Why are publishers so diffident about revealing the fact that a collection of short stories is just that - a collection of short stories and not a novel?I started reading Luck by Dhruba Hazarika with the distinct impression that it was a novel. I finished the first 'chapter' feeling deeply disturbed. I finished the second with a lump in my throat, expecting the 'chapters' to be linked in the third one. Then I finished the third one and then it dawned on me, finally, that it was not a novel after all but a collection of short stories. So I shifted gears in my head and started reading it again.Starkly simple stories, Luck is a collection that left me squirming uncomfortable with the question of who is more humane - man or beast. I smiled wryly, I shook my head, and then I thought, why, why, why do people believe that there's a limited market for short stories? Each one is a … [Read more...]
Twelve Minutes to Midnight
I'm still chuckling as I think about Twelve Minutes to Midnight.It's been a while since my mind was so absorbed in a book that I kept waiting to get back to it. I even took it with me to the Writers' Club at St. Mary's School and pored over it. I felt a little like a school-girl again as I read, for I could not help remembering all the times I would sneakily pick up a book between classes, reading it slyly in the few spare seconds I had, before hastily putting it away deep into my bag.(When I was in school, there was a rule I hated - we were not allowed to bring books that were not from the school library. A book that did not belong to the school could be CONFISCATED. This meant that in addition to being answerable to everyone at home and school, I would never find out what happened in the story!)Twelve Minutes to Midnight was a crazy book that kept me hooked; I could not … [Read more...]
Veda the Guitarist
Guitar through the Ages Where does the guitar we know and love come from? Unlike the piano and violin, it's been around in different shapes and sizes, belonging equally to wandering folk musicians and to formal classical concert halls.The guitar grew up in the courts of Europe, lived through the Rennaisance and Industrial ages, and finally came into its own in the mid 1800s.From the Kithara of ancient Egypt, to the minstrels and their lutes, to French 'Sun King' Louis XIV used the guitar to serenade women, to salons of Europe, folk music all the way until the 20th century when it got electric, Veda Aggarwal will take you through the journey of the guitar in time.Sunday, March 23rd 4pm-6pm The Cultural Centre, PunePlot No. 20 Survey 20/2/B and 20/3/B Behind Bharat Gas Koregaon Park Annexe / Mundhwa +91 20 3047 2948 … [Read more...]
Yellow Shoes
Today is World Storytelling Day. Here is a story to celebrate the day! If you like it, use it. Read it out to children. Make them imagine and colour - spread the joy of storytelling! Alka sat down on the floor to tie her shoelaces. Weekends were fun. She could meet everyone, play Lock and Key and Polo and Crocodile-Crocodile and Zoop and...“It's time to throw away this terrible pair,” said Alka's mother, looking down at Alka's blue shoes – her favourite pair for running.“No, Mamma, please!” said Alka, looking up, alarmed. “Please, Mamma, it's my favourite pair, really! I'll never ever get a pair like this again! How will I play?”Her mother smiled. “But look at the state they're in, Alka, they're falling to bits. You can barely see that they were once blue, and the sole is completely torn!”“But they're my favourite pair ...”“All right, baby, I'll tell you what,” … [Read more...]
Waterslain Angels
When I was about ten, I read British Folk-Tales (not linking this to a place where you can buy it because Amazon is selling it at an incredible price of 11,000 rupees) by Kevin Crossley-Holland and enjoyed it. I had my favourite stories in the collection and I read them over and over again.A few years later, I read The Seeing Stone and loved that too, even though the story was familiar, the old tale of King Arthur retold.And because I still enjoyed the experience of reading a story I knew, I picked up Waterslain Angels.I liked the essence of the story. I liked the idea of a quest rooted in the place to which one belongs. I liked the notion of bringing history back to life.Yet, I found the telling overly dramatic for the proportions of the story. Sure, the quest for angels is beautiful as an idea. The moment in history when the angels were 'slain' must have been powerful, but … [Read more...]
Girlie
When I was five years old, I moved from Vashi to Pune. There, I came across a strange word - 'girlie'. If you didn't know a girl's name (yes, I went to a girls' school), you would say, "Excuse me, girlie, what is your name?"The word felt awkward in my mouth. Girlie.What would I call a boy I didn't know? Boyie? It was incomprehensible and most confusing.But, aged five, I wanted to fit in. So I started saying 'girlie'. Excuse me, girlie, could I borrow your pencil? Excuse me, girlie, you're sitting in my place. Excuse me, girlie, I put my bag there first. It's my bench.By the time I was twelve, we were laughing at girls who said 'girlie'. "Yuck. Who says 'girlie'?" Giggle, giggle, giggle. "Girlie!" Giggle, giggle, giggle.And now, rummaging through my memory, I wonder, do girls still say 'girlie' when they are five years old and then mock at the word when they are 12? … [Read more...]
Publicity and Me
Somehow, it seems as if I never do enough to publicize myself as an author. I sent links to my latest story, "Sacrifice" to friends and colleagues, and I put it up on Facebook and on my blog.I got responses, and a little feedback. 'I REALLY liked the story!! :) Looking forward to reading similar ones!' 'Wonderful as usual...varsha! keep it up! Enjoyed this read more than the previous one.....you are getting better and better !'And then a colleague sent me this - 'Varsha!!! This is so catching and interesting …I was so engrossed in it. It’s a superb work. You seriously have a beautiful gift. All the best for the future' When she met me, she said, "If ever you write a novel, or a book, or anything, tell me, and I'll buy it." "Erm... I have written a collection of stories for children, actually." "Oh, why don't you tell people about it, then?"And that's when I realised that … [Read more...]
Ace
I always link my book reviews to amazon.in for people to buy the book there, but when I searched for Dick King-Smith's Ace, the first thing I found was a hardcover priced at ₹12,527.41 + ₹99 delivery charge! I did find a copy that's cheaper, though, and that's a mercy; however much I enjoyed the book, even I wouldn't pay so much for it!Ace is funny, lovable and altogether a hugely enjoyable half-hour's read. An author who has lost count of the number of books he has written has to be a master storyteller, and there's not doubt that that's exactly what Dick King-Smith is. If he's lost count of the number of books he's written, I've certainly lost count of the number I've read, and the number I've read more than once!Ace is the story of a pig. A non-pedigreed pig, mind you, but a descendent of the famous Sheep-Pig Babe. Ace is born with a remarkable mark of the ace of clubs on his side … [Read more...]
Fantastic Mr Dahl
Yes, Mr Dahl is fantastic.What I find interesting about Fantastic Mr Dahl, though, is the way in which Michael Rosen examines what makes him fantastic. Is it the fact that he used a special yellow pencil and special yellow paper (because his favourite colour was yellow)? Or because he loathed Christmas and loved Easter? Or because he had a lucky break when Disney was interested in making a movie of The Gremlins?For me, Fantastic Mr Dahl kept shifting from wonderfully perceptive to 'Okay that's weird'. But in all, I finished with a sense of gladness that I had read the book.I'm not fond of the word 'fan', but I guess I am a Roald Dahl fan.And being a Roald Dahl fan, I lapped the book up and savoured it. … [Read more...]
Incredible Bus Journeys
Yes, I have travel woes. Often. I faced a bird-hit in Ahmedabad. A light-bulb shattering in my hair on a train journey. Floods in Bengal and trouble in Bihar caused a train-detour of twelve hours. Aircraft crew went on strike to watch a football match. And that's just scratching the surface.Of late, thanks to an irritating back-ache, I've taken to wearing a belt while travelling. Today, when the lock of the bus-door gave way, I used the belt in the most innovative way possible. … [Read more...]