Moon And Romance

Yesterday at 3:50 a.m. my phone rang. It is not unusual as I work with electrical utility and some consumers who have my number call me, not always at ungodly hours, but quite often. The said number disconnected the call before I could pick up. I did not dial back.

Outside my bedroom balcony, it was dark, and I was half awake when I saw a small blurry arc of the moon trying to make a mark on the sky above the Yeeor hills. Though the full moon is a common sight from my balcony, I have never seen a new moon or a waning moon from this balcony. It could be because I have never been awake or half sleepy at that hour in the day. Anyway, my eyes were droopy, so I tried to get back to sleep, and I did, but I was awake again in few minutes, and my eyes drifted to the moon, and instead of setting behind the hills it had risen in the sky, slightly bigger but the arc was still the same, and it shone brighter.

Without the stars and clouds, the moon still looked romantic, calling upon the lovers of the earth and other realms to share their secret.

As a child, I found the moon fascinating I used to look for shapes in it. I wanted to build a ladder to the moon. Maybe build a house there. Maybe find my favourite crate there.

And then I spotted much talked about rabbit shape on the moon. And I could never unsee it. And I have tried.

I drifted to sleep hoping some romantic was enjoying the beauty of this waning moon, bathing in its bright and cool light on a warm summer morning and sharing a smile with their lover.

Carthick's Unfairy Tales

Disclaimer: In another world that was without social media, the chances of knowing Karthik would be minuscule. But the bane that social media is which deprives us of our productivity, it has also been the boon that connects us to the people who share our interests.

Incidentally, Karthik and I share similar interests in writing and reading, and hence, I state explicitly: I know Karthik Laxminarayanan, Author of the Carthick's Unfairy Tale.
The review that follows, to the best of my knowledge is without bias.

I close the Kindle app after reading one of the stories, 'The Frog who would be the King' and look out of the window of the taxi and wonder if this should be my favourite story. I am afraid the story had a populist view as if to conform to the guidelines of feminism. Its another bane of social media, you don't know who is not pretending.

At this thought, I decided to come to this book later and move on to The Palace of the Illusions. A retelling of Mahabharata from the Draupadi's POV who I feel is the eternal conflict that women represent and which opposite gender claims to have not fully understood.

Feminism, I realise is a topic worthy of a full blog post. I will write about it, someday.

Before closing the app, I read the title of next story, 'No Country For Wild Beast' and I wondered if it is a retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast', considered as an unfeminist fairy tale of our time. Last year, I read two versions of this fairy tale, one by Grimm, and other by Madame de Villeneuve, translated from French by Rachel Louise Lawrence. Both stories have changed my perspectives about this and many other fairy tales I have watched and read, since.

No Country For Beast is not a Beauty and the Beast story, but another fairy tale, Goldilocks and the three bears. In this story, author amuses about the ways of human beings through a little bear's POV.


Retelling is a tricky business.  Once, Suresh C. who's working on a retelling of Greek myth said, even Neil Gaiman's retelling doesn't sell. And I don't doubt it. If I have read about the blue glass slipper of Cinderella or a mischievious Goldilocks, why should I read Karthik's version?

There are many reasons. The first and foremost is the cover.  It is a well-done cover. The cover depicts elements each of the seven stories in the book. A blue glass slipper, a horseman, a bear, a couple of rats, a hobgoblin, a castle in the background, and a full moon night. The overall purple colour like an adhesive holds the elements together. Not even for a moment, the cover seems crowded. It has a great recall value.

But when you open the book, the titles are - Of Mice and Horses, The Frog who would be the King, No Country for Beasts etc.

A look at these titles and we realise the author borrowed them from famous books.  Of Mice and Horses is inspired by Of mice and men by John Steinback, No Country for Wild Beasts is in inspired from Cormac McCarthy No Country For Old Men and so on.

So, from cover, you know the story, but from the title, you can only make a wild guess about the story.

And the author doesn't stop here. To further engage his audience the author in these stories adopts the narrators who are not 'heroes'.

For example, in 'Beans of Avarice' which is a retelling of (as you may have guessed) 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' the narrator is the vile magician.

It starts with, 'I needed a boy. A proper simpleton at that. I didn't want too smart a boy who would turn on me. Like the one Mustafa found.'

For many fairy tales, it is not easy to spot who is the narrator from the first line. It solely depends on readers knowledge or author's discretion to tell which tale gets a makeover.

This change in narrators gave scope to the author to talk about underlying philosophies.

For example, in A Tale of One City, the city of Hamelin narrates the famous/infamous tale of Pied-Piper. In this story, author repetitively asserts the consequences of famous corporate jargon 'Quick fixes'.  This story is the lesson why we must think holistically before taking each step. The finale of the story defines who we are as readers.

