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)
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Sahasram, it is
After a lot of wrangling, I've finally decided to base Sahadev and Asok in Sahasram. Other 'contending' towns were Rupanath and Kausambi.
Although Sahasram is neither on the Uttarapathas (main highways going Pataliputra to Takshashila) or Dakshinapatha (main highway Pataliputra to Supparaka port via Ujjaini), Sahasram was located on an alternate route to Ujjaini as well as on a highway that led to Southern provinces. The latter is more important because the southern route passes through Kalinga - read, Toshali - establishing the importance of Kalinga strategically placing a spy in Magadha, in a town that is easily accessible to both Pataliputra and the Kalinga intelligence, to which the spy from Sahasram will report.
Another thing is, the distance between Sahasram and Pataliputra is roughly about 90 miles, which would justify most scenes/activities of the story (royal hunting trips, Sahadev or Asok's trips to Pataliputra as physicians, Asok's escorting of Devi to Ujjaini). The good thing, also, about the alternate route to Ujjaini is that it is less frequently used, follows an 'uncertain' route across hills and thick forests west of Sahasram - this town in fact was a border-outpost town of the Magadhan kingdom - which makes it a perfect location for the events in the opening chapters of the book.
Kausambi came a close second, although I find it hard to justify why anybody would stop in Kausambi for too long after passing through more strategically important towns (Kasi, Prayag). The presence of these 'big' towns next to Kausambi dims its position, at least in my story.
Although Sahasram is neither on the Uttarapathas (main highways going Pataliputra to Takshashila) or Dakshinapatha (main highway Pataliputra to Supparaka port via Ujjaini), Sahasram was located on an alternate route to Ujjaini as well as on a highway that led to Southern provinces. The latter is more important because the southern route passes through Kalinga - read, Toshali - establishing the importance of Kalinga strategically placing a spy in Magadha, in a town that is easily accessible to both Pataliputra and the Kalinga intelligence, to which the spy from Sahasram will report.
Another thing is, the distance between Sahasram and Pataliputra is roughly about 90 miles, which would justify most scenes/activities of the story (royal hunting trips, Sahadev or Asok's trips to Pataliputra as physicians, Asok's escorting of Devi to Ujjaini). The good thing, also, about the alternate route to Ujjaini is that it is less frequently used, follows an 'uncertain' route across hills and thick forests west of Sahasram - this town in fact was a border-outpost town of the Magadhan kingdom - which makes it a perfect location for the events in the opening chapters of the book.
Kausambi came a close second, although I find it hard to justify why anybody would stop in Kausambi for too long after passing through more strategically important towns (Kasi, Prayag). The presence of these 'big' towns next to Kausambi dims its position, at least in my story.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Ten Years Too Late
Among the few shorts I've written is one called "Breakfast News". The true story of a heartbreak, of forbidden love (tsk tsk), good material I suppose to make a sappy bollywood movie. :P
It's her birthday today, the 'Vera' of my story, the heartache I let remain gnawing in my heart until...last year, around this time I guess? After my silly, stupid, awfully-timed confession last year, I impaled whatever little respect she must've had for me - oh how stupid, stupid was I...
Like Simon-Garfunkel sang, I should've just let the dangling conversations remain...
She got married this year. From the various Facebook posts on her page, in February I think.
I wish her love and happiness, success, and all the best things that life can offer. And yes, a very, very happy married life. I hope even the slightest stupid influence of my aching heart never reaches her ever again. Go live your life grand, Vera!
It's her birthday today, the 'Vera' of my story, the heartache I let remain gnawing in my heart until...last year, around this time I guess? After my silly, stupid, awfully-timed confession last year, I impaled whatever little respect she must've had for me - oh how stupid, stupid was I...
Like Simon-Garfunkel sang, I should've just let the dangling conversations remain...
She got married this year. From the various Facebook posts on her page, in February I think.
I wish her love and happiness, success, and all the best things that life can offer. And yes, a very, very happy married life. I hope even the slightest stupid influence of my aching heart never reaches her ever again. Go live your life grand, Vera!
