

The dead camel and other stories of love

2010-11-23T13:24:00.000+05:30

I recently read and enjoyed a fresh and lovely collecion of short stories by Parvati Sharma.Parvati Sharma draws us with deft strokes into the everyday lives and loves of urban Indian characters.

Her approach is engaging, humorous and humane, as she lifts their quilts to reveal intimate secrets or point at romantic canoodlings in the kitchen in the opposite flat with a conspiratorial wink. As a group of young partygoers in the story, The Dead Camel, put forth in small talk, “Fiction is what real life isn’t… it stabs at the truth of the human condition…”

Love crops up in various forms and unexpected places, binding this collection of short stories. Love may fade, but memories of past loves crop up and help to make sense of the present.

Re: Elections 2004 the narrator Meera discusses with her landlord ‘Uncle’ and ‘Aunty’ the differences and parallels between the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 and the more recent violence in Godhra, memories of which continue to haunt Indians. Meanwhile, Meera remembers with longing a former girlfriend, a Muslim, long after their relationship has died. Read my complete review published in Deccan Herald

Riddle reviews and press

2010-10-21T18:19:00.015+05:30

The amazing adventures of Rishabh the rat and Shashee the spider are making news far and wide. Here are some links:

Reviewed at Saffrontree by Harini Gopalaswamy Srinivasan, talented author of Gind (Puffin) and The Smile of Vanuvati (Tulika)

Ace fantasy author Payal Dhar reviews Riddle in writeside.net

interview/review in Unboxed Writers

Riddle selected as Telegraph paperback pickings

Author Ramendra Kumar in Bolokids.com

Mummy knows best review

review in Deccan Herald

Riddle in Deccan Chronicle

Riddle in Bangalore Mirror

Indian Express story

The Hindu, Hyderabad Printpick

Recommended by BTW, Chitralekha Group, Mumbai

Singapore based author and journalist Zafar Anjum on Riddle

Hansda SS reviews Riddle

review in Bookrack

A Rainbow Feast

2010-10-11T11:52:00.004+05:30

I just received a lovely new surprise. My short story, Flowers and Paper Boats, in among the 25 stories selected out of over 150 entries from all over Asia for A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Stories.
This collection is selected and edited by Prof Mohammad A. Quayum of International Islamic University Malaysia and authorof 20 books.
This book is a collection of 25 original short stories by writers from Australia, Bangladesh, Guyana, India, japan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, UAE, the UK, USA and Vietnam.
PUBLISHER: Marshall Cavendish Editions, Singapore

The Internet is an amazing world. I'm now exchanging warm messages with Prof Quayum, and find myself in the company of writer friends Damyanti Ghosh (Singapore) and Abha Iyengar (New Delhi, India). The net has brought us all together from different corners of the world, facilitated a meeting of minds. So what if we can't meet physically.

Riddle bangalore launch

2010-10-03T20:35:00.003+05:30

Dear readers ,

Please do make it next saturday at 5 pm to reliance timeout, cunningham road for the launch of my new fantasy adventure novel for children.
please pass on the message to any young friends who may be interested.

about the book
Riddle of the Seventh Stone.

publisher:Zubaan books

THE BOOK:

Rishabh the rat and Shashee the spider are quite happy with the way they are: rummaging around in Venkat Thata’s wonderful, musty, dusty, rare herb shop in the heart of Bangalore. Until, that is, they stumble upon a magical powder and find themselves transformed into human children.

It’s not easy being a kid! There’s school and homework and wearing clothes and – yuk! – having to use soap… but even worse, their home is under threat from an evil moneylender known as the Shark.

Can Rishabh solve the cryptic clues that lead to King Kempe Gowda’s fabulous treasure before the Shark can get to it? Will the vermin survive Ajji’s herbal pesticide attack? Will Shashee be able to spin her way out of this tangled web of intrigue?

With the help off other children, friendly cockroaches, cheeky mosquitoes and a very Big Bandicoot, they set out of prove that no problem is too big even for the smallest of creatures.

THE REVIEWS:

“These are exciting times for children, with fiction such as Monideepa Sahu’s Riddle of the Seventh Stone — a unique take on ordinary events and creatures that we take so much for granted, things that get extraordinary in her gifted hands.” —Shreekumar Varma

“The author’s light and airy prose makes this book a delight to read for children and adults alike. She has a fine ear for dialogue and… conversations flow freely and fast….
A cracking good adventure tale.” —Shrabonti Bagchi, DNA

“A delightful tale…The fun and the excitement are enhanced by the spirited participation of an army of children, “friendly cockroaches”, “cheeky mosquitoes”, a Big Bandicoot and a troop of rodents…The illustrations by Pooja Pottenkulam complement Sahu’s limpid prose.” --The Telegraph

details of the book and the launch/reading.

Date: Oct 9th,Saturday

Time: 5 PM

Place: Reliance Timeout, Cunningham Road, Bangalore

Thanks and regards,

Monideepa

check out Zubaan Books

how I got a novel published

2010-09-28T12:15:00.003+05:30

Yes, Riddle of the Seventh Stone is a complete novel, 170 odd pages long. And writing it wasn't child's play at all. and yes, a novel for young readers was as tough to write and polish as any fiction I've written for adults. It takes as much imagination and hard work. Only the focus is different.

Dark, mysterious forces are at work in the alternate universe of Indian writing in English for youngadults. These subversive forces drew me into uncharted territory when I flouted the diktats of sanity to work on a fantasy-adventure novel for youngsters. My approach was impractical from the start.Read my detailed account published in
DNA

Riddle

2010-08-24T17:36:00.005+05:30

My son and I made some of our own sketches for Riddle, which are shared here. These do NOT appear in the book, but were drawn by us for pure fun.

Illustrator Pooja Pottenkulam has lent life to the final product with her own lively illustrations. She's taken great care and read the book thoroughly. At times, I felt that she had captured with her drawings exactly what I had in mind while writing the story. Read the book and see for yourself.

Meanwhile here are some of our own amateur sketches for time pass :-)Never seen before, and never to be seen again. Don't you wish you were there?

Riddle's journey

2010-08-24T17:27:00.004+05:30

From my side, I get the impression that it is difficult to get a first book published in any genre in India. Literary fiction, poetry, chidlrens fiction, non fiction, all have their challenges. I recently interacted with a national award winning film critic, Mr. M.K. Raghavendra, who has had four books on films published by OUP and Harper Collins, and he too said that his first book took many years to get published. He began writing it in 2000, and the book saw publication in 2008.

In my own case, I began this novel (yes, its a full length novel, 174 pages long) in 2002. Any long work of fiction or non fiction takes years to write, revise and polish.I swapped critiques of entrie novels with other writers. That itself was a lot of work, but it did give me fesh insights and ideas for improvement.

In Feb 2008, I entered this manuscript anonymously in the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Open Book Pitch, where it 'won' the nod of approval from Zubaan Books.

From then on, there were a series of revisions, exchange of ideas between me and Ms. Anita Roy, the Commissioning Editor of Young Zubaan on phone and e-mails. She patiently did much hand-holding and gave priceless advice to give the book that much needed final polish.

The contract was awarded in 2008 end.

The book is now published in August 2010.

From this point, I'm told that the book will take a month or more to reach bookstores all over the country. On line bookstores may of course be stocking up much sooner.I've heard that distribution and sales is another huge hurdle that many first timers face.

My baby is now leaving my hands and setting out into the big world. If it strikes a chord in the hearts of young readers (and oh yes, their parents and the young at heart) it will be my greatest reward.

riddle of the seventh stone

2010-08-22T13:46:00.002+05:30

My own first book is published and is on its way to bookstores throughout the country. This is the final lap of a long and difficult journey. Writing a novel, rewriting and polishing it to make it the best it can be, is in itself an arduous project.

Kashmir, a beautiful valley in turmoil

2010-08-22T13:39:00.002+05:30

I recently read and enjoyed Kashmir Blues, a novel by Urmilla Deshpande.
Kashmir Blues takes in its expansive narrative sweep the characters’ lives from southern California to the seedy streets of Mumbai, to the charmed circles of India’s rich and powerful, and to Kashmir, strife-torn vale of guns and flowers. Insurgency, socio-political unrest, smuggling, drugs, espionage and conflict cast their shadows. Yet this is a story told with deep compassion. Even the most potentially evil characters can startle by revealing positive human and humane facets. As the author says, “I don’t think either sapphires in my book or diamonds in West Africa are the basis of strife. Nor is religious fundamentalism. It is the inequitable distribution of resources, structural poverty, that sends people into conflict and civil war. Institutionalised injustice.”

Read the complete review cum author interview in

Sunday Herald

surfing through time

2010-07-27T12:56:00.002+05:30

This morning while net-surfing, I chanced upon a personal essay which was published in 2006. Its about SMS lingo, which was an issue with many then, and continues to be. So in four years, have we become more cryptic-monosyllabic communicators in SMS code? Has language in its traditional form degenerated due to the prevalence of SMS?

I think not. We continue to speak and write the way we always have. New words and usages are finding their way into acceptability as a natural process. Andno, we are not letting sms-isms spill into other forms of communications overmuch. thought the other day, I heard a character in a TV serial say he wanted something done ASAP (used as a single word). Thats just one acronym, and acronyms such as jeep have crept into language long before sms was invented.

here's my essay on sms inDeccan Herald

Are we what we wear?

2010-06-14T18:06:00.003+05:30

Do clothes define us and make us what we are? Of course not! Why then, do we spend so much time, newsprint and airtime obsessing over clothes and fashions? Read my views published in Bangalore Mirrorhed in

Book review

2010-05-30T13:28:00.002+05:30

I recently read and enjoyed Eating Women, Telling tales by Bulbul Sharma, Zubaan books.
My published review is up in Deccan Herald

violence as a spectator sport

2010-05-29T13:01:00.002+05:30

Graphic portrayal of violence in the media is desensitizing people the world over and leading to increased crime and mayhem, say specialists. Are we just sitting ducks at the receiving end of it all, waiting for doomsday? My view in Bangalore Mirror

healing herbs

2010-05-26T15:41:00.002+05:30

On a recent visit to Aikya Mandala, a green oasis nestled on the outskirts of Bangalore, I learnt a lot about our herbal healthcare traditions and organic farming. We city dwellers tend to think of rural folk as poor and helpless, but there is much to learn from them. Their folk wisdom and remedies form a rich healing tradition. Read my publsihed account in Infochange News and Features

my way or the highway

2010-05-24T13:06:00.002+05:30

With traffic growing at an alarming rate, there's hardly a place where one can safely walk without being brushed by a car or two-wheeler. Trees are being cut, and roads widened, but while space for more roads is limited, the growth of traffic seems to be unlimited. Are the 'authorities' solely to blame?

Read my take in Bangalore Mirror

Killing the Water

2010-04-25T11:18:00.005+05:30

I recently interacted with Bangladesh born author Mahmud Rahman after reading his recently published collection of short stories, KILLING THE WATER (penguin). He had so many fascinating things to say, it was a tough job to pare it all down to a bare bones 800 word newspaper column. "Use the axe if you have to," he advised me, no matter how it pained my writerly heart.The published interview appears in Deccan Herald.

In a section that got edited out in the published interview, the author shares personal experiences which moulded him as a storyteller;

"I wrote all along, ever since my schooldays. But I took up narrative prose only in the mid 90s. There’s a story behind that turn. On a cold winter day in 1993, I boarded a bus to Detroit and a woman seemed to resent me taking the seat next to her. But once we began to talk, we continued for hours. A black woman from the American South, she insisted on seeking out parallels in our lives. I immediately wrote up that compelling encounter as a story. Exhilarated by the process, I took up writing workshops. At that point I exchanged emails with a new friend from a completely different background, sharing stories from our lives in an attempt to understand one another. She insisted that I paint scenes with words, to make my world come alive.
I began enjoying the ability to create fiction and play with new possibilities. Interactions with wonderful teachers and peers during my MFA from Mills College in California broadened my vistas."

robots to the rescue

2010-04-21T12:52:00.003+05:30

A recent news item set me thinking. The wonders of human ingenuity know no bounds. The miracles of the future which visionaries once imagined, are taking place right here and now.

