Reading Hour Sep-Oct 2012 Vol 2 Issue 5 60 pages Published, owned, and printed by Vaishali Khandekar, and printed at National Printing Press, 580, KR Garden, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095 Published at 177B Classic Orchards, Bannerghatta Rd, Bangalore-560076 Editor: Vaishali Khandekar Editing Support: Arun Kumar Subscription, business enquiries, feedback: readinghour@differsense.com Subscription Details: Print (within India only) or Electronic: Annual subscription Rs. 300/- (6 issues) 2 years subscription Rs. 600/- (12 issues) Payment via cheque / DD in favour of ‘Differsense Ventures LLP’ payable at Bangalore. Subscription form elsewhere in this issue. Online subscription: readinghour.in Submissions: editors@differsense.com Advertisers: Contact Arun Kumar at arunkumar@differsense.com / +91 9845022991 Cover Illustration & Design: Satish Kumar Illustrations: Raghupathi Sringeri, Prasad N Disclaimer: Matter published in Reading Hour magazine is the work of individual writers who guarantee it to be entirely their own, and original work. Contributions to Reading Hour are largely creative, while certain articles are the writer’s own experiences or observations. The publishers accept no liability for them. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily represent the policies or positions of the publisher. The publishers intend no factual miscommunication, disrespect to, or incitement of any individual, community or enterprise through this publication. Copyright ©2012-2013 Differsense Ventures LLP. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part of this issue in any manner without prior written permission of the publisher is prohibited.
Sep-Oct 2012 Vol 2 Issue 5
short fiction essays verse reviews
Editorial After being glued to the glorious spectacle of the London Olympics for a fortnight it was quite difficult getting reacquainted with grids and margins and the relative virtues of ‘smelled’ over ‘smelt’. However, we managed to get it all done with the patient cooperation of our writers and so here we are with our latest issue. Recently, a 63 year old endurance swimmer Ms. Nyad, was in the news for attempting a cage-less crossing of the Straits of Florida – she swam more than 40 hours and tried to make it bearable by replaying her favourite songs in her head! Well, writer Sarah Rand affirms that there is no right age to ‘chase down your fears’ as she attempts a skydive in Free Fall. Rinkoo Wadhera writes of the hybrid culture of Gangtok and prayer wheels that send ‘peace, harmony and happiness towards all people’ – surely a need of the present when distraught crowds fled the cities en masse to their homes in north-east India. And from another continent Reeta Mani sends in a photo-report of a spectacular wild-life encounter at Masai Mara. National award winner, film critic and documentary film maker Ashok Rane shares his observations and experiences in an interview. There are two translations in this issue that readers will surely enjoy – a sample of Danish poet Niels Hav’s poetry; and a couple of charming episodes extracted from the memoirs of Hindi writer Sheela Indra. Sharath Komarraju is back with some science fiction laced with all too human emotions in Envy. Chandni Singh’s A Life Apart is the story of a woman made invisible by her occupation. That the course of true love ne’er did run smooth we knew well, but sometimes it runs rather more roughly for the well-meaning bystander as is seen in That Many Splendoured Thing. For those looking for something light there’s the little whimsy The Cat and the Beanstalk. Writing on the Wall is a modern story of a working couple and the role of social media in their lives. The cover celebrates the upcoming festive season with Satish Kumar’s vibrant art. We look forward as always to your feedback, do write and tell us what you thought of the issue. Happy reading! Editor facebook.com/readinghour readinghour.in 1
Contents Fiction Kunjamma’s Visit rama shivakumar
Envy sharath komarraju
A Life Apart chandni singh
The Cat and the Beanstalk shiva kumar
That Many Splendoured Thing subhash chandra
The Writing on the Wall
Poetry 3 12 20 39 43 56
Kitchen Design padma prasad
Three Poems niels hav, translated by heather spears
Monsoon durga vijayakumar
Yellow-winged Butterfly sandeep shete
When They Ask Me
7 11 19 42 59
shruti rao
veena prasad
Essays Memoir: Sheela Indra Extract from ‘Women Of My Past’: Pindol Seller What Ilk, Those Women?
Gangtok: Last of the Wonderlands rinkoo wadhera
28 31
translated by abha sah
Interview: Ashok Rane
35
reeta mani
Light Stuff
37
Are you reading this?
54
the last page
60
50
First Person Free Fall
Spellbound at Masai Mara
24
8
sarah rand
Inside Front Cover: ‘Wren Wars’ by Prasad Natarajan Errors and Omissions: Vol 2 Issue 4: ‘Freedom Trap’ was translated from Sheela Indra’s Hindi original ‘Mukti-dansh’.
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Fiction Kunjamma’s Visit rama shivakumar
Rama is a short story writer published in several literary journals. She lives in Maryland and is a scientist in a biotechnology firm. She has participated in workshops at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda.
