When I first moved into my apartment more than sixteen years ago, the area was pretty much in the wilderness. I always wanted to stay away from the hustle and bustle of city life, yet close to the city, so I had no complaints, but there were no two ways about the fact that the … Read more
I went on a short trip to Meghalaya in March. It is a very beautiful state and abounds in natural beauty and a very unique way of life. It was carved out as a state out of two districts of Assam. Even as you cross over from Assam into Meghalaya on the way from Guwahati … Read more
When you are in a rush to publish your first book, in some ways, it is a good thing. The good thing is that you finish what you start. Most authors find it difficult to finish what they started – especially when it comes to their first book. So I was very happy when I … Read more
I recently took an online session on this topic ‘Travel (Inspired) Stories in association with Rustik Travel. I spoke about the different types of travel writing with popular examples in each category. These included Commercial Travel Writing (Guides, Destination Pieces, Blogs, Reference Books), Travel Narratives Nonfiction (Essays, Articles, Memoirs, Travelogues, Odysseys) and Travel Literature Fiction … Read more
I went to Loktak Lake near Imphal in Manipur in Dec 2021. It is a huge freshwater lake, that looks like an inland sea. It is like a living lake with fishermen and farmers living on various floating islands called ‘Phumdi’ locally. Loktak has a lot of history associated with it. When we took a … Read more
One of the perks of being a writer is to read a lot. I have noticed that without reading a lot, it is almost impossible to write. Not only does reading provide inspiration for writing (real or like Anu Malik too sometimes, which isn’t all that bad!), but it also keeps your eyes open to … Read more
It is much cheaper to make a movie like Kahaani or A Wednesday or Khosla ka Ghosla than to make a Ra.One or Brahmastra. Even if you add the costs of stars, it might be cheaper to make a Zindagi Na Milega Dobara than Adipurush. But I guess creative people cannot resist the lure of … Read more
In the old days, most creative outputs had gatekeepers. The people who evaluated what you wrote. Or the labels that checked if your music would work. Or the galleries who assessed your paintings. Much of their work was to work for the audience and curate something they thought would sell well and enable them to … Read more
It was exactly five years back that I started writing my first novel – on this day. Since then, I have stuck to writing as one of my primary preoccupations, resulting in publishing many more books. That doesn’t necessarily qualify me for advising anyone on writing. But at the very least, it qualifies me on … Read more