Blog
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The Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends | Of the myths that first enchanted me, and my tribute
Fairy tales, folk tales, mythology – like every Indian of my generation, these were part of my growing up years. Some I read. Some I heard. But everything I read and heard was confined to the ever popular Greek and Roman mythology, the Hindu Epics, the Panchatantra, the Jataka tales and the fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson and the Grimm Brothers. In my late teens I chanced upon a world dictionary of myths which in a line or two described myths and legends from different parts of the world. Somewhere deep within me I knew an urge to re- tell them as proper stories.
Probably I even first cut my writing teeth on them. Creating characters, situations and dialogue from a mere kernel of a myth. I wrote them and filed them away not knowing what I would ever do with them. Until many years later Penguin India wanted to know if I would like to try my hand at writing for children. I have a book already written, I said almost apologetically pulling out typewritten papers from the time I had clack – clacked them into my second hand portable typewriter. All I needed to do was revise it as I transcribed it into the computer.
In 2004, Puffin India published it as the Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends. It was my first published title for children. And nothing gives me greater sense of joy than when I realize that this is a book that continues to enchant young readers just as the myths first enchanted me.
The Puffin Book of World Myths and Legends will be available at all online retail stores from June 7th 2015 and in book shops 4-5 days thereafter.
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The falling of the drop
Image Source, Credit & Courtesy : The Guardian Who knows what caused the earth to move last Satuday morning? Somewhere in the sea bed, for some untold reason, due to some unforeseen cause, there was a release of energy. Such was the power of that fount of energy that it travelled through a fault line on the sea bed and through land traversing four countries. Dhaka in Bangaladesh, New Delhi in India and Lahore in Pakistan but it was high in the Himalyan Kingdom of Nepal that the energy located itself. An epicentre that forever changed the lives of a land and its landscape.
In metaphysics, the Bindu or dot is considered the point at which creation begins. An energy deposit which can in turn radiate energy. In tantric iconography, a Bindu is thought to be as Shiva; all of creation and destruction. In Buddhism, a Bindu is the falling of the drop. And on April 25th it seemed iconography, philosophy and a malevolent force of destruction fell as a 7.9 magnitude drop some 55 kms off Kathmandu.
I was just about finishing my preparations for a long sabbatical from everything. As part of that exercise, I had deactivated my TV and the internet at home. I had gone into my office late in the morning to finish checking in online when the news of an earthquake in Delhi flashed on Facebook and Twitter. I dismissed it as the usual tendency to hyperbole so prevalent in the lexicon of social media. We do not smile: we Lol or Rofl. We do not cry, we Col. Until I saw that devastation had happened elsewhere.
The falling of the drop had made the earth quake in Kathmandu. Like a roller-coaster ride that had gone horribly wrong in an amusement park, one of the most sought-after destinations of the world was no more. Snow avalanched down the slopes of Mount Everest. Buildings fell. Temples and towers lay in ruins. People were buried under rubble or swept away. And Kathmandu and its surrounding areas that the world flocked to – climbers, dope heads, families on vacation, loners seeking salvation, the philosopher and the pervert, the religious and the rambunctious, the monk and the hippie – saw a deathly stilling.
The world is rushing to assist with rescue efforts. And amidst all the suffering, the sordidity of a nation that is ranked 54th in worst of 81 counties on the Global Hunger Index comes to the fore. Take this: Nepal apart from filling the brothels in India and other parts of South Asia is also home to a baby factory. There are reports of Israel sending incubators to help transfer to safety about 24 babies born in the past few days to surrogate mothers in Nepal to Israeli parents.
I trawl the Internet to read more. The body count is rising by the minute. The stories of the dead and the injured are making the rounds. The list of the devastation caused is soaring. I take a deep breath and ask myself why? We humans have contributed to all the natural disasters with our selfish plundering of the earth and with our callous disregard for the environment. But this time we are probably as much as the culprits as the drop that fell. And it occurs to me that the people of Nepal are paying the price for the human greed for satiation.
Overpopulation has strained the carrying capacity of the Middle hills especially in the Kathmandu valley. With the depletion of forest cover for crops, fuel and fodder, erosion has lead to flooding. Our quest for Nirvana, be it through mountaineering or marijuana or make-believe has made us seek destinations that are not equipped to handle surging human inhabitation. We capitalise on a poor economy to make it ours to fulfil our shallow needs. We exploit nature because we think we can. The quiet of the mountains throbs with incessant chatter and the clang of the cash register.
We take a mountain kingdom and transform it into rubble just as if we had buried sticks of dynamite five feet apart through its length and breadth. In many ways with our disregard for nature and eco-systems, we caused the drop to fall.
