She went silently to the door and opened it. I awkwardly said a hasty goodbye to her and walked out utterly confused as to what just happened. As I walked down the road, I heard someone calling out to me. It was Indira Aunty, she’d run all the way. Thrusting an album filled with pictures of my mum into my hand, she hugged me tight without letting go for a while. Then holding me by my shoulders she looked at me and whispered gravely “Call me if you ever need anything and most of all please stay safe.“ It was graduation day, the day everyone in college was waiting for. The vicious cycle of exams, semesters and assignments had finally ended and the graduation ceremony gave the end of college a sense of finality. It had been a crazy ride filled with tons of beer, vodka and drugs partly because it was the cool thing to do in college and partly because I felt my Dad was a complete and total phony.
And thank you Bangalore Mirror for showcasing Anita’s Attic writers.
An Excerpt:
I climb down the stairs muttering a prayer under my breath, hoping the Lord Krishna would have mercy on my soul. Is this a test to check my faith or has my Lord given up on me? If I do not find an answer, then I will be thrown out of the temple. Who knows, maybe I will be thrown out of the village, as well.
Everyone will blame me for the missing calf. It was my duty to check the shed, make sure all the cows had been accounted for. I very seldom do. Who would steal a cow or a calf from a holy place? No sane person would dare anger the goddess. It was only this morning that I realised it was the wrong thing to do. Maybe if I had noticed the missing calf first, then I wouldn’t be under so much pressure. It would have been someone else and I would have been free and at peace. Now, it feels like the whole world will be judging me. All morning two people searched the village. Nobody found anything.
Me (in my best American drawl): Mildly spiced pancakes made from coarsely ground garbanzo beans, pigeon peas and rice. Served with a topping of lightly sautéed shallots and greens. And a huge dollop of butter just for you!
[symple_column size=”two-third” position=”last” fade_in=”false”] I am : Chirooo
Presently biding my time : of writing a book, and one more.
Part of the : Creative Writing Mentorship Program from 5 September – 14 November, 2015
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About being a part of Anita’s Attic Creative Writing program
My earliest memories of my childhood involve stories being narrated by my grandmother. Since then I have always been interested in reading realistic fiction. Maybe being brought up in a strict household that did not provide easy access to electronic media through the day and the ease in pretending to study while reading fiction, had a role to play in the same.
The dream of becoming a writer never really took off, though. Being a part of Anita’s Attic over the past three months has instilled a self-belief in my abilities and of the possibilities that exist if I back my abilities, which till now was missing. This has been a brilliant experience – what with being part of inspiring discussions with authors from difference countries, editors, publishers and online marketers.
I hope the momentum and the self-confidence that I have picked up in my writing over the past three months sustains and sees me through my first novel.
Chirantan’s Bio
Chirantan Shah has been working with ITC for the past 4.5 years in various sales and marketing roles. Prior to this he has worked with Deccan Chronicle as a business correspondent and with TCS as a software engineer. He has a diploma in management from IIM Kozhikode and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from NIT Nagpur. Chirantan aspires to write a Dickens-esque coming-of-age story based out of India, some day.
Chirantan reading of his part as author of the collaborative fiction piece, “A Pound of Flesh”
[symple_column size=”two-third” position=”last” fade_in=”false”] I am : destined for great things. I’m also tired of waiting for them to happen
Presently biding my time : If that’s a question, yes – presently biding my time
As I secretly follow my dream of : leading a life filled with euphoria. (Kidding. I’ll settle for plain happiness too)
As good as : they come. And then some more
Part of the : Creative Writing Mentorship Program from 5 September – 14 November, 2015
My Website : I write at Out of Breath
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About being a part of Anita’s Attic Creative Writing program
Why did I join? When I applied, it wasn’t because I thought I’d be accepted. It was more out of a desire to get myself to do something about this need to write, that I’d harbored within myself.
Being accepted into the programme was super surprising, to say the least – and opened up the possibility of writing as a more serious pursuit, beyond a few occasional blog posts. 12 weeks of writing and re-writing at The Attic made me realize that it wasn’t going to be easy!
Writing used to be a one-off activity, resulting in something that I’d probably never go back to. I’ve now learnt that that is but the first step in a long drawn process, and that re-writing is as important as writing – if not more. There is a process to writing that goes beyond what one perceives to be just an intellectual exercise as an amateur. Write, re-write, repeat.
Reflection and improvement are skills that are as essential to life, as they are to writing.
Rahul’s Bio
Rahul longs to become a storyteller. A longing that he hopes will not be short lived. In this arduous pursuit, he is even ready to make up tales. Tall tales. He is a sucker for all manner of stories – be it short stories of longing, or long stories that need shortening. He is trudging a path that is going to be, in short, a long story. That, one could say, is the long and short of it.
