Category: Anita’s Notes

  • On Creating and Maintaining a Writer’s Digital Presence

    Just like that, Season 3 of Anita’s Attic is into session 4 and we thought it time that our writers get an understanding of what it is to be a writer in this time and age. And so it was time to call in the Marines.

    And I can’t think of anyone more appropriate than Biju Ebenezer, part of my digital team *conditionsapply and a WordPress evangelist.

    In a scintillating session where Biju talked to the writers about the importance of creating a digital footprint and answered their queries, many nuggets of wisdom emerged :

    * Tomorrow when someone searches for you, you have to give them at least 5 avenues to find you – on creating a digital footprint

    * If you are out of sight, you are out of mind! – on maintaining blogs,

    * Write your blog post at least once a month – on digital discipline

    Thank you Biju for sharing your wisdom so generously and so graciously

  • Vivek Shanbagh at Anita’s Attic

    There is a book everyone is talking about these days.

    Ghachar Ghochar by Vivek Shanbagh and translated into English by Srinath Perur. A nonsense phrase title of a slim book but with a truly remarkable literary heft that would put tomes with ponderous titles to shame.

    So to speak to Season 3 writers at Anita’s Attic, we had the gracious and gentle Vivek Shanbagh who talked of his journey from village to city, Konkani to Kannada, reader to writer, real time versus literary time and thereon.

    It was a proud moment for us to be able to include Indian language writers into the Attic’s list of guest speakers. And who better than Vivek Shanbagh to start with!

    Thank you Vivek.

  • Lavanya Sankaran at Anita’s Attic

    As always, I take great care to zone in on the writers I invite to introduce the world of writing to my writers at ‎Anita’s Attic‬ and the first writer pretty much sets the tone.

    And so Season 3 at Anita’s Attic kick-started with the brilliant, passionate and funny Lavanya Sankaran, author of ‪The Red Carpet and The Hope Factory.

    Here are some of her quips:

    On responses to writing: Your mother was the person who when you pooped thought it was brilliant.
    On the writing discipline: Writing demands you write. That is the nature of that god…

    Thank you Lavanya….you were a rock star!

  • Physician, heal thyself| Collaborative Fiction from Anita’s Attic Season 2 in The Bangalore Mirror

    I could get addicted to this rush of seeing my mentees work in print.

    Proud mentor moment again as the third piece of collaborative fiction by Anita’s Attic Season 2 writers published this morning in the Bangalore Mirror.

    Take a bow Vani Menon, Raksha Kumar, Peter Vas and Adithya Ravi.

    And thank you again Bangalore Mirror.

    An Excerpt

    “Balu,” said somebody at the door. The doctor looked up into the tired eyes of Hargopal.
    “Urgent,” Hargopal said and left as swiftly as he showed up.
    Dr Balu suddenly became stiff. He got up and patted the boy. “You’ll be alright. Nothing to worry.” He briskly walked to the door and looked outside at the row of patients waiting for him at the reception area.
    He made his way to the rear entrance of the building that housed his clinic in a converted garage. The familiar white tempo-traveller with its window curtains pulled across was parked close to the compound wall. Hargopal was nowhere in sight. The tempo-traveller’s door slid open as soon as he approached it. He was pulled in by Hargopal and the door slid shut quickly.
    “All clear,” crackled a walkie-talkie. Dr Balu understood that Shanmugham Street was now under surveillance.

     
    Read the complete story online here
     

  • Daddy Dearest | Collaborative Fiction from Anita’s Attic Season 2 in The Bangalore Mirror

    This week’s proud mommy moment.

    The second piece of collaborative fiction by Anita’s Attic Season 2 writers published this morning in the Bangalore Mirror.

    Take a bow Shruti Ramachandra, Chaya Nair, Mani Kurian and Sandeep Narayanan.

    And thank you again Bangalore Mirror.

    An Excerpt

    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.

     
    Read the complete story online here
     
    Download the .pdf version here

  • A Pound of Flesh | Collaborative Fiction from Anita’s Attic Season 2 in The Bangalore Mirror

    It’s a proud day for Anita’s Attic. A piece of collaborative fiction written by four of our writers from Season 2 has just been published.

    Take a bow Sriranjani S, Poorva Dinesh, Chirantan Shah and Rahul Warrier.

    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.

    Read as it appeared in The Bangalore Mirror

    A-Pound-Of-Flesh---Collaborative-Storywriting-Anitas-Attic-Season-2

    To download the .pdf version, click here

  • Krupa Ge shortlisted for the TOTO Awards for creative writing

    We should be used to Anita’s Attic writers making their mark by now.

    But each time they chalk up a moment of triumph, it feels like the first time and we can’t stop grinning with glee. This time Krupa Ge makes us gleam.

  • Sathya Ramaganapathy’s “If it’s Dinner, it Must be Dosa” published in Antiserious

    Sathya Ramaganapathy‘s “If it’s Dinner, it Must be Dosa” appears in Antiserious, “a journal for laughter in slow motion”.

    Excerpt

    She: Amma, what are we having for dinner?

    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!

    For the uninitiated, that’s adai dosa.

    Read the complete version here.

  • Alphabet Soup for Lovers | Announcing the new novel by Anita Nair

    [symple_column size=”one-half” position=”first” fade_in=”false”]
    [symple_box color=”blue” fade_in=”false” float=”center” text_align=”center” width=””]

    Pre-order your copy now !

    Amazon India | Flipkart | Infibeam | Uread

    [/symple_box]

    Alphabet-Soup-for-Lovers-by-Anita-Nair---Pre-Order-Now

    [/symple_column]
    [symple_column size=”one-half” position=”last” fade_in=”false”]

    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.

    [/symple_column]

    Alphabet Soup for Lovers releases on 25 November 2015

  • Anita’s Attic in the Malayala Manorama Bengaluru Edition

    Anitas-Attic-Season-2-Graduation-2015-Malayala-Manorama-Bengaluru-Edition