Bestsellers – Smart Women Have Hearts Too

TheSeer Team

Samhita Arni was in conversation with Anuja Chauhan today on a sunny afternoon at the Tughlaq in the Bangalore Literature Festival. Samhita made a big bang start by opening the conversation with “A fireside chat with the hottest author in Bangalore, a peek into her past work and cue into her future”.

 

Samhita’s first poser to Anuja was on the subject of her books, which are not just entertaining, but also have substance, history, and politics. In response, Anuja said that she tries to write books which she reads personally. “The vital thing a reader can give another reader is their voice. Your life experiences are your raw data”, responded Anuja, and went on to add that her father having been an army man, her experiences come into her writing. 

 

Anuja confessed that she was partial to autobiographies and hopes to write 20 autobiographical books before she dies! Her book “Baaz” relates to the crushes she had on fighter pilots, “The Zoya Factor” takes on from her stint in advertising and “The Battle of Bittora” storyline is taken from the election campaigns on which she accompanied her mother.

 

Anuja had some very interesting tips to share on how to cater to diverse audiences. She advocated to write in a light, breezy, bouncy zone, or it will scare the idea away. She suggested to talk to people who are not like you and help to enrich your life. Importantly, she said, “base your characters on traits of people you know”. As an example, she spoke about the grandmother character from ‘The Battle of Bittora’. Pushpa Pandey, the name, was based on her mother’s first name. The character is based on a three-time Member of Parliament from a north Indian village. The traits of the character are a lot like her mother, grand mother as well as her mother in law. There are readers who ask her what is the risk that people might recognize themselves in her books. She ruled out this possibility by assuring that she is good at disguising people, in bringing only traits and not the entire person into her book. 

 

Samhita quizzed her on which medium she leans towards, books or movies, considering that quite a few of her books have made it to the movies, Anuja definitely prefers the written medium since only a book is complete. She then added with a smile that a movie made from a book does have its perks such as the money and being invited to Bangalore Literature Festival.

 

Samhita gave it away when she said that Anuja is working on a web series for Hotstar that has strong women protagonists. Anuja said that this is a medium close to her since the content has to be really sticky and its structure is different from that of a book. 

 

Anuja reflected on having written five books in 10 years; and felt this is too slow. “I’m no speedy Gonsalves”, she said. She wonders how Agatha Christie has been able to complete 70 books. She quoted that Meg Cabot and Vikram Seth are her favourite writers. According to her, the best compliment an author can get is to be re-readable. Samhita added on the compliment to mention that her protagonists are staunch, feisty women.

 

In response to an audience question about her transition from the ad world to writing books, she mentioned that self-motivation is the key; she pushes herself to write at least 1000 words a day.

 

Pepsi’s Yeh Dil Maange More was one of her famous ad campaigns, which was created by building upon Pepsi’s international tagline ‘Ask for more’ and giving it an Indian twist. “Thoda dil daalke bolo – Yeh Dil Maange More”, in her own words.

 

Anuja advised that advertising was a good start to a career before getting into writing. She mentioned that the ad world crushes your ego, and you become receptive to criticism. Her humorous anecdote about Jemima Goldsmith’s father telling her that Imran Khan would make a good first husband sent the audience into splits of laughter. She spoke about the 3Rs of advertising – Rapidity, Resilience, Repertoire. “Read the masters, read, read and read”, is the one liner she had to say to the upcoming writers. Having been glued to every word that Anuja said through the half hour session, the audience gave a thundering applause, almost as if they said ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’!

 

 

 

 

About the Author: Usha Ramaswamy craves to get more creative in addition to being an avid reader, traveller, vlogger, marketer of events, mobile photographer. One day, she wants to write a book but for now, she pens her reflections at her blog and puts up photos on instagram. She also works as a software process consultant and is a mother of two. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Bestsellers – The Belated Bachelor Party

TheSeer Team

The Yayati stage arena was seen jam-packed this evening at 3.30 PM as the love story juggernaut, Ravinder Singh and Milan Vohra, better known as India’s first Mills & Boon author, took the stage. The session moderated by Milan, was kickstarted with an introduction to Ravinder’s latest bestselling novel, The Belated Bachelor Party, which has sold over 3.5 million copies!

