Reading Hour Mar-Apr 2014

Mar-Apr 2014

short fiction

essays

Vol 4 Issue 2

76 Pages

verse

`50/-

reviews

A Round-up Of Detectives nilesh bakhle

Spycraft Then ...And Now

abhijit bhaduri, manjushree hegde

Interview: Lawrence Block

Stories

anita kainthla • anu kumar • deepa kylasam iyer • fehmida zakeer • lekha nair • madhulika liddle • mohd junaid ansari • s p lazarus • s s kuruganti • subhash chandra

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2 76 pages

short fiction essays verse reviews

Published, owned, and printed by Vaishali Khandekar, and printed at National Printing Press, 580, KR Garden, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095 Published at 177-B Classic Orchards, Bannerghatta Rd, Bangalore-560076 Editor: Vaishali Khandekar Editing Support: Arun Kumar, Manjushree Hegde Subscriptions, business enquiries, feedback: readinghour@differsense.com Ph: +91 80 26595745 Subscription Details: Print (within India only) or Electronic (PDF): 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.

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Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

Editorial “Nothing goes so well with a hot fire and buttered crumpets as a wet day without and a good dose of comfortable horrors within. The heavier the lashing of the rain and the ghastlier the details, the better the flavour seems to be.” ~ Dorothy L Sayers, ‘Strong Poison’

Well, we hardly need justify the theme of this issue—it’s a rare reader that doesn’t enjoy the mystery genre! The secret of its popularity is simple: regardless of medium, it provides glimpses of good, evil, temptation, redemption—and resolution. In the hands of masters, mystery is compelling to the point of obsession. In 1841, Edgar Allen Poe wrote a short story titled ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue’, considered to be the first real example of detective fiction involving the ‘puzzle element’. It even used the twin ploy of the narrator and the disturbed detective! 45 years later, Arthur Conan Doyle captured public imagination with his flawed central character, using scientific technique to solve puzzles… since then there have been many memorable detectives and many unforgettable puzzles!

Even though we couldn’t offer our writers the luxury of a novel’s length, they took on the challenge of the short story in this genre so spiritedly that the issue is bursting at the seams with fiction. The crimes range from murder most foul to murder that never was, from theft to kidnapping, from intrigues to other misdemeanours. We hope readers enjoy the selection.

Die-hard fans will always have their favourite fictional detectives and Nilesh Bakhle lists his top ten in A Round-up Of Detectives.

Abhijit Bhaduri and Manjushree Hegde take on intelligence gathering techniques in ancient times and current, in Spycraft Then …And Now. In The Truth In Fiction we chat with people involved in real-world crime and detection for the inside story.

We interview noted crime writer Lawrence Block, who has published more than a 100 books and no end of short stories over the course of half a century. You might know him as the creator of memorable characters such as Bernie Rhodenbarr and Evan Tanner.

We wish you an absorbing read! ~Editors Note: Our poetry selection will be back from the next issue. facebook.com/readinghour readinghour.in 1

CONTENTS ESSAYS 27

Spycraft Then …And Now

57

A Round-up Of Detectives

abhijit bhaduri, manjushree hegde

INTERVIEW 14

hatting With C Lawrence Block

nilesh bakhle

REVIEWS 43

Are you reading this?

FICTION 3

The Mystery Of Mr Johnson’s Death

mohd junaid ansari

6

Stolen Cutlery And Other Suspicious Events

18

A Simple Idea

22

Ragpicker

32

TheTruth In Fiction vaishali

s s kuruganti

subhash chandra

The Severed Hand

s p lazarus

Shopping For Bindis

46

Full Circle

51

Heartbeats At The Feet

61

What’s Yet In This, That Bears The Name Of Life?

2

70

anu kumar

38

64

LAST PAGE

fehmida zakeer

madhulika liddle

lekha nair

anita kainthla

Not Once Or Twice But…

deepa kylasam iyer

Reading Hour

FICTION The Mystery Of Mr Johnson’s Death mohd junaid ansari Junaid has studied English Literature and Journalism. He writes short stories, poems and plays.

