Finally, here are a few photographs of the baby that everyone loved so much. It’s a doll, yes, a doll, made by my French mother. It’s not a real baby, no. We dressed it (her) as Baby Krishna for our performance in December – here are a few pictures!
Kelemen Quartet
What will I remember about this concert of the Kelemen Quartet’s a few years from now? The fact that it was the first time I watched a lady in a sari play the cello ? Maybe not. The music was so beautiful that I forgot within a few moments that people are usually so conscious […]
War Horse
There’s something about Michael Morpurgo that haunts me. I remember being blown away by Kensuke’s Kingdom. I’ve read and reread so many of his books. Running Wild, The White Horse of Zennor, Adolphus Tips, and of course War Horse. They come to mind immediately. This was not the first time I read War Horse.I was […]
THREE HUNDRED POSTS!
Yes, this is the three-hundredth post on my blog. It feels like just a few days ago that I signed my nine-page-contract for The Story-Catcher and asked two friends to witness it. It feels like just a few days ago that I read the proofs and sent them back to my editor. It feels like […]
5 Writers of Fiction Who Have Hugely Influenced Me
Today, in a class about the role of literature in society, I began to think. Of course I love reading. Naturally a lot of my favourite writers have influenced my writing. I know I consciously started using adverbs more after reading Georgette Heyer. But then, I also began to wonder, which writers made me who […]
A Doll’s House
I love how time changes the way I read a play. I read A Doll’s House. Again. I imagined how it would be on stage. I cringed, yes. I closed my eyes, yes. But I enjoyed it. I read it cover to cover without needing a break. I did not worry about how good or bad […]
Airs Above the Ground
I remember quite enjoying Airs Above the Ground by Mary Stewart. Maybe I didn’t like it as much as The Ivy Tree or Madam, Will You Talk? but I did enjoy it. This time, I enjoyed the beginning. The Spanish Riding School, the levade, Timothy in his awkward state between adolescence and adulthood… I smiled […]
Day One: Colour your Thoughts
At the British Library workshop for the 5-7 age-group today, I read out a story about a black dog. Mr Hope is afraid of the black dog because it’s as big as a tiger. Mrs Hope is afraid of the black dog because it is as big as an elephant. Adeline Hope is afraid of the […]
Another Foggy Day
It was not a cold morning, so when I reached school, I was more than a little surprised to see that it resembled a hill-station once more. Once again, there was no school. I stepped out of the warm bus and was astounded to see that when I breathed, there was steam coming out of […]
Colour your Ideas
My first workshop as part of the Creepy House Reading Challenge is this Sunday! A workshop for the little ones (age 5-7), I call it … Read Aloud and Colour your Thoughts! Sunday 12th January, 2014. 11:00 am – noon Stories are always more fun when they have pictures. When they have more pictures, they […]
The White Horse of Zennor and Other Stories
I love short stories! I wrote in my diary not very long ago, I think short stories are far more exciting to write because they capture a spark of imagination that lasts right through the moment of the story. A full-length novel… It begins with the spark, but for me involves more laborious imagination and […]
All Because of Jackson
There’s a bubble of contentment within me whenever I read Dick King-Smith, and All Because of Jackson is no different. Filled with delightful pictures and dreams, All Because of Jackson is the story of a rabbit. Of course, with Dick King-Smith, it has to be about an animal. An animal that is perfectly ordinary, but […]
Moon Pie
Every page of Simon Mason’s Moon Pie rang true. On the book-cover, I remember reading that someone called it an ‘ultra-modern’ story. I was not sure what to expect. I certainly did not expect this kind of brutal honesty. It made me shake my head and cry. Eleven-year-old Martha is puzzled by her father’s strange […]
The Story-Catcher in 2013
PMC Award!
When we introduce my teacher, we always talk about the prestigious Iyal Isai Nadagam award that she received. We have so many things to say about her, about countries she’s toured and things she has achieved. This time, we had the privilege of being present when Guru Mythili Raghavan received an award from the Pune […]
A Mouse Called Wolf
Whenever I read Dick King-Smith, I think about C.S. Lewis’s oft-quoted “A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.” How true it is! Whoever heard of a singing mouse? From the single line on the book cover, reading the book is like a joyful […]
Simon the Coldheart
What is it about Georgette Heyer that she can turn imagination into language so brilliantly? I reread another Georgette Heyer, before reading Simon the Coldheart, and found myself skipping large sections of it. I think time has made me a little uncomfortable with the romance that she portrays. I squirm more than a little, and run […]
British Library Workshops
As part of the Reading Challenge organised by the British Library, I will be conducting four workshops! Age-group 5-7 Read Aloud and Colour your Thoughts! 12th January, 2014 Stories are always more fun when they have pictures. When they have more pictures, they are more interesting! So read a story, or listen to a story […]
The Worry Tree
I remember having a conversation with a friend about the challenges faced by each generation. “Our grandparents had to work hard – physically,” I said. “My grandmother has so many stories of how difficult it was to make dosa batter and things like that. Our parents had financial difficulties, more than anything else. What about […]
Pegasus
What a mixed bag of emotions! Pegasus was wonderfully imagined. I loved the ideas of feather-tip fingers, strong human hands and flexible wrists, being bound to the pegasi of the sweet green land… Beautiful! There was a kind of raw beauty that reached out and touched me, page after page. The beauty of the Caves […]