T r e a d Softly... YOU MIGHT TRIP ON TEXT


Monday, December 01, 2008

what an ending...

the first day of the last month.
the last post was on the second day of the first month.
what a year this has been.
terrorists brazenly walking in from the sea, entering mumbai and plucking out lives. as if there's neither law nor sensitivity left. if this is all it takes to appease god & religion--- or is it simply the lure of money in some cases? if this is all it takes, then let's wipe out god & religion from the face of the earth and hide them in our hearts. who'll find them then? who'll fight for what they can't see?
when those who rule this land continue with their vacuous, guarded, yellow ruminations, the brave will rise up and act.

youngsters with blind eyes and itchy fingers, frozen hearts that can't distinguish between faith and indoctrination. what wounds have caused them to inflict such destruction? will no one feel safe again? will our land be our cremation ground strewn with ashes of hope and courage?
empty words!
what will happen will happen.
the brave will rise up to shore up our defences. the brave will rise up.
when those who rule this land continue with their vacuous, guarded, yellow ruminations, the brave will rise up and act. let there be no more such surprises. let's be prepared to face the worst. or stay home locked up forever. for these rulers are not people to look up to.
we've split so much that from a country we've degenerated into groups and sub-groups and pathetic little divisions that no one can count.
democracy doesn't deserve us!
democracy as it is practised today in india is about dynasty rule, parochialism, bravado, exploiting voter vulnerability and a rare unique selfishness that sees only power and its comforts and ignores the swamp next door.
democracy has degenerated in this country. brave, politically correct words have become redundant and irrelevant. we need to take a different step forward.
those young terrorists entered through a chipped and worn-out door. let's fashion a new, stronger door and move it to a safer place.
let's join together to rule. and not allow these greedy dynasties to continue to pretend democracy.
let's begin.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

BACK AGAIN!

And so here we are again, almost half a year later.

The last time I'd written about my novel Maria's Room which had made it to the Longlist of the Man Asian Literary Prize.

Well, it's been proved--- the theory that what goes up must come down-- and vice versa. I hadn't expected the book to make it to the Longlist. It did.

After that, I expected it to reach the shortlist, and probably even make it to the final place. It didn't!

Anyway, I'm busy writing more. A children's novel for Puffin and the play with the classical dance theme. Did I say, busy writing? Right now, distraction is the name of the game, and I'm having a tough time staying on course.

Why did God have to make my writing tools and the Internet on the same platform? Sometimes, God has a way of economising. Or maybe, it is convenientising. Anyway, though I have the chance of skipping from novel to play, I often skip from both to the Net, and surf so much that time passes without adequate notice, and I return to roost in uncertain areas of my work, where nothing seems to move.

But then, this is the beginning of the New Year, and that has a habit of inculcating a new mood and a new purpose. So, there. My uncertainty, and its possible solution.

Let's see what 2008 brings.