This story I believe achieves the purpose of writing. At a time, when we are not coming out in large numbers, and only a few are telling the stories that matter, or the stories that will shape our future, Karthik braves it with this one and it's smart. The jugheads are going to have a tough time cracking this one.

My favourite is the last story of the book, The Hunger Diaries. This story is the retelling of Hansel and Gretel, the one that has been told and retold several times over centuries. The original story doesn't change, but there are versions, and one of the versions is written by Neil Gaiman.

This story is an important part of the European history, the continent was hit by great famine, and there were instances of cannibalism and abandonment of the children.

I told Karthik, Neil Gaiman would be proud of him if he ever read this story. I say so, after having read the brilliant The Graveyard Book, and Hansel and Gretel and other short stories by the maestro. Both Mr Gaiman and Karthik not only strive to tell a story but also try to give a message through the stories.

Karthik in his book has a message for everyone, women, men, introverts, and the coveted middle management.

The only complaint, Karthik does not deliver punches at the end of the most stories, and I am a huge fan of punchlines. An end that leave jaw dropped.  It's a personal choice.

The book does leave you wanting for more.

You can buy the book here.

A Phenomenon called Percy Wadiwala

I’ve called Percy Wadiwala of The Slacker Tales as the Sachin Tendulkar of our little literary world. So good that the world loves him - even worships him, but that means that he is eternally cursed to perform, as if he is obliged to serve something better every time. I have read Percy’s stories, reviews, and excerpts consistently over a period of time and I can safely say that the God of Cricket will be happy to associate his name with this God King (a title aptly given to him by Aindrila and Pritesh).

So, Percy  Wadiwala  shared a short  story, ‘A Reason to Live’  with  Ritesh Kukrety. Ritesh reviewed it.   Imagine, a story which has been read by three to four people including the author gets a review on a blog! No, Ritesh isn’t a serial reviewer nor a serial blogger and knowing Percy, I know he would not have asked for it. The idea that Ritesh  had something  to say  about the story triggered a handful of people into asking Percy for the story, including me. I am late to begin, as well as a slow reader. When I got the story in my hand I knew I was going to take some time to read it. But people, especially on FB have no patience. They reviewed it with praise galore in the comments. The problem with FB is it's an infectious place, people outdo each other to look good or score marks. Yes, I am a skeptical person. There was a minuscule chance that the story would not be all that great.

Also, this was a period when I was fighting my own inner battles. How good am I?Why my stories didn’t make it to any of the contests that ran around including UnBound, a magazine curated by my own group? The debut novel I was working on looked frivolous and a run-of-the-mill kind of story. I was doing what I could. Making character sheets, drawing the infographics, but I moved nowhere. This battle ripped apart my soul as a writer and I’d nearly given up, ready to hang my boots even before the game had begun. Amidst all this,I opened the story received in my mailbox and it was fucking 30 odd pages and I shook my head. I KNEW I won’t make it to the finish line. Like my works, this will remain incomplete.  

But then, I began to read it then I savored it and then  it was over in a day without a hassle. The characters and their conflict were etched in my mind for days to come.

The story triggered a debate in my mind - what  exactly  is good writing  and no, this was not  about  grammar.  For a great  story,  it is given that it is well edited and proofread before  it is  presented to an audience.  What makes a story told  and retold over a period of time better than others? Why must people read my stories?

Then one day someone made a post on the group. It had a 100 or more comments singing the praises of the said flash fiction. Yes, reviews are good and when they are in hundreds the much entire better. It piqued my curiosity. The post was deliberately written for receiving an applause and someone might say there is nothing wrong in receiving the applause, yes they are right. But the OP had done gross injustice to one of the characters which was unacceptable. The OP must have thought the piece would create hope in this unjust and selfish world.The post it riled me to an extent that I was willing to walk up to the OP and tell - Listen, please don’t write. But I didn’t for two reasons - 1)  I feel everyone should write irrespective their talent and 2) I, myself, as a writer was struggling to come out with anything readable. Most writers work hard, they live in recluse and build characters in solitary and this OP was nothing but a blot on such writers.

