Writing My NaNoWriMo Novel

I had registered for the National Novel Writing Month Organisation few days ago. I have to write a novel of fifty thousand words before November 30. It sounds daunting and makes me wonder if it is any way of writing a novel. But I had been planning and thinking of writing a book since ten years and never got down to writing one seriously. I think this is the perfect opportunity to get the novel down.

Ten years ago I had done a course in Creative Writing in English from the Indira Gandhi Open University but I had not submitted my proposed project- a novel. I attended the classes for several months, met a few friends there with whom I am in touch even today but did not find the time to complete the project. Doing the course did some wonders to my writing ambitions first of which was that my first article, which was actually an assignment, was published in a newspaper as a middle. Incidentally, my first article was on fountain pens.


The project I had proposed to do was a fantasy novel and I had made some chapter outlines and had a general idea of the story. In the next month I plan to write this story. If I complete the novel then it would be a major achievement in my life. When I was young I told a friend that one day I would write a book. I was ten or twelve then and had absolutely no idea of writing much less about writing a book. I also do not know why I made that statement. But that promise stayed in my mind all these years. Now that I have a general idea of how to write a book (which I learnt from reading books on writing) I hope I would be able to achieve that childhood dream.

FIFTY POSTS AND OTHER THOUGHTS

The previous post was the fiftieth post and with it I’ve reached a small milestone. When I began writing the blog three months ago I had no idea how quickly I would reach fifty posts, and the only thing I had in mind was to write a post every other day. In the ninety days that passed I have written fifty posts. Not bad, I guess. A couple of the posts attracted some attention especially the one on Copywriters- Writers Who Were Copywriters- which was put on the front page of Elmore Leonard’s official website. It brought some visitors. The other post was the one on fountain pens and the environment.

My blog doesn’t attract many visitors. The average is three or four, I guess because I haven’t analysed any of the statistics. Some just see the front page and go off. Those who have stayed have read a few posts and stayed longer than five minutes. I hadn’t intended the blog to attract thousands of visitors a day. One reason why I am unable to attract many visitors may be that my writing may not be so good. But then I am learning to write and writing well doesn’t come so easily. Another reason may be that I am not telling about it to anyone. I don’t even have an idea of how to get your blog noticed.


I intend to write a hundred posts before the end of the year which means I have to write fifty posts in sixty days. It isn’t impossible. I can do it. I've set myself such goals before and reached them and I am confident I can reach this goal too.

LOOKING FOR DORIS LESSING

Ever since Doris Lessing won the Nobel for Literature I have been trying to lay my hands on her books but so far I have been unsuccessful. One reason could be that she is a British writer and not many of British books can be found in the second hand stores of Hyderabad. I haven’t seen any book of Irish Murdoch either here. So it has been a long search for me for books written by Doris Lessing. Another reason could be that she hasn’t written any new book lately.

The desire to read her books got more intensified after I read an article on Doris Lessing by Christopher Hitchens in ‘The Week’ dated October 28. In his article titled ‘Grand Dame of Words’ Christopher Hitchens writes about two of her well known stories - 'The Day Stalin Died’ and 'The Temptation of Jack Orkney'. He writes that 'The Day Stalin Died' deserves to be reprinted in any anthology of 20th century prose and the other ‘The Temptation of Jack Orkney’ was a tale that was very good and recommended that one should make a resolution to acquire the volumes in which these two tales appear. Hitchens writes that these two works of Lessing help one determine the gold standard in modern writing.

Such high recommendation has me frantically searching for any book by Doris Lessing. I hope I would get lucky and find something by Lessing soon.

Another Good Find of Books at Abids

Once again this Sunday too, there wasn’t the full complement of the book sellers at Abids because most of the regular shops were open. I guess this will the situation until the Sunday after next when the festival season will be finally over. However, there were enough of them to yield a few treasures as usual. I was lucky as I found two good books at throwaway prices and I also got four good magazines.

The first book I found was ‘The Lifetime Reading Plan’ by Clifton Fadiman, a hardcover copy that I got for only twenty rupees. It was in good condition and had over two hundred pages of information about the books of some of the famous writers of the day as well as the classics of the past. I had been looking for such a book and today I finally got it.

Then the second book was another unexpected find. Several times in the past I have unexpectedly found a good book at an unbelievable price. Yesterday for only ten rupees I got Paul Theroux’s ‘Kingdom by the Sea’. I was delighted to find this book because only the other day I had seen a copy of it in a bookstore and the rate was seventy rupees. I hesitated to buy it at the store and I am glad I didn’t buy it though I was on the verge of picking it up. But I am glad I didn’t. The copy I found yesterday was in fairly good condition except a missing corner of the cover. This was the first book by Paul Theroux that I happened to read. I had picked up this book at the British Library six years ago and was hooked after reading it. There was ‘Dark Star Safari’ too in the library and I read it too. Since then I am hooked to Paul Theroux’s writings though I like his travelogues and non-fiction more than his fiction.

