aditya kumar's weblog

Note: “Writing”, in the context of this post, refers to publishing in the electronic media. It could be a blog, a portal, anything. Let’s just keep it at that.

To claim that you write is a very dangerous thing. Tell an audience that you actually ‘write’ and a million questions seem to be directed at you.

But why would you dare to claim that you “write” in the first place? Only if you take your writing seriously. Or if you don’t, you want to. If you’re the weaker kinds, you’d be flattened, down and out by the time the questions are done with. So much for your claim of writing.

But most people don’t take their own writings seriously. Or at least, they think they don’t want to. They refer to their writings as “ramblings”. The literal meaning of the word “rambling”, in the writing context, is “writing casually”. Until they don’t get paid for what they write or until they achieve an audience, it remains a ramble.

And those who get paid for it or those who get an audience, start acting modestly. They claim they do it for fun, they even get surprised when people talk about their writings and can’t believe someone actually takes their words “seriously”. “I don’t take my writing seriously, so why do you?”. Truth is, if the writer never took his writing seriously, s/he would not reach the stage of having an audience. Deep inside, they love it. They love to write, they want to do it better, after all, accolades are the ultimate drug. It gives them a high.

But what does our writer continue to say? “Oh, its just a ramble!”

So, writing, by all definitions, remains, of all things, a ramble.

And what happens to those people who actually are true to their claims of not taking their writings seriously? They stop writing, obviously. Whats more, they don’t really miss the whole thing. Chances are, no one else does too.

Where am I going with all this? I have taken you to the middle of nowhere, so what next?

Well, I have the ultimate defense, I tell you. Here, take that:

“Now, I hope you don’t take all that I just said seriously, after all it’s just a …”

I feel the urge to go to the sea every few months. Two weeks ago, on a friday afternoon at work, I decided to go “somewhere”. Anywhere. Preferably, somewhere near the sea. I thought of going to Mangalore. Though I realised that getting a deluxe/volvo bus ticket just a few hours prior to the journey on a weekend is one highly improbable thing, I still gave it a try and to my surprise, I managed to get a ticket to Mangalore.

By the time I had the ticket in my hand, the only thing certain was that I would be in Mangalore by 7 am, next day. What I would do after that, I had no idea.

Since Mangalore and Udupi are nearby, I decided to visit Udupi. There were two reasons for that. First, I wanted to visit the famous Krishna Mutt and second, I wanted to have authentic Udupi cuisine. From there, I could catch the Konkan route train to Goa and then take the monday train back to Bangalore.

Of course, I did not have any train tickets. If you stay away from home for eight years and travel alone, you learn to make plans like that.

Once I reached Udupi at around 8:30 in the morning, the first step was to book the ticket to Goa for the afternoon train leaving Udupi at 4 pm. While putting the unconfirmed ticket in my wallet, I realised it already had 3 old rail tickets. Flattened now. One Vasco-Bangalore second class sleeper. One platform ticket, Bangalore railway station. One Bombay local train ticket. These are travel declarations and they have their own stories to tell.

Udupi is a small town, one of the last towns on the Konkan belt. The railway station is a little off the city, but like all Konkan Railway stations, its clean and very well maintained. A sign informs me, hinting a sense of pride within, that all the water served on the station is UV treated. Indeed, an achievement.

The Blessing of Udupi

The city’s biggest and the only tourist attraction is the Krishna Mutt. Its as if the city is aware of the fact. Every auto-driver expects the Mutt to be the ultimate destination of each visitor. I meet one such auto-driver and without much effort, reach the mutt.

I rent a room, take it for a day even though I know I would be leaving the city by late afternoon. Freshening up and taking a little nap is on my mind. That is what I precisely do before I head downstairs for the Krishna temple. Crowds gather at the entrance, as expected. The place is well-maintained, well-managed. Albeit a little surprising that even in this huge crowd, the calmness prevails. The Sarovar, a pool of green water, is a beauty to take a look at. I break my fast with the meal offered and its time to go.