And it is a collective guilt that we must acknowledge and seek to make amends. For this is merely a warning of what awaits us.
It would do well to remember that the earth is not ours to do with as we please.
We are all only passing through.
Anita Nair
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Anita’s Attic in The Economic Times, Bengaluru Edition
Divya Shekhar of The Economic Times on the Creative writing Mentorship program at Anita’s Attic, dated April 10, 2015.
Speaking to ET about what it takes to be an author, Anita said, “There are three stages first, a natural tal ent or inclination to write; second, crafting those skills and third, perseverance despite failures.“ Anita’s Attic was a result of numerous mentorship requests received over the years.
Read the Online version here.
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Big News Live | അനിതാനായര് ഇപ്പോള് കഥയെഴുതിപ്പിക്കുകയാണ്
Story Dated : April 9, 2015
– കെ ബാല ചന്ദ്രന്ബംഗളൂരു: ജീവിതവൃത്തി എന്തായാലും വാക്കുകളുടെ മോഹവലയത്തില് വീണ് സര്ഗ സാഹിത്യ രചന ഹൃദയ താളമാക്കിയവര്ക്ക്, സ്വന്തം രചനാ തന്ത്രങ്ങള് മൂര്ച്ച കൂട്ടാന് സഹായവുമായി പ്രശസ്ത നോവലിസ്റ്റ് അനിതാ നായരുടെ ‘സാഹിത്യപ്പണിപ്പുര’. ‘അനിതാസ് അറ്റിക് ‘(അനിതയുടെ മച്ചിന് പുറം) എന്നപേരില് കഴിഞ്ഞ പന്ത്രണ്ടു ശനിയാഴ്ച്ചകളില് നടന്നുവന്ന ശില്പശാല വരുന്ന ശനിയാഴ്ച (ഏപ്രില്11)’ രംഗോളി മെട്രോ ആര്ട്ട് സെന്ററിലെ ‘രംഗസ്ഥല’ത്ത് സമാപിക്കും.
എഴുത്ത് തൊഴിലാക്കിയവര്ക്ക് പുറമേ, മാധ്യമപ്രവര്ത്തകര്, എഞ്ചിനിയര്മാര്, മൃഗ ഡോക്ടര്, വിദ്യാര്ത്ഥികള്, പ്രൊഫസര്, ചലച്ചിത്ര പ്രവര്ത്തകര് തുടങ്ങി സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ പലതുറകളിലുമുള്ളവര് അനിതയെന്ന തഴക്കം വന്ന എഴുത്തുകാരിയുടെ സജീവ ഇടപെടലില് രചനയുടെ കാണാപ്പുറങ്ങള് കണ്ടറിയാന് എത്തി. പണിപ്പുരയിലെ പരിശീലനാര്ത്ഥികള് സ്വന്തം രചനകള് വായിച്ചവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്നതോടെ അവരുടെ അരങ്ങേറ്റം നടക്കും.
കഥപറച്ചില് ഭാരതീയരുടെ മികവുകളില് ഒന്നാണെങ്കിലും, ‘സര്ഗ രചന’ നമ്മുടെ സര്വകലാശാലകളില് ഒരു മികവുറ്റ പഠന വിഷയമായി ഉരുത്തിരിഞ്ഞു വന്നിട്ടില്ല. എന്നാല് പാശ്ചാത്യ സര്വകലാശാലകള് കഥ, കവിത, തുടങ്ങി സര്ഗ സാഹിത്യത്തില് എംഎഫ്എ (മാസ്റ്റര് ഓഫ് ഫൈന് ആര്ട്സ്)ബിരുദം നല്കുന്നുണ്ട്. ഈ വിടവ് നികത്താനുള്ള ആദ്യ ചുവടുവെപ്പാണ് ‘സാഹിത്യ ശില്പ ശാല’ എന്ന് കരുതാം.
തകഴിയുടെ ‘ചെമ്മീന്’ വിവര്ത്തനത്തിലൂടെ തന്റെ മലയാളി വ്യക്തിത്വം പ്രകടമാക്കിയ അനിതാനായര്, ഇംഗ്ലിഷില് നോവല്, കഥ, കവിത, വിവരണാത്മക ഗദ്യം, ഉപന്യാസം തുടങ്ങി കൈവച്ച മേഖലകളിലെല്ലാം വ്യക്തിമുദ്ര പതിപ്പിച്ച എഴുത്തുകാരിയാണ്. വിവിധ പ്രായത്തിലും, ജീവിത മേഖലകളിലുമുള്ള സര്ഗ പ്രണയികളെ വഴികാട്ടാന് ഇതിലും മികച്ച ഒരു പ്രതിഭയെ കിട്ടാനുണ്ടോ?