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Mauryan Trilogy
It's been five years since I wrote the first outline of the story on Asoka. Emperor Asoka, that is. The idea hit me after I watched Shahrukh's "Asoka" and was totally disappointed with the storyline. The vivid imagery and much better storyline of "The Last Samurai" was still fresh in my mind. That movie had the best war sequence in a period film, probably next to the LOTR one. Also, it didn't have Cruise and Koyuki dancing around trees singing songs. Yes, she did bathe under a bamboo cascade, but didn't sing "san sanana nan" :)
That made me wonder, why don't I write something like that, a fiction set in Mauryan times. I'll give you the details of the plot and the writing effort in another post, but let me tell you here, the Asok in my story, the protagonist, is NOT Emperor Asoka, although the story does revolve around the Emperor's life and times. The protagonist of my story is also called Asok, a fictional character whose life gets intertwined with that of the Emperor, eventually leading to the Kalinga War. Because of this namesake character, I plan to name the book, "The Less Beloved of the Gods".
Lately, I've also endeared to the tale of Emperor Chandragupta, grandfather of Emperor Asoka and the first King of the Mauryan empire. Doordarshan has already telecasted "Chanakya" and so I have enough resources for historical reference. So I thought, after I complete the Asoka book, I should write the 'sequel', go back to the grandfather, and write a story. Very 'Kill Bill' like style. :)
Now to write a trilogy, I needed a third story. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to write the story of Prince Kunala, the last (?) ruler of the Mauryan empire, Asoka's son, blinded by Queen Tishyaraka, the youngest queen of the emperor. From the ideas I have in my mind right now, that story has the promise of a lot of debauchery. I'll tell you why later. :)
That made me wonder, why don't I write something like that, a fiction set in Mauryan times. I'll give you the details of the plot and the writing effort in another post, but let me tell you here, the Asok in my story, the protagonist, is NOT Emperor Asoka, although the story does revolve around the Emperor's life and times. The protagonist of my story is also called Asok, a fictional character whose life gets intertwined with that of the Emperor, eventually leading to the Kalinga War. Because of this namesake character, I plan to name the book, "The Less Beloved of the Gods".
Lately, I've also endeared to the tale of Emperor Chandragupta, grandfather of Emperor Asoka and the first King of the Mauryan empire. Doordarshan has already telecasted "Chanakya" and so I have enough resources for historical reference. So I thought, after I complete the Asoka book, I should write the 'sequel', go back to the grandfather, and write a story. Very 'Kill Bill' like style. :)
Now to write a trilogy, I needed a third story. After a lot of contemplation, I decided to write the story of Prince Kunala, the last (?) ruler of the Mauryan empire, Asoka's son, blinded by Queen Tishyaraka, the youngest queen of the emperor. From the ideas I have in my mind right now, that story has the promise of a lot of debauchery. I'll tell you why later. :)
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Power of the Narrative
In the movie 'Munich', the first target of Eric Bana's crack unit, about 30 minutes before he was assassinated, was addressing a small audience about the power of the narrative. It was an address about his own book - a translation of the 1001 Arabian Nights into Italian - but he was explaining why Scheherezade succeeding in keeping the Emperor captivated with her stories. It was simply because of the power of the narrative.
Now I dont have the expertise to decipher the power of the narrative, but to add my two cents on this, I have to comment on the movies that made it to the Oscars this year. Most of them, apart from Avatar, I thought, had powerful storylines. Avatar turned out to be a big bore, a typical Hollywood melodrama that we've already seen in varying degrees and versions in many other flicks.
The good flicks, with good storylines, include Crazy Heart, An Education, the Sandra Bullock film (forget the name now and am too lazy to google it), and Precious. Even The Hurt Locker.
Back home in Bollywood, I liked the Ishqiya narrative. The movie itself may not be on par with Vishal Bharadwaj's other classics like Maqbool and Omkara, but it did have a good storyline. What makes it even more likeable is the fact that Maqbool and Omkara were adaptations of Macbeth and Othello respectively. This story, I think, was an original from Bharadwaj's stable.
Man, even as I think of these movies, I'm wondering, these are the kinds of stories I would like to write!
Now I dont have the expertise to decipher the power of the narrative, but to add my two cents on this, I have to comment on the movies that made it to the Oscars this year. Most of them, apart from Avatar, I thought, had powerful storylines. Avatar turned out to be a big bore, a typical Hollywood melodrama that we've already seen in varying degrees and versions in many other flicks.
