Writer's Block

What the hell have I been writing? Who the hell knows!
This blog has been around since 2010, the last post on it was last year, and I'm still wondering what I should write. Shame! Sigh.

A Vintage Muscle-Car for Sarah and Russell

When I'd written the first draft of "On a Thousand Hills" - the draft that I lost when my old PC's hard disk crashed - the car that had caught my fancy was the Ford Mustang. At that time I was really enamored with it! The gunning of its powerful engine, the masculinity of this fiery beast.

What I wasn't sure about, however, was whether vintage Ford Mustangs actually existed in India. I watched a few Bollywood oldies - 'Don' and even older ones - to see what cars the 'heroes' and, more interestingly, the 'villains' used to serenade their 'heroines' or haul their cronies to fight spots. I saw several imposing Cadillacs and Chevrolets; a friend of mine pointed out that the Chevrolet Impala convertible was fondly called the 'wedding car' in the 80s and 90s. Several East Indian Catholic brides and grooms were driven to or from their wedding venues in this impressive automobile. As a result, for a while, the Chevrolet Impala was my choice of automobile for my leading characters, Sarah and Russell. For that matter, the male protagonist was called Roy until then. I changed it to "Russell" because "Roy" is typically a Malayalee Christian commonplace name, not a Goan/Mangalorean/East Indian/Anglo Indian one. Although I had a college mate, a tall and handsome Anglo Indian chap, called Roy.

Then I remembered the diminutive, rather "cutesy", convertible in "Father of the Bride": The Austin Healey. When I resumed writing 'On a Thousand Hills', I changed the Impala to Austin Healey. And I was never really comfortable with it. 

Literally speaking, too. Now Uncle Luke is a burly man. Imagine him crawling into a Healey! The steering wheel will cleave to his big belly! Where's the muscle in that car anyway? Besides, the Bombay leg of the story is set in May-June, the hottest and dreariest time to be in Bombay. Who drives around in that heat and humidity in a tiny convertible! I needed a bigger car, a muscle car, and ideally not a convertible. I considered reverting to the Ford Mustang, but again was not certain about its availability in India at the time. Sure, there are a few Mustangs somewhere or the other, but I'm sure they're rare.

Then I remembered my father talking about Desotos in my Uncle's garage when he used to deal in foreign automobiles. Also, I think I'd seen a Desoto or two in the movies also. A quick Google search yielded the car that I instantly fell in love with. The 1957 Desoto Fireflite Sportsman, 4-door hardtop sedan.

The red-and-white color combo, the heavy chrome details, massive tailfins, and the kickass V8 engine; nothing else could be more apt than this beast. At once, I chose this car for Sarah and Russell, and their drive to Sarah's ancestral home north of Bombay. 

Here's a short video featuring the Desoto Fireflite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vFUFNl4nEY

Titles, Designations, and rituals: In the vernacular or in English?

One of the problems with all the research I did before writing 'Asoka' was with the titles and other names to be used in the books. I'm referring to these terms: Senapati; Maha amatya; arahant; Nagaraka; Sailandri; Rajpurohita; etc. While usage of these terms lends to the authenticity of the story, adding footnotes for each one of them and an Index at the end would make reading laborious. As a reader immersed in the story - as I would like the reader to be! - I would not want to flip pages looking for footnotes or turn to a bookmarked index to look at the meaning of certain words. This story is being written in English. It would only make sense to use English translations of these terms, thus making them more 'worldly' or 'globalized' as we call them in the technical writing world. 

Now let's substitute the terms used above with English translations: Chief of the army; Prime Minister; monk; City head; attendant; Royal Priest or Priest of the palace. Now even if this would rob the essence of some of the original terms, at least these terms will immediately connect with the reader, especially with a non-Hindi speaking one. It is easier for an English reader to remember these terms instead of trying to recollect each time what each vernacular term means. 

Far as the pronouns are concerned, I need to decide whether I should use the Anglicized versions - with the 'aa' sound at the end - or use the original, vernacular ones. Let's consider this: Girivraja; Pataliputra; and Kalinga; OR Girivraj; Pataliputr; and Kaling;

Even for human beings: Asoka; Sahadeva; and Radhagupta OR Asok; Sahadev; Radhagupt. 

