There's nothing in the world like the thrill of performing. Even if it's just a tiny performance at my teacher's place.Nothing much went wrong.There were no black-outs, but that was okay.I was to sit on a small wooden stool for one scene, but no one but I seemed to know where the stool was and I was already on stage. So I got a rickety blue stool instead and I sat on it rather shakily. A few scenes later, when Radha needed the wooden stool, she had to bring it herself. But that was okay too. Everything went remarkably smoothly, despite the fact that we were using the kitchen and the balcony as wings for our stage.My video camera was with a parent in the audience, but there's not a single video on it.But finally, it's not the video that matters. It's what my teacher says. And she hasn't said anything yet. … [Read more...]
Performing on Tuesday
The thrill of performing is here again! A little performance, a private performance this time - not on a stage, and for barely twenty people."We'll do it in a very simple way," said my teacher. "Those who are playing boys will dress in salwar-kameez. The girls will wear practice saris."Doing it at my teacher's house, we began to play with the lights. Black-outs, yellow light, white light - we could do that much."Krishna at least should wear Krishna costume," my teacher amended. "And Radha, of course."We used a stool as a cradle for baby Krishna as we practised, and we spoke about how we could decorate it. I brought a beautiful doll that looks like a real baby. Another dancer brought a lovely cradle."Even the others, like Yashoda and Kamsa..." my teacher said, thoughtfully. "It will be better if you wear costumes, I think."The kitchen and balcony were our wings; the music … [Read more...]
11.12.13
The date today made me think of something that always made me feel special. In many ways, I know I was a strange child.When I was about nine years old, I discovered two extraordinary things.The first was that when I turned ten, I would have a double-digit age for a very long time ahead. The precious uniqueness of a single-digit age was nearly over. Only if I lived to be a hundred would I be special again. Until then, I would be ordinary. Two digits. 10, 11, 12, 13 ... All the way to 99. I was so struck by this notion that I cried on my tenth birthday.The other extraordinary thing I discovered as a nine-year-young girl was that many, many years later, my birthday would fall on a very special day - 10.11.12. I was thrilled at the idea. At nine, though, I had a long, long way to go, but I was tremendously excited about the fact that one day in the distant future, I would have a … [Read more...]
Examinations again
It's time for some more of those gems -... he just wants to say that they are too nervous to make good but is describing by writing so many words for it.The poem has very shocking connotative and also short story plot used.The priest was just chilling out. (Commentary on The Eve of St. Agnes)The sound is attach as well as detach.They all were behaving very badly everyday and then at night all of them just some their problems and the make each other cry and laugh and when they have to apologize, they are forgiven.The setting of this essay was done to show the enthusiam between the people and it made it too creative and contractive.When Nay Cathy died they did'nt even knew this would happen and they started shouting and without thinking Joseph ran through the wind and storm and fetched the doctor and brought him, by the doctors response they could'nt realise how, when all … [Read more...]
Radha and Krishna – the eternal romance
Radha and Krishna sit together in the forest, making sweet small talk. The trees, creepers and deer are all around. It's beautiful.A dancer and I sat together on a small wooden table, getting into the mood of the moment. Dancers surrounded us, creating the atmosphere of trees, creepers and deer. A peacock was supposed to enter the scene and my teacher was choreographing that sequence. 'Radha' and I, sitting together, continued what we were supposed to do. A tree and creeper decided to take a break and watch us instead.I didn't notice them looking.'Radha' lowered her eyes, smiling shyly. "My lens is blurred," she muttered.I smiled back, watching her face. "I know. Mine too. Been wearing lenses all day."We became conscious of the others looking at us."Y'all look so good together!" exclaimed the 'Creeper'.'Radha' and I revealed the romantic conversation that we had just shared … [Read more...]
The Joy Luck Club
Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club fits so perfectly under the heading 'unusual'. It's unusual in every way. The language is unusual. The structure is unusual. The name is unusual.I love the idea of stories of motherhood, and I love stories that do not have a simplistic conclusion. Each story in this collection is the story of a mother and her daughter against a Chinese-American socio-cultural backdrop. Mother and daughter struggle to fit in, while retaining a Chinese identity. Mother and daughter speak a foreign tongue. Mother tries to curl her tongue around ideas that do not have their equivalent in the new language. Daughter tries to achieve, tries to over-achieve, tries to find a place. Mother wants the best for her daughter and tries to find the balance between two nations separated by an ocean.Going back home to China means travelling westwards to reach the east. Of course the novel … [Read more...]
On Two Feet and Wings
I'm a slow reader. Despite the fact that I love reading, I take my time over books. Sometimes, I take weeks to finish a book, even one I enjoy.On Two Feet and Wings was not like that. I would never have expected a book based on a true story to have transported me into a world I do not know at all. Powerful, moving, pacy - what cliched words these are! But each of them is apt.I started reading Abbas Kazerooni's story only because someone gave me On Two Feet and Wings for my birthday. When I started reading it, I didn't know what to expect.But I loved every moment and every page - I'm tempted to say that I loved every word.The innocence and pathos in the story reached out to me - I haven't been touched like that in a long time.I saw the dirty alleys of Istanbul, smelled the dank sheets, drank the tea and cringed at the cockroaches in the bathroom. I saw a precocious nine-year-old … [Read more...]
Responses to Ethics
Delighted with the response!In addition to many, many mails, this is on the "Ethics" on worldcitystories.com.Waiting for reviews like this on The Story-Catcher! … [Read more...]
On the long list again!
Yes, it's a grand year!Toto Funds the Arts Creative Writing (English) long list for 2014 is here!Twenty-two applicants are on the long list for the Creative Writing (English) Toto Awards 2014. They are:1. Shalini Jagadish, Bangalore. 2. Dion D’Souza, Mumbai. 3. Mihir Vatsa, Delhi. 4. Rohan Chhetri, Gurgaon. 5. Ronaan Roy, Mumbai. 6. Kaushik Viswanath, Chennai. 7. Urvashi Bahuguna, Gurgaon. 8. Dani Kumaramangalam, Chennai. 9. Pervin Saket, Pune. 10. Varsha Seshan, Pune. 11. Neha Mathrani, Pune. 12. Neeraj Sebastian, Bangalore. 13. Aditya Jha, Noida. 14. Vaswar Mitra, Bangalore. 15. M.V. Sita, New Delhi. 16. Ritwik Deshpande, Pune. 17. Mohit Parikh, Jaipur. 18. Anirudh Karnik, Kanpur. 19. Rihan Najib, Bangalore. 20. Amrita Nair, Trivandrum. 21. Aalooran Bora, Bangalore. 22. Neil Balthazar, Pune. The shortlist for these awards will be announced before December 15. … [Read more...]
Indian Summer
As I read Indian Summer by Pratima Mitchell, I kept oscillating between approval and disgust.There were parts that were so real that they reached out to me and made me think, "That's exactly, perfectly captured!" And there were parts that were so real that they made me curl my lip and think, "Why do people write about things that are so mundane?"I rolled my eyes at parts of the book because I found them utterly inane. I found myself enjoying parts of the story and its telling so much that I wondered to whom I could recommend it because it was so good.It's a strange experience reading a novel like Indian Summer. When you finish it, all you feel is, "Hmm. Okay. But it's not perfect." … [Read more...]