The good flicks, with good storylines, include Crazy Heart, An Education, the Sandra Bullock film (forget the name now and am too lazy to google it), and Precious. Even The Hurt Locker.
Back home in Bollywood, I liked the Ishqiya narrative. The movie itself may not be on par with Vishal Bharadwaj's other classics like Maqbool and Omkara, but it did have a good storyline. What makes it even more likeable is the fact that Maqbool and Omkara were adaptations of Macbeth and Othello respectively. This story, I think, was an original from Bharadwaj's stable.
Man, even as I think of these movies, I'm wondering, these are the kinds of stories I would like to write!
Sunday, February 7, 2010
No Shortcut to Short Stories
The weekend was part fun, part disappointing. After long, fruitless debates, the office team finally settled on going on a lunch retreat to The Great Kabab Factory. Good decision I must say. The galouti kebabs, fish kebabs, and malai jhinga (butter shrimp) are to die for!
On the way back home, I bought those silver antique anklets that Sho's been wanting to buy. I hope she wont read this before her birthday. Considering she wouldn't know this blog address, I'll put it down over here, nevertheless.
Saturday evening and Sunday noon, I tried to write and complete that 'short' story titled 'A Room to Himself', but just could not do it. Especially on Sunday afternoon, when each time I sat down to write, the doorbell rang! That stupid woman employed to keep the building clean kept coming to collect maintenance money, give the receipt, get signatures, and such silly things. By the time I got to writing the story, I realized I'd run out of ideas. After 1979 words, I realized the story had still not reached midway!
This is my problem with short stories. I just cant, for the life of me, write a short story. I've no problem going on and on with a novel, but a short story - even something as simple as this blog post - exasperates me. Abhishek and I have often discussed writing. He is a brilliant satire writer, and his Twilight Banter was pretty popular among the 'circles'. I always told him how I admired him for being able to:
1. Write shorts, with mostly nothing more than dialog
2. Make all of them satirical
There is this Unisun publishing house in Bangalore that is hosting a story writing competition. I plan to send an entry, and have a story or two in my head. Of these, at least one I have written already and posted on my blog (Which reminds me, I need to pull out that blog from the Internet). I only have to refine it a bit. Add some 'meat'. The other one, equally stunning I suppose, is still in my head, but not on paper (Or on a Word document for that matter). Same problem. The publishing house rules state that the story should not exceed 3500 words and my problem is I do not know how to write a stunning, thought provoking, story within 3500 words.
I cannot write abstract stories, like those blaft publications things. Nor can I write stuff with heavy philosophy. My stories are mostly simple narratives, with a conclusive...well...end. No ambiguities. On the whole, it may look like the story is simple to the point of being mundane. And no writer wants to be called 'mundane'! I wish I could write more complicated, thought provoking stuff. But then, that is not me. Sigh!
I need to learn this art of writing short stories. Since I plan to keep, for now, all the short stories related to Mumbai, I hope the forthcoming Mumbai trip will help me get a few ideas.
On the way back home, I bought those silver antique anklets that Sho's been wanting to buy. I hope she wont read this before her birthday. Considering she wouldn't know this blog address, I'll put it down over here, nevertheless.
Saturday evening and Sunday noon, I tried to write and complete that 'short' story titled 'A Room to Himself', but just could not do it. Especially on Sunday afternoon, when each time I sat down to write, the doorbell rang! That stupid woman employed to keep the building clean kept coming to collect maintenance money, give the receipt, get signatures, and such silly things. By the time I got to writing the story, I realized I'd run out of ideas. After 1979 words, I realized the story had still not reached midway!
This is my problem with short stories. I just cant, for the life of me, write a short story. I've no problem going on and on with a novel, but a short story - even something as simple as this blog post - exasperates me. Abhishek and I have often discussed writing. He is a brilliant satire writer, and his Twilight Banter was pretty popular among the 'circles'. I always told him how I admired him for being able to:
1. Write shorts, with mostly nothing more than dialog
2. Make all of them satirical
There is this Unisun publishing house in Bangalore that is hosting a story writing competition. I plan to send an entry, and have a story or two in my head. Of these, at least one I have written already and posted on my blog (Which reminds me, I need to pull out that blog from the Internet). I only have to refine it a bit. Add some 'meat'. The other one, equally stunning I suppose, is still in my head, but not on paper (Or on a Word document for that matter). Same problem. The publishing house rules state that the story should not exceed 3500 words and my problem is I do not know how to write a stunning, thought provoking, story within 3500 words.
