I’ve written about both Sreeja and her grandparents before. When Sreeja was studying at IIT-Kharagpur, she invited Veda and me to come for Diwali and see the magnificent illumination and rangoli on campus. All the dates went awry and we finally reached Kharagpur the day after the illumination. Oh, well, we saw what was left […]
Letters I Receive – IV
Recently (well, not recently really, but not long before the lockdown began), I did a letter-writing activity at a couple of workshops. I’ve always loved receiving letters. A letter in the mailbox with YOUR NAME on it? Ooh, the joy! I wanted children to experience that too, and what better way than through a workshop? […]
Letters I Receive – III
Have you ever had chicken pox? But more importantly, did you have a special friend to write letters to when you were quarantined? My sister Nisha missed her sixth standard final exams because she had chicken pox. Right through those weeks, she was extra careful, taking precautions rather similar to the ones we’re taking right […]
Letters I Receive – II
Once upon a time, we had a dial-up connection. I don’t know if younger readers of my blog even know what that is. Email took ages to load. You could read a book while you waited for the connection to be established and then … Never mind. For some reason, I had a usa (dot) […]
Letters I Receive – I
Have you ever wondered who uses the stationery in a hotel room? I mean, who needs an envelope and letter-writing paper and all of that when you spend one night in a hotel? I raise my hand. It’s me. And I take after my father. During the lockdown, I plan to share a story about […]
Writer’s Discipline
Yes, I know today’s post ought to be about World Dance Day, but somehow things don’t work that way. I’ve finished working on projects that have been works-in-progress for a while. I need to set them aside and do something new. That’s how I work. I have spreadsheets of when to look at work again […]
Leap Day
I’ve always been fascinated by leap years. Who hasn’t? Magically, out of nothingness, a day appears every four years. Where does it hide, squished between the 28th of February (a special month anyway) and the 1st of March? What does it do when it is hiding? Equally, I’ve been torn by envy of and pity […]
Sisters at New Dawn – The Story Behind the Story
Everybody knows that writing a book takes time. Sometimes (is it especially so with me?), it takes quite a long time. I wrote Sisters at New Dawn six years ago. 2014. Of course, this meant that in the last edit, I had to make lots of changes in it to keep up with the times. For instance, I […]
My Year in Writing
Being a writer is never easy. Things take too long, and there’s little to show for it. Long silences, endless waiting and wondering, a general feeling of isolation … Yet, the highs are so high that they make everything worth it. In 2019, among the biggest highs for me was the discovery of warm, supportive […]
The Charm of Children’s Literature
I read and review books all the time. A glance through my blog shows me that I’ve written over 300 posts about books! Though I didn’t look through all of them before writing this post, I’m sure a majority of them are reviews of children’s literature. I’ve written about fictional teachers, rereading old favourites, writers […]
Catching Up: Writing
On the writing front, things are moving slowly, as usual. I have lots of things in the air, waiting to become either concrete or virtual. In their own time. Older books continue to bring me joy, though, in their own ways. The Prophecy of Rasphora – A New Review Very few things make me happier […]
Monsters and Stereotypes
I’m so happy with all the lovely responses I’ve been getting to my essay, “The Problem With Monster Stereotypes In Literature”! Thank you for the love. It’s been ages since I wrote something remotely academic, so I was nervous about this piece. The writing of the essay started with all the monster posts I’ve been […]
Catching Up – Writing
It’s that time again, when I’ve postponed blogging for so long that I don’t know where to begin. I keep saying that I intend to do monthly roundups and that never happens. I’m now planning to do a series of posts, catching up with what’s gone by, though. In terms of writing, I’m working on […]
Reading, Writing, Dancing
Two weeks ago, I asked the children at my Writers’ Club whether they would like to make readers laugh or cry. Three girls said they wanted to make readers laugh. 12 said they wanted to make readers cry. When a few said they would like to do both, those who had already raised their hands […]
A Wonderful Month
Every so often, I think about doing a monthly round-up of workshops I’ve conducted and books I’ve read. And then I think, maybe next month. But the month that went by was just so full of wonderful things that I want very much to share everything that happened and everything that’s coming up! Last month, I […]
Guru Mythili Raghavan
What makes Mythili Maami special? Why have so many of us been with her for two decades and longer? Why did we not leave the Academy of Indian Dances and set up on our own like so many other dancers? The answer lies in a story that each one of us is only too willing to share. […]
My Stamp
“My Stamp”: the brand name for personalised postage stamps. Karan saw the ad outside the GPO, and guess what we got made? The only problem with using a book cover, rather than a passport sized picture of a person as advertised, is that we need a square image, not a rectangular one. Even though we had […]
Flickering Flames
Last week, St. Mary’s School officially launched Flickering Flames, an anthology of poems and stories I edited as the facilitator of the Writers’ Club. The teachers have their copies already, and I’ve heard some lovely comments about the book. Here’s a little about it for those who are reading about this for the first time … In […]
Reflections: Day Three at AFCC 2016
The last day of my first ever literary festival … I began day three at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content by attending a roundtable discussion on entering markets abroad, conducted by Cynthea Liu, Emily Lim, Helen Mangham. What was particularly wonderful about this event was the rounded perspective it had, as the speakers comprised one publisher, one writer […]
Reflections: Day Two at AFCC
Visiting a place for the first time can’t be work and work alone, especially when there’s so much to see and do. On days two and three at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, I attended fewer sessions, trying to make the most of my time in Singapore! Penning for the Preteen, conducted by Holly Thompson, […]