I remember when Veda was gifted her first guitar and all of us wanted to touch it. She was kind enough to let us touch it and we played with it, rather than playing it. Before we knew it, two years had passed, and Veda was the only girl in school who could play the guitar. As a result, she was taking part in The Merchant of Venice, performed by the 9th (or was it 10th) standard students. And before long, I could go to Veda's house just to listen to her play.Yesterday was magical. I went to Olive Bistro for the first time, just to listen to Veda play. I had a fantastic evening. The guitar, melodious and gentle, in a place that is truly charming, transported me to a world where I was at peace. Sure, I had heard most of the pieces before. But it was something else to listen to live music in the open air on a beautiful night. The rain had left the evening deliciously cool, and … [Read more...]
My Favourite Male Characters in Fiction
I wonder why most of the fictitious characters I love and admire are female! Is it because I want to identify with my characters and it is easier for me to identify with female ones?When I think about remarkable male characters, though, I don't really run out of favourites.1) Little Lord Fauntleroy: Just like Pollyanna, he should be too sugary to be lovable, but no. He is among my all-time favourites. Little Lord Fauntleroy is a story I tell all the time simply because it is so innocent an beautiful.2) Rhett Butler - If Scarlett is remarkable, Rhett is even more so. The only one with the gumption to take on Scarlett as she really is without deifying her. He is one powerful character who awes me so much that I am almost frightened of him.3) Vidal - Vidal is Devil's cub - annoying, brusque and overbearing. Yet, his relationship with his parents makes me smile and fall in love.4) … [Read more...]
My Favourite Female Characters in Fiction
A question that always bothers me when I'm writing is whether I should concentrate on plot or character. Plot has the power to transport me, make me gasp and thrill me. But characters... Ah, they're the people who become lifelong friends.1) Pollyanna: Too good to be loved, but how I love her! She should be a saccharine goody two-shoes, but she's not. Her glad game changed my world.2) Anne: Anne in Anne of Green Gables is the best of the lot. That's where my beloved "Carrots" emerges as the imaginative and dreamy spitfire I long to befriend.3) Deborah Grantham: Faro's daughter - she won my admiration the very first time around. Independent, headstrong and dignified - the woman in control of her life. What's not to fall in love with there?4) Darrell Rivers: No, I no longer think she is magnificent, but I cannot deny the role she played in my life as a ten-year-old. Passionate and … [Read more...]
Exploring the World of Stories: A Reading Workshop for Children
Summer holidays! Time for yet another reading workshop!I'm moving to another library now - Friends Library, Salunke Vihar Road Mark the dates: 19th May - 23rd May 2014 Age-group: 8-12 years Time: 10 am - 11:30 am Registration fee: Rs. 750Join the fun! Let's explore the world of stories! … [Read more...]
Biskitwali
My dance teacher regularly gives the Salvation Army children food and biscuits, so everyone there, from the workers to the watchman's son, knows her. The little ones have given her a name, too - 'Biskitwali'. The most endearing feature of the epithet is that no offence is intended , and none is taken.Yesterday, I parked my bike outside my teacher's house and a cheeky child came up to me with his bright smile. "Dance class," he proclaimed.I nodded."Dance class?" inquired another child."Haan!" The tone said 'naturally, don't you know even that?'. "Tereko nahin malum kya?" Top-speed speech, barely completing each word, heedless of grammar.I took off my helmet and scarf."But what is that?" the second child asked in Hindi. "What is 'dance class'?""Arre!" the first one said, as if talking to a dunce. "Wo biskitwali hai, na? Wo actually dance teacher hai. Tereko … [Read more...]
The Macmillan Book Review Contest
Write a review; win a prize! And guess which book is on the list for the Macmillan Book Review Contest?You can write as many reviews as you want from the list.If you're in the 7th, 8th or 9th standard, do write a review of The Story-Catcher! Write a review before the 30th of June and you could win a Macmillan Book Hamper! … [Read more...]
Parents and Kids Choice Awards
Second runner-up for the Parents and Kids Choice Awards among Indian books for the age-group 10-15! I'm thrilled! … [Read more...]
Five Problems with Good Books
1) I forget that I'm a writer. I pick up Harry Potter determined to see how J.K. Rowling weaves the magic she weaves. I decide that I will look at her techniques, the way she gets me involved in the story and how she slides in her humour. Five chapters - that's all it takes to get me so engrossed that I want to know what happens next (even though I know what happens next) and I don't look at anything else.2) I sometimes (often?) imagine meeting my favourite characters and talking to them - and then become woefully depressed when I realise I cannot. Anne Shirley - I want to meet her, I want her to be my kindred spirit, my bosom friend (even if I come second to Diana Barry). I want to visit Avonlea and walk Birch Path with her. I want to share the joy of the Lake of Shining Waters with her. Why can't I?3) I postpone everything. I can write later. I can work later. I can sleep later. … [Read more...]
Last Day to Vote
Somehow, seeing my book cover on Rivokids's shortlist for the Parents Kids Choice Awards makes it all the more real.Thank you, those who voted. And thank you, all those who shared the link.Those who didn't, would you do it now please? Voting closes today! … [Read more...]
Anne of Green Gables
Anne, in Anne of Green Gables, wishes she were born in Camelot. A more romantic time and place.I envy L.M. Montgomery for having been alive and writing at a time when a first line like this passed unedited:Mrs. Rachel Lynde lived just where the Avonlea main road dipped down into a little hollow, fringed with alders and ladies’ eardrops and traversed by a brook that had its source away back in the woods of the old Cuthbert place; it was reputed to be an intricate, headlong brook in its earlier course through those woods, with dark secrets of pool and cascade; but by the time it reached Lynde’s Hollow it was a quiet, well-conducted little stream, for not even a brook could run past Mrs. Rachel Lynde’s door without due regard for decency and decorum; it probably was conscious that Mrs. Rachel was sitting at her window, keeping a sharp eye on everything that passed, from brooks … [Read more...]