School days

As I was taking the long rickshaw drive from my home in Malad West to my work place in Andheri, I started reminiscing about my school days when we had an English teacher who loved telling us stories every now & then. Most of them were horror stories ! That used to get us to the edge of our seats & maybe that's what story telling is all about..to capture the minds of the readers...There would be times when she would simply say...lets not open books today since I have a very interesting story to share with you all ! And we would all hoot & cheer eagerly waiting for her to start ..

Stories are just a different world altogether and I feel like going back to it every now and then...to all the stories I used to love...I have this great desire to keep a collection of all the storybooks of my childhood someday. Thanks to the Amazons & Flipkarts I can do that soon!

Writer's block

Even before I knew my first book was to be published, I had already starting penning down a manuscript for my next book. After having written a page, I have stumbled upon a block &been unable to write further or envision the story beyond what I have written. The visions that infact did come to my mind make the story bizzare & unreal. So now, I am on a never-ending lookout for a new perspective to my story.

Give me a sign !

#miserablewriter

Books from the 1980s...

Has anyone ever found writing for children to be a journey through your own childhood ? I discovered the feeling when I began writing for the first time during my sabbatical. But what I needed was an inspiration, a real life inspiration....so what did i do ? I made a dash to the basement where there were stacks of yellowed books lying untouched since the past many years...I found Richard Scarry's the first ever book my father bought me when I was barely 3 or 4 yrs old :) It brought an instant smile to my face, another one was the story of Goldflower & the bear - a story of a little girl called Goldflower who lived in China & how she manages to protect her little brother from a grizzly bear while her parents were away ! I was exported to another world as I sat in the dingy & damp confines of the 30 yr old basement. Gradually over the next few days I found more - the Children's book of Verse ( fun poetry), the Russian Folk tales, Greek Folk tales, TinTin & many more....this inspiration was enough for me to pick up my laptop & punch away on the keys to glory...& as the days passed by I was ready with my own little book....ready to be brought into the world - my own little amalgamation of my childhood packed away into this tiny little story. Cant wait to share it with all !