A Bangalore based techie has invented robots to cook, clean and splash water on his head if he oversleeps. Best of all, he has sourced the parts from the by-lanes of S P Road to make his invention accessible to the rich and the not-so-well-heeled alike. Thanks to him, we can all dream of owning personal robots that do our boring chores, leaving us free to enjoy ourselves. Robots taking care of our daily needs will be a blessing, as they will shield us from much of our inter-personal relationship hassles.
In today’s mega cities, it’s people, people everywhere, but few who meaningfully talk or care. We jostle against hordes of people wherever we happen to be. And these fleeting encounters are more often unpleasant than not. The foul-mouthed jerk who spews venomous road rage, cussed folks who push and shove in queues, leering lechers and ‘eve teasers’, silver-tongued cheats; such charming people and their ilk are forever throwing themselves in our faces. Read more of my tongue in cheek take in Bangalore Mirror

Meeting author Shreekumar Varma

2010-04-19T10:25:00.006+05:30

I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Shreekumar Varma. My account appears in BTW magazine. Given below is the full, unedited version.
Shreekumar Varma’s novels include Lament of Mohini and Devil’s Garden, and he is the author of the plays Platform, Midnight Hotel and the award-winning Dark Lord and Bow of Rama. His latest novel, Maria’s Room (Harper Collins), was long listed for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. That's not all. He has written charming books for younger readers, too.

1. How would you want to be known? How did being descended from the great Raja Ravi Varma affect your personal growth as a literary artist?

I'd want to be known as a good writer, a story-teller. Descending from greatness puts you on a platform. If you don't perform, you're left with the shadow of achievement, not achievement itself. But there's an aura of art in the family that I believe has reached me as well. Many of my relatives paint. I write.

2. When and how did you start writing?

I started writing very early. My first short story was published while I was in high school. But my first book for children, Pazhassi Raja: The Royal Rebel, was published in 1997. My book was about Pazhassi Raja, who was probably the very first freedom fighter. Even at that time, Lament of Mohini (Penguin) was in the process of being written.

3. How did you deal with adverse criticism and struggle in your initial years as a writer?

Actually, the first review was the worst. After that, it was smooth sailing, and I've had people saying good things about Lament of Mohini through the years. Baseless criticism tends to floor you. Till you realize that the calibre of the critic comes through in his review, and shows up the worth of the opinions expressed. You either accept or discard them.

4. Where do you find inspiration?

I tend to subconsciously store details, of people, places, lives, colour, smell. When a good idea for a story shows up, I use some of these details. Sometimes a good idea may hibernate for years. There also many in-house stories in my family! I'm lucky in that I use many forms. So it could become a short story, play, maybe melt into poetry, or form the basis of a novel.

5. Your best and worst experiences as a writer?

The act of writing is, of course, the best experience. It's the moment of creation. Next comes the moment when you're sitting in an auditorium, watching your play being staged. If it's done well, you're in heaven, and the audience response takes you higher. The worst experiences have to do with shoddy critics and secondary level colleagues such as editor, director or cast, who may treat your work without respect or understanding. Fortunately, that hasn't happened to me as yet.

6. How did the ideas for Maria’s Room come to you?

During the launch of Mohini, we stopped for a few days in Goa. There was a storm. There were two silent couples in our car. There was a different Goa out there. And the idea was born, upstaging another book I was trying to write at that time. I usually find that some of the things I write actually happen!

kafkaesque dilemma

2010-04-12T11:23:00.003+05:30

I've lived in the same place and voted regularly since 1995. But in 2008 I became entangled in a Kafkaesque situation when the names of my family members and me mysteriously vanished from the voters' list. Upon receiving numerous similar complaints from the residents of Bangalore, the authorities took up the process of updating and revision. We stood in long queues, first to have wrong/garbled entries deleted, then to enter our names afresh correctly into the computerised system, and then again to have our photos taken for identity cards. Yet despite several rounds of corrections, many errors continue to exist, giving rise to much speculation among my fellow citizens. Read my tongue-in-cheek take here in Bangalore Mirror

an unfashionable cheer for idealism

2010-03-30T12:13:00.003+05:30

Things are going from bad to worse, and carping about it seems to be today's mantra. We make the right noises and then give up and watch from the sidelines, making the unacceptable acceptable by our passive tolerance. What we just might need is a whiff of not-so-fashionable idealism. Read my take in bangalore mirror

pictures telling thousands of stories

2010-03-28T12:47:00.002+05:30

I learnt so much about a city I've never lived in while working on this, that I want to share.

The piece is based on a meeting with Kolkata based photographer Saibal Das,and viewing his striking images of his city. The photo shows the Tagore family mansion (Thakurbari) in Kolkata, a focal point of the Bengal Renaissance. New art, literature and social reform movements took roots here. Today, the mansion houses a museum and the Rabindra Bharati University.

Kolkata is home to such diversity of people from different backgrounds, all celebrating their native festivals. There's old world charm and glory set against a huge ad of a popular MNC produced cola. People arriving with dreams, seeking, failing, and trying to rise again. Practical but mundane necessities humorously juxtaposed against fading glory, pipal trees growing in a surge of new life from the crumbling walls of dilapidated edifices; the ace lensman captures all this and more.

Isn't this what we too, strive to do as writers? Read the full published article here

the Sindhi experience of Partition

2010-03-21T15:17:00.003+05:30

Unbordered Memories; Sindhi stories of Partition translated by Rita Kothari

Rita Kothari has selected and translated into English narratives by first-generation Sindhi writers from both sides of the border exploring the Sindhi experience of Partition and the creation of Pakistan.

Unlike those displaced by the Partition of Punjab and Bengal, the Sindhi Hindus did not have a place to call their own when they arrived in India, since Sindh was retained entirely by Pakistan.

In Mohan Kalpana’s story, ‘In Exile’, an Indian Sahib explains the precarious condition of a refugee from Sindh. “Right now, you are neither in India nor Pakistan. You are a refugee. A refugee! You do not have a home either here or there.” Confused and pained Joharmal in Narayan Bharti’s ‘The Claim’ expresses poignantly the Sindhi experience of losing forever not just farmlands or a house, but an entire ethos, lost friends and neighbours, streets, rivers of a homeland which belongs to every Sindhi.
Apart from the recurring Partition fiction trope of a difficult and sorrowful journey of millions of people leaving their homeland, these stories also explore how those who stayed behind in the new Pakistan had to come to terms with a suddenly unrecognisable nation. According to Acharya Kripalani, Sindhis of all faiths were “powerfully influenced by Sufi and Vedantic thoughts. This made for tolerance.”
The threat to Sindhi Hindus after the formation of Pakistan became strong after Muslim immigrants driven out from the rest of India entered Sindh. These stories explore how hatred was spread amongst a peaceful and prosperous community. Khanu the barber in Sheikh Ayaz’s ‘The Neighbour’ “began to wonder how he would be able to slit the throats of those he had spent hours with, eating and drinking and making merry in their company.” Vishnu Bhatia in ‘The Uprooted’ portrays the spread of communal hatred and the seemingly foolish yet touching refusal of an old refugee to accept this. “How long could anyone have lasted shrouded in fear? People who had never thought of themselves as Hindus or Muslims now knew that Hindus were infidels, and Muslims, scoundrels. So much for brotherhood! Hindus have no right to live on this land. A political decision managed to do what pandits and moulvis could not. Hatred had spread like poison and an entire community was uprooted from its land and thrown into the waters of the Arabian Sea.”

Today, Kothari points out, the Sindhi community has spread out all over the world, successfully establishing themselves in business and various professions. Yet even those living in India cannot visit Sindh or even afford to talk about it, since Sindh now lies in what the rest of India considers a hostile foreign country. Sindh is now an idea without physical dimensions, a place which Sindhis cannot even visit in reality or memory. This perhaps explains why Sindhis have maintained silence about their past and rarely shared their wounds and stories.

As a sociological and historical document, this collection is invaluable. Capturing the finer nuances of Indian languages in English translations is always a huge challenge. While the translation is capable, these stories do by and large read like writing by a single author, and not by the several writers whose styles and viewpoints comprise this collection. (review published in Deccan Herald)

Review: Come, Before Evening Falls

2010-03-17T15:12:00.002+05:30

Come, Before Evening Falls by Manjul Bajaj
Hachette India , 238 pages
Price: Rs.295

Manjul Bajaj’s debut novel is a strong, passionate story well told. The author offers insights into the culture, history and psyche of the Jat people of northern India’s heartland. Set in a Jat hamlet near Delhi in 1909, this is a tale of proud, upright men and women who will die to uphold the honor of family, community and country. The subtle feminist approach works well with full blooded women juxtaposed against well fleshed out and likeable male characters. The novel begins as a smoldering love story, with the threat of deadly social taboos simmering in the backdrop. The author interweaves social practices which sadly continue even today in pockets of rural India, such as the terrible practice of honor killings.
Read my complete review in Kitaab

review: Monkey Man

2010-03-17T15:08:00.002+05:30

I recently read and enjoyed Monkey Man by K.R. Usha.
Monkey Man by K. R. Usha
Penguin (India), 259 pages
Price: RS.299

K. R. Usha’s latest novel takes a fresh, deeply sensitive and insightful look at life in Bangalore, India’s fastest growing city. Shortlisted for the for the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and winner of the Vodaphone Crossword prize for her previous novel, A GIRL AND A RIVER, this consummate storyteller takes readers into the heart of a city zooming beyond the technological stratosphere while teetering on the brink of chaos.
Read my complete review in Kitaab

scaring kids to death

2010-03-06T12:31:00.002+05:30

With exam season looming ahead, a single day saw two young students from our city buckling under pressure and ending their own lives (BM, Feb 27). Shocked and sorrowful, we demanded that this malaise stop right now. As the day advanced, business resumed as usual after appropriate expressions of sadness. It’s easy to blame a faceless and ambiguous SYSTEM and sit back and expect an equally vague AUTHORITY to set things right. But are we as detached from the system as we would like to believe? Don’t we, and “people like us”, also contribute to make this very ‘system’ what it is? Let’s take a closer look at the problem and consider how best to make a difference by means within our own reach. Read my full argument here, in Bangalore Mirror

Where have the flowers gone?

2010-02-25T12:11:00.003+05:30

Valentine's Day came and went with a grand show of 'love.' But why do we need to set aside one single day to make a public display of loving? Could it possibly be because we need to reassure ourselves that people are not mean, greedy, jealous and selfish at heart? Love is too vast to be confined to a single day of pomp and show. It has innumerable contours and patterns. Let’s celebrate every day as Valentine’s Day and spread a little love and human feeling whenever and wherever we can. Read my views here

beauty beyond botox

2010-02-11T12:03:00.003+05:30

What is it with people who obsess over superficials while overlooking all else? What makes a person truly beautiful? A recent cover story in Bangalore Mirror probed the growing craze for artificially enhanced 'beauty.' Kids as young as 12 or 13 are asking for cosmetic surgery and invasive procedures without having a clue as to what it entails. Read my take here

the great baby sale

2009-12-23T13:57:00.002+05:30

A recent sting operation by staffers of Bangalore Mirror confirmed the sale of a 16 day old infant in Bangalore. This set off shock and varied reactions from' what a cute baby. I want to adopt it'(so if the baby weren't cute, it would not arouse public interest or sympathy?)to reactions from the authorities promising to set up more orphanages and stricter vigilance to prevent such incidents.
Read my satirical take in Bangalore Mirror

recession or progress?

2009-12-05T12:53:00.002+05:30

When stock market indices swing wildly and food prices skyrocket, I wonder in which direction the economy is moving. Do more cars and traffic mean more prosperity? Then where do financial meltdowns on a global scale fit in? Read my take here in Bangalore Mirror

Tagore continues to sparkle with relevance

2009-12-02T11:52:00.002+05:30

The first Asian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, Tagore, through his lyrical poetry, revealed the mysticism and beauty of Indian culture to western eyes for the first time. While he is best known for his poetry, the variety and quality of Tagore’s creative work is amazing. A prolific literary giant, Tagore composed over a 1000 poems, eight short story collections, nearly a dozen plays, eight novels, and several volumes of writing on religion, education, philosophy and subjects of social relevance. An eminent educationist and upholder of social reforms, Tagore also painted and composed the lyrics for his own songs.