S

ome say that Mr Johnson

with its lid open, his legs raised in

died a natural death. Sitting

the air, bent at the knees.

on a bench, under the bright full

But according to Mr Tom

moon of a wintry night, his head

Robinson,

began to sink; and lower and

inspector twenty-five years ago

lower it went, till his chin came to

when the incident occurred, the

rest on his chest.

deceased had been dead long

When people found his corpse,

the

town’s

sub-

before he came to sit in the park.

his hands were folded in his lap as if in solemn prayer. Poor Mr Johnson’s body had irremediably stiffened after lying in the cold for hours, and was as hard as rock. So that when he was buried the next day, his coffin had to be carried

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

3

FICTION Stolen Cutlery And Other Suspicious Events anu kumar Anu is a US-based Indian writer. She writes for children and older readers. Her stories have been twice awarded by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association. Her recent novels are ‘It Takes a Murder’ and ‘Inspector Angre and the Pizza Delivery Boy’ (2013).

D

G Pande’s wife was leaving

After a long search, the bag

for a seminar in Delhi, and

was discovered in the car, snugly

the house wore a disturbed look.

ensconced in the back seat, as if

His usually well-organized wife was

ready to leave, and the DG Sahib had

adding to the chaos

to drive rather recklessly to get to the station. He did so

though DG Pande

with gritted teeth

was unruffled.

Mrs

Pande

couldn’t remember

and

belligerent

look,

negotiating

the

where her ticket was,

undisciplined

and when she realized

traffic on Patna’s roads,

she had left it in her

and nodding to everything his

new green Gucci bag, gifted by her daughter

wife said.

“See, Sheela dai did not come. I

and disliked intensely by the DG

had to explain things to her. In my

Sahib, she couldn’t recollect where

absence, she knows you will be

she’d left her bag.

careless.”

4

Reading Hour

Chatting With Lawrence Block Author of over a 100 books, Lawrence Block was named Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America (1994), was thrice awarded the Edgar prize for best short story in the mystery genre, and is the creator of several well-loved characters such as bookstore owner and part-time thief, Bernie Rhodenbarr, conscience-stricken hitman, John Paul Keller, insomniac revolutionary, Evan Tanner and P.I., Matthew Scudder.

Lawrence Block wrote a monthly column on writing for Writers Digest—a column that ran for 14 years. Later, the articles were published in a series of books, including ‘Telling Lies for Fun and Profit’, ‘Spider, Spin Me a Web: A Handbook for Fiction Writers’, ‘The Liar’s Companion: A Field Guide For Fiction Writers’.

The Write For Your Life Seminar that he conducted for a year, traveling around America with his wife Lynn, was also published in book form. An early convert to the digital format, all his books are available in electronic versions, and he ventured into self-publishing as early as 1994.

Here, he shares his thoughts on his characters, on writing, self-publishing, and much more in an email interview with Reading Hour.

“If you want to write fiction, the best thing you can do is take two aspirins, lie down in a dark room, and wait for the feeling to pass.” ~ Lawrence Block, ‘Writing the Novel, From Plot To Print’ 5

Reading Hour

FICTION A Simple Idea s s kuruganti SS Kuruganti has written for the Deccan Chronicle and presented her short stories on All India Radio. She writes twisted stories based on Indian mythology, reviews books for Random House India and Reader’s Cosmos. Her first book will be out soon from Indireads.

O

n the last day of his life, Mr

Well, no matter. After tonight,

Girish Niranjan sat down

he’d finally be free of Deepa and

to an early dinner.

her incompetence.