The Sarovar at the temple

At Diana Circle, I achieve my second objective. The Diana restaurant is one of the oldest restaurants in the city. Having a masala-dosa there is of prime importance since I want to know if it is only the Bangalore-udupi restaurants that put the red-chatni in their version of the masala-dosa or is it a part of the real thing. As it turns out, the entire thing does look like what they serve in the name of Udupi cuisine in Bangalore but the familiarity ends there. The taste is entirely different, untreaded territory and what not. Second objective achieved. And how.

By 2 pm, I am back at the station, waiting patiently for Matsyagandha Express to arrive from Mangalore. I have almost a couple of hours to spend there. I (try to) feed the two kittens I find there, give them milk and bread. Only that the kittens refuse to oblige. In those two hours, not one train passes by, though the frequency of trains on this station is as good as any station on the Konkan route.

The view that I get throughout the journey, my third on this track, is such that it makes it a sin, to travel without a digital camera. I make the most of what I have. Its peak summer but the rivers are full, the backwaters lovely and the greens are inviting. Trust me, when you travel here and you see what I saw, you don’t need any book, you don’t need any music.

All you need is the Sun spraying yellow rays on the layers of various shades of the Green below. That is all.

Peace

The Backwaters

“Look at the star, look how it shines for you, it’s all Yellow”

Hope you liked the photos. Comments, as always, welcome.

On a comeback trail from what seems to be my longest break from Blogosphere in the last 3 years, I present you Arundhati Roy’s Article in today’s Hindu.

I can’t help but say, this is typical Arundhati. Overly aggressive but yes, making a point.

And finally, Sonia Faleiro, makes her debut, with her novel, The Girl. This, I am sure, is another reason to look forward to the offerings of Modern Indian Literature.

The story is based in Goa. As I was reading the extract from the book here, the words painted a picture in my mind. As far as I could make out from what I read, Sonia has brilliantly captured the standstill life of Goa.

The prose is intense in its own way, yet captures the most important aspect of Goan life – Stillness.

Please read more about the book on Sonia’s website. Read the extract. In fact, read the book.

About the Author
After linking to her blog and being under the impression that she is a journalist, it came as a nice but big surprise, to know that Sonia is Assistant Editor, Tehelka, and her non-fiction writings have appeared in India Today, The Indian Express and The Hindustan Times.

My New Year was no celebration at all, I was browsing the internet on my computer at home. But yes, music is an important aspect of anything that I do on days like these, so I played U2’s “The Unforgettable Fire” and “New Year’s Day”. I needed Bono’s reassuring, full-of-hope voice.

Bono’s like an old friend to me now. So even if he sings a sad song, I manage to pull out some hope everytime I hear him.

We all have our problems, small and big. It has been a tough year for the World as well. The Tsunami aftereffects, The London bombings, the Delhi bombings, the Kashmir Earthquake, to name a few. People have lost, people have grieved. For me, there has been a personal loss as well.

The New Year is hope for all of us. It’s that time when we have the opportunity to start over, to wipe the slate clean and to give everything a fresh start. I hope that it turns out to be a year that is good and full of hope for all of you, the readers of this blog whom I know, and those who choose not to comment and decide against letting their presence felt.

It would be naive to believe that problems shall go away. They will persist, like always. Here, I wish that the “fine balance” is achieved. Its something that is explained below in the post, so please continue reading.

Meanwhile, A Very Happy New Year.

On a lighter note, the Truman Specials for this year. In no particular order.

1. The Best Album Truman listened to

Without doubt, U2’s “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb”. It grows on you, and finally gets you! What an album this!

2. Errr.. The Best (Non-U2) Artist/Album Truman listened to

I feel it has to be Coldplay’s X&Y. Oasis comes a close second with “Standing on the shoulder of Giants”. Figures say a little different story though. In the second half of the year, I listened to 285 songs of Oasis and 197 songs of Coldplay. (U2’s count for the second half of the year? 694 songs)

3. Best Hindi movie Truman watched full screen

Iqbal. But do I have a choice? Hardly good movies released this year! (I liked “Sehar” too)

4. Best Hollywood movie Truman watched full screen

Cinderella Man. No doubt. But Harry Potter comes a close second. “Finding Neverland” comes third.

5. “If-only-I-could-see” movie for this year

Anniyan. I wish to see this movie. But I can’t understand Tamil. I wish I could!

6. Cricketing action of the year

The Ashes, what else? But then again, the England-Pakistan series was such a downer.