The man who holds the rare distinction of having composed the national anthems of two nations, India and Bangladesh, Tagore combined the best of Eastern traditions and modern Western ideas. The collection, Nationalism, is based on Tagore’s lectures during World War I. Ramachandra Guha’s excellent introduction is all the guidance today’s readers will need to fully appreciate these lucid and thought-provoking essays. Tagore’s ideas continue to sparkle with relevance in today’s strife-torn, terror infested world.

An early supporter of India’s freedom movement, he surrendered his knighthood as a protest against the infamous Jallianwalla Bagh massacre. Much of Tagore’s ideology is influenced by the teaching of the Upanishads and from his own beliefs that God can be found through personal purity and service to others. He stressed the need for a new world order based on the ‘unity consciousness’, values and ideas transcending narrow bounds of religion, race, country or language. Tagore was a supporter of Gandhi, but warned of the dangers of narrow nationalistic thought, of “carnivorous and cannibalistic exclusiveness,” which tries to thwart all symptoms of greatness outside its own boundaries.

As a world traveller, he visited not just western countries, but also Japan, China, Iran, Latin America and Indo-China, reaching out and connecting with fellow human beings from other cultures. As a terrible war raged worldwide, Tagore urged his audiences in the USA and Japan to discard political aggressiveness and cultural arrogance. As Guha points out, it was by interacting with Tagore and absorbing his ideals, that Gandhiji and Nehru developed a more inclusive theory of nationalism as a basis for founding modern day India.

In Gora, he brings to life through creative fiction, his ideas and ideals on nationalism, religion, and myriad other intellectual factor shaping the Bengal and India of his times. This novel is not an antiquated curiosity, but of special relevance today when religious fundamentalism and divisive communal forces are tearing at India’s nationhood. Gora ushered in a new trend in Bengali literature, a novel of ideas where characters live out and discuss at length the internal conflicts within late 19th century Bengal society.

Read along with the non-fiction collection Nationalism, Gora brings to vivid life the intellectual milieu of days gone by, of the ideas that have made India what she is today. “Nationalism forms an important aspect of the historical context of Gora,” says translator Radha Chakravarty, “but instead of focussing solely on Indo-British relations, the text lends greater prominence to Hindu-Brahmo tensions.”

As Bengalis realised that a Western style education and exposure to Western ideals, while having intrinsic benefits, did not automatically make Indians the intellectual equals of Westerners, Bengal’s social reform movements were challenged by a surge of Hindu conservatism. Tagore masterfully portrays these conflicts, weaving them into an engrossing story played out by multi-dimensional, lifelike characters.

The protagonist, Gora, derives his name from his astonishingly fair complexion. He is a fiercely orthodox Hindu nationalist who resents the reformist Brahmo Samaj only to fall in love with Sucharita, a Brahmo girl. Ironically, Gora finally learns that he was not born a Hindu, but is the orphaned son of an Irishman killed during the 1857 uprising.

The vast body of Tagore’s works can be compared in variety and brilliance with the work of European greats like Goethe or Shakespeare. Why then, is Tagore not as popular worldwide today as he should be? It is only when high quality translations are made widely available, that readers everywhere can appreciate these wonderful works.
(book reviews published in Deccan Herald Nov 2009

reconstructing hope

2009-12-01T14:59:00.004+05:30

I visited Agni Raksha, a Bangalore-based NGO which helps burns victims. Those who survive extensive burns remain scarred for life in both mind and spirit. The scar tissues can contort the body and hamper free movement. After surviving a terrifying experience, these victims live on as disfigured and debilitated sufferers lacking confidence and the ability to lead a more normal life. Agni Raksha helps such burns victims, mainly from poor backgrounds, by offering assistance with reconstructive surgery and rehabilitation into mainstream society. Read the full account of my experiences here in Infochange news and features

our English

2009-11-28T12:23:00.002+05:30

English isn't only the Queen's any longer. It's yours, mine and ours. People all over the world are using this language as their own. I savour the flexible and adaptive nature of the English language which has allowed non-English speaking populations in many parts of the world to adopt it as their own.

My own mother-tongue is Bengali, a language with its own magnificent literary heritage. Bengali is spoken/written by the largest number of people in the world after English and Chinese. Yet I, like many other fellow Indians, choose to speak and write freely in English as well as my own language. Why does English score as a universally accepted language over other widely used languages like Chinese, Hindi or Bengali? My educated guess is that a large number of Bengali and Hindi speakers are poor people, so they and their languages count less in the wider scheme of things in this power and commerce driven world. I suspect this principle also applies to Chinese.

In a country like India, which boasts of many ancient languages each with its own unique script and rich literary tradition spanning thousands of years, English unites people across regional and linguistic boundaries. I live in a large apartment complex which can be taken as a microcosm of our national diversity. My immediate neighbours speak Gujarati, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Konkani and other Indian languages, each of these being major literary treasure troves. We don't know each others' native languages, but we all know English and readily communicate in it.
read Spinning English Namma Way

raising the dead

2009-11-28T12:20:00.002+05:30

A couple of days ago, a friend asked why I haven't posted here in quite a while. Rather than go into the reasons or un-reason of it all, I'll start again with fresh posts with a promise to continue.

new vistas for women in India's IT industry

2008-12-18T13:18:00.003+05:30

I recently attended a session on women in leadership organised by NASSCOM, India's premier trade body for the IT industry. Education is now spreading to women in small town India. An increasing number of women are being recruited by the IT industry at the entry level. However, studies show that many of these women do not reach the top positions for various reasons. Changes in life situation such as marriage, children and relocating with the family to another town, are some of the reasons for breaks in the careers of these well-qualified women.
The tremendous potential of women in the workforce can be best tapped not just with changes and the right noises at the corporate level. There is a wider and more far reaching need for social change.
Read the full published article
here

terror

2008-11-30T16:42:00.002+05:30

Today news reports, blogs and e-mails are flowing fast and freely. There's a lot of emotion and drama. People are rushing to light candles, attend meetings and generally charged to 'do something'. Many are also demanding that the authorities do that elusive 'someting.'

Others are saluting the 'spirit of Mumbai' and bravely trying to carry on as usual.

But at the end of the day, this incident may be as quickly forgotten as the previous terror attacks in Mumbai, and the recent bomb blasts in Surat, Delhi and elsewhere. I wonder how long it will be before the media and the public forget this horror and run after the next cricket match or a child trapped in a well.

Will any lasting lessons ever be learnt from this tragedy? Will there be a greater political will to prevent such thigns from happening?

Many of us are wanting to do something. IMHO a starting point could be if we mobilised opinion for a better pay package and more advanced equipment (weapons, bullte proof vests etc) for the true heroes who risk their lives to keep us safe. It's a sad anomaly in our country that youngsters who take porders for pizza from overseas callers can earn much more in a safe job than protectors of our security.

Ending with a prayer for peace,

mumbai mayhem

2008-11-28T12:32:00.003+05:30

The unfolding terror drama in Mumbai is truly shocking. My memories of Mumbai are personal and warm. We lived and worked there for four years. True, the commuting distances are huge and life is just too hurried and hassled for the city's teeming millions. True, one has the jostle through crowds, negotiate heavy traffic and polluted air.

Yet warm human memories remain etched in my soul. The time when I was stuck in a jam-packed local train and the rough-looking fellow commuters came to my rescue. The time when I slipped on the steep steps of the railway overbridge and strangers came forth to ask if everything was ok. My sweet elderly neighbour who let all the kids returning from school play with her cute little pooch, the memories are many. I've always loved 'Maximum City' as a vibrant place where every stranger can feel welcome. Mumbai has always been India's, and my personal city of dreams. I found the city much more disciplined and comfortable for working women compared to many other Indian cities.

I used to take my son out to Gateway of india when he was a tot. We sould browse through the Prince of Wales Museum and the Jehangir art gallery, where the ancient artefacts and miniature paintings never failed to elcii wonder from my little one. We would end the outing with a boat ride and a stroll by the Taj Hotel. We used to love those outings. the News images seem to be coming from another world.

I only hope and pray that the nighmare will end soon. We must not allow a misguided few to ruin what has been built over generations.

gems from the wilderness

2008-11-23T20:07:00.002+05:30

I recently had the pleasure of interacting with a renowned wildlife photographer, Mr. Naryanaswamy. Each artist consciously and unconsciouly lends his own perspective upon his work. In Mr. N's photographs of wildlife, I perceived, apart from his deep love for nature, an interest in the more amiable and friendly aspects of wild animals. The stories behind many of these photos are interesting too. My article based on our conversations was published some days ago in Deccan Herald, the school edition. Since it isn't available on the web, I'm posting it here.

WILD JEWELS
By Monideepa Sahu

When peacocks fly, they display startling flashes of bright orange feathers on their wings, which are otherwise hidden. Wild jungle fowl appear drab to blend in with their forest surroundings, but bright, colourful highlights illuminate their plumage in the sunlight. Armed with the best cameras and sharpest lenses, international award-winning wildlife photographer K.M. Narayanaswamy films many such gems of natural beauty. Among his many honours, he is the ARPS (Associate of Royal Photographic Society, England), and was a member of the Indian team that won the Silver Medal (Nature Prints) in the 14th Biennial FIAP World Cup Photographic Competition in Spain. One of his most appreciated photographs is of three wild tiger cubs inside their den deep in a forest. “They were just three weeks old, and barely the size of kittens,” K.M. Narayanaswamy reminisces. “Even their eyes had not yet fully developed, and that is why they appear blue in the photo. I resisted the urge to cuddle the cute little cubs. We must never touch, or otherwise disturb the babies of wild animals. Even if the mother is not present, she can sense the presence of humans, and she may panic and abandon the helpless babies.” Photographing the adorable tiger cubs was a difficult and dangerous task. As Deputy Conservator of forests, he would instruct the forest guards to keep him posted on movements of wildlife. When he learnt of the presence of a mother cub and her newborn litter, his excitement was boundless. He and his team painstakingly tracked them for days through the dense jungles, and then hid themselves near the den. When the mother went away to hunt, K.M. Narayanaswamy stealthily went within three feet of the den’s entrance to take unique pictures. “If their mother had seen me, I would not have lived to tell the tale,” he tells us. “Even though I was careful to keep at a distance from them, the mother sensed human presence and immediately moved them to a new hideout after she returned.” This marvellous picture won prestigious international awards, and has been included in many international books on wildlife.

Baby animals and wildlife families find a special place in K.M. Narayanaswamy’s pictures. His photo of a brood of barn owl chicks look like mischievous children posing for their class photo. In a picture taken in Doroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary, tiny cubs try to clamber playfully on their mother’s back as she walks with a serious and determined manner. K.M. Narayanaswamy waited for hours every day at dawn to capture a pair of river terns mating. After their little chicks hatched, he photographed the parents taking turns to feed their young. “Wild creatures can be loving and caring just like humans,” he observes.

K.M. Narayanaswamy’s pictures often capture animals in a friendly and playful mood. He has taken photos of a pair of tuskers in Kabini playing like schoolboys. Two rhinos in Kaziranga face each other in another picture as though sharing interesting secrets. Another series of photos shows a male elephant covering himself with a luxurious slather of mud, and then spraying himself with water from his trunk. “It was like an elaborate spa beauty treatment, which took the elephant nearly three hours,” says K.M. Narayanaswamy.

The brilliant hues of nature also find a prominent place in his photos. His photo of a blue jay or Neelakantha bird is striking, showing he glowing shades of turquoise, indigo and peacock blue of its plumage. This state bird of Karnataka has chosen an equally colourful meal; a bright green fuzzy caterpillar. K.M. Narayanaswamy spends long hours waiting for the right effects of sunlight and shadows on his wild subjects. “The dazzling colours of nature are wonderful,” he says. “They are created by God and not by computers.”

Becoming an internationally celebrated wildlife photographer involved years of dedication and effort. He joined the Indian Forest Service in 1985 where documenting wildlife was part of the job. Inspired by accomplished seniors like Shri. M. N. Jayakumar, he began photography in 2000. His work took K.M. Narayanaswamy to different parts of the country, where he observed wildlife in their natural surroundings.

K.M. Narayanaswamy is deeply interested in sharing the wonderful world of nature with young people. He takes sessions in schools and colleges.

persons with disability may apply

2008-11-14T22:24:00.003+05:30

I had researched and written an article on employemnt opportunities for disabled persons in our country. The Article has just been published in Infochange Agenda. Here is a brief excerpt with a link to the full published article.