‘വളരെക്കാലമായി എഴുത്തുകാര്ക്ക് മാര്ഗ നിര്ദ്ദേശം നല്കാനും, കൈയെഴുത്ത് പ്രതികള് പരിശോധിക്കാനും എന്റെ വെബ് സൈറ്റില് ഒട്ടേറെ അഭ്യര്ത്ഥനകള് ലഭിക്കാറുണ്ട്. എല്ലാവര്ക്കും മറുപടിയയക്കുക അസാധ്യം. ഫേസ്ബുക്കില് ഈ പരിപാടിയെക്കുറിച്ച് വിവരം നല്കി. നൂറോളം പേര് താല്പര്യം കാട്ടിയതില് നിന്ന് പതിനൊന്നുപേരെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുത്തു അവരയച്ച രചനാ മാതൃകകള് പരിശോധിച്ചാണ് തെരഞ്ഞെടുത്തത്. ‘അനിത നായര് പറയുന്നു. പതിനെട്ടു വയസ്സിനു മുകളില് പ്രായമുള്ളവരും, 12 ശനിയാഴ്ച നീക്കി വയ്ക്കാന് താല്പ്പര്യമുള്ളവര്ക്കുമാണ് അവസരം നല്കിയത്. എഴുത്തുകാരുടെ മികവ് എന്തിലാണെന്ന് കണ്ടറിഞ്ഞു അത്തരം ഒരു ‘സര്ഗ പദ്ധതി’ അവരെക്കൊണ്ടു ചെയ്യിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു. വേണ്ട ഉപദേശവും, നിര്ദ്ദേശവും നല്കി.
ആഴ്ചതോറും സമര്പ്പിക്കുന്ന രചനകള് വിമര്ശനബുദ്ധ്യാ പരിശോധിച്ചു, അപഗ്രഥനം നടത്തും. എഴുത്തുകാര്, പ്രസാധകര്, എഡിറ്റര് എന്നിങ്ങനെ പല തലങ്ങളിലുള്ളവര് രചയിതാക്കളുമായി ആശയ വിനിമയം നടത്തി. ശില്പ്പശാല കഴിഞ്ഞാല് പ്രസിദ്ധീകരണത്തിന് പ്രതികള് അയക്കാന് കഴിയുന്ന വിധമാണ് പരിശീലനം സംഘടിപ്പിച്ചിരുന്നത്. ഓരോ പരിശീലനാര്ത്ഥിക്കും പ്രത്യേക ആവശ്യമാണുള്ളത്, അത് നല്കുകയെന്നത് എളുപ്പമായിരുന്നില്ലെന്ന് അനിത നായര് ചൂണ്ടിക്കാട്ടുന്നു. പക്ഷെ 12 ആഴ്ചകൊണ്ട് അവരില് വന്ന നാടകീയമായ സര്ഗ പരിവര്ത്തനം നല്കിയ സന്തോഷം നിസ്സീമമായിരുന്നു വെന്ന് അനിതാനായര്.
താന് രചനക്ക് മാര്ഗനിര്ദ്ദേശം നല്കിയവരുടെ കൃതികള് പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിക്കാനും അനിത ഒരു പ്രസാധക സ്ഥാപനവുമായി ചേര്ന്ന് പദ്ധതി തയ്യാറാക്കിയിരിക്കുന്നു. ആദ്യ ശില്പശാലയില് പങ്കെടുത്തവരുടെ കൃതികള് ഒരു സമാഹാരത്തില് ഉള്പ്പെടുത്തും. അടുത്ത ‘അനിതാസ് അറ്റിക് ‘ ശില്പ്പശാല അടുത്ത സെപ്തെംബറില് നടക്കും. കൂടുതല് വിവരങ്ങള്ക്ക് www.anitanair.net , anitasattic.com എന്നീ വെബ്സൈറ്റുകള് സന്ദര്ശിക്കുക.
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Anita’s Attic in the Times of India, Bengaluru edition
GS Kumar of the Times Of India on the Creative writing Mentorship program at Anita’s Attic, dated April 7, 2015.
They’ve been trained for 12 weeks (12 Saturdays) as part of Anita’s Attic, a creative writing and mentorship programme. The April 11 event will mark their graduation and see them reading out from their best works. It’s an attempt to help aspiring authors hone their skills and find their voice,” said Anita. The motley group includes journalists, engineers, professional writers, a student, professor, filmmaker and veterinarian.
Read the Online version here.
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The Grand Finale to Season 1 of Anita’s Attic at Namma Metro, MG Road, Bengaluru
You are cordially invited to the graduation ceremony and celebrations of the first batch of writers graduating from Anita’s Attic Creative Writing Mentorship Program.