 

The discussion primarily revolved around how The Belated Bachelor Party stands out from his long list of run-of-the-mill love stories, culminating in heart-breaking endings. Ravinder called it “a reunion book” which he claimed is poles apart from his kind of writing. This book is more of a comic relief to his readers who complained that there are no happy endings to his books. It also brought back his three friends who had moved to 3 different corners of the globe. It was all about bringing in a change in the flavor to cater to the changing tastes of the audience.

 

Ravinder assured to have incorporated his direct or indirect experiences in his book and that’s a recurrent theme in his writings. He basically familiarized the audience to his book by narrating a short blurb from it which revolves around four friends living in 4 different places and how they held onto the bond of friendship even after living apart from one another for years at a stretch. It all starts with a conference call amongst the four of them that triggered the entire idea of a bachelor party that they never had before getting married. And he chose to add the ‘belated’ part to it because he is of the belief that “belated can fix so many things”.

 

Further, the story behind the narrative style of the book was unraveled to the audience. Ravinder asserted that the idea of making ‘friendship’ his mouthpiece in his book occurred to him from his reading of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak where ‘death’ narrates the story. There also exists the elbow-space to be self-critical when written in third person is what Ravinder believes. His talk on his book was further seasoned by his light-hearted humor and ended with a few cliff-hangers for those who haven’t read his book as yet.

 

On being questioned by Milan about his concept of “wealth, women, and wine can make everything happen”, he goes back to connect it to “jar, jameen aur joru” (wealth, land and wife), about what weaken the knees.

 

Ravinder concluded his session by voicing out his firm will to leverage the power of books to talk about the things that matter to him. While signing off, he created fine ripples of applause and cheer amongst the audience by announcing the existence of a bunch of men who are sensitive and can talk about issues without women being involved in whatever way possible.

 

 

 

About the Author: Upasana Mahanta is an MA in English with Communication Studies student from CHRIST (Deemed To Be University) – Bengaluru, who firmly believes that there is nothing more exhilarating and liberating as poetry. She finds solace in writing poems and travel blogs and has amongst her laurels a 1st Prize in the English category of the All India Poetess Conference, Meghalaya Chapter’s Seventh Poetry Competition cum North East Poetry Festival. She currently writes for TheSeer.

 

Hindustani Mussalman

TheSeer Team

The evening session driven by Abdullah Khan, a Mumbai based novelist, screenwriter, literary critic, and banker was one of the most engaging events of the day two of Bangalore Literature Festival. His discovery of George Orwell sharing origin to his birthplace Bihar, drew him to literature. With Abdullah on stage was Andaleeb Wajid, a Bangalore-based writer who has written on diverse topics like food, relationships, and weddings in a Muslim context. The other esteemed guests were Hussain Haidry, an Indian poet, writer and lyricist and Hem Borker, an assistant professor at the Centre for Social Exclusion and Inclusive policy, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. 

 

The discourse began with the contextualization of the current widespread practice of stereotyping on the basis of various grounds like religion, region, caste etc. The debate was intense around the identity aspect and its corollary with respect to our country. Abdullah brought in references from Nelson Mandela’s vision to proceed the argument which mainly dealt with the explanation of who actually is an Indian Muslim in the contemporary India. 

 

The power structure of Muslims facing the stereotypical bias from the country as a whole for being a minority was discussed. Andaleeb expressed her struggles over wearing veil (burkha) and exploring her right to choose the way she wishes to dress and make her personal choice. Hema brought in historical instances which paved a new school of thought about a secular country where everyone has equal rights to practice their own choice of religion. 

 

The debate was carried forward by Hussain’s vision of Indian Muslim not just being a mere set of two words, instead a culmination of numerous identities. He narrated his poem “Hindustani Mussalman” to the audience which received a stellar response. He then put forward a series of questions after narrating his poem which was received with pin drop silence. The narration included controversial parts of the poem about Babri Masjid. He also spoke about being a Muslim and rejoicing the sacred bath in holy river Ganga.

 

The panelist then referred to the aspect of multi-identity in every Muslim. They cleared their stance that they are as Indian as any other citizen of the country. Abdullah drew the mistaken stereotype of most Indians assuming and associating Muslims to mere one section of the society. He gave his life experiences whereby he had to tell people that he has many layered identities besides being an Indian. He gave the example of Genghis Khan who is assumed to a Muslim because of his surname though he was a follower of Tengrism. 