Today it is an accepted fact that provided a supportive environment to learn and grow, Persons With Disability (PWDs) have the capacity to work efficiently and earn a living with dignity. Indeed, they can be a valuable addition to the skilled workforce. Says Hema Ravichandar, Strategic HR Advisor, "With the talent shortage and war for talent, institutional initiatives to encourage diversity and more importantly, the mindset of inclusivity, it is no longer just a nice to do thing but is actually a business imperative. It widens the available talent pool, while encouraging merit worthy yet differently-abled individuals to make a mark and be productive. Most mature organisations today are sensitive to this talent pool, but only some have initiatives to harness their potential in a structured and planned manner."

The Government and Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have taken the lead in providing employment and other opportunities to the disabled. Several ministries departments of the Government of India and State Governments provide various concessions such as subsidized rail and air travel, special conveyance allowances to disabled employees, and Income Tax concessions. Award of dealerships by public sector oil companies and economic assistance by nationalized banks at Differential Rates of Interest (4%) to the disabled empowers them to set up their own income generating business ventures. Public Sector Banks also offer concessional loans and donations to organisations working for the welfare of the handicapped.

The prosperity of a business enterprise and of the community in which the business operates, are interdependent on each other. While business enterprises generate income and commerce, they can exhaust natural resources, dispossess original residents of the area of their land, or pollute the environment. What do these enterprises do to compensate the community apart from paying fees, taxes, or one-time compensation to affected people? Today along with the rest of corporate India, IT and ITES companies are waking up to this concept of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), and realising that it comes with its own advantages. Extending the opportunity for employment and upgradation of skills to PWD is one major thrust of CSR initiatives. Indeed, corporates who train and employ PWD stand to gain workers with valuable talents. ‘Nowadays, I find that many corporates perform only 10% under CSR and hype becomes 90%. This phenomenon is good neither for the society nor the company,” says Prof. Y S Rajan. (1) Ideally, CSR has to happen naturally as part of the company’s vision to gain respect and cooperation of the community, and not as short term publicity measure. CSR not only boosts a company’s image, it has several long term positive results. Employees feel more motivated to work for a company with a social conscience. Enhanced productivity and profit is an indirect outcome. CSR is not charity, but a company’s return to the community, which is helping it to grow and sustain profits.

read the full article here

fiction as social commentary, a mirror of reality

2008-11-11T12:34:00.006+05:30

Fiction - including poetry - should be taken just as seriously as facts-based research, according to the team from Manchester University and the London School of Economics (LSE).

Novels should be required reading because fiction "does not compromise on complexity, politics or readability in the way that academic literature sometimes does," said Dr Dennis Rodgers from Manchester University's Brooks World Poverty Institute.

"While fiction may not always show a set of presentable research findings, it does not compromise on complexity, politics or readability in the way that academic literature sometimes does.

"And fiction often reaches a much larger and diverse audience than academic work and may therefore be more influential in shaping public knowledge and understanding of development issues."

Tom Clougherty, policy director of the Adam Smith Institute, said fiction was "a useful tool in aiding people's understanding, sparking their interest, and humanising issues".

But he warned: "There's a problem. Fiction works by appealing to people's emotions, not their intellect or rationality."

I am now reading Swarnakumari Debi Ghoshal's 'An Unfinished Song.'. Oxford University Press Classic re-issue.

Swarnakumari was Rabindranath Tagore's own sister. Born in 1856 in a progressive family of her times, she was educated in the 'zenana' by private teachers, and was married off at 11 years. She lived in purdah or semi purdah thruoghout her life.

Yet she wrote many books (begun well before her more famous brother appeared on the literary scene) and edited a popular intellectual magazine for decades. She also actively contributed to social work, and helped the cause of widows and female education.
The novel, translated by the author herself into English, portrays a remarkable young woman who wishes to choose her husband on the stregth of his moral character rather than social compulsions. It's a very readable book even today.

A radical idea for those times, when very few women in progressive uppr class families of Bengal had limited access to Western education. Child marriage was the norm, and Indian women had a social position far inferior to what they enjoy today. This heroine would have been a pathbreaker, a rebel. Yet she does this within the patriarchial framework.

Another work of fiction showing us how life would really have been in the past. Or perhaps this is also the athor's dream of how she would have wanted life to be.

No doubt the author's perspective is necessarily limited by her personal experiences and the strata of society in which she has been brought up.

But fiction such as this throws new light on the human side of history and sociology.

champion of individuality

2008-11-09T11:05:00.004+05:30

I haven't been posting of late. Planning to make it up by posting my most recent publications.
Here's a piece published in Deccan Herald 9.11.2008, on Ayn Rand. We read and raved over her books as teenagers, as generations before and after us. The supremacy of the individual, the championing of the right of the individual to grow to full potential, these are indeed admirable. when is there need for curbs and control? Where can we strike the right balance between the needs of the individual and of society as a whole?

Today when blazing flames from Wall Street to Dalal Street are reducing the wealth of nations to ashes, many are questioning the premises of free market economy and mulling over the merits of strict government control.

Ayn Rand’s classic cult novels and philosophy of Objectivism can now be read from a fresh perspective. Ayn Rand (born Alice Rosenbaum, Jan 20, 1905-1982) was a Russian-born American writer, best known for advocating the supremacy of individual rights.

Her passionate pleas supporting personal freedom and laissez-faire capitalism won her many admirers. She defined her ideal of the independent, unfettered genius and a social system where economics need to fit the needs of people, in her bestselling novels The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957). The noted economist Alan Greenspan was among her early enthusiasts.

Read the full article here

food for thought

2008-07-10T14:34:00.003+05:30

In an article in Mail Online, James Chapman says,

"Just two days ago, Gordon Brown was urging us all to stop wasting food and combat rising prices and a global shortage of provisions.

But yesterday the Prime Minister and other world leaders sat down to an 18-course gastronomic extravaganza at a G8 summit in Japan, which is focusing on the food crisis.

The dinner, and a six-course lunch, at the summit of leading industrialised nations on the island of Hokkaido, included delicacies such as caviar, milkfed lamb, sea urchin and tuna, with champagne and wines flown in from Europe and the U.S.

But the extravagance of the menus drew disapproval from critics who thought it hypocritical to produce such a lavish meal when world food supplies are under threat. "

There's much food for thought here. The spirit of Marie Antoinette rules.

I'm also thinking of many parallels, like the popular magazines that crythemselves hoarse over the dangers of plastics, and then wrap the hundreds of thousands of copies of their mags in plastic bags.

Pssst. Heard the latest?

2008-07-04T14:48:00.003+05:30

This is hilarious, and also quite alarming. In the times of breathless non-stop reporting on the AArushi murder case and sensationalised reporting on the mas media, here is a news, or is it non-news, item.

In recent weeks, strange reports made headlines, with the media trying to milk every drop of sensational value out of them;
Some woman trying to kiss a radio jockey,
a live baby wrongly declared dead in a Private hospital,
A teenaged girl from Kolkata with a health problem (nervous breakdown or spinal problem?) attributed at various times to the parents' attitude, or to harsh remarks made by judge in a reality show,

The list seems unending. And then, as some point out, real news we can use seems to be relegated to fine print in some back page. ARe sschools and offices going to remain open during a strike? It's a tough job wading through the sensational reports to find out.

Several Indian newspapers fell victim a couple of days ago to a hoax about the arrest of
a supposed Nazi war criminal. Apart from the media’s alarming
ignorance, the episode also reveals our fascination for unconfirmed
news from ‘intelligence’ sources.

Here are excerpts from an article by Siddharth Varadarajan in The Hindu;

On Sunday, an email message from ‘Hamman Smit,’ press officer from
‘Perus Narpk’ from Shede Road in Berlin arrived in the inbox of several
journalists in Goa and Bangalore. The message identified ‘Perus Narpk’(anagram of super prank)
as the “intelligence wing of the German Chancellor’s core” (sic) and
claimed credit for the arrest on the Karanataka-Goa border of a
fugitive Nazi war criminal named Johann Bach who was responsible for
the killing of 12,000 Jews in the ‘Marsha Tikash Whanaab’ concentration
camp (there was no such camp, a quick Internet search would have proved it if any journalist had cared to verify the 'facts') ). The email contained a press release full of outlandish details
about the operation, including the claim that the octogenarian Bach had
revealed his identity to a holidaying Israeli couple during a rave
party in Goa, and had stolen an 18th century piano from a museum in
‘East Berlin’ which he was trying to sell through a local newspaper.

Suggestive clues

The email was literally full of clues suggesting it was a hoax. The
author revealed he was “hamming,” his office was on ‘Shady’ road And yet, a number of
hacks and their editors in newspapers of repute such as The telegraph, The Indian express and Deccan Herald rushed to print with this sensational story
without bothering to check any of its hilarious details.

This brilliant hoax was the handiwork of ‘Penpricks’ a journalists’
collective in Goa whose blog, penpricks.blogspot. com, is dedicated to
discovering “the rotund flanks and the shaggy underbelly of the Goan
media. And of course, the rare honest rib.” One of its more celebrated
exposes was the debunking of a story run by CNN-IBN about the Russian
mafia taking over land in Goa. Penpricks also criticised The Herald
for offering to strike a deal for the sale of lead editorials after it
posed as a business house interested in positive coverage.
But even if the immediate target of Penpricks was the Goan media, it
has succeeded in exposing the underbelly of the Indian media as a
whole. Indeed, there is nothing surprising about the hoax receiving
such widespread play in the national press. For though the ‘Johann
Bach’ story was outlandish, it was no more so than the reports
regularly put out by Indian police departments about the arrest of
terrorism suspects."

Shameful it is indeed. The declining standards of media reports, doubtful value of 'news' which is given almost 24x7 coverage on the gazillion news channels, such trends are cause for concern.

There are several possible causes for this. IMHO

1. The dumbing down of news to suit the needs of commercial sponsors and various lobbies.

2.Competition among too many media channels vying for ever sensational 'scoops', to ensure TRP ratings.

3. The mushrooming of mass communications schools, with teachers who often have only theoretical and no real practical experience in journalism.

4. It is a fact that the brightest youngsters opt for other courses, leaving the more average students the option of journalism.

Phew, maybe the whole world is simply dumbing down. Tomorrow, someone will flash messages on TV, FM radio, and all over every newspaper that the sky is green with purple polka dots. And if the enws reports say so, we will accept it.

blogging and networking on line

2008-06-16T16:18:00.003+05:30

I just saw an interesting post on an on line network of Bangaloreans about a member being arrested for cheating. Some expressed shock that a member of 'our' on line community could be the kingpin of a scandalous scam. Others said, he isn't guilty until proven so. As members of the same network, we should offer this man support. Others said, we need to do background checks on new members, an expensive impossiblity in a community of 6000 plus. The majority seemed to agree that as in real life society, there will always be some unscrupulous people in an on line forum. It's up to us to verify and be sure before getting involved with strangers, whether on or off line.

On Saturday, I attended a discussion on blogs and blogging. The six odd people present didn't know anything about blogs. They only wanted to know how to make money from blogging, and whether you get stalked or harassed by psychopathic freaks if you blog.

difficult to explain to such people (they weren't really listening, if you understand what I mean) that you can convey a particular image of yourself in cyberspace and carry on with dignity. Not only that, you can make connections with amazing people you've never met.

It all amounts to lateral thinking and making connections. Many of us prefer to restrict ourselves to a narrow line of vision. Some wander off the straight and narrow and sometimes gain new insights from doing so.

disastrous news

2008-05-26T22:08:00.004+05:30

Recent weeks saw yet another spate of disastrous cyclones and earthquakes hit parts of our planet. Huge loss of human life, destruction everywhere. Like everyone else, I watched the images flash on the TV screen and newspapers. Many made emotional statements. I watched with horror and waited.

As expected, the images soon gave way to fresher and more interesting news. It's as though the world needs new images of horror on a regular basis. And of course the media is ready to procure these and oblige.

Doublespeak and crimes against humanity has occured through the ages and encomapssed all races. Today heart rending images are flashed and changed for our benefit. It is calculated to sway our emotions and make us react without pausing to rationalise.

Yes, Hitler mass eliminated Jews duirng the War.