I saw two copies of his famous novel- The Mosquito Coast- but I have a copy and have also read the book but was not impressed.

Next, I found three copies of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. One was of Dec 05, another of May 06 and the third copy of January 07 and I got these three magazines for twenty rupees each. They were worth because they were almost brand new as if they hadn’t been opened at all. The May 2006 issue had the 10th Annual Hot List and the January 2007 issue had the Goldlist of the World’s Best. Someday I hope to write a travel article of my trip to the Andamans. I had made notes but I am not finding time to write it.

The last magazine was ‘Scuba Diving Magazine’ containing the 2007 World Diving Guide. The magazine has some of the most beautiful pictures of underwater sea life. Ever since I had snorkeled at Havelock Beach in the Andamans I have been fascinated by life under the sea.

I have to go through these magazines yet and also begin the Clifton Fadiman book. I also have to make a list of all the books I had picked up this month. The pile of books I have to read is growing by the week.

Pens and More Pens Again

Funny how sometimes things you are interested in keep coming back to you in some form or the other. As an ex-copy writer and also as someone who reads the papers end to end I read even the smallest and most obscure ads. I came across one in yesterday’s 'The Hindu’ and the ad was about distributors in South India for the famed Chinese ‘Hero’ fountain pens. The Hero pens manufactured by Shanghai Hero Gold Pen Factory in China are being imported into India by S.K. Impex, Chennai and Chhajer Sales & Marketing, Chennai are the authorised distributors for the South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Pondicherry. I had always thought that the ‘Hero’ fountain pens that are available in India were smuggled but now I know.

Then again, there was the news item about the opening of the ‘Just In Vogue’ pen store about which I wrote in yesterday’s post.

In today’s 'The Hindu' there was another news item that Parker’s most famous fountain pen- The Parker Duofold- was available in solid silver and cost a lakh rupees. I really like the classic one and once harbored a dream of owning one but I know it is an impossible dream but that doesn’t stop me from dreaming about it.

Then again I happened to be reading yesterday’s Indian Express today and read that Luxor Writing Instruments have launched a new pen range- Parker Celebration Range- and these are customized it seems.

It seems to be pens and more pens this week

Another Pen Store- Just In Vogue- opens in Hyderabad

It was on television yesterday and in the papers today that a new pen store had opened in Hyderabad. ‘Just In Vogue’, the name of the store, opened at City Centre Mall in Banjara Hills on Wednesday the reports said. The store stocks a wide collection of luxury pens of brands like Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker and Cross, according the report in today’s ‘The Hindu’.

I have been thinking of buying myself a really nice and expensive fountain pen since a long time. I have decided to buy one after completing a major writing project I am working on currently. I might finish it by the end of the year and then buy myself a fountain pen as a reward for completing the project. I do this often to keep myself motivated to write, which other wise is a tough thing to do. One wants to be a writer but without doing much writing.

I haven’t yet decided which pen to buy but I am veering towards a Mont Blanc Meisterstuck, the classic that stops hearts of pen lovers. The other day I saw a hoarding of Mont Blanc pens at Begumpet. Mont Blanc has an exclusive outlet at Hotel Kakatiya Sheraton at Greenlands. I haven’t visited the place yet but soon I will find a reason to check out the pens there before buying one. Most book readings in Hyderabad take place in this hotel so if there is another reading in the Sheraton I might check out the Mont Blanc store this time.

But, in my opinion, the best places to buy good quality fountain pens are the Deccan Pen Stores that have branches at Abids, Secunderabad and at Greenlands. Deccan Pen Stores is the oldest pen store in Hyderabad and they had their store near NTR estate at Abids but now the main store is in Metro Estate also at Abids, near Bata. I buy all my fountain pens there. The staff are incredibly polite and service is fast.

FOUR MORE BOOKS THIS SUNDAY AT ABIDS

If the previous Sunday (14th) was Ramzan then it was the final day of the ten day long Dussehra festival this Sunday (21st). Compared to last Sunday there were more second hand book sellers and I found four good books in my two hour hunt. The first book I found was an incredible coincidence.