The panelists shared their life experiences and dwelled on the aspect of secularity in the country, overarching the central idea of Muslims as a community in India facing prejudice. The session ended on a very insightful discussion answering audience questions related to current events like the Babri Masjid verdict.

 

 

 

About the Author: Abhinav Kumar is an MA in English with Communication Studies student from CHRIST ( Deemed To Be University), Bengaluru who believes in “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world”. He is interested in sports journalism and travelogue writing. He currently writes for TheSeer.

Belonging and Unbelonging in North-East India

TheSeer Team

This was a topic very close to the hearts of Jahnavi, Paramjit and Preeti, making this a heart-touching conversation.  “Do citizens of North East need to prove themselves to be true Indians?”was the question they posed.

Each of the panellists has an emotional attachment to the North-East, however, this being a topic which usually does not generate much interest, they were pleasantly surprised and joyful to see a large crowd gathered at The Red Couch.

 

Where do you think home is?

This was an initial poser before getting into the deeper questions of belonging and unbelonging.

“Nebulous!”, was Jahnavi’s reaction. She has moved between Assam, Meghalaya, and Delhi and shifting every three years since her father was an IAS officer. However, Shillong was her ancestral home for generations and she had a lovely childhood; Jahnavi transported the audience into the beautiful state capital with its wonderful weather. She also spoke of the Delhi she likes, with its neem trees, Lodhi gardens, the beautiful sunset. “Many threads weave together to form home”, she then reflected. Jahnavi came to Bangalore in 1992 to study, has felt a sense of belonging ever since, and is now a writer based here, this being one place where differences are welcomed. “I am gathering some moss and loving it!”, she happily observed. 

Paramjit’s parents were from Rawalpindi, moved to India during the Partition, and shifted base every three years. This has resulted in him yearning to belong to a place he can call “home”.

Preeti had an outside-in story to narrate, as part of her experience travelling in the north-east to write about issues of conflict and women. People have asked her, “What are you, a Punjabi, doing here in the North-East?”, which makes her question who an Indian really is, are there any permanent boundaries in reality? Partition is such an example whence a line was drawn, the boundaries changed and it resulted in many insiders become outsiders to India.

 

Why do people give you a sense of unbelonging?

“Because people are not curious enough”, was Preeti’s comment. She stressed on the importance of knowing about who lives next to you; knowledge brings enlightenment.

Paramjit added on to say that these stories are rarely told, Preeti’s work is a first attempt at bringing out these to the world. He has spent about 9 years in the north-east, his better half is from Shillong, has a lot of Khasi and Naga friends and would like to belong to the place. However, his features mark him out otherwise and that adds to the sense of unbelonging.

The ‘populist factor’, the deep-rooted belief that the “son of the soil” should get recognition is prevalent in various parts of our country. Paramjit gave a few examples wherein the north eastern states are moving towards populism – the Mizoram association is making people pledge not to marry outsiders. The Meghalaya state government has passed an ordinance which mandates outsiders to register themselves if they are staying beyond 24 hours in the state and there is a law in the making about Khasi girls losing their rights if they marry outsiders.

 

“If we come into populist pressure, the concept of India will be lost” – Paramjit

 

The audience was so much into the emotions expressed by Jahnavi, Preeti, and Paramjit, that there were not many questions. The parting note was a question, “When you write, what is your primary emotion?” For Jahnavi, they are – a need to express, deep nostalgia, some sense of loss. Paramjit had only one word for it – anguish. A realization of what unbelonging truly means….and a wish for ‘belonging’ to set in soon in an integrated India – these are the feelings that the audience parted with.

 

 

 

 

About the Author: Usha Ramaswamy craves to get more creative in addition to being an avid reader, traveller, vlogger, marketer of events, mobile photographer. One day, she wants to write a book but for now, she pens her reflections at her blog and puts up photos on instagram. She also works as a software process consultant and is a mother of two. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Tales from Rajasthan

TheSeer Team

How many times do we see characters from the tribal community of the far flung areas of India, particularly in English mainstream publishing? Well, breaking the notion, HarperCollins have published two novella called Bhaunri and Daura written by Anukrti Upadhyay.

 

In her conversation with Udayan Mitra, a literary publisher at HarperCollins Publishers India,  Anukrti who is a lawyer turned writer, talked about her process of writing the two novellas set in rural Rajasthan. Reading Daura reminded Udayan of the book Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, which is a story of village through the journal of a district collector who starts getting deeply involved in the lives of rural people.