But such cases of genocide have occured many times. Natural disasters, too, can happen at any time and anywhere. They spare nobody. Why is it that some tragedies are remembered again and again and universally condemned.

Why do we choose to downplay the millions of deaths in the man made Bengal Famine?

Why does the world choose to deny by a resounding silence, the existence of Darfur?

Why have we already almost forgotten the cyclone in Myanmar or the bomb blasts in New Delhi's Sarojini Nagar?

There are many such instances . We cannot be selective in our condolences and condemnations, and then move on to the next disaster as though seeking variety and novelty. What today's media needs are more voices of clear reason and objectivity

suppressed voices

2008-05-13T11:07:00.003+05:30

I keep coming across too many people who think writing, especially fiction, is an easy ticket to moneybags and glossy magazine covers. They know nothing about imagination or craft, and simply lack the attention spans to even write a few coherent paragaphs. Yet everyone and their semi literate cousins want to be writers.

English languge publishers in India do not seem to find enough home-grown talent to nurture and sell, at least so their published titles would have us believe. Walk into any city bookshop, and you'll see the usual bestselling foreign authors proudly on display. The Indian writers? A few sad books languishing in the back shelves, and those are the ones being published and promoted by mulitnational biggies. Where are the writers, and where are their books, even if someone wants to read them?

I also wonder whether its always originality and quality that counts for the big name publishers. Or do they calculatedly choose books poised to 'sell' in the marketplace? I recently read an anthology of childrens stories by Indian writers. The writing was competent and some of the names were familiar. Yet the stories and plots reminded me too closely of a show run some years ago in a popular children's TV channel. The resemblances were too close for my comfort.

Keeping all this in mind, I asked questions and got some very interesting replies. The result was the following article, which appeared in BTW magazine a couple of weeks ago. The full unedited version is given below.

A friend told me he liked the article, but that it read like a journalistic piece. True. I've quoted many opinions instead of giving only my own. But I'm very much there behind the scenes, asking, observing, organising everything into a coherent whole. And yes, the BTW editors are also there, supporting free speech by publishing this. The views of many carry more weight than those of a single individual. Here they are. Let the reader decide.

INDIAN WRITING IN ENGLISH; THE SUPPRESSED VOICES (BTW, 11.05.2008)

Indian book lovers can choose from a wealth of fascinating new titles in creative literature from foreign authors. Our regional Bhashas have their venerable home-grown creative traditions and towering literary giants. However, Indian writers of comparable stature writing in English seem relatively fewer and far between. Many acclaimed authors such as Salman Rushdie, Jhumpa Lahiri or Rohinton Mistry are expatriates writing primarily for a Western audience. A new Indian author of fiction who is published in India, commands a limited readership and is considered successful if the book sells just 1000 copies. “The best of Indian writing is not in English,” avers Sunil Poolani, senior journalist, author, and founder of Frog Books, Mumbai. “A Vaikom Muhammad Basheer or a Sarat Chandra Chatterjee is any day equal to a Marquez or Umberto Eco. They are not as famous because they are not properly translated like their western counterparts.”

India has a huge population of educated people and a fair portion of readers interested in serious writing. Sadly, many yearn for a wider choice in home-grown popular as well as literary fiction in English. Is there a paucity of desi talent? Are original and interesting new Indian books in English not published and marketed in the right way? Hasmita Chander, a freelance writer and editor who has been published in seven countries, voices a widely-felt need. “I long for more stories in familiar Indian settings about real Indian people. I wish there were more memoirs, creative nonfiction, and essays written about India for Indians. The little that is available is often focused on explaining India to a foreign reader, which is off-putting after a point for an Indian like me. Popular fiction has little on offer with the same old staid themes, predictable stories, pretentious ones, unrealistic ones that are obviously fitted into a contrived plot. It's an insult to the intelligence, and a disappointment to read. So what is left but to turn to western
literature, and keep searching for good quality work?”

If enough citizens of our great country are not interested in buying and reading new books, a shortage of well-crafted and accessible writing is one cause of it. The pretentious ‘literary’ artifices of some Indian writing in English deter potential readers with self-indulgent, glib or superficial works that seem to have little to say. Verbal wizardry can dominate over a strong story, characters and emotions. “My issue is with taught writing, seminar writing, writing by proxy by editors, writing that is too self conscious,” contends Abhigyan Jha, writer of hit screen and TV scripts, three novels, and co-founder of Undercover Utopia Publications. ”Our writers and publishers are too high brow. Without mass market paperback authors - without great storytellers - all literary fiction of the late 20th century is about to be consigned to trash cans of history. Steinbeck and Hemingway were relevant to people and they wrote great language too. We need more writers of well-crafted, imaginative popular fiction like Rowling, Grisham, Asimov and Arthur Clarke. It is they who help the publishing industry survive. It is they who encourage readers in every generation to take up reading.”

Surely Indian writers do not lack talent and imagination. Some original, interesting and well crafted fiction in English is indeed being created by home-grown Indian writers. But why aren’t more of these new books read and talked about everywhere? Is it because Indian reading tastes are too diverse and fragmented into readers of regional languages? “Who says books do not sell well in India?” counters Sunil Poolani, “Trash sells. Books brought out by Shobhaa De, Robin Sharma, Chetan Bhagat sell. Ditto books on cookery, cinema, self-help (due to growing mental insecurity), and travel guides. What does not sell is meaningful and path-breaking literature. So an aam janata do not know who a Kiran Nagarkar or O V Vijayan is.”

Why do Indians buy fewer books than readers in countries like the US, where new writers can aspire to sell 10,000 copies? “You cannot compare US with India,” says Sakuntala Narasimhan, author of 11 books, consumer rights activist and classical musician
“They have a homogenous English reading market. We are a cultural motley, with high illiteracy, regional languages etc. Also, there is more money in the hands of Americans.”
Zafar Anjum, Singapore-based journalist, film maker, author of two books and founder-editor of Kitaab.org, a website dedicated to Asian writing in English, has this to say;. “Indians don’t have the same kind of reading habits that we see in the developed world. In overcrowded cities like Delhi and Mumbai, it would be difficult to imagine commuters reading books in jam-packed buses and trains like their foreign counterparts. In the US and the UK, the market is uniform in terms of the language. In India, the English speaking yuppies, who are equipped with the language skills to make book stats look sexier, are simply not interested in books. And if they are, they would buy books like One Night@ Call Centre. But I hope things will change.”

Does inadequate support from Indian publishers translate into less visibility and sales of quality new books written by Indians for an Indian audience? If potential readers do not see or hear about a book, they won’t know of its existence, let alone seek it out to buy and read. Publishing is a profit-making business like any other. According to their press release dated 5.3.2008, “The tremendous performances of Pearson’s India units was led by Penguin, which last year …achieved sales just short of Rs.1 billion.” Yet new Indian talents struggle to reach an audience. Publishers in India are sometimes accused of short-changing authors by way of royalties. If the rewards are niggardly in this highly competitive business, emerging literary talents may be compelled to give up half way. “Most Indian publishers cheat. I should know, as author of 11 books. Except for 3 publishers, all others cheated me on royalty payments, including some big name publishing houses,” says Sakuntala Narasimhan. Sunil Poolani blames “poor payments, the lalas of the trade, and lack of funds for research. Look at the kind of money British or other writers are given to research their works. So, save our Ramachandra Guha, the best history books on India are written by British writers. Gregory Rabassa is paid as much as Marquez for translating the latter's work.”

Abhigyan Jha says, “The publisher will expend almost nothing on marketing new books. Underwear is promoted aggressively in this country but we are still shy of promoting books. The writer has to pay for his own marketing (always a higher cost than printing) but it is not called self publishing. Why? Because supposedly the publisher (who in India is merely the printer and the distributor) by its editorial expertise chooses only the good books to publish…In 60 years these publishers couldn't find a single book which would sell a million copies in its first year.”

Money and hype can sometimes push books of inferior quality to the top of the bestseller lists, while better writing languishes for lack of publicity. “That's the tragedy one has to suffer, no matter how talented you are,” says Sunil Poolani.” Like their western counterparts, not a single big publishing house entertains new talent unless it has sex appeal and/or probability of selling. ‘The best magical realist after Marquez,’ that's what a 'great' books page editor of a national weekly called a 20-something Bombay guy who wrote a trashy book. He paid the publisher nearly 10 lakh for launch, pitching stories, interviews and reviews. The publisher got a good deal, the scribes were paid, and the author, belonging to a rich business family, got instant stardom. What if the book sank without a trace. The scene is the same in the US too, where thousands of books come out every year. If a work of fiction has to sell, in India or in the US, hype and hoopla are important; get a Booker, get dragged into controversy, voila, then your book is in the best-selling list.”

Are Indian readers to blame for preferring foreign writers and East-West stories by expatriate authors over home-grown writing? We are impressed by even the most obscure and dubious foreign achievements and tend to rush to buy the book. Sunil Poolani and Sakuntala Narasimhan attribute the current situation to our colonial mentality. “If we were slaves of the British, now the neo-colonialists are the US,” says Poolani. “You will find a pirated Kavya Viswanathan 'magnum opus' on Bombay's mean streets. Also to be blamed are the Indian media who is perpetually licking up western 'success' stories.” “This is true of other fields like science and the arts,” adds Sakuntala Narasimhan. “The market is dominated by East meets West because the overseas buyer is not interested (or does not understand) indigenous settings. Indian writers turn out masala with an eye to the west because they think it is the shortest route to sales and fame.”

True, a “flabby’, pretentious literary style is the flavour of the season the world over. Indian writers are merely conforming to current trends, and things will change. Insightful, imaginative new fiction is also being crafted by Indian writers. Zafar Anjum ends the debate with a ray of hope. “Best seller lists are no indicator of quality. What’s wrong with a book lying in one of the back shelves of the bookstore? Discerning readers will find a good book if that’s what they want. Publishers, and not writers, need worry on that score.”

fountain of youth (dubious)

2008-05-13T10:58:00.003+05:30

I'm 20 again. Yes, it's true, at least according to the voters' list. After sending in the required Form 6 for inclusion of my name, they finally enfranchised me. Bt they put my age down as 20. I think I ought to be thrilled, runing around with arms raised, jumping, whooping. I did manage to cast my vote. the officials in the polling booth checked my identity cards and details and agreed that the age was a mistake. And all along, i was hoping they would accept me for a twenty year old without even batting an eyelid.

Very few voters turned up from middle and upper income areas of bangalore. Very few of my neighbours voted. "No time," said one lady. "Oh I forgot," said someone else. The newspapers were debating this public apathy. It seems the young and restless are more bothered about using the public holiday to go off to a resort or party away. It's the poor who need politicians to do things for them. the better off can pay for what they want.

I'm left with a dab of indelible ink on my finger wondering what it all means.

identity crisis

2008-04-21T10:53:00.001+05:30

The nightmare began several months ago. A man verifying the voters’ list pressed our doorbell, ringing the death knell of my status as a normal citizen of this great land. My family members were excommunicated from the electoral rolls! I dashed off an e-mail to the editors of this newspaper, hoping to catch the attention of the powers that be. I duly filled Form 6 with proof of identity and residence, and submitted it to the local municipal office. Nobody seemed to care that we had lived in the same address for over a decade, voted in all previous elections, and continued to possess official voters’ identity cards to prove it. The voters’ list was revised, yet we still did not exist.

No, I had not morphed into a gigantic insect, though the chain of events did resemble a Kafkaesque nightmare. I continued to spend most of my time breathing, eating and sleeping on this very planet, and I did indeed cast a shadow wherever I stood. The fact that I walked proved that I was not yet dead. The friendly neighbourhood grocer, dhobi, watchman, fishmonger and garbage collector were my witnesses. But then, they also probably didn’t exist according to the current electoral rolls.