He served himself another roti,

Once done with dinner, Niranjan

and spooned all the potato curry

sat at his dining table for a few

onto his plate. Deepa had outdone

minutes

herself today. Niranjan smiled

evening news. It had long been

bitterly; of course the silly thing

his habit to watch the news when

would finally get a meal right the

he ate; not for him the hysteria of

very last time he’d eat one! And

reality shows and the insipid serials

she called herself a cook. It was

others of his age seemed to prefer.

disgraceful.

He snorted. If his wife had still

more,

watching

the

As usual, his gaze went to the

been alive, he was sure she’d have

photograph on the wall next to the

forced him to watch that terrible

television. His wife had been dead

comedy show that everybody was

these ten years, and he still missed

watching nowadays; he was sure of

her, especially at times like these.

it.

6

Reading Hour

FICTION Ragpicker subhash chandra Subhash is a retired Associate Professor of English.

He has been published in India and abroad. He’s currently working on a novel.

P

rashant took his evening walk every day along the road that

stretched parallel to the boundary wall of Deshbandhu College; it was a long road that connected Kalkaji and Chittaranajan Park and was sparsely frequented. After finishing his walk, he would visit his friend, Raghav Verma, for a chat and a cup of tea. The two would sit in cane chairs on the balcony savouring

of the security agencies of the

Barista muffins, Wenger’s patties

government, and so on. Around

and cookies, and roasted cashew

this time, the old, bedraggled

nuts, and talk about the fast

woman would come to the kabadi1

vanishing

shop located opposite the house

values

from

public

life and politics, 26/11, the laxity 7

with her day’s pickings.

Reading Hour

ESSAY Spycraft Then …And Now abhijit bhaduri, manjushree hegde Abhijit is an author, columnist and leading HR professional. He has authored 3 best-selling books and is the Chief Learning Officer at Wipro Ltd. Manjushree is an avid reader (though somewhat partial to authors long dead) and enjoys writing, travelling and new experiences.

I

n the annals of Indian History,

The Wisdom of Kautilya

the Mauryan Empire (c 317–185

manjushree hegde

B.C.E.) is a grand chapter, replete with drama, deceit and danger. With

and

prime

minister—composed

a population of fifty million people,

the Arthashastra, a radical treatise

the Empire, at its zenith, was larger

on polity. Written in a caustic,

than the Mughal Empire (centuries

sententious style, this exhaustive

later), and the British Empire even!

text of 6000 sutras, divided into 15

In fact, it is said that its capital,

parts and 150 chapters, is a fantastic

Pataliputra (near modern Patna),

window into the intricacies and

“was about twice as large as Rome

intelligence of statecraft.

under Emperor Marcus Aurelius”.

To maintain law and order in this

large

Chandragupta

empire,

Kautilya—

Maurya’s

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

mentor 8

Time To Upgrade The Detective abhijit bhaduri

The petrol pump was located in

asked the attendant to fill up

Devanahalli just outside the city

petrol worth a hundred rupees.

of Bangalore. It was a convenient

The eight constables looked at the

spot for people to tank up as they

dusty Honda City that had just

headed out towards the airport.

driven in to the pump. They were

The eight police constables were

all tuned in to the tiny speaker

not in uniform today. They sat

that was hooked to the laptop that

on rickety steel chairs, sipping tea

was picking up the conversation

in silence. The young lady who

between the driver and petrol

was sitting with the cops seemed

pump attendant. The pattern was

uninterested in the tea. She

exactly as Ajmal had predicted.

suddenly nudged her colleague,

“How much?”

who looked up from his laptop,

“Are you deaf? I just told you.

and nodded at the driver who had

Fill up petrol for one hundred

just stopped to fill up petrol.

rupees.”

The man was in his thirties. He stopped at the petrol pump and

9

Reading Hour

FICTION The Severed Hand s p lazarus S P Lazarus holds an MBA from XLRI, Jamshedpur.

He retired from corporate life in 2006 and is looking to publish a few novels. He lives in Chennai.