 

Both stories revolve around the theme of love. Bhaunri, a girl from the blacksmith tribe of rural rajasthan is married at a very young age and when she goes to stay with her husband as a young adult, she experiences an inclination towards another man. As Anukrti read an excerpt from the book Bhaunri, one could easily immerse in the narrative and  detailing of the characters so profound. Udayan exclaims that her stories are redolent of sight, smell, and feel of Rajasthan.

 

Anukrti said that being born and brought up in Jaipur, nomads were a frequent sight and though she didn’t live in the desert, it always fascinated her, which were the inspiration behind the books. 

 

When asked why she writes both in English and Hindi she admits that even though she is fluent in both, it is to compensate the inadequacy she falls in when writing in one of the languages. She further explained that there are certain expressions and words that are best expressed in a particular language and translation cannot do justice though she tries her best to keep the soul and rhythm intact if at all a translation is required.

 

The book that Anukrti has written in Hindi is a collection of short stories called Japani Sarai. For her love of the culture and aesthetics of Japan, Anukrti also talked about her upcoming book Kinsuki which has a cultural mix of both Rajasthan and Japan. For her, places are as important as characters in the story.

 

The session ended with a question about her past life where she was a lawyer working in global investment companies – what lead her to shift towards writing? She answered that she had been writing ever since a child and is addicted to it, though she shifted from poetry writing to prose when it came to formal publishing. It was just a gradual shift from writing a journal for herself to writing for everyone but writing had always been her love.

 

 

 

About the Author: Bhumika Soni is a literature enthusiast working in the field of data analytics, I have always found words more charming and powerful than numbers. Still searching for The Enchanted Tree created by Enid Blyton to travel to various magical worlds. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Discovering Bengaluru

TheSeer Team

The cool climes in the Red Couch at 10:30am adds to the authenticity of the topic of discussions. What else do we really know about Bengaluru apart from its pleasant climates that has been an abiding attraction for years? Meera Iyer, through her book “Discovering Bengaluru”, wishes to convey the idea that a city cannot merely be understood by words printed on pages, but by experiencing the city itself.

 

When Harini asked Meera why she chose to write a book on Bangalore, considering there’s an ocean covering this topic, her response was to make her book not too academic yet authentic and accessible. ‘Visual thinking’ is a trait she acquired from her work with architects for nearly twelve years. Meera said that she embodies this trait through her work by enthralling the readers with the scenic pictures of lakes and gardens that imbue the beauty of the city to the native parts like Frazer Town and Lalbagh.

 

“What is there in Bangalore?” is a question we often ask ourselves. The misconception that heritage pertains to just the buildings, but not in the natural components drifts us further away from understanding the land we live in. Meera spoke fondly of how she has rooted herself to the city by recognizing the affiliation between history, ecology, and heritage. She said that in the grand scheme of things, one notices the essentiality of all these components; the connectedness and how the tangible and intangible heritage shape one another.

 

 

Heritage walks held by INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) make an individual cognizant about the land they live in. Heritage does not just add to the character of the city but also the quality of living in the city.

 

“Post these walks, we’ve had people call back and tell us about a heritage building being damaged or demolished. Because now they know something and understand it. When you understand it you learn to appreciate it.”, were Meera’s words.

 

 

Meera then touched upon the factors that keeps the heritage of a city alive. Firstly, the memories and familiarity of the old buildings is what retains the uniqueness of a city. She said that unfortunately not many recognise this fact. Secondly, the indifference by government officials contributes to losing the identity of the city. She pointed out the importance of the government’s involvement in raising funds for heritage owners in order to indigenously preserve them.

 

The session concluded with Meera leaving us with a question to ponder upon “Why do the government-supported heritage spots close down when there is already a dire need for public spaces in this city? When would we be able to lend these places for people to congregate?”

 

 

 

 

About the Author: Deepti Anbarasu is a final year college student who’s always looking out for new opportunities which enrich her experiences. When she isn’t reading or painting, she’s probably singing, watching Game of Thrones and is overwhelmed by the physics of the cosmos. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Fried Rice and Fellowship – Days Of My China Dragon

TheSeer Team

First session of day 2 of BLF 2019 and one would have thought it would be a dampener given the heavy outpour of previous night. But that is not namma Bengaluru! 