Taking time to introspect, I wondered where I had erred. When I submitted my Form 6 to the concerned official, did I incur disapproval in presumptuously asking for an acknowledgement? I did notice that the figure of august authority was too busy to tear off acknowledgement slips for others. If I returned to the same official with my form, would he remember the tall lady with hair like a bird’s nest after a storm? The quest for truth and justice is an arduous task. One must keep faith, be determined, and learn to think out of the box. I thought of a stratagem worthy of the Gestapo or Mossad to bypass my gaffe in dealing with upholders of supreme authority. This time, I sent our forms in the hands of a trusty and suitably nondescript local lad. Mission accomplished, the lad returned with acknowledgements, that too without even having to ask. I am praying, crossing my fingers and toes, and touching wood. God and officialdom willing, my ninety-plus father will realize his dream of being the oldest voter from his constituency.

death by blogging

2008-04-12T11:06:00.016+05:30

Compulsive blogging can actually kill, says a recent news report. Some folks who got into blogging reams of daily, weekly and monthly blog posts to build a buzz around products apparently could not cope with the hectic pace. One blogger, who earned a living from posting in gazillion blogs died of a heart attack while another with comparable blogging compulsions also simply fizzled out of this world.
Were these deaths a string of coincidences? Any overwhelming compulsion can stress a person out, resulting in avoidable health problems and perhaps untimely death. The spontaneous joy of blogging, or any activity, for that matter, is destroyed if one is under constant pressure to churn out a certain quantity of writing.
Blogging for pleasure sans profit can also sometimes spring surprise rewards. My writer friend Vinod Ekbote
recently won a prize dinner for his
blog .One success led to another. "The New Indian Express carries an
excerpt from a post from my blog in today's edition on the front page," he says.
"The excerpt, incidentally, is from the post I wrote about the prize
dinner I won for my blog.
Yesterday, the Editor in Chief of Random House India-Chiki Sarkar-
left a comment on my blog though only to tell Jhumpa Lahiri's new book
can be ordered online.
Blogging sure is getting me attention folks. I'm on cloud 99!"

You can win, and retain your health and sanity, and perhaps even gain some fame and money by being spontaneous.

tripe and trivia with morning coffeee

2008-04-04T11:57:00.002+05:30

I sometimes pity readers of English language publications in India. Popular magazines and newspapers carry an overwhelming amount of advertising and commerce driven material. Enough has been said about even editorial space in major newspapers being available at a price. Do we need to daily read news items aggressively pushing for farmyard animal type promiscuity? Must we be fed an overdose of celebrity tripe and trivia with our morning coffee?

We seem to have the women's magazine style of formula fare on the one hand, and 'literary' and sometimes boring and inaccessible 'highbrow' writing on the other. But what about well-written, imaginative and interesting works which a wider range of general readers can understand and enjoy?

There could be several reasons for this. There are many high quality popular magazines in our Indian languages where new writers can test and hone their literary skills. But English, the language that strangely enough connects our mutilingual society, has too much of commerce driven drivel in print.

The book publishing scene is also commercially driven. Big names and celeb authors sell. If one is not already famous, one can't hope to get a book published easily. The few original and interesting new authors in English who do manage to gt published, get little publicity. If people don't know about new books or see them displayed in store shelves, how will they buy and read them?

The attitude of some serious writers is also interesting. A well-known consumer rights activist, classical musician and author of seven books recently told me, "Only one of my books is a collection of short stories. The rest are serious works on biographies, music, etc."

Idiots who indulge in creative writing (usually unpaid because it is non-commercial) get routinely ridiculed even in Indian writers' groups, :-))because their writing doesn't earn big money.

foolish thoughts

2008-04-01T11:26:00.003+05:30

It's April Fool's Day. Writers, especially the 'creative types', are perceived as generally fooling around and never engaged in anything remotely connected to serious pursuits. Even 'serious' writers tend to look down upon the foolish dreamers. The other day, a well known consumer rights activist, musician and author of seven books told me, "Only one of my books is a collection of short stories. The rest are all on serious subjects such as biography and music."

If, as my friend Bob Sanchez says, fiction is based on lies, then why do we lie? Are more likely to add colourful touches to the truth with those we know, rather than with perfect strangers?
People lie for several reasons. We desire to protect our public selves, and consciously try to mould the impressions we convey to others. We also lie to protect out private lives and our sense of self worth.

We lie to escape from reality, and sometimes, we also lie in an effort to uravel the web of half truths that entangle reality.

why do we tell stories?

2008-02-09T11:32:00.000+05:30

Why do we tell stories? In this busy world where nobody has time to stop and listen, why do we continue writing stories, hoping someone will read till the end?

For me, stories are roundabout ways to arrive at the roots of reality. If we dig straight and directly, we are more likely to destroy the fine, delicate roots which nourish life itself. Life's mysteries and the sense of wonderment they engender, cannot always be filed away and conveniently categorized as dry data. That's where the storyteller enters, to breathe life into words and emotions, and evoke all the nuances that make up life.

Let's take a question which many of us face. What does it mean to be an Indian? It isn't easy to define the sense of identity we feel in a land of many cultures and languages. I'm a Bengali (Bong), but folks in Karnataka, where I live, take me for a Coorgi or a Mangalorean. Some have even taken it for granted and tried to converse with me in their totally incomprehensible to me dialects. I've given up trying to explain to people that I'm a Bong (noo, not from Kolkata, only rarely visit there, never lived in those parts, no roots there. but I know the language well enough to translate a Bangla story or two into English) I'm a Bong born in Delhi because my father settled in Delhi after Independence/Partition (1946, to be exact). Ancestors are East Bengalis. And now I live in Karnataka and speak passable Kannada. I've given up explaining to people and just say, I'm Indian.

I wrote a short story which has a reference to this feeling of being different, but also being totally Indian. The link to 'A Royal Tour' is on the right sidebar.

I have always wondered how much of one's personal experience can go into a story and still be considered fiction? This particular story of mine is based on my true life experiences. My only child is named Siddhartha, and he is a newly emerged from the chrysalis doctor. This piece started out as creative non fiction. But somewhere along the way, it evolved into fiction. As the real life Siddhartha observed,"The character evolves into someone like me towards the end, but at the beginning of the story, he is quite different."

I put this question to Indian author and actor Tom Alter, who despite his markedly Caucasian looks, is 100% Indian, right down to peppering his English speech with untranslateable Hindi and Urdu colloquialisms. Here's his reply;
"As for putting personal truth in our writing? -- it is the only thing to do -- all writers do -- they must -- we must -- in both of my novels, I am everywhere -- but not always as 'I' "

I hope some readers of this blog will pause to enlighten me. How much of your own experiences and emotions do you put into your fiction?

Kafka in today's Bangalore

2008-02-02T11:15:00.000+05:30

Why do folks read books? Reading works for me because books give me interesting and unusual perspectives on reality. I was mulling over the term 'Kafkaesque' when reality overtook me. Recent revision of electoral rolls in Karnataka threw up huge anomalies. Many names, including those of me and my family members, vanished in a stroke of inscruitable, elusive authority. While I struggled to get it rectified, my son gave me an idea. Why not write a fun piece on my predicament? I did, and here's what was published on the Editorial page of Deccan Herald on the 30th of Jan.

Reading Kafka and reconnecting to life can produce interesting results :-) I'm not quite sure how the Easter Island guys fit in except that to me, they're rather Kafkaesque, too.

IDENTITY CRISIS

On a chill January morning, I woke from troubled dreams in a cold sweat. No demon slithered out from the toothpaste tube, and the kitchen sink did not suck me into a bottomless vortex. The morning routine continued without disasters more dire than the milk boiling over. Deceived into complacency, I dug into a reassuring plate of idlis.

The doorbell clanged, nearly jolting my breakfast off my lap. A lanky, dour-faced man peered in through the door and barked, “Voters’ list check.”
“Four voters here,” I said, proudly flashing our photo identity cards.
“No voters enrolled from this door number,” said Dour-face.
The nightmare of a struggle for identity, understanding and security had begun.

I pored over his lists, checking every page. Our numbers, our names, our very existence had vanished in a stroke of bureaucratic whim and authority. “We’ve lived here since 1995, and voted in every election,” I pleaded. “Please correct the list.”
“Proof of identity and residence?” Dour-face growled.
“If I didn’t live here, I wouldn’t be opening the door dressed like this. And that’s undoubtedly my mug on the card,” I said, waving our photo identity cards again.

“As per my list, you don’t exist. Register again with valid proof of residence.” Dour-face thrust a Form 6 into my hand and marched off to negate the identities of the folks next door.

Unable to comprehend my fate, I searched websites and directories for an elusive supreme authority that could restore my true selfhood. The name and contact number of an official offered hope of redemption.
“My family members are registered as voters from this address since 1995, but your enumerator says our names are not included.”
“What is your problem?”
Feeling more preposterous than a cockroach in a clown suit, I repeated my query.
“Where do you stay?”
I told him.
“Name?”
“Gregor Samsa…,” I almost blurted out, remembering Franz Kafka’s hero who lost his identity and was transformed into a gigantic insect. But I stopped myself, pleased that I could still remember my name.
“I don’t attend to your area,” the official said, although the website stated otherwise. No, he didn’t know whom I should contact.

I am now struggling against hope and fear, reason and inanity, in a confusing world where I just might find an intangible truth about the human condition

Authors Tom Alter and Nury Vittachi on writing

2008-01-23T18:48:00.000+05:30

I recently had the pleasure of interacting with two fascinating novelists, Nury Vittachi of Hong Kong, and Tom Alter, who despite his blond hair and emphatically 'western' appearance, is "100% Indian."

Hong Kong’s best-selling English language author Nury Vittachi has an amazing range of over 90,000 fiction and non-fiction books in print. He is best known for his humorous crime novels about the Feng Shui Detective. This versatile author writes for children as well as for adults, and can simultaneously elicit laughter and provoke deep thinking.

Tom Alter was born in Mussorie, India, to American missionary parents. After acting in over 250 Indian films by eminent filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray (Shatranj Ke Khiladi) and Ismail Merchant, and starring in 50 TV serials and numerous stage productions, Tom Alter directed his artistic talents toward writing novels. A sportsman adept at playing cricket, basketball, tennis and badminton, writing on sports related themes was a natural choice.
His latest novel, The Longest Race, revolves around a brilliant young marathon runner. The book, Alter says, “is an allegory about anyone who wants to have a challenge in life.” The theme is of universal relevance, and not a fairy tale with a winner. "For me it is much more than a story about sports,” he says. “Bahadur is a hero of today's India, not only in the field of sports.”

Where do they find inspiration and ideas for their stories? Nury Vittachi says, "The world is a funny place. I don’t have to invent humour – mostly I just watch it and write down what I see.”

Tom Alter also finds ideas from the familiar world around him. “I grew up in Rajpur, where Bahadur’s story is set,” Alter says. “As kids, we freely played with the children of malis (gardeners) and chowkidars (watchmen). I could definitely identify with them.”

These two authors shared interesting insights about their unique approaches to the craft of writing. Alter says, "I rarely share what I write with anyone -- am too possessive about it -- am hopeless at taking advice." Bahadur's story is one that Alter lived with for many years before writing it down. Naturally, he got it "around 70-80% right in the first draft." Subsequent revisions did not result in any major changes in the plot or characters.

Vittachi's writing is amazingly varied. Does it require a different mindset, different type of artistic discipline, to write books like the NORTH WIND about journalists under siege, and then humorous essays and detective stories? How does he handle this switch in styles and themes?

Nury Vittachi says; "I’m a big mouth! I write almost as fast as I talk – up to 5000 words a day. Can you imagine putting up with someone like me for days or years on end? My wife is a saint."

He shares an interesting anecdote about his novel, Asian Values. "That book was fun to do. When I wrote the first draft, I showed it to my writer friend Xu Xi who told me that it didn’t capture the emotions that two strangers clamped together would feel. So I actually arranged to be clamped to a stranger for 24 hours to get a better understanding of how it would feel. It was an unforgettable experience (the unfortunate victim to whom I was clamped was a young female jazz singer). Then I re-wrote the book."

beyond 2008

2008-01-19T11:03:00.000+05:30

As the new year unfolds, I hope my blog will grow along with it. If my posts were infrequent of late, there were solid reasons for it. The ideas came and vanished like bubbles. Thanks to the pressures of life, I rarely managed to reach out to the iridescent globes before they floated away into eternity.

True, as a friend suggested, I could have spewn out a stream of random posts on anything like, you know, recipes. I'm a respectable cook and will share recipes with friends, but not here on this blog. This began as a 'thoughtful blog', and I intend to continue on those lines without compromising on quality. By thoughts, I don't mean "listen to my rambling rants as I slouch on the beanbag and count the hairs on my arm" sort of thing. I respect my readers' intelligence as much as my own. I don't care to waste my time reading other people rambling about what they ate for lunch, and I won't impose such pointless trivia on others.