Jayanth Kodkani – Deputy Resident Editor, Times of India Bengaluru has graciously consented to be the Chief Guest for the graduation ceremony. Please do join us as the Graduating Class read out from their live projects at the Rangoli Metro Theatre, MG Road Bengaluru, on April 11th 2015 between 5 – 7 pm.
The Inaugural Graduating Class
Vestin Verghese Harini Rajasekhar Akhil Kakkar Meena Chandrasekhran Apoorva Satish Nandini Murali Archana Vijay Sathya Ramaganapathy Krupa Ge Swapna Narayanan Look forward to seeing you on
Date : April 11th 2015
Time : 5 – 7 pm
Venue : Rangoli Metro Theatre, MG Road Bengaluru
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Aditi De | A rainbow comes a-visiting to Anita’s Attic
It was the penultimate session of Anita’s Attic and over the course of the last eleven weeks, my writers had met an assortment of literary people. I saw their morale rise and fall; I saw energies flag and then revive; I heard doubts they voiced, the doubts they didn’t. I tried to hold their hand as much as I could but eventually I thought they needed to hear from someone who after a career of meeting deadlines now chose to make her own and motivate herself with the passion she felt for words and joy that filled her when she wrote.
Many writers of my generation cut our publishing tooth on a page called YOUTHINK in the Indian Express. I am not sure if it was the new Indian Express then. But apart from Harry Miller whom I worshiped, the only other name I knew in the newspaper was Aditi De. Soon as the person one sent off one’s heart and soul out to every few weeks, she became someone who could determine what your state of mind was like. Euphoria if a piece was accepted. Anxiety if one didn’t hear from her. Anguish if a rejection slip came my way.
Over the years Aditi and I met, and perhaps one of my true moments of accomplishment was when she interviewed me after my first novel The Better Man was published.
Aditi came. Aditi saw. Aditi conquered.
At the end of the session at Anita’s Attic, one of the writers described her as a rainbow. Thank you Rainbow De for putting a smile on my writers faces just before they went forth on their own.
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Karthika VK, publisher, HarperCollins, on writing despite all odds, at Anita’s Attic
A mythical beast called a publisher.
As an unpublished writer, the image of a publisher in my mind was of a man who was part Karl Marx, part Freud, part Julius Caesar and part D. H. Lawrence. I imagined him in a suit smoking a pipe. I imagined him sitting at a long table with nothing on its surface except his gold pen, spectacle case and an ash tray. I imagined a publisher who did nothing but sign large publishing advance cheques for writers before going off to his club to drink a whisky and eat smoked salmon sandwiches with which ever literary great he was wooing at that point.
I was the child with nose pressed against the glass looking in and marveling. My first book was published and and I met my publisher who was staying with the Governor of Karnataka. He took me for a walk around the gubernatorial grounds, fed me cucumber sandwiches and tea and as we chatted, I noticed that he had a gold pen and a spectacle case on the table before him.
But then my first novel happened and I moved to a new publishing house and a new editor. She looked nothing like Marx, Freud, Caesar or Lawrence but she had them all within her and so much more. Over the last 17 years, she became my editor, publisher and dearly beloved friend. And that is the image of a publisher I wished for my writers at Anita’s Attic to see.
For the 10th session of Anita’s Attic, Karthika VK, publisher, HarperCollins India talked to the writers telling them of what lies ahead and what it takes to keep faith and write despite the odds and obstacles.
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Sudeshna Shome Ghosh, editor, at Anita’s Attic
Very often unpublished writers imagine a situation where the editor of a large publishing house reputed to offer million dollar advances to unknown names would fling open the door of his cabin to the writer hovering outside with a 350-page manuscript typed in single space and say: “I don’t want to know why you’re here. Just come in, and sit down. Here, this is my favourite chair. Is it sufficiently close to the AC? Take off your shoes, please — no, let me help you; my secretary will wash your feet. We were just about to have a biriyani; won’t you join us? How about a glass of tender coconut water? Eat, drink your fill; make a few long distance calls. Then tell me, when you’re ready, who your parents are and where you come from and the reason that brings you here. And then I am going to take this day off and read every word you have written.”
The truth is something else. And it was to talk about the reality of the editorial process and how the publishing industry functions that I thought it best to invite one of my editors Sudeshna Shome Ghosh with whom I worked on three of my children’s books to talk to the writers at Anita’s Attic.
Needless to say the session was informative, fun and nipped in the bud many delusions of what awaits a writer :).
Thank you Sudeshna for saying it as it is without dampening dreams.