This delightful conversation started right on time. 

The session was a conversation on the power of food to nourish and console. It had Chandrahas Choudhury, the author of three works of fiction, Clouds, Arzee and Days of my China Dragon and Rupesh Pai, a Mumbai based entrepreneur who managed his father’s Udupi restaurant back in 1992 and made it into the Chinese restaurant. 

Chandrahas and Rupesh unfolded their journey together dating back to a decade in Mumbai. Chandrahas first met Rupesh when he moved to Mumbai in a rundown apartment in Prabhadevi. On a rainy night he went to Rupesh’s restaurant and there was no looking back since then.

Chandrahas has been a self-employed writer throughout. He got sucked into the multifaceted world of dragons through Rupesh’s restaurant ‘China Dragon”. This is where he realized that economics was not the measure of life. He very beautifully compared the writing of fiction to running a restaurant. Both have to understand people and make people happy in the short time they enter your world.

Rupesh added that to know every customers taste was very important and they ensured that they treated each customer personally. 

Chandrahas reminisced how he missed the unlimited access in afterhours to the restaurant. The book is a representation of the afterhours of people who work in a restaurant. How the restaurant employees never ate the same Chinese food that they served. The restaurant represented a little India to him. A school of character where waiters would analyse customers and human nature. 

Chandrahas added that he had really grown to enjoy Mumbai seeing tough people hardened by life’s journey. How it brought joy to people being called ‘sir’ and be served by a waiter. Difference between business and hospitality is not just to serve but make the time warm. People will come in certain mood and leave in another. Customers would confess their worries. A restaurant is not just a pace to get food but a cross between a theatre and a therapy centre.

Rupesh engaged the audience with his journey in the restaurant business. How he started it when he was 11 years old. The age gap between his father and himself was forty-five years but he learnt everything from cooking and serving from his father In 1992 when he joined his father’s restaurant business was also the time of Hindu Muslim riots. How the Mumbai blast did not affect the daily operations. Mumbai is a city that never sleeps.  He quoted some phrases in Mumbai accent which got many in the audiences relate to Mumbai. (“Uska dil jeetna hai toh uske pet mei ghuso”. Aaisa khilao jaisa uski biwi ne bhi nahi khilaya”). 

Rupseh also spoke about the discipline that his father had and how he was charged rent to run his own restaurant that taught him a lot about running businesses. He spoke about the tough time he had to convince his father when grilled sandwiches were making way in Udupi restaurants. 

Chadrahas’s book “My days of China Dragon” depicts many invisible characters drawn from the real life of Rupesh’s actual restaurant.They spoke about the shared life from which the book has emerged. 

Chandrahas then had the audience quiet and attentive when he read a passage from the book about a character Pintu from Kolhapur – “portrait of a waiter from a young man”. It was heartening to know about Pintu’s journey and struggles. “Nothing like a restaurant to test a man’s character and nothing like a man’s character to test a restaurant” line struck a chord. Pintu was described as eager, sweet, nervous and out of place in Mumbai. Pintu thought only the rich wore a second layer of clothes. He did not understand the Chinese dishes as he came from the simple daal-bhaat family. Some very catchy lines to describe Pintu’s journey in Mumbai like “Long twisting noodle like road of life” left the audience with a warm relatable smile.

Chandrahas also confessed that he loved philosophizing some of the stories. He feels that the restaurant was the greatest university in life with no fees but so much learning. 

There was a friendly banter between Rupesh and Chandrahas that was refreshing. Rupesh fondly remembered his times in the restaurant and his role to ensure all his waiters felt comfortable and at home. (He used phrases like “aye pintu kidher jaa raha hai re? mai hai na”.) The camaraderie with waiters and customers was narrated too. 

Chandrahas and Rupesh had similar thoughts on how Swiggy or Zomato deliveries can never replace a small restaurant experience. Parcelling food loses its taste and the personal touch of being served. Plastic also has a chemical reaction that spoils the taste of food. The restaurants are to stay for a long time to come. On this note this very endearing conversation ended leaving the audience with a very encapsulating feeling and leaving them hungry for more! 