My own story which I began to write after reading ‘A Reason to Live’, a submission for Juggernaut’s  prompt #FirstLove looked nothing more than a piece of pedestrian writing. It was so bad that I felt I should leave it midway and also I was fast pacing towards a feeling of “never take the quills in your hand”. In recent times, the Internet has been a great support to my writing but at the same time, I could have been mistaken for someone who constantly seeks attention and it’s the last thing I want. Cautiously, I spoke to Ravi Kumar and Percy. Ravi Kumar reminded me that we as writers write for ourselves. Yes, the primary customer is us, always. On the other hand, Percy pointed out that I don’t concentrate on my work which was again true. He gave few more tips which I won’t tell here and I was back with a bang. Once I finished it I sent it to him for editing and he said in his email (I am going to frame these lines) --

“I like the story itself. A good way of telling a story, though ‘First Love’ is not exactly the focus, but as a story on its own it’s a good thing you have there. Wish I had had the idea :)”

I was ready to shout from the rooftop after reading these lines. But then, doubt crept in because Mr. Wadiwala is an awfully nice guy. So, I sent it to Ravi Kumar knowing that it’s not the genre Ravi reads. Frankly, I was not expecting Ravi to read it but Ravi not only read it but also suggested that I should fine tune it which of course even Percy had suggested. This I must tell you is golden moment of my writing career.  This is what I seek as a writer. Appreciation from my peers. I already felt like a winner but then it didn’t end here.

A fellow named Anirban  shared a review of  yet another short story written by Percy. It was titled as - “Alayne’s Smile”. I called for it to read. Another round of praise on FB and once again I read, savored and finished it.

In Reason to Live, the author writes 20 odd pages before he gives a reason for Daranos Drivas (a character set in the mythical world of Mithos) to live. Drivas is several centuries old, technically immortal, and  is contemplating to sleep permanently (i.e. end his own life).  The 20 odd pages are all about Daranos , his world, his race, his academy, his students, and in the end his life. In these pages, he presents the conflicts between the races inhabiting Mithos, conflicts within Daranos’s mind and then gives him a reason to live.

Alayne’s Smile is a completely different story set in Midgard about a few college friends which is an imaginary town similar to Mumbai. In this story, he sets up conflict on page 2 and not only that, but author hits you with a conflict and how! And I knew from here the story could go anywhere and absolutely anywhere. I liked the way it unfolded, in the end, evoking emotions ranging from momentary euphoria to eternal sadness.

I have read authors who churn out stories in the same fashion in which they have written earlier ones, making them sound mundane. I might be one such author.  Though I do know Percy has written these stories years apart they still can be seen in a comparative sight. Both stories are distinctly different in language -- In former, Percy weaves subplots together in simplest language showing you the Drivas Academy, its legacy and its staff while in the latter he a uses a more complex method of telling the story to keep audience’s attention. I can’t say which one is better but they will remain my favorite, equally until I receive something more from him.

After reading Alayne’s Smile my thought strayed to my own story ‘Fault’ edited by Percy and the good things he said about it (Not available in public domain as it has been submitted for a contest) and other stories, I now want to work a lot harder on these stories. As Pritesh keeps saying --

‘We must match the level at which Percy writes.’

Edit: If you wish to read his works and wondering where to begin here are some links - Wuthering Heights, once again , She was the best of us., Lost Boys of Aiden

Do we need more books

"I want to buy more books!" I told Mom while I scanned through my collection of books at her place. She has been insisting me to take these books to my ‘home’. This isn't a small collection of Novels I am talking about. It’s much, enough to tell my mom that it’s a test of our relationship. The space these books take up is the space she gives me in her heart. Not that my current home doesn't have space to accommodate them but I need space for more books!!! But this post isn't about books and space they occupy and how Kindle is answer to my problems; it is about what my mom said after that -

"But, now you are writing your own book, why do you need more books?"

 I never told mom that I am writing a novel. My family doesn't even know what book I am writing; neither do my close knit circle of friends - friends who attended my wedding.  We don't hold such discussions. I don't tell them what are my character's dilemma are or what new catastrophe my protagonist is facing. I don’t, I am too shy to hold such discussions.

But one day, out of the blue I will be ready. The cover design will be in place. The draft would be final and edited. That day I will shout at top of my voice, from top of my building terrace - The book is Ready! Please read. That day someone is going to tell me what my mom said -

"Do we need more books?"

  That day I will sulk. I will rant about people want my work to be free. At least that day is not today.

Character Sheet

I began a project during NaNoWrimo, wrote 18000 words till date and now my characters talk to me. They ask, shouldn't you tell the reader that I failed my exams, other says isn't it important to tell my relatives deserted me at an early age and there is one more who says - it is time you created a sketch of me, give me color, shape and age.

Frankly, when people said their characters talk to them, I would laugh secretly and think come on aren't these people imaginary even if drawn from real life. Then one day I murdered two characters in my story and I felt I had blood on my hand. Slowly, the novel began to consume me. They followed me, walked with me, nudged me  to tell their stories. Tell their stories as if they are main characters however small role they played on the larger canvas I was building. And today, After much deliberation with online friends I finally embark upon journey of creating character sheet:

Hopefully, it won't be last of it.

PS: If this page is seeing less of me that is because I am either reading or writing or working.

PPS: Those who do not know what is NaNoWrimo, visit here.