'DANUBE' BY CLAUDIO MAGRIS

Two weeks ago I had found the Mont Blanc catalog- Feelings 100 Years of Mont Blanc- in which I read about an Italian author, Claudio Magris who wrote a small article in it on cafes in Trieste. There was a picture of him seated in a café scribbling in his notebook. Today when I started my rounds from the booksellers near Grammar School I found a book by an author whose name looked familiar. It was the last book in a pile that was waist-high. The guy took it out and the book was ‘Danube’ by Claudio Magris! The book was described as ‘ A Journey through the Landscape, History and Culture of Central Europe’ and was translated from the Italian by Patrick Creagh. I like to travel and this book was a travelogue. I paid the fifty rupees the guy asked and the book was mine, all four hundred pages of it.

Eudora Welty's 'The Optimist's Daughter'

The second book I found was Eudora Welty’s ‘The Optimist’s Daughter’ which I got from a heap of books selling for twenty rupees in the Bommana Lane. I picked up the book because it said on the back that Welty won the Pulitzer Prize for this novel. I also have Eudora Welty’s ‘One Writer’s Beginnings’. Last year I had found three copies of this book and I gave away two copies to friends.

Riding the Iron Rooster

The third book I found was yet another copy of ‘Riding the Iron Rooster’ by Paul Theroux. I had found three copies of this book in Abids earlier but I had paid more than the ten rupees I got today’s copy for. It was incredible finding such a good book for only ten rupees. At the same time it also makes me sad that books are becoming too cheap. I picked up this copy to send it to a friend in Kolkata.

Classic Westerns by Peter Haining

The fourth and the last book I found this Sunday was a collection of Westerns called ‘Classic Westerns’ which has twelve stories set in the Wild West. The first story in the book is a story by one of my favorite authors- Elmore Leonard’. The story is ‘Three Ten to Yuma’. The other stories are:

'Hopalong Cassidy' by Clarence E Mulford
'The Cisco Kid' by O Henry
'Stagecoach' by Ernest Haycox
'Destry Rides Again' by Max Brand
'Western Union' by Zane Grey
'The Virginian' by Owen Wister
'Shane' by Jack Shaefer
'Hondo' by Louis L Amour
'A Man Called Horse' by Dorothy M. Johnson
'Lonesome Dove' by Larry McMurtry

The book has an introduction by Peter Haining and I got it for only twenty rupees. Needless to say I read ‘Three Ten to Yuma’ first thing after I got back home.

Custard Apples, Sunday papers and Bike problems

Who comes first for a newspaper- advertiser or the reader?

Yesterday there was no issue of the paper I read everyday- The Hindu. There was a note on Saturday itself in the paper that due to the Dassera festival the office would be closed and there would be no paper on Sunday. It is usually the Sunday supplements I am eager to read but this Sunday I was disappointed. Even though there were other newspapers to read I felt something was missing.

All through the week I had been seeing a notice in the paper saying that the classifieds supplement of Sunday would be carried on Saturday because of the holiday on Sunday. It seemed unfair to me. The advertiser is being looked after by carrying the Sunday classified supplements on Saturday itself but the reader is not being given anything to read.

The Hindu would have gained my admiration if it had issued the Sunday magazine supplement also along with the Classified Advertisements supplement with the Saturday paper. I wouldn’t have minded the holiday for the paper on Sunday. But the priorities of the papers are different since the advertiser pays more but the reader pays nothing. But then there would be no advertisers without the readers.


A New Way to eat Custard Apples-Roast Them

It is the custard apples season in Hyderabad and the city is flooded with them. I am seeing them everywhere heaped in baskets and on push carts. The custard apples flood the markets around this time just before winter begins. I guess it is the only fruit that is free of pesticides and fertilizers because the fruit is plucked from the wild and farmers have not yet taken up commercial cultivation of custard apple.

One normally eats the ripe fruit but years ago I came across a new way to taste the fruit. I was traveling in a village and spotted a few custard apple trees with the fruits dangling. I was disappointed that they were hard which meant they had not yet ripened. It is not possible to eat the unripe fruits. But the farmer I had met in his field plucked the unripe fruits and told me they could be eaten even though they were not ripe.

The fruits were hard and the skin was unyielding. He put a few such fruits on the ground, covered them with hay and lit a fire. I watched the flames leap up and after some time the fire died out. The farmer gingerly pulled out the custard apples from the ashes. The skin had become dark black but inside the flesh was white and soft. He split the fruit and ate the white flesh. I too followed suit and it tasted wonderful. It was something that always come to mind whenever I see the custard apples at this time.

Good Service at Castrol Bike Zone

About a year ago a Castrol Bike Zone was opened near home and I got my bike serviced here in February. I was happy with their service which was efficient and fast not to mention quite economical. There were none of the hidden expenses that get added when you take the bike to a company service center. So this time too I decided to get the service done here again.