 

About The Author

Neha Agrawal is an expressive-impulsive woman with the halo of positivism and energy, a smile that emanates from the heart and wants to reach out to the world. She loves books, children, rawness, originality, and nature – not in any particular order. A budding poet and a writer under the handle #fursatkealfaaz on instagram. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Keshava – A Magnificent Obsession

TheSeer Team

Bhavana Somaaya has been writing for cinema for more than forty years. She has not only worked as a film critic but published several books, worked on radio, and has no limit to her explorations. In her sixties now, she has started learning Bharatanatyam since past two years. “Keshava”, is her book on lord Krishna and his relationship with several elements of nature. Bhavana has written yet another book on lord Krishna and she finds him to be her inspiration to seek serenity and joy in life. “Anyone who comes in contact with Krishna is consumed by him,” said Bhavana. She said that Krishna is an alluring deity and adores the overall charisma he has. 

 

Bhavana said that lord Krishna has the power to make everyone feel special; when a person comes in a relationship with him, one feels that lord gives all His attention and makes one feel important. Further in the session, she narrated how Keshava was not the original idea of a book or rather not just one single book, in fact it is a compilation of several small sections. She initially wrote “Tulsi”, her book which she struggled to publish as it was short of the required word limit. After a few years, she added the aspect as to how Tulsi is related to lord Krishna. While working on the book it thrilled her and she transformed it into an elaborated idea which dealt with Krishna’s relation with the natural elements of the world. That is how the book ‘Keshava’ came into existence with Tulsi as a part of it. 

 

Bhavana spoke about how she considers evolution and absorption to be the mantra of her life. This, to her, is Krishna’s most prominent characteristics. Applying the same, she revealed that she got the inspiration to write the book from a Gujarati text on Krishna that she had wished to translate. But she faced many difficulties because she did not know the script. She learned several languages to complete her research and her book. 

 

She told the audience that she has used very lucid language in this book which is different from all the other books that she has written so far. Despite the construction of this book being quite mechanical, yet it does not bind the reader to go by a chronological order. Each chapter serves as a different segment and establishes individual relation of the elements with Krishna. She calls it a book of devotion, belief, and prayer. 


Bhavana left the audience wanting for more with her endnote informing about two more upcoming book launches.

 

 

About the Author: Aditi Dua is a Masters student in English with Communication Studies who has a knack for aesthetics and poetry. Apart from being a literature enthusiast, she highly celebrates challenging ideologies and provide disputing ideas of death. Always available for a conversation over good coffee. She currently writes for TheSeer

Telling Stories, Erasing them

TheSeer Team

What happens when you put a fiction writer in conversation with a poet and if both of them are very good old friends? You experience a very fulfilling, light and informative Sunday morning conversation. 

Arundhathi Subramanian, an award-winning author of twelve renowned books and Jerry Pinto, an equally renowned writer and a journalist, got into a conversation about their works and inspirations.

It was an informal session that commenced with Arundhathi asking intriguing questions to Jerry and Jerry responding with very insightful answers.

Arundhathi expressed that her early impressions of Jerry were that of an irrepressible storyteller. Jerry would throw a cheerful malice and had a sheer delight of spinning a yarn. She specifically asked him about his book “EM and the Big Hoom”. What took the book so long? Jerry explained that he wanted to be sure and ready before launching something so close to his heart. He expressed that if he hurried into writing a book he might be turning his family into caricatures and that was not his intent. He wanted to convey the love of the family for each other and how it is not always an easy path to tread. But nonetheless, one has to embrace the thorny painful journey. Finding the tone for the book was the biggest challenge for Jerry. 

Jerry then openly expressed that he felt like he was being naked while telling his story and how his old persona was catching up with him. He confessed that sometimes a writer strives to be witty in their writing, so that the audience accepts and focuses on it more than the content. He expressed how he has realized the importance of going bare and raw in his writing. 

Arundhathi then brought up an important aspect about how one handles and negotiates family’s sensibilities while writing a personal story. Jerry agreed that he cares about it and no book is worth hurting a person you love. But an interesting question to ask would be if you make yourself a part of that family? Do you respect your own feelings and hurting them in the process? There is no sure shot formula of predicting the outcome of sharing a story of your pain. He said that he wishes well to all the writers who want to write about their stories and encourages them to go ahead. 