In the case of names, both for places and for humans, I think using the vernacular ones is a better option. The distinction between the two Asoks will have to be clear. The prince or king is always Prince Asok or Prince; or Great King Asok or Samrat Asok. I like the idea of using 'Samrat' too. It adds to the authenticity and also helps creating a distinction between the two Asoks, especially when both are present in a scene. 

In the case of 'Aggamahesi', which is 'Chief Queen', I will use the vernacular term as pronoun for Sushim's mother. I've searched all over for her real name, but I could not find it anywhere. Unless I find it before I finish the book, I will use Aggamahesi as the Queen's name.

The Legend of Upagupta

A mention about a certain monk called Upagupta caught my attention in the novel, Beloved of the Gods, by an Indian author. That by itself was close! The title I have in mind for my Asok book is 'The Less Beloved of the Gods' after the fictional protagonist whom I'm not going to talk about :)

Like most characters of those times, nothing is said about this monk with conviction. His origins, even his existence is mired in as many legends as there are versions of Buddhists texts. Apparently, Upagupta was the son of a perfume trader who did not 'have the bodily marks of an arahant or monk' according to the followers of the Dharma. In that, he is unique compared to the other better known monks (Ashoka's son Mahinda, Nigarodha, etc., assuming they bore marks of an Arahant). I found this note about Upagupta on the Internet:

An important saint (Arhat) who resided in the region of Mathurā sometime between the 3rd century bce and the 1st century ce. Upagupta is not mentioned in the Pāli Canon, and although featuring in non-canonical Pāli literature does not become prominent in Theravāda countries until around the 12th century as a result of his importance in the Sanskrit sources. In the Sarvāstivāda tradition he is the fifth patriarch after Mahākaśyapa, Ānanda, Madhyāntika, and Śāṇakavāsin, and in the Ch'an tradition he is regarded as the fourth. He features prominently in the avadāna literature (chapters 21 and 27 of the Divya-avadāna contain the fullest account of his life), and he is said to have lived during the time of Aśoka, who held him in high esteem.

In Myanmar, a monk called Shin Upagutta is venerated and has a cult-like status.
He is believed to be either Moggaliputta-Tissa, a Buddhist monk who presided the Third Buddhist Council, Upagupta, a Mahayana arhat, or a creation of Mahayana Buddhism, because he is not described in the Tipitaka, the Pali Canon, and only mentioned in the Burmese historical chronicle, Maha Yazawindawgyi.

The Wikipedia page has this to say about Upagupta: Upagupta [circa. 3rd Century B.C.] was a Buddhist monk. According to some stories in the Sanskrit Avadana he was the spiritual teacher of Asoka the great Mauryan emperor. Upagupta's teacher was Sanavasi who was a disciple of Ananda, the Buddha's attendant. Due to the absence of his name in Theravada literature it is assumed that Upagupta was a Sarvadin monk. In South East Asian countries and Bangladesh Upagupta is a great cult figure. In Myanmar he is known as Shin Upagutta.

I would think Moggaliputta Tissa was a different person, but I cannot be sure. This is what Wikipedia says about Moggaliputta-Tissa:
Moggaliputta-Tissa (ca. 327 BC – 247 BC), (born in Pataliputra, Magadha (now Patna, India) was a Buddhist monk and scholar who lived in the 3rd century BC. David Kalupahana sees him as a predecessor of Nagarjuna in being a champion of the middle-way and a reviver of the original philosophical ideals of the Buddha.[1]

He was the spiritual teacher of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka, and his son Mahinda, who brought Buddhism to Sri Lanka. Moggaliputta-Tissa also presided over the Third Buddhist Council. According to the Mahavamsa, he had consented himself to be reincarnated as a human in order to chair the council, on the request of the arahants who has presided over the second.

He was the son of Mogalli of Pataliputra, as a Hindu in the brahmin caste as Tissa. According to the Mahavamsa, Tissa, who was thoroughly proficient in the Vedas, at a young age was sought after by the Buddhist monks Siggava and Candavajji for conversion, as they went on their daily alms round.

Based on all this, I think it would be safe to make Upagupta a character in my story. In fact, it is this character who narrates the story to an assembly of monks just before he passes away. In my story, he is a commoner, the son of a perfume trader from Mathura, who is close to my character Asok (in the story you will see how) and who becomes a monk under certain circumstances. He lives for a long time, 104 years to be precise. At least in my story. Of course, I have literary license to do anything with my characters :)

Coming Round

Shame! The last post was in June 2010. The very purpose of this blog - to discard apprehensions and get back to writing - is defeated.