U
sha ignored the urge to bite her nails and tried instead to focus on the bland décor of Dr. Wright’s waiting room: a small
rectangular room with a mousy beige carpet, bare vanilla walls and a pervasive antiseptic odour. Although she had a doctorate in nursing, gynaecological exams still made her uncomfortable. Then there was her mother; perhaps she had been a little curt with her that morning. She shifted uneasily in the waiting room chair...
A story of distances - both literal andfigurative - that creep into the closest relationships...
Sep-Oct 2012 Vol 2 Issue 5
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Poetry
Kitchen Design padma prasad
Three Poems niels hav
translated by heather spears
Monsoon durga vijayakumar
Yellow-Winged Butterfly sandeep shete
When They Ask Me shruti rao
Sep-Oct 2012 Vol 2 Issue 5
Padma’s work has appeared in Eclectica and A Thousand Worlds - An Anthology of Indian Women Writers. She is currently working on an anthology. She is also a painter. Niels is a full time poet and short story writer with awards from The Danish Arts Council. In English he has We Are Here, and poetry / fiction in several magazines. In Danish he has 6 collections of poetry and 3 books of short fiction. He has been translated into many languages.
Based in Kochi, Durga writes short fiction and poetry. Her work has appeared in The Little Magazine, Eclectic Flash, 3rd Muse Online, and Poor Mojo’s Almanack. Sandeep has won awards in several national and international writing competitions including the Commonwealth Short Story Competition 2010. His work has appeared in over a dozen anthologies and magazines in India and abroad. A literature postgraduate from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Shruti is a freelance writer and poet. Of late, she has been published in publications such as International Literary Quarterly, Governance Now and Prosopisia.
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First Person Sarah reads, writes, hikes and goes birding in the Hill Country of Texas, where she lives with her husband. She celebrates life and enjoys sharing her experiences and observations.
Free Fall sarah rand
T
he plane kept climbing. At 12,000 feet, the screen was pushed up by the photographer. He stepped out, clinging to I-don’t-know-
what on the outside of the plane, then crouched and pointed a camcorder at us. Sam, my instructor, propelled me to the edge of the plane. It was an eerie feeling, sitting on one’s haunches, with nothing below but vast emptiness. I had imagined that I would pass out at this point. My heart was pounding madly. I had been told to hold on to the straps of my suit with both hands, keep my legs together and bend my knees. I clung to the straps like they were a lifeline. Sam pushed me out, and we went tumbling down into nothingness.
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Reading Hour
Fiction Envy sharath komarraju
Sharath is really an IT professional but now that his first novel (Murder in Amaravati) is out, he sometimes calls himself a novelist. He lives in Bangalore.
G
autam touched the panel that grew out of the armrest of his recliner. The music stopped.
The door to his chamber slid open. Gautam nodded, unsmiling, at the entrant. These daily briefing sessions had begun to tire him. For too long now the Centre had been functioning without a glitch; the last fire they had had to put out – a fire which needed his attention – had been three and a half months ago. The Centre was moving on now, without his help. It ought to have been heartening to see – it was what Gautam (along with the others) had worked his whole life for – but he could not shake off a tiny feeling of emptiness.
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Reading Hour
Fiction A Life Apart chandni singh
Chandni is an environmentalist and poet. Currently doing her doctoral research on rural livelihoods, she believes that everyone has stories to share. When she is not listening to them, she enjoys walking and writing in her journals.
B
hoori carefully pleated her yellow cotton sari. It was faded and torn in two places, but it was the best sari she had. And today, she felt, the
occasion demanded something special. She had carefully washed her hands, scrubbing at her cracked palms to get rid of some of the grime that had settled in them over the years. With one last careful pat to the sari, she set off. Bhoori belonged to the bhangi1 community, the lowest of the least in the unforgiving Hindu caste system... Every day, for all her adult life, Bhoori had set off at seven in the morning, first to the latrines, armed with her rusting iron tub and a shovel fashioned out of an old discarded Dalda tin.
The story of an invisible life into which drops a spark of change...
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Reading Hour
Essay Gangtok: Last of the Wonderlands rinkoo wadhera
Rinkoo has been a freelance writer, painter, and teacher-lecturer for over a decade. She lives and works in Sikkim.
I
n an age of virtual communication, I find myself standing at a post
office, transported to a bygone era. It has postcards on display. Some of them carry appeals to save the Snow Leopard or the Red Panda and others promote green mountain biking and eco-tourism. The post office teems with activity. As I complete my purchase, the rosy-cheeked clerk nods a quick goodbye, and her slanting eyes almost disappear in the folds of her cheeks – people here smile readily and easily. This is Gangtok, capital city of the state of Sikkim. Proclaimed to be the tourist destination of the 21st century, this beautiful city sits in the lap of the mighty Kanchendzonga and on the legendary Silk Route of yesteryears. This last of the wonderlands of myth and legend has to be explored and savoured at leisure.