When asked if Jerry is different today and if the impulse to tell stories has changed over time, Jerry said that there is a difference impetus today. The urgency is much less. He thinks it is very useful for a writer to be silent and listen to other people’s story and record them. He learnt a lot about being an empathetic listener. To carve out a space where words and stories are important. To be heard is to be loved. It was endearing to hear this view of his experiences. Jerry said that he loves to relentlessly slide to his old self, the unfilled unnourished self when he is amidst his close people. 

Jerry also said that he believes there is a moral responsibility to tell stories. One has to care about the past to weave it into a story. He feels that his stories are driven by the need to be an ambassador who could be behind a teddy bear, a dancing superstar or a Dalit character in a story. Infinitesimally one has to bring the shift. 

After this refreshing take on stories, the conversation shifted to Arundhati. 

Jerry introduced Arundhati, knowing her long enough, as a very fine cultural journalist having done very fine pieces on dance and theatre. Arundhathi has to her credit some magnificent prose books like “The Book of Buddha” and “Sadguru, More than a life”. Jerry also strongly recommended her book “Eating God”, a wonderful reminder of what Hinduism can be. 

When asked her reason to choose poetry as a central mode of expression, Arundhathi did not give any particular one. She admitted that her poetry rather sells modestly. On a lighter note, she also quoted that researchers claim that poets die sooner than writers. As a child there was an impulse to tell stories. An excitement about theatre and enacting stories – the performative element. Poetry seemed like a place where one could have a vertical engagement with oneself. That verticality of going deep but also reaching heights is the excitement of poetry. How vitally poetry and dance are connected. The capacity of language in poetry to leap from one place to another. She expressed beautifully that a pause on a page of poetry really means something. She wanted to come out of those blank spaces and poetry was her medium. Poetry came with much less anxiousness and much perforated to Arundhati over the years. 

She said that her aspiration in life is to attain poise without tension. The conversation ended with a mesmerising narration from Arundhathi’s poetry book “Love without a story”, dedicated to Avviayar, the legendary Tamil poet. 

 

About The Author: Neha Agrawal is an expressive-impulsive woman with the halo of positivism and energy, a smile that emanates from the heart and wants to reach out to the world. She loves books, children, rawness, originality, and nature – not in any particular order. A budding poet and a writer under the handle #fursatkealfaaz on instagram. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Lessons in Leadership and Love from India’s Sex Workers

TheSeer Team

“Don’t step on people who are having sex”. The session, which had Ashok Alexander in conversation with Vijayendra Rao, started with the former quoting this line from his book ‘A Stranger Truth. This was in answer to the moderator, Vijayendra Rao’s question about the former’s experience visiting sex workers. This session was an interesting exchange between lead economist of the world bank, Vijayendra and the former Mckinsey member, Ashok Alexander. 

Ashok started with a heart touching video clip portraying the work of his NGO, “Antara Foundation”. He related how this journey was set in motion because of his love of adventure. He also said how in this journey he had to unlearn Mckinsey’s way of providing solutions and seek answers from the marginalized community himself. 

The former businessman was inspired by the power of people at the bottom of the pyramid, especially women, who could solve the most complex problems society faces. Vijayendra gave an insight to Avahan, an initiative funded by the Gates Foundation that aimed to stop HIV in its tracks in the early 2000s. Ashok credited the stigmatized community of sex workers for the victory of Avahan, a revolution led by women across 600 towns of India.

Ashok put out the ultimate message of his book through the words of Dr.Sushena,

“It was very simple. Trust and compassion spread like wildfire. They scale up very easily” 

He further explained the role of compassion in his life through a meditative process he practiced. It involved closing eyes and visualizing closed ones when we witness someone beaten down by society. Ashok felt this fills him with empathy and compassion.

He shed light into the state of sex workers in India, stating that 6-7% of sex workers are found in brothels and the rest of them work on streets. He expressed the difficulty of finding these women and helping them. 

Another crucial topic that his book dealt with was the practice of unsafe sex, which he found was the root cause of violence towards sex workers. As he said, every sexual transaction was almost always an incidence of violence which is correlated to STI prevalence. He gave an example of a woman who asked her client to put on a condom and was brutally abused as a result of that.  

To conclude, the session was informative and educative. 

 

About The Author

Ayesha is a student pursuing Media Studies, Psychology, and English. She is an appreciator of new things, places and people. She believes good food and a trip to a beach can heal the soul. Her personal blog covers themes such as mental health and travelling. She currently writes for TheSeer. Instagram handle – gudiyaaa_

 

Typeset, Ready, Go!