The thoughts will continue; on life, on books and writing,and insights from reading and interaction with authors for my literary column.

The posts will come at least once a week.

Promise!

Children Speak Up

2008-01-14T10:59:00.000+05:30

I write on anything that interests me, and am happy to publicize a worthy cause. My article on children's participation in local self-goverment in rural India was published in December by Infochange news and features. Other sites and bloggers have put this up, so I'm sharing it again here. Let's spread the word.

Children Speak Up

By Monideepa Sahu

11 January, 2008
Countercurrents.org

The Karnataka government's panchayati raj ministry recently issued an
order (638-2007, dated 30.10.2007) making it mandatory for all
panchayats to provide children a platform to put their concerns
forward directly to elected representatives at special children's gram
sabhas.

The order makes it mandatory for panchayats to report back on action
taken to address issues raised by the children.

Concerned for Working Children (CWC), an NGO that has been involved
with child-related issues for over two decades, was consulted during
the drafting of the circular.

This is indeed a welcome move -- an affirmation of the child's right
to participate in the decision-making process. "(It) recognises
children as citizens of today and highlights the accountability of
elected representatives to the children of their communities," says
the CWC.

But if it is not to fall by the wayside as yet another
well-intentioned but ineffective measure, the order must be properly
implemented. Intensive and systematic capacity-building is required to
enable children to effectively use these gram sabhas to realise their
rights through active participation and cooperation with adults in
authority. Likewise, adults, especially those responsible for
facilitating the gram sabhas, must be trained to appreciate their
importance and to conduct the proceedings smoothly. Children need
special guidance in order to derive optimum benefit from the gram sabhas.

Makkala panchayats (children's councils) were introduced for the first
time as a parallel government of children working closely with
panchayats in Karnataka in 1995 as a pilot project by the CWC and the
Bhima Sangha (a union by, for and of working children, facilitated by
the CWC). This was a collaboration with the ministry of rural
development and panchayati raj, government of Karnataka, aimed at
empowering children. Under this project, the first children's gram
sabhas took place in Keradi, Alur and Belvi in Udupi district, in
2002. The chief executive officer of Udupi district, the state
government-appointed administrative head of the district panchayat,
observed the functioning of the children's panchayats. Impressed by
what he saw, the CEO requested that the CWC replicate its work in all
panchayats in Kundapura.

The model of including children in local self-government has been in
place since 2004 in all 56 panchayats of Kundapura taluka, Udupi
district, Karnataka, covering a population of 380,000, of which around
160,000 are children (2001 census). Of them, nearly 20,000 children
and adults have taken active part in gram sabha meetings and allied
discussions and surveys. Children are encouraged to become actively
involved in planning for local issues under the Five-Year Plan system.

In the Kundapura taluk gram sabhas, children listed problems and
difficulties affecting their community, as they saw them. "Stray
cattle make the area in front of our school dirty and smelly," said
one child. "This place gets flooded during the rains forcing us to
take a lengthy route to school. Our mothers also find it difficult to
trudge so far to fetch water," said another child from the Hallihole
panchayat. Wading through the flooded stretch was not a problem for
the adults in the area, but for little children the water was
neck-deep. Alcoholism was another major problem, and children bore the
brunt. In Golihole panchayat, intoxicated fathers beat up their wives
and traumatised the children. In Hengavalli panchayat, many children
felt that money spent on liquor was a major cause of their poverty.

While tabling local issues, the children of Kundapura taluk offered
practical solutions benefiting not just themselves but the community
as a whole. They showed great organisational capabilities and clarity
of thought as they conducted surveys, collected data, and documented
discussions between groups of children, women, the differently-abled
and other special groups in support of the solutions they came up
with. A boundary wall could be constructed around the school, thus
keeping out stray cattle and providing children with a safe play area.
The daily drudgery of village women and children could be reduced by
constructing a simple footbridge to shorten the tortuous route to
school and the potable water source. Alcoholism and its attendant
evils could be curbed by closing down liquor shops and persuading
liquor traders to take up alternative means of livelihood.

The first series of special children's gram sabhas for 2007 have
already commenced and have had a powerful impact on reinforcing local
governance. Hundreds of children took part in a recent sabha in
Hallihole, a remote panchayat in Udupi district. The panchayat
reported back to the children about the successful implementation of
19 programmes that had directly arisen out of issues raised by the
children at the 2006 children's gram sabhas. These included the
construction of toilets in schools and improved access to basic
facilities and services, not just for children but the entire
community. President of the panchayat, Shankar Narayan Chatra, said:
"It is now absolutely clear to me why children's participation is
essential to strengthen local government. Children not only list their
problems, they also describe the implications of the problems and the
importance of addressing them. This has been extremely useful to us to
develop our action plans."

Seven-hundred-and-fifty children participated in the children's gram
sabha at Hardalli Mandalli, also in Udupi district. After organising a
procession in which they voiced their concerns, the children made
detailed presentations about local issues such as the need for a
community hall for the local high school, and water facilities and
toilets for homes that lack them.

Replicating the successful model of these special children's gram
sabhas throughout the state will involve a high degree of commitment
and cooperation among all the involved parties. The unique
socio-economic factors and polity of each village pose challenges that
will have to be taken on board. Each problem will have to be tackled
with patience and imagination to arrive at equitable solutions that
are acceptable to the entire community.

The sabhas should be widely publicised and include within their scope
all children, including children out of school, migrant children, and
children with special needs. Children with special needs and children
from marginalised sections of society need to be encouraged to
participate, while extra effort must be made to include children from
migrant communities into the sabhas.

The actual sabha itself should be conducted in a lively and
interesting way to motivate children to attend and discuss their
problems honestly and without inhibition. A non-judgemental and safe
environment must be ensured for all children.

At present, the special children's gram sabhas have been envisaged
only for rural areas. But urban children too need to be included in
the process of self-government. The possibility of holding urban
children's sabhas should be explored with NGOs working with children
and city corporations and municipalities.

Adults also must be trained to make the best use of the system. Gram
panchayat members and government officials involved in enabling the
special children's gram sabhas should be provided inputs regarding
children's rights and addressing violations of these rights. They need
to be made aware of the importance of enabling children's
participation in local self-government. Only enlightened adults who
probe and question the given scheme of things, and consistently review
the situation, can act responsibly towards developing a healthy
socio-economic basis for democracy to thrive.

Likewise, budgets must be specifically allocated towards addressing
the issues raised by children. The current government order makes it
mandatory for panchayats to report back on the action taken, ensuring
a degree of compliance. However, panchayats can show lack of funds as
an excuse for inaction. A solution, suggests Kavita Ratna of the CWC,
would be for the state government to set aside a specific percentage
of the budget to address child-related issues.

Critics of the government order believe that the emphasis on
children's participation may be misconstrued as a dilution of adult
responsibility. Although it is vital to inculcate democratic values in
young children, adult community leaders must not make this an excuse
to shirk their responsibilities and grow apathetic towards
child-related issues. Kavita Ratna of the CWC says: "The new system
makes adults more accountable." In a major shift from its earlier
stance, the current government order links these gram sabhas to the
planning process and programme implementation of panchayats.
Panchayats are now required to provide follow-up reports on action
taken to address the issues raised by children. "We have already seen
it in action," Ratna says. "Panchayat members are now preparing
databases, setting projects in motion, and taking child-related issues
more seriously."

InfoChange News & Features, December 2007

Now it's my turn

2007-11-10T11:56:00.000+05:30

The meme effort threw up interesting ideas. Ruth said, talking about one's 'waekness' as a writer wasn't part of the original meme. But strengths go hand-in-hand with weaknesses, don't they? Perhaps one's greatest strength would be to face those weaknesses and overcome them.

Zafar said, "I wish you had written more about your writing process, your publications and how you deal with publishing successes and failures."

So here's my take. The writing process, especially with creative writing, is something that happens. It's like a little brown seed which lies dormant and unnoticed for months until raindrops urge it out of its slumber. Wonderful things happen inside it, things which transcend the dry scientific facts of chemistry and botany. The tiny green sprout, tender leaves unfurling, it's a miracle each time.

I take the delicate, unique new ideas and examine them. Then, they are nurtured until they are strong enough to be transplanted into well-manured flower beds. It's hard work tending, pruning, weeding and nurturing each seedling. While i daydream of beautiful flowers, some of them wilt in my hands before even producing a bud. But when some live on and thrive, the final burst of blooms compensates for everything.

A bouquet of stories or poems are ready at last. They lie in a corner of my home. I love them, but nobody else stops by to admire them. If anyone happens to chance upon them, they're brushed aside, or not noticed at all. Can they compete with the georgeous, exotic blooms behind the florist's plate glass window and neon lit signboard? The hybrid roses with imposing names, the lush, expensive orchids, the flowers which only grow in controlled conditions in glass houses.

I offer mine to passers by, hoping someone will stop to smell my simple, nameless flowers and want to hold them close. They rush off, or if they pause, they quickly turn up their noses and rush off.

Then, a lady smiles and takes one, thanking me sweetly. She never offers to pay, and my flower vanishes with her into the crowded city streets. But I'm happy my flower found a home, someone who cared, appreciated its beauty, if even for a moment.

When the rejections come, as they do for most creative writers, experienced friends from writers workshops tell me they've all faced rejections and survived.
"It's not you, or your story; move on with your life. You're a good person; you're a competent writer; chin up and remember Robert Bruce's spider."

It's happened to me a few times, four to be exact, when people have read my stories in workshops and asked me to send something for their journal. The folks at
Hobart
took one of my stories this way for their fifth print issue. Their editorial suggestions were most thought-provoking, as they worked with me to make the story the best it could be.
I am proud of this publication, just as I'm happy with all my stories which made it through the 'slush pile.'

The feeling of elation is fleeting, though; the joy of holding the magazine, leafing through the thick, white pages intersperped with rich photographs and artwork, neatly printed stories with whom I'm proud to keep company. The greatest joy was the process of putting the idea on to the page. Thinking, imagining many possibilities before settling down with the one I loved best. The creative journey itself is the greatest joy.

Then, it's time to move on and plant more seedlings. I wonder how many will sprout and blossom at last, and what sort of flowers they will be.

meme! I've been tagged

2007-11-03T11:44:00.000+05:30

I just got tagged! Life is an eternal learning process and I've learnt a new word. Meme; propaging a series of related blog posts by asking blogger friends to write on a common topic. Writer friend
Ruth dropped by with words of encouragement. Then Bob Sanchez tagged me.

So here's the challenge. They've asked me what are my writing strengths and weakensses. For strengths, the first thing that comes to mind is encouraging friends, fellow writers who have been through it all and understand just what you are facing. Writing is a lonely profession, if its a profession at all. It's exhilarating to find like-minded people, even if one has to troll the Internet and seek them out from far-flung corners.
Especially when one is into creative writing, it takes a long time to find openings and acceptance. That's when writer friends pitch in, offering suggestions on how to tweak that story or poem into near-perfection, locating literary journals, and dealing with rejections. And oh yes, writer friends prod you into getting back to writing when inertia seems overwhelming. That happens to me often, and it's my biggest weakness.

My other strengths? I'm good with descriptions, bringing scenes, colours to life.

Hmm,then come the many weakness. I'm a slow writer, taking much time over a story and its numerous drafts.

another major weakness is that I don't 'look' like a writer. I'm not exactly sure how a writer is supposed to look or behave. But I know several who can command a fan following on the strength of much less actual writing compared with many others. It probably helps to give the impression of being 'august' or 'imposing', whatever that may mean to people who matter.

I don't want to dwell on more weakness because there are so many. Now I have to pass on the baton and hope someone will continue the chain of posts.
Absolute Vanilla (and Atyllah),
Deepa,
Suzan, and
Zafar,
are you ready?

I'm still around

2007-09-29T19:19:00.000+05:30

I haven't been posting much of late, but I'm still around. Will be back soon :-)

Rainy evening

2007-09-22T10:54:00.000+05:30

When I went to attend a meeting of media women in Bangalore's Press Club, I didn't think that I'd see scenes which may have inspired old Indian miniature paintings or William Morriss' foliage designs.