I

t was a severed hand for sure,

the

and a woman’s hand to boot.

still intact.

hand

were

The women of this little suburb went to fetch water from the

Closer

temple pond every day.

examination

They did this as a matter of routine well before sunrise and well before the world around them began to stir. One morning, they noticed something very familiar but totally unexpected: a severed hand lying by the side of the well.

It didn’t need a forensics expert to conclude that it was a woman’s left hand. The gold bangles on 10

showed that the hand had been cleanly chopped off, apparently with a very sharp butcher’s knife.

Word spread quickly about the gruesome find. In a short while, there was a small crowd of curious spectators. Keen speculation rose as to whose hand it could be, and as to the whereabouts of the rest of the body.

Reading Hour

FICTION Shopping For Bindis fehmida zakeer Fehmida has been published in several journals and anthologies. Her story won the Himal South-Asian short story competition 2013. She appears in the National Library Board of Singapore’s 2013 edition of the READ! Singapore anthology.

T

risha waved goodbye to

far from hers. It was two months

her friends and got on to

now, since the incident, and the

her cycle. As she pedalled home, she looked at her watch. She had spent too much time talking with her friends. By the time she reached home, there would be at least three calls from Ma. Ever since that

police didn’t have a clue.

news about the disappearance of

There was a history test the next

the two girls had hit the papers,

day, and she would have to study

her mother had become paranoid.

for it in the evening. World War

Trisha wondered where the girls

2. The images in the lesson—

were. They had gone missing

though in black and white—were

from a neighbourhood not too

disturbing.

11

Reading Hour

REVIEWS Are you reading this?

Salvation of a Saint Keigo Higashino tr. Alexander O Smith Review: Richa Mohan

Bougainvillea House Kalpana Swaminathan Reading Hour review

The Spy Who Lost Her Head Jane De Suza Reading Hour Review

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

12

FICTION Full Circle madhulika liddle Madhulika is a novelist and short story writer, best-known as the author of the Muzaffar Jang books, a historical detective series set in 17th century Mughal India.

T

he irony about the Lake

too blurred by simmering rage,

View Hotel was that the best

for him to appreciate flowers and

view of the lake was from the staff

lakes. His nearly-ex-wife had raised

entrance. There, beyond the goods

the question of alimony; his son—

receiving bay, stretched an avenue

whom Pandit wished he could also

of jacaranda trees. Their feathery-

somehow

leaved branches framed the blue

about higher education at a foreign

waters of the lake. When summer

university.

divorce—had

talked

came, the masses of mauve flowers made for an even prettier picture.

A picture no guest, looking down from a guest room several floors above ground, could really see.

A picture Shailesh Pandit did not pay any attention to as he drove between the jacarandas.

His mind was too cluttered, and 13

Reading Hour

FICTION Heartbeats At The Feet lekha nair Lekha is a freelance writer and author. Beginning her career with the iconic tabloid The City Tab, she later contributed to India Today, The Sunday Observer and The Week. She lives in Mysore, enjoys cycling, birding, walking, Indian classical music and is involved in empowering intellectually-challenged adults.

F

unerals can be a lot of fun. The

through cupped palms, “No, not yet.

milling crowds, the endless

At 12, I think. I’ll keep you posted,”

comings and goings and all that

and so on. But it’s a different story if

rushing about. Front gates and doors

you go round to the back. Here, at

thrown wide open like never before.

the kitchen door, plates of food are

I specially love watching the people

carelessly strewn about, the servants

standing around with long faces.

lounge on the steps, gossiping and

When their phones inevitably ring,

laughing and occasionally raise a

they scoot into corners to gabble

half-hearted hand to shoo you away.

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

14

ESSAY A Round-up Of Detectives nilesh bakhle Nilesh is a ‘techie’ based in Pune. He is a self-confessed crime fiction buff, recent cycling enthusiast, and looks forward to the day he might be a full-time writer.