TheSeer Team

The afternoon session commenced at the Tughlaq stage with Ravinder Singh, an Indian author and a software engineer. Ravinder is a best-selling writer in romantic genre from the state Odisha, with eight successful novels to his name and a publishing house named ‘Black Ink’, which promotes aspiring writers.

 

He headed the panel discussion that included Teesta Guha Sarkar, a senior commissioning editor at ‘Pan MacMillan India’.  The other two panellists were Himanjali Sarkar, currently an editor with ‘Bloomsbury India’ and Udayan Mitra, a publisher at ‘Penguin group of India’.

 

 

Ravinder was excited to be on the other side of the table, asking questions rather than answering. He started the discourse with the statement, “Art of publishing is like a black box”. For the readers, it is all about the end product, the book or the novel, but there is a lot happening behind the curtains. The discussion was engaging with two contemporary Bengali people on either ends of the panel contradicting on various aspects of writing. Himanjali claimed that while currently in India the number of readers are at peak, but judging by extreme population, there is still a room for enhancement. Udayan enlightened the listeners about the print run scenario in India which has grown over the years from 1,000 to 3,000. 

 

Teesta advocated the fact that works of literature may be of high merit to some publishers and of none to some others. The panelists discussed and dwelled upon the aspect of good writing and what actually defines a good write-up. There were a lot of viewpoints about the importance of language and literature in publishing. There were also talks, arguments, and suggestive measures for debut author and aspiring literati. 

 

The author function was well elaborated and guidelines were provided to experiment with different genres and fusing various aspects of literature. An extensive argument was established in favour of Indian authors who have been attempting different genres. Some genres have been totally untouched like the horror and the gothic fiction. The panel also discussed the rise and fall of e-reading. Himanjali touched upon the physical literature aspect. Ravinder spoke about the dynamics of audio-visual format of literature which is now enjoying a fair share of appreciation from the Indian audience. 

 

Towards the end, the panelists also portrayed their significant worry towards the peculiar aspect of readers who tend to love western crime stories but are disinterested in reading Indian versions of crime coverage. They closed by drawing parallels to visual media in India which adores crime stories like “Mirzapur” and “Sacred Games”. They defined the guidelines for a good novel for debutants and had a hearty discussion on the questions put forward by the audience. 

 

 

 

About the Author: Abhinav Kumar is an MA in English with Communication Studies student from CHRIST ( Deemed To Be University), Bengaluru who believes in “No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world”. He is interested in sports journalism and travelogue writing. He currently writes for TheSeer.

 

The Making Of Islamic Womanhood

TheSeer Team

The session had Hem Borker in conversation with Abdullah Khan. Hem Borker, a PhD scholar from Oxford University published her first book, “The Making Of Islamic Womanhood” in 2018.  The book is a reflection of her deep interest in studying the condition and grooming of Isamic women and girls in India. It also captures the complexities of Muslim identity, gender and madrasa education system, its structures and how it has evolved over a period of time. She also records the shift from traditional to modern system of the madrasa education for girls. 

The session started with Hem establishing what a madrasa is, then went on to to delve further into the issues of gender. She discussed how the institution of madrasa not only focuses on subjects like other schools, but also offers an orientation to the culture and religion of Islam. Madrasa, she said, provides  a holistic understanding of religion and culture, which would enable the students to be well acquainted with their own religion and culture. 

Borker said that madrasa teaches woman students what it is to be a muslim woman in the Indian society and  the appropriate ways to act. She made it very clear that this practice should not be seen as rigid, rather as an intellectual move.  

The session also saw Borker exploring certain practices that she does not approve of. One such is the routine set for young girls, who are required to wake up quite early in the morning to revise their Quran lessons and offer prayers. 

To conclude, the session emphasized the contribution of madrasa in establishing the personality and image of islamic woman.  The takeaway was that any islamic family who are hesitant to send their daughters to co education schools can rely on madrasa as it provides education as well as acquaints students with Islamic culture. 

 

 

About The Author: Aditi Dua is a Masters student in English with Communication Studies who has a knack for aesthetics and poetry. Apart from being a literature enthusiast, she highly celebrates challenging ideologies and provide disputing ideas of death. Always available for a conversation over good coffee. She currently writes for TheSeer