Rahul’s reading of his part as author of the collaborative fiction piece, “A Pound of Flesh”
A story of where love can take you and where it can leave you.
Synopsis
A story of food, love and the god particle.
Lena Abraham knows that love can end in only one way — disappointment. Her marriage to KK is perfect precisely because she is not in love with him, and their life on a tea plantation in the picturesque Anamalai Hills is idyllic. Then, one rainy morning, a man arrives to take up temporary residence in the homestay they run.
Shoola Pani is south Indian cinema’s heartthrob, an actor in flight from his own superstardom, and the last thing he is looking for is emotional entanglement. But when Lena and he meet, something flares between them that neither could have anticipated. She becomes his Lee and he her Ship, and Arcadia the place they inhabit.
Told partly from the point of view of Komathi, the cook, whose own relationship with Lena is fraught with buried truths from the past, this searing tale of unexpected passion and adultery reaffirms the magical power of love in all our lives.
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Alphabet Soup for Lovers releases on 25 November 2015
[symple_column size=”two-third” position=”last” fade_in=”false”] I am : from Bangalore
Presently biding my time : As a Director in a software company
As I secretly follow my dream of : being an impactful writer
As good as : Abraham Verghese, Arundhati Roy and Anita Nair who assure me that the poetry around us is waiting to be heard.
Part of the : Creative Writing Mentorship Program from 5 September – 14 November, 2015
My Website : I write at Urban Bourbon
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About being a part of Anita’s Attic Creative Writing program
After publishing about a hundred or so blog posts, I discovered key areas that really excite me. I wanted to strengthen these areas further in the form of a novel. I have had many spluttering starts and lacked the discipline to execute on that plan. My other great weakness was that I stopped with my first raw draft and did not take the time to edit it to perfection.
Twelve weeks with Anita’s Attic Creative Writing program changed all that for me. Writing is an individual sport but writing well needs a guide and mentor. I saw myself set goals and deadlines for my work. I achieved them week after week with the able guidance and feedback from Anita.
Anita exposed the twelve of us to a range of talented individuals from the writing and publishing world. I was inspired by some of their struggles as a writer. I was fascinated by the amount of research that went into their work and their personal life altering events that shaped their work. This gave me a good 360-degree view of the industry.
Peter’s Bio
Peter Vas is a Bangalore based IT professional. He has a Masters degree in Structural Engineering from Marquette University, Wisconsin. He cherishes his blogs on Indian culture and music on ARPANET Usenet Newsgroups before Tim Berners-Lee invented the worldwide web. He is taking a hiatus from Facebook to pursue his writing ambition but has found himself in a semi-ruinous relationship with Twitter. He has successfully slayed annoying Whatsapp notifications, in pursuit of higher writing goals. After spending most of his career life in Chicago, he returned to India for a rediscovery and loves it. He enjoys his spare time reading, writing and listening to podcasts and music. He is writing his first novel that gained traction at Anita’s Attic. His family is very encouraging of his disappearing act, which sometimes worries him.
Recent Published works
My blogs around the crisis of rape and VAW in India, following the Nirbhaya rape/murder incident of 2012 was referenced by BBC/Public Radio International. My interaction with Bangladeshi activists, on wage disparity was also picked by BBC/Public Radio International, after the garment factory collapse that killed poor garment workers.
Peter’s reading of his part as author of the collaborative fiction piece, Physician, heal thyself
[symple_column size=”two-third” position=”last” fade_in=”false”] I am : from Bangalore
Presently biding my time : treading the jungles of Dandakaranya in central India
As good as : I can be 🙂
Part of the : Creative Writing Mentorship Program from 5 September – 14 November, 2015
My Website : I write at Raksha Kumar
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About being a part of Anita’s Attic Creative Writing program
When we first entered the Attic, we were handed a long list of recommended reading. That was a wake up call. And since then, I have had several such moments when what seems commonsensical is conveniently ignored by many writers. I take back those elementary essentials with me as I leave the Attic and step into the harsh wild world of literary fiction writing.
More than anything, I am grateful to Anita for infusing the much needed confidence in me.
Raksha’s Bio
Raksha is an independent journalist, concentrating on human rights, gender and politics. For the past four years, she has reported for the New York Times, Al Jazeera America, The Guardian, TIME magazine, Christian Science Monitor, DAWN, Caravan, The Hindu and South China Morning Post.
Currently, she is working on a documentary film on the life of the Rationalists in India that will be aired on Doordarshan.
A Fulbright scholar, she graduated from the Journalism School, Columbia University, New York, in 2011. Immediately after graduating from Lady Shri Ram College, New Delhi, in 2007, she did a course on Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding from the University of Peace. This year, she was a part of the India Journalism Programme as a Chevening Fellow at the University of Westminster, London.
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Raksha’s reading of her part as author of the collaborative fiction piece, Physician, heal thyself