W

hat could be more fun

I was, of course, pulled up short by

than a round-up of my

the proverbial catch—a word limit.

favourite fictional detectives for

The would-be fun task took on the

a crime special? I could think of

definite shades of a challenge—

a score of them off the top of my

how on earth was I to choose? With

head, from long-ago Poirot to

the deepest apologies to Inspector

present-day Wallander, each with

Wexford, Nero Wolfe, Roy Grace,

some memorable quirk, some

Inspector Lynley, and eminent

unique

others too many to name, I have

instinct,

some

mind-

boggling cases! I couldn’t wait to

limited my list to ten.

start.

Come, let us go. Let us leave this festering [Tartarus] hole. Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all. ~ Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

15

FICTION What’s Yet In This, That Bears The Name Of Life? anita kainthla Anita has 3 books to her credit - a volume of poetry, a biography of Baba Amte and a book on Tibet. She has written short stories and articles for several publications.

I

n a matter of half a breath,

as though trying to hide something;

my grandmother has become

a straight-backed folding wooden

the corpse lying on the queen size

chair, severe, hard, cold; a window

bed that I’m sitting on. There’s an

seat, with the potential to turn into

unfinished plate of dal and rice on

a prettily cushioned, curtained and

the bedside table. The aftertaste of

coveted sitting spot but instead

lunch stirs in my mouth at the sight

the mute bearer of a mishmash of

of the plate. An ant family has begun

religious texts and trivia, papers and

carting away what food it can with

diaries belonging to my grandfather,

a diligence resembling fury. Some

spectacles, knitting needles, an

members of the ant family have

earthen pot of drinking water, and

perished in a pool of dal the size of a

framed photographs of my dead

rain drop. It’s death day.

parents, brother and grandfather,

My unwitting gaze trails through the

garlanded like gods with marigolds

room—the bulky, almost extinct tin

and smeared with sandalwood and

trunk covered with an old blue shawl

vermilion paste;

Mar-Apr 2014 Vol 4 Issue 2

16

FICTION Not Once Or Twice But… deepa kylasam iyer Deepa studied in India and France. She has published with the British Council, Voices Israel, Sampad, and contributed to several journals. Her play Metaphor was long listed for The Hindu MetroPlus Playwright Award 2012. Her blog: thehouseofbooks.blogspot.in

M

onsieur Guillemet sipped

family and his beloved sister had

his warm ginger tea and

all tried to dissuade him when he’d

opened his morning paper. It was

decided to move. Yet he had moved.

a glorious day. About time too, he

He had got used to the hot weather,

thought. Pondicherry did not have

the loud people, and the cultural

the most agreeable weather. It was

peculiarities. He’d begun to call this

too hot for more than half the year,

place home. And he was happy, as

and when the monsoons arrived…

happy as he hoped to be.

well, how they burst about the sky like fire crackers!

Such

extremes

of

weather did not suit his temperament. Yet, he did not particularly miss France; it had been twenty years, after all. His friends, his 17

Reading Hour

LAST PAGE The Truth In Fiction vaishali

W

hich reader has not been

than any other kind of book, literary

enamoured of detective

or otherwise! Years ago, I remember

fiction, at one stage or another of the

reading P D James’ An Unsuitable

reading habit? Mystery stories engage

Job for a Woman and being quite

us like none other. In pitting our

stirred, wondering if it I could have a

brains against a puzzle set by a skilful

detective agency of my own and put

writer, enjoying the peculiarities of a

into practice all that I had read over

detective’s technique, trying to work

the years. Thankfully, better sense

out for oneself whodunit and why,

or perhaps a lack of real purpose

often, the crime itself is forgotten,

prevailed. It wouldn’t have lasted a

or diminishes in comparison. The

week! But recently, I finally did do

horror of a dead body isn’t real, we’re

something I’d always wanted to do—

so taken by the locked room instead!

chat with a couple of people familiar

I must admit I am a fan myself.

with true life crime and detection.

Even today, I will race through a

The first was an an actual private

well-written, juicy mystery faster

detective. I’ll call him M.

18

Reading Hour

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