Patience

A few days ago, there was a nice article in The Hindu about writing a novel.
This gentleman called Amitav Kumar has just published a book and wrote an article about what the writing was like.
It was long but interesting. The major idea I took away from it was that it requires a great amount of patience. A full evening can be spent in writing out a character sketch and you still might not be done. From where I come (where every task has to be accounted for in hours) this sounded like the height of inefficiency. But then I realized that I was missing the point.
Writing a book is not about efficiency. Its about creating a work of art. That requires time.
Since then I have started thinking that I find the idea of going through that labourious process rather interesting. Character sketches, plots, similes, metaphors, first drafts, second drafts, third drafts...... If not anything else, this process might just end up teaching me patience.
Talking about patience, I just happened to watch a chinese tea-ceremony on television. Do watch it and you would feel the tea-bag, hot water, sugar and milk powder affair is a blasphemous act.....

I should go home...

On books and music

This other day I got this strange idea.
Music (cassettes or CDs) is like a mistress. You love her, you cannot live without her. She consumes you but six months later you get bored and you move on.
In this case to another album or another band. You keep the music for memory's sake but once the magic has worn off, well its worn off.
Books on the other hand are like friends. You get to know them. You are wary at first about what you are getting into. But as you get to know them better, your friendship grows. You go through them (the books I mean) but you never finish them. You always keep comnig back to them for solace, advice or just for a few laughs.

Talking about friends, a bunch of them have been a great help lately. Very self-lessly one chap has gone out of his way to help me in something important. Even though we knew each other only vaguely when we were in the same milieu. God bless my friends!

I miss Delhi and home.....

A new bookshop in Bangalore

No no! Its been around for ages. Its just that I ran into it (or rather insides it) a few weeks ago and now I am a fan!
Its called The Bookworm. It specializes in second-hand books and sells them at dirt cheap prices.
The books don't look second-hand. The book seller only insists they are. I don't have a problem with that. I get them at a third of the price I would normally pay for them.
Especially now since these days I seem to be perennially out of cash.