In the meantime, four story outlines, five in fact and a sixth I've been ignoring, have taken form. I've narrated most of these to Sho who patiently listens to all the rubbish and claims to like each one of them. But my writing has become a joke. Every single person I'm close to asks me how work on the book is progressing. And it is embarrassing to even tell them that I have five story ideas in my head but I've written none of them. Really, shame!

When the little princess turned seven this year, I made her a promise - not that she cares too much about it :) I've told her that by her next birthday, I will gift her my first book, if not the published one then at least the manuscript. And I don't break promises that I make to my little girl. I hope at least this time it works...

The Three-Stone Graveyard

The Hindi movie Raajneeti rekindled an old tale that I'd put on the back burner, not quite sure how to treat it. I have always wanted to write a story set against the backdrop of dark, roguish Indian politics. Now the old tale, which is actually a folklore from the jungles of Kanha National Park, had nothing to do with Indian politics, but somehow I managed to establish a link and come up with an idea :)

Now I'm not telling you about the story I have in mind, but let me tell the 'Lapsi Kabar' folk tale. In the old times, long before Kanha became a designated national park, a hunter called Lapsi lived with his family along with his tribe deep inside the forest. A man-eating tigress had become a menace in the tribal hamlet. After 3-4 killings on 3-4 consecutive nights, the villagers decided to send Lapsi to hunt down the tiger. For the next few days, the fearless Lapsi and his associates set up camp in the forest and set baits for the tigress, but she did not arrive. Throughout the nights, they would hear the tigress roaring not far from where they camped, but she never made an appearance or came even close.

Frustrated, the hunters and Lapsi decided to use human bait. Of course, that was easier said than done. No sane human being was willing enough to become a bait for such a ferocious tigress. Finally, Lapsi came up with an idea.

On a particularly bright, moonlit night, Lapsi dragged his wife to the spot where he sat waiting for the tigress. The night was filled with the wife's screams as she begged her husband not to do something as ghastly as that, but he would have none of it. Even as she hollered, cried out for help, he tied her to a tree, jumped on to his machan, raised his bow and arrow, and waited for the tigress.

Finally, the tigress did arrive, but not from the direction in which Lapsi was looking. It sneaked up from behind the tree where the wife was tied and, before Lapsi could see it or fire his arrow, whacked the head of the screaming, panicstricken wife. The force was enough to snap the wife's neck and she died instantly, still tied to the tree.

A devastated Lapsi screamed and leapt out of the machan. As the tigress turned towards him, he fired his arrow, which hit the tigress between her eyes. But she was not finished with him as yet. Before he could pull the second arrow out of his quiver, the tigress pounced on him with a deafening roar and pinned him to the ground. Lapsi's head crashed into the rock behind him and he passed out Next, the tigress bit into his face and ripped it out, while her paws gnawed his torso and ripped it to shreds. Despite the bleeding from the arrow sticking out of her face, the tigress managed to rip to shreds the fearless hunter who, for the first time in his life, felt what it was like to be terrified.

The arrow, however, was poisoned, and it began acting on the tigress. As she walked off, slowly, licking the blood that trickled down her nose, the tigress collapsed under a tree not far away from the dead couple. Before the sun came up the next morning, the tigress was dead.

The villagers of the tribal hamlet created a grave for the three fallen mortals and marked the spots with three stones, which were to serve as tombs.

Quite a fantasy tale, eh? As always, I have the characters in my mind (and the Bollywood equivalents who could play these characters!) Now, to make this into a political scandal story. :)

Some Ancient Names

Krsna
Kanu

Vshnu
Kunda
Nityanta
Evyaban
Uddiran

Shva
Girik
Ketu
Madesh
Vajrahast

Durga/Parvati
Amba
Sasthi

Lakshmi
Vachi
Harivallabhi

Saraswati
Pavaki

Mahabali-name of elephant


Bahuka
Nala (Male)
Kalindi (Female)
Kava (Male
Kanka (Male)
Madri (Female)
Sairandhri - female attendant in royal houses
Sambu (Male)
subahu (Male)
ulupi (Female)