Saturday 25 January 2014

Bestseller- Hayye Rabba!

Here's the recipe to a modern day Indian 'bestseller' novel-

Take a boy who is a loser yet studly. Take a girl who's pretty and doesn't know it. Throw them together in a been there done that, absolutely unoriginal romantic plot. Add several villains like fate or a college or relatives or even distance. Give it a punch of tragedy or two in the middle or at the end (pick between a death or reluctant family members). Let that entire concoction simmer over shamefully horrible grammar. For garnish, use pitifully limited vocabulary. Voila! There you have your bestseller novel. 

I exaggerate not, but this is in all honesty the plight of most works by most new authors. It seems like there is a plethora of publishing houses, wannabe authors and mindless readers who encourage such quality deprived writing. Earlier, when people were struck by midlife crisis, they took rash decisions like buying something ridiculously expensive or getting into a relationship with the wrong kind of person or something on those lines. But now, writing a book is how people with decent command over the language deal with age related crisis. And with opportunities available dime a dozen, one doesn't particularly need a lot of talent to get published. 

These days, it seems like the editors at publishing houses have started to skip a very major step in the process of the actual publishing of a book- proofreading. Yes! Imagine my horror when I found numerous grammatical errors within the first 10 pages of this book I recently started to read by a 'National Bestselling Author'. It wasn't one if my wiser decisions but I plead not to be judged. I do not mean to sound arrogant or spiteful for I am no authority on literature or language but that is what makes my case so strong. When someone like me- an absolute amateur- can pick faults in a book that holds the seal of a very prominent publishing house, (no, I am not taking names), how is the existence of such a book even justified?

I sound very critical but I can't help but be, because I have grown up reading some amazing authors. I appreciate the talent of writing. Hell, I'm a blogger, of course I encourage writing as much as I appreciate it. But just because I have a blog and manage a 500-700 worded piece every now and then, it doesn't mean I go write a book. It isn't like I never want to, I do. Someday. When I believe I am capable of it. That's the point I'm trying to make. Writers need to hone their raw talent until they're polished, before they set out to publish. They need to focus on the quality of their writing more than anything else. 

I am not making a general statement about all Indian authors, no. Infact, I recently came across books by Judy Balan who also happens to run my most favourite blog on the web. Those books are the most honest to God, hilarious and humane books I've ever read by an Indian author. I was absolutely floored. 

It is true that a writer needs to be inspired. It's what they find their inspiration in, that matters. Feel inspired to actually write and make a differece, to bring a smile on a gloomy face, to heal a heart or to break one. Feel inspired to touch a life and not to find fame and that will make all the difference. 

Sunday 12 January 2014

Of hope


The more she fell for him, the more he didn't. 
The tighter she held on, the more he let go. 
The more she counted on him, the more he disappointed. 
The more he meant to her the more he was unperplexed. 
She still fought on because sometimes love means never giving up. 



This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.