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Reading Hour
Memoir Extract from ‘Women of My Past’ sheela indra
S
Sheela Indra wrote several Hindi stories for children and adults and also authored two books. Her work has been translated here by Abha Sah, a teacher and freelance translator from Mumbai.
heela Indra, author of Ek Bada Sawaal , Kya
Kahoon Kya Na Kahoon and innumerable
short stories for children and adults, is a lady of indomitable will, razor-sharp memory and a trenchant sense of humour. Continuing her education even after marriage, she got a B.Ed at the age of forty and taught Hindi for eighteen years in a Mumbai college. A whole generation grew up on her stories, eagerly awaiting each new issue of the magazine ‘Parag’. ... Here, we include two chapters from the book: Pindolvali tells of a time when the author was left with relatives at Bareilly as a child while her parents transferred to Nanital; Kaisi Auratein Thi Veh is the story of a lavish summer wedding in Agra. The translation is done by Abha Sah.
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Reading Hour
Essay Spellbound at Masai Mara reeta mani
M
Reeta is a neurovirologist by profession and a writer by passion. She and her husband Arun Nagarajan are incurably infected by the travel bug. Photographs at Masai Mara have been taken by Arun.
asai Mara, one of Africa’s greatest game reserves is situated in south west Kenya about 270 kms from Nairobi, the capital city. It is named after the
Masai people, the traditional inhabitants of this area known for their distinctive attire, customs and rituals. ... On our recent trip there we were witness to a spectacular wild-life encounter. A pride of lions hunted and killed a wild buffalo. For two days following the kill, they (and we!) kept a vigil on the spot. The kill triggered a cascade reaction in the wild-life food chain; predators scurried for their share of fill, scavengers hung around patiently for the big cats to retire after their feast, while some others were content to just steal a look.
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Reading Hour
Fiction That Many Splendoured Thing subhash chandra
Subhash is a retired Associate Professor (English). He has published in India and abroad. While interested in the short story format he is simultaneously working on a novel.
L
ike every day, I was waiting for my wife in the car about two hundred metres from the college gate. I was parked at the end of the lane amidst a
cluster of vacant plots which were dotted haphazardly with wild bushes. Mine is usually the only car parked there and although I can see the entire stretch of road up to the college gate, my sea green car doesn’t attract attention, unless somebody is looking for it particularly... It was a bone freezing January day. The minimum temperature hovered around 3 degrees Celsius. But with the window panes rolled up the biting breeze was shut out and the sun filtering through the windshield slowly warmed the inside of the car. I read a book while I waited. Now and then I raised my head and looked around. They were walking leisurely, hand in hand, with their fingers interlocked and arms swinging and they appeared to be humming a tune. Two young things, without a care in the world!
Sep-Oct 2012 Vol 2 Issue 5
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Interview Missionary of Good Cinema Ashok Rane
Ashok Rane is a film critic, academician, researcher and writer, as well as a documentary film maker. He has written extensively on Indian and world cinema, attended film festivals all over the world and received two National awards, one for his book ‘Cinemachi Chittarkatha’ (1996) and the second for Best Film Critic (2002). Apart from conducting workshops on film appreciation, he is visiting faculty at University of Mumbai, Xaviers and SNDT, Mumbai. On a recent visit to Bangalore, Reading Hour caught up with Mr. Rane for a conversation.
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Reading Hour
Review Are you reading this?
the man within my head Pico Iyer Penguin India Reviewer: Shruti Rao
Mornings in Jenin Susan Abulhawa, Bloomsbury Publishing Reviewer: Suneetha Balakrishnan
54
... Some lines in the text stuck with me, and I suspect shall remain so for a long time, becoming, as such things do at the hands of writers who strike gold, maxims to live by.
... made me understand conflict like no other book has ever done. It transported me in place and time through six decades of a family mourning its village and its people and that via the eyes of a narrator who has never seen her ancestral village.
Reading Hour
Fiction The Writing on the Wall veena prasad
M
Veena is a writer and crossword maker. She regularly contributes to Brainwave, a science magazine from Amar Chitra Katha. She has also co-authored Forever Forty, the biography of Col Vasanth V, Ashoka Chakra.
ira looked at the time in dismay. Was it really eight o’clock? She had forgotten to tell Jatin that she would be working late. Again. She
grabbed her phone to send him a quick message. Before she could send the text however, a soft bing alerted her to a notification from Facebook.
Jatin Das is at The Blue Orchid.
A story of modern couples and the role social media plays in their lives.
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Reading Hour
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