As expected, the journalists discussed their writings on developmental issues, new publications, a member's trip abroad and other sensible talk. Outside the conference room, dark clouds weighed down upon the trees of Cubbon Park. The trees looked menacing, with almost black limbs raised up to challenge the impending rain. Or perhaps they celebrated, their glossy leaves waving in the chill evening breeze. In that dark, wild greenery, a shock of pink bougainvillea defied the impending downpour.
Rain flooded the pathways, swirling around parked cars and blurring the trees in a veil of mist.

The rain was expected, yet not the natural scene in the heart of this big city.

Independence Day 1999, looking back

2007-08-12T21:48:00.000+05:30

As the nation gears up to celebrate it's sixtieth birthday, I wonder what my fellow Indians are really thinking. Are they too preoccupied with the drudgery and desires of daily living? Or are there the dreamers and thinkers who try to rise above this? I had written the piece below in 1999. It was exhilarating to disocover so much thoughtfulness in the playful boys and girls next door.

OH! TO BE YOUNG AND FREE (published in Times of India, Aug 15,1999)

The future of free India holds many promises. Acknowledging substantial progress in technology and the standard of living, young Bangaloreans are concerned about patriotism's new avatar in the current commercialized and westernized atmosphere. Corruption in modern public life, direct external threats to our security, and the invasion by foreign industry and culture, emerge as major areas of concern.

The transformation of the world into a global village has surely broadened our outlook. Freedom for Sanjukta Haside, 14 yrs, Std.X, Innisfree House School, is expanding her horizons far wider than earlier generations. Elders are becoming more broad minded, and offering more freedom to youngsters, she feels.

Our own heritage seems to recede into the background. Preserving our culture and integrity is a motivating force for the young. Earlier generations had lived through the freedom struggle. But for today's youngsters, "it's something remote" as Deepak P. 15 yrs, Std XI, National Public School, notes. "Freedom is definitely important. Especially because of the present threats to our country, we must maintain our integrity and culture."

Is hyped up patriotic fervour replacing the sincerity of earlier generations? Piyali Chakravarty, 18 years and doing C.A. articleship, feels that " we too are sincere, but there's a lot of commercialism, as in the response to the Kargil war. Now, the media is playing a bigger role and hyping up patriotism. Western cultural influences are increasing. It can affect your patriotism. How you deal with it depends upon your values and upbringing."

Today's fun loving youngsters are aware of their duties and responsibilities. Ranjit Kumar, 22 years, software professional, feels that "freedom is important, but so is control and discipline. Some rules pertaining to conduct within the family, society, and the country, are important. As the son of a serving Air Force officer, my upbringing means a lot to me. Patriotism is ingrained in my blood. At home, we frequently discuss about war and related matters. Maybe I am not contributing at the moment, but the desire and motivation to do something for my country is there."

The gap between the promise of 1947, and the disappointments of 1999, is keenly felt. Youngsters like Dr. Ahmed Hussain, 24 years, and doctor, are concerned and wish to improve the situation. "Our grandparents were very optimistic about the future of India as a free country. I'm sure we have achieved a lot, but that innate pride and patriotism is sometimes missing in us. There's a lot of superficial hype, but are we truly convinced of our patriotism? In the past, educated people entered politics and inspired confidence. Now, it's the domain of criminals and ruffians. Moneyed people with manipulative ability are accepted and respected. Seeing recent political and social trends, and given the disappointment, I am tempted to wonder how things could have been better. But in spite of the disappointments, I feel there's light at the end of the tunnel."

After half a century of freedom, why are we still lagging behind? Mudit Agarwal, 25 years, software professional, feels bad that "Indian enterprise is being sidelined while MNCs are capturing the market. I am worried that foreign money may control us some years down the line. Indian experts are developing advanced technologies outside India. What prevents them from achieving their potential here? What is causing the brain drain? Overpopulation and illiteracy are our biggest problems, which must be overcome."

Proud to be born in free India, our young friends are asking many questions. Perhaps their intelligent, inquisitive, and sincere minds will come up with solutions for a better tomorrow. Meanwhile, it's fun to be young and free. Some glamorous gals and cool dudes are busy organizing a fun 'n fashion extravaganza to celebrate Independence Day in their friendly neighbourhood. They haven't a moment to spare to offer their comments. Another public holiday means freedom to freak out on another jamboree. Yippee!

drive to freedom, or be driven?

2007-08-04T12:09:00.000+05:30

Ads on TV and gigantic roadside hoardings clamour for attention. Milling crowds, human beings losing their unique identities as they rush to chase money. They say one needs drive and ambition to get ahead. In the scramble to reach that elusive place where you can get even more and even better, do we in fact lose our true selves?

On rare moments, work can combine with true inner satisfaction. I got such a chance when an editor asked me to interview some young professionals who volunteer for social causes. This was for the India's sixtieth Independence Day special feature, and while interacting with my interviewees, I realized the true import of independence.

I listened to highly educated young people who have worked and studied abroad. They've been exposed to the best the world has to offer, and they're now quietly at work. They aren't talkers, but real doers who work for the betterment of the world without even thinking that they're doing anything special.

I saw the will, the caring heart that wants to give;
"I wanted to help, to give back what I have received from my country and society," said Vikas.
"I want to see a developed India right now," said Vijay. "I want to encourage others and speed up the process in my own small way."

I saw the clear thinking which can lead to progress and growth:
" With a systematic approach," said Vikram, "we can see better and more effective results."

The clear thinking that urges these altruistic young people to "be comfortalbe with who I am." The willpower and strong character that makes Nanditha say,"I don't understand why we look for excuses to chase money. We don't need to blindly follow others. I want to stick to my roots and think for myself."

And oh yes, that saving grace of modesty was there too. "Why do you want my picture?" Anitha asked. "I'm such an ordinary person doing my small bit."

Through their eyes, I saw a world far removed the rat race of modern life. These youngsters are in it, yet have risen above their fellow mortals rushing to nowhere on their treadmills.

I am getting an idea of what true independence means. It's jsut that I can't find words to describe it.

swinging into the sixties

2007-05-27T12:49:00.000+05:30

Life begins at 60 for veteran journalist and author Kalpana Sharma. A widely respected senior journalist with The Hindu, Kalpana's column on gender issues has a nationwide fan following. Kalpana is looking forward to a life of new freedom as she retires as the Mumbai bureau chief of The Hindu at the end of
May.

This fiesty lady, who looks not a day over forty says," I'm not retiring from journalism. I'll always remain a
journalist. And am looking forward to starting my career as an independent
journalist."

She shared her thoughts in a friendly get-together with twenty of us Network of Women in Media Bangalore members on
Tuesday, May 22, at a cozy little cafe. "Being sixty is a landmark but also just another year
in the life of a journalist who can't stop being one!" she told us amid rounds of applause.

It was a cozy and cheerful affair, the gang of ladies wishing Kalpana a happy birthday and a long innings ahead.

We had a lot to learn as we listened to Kalpana's recollections of a 34-year-old
career that began at 'Himmat' That small but respected magazine stood up to the Emergency of the Seventies and press censorship. And in those dark days of modern Indian history, even major, "mainstream" newspapers
bent before the powers that be.

"We experienced first hand the pressures and pulls
of State oppression," she reminisced.

Kalpana is a born mentor, and she aims to have more time to spare for budding scribes in the days ahead. "When we
started out at Himmat, our seniors took time out to train us," she said,
She also plans to update her book on Dharavi and quite naturally has more
book ideas in the pipeline. Interestingly, she also wants to catch up with the people about whom she wrote in her famous 'Gender Perspective'column, and follow up the case studies.

Best of all, this eminent journalist is a well-rounded personality with a cheery smile and a hearty laugh. Age can never wither this evergreen lady. She's off on a lecture tour in berkley before returning to
Mumbai.

"Now skepticism is reducing," Kalpana said. She feels that routine news reports are becoming more common these days. People don't always stop to ask deeper questions. She encourages young journalists to probe further, do full justice to the subject and refrain from sensational reporting. "Even the camera can be manipulated...sensational old footage can be shown." She is totally against "opinion being manufactured."

Things like SMS polls, so popular with the media today, gives the opinons of a small, unrepresentative section of society, she feels.

We celebrate this lady's 'coming of age' as an independent journalist. While infusing her circle with life and verve, may she continue to keep an eagle eye on the media and see that it fulfils its role as watchdog.

returning to an old friend

2007-04-16T09:36:00.000+05:30

Some books form a personal connection with me. One of these is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. I picked up my copy after several years and remembered my dear friend Maria from Spain, who had sung praises of this bible for Spanish readers. The dog-eared bookmark with Maria's fading handwriting, exchanging personal impressions as we discussed my progress through the book, the soft focus sepia tinted memories returned.

"Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." Thus begins One Hundred Years of Solitude, from a terrifying point in the distant future, where the firing squad is preparing to shoot to kill. Dream and memory whirl into a heady mix to draw the reader into a narrative where time moves in many directions at once. This matter of fact yet incredibly farfetched note typifies the essence of Magic Realism.

I entered Macondo again. Staying awake till the early hours, I joined the villagers of Macondo as an insomnia epidemic threatened to erase all layers of culture and identity. I witnessed "the precise moment when Aureliano Babilonia would finish deciphering the parchments, and that everything written on them was unrepeatable since time immemorial and forevermore, because races condemned to one hundred years of solitude did not have a second opportunity on earth."

One of the world’s most famous modern-day classics, One Hundred Years of Solitude encompasses in its epic sweep the history of the Buendia family. A mix of the political, emotional and magical, this novel is among the best known and most popular novels in the tradition of Magic Realism. This novel has been translated into many languages including English, and has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. It portrays the history of Macondo on a larger-than-life level, tracing events from its mythic foundation to its final disappearance. A middle-class family chronicle set against the backdrop of Latin American history, this novel tests the boundaries of narrative fiction. Garcia Marquez once said that he seeks to bring out “the magic in commonplace events.” The events in the novel may seem fantastic, but much of it has a solid grounding in reality. The massacre of hundreds of banana plantation workers in the novel is based upon an actual strike by workers against the United Fruit Company in 1928.

pearls in writers' groups

2007-04-05T12:41:00.000+05:30

My writer friend Behlor Santi says, "I returned to my old stomping grounds...There's a lot more coffeeshops and bars and boutiques there. There's plenty for the tourists. Yet I felt that I'm returned to the same bullshit,...looking the exact same way they did in 2002. Back then, I was in a more fragile emotional state, and I yearned for these hipsters' approval. Not, I laugh at them. I notice how pathetically they lie, how cheesy and classless they are. ...To artists everywhere else--I ask you this: do you feel alone in a sea of poseurs? Or have you found solidarity with fellow artists who create the real deal?"

Yes, I also feel alone in a sea of poseurs sometimes. And then I see that I, too, am a poseur, pretending not to care about so many things like rejection slips, comments in shrill voices punctuated with raised eyebrows like "Oh, so YOU wrote that article in yesterday's paper? I read the one next to it and it was really interesting. But yours, ..." Or, "You sure do have a lot of idle time on your hands."

And I pretend not to care when someone welcomes me in a new on-line writer's group and the thread is immediately hijacked to a completely unconnected topic. (That's happened to me thrice)

But then I do find solidarity in this sea of, well maybe not poseurs but but people who couldn't give a damn. Because of people like you who drop by at this blog. Because we sift through the sand and eventually do find lovely sea shells and even pearls.

Fooling around

2007-04-01T19:51:00.000+05:30

It's April Fool's Day. What better way to celebrate than fool around on my blog? Fooling isn't something to be lightly dismissed. It's serious business, the breeding ground for creative thought. Would Issac Newton have thought of gravity while chopping wood, labouring in the farm or getting traumatised at the dentists? Quite unlikely. If an apple fell on his head while he was washing his car, he would probably have cussed,kicked the apple into the gutter, and gone to put an ice pack on his aching head.

For those professional fools, the clowns, fooling around is serious business. Their comic style varies, from witty, loaded quips to being just plain slapstick silly. There are sad clowns and there are scary clowns just as there are enough people who are afraid to laugh and unwind.

And me? I laugh most to combat stress. When overwhelmed by adversities, I've seen people take a brief, lighthearted break. Laush in privacy at the things and situations that seem msot daunting, and you've made them surmoutnable and won half the battle. A hearty laugh helps put things in perspective before getting down to business again.