I had to get some new parts fixed- the lock set and also the light switch box had to be replaced along with the brake lining. The guys there did a good job of it though the bike was delivered late but I am not complaining. The bike now rides smoothly and it didn’t cost me much too. Once I had given the bike at a company service center at Secunderabad and after I got to office there was a call from the mechanic who said they’ve noticed smoke coming out from the engine and asked if I wanted to get it fixed. I said no when the guy told me it would take six thousand bucks. This is a common ploy with such service centers I noticed in the eleven years of owning the bike.

But I am happy about Castrol Bike Zone and their efficient service. It was money well spent.

Last Sunday's Book Finds

It was the festival of Ramzan in Hyderabad last Sunday (14th) and hence most of the regular shops were closed as also the second hand booksellers who peddle their books from the doorsteps of these shops. They too must be celebrating Ramzan since most of the second hand booksellers are Muslims. But I wasn’t totally disappointed since quite a few of them had set shop wearing new clothes. Since I was a regular there and knew almost all of them I wished them in the traditional way by – shaking hands followed by a quick hug.

I found only one book and that was Annie Dillard’s ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek’ which I found in a heap of books selling for ten rupees opposite Bata. I had read about this book often and so picked it up for ten rupees. The book was in good condition without any stains or torn pages.

The next two finds were magazines. The first find was the July 2007 issue of ‘American Way’, the inflight magazine of American Airways. I got this magazine for ten rupees. The other magazine was ‘Andpersand’ of April 2007 which I got for thirty rupees. It was a thick magazine and had glossy photographs of luxury goods like clothes, watches, ties and stuff like that which men buy.

More Books at a Sale

Later in the evening I happened to be in Begumpet and I went to the MR Book Sale beside the flyover near Lifestyle. I found two small books that I got for ten rupees only. They were the small booklets that Penguin issued on its 60th anniversary and they were called the Penguin 60s. I found two of them- Paul Theroux’s ‘The Greenest Island’ and Michel de Montaigne’s ‘Four Essays’ translated by M.A.Screech. Both the books were in excellent condition and I was glad I found them.

It was a satisfying Sunday in terms of the books I found at Abids in the morning and at the book sale in the evening. Leafing through the books I found that Montaigne had written an essay called ‘On Thumbs’ which was an usual topic to write on and incidentally it was the shortest of the four essays in that book. The other three essays were- On the Cannibals, On Smells and On the Art of Conversation.

Feelings- 100 Hundred Years of Mont Blanc Part- II

The second part of the Mont Blanc catalog containing Part III and Part IV contain even more interesting item with several beautiful pictures of architects, artists etc. There is one picture of a fountain pen being crafted that is breath taking. Only one who loves fountain pens will understand it.


PART III- I Like to Dream- of the catalog contains profiles of seven contemporary visionaries- Robert Wilson, theatre director; Ora Ito, designer; Tod Lippy, founder of Esopus magazine (more about it later); Zaha Hadid, architect; Ferran Adre, chef; Richard Branson, entrepreneu and Karlheinz Bohm, actor.

There are pictures of a fountain pen (StarWalker Doue), a watch (Time-Walker chronograph), a perfume (Femme de MontBlanc) a belt, a necklace, cufflinks, sunglasses and again a pen- the Boheme 1906, a watch again, a wallet and again a picture of another fountain pen- the George Solti. There’s a write up of Justus Franz’s Philharmonia of the Nations.

There are also pictures of the rough sketches and drafts of some pioneering ideas- Kennedy’s draft of his speech in Berlin, first draft by Beethoven of his Divine Symphony and the initial sketches by Pablo Picasso of his greatest work, the Guernica.

PART IV – I Like to Touch- is filled with more pictures and less words. The emphasis is on the people ( or rather masters) behind the famous Mont Blanc pens and watches who turn out the watches at the Montblanc Montre SA workshop in Le Locle.

The watch workshop is described in detail including some of the men and women behind the crafting of the best watches in the world.

But it was the section on fountain pens that had me salivating though there was only a picture with the various tools involved in making a fountain pen. However there were brief write ups and pictures of three people- Ayla Wendt who tests the quality of the nibs, Roland Vogt who sets the diamonds in the lids of some of the expensive pens and Flora Rittmann who grinds down the nibs. To me they are the real heroes.

Finally there were more pictures and write ups of people honored by Mont Blanc for supporting the arts- the Montblanc de la Culture Arts Patronage Award.

It is a collectors item, this 100 Years of Mont Blanc catalog. I am glad I found this beautiful catalog which adds to my growing collection of Mont Blanc catalogs.