Writer. Editor
People. How many there are and just how different from one another! Their sheer variety gives rise to a fascinating world of characters jostling for space, waiting to stand out. Inspired by a face or a silhouette, a character is born in the mind of the writer and she or he grows to be a personality sculpted by words and they dwell, sometimes as the writer wants them to, and at others, just the way they wish. Welcome to the world of people. We, the people. The real ones, the imagined ones that are shadows of the real.
There are a million ways to fall in love. But the most talked about and most described is love at first sight. My story is about romance set in Bombay. And when we talk of Bombay, you can’t be without talking about the local trains. The trains and the popular Churchgate station provide the perfect setting for a blooming romance.
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In December 2004, as a student of journalism, I embarked on a week-long visit to a village I had never ever heard about in my life till then. Only later did I realise that it was a trip that would set me thinking. It was soon followed by another revealing experience – the Tsunami. Reporting on the Tsunami threw the doors open to a different kind of experience – one that gave way to a very crucial question – what was it like to face a disaster? Presented here, the diary entries of an awe-struck journalism student.
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This story will probably be my first step to writing a novel/novella. It remains the longest short story that I have ever written. There is a whole lot packed into this story – the relationship between mothers and daughters, a wife and her husband, Carnatic Music, human nature and realisation. It’s the story of Jhanavi, Leela and Vaidehi – women belonging to three different generations.
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The tradition of arranged marriage is quite an old one in India. It’s a practice that raises many eyebrows these days but I do believe that magic can be found in an arranged marriage. The story of Vasundara and Sankaran was written to put forth this point of view. Vasundara is one of my favourite creations and she epitomises the balance between respect for traditional values and a rare and beautiful kind of courage in a woman. This is Vasu’s story.
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Time and again, we hear stories of how children are forced into prostitution by people close to them for the sake of money. The thought of a child being abandoned in a strange, cruel and unsafe environment and forced to live under despicable circumstances sends a chill down my spine every time. Meenakshi is the tale of a girl who grows up to be a woman that men come to for various reasons.
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