7. Arrogant Cricketer of the year

Andre Nel of South Africa. Click on the link to see his face and you shall know who we are dealing with.

8. Best place Truman visited this year

Home :)

heh, actually, Kasauli. And I intend to visit it again. A close second comes, Karwar

9. Last but not the least, The Best Indian Author book Truman read this year

Difficult. Very, very difficult. Hmmm.. I would say “A fine balance” by Rohinton Mistry.

This is the “Fine Balance” line I was talking about, something that applies to all of us: “You cannot draw lines and compartments, and refuse to budge beyond them. Sometimes you have to use your failures as stepping-stones to success. You have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair…In the end, it’s all a question of balance Pg 231, ‘A Fine Balance’ “.

Dr. Amitav Ghosh’s “The Glass Palace” comes very close. These books are very moving, in their own ways. Essentials of Indian Literature, these.

But the common factor in these books, is this feeling that overwhelms you, that is reflected in the words below:

‘Holding this book in your hand, sinking back in your soft arm-chair, you will say to yourself: perhaps it will amuse me. And after you have read this story of the great misfortunes, you will no doubt dine well, blaming the author for your own insensitivity, accusing him of wild exaggeration and flights of fancy. But rest assured: this tragedy is not a fiction. All is true.’

— Honoré de Balzac, Le Pere Goriot

The best thing for me, at a personal level, has been the literature I have read. The treasure is endless and it is priceless. The year gone by, has been the year of the Indian Authors. And no, I am not just talking about the Authors who write books. Just as important, are the Writers who exist in Blogosphere. I want to thank you, to each one of them, for Writing. Writing for a cause, Writing when provoked, Writing to Inspire and more importantly, Writing with responsibility. They know who they are.

Thats it for now, signing off!

The “30 Years Anniversary” Issue from India Today. The big fat issue with the best of India-Today is a collector’s dream. And to say that at Rs 20 it’s a steal, would be an understatement.


And here is Uma’s excellent round up on the literature published this year.


Also, don’t miss R.K.Laxman’s interview by Sonia Faleiro here.

Nilanjana Roy points out in her article, what I have always believed- that, Rushdie, Seth, Ghosh and Mistry have been the best that Contemporary Indian Writing has had to offer. Add to it, Authors like Jhumpa Lahiri and Suketu Mehta now having come of age, it is this group of writers, that will continue to provide the best in Indian writing for the next few decades.

Roy’s excellent article also mentions the (almost ironical) fact that most of the Indian writers have set up base outside India and continue to spend a good part of a year away from home. This same point has also been mentioned by Laxman Rao, who featured in Guardian’s (www.gurardian.co.uk) article.

Now that I have mentioned Laxman Rao, you may wonder who he is since the name does not seem to belong in literary circles. Laxman Rao is a Novelist who writes in Hindi. In the last 20 years, he has written about “18 novels, plays and political essays”, all in Hindi.

Laxman Rao does not stay outside India. He stays in New Delhi. He sells tea, on a road side tea stall, somewhere in south Delhi.

Rao asserts that to write about India, one has to stay here, in this country and write about the “India” every Indian knows. The words of Indian Authors who stay in foreign lands do not reflect the ground reality here. Read about it here. (Link from Indianwriting)

But then again, for our Authors to stay here, an encouraging market needs to exist. A good environment for literature, a book release and the world gives the Author the notice s/he deserves.

Also required is a “literary sense” existing within the masses. Of course, it does not live in our society. Instances of its absence were evident in the quality of questions asked by journalists while their mobile phones sang amidst Vikram Seth reading “Two Lives”.

Indian Literature is not (yet) in a state where we would ideally like it to be; but at least it hasn’t got any worse. In fact, I would assert that in the last 15 years or so, the overall state of Indian Writing has only improved. Some credit for it should go to Arundhati Roy’s Booker prize winning work, The God of Small Things and the Pulitzer prize winner, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies. Of course, shortlisting of Rohinton Mistry’s Such a Long Journey (1991) and A Fine Balance(1996), for the Booker Prize, within a span of 5 years, has only helped the cause of Indian Literature.

Things are not too good, agreed, but they are not too bad either.