I cannot write abstract stories, like those blaft publications things. Nor can I write stuff with heavy philosophy. My stories are mostly simple narratives, with a conclusive...well...end. No ambiguities. On the whole, it may look like the story is simple to the point of being mundane. And no writer wants to be called 'mundane'! I wish I could write more complicated, thought provoking stuff. But then, that is not me. Sigh!
I need to learn this art of writing short stories. Since I plan to keep, for now, all the short stories related to Mumbai, I hope the forthcoming Mumbai trip will help me get a few ideas.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Accolades for a Friend
I was attending the inaugural session of the Journalism course at XIC, on a rainy evening in July 2000. The session was conducted in the convocation hall that had red curtains, banners with vintage calligraphy, and soft lights, which make your mind drift away from the monologue emanating from behind the podium, to a perfect world that you would like to be in at the end of the course; where you want that course to take you. :)
The footfalls of heavy-heeled shoes broke the trance. I turned around to see this pretty lady walk in with many bags, a scarf or two, and other such paraphernalia. Obviously late for the session, she took one of the seats that lined the wall, right across from where I was seated, in a chair by the wall on this side.
Five or ten minutes later, the sound of heavy-heeled footfalls made heads turn in its direction again. This time, the pretty damsel was stomping out of the hall! The whole episode was a nice comic relief. At least she had the courage to refuse to sit through a predictable monologue!
Later, months into the course, this pretty damsel turned out to be one of the brightest in Journalism class. We also got to know each other, worked on a few assignments together, and went out with other friends occassionally. I asked her once what type of journalism she wanted to do after the course. With confidence that I'd not seen in anyone else in the batch, she replied, "Sports".
Sports she did, after the course. Many months after the course was over, I was happy to see her on TV, first on Headlines Today, presenting news, very elegantly as always, about some tennis tournament. Then, I saw her on Zee Sports much later.
The same person recently wrote a novel called 'Running on Full'. Not surprisingly, it's about sport. "Men and sports", she once replied to the obvious question posted on her Facebook page. Today, February 4, her book is being launched at the Book Fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, by Kapil Dev!
Just a little story about a batchmate and friend, who took the effort to sail towards the goal she must've dreamt of, like I did during that first session at XIC, and made it there elegantly. To the person I've always admired and need to draw some inspiration from: Tina Sharma Tiwari, cheers to you, lady!
PS: For this little effort of writing a blogpost, Tina, if you're reading this, can you give me an autographed copy? :D
Visit her website at http://www.tinasharmatiwari.com/
The footfalls of heavy-heeled shoes broke the trance. I turned around to see this pretty lady walk in with many bags, a scarf or two, and other such paraphernalia. Obviously late for the session, she took one of the seats that lined the wall, right across from where I was seated, in a chair by the wall on this side.
Five or ten minutes later, the sound of heavy-heeled footfalls made heads turn in its direction again. This time, the pretty damsel was stomping out of the hall! The whole episode was a nice comic relief. At least she had the courage to refuse to sit through a predictable monologue!
Later, months into the course, this pretty damsel turned out to be one of the brightest in Journalism class. We also got to know each other, worked on a few assignments together, and went out with other friends occassionally. I asked her once what type of journalism she wanted to do after the course. With confidence that I'd not seen in anyone else in the batch, she replied, "Sports".
Sports she did, after the course. Many months after the course was over, I was happy to see her on TV, first on Headlines Today, presenting news, very elegantly as always, about some tennis tournament. Then, I saw her on Zee Sports much later.
The same person recently wrote a novel called 'Running on Full'. Not surprisingly, it's about sport. "Men and sports", she once replied to the obvious question posted on her Facebook page. Today, February 4, her book is being launched at the Book Fair at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, by Kapil Dev!
Just a little story about a batchmate and friend, who took the effort to sail towards the goal she must've dreamt of, like I did during that first session at XIC, and made it there elegantly. To the person I've always admired and need to draw some inspiration from: Tina Sharma Tiwari, cheers to you, lady!
PS: For this little effort of writing a blogpost, Tina, if you're reading this, can you give me an autographed copy? :D
Visit her website at http://www.tinasharmatiwari.com/
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