Why the world needs more (and better) storytellers!

When somebody I've just met asks me what my hobbies are, I almost always list reading as one of them. Later on, I realize that even though I've read quiet a lot in the past, lately I haven't had time to catch up on my reading. Maybe, all the books I've read lately don't seem to be able to recreate the same magic or whatever else the reason, I never have found a recent book that had me as gripped as the Harry Potter series or made me want a Mr.Darcy.


Most of the books I've read recently, have characters ripped off from classics or predictable story lines (or both!). So much so, that I could actually read the back cover and tell you the story. I remember reading Famous Five, Secret Seven and The Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton and actually being transported to the fantasy land he'd created. Detective series like The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were also equally captivating. I could even pick up one now and not get bored.  Then came the phase of classics, where I was introduced to all the elements of a perfect melodrama. Shakespeare with his smart word play, Jane Austen with her powerful female protagonists, the three Bronte sisters with their tragic lives are a few among my favorites. J.K. Rowling wove her way into the hearts of millions of readers with her books on an orphaned wizard boy - Harry Potter and his war against evil. The books were(and are) such a rage that, there were many spinoffs - online and offline. Among Indian authors, there weren't a lot of books I liked reading owing to poor grammar and predictable Bollywood-type storyline. Chetan Bhagat, Ravinder Singh were among the few authors whose novels I actually did manage to complete.

Image Courtesy : Google

An author can probably fool his audience into buying his/her book that is utter bubblegum trash with effective marketing and P.R. strategies. But what the world (and the author) doesn't understand is that we communicate via storytelling. How well-read we are definitely affects the extent of our imagination and creativity. Let me put it this way, a child who has read quality books (or has been read to, in childhood) is far more capable of communicating effectively and thinking creatively as compared to a child who has spent his childhood in front of a T.V.


I, personally, believe that well-told stories could change the way we look at things. That's why today, with extra focus on "THINKING OUT-OF-THE-BOX", having effective storytellers becomes more relevant. What are your views on this? Do leave your comments below :)

- Divya

New girl in the city

Making a transition from Content writing back to Engineering wasn't easy, to say the least. What made it even more daunting (for my parents) and exciting (for me) was that my current job as a Systems Engineer required me to relocate to Bengaluru for the training period of 3 months.(Who knows! I might get deployed here too!) Forget about 3 months, I was an absolute fresher in terms of living alone and I wasn't really sure whether I'd be able to even manage.

The Hanuman Temple near Iskcon

There really wasn't much apprehension regarding the city because it's still , well, India. I figured I could get by with English and Hindi.(And for those who actually think it's easy for me, as a Malayali, to get by - Boy have you got it wrong!).

The View from my terrace :)

Pardon the stereotype, but a rural area replete with the borewell and cows was what I really thought Bengaluru would be. I knew very well in advance that it was a tech hub and a very well-planned city, but my perception was set. I was officially transferring from a city to a "gaav" in my own head. But when I landed a fortnight back I was taken by surprise with the kind of amenities and services available. I can quiet confidently say now that, Bengaluru is as welcoming and pleasant as Mumbai, if not more.

One of the random monuments in Bangalore

Yes, I still travel by overcrowded buses and then there's the traffic and a lot of other things I can crib about. But this blog really isn't about that. In Bengaluru, I was lucky to meet really inspiring and awesome people. One of them is my room mate. I don't think I'd have survived this long, hadn't it been for her. Being from Maharashtra herself, she is a brilliant room mate, friend and an extremely balanced and fiery person. The other names on my list include all the people I've met in training - seniors and colleagues. Well, nothing is perfect and there were those initial dafrrys of homesickness. I craved for Mumbai food (yes the Vada Pav) and missed my family. But, after the hiccups, the independence was exhilarating and so was the responsibility.

Yummy Tchoupatolis during our Roomies Day Out

I eventually got accustomed to the bland-but-nutritious food of the hostel, the being-on-my-own-for-everything feeling and the complete freedom. I blended in, like the million others, who come here everyday for their jobs. Hell, I've even started learning Kannada!(to the amusement of all the ticket conductors and my friends, here). And now, the city isn't so brand new... and neither am I :)

My four-legged friends

Besides writing and reading, I love animals and birds. By love, I mean the completely crazy kinds, wherein I run off in my jammies to feed a stray kitten wailing downstairs. In this blog post are some of my favorite shots of some of my most favorite people in the whole wide world.

Patches - the grocery store cat snug and very oblivious to me clicking.

Winny - the friendliest squirrel ever, at her candid best

Newest addition to the family. With 6 siblings, his family could give teddy bears stiff competition. Adorable, licky-as-ever and the most lovable of all - Sandy the pup

The famous catwalk by Stripey. He hates eating and being photographed. Loves talking!

Mischief - doing what he does best! Catnaps *sigh*

You talking to me, bro? The hungriest crow ever!

Why I write... And a million random thoughts

I'm not a very organized person - not when it comes to my thoughts. So it doesn't come as much of a surprise, that I'm lost for words most of the times. To put all of the thoughts flitting in and out of my head into one coherent sentence verbally, is somewhat of a mammoth task and I'm happy if I can manage finishing a sentence without stuttering. Most people mistake it for awkwardness and reticence, but it is just a case of my brain - well, Multitasking.

Which is why, I find writing to be a pleasant change from talking. It gives me the kind of freedom to express, that talking never did. I know I'm not even close to Shakespeare, but I'm more comfortable jotting down my thoughts on a piece of paper than having them spoken out loud. Writing gives me a sense of firmness- the finality that comes with the idea being actually visible in a coherent form on paper or on a computer screen. I know there are many, who feel that the written form is insensitive and cold. With the range of punctuations that we have, (almost, always used unnecessarily) I feel what we write can and does influence a lot of people across the world. Take the web and the print media as examples. I agree that there is a large section of people who tune into the 9'o clock news, but a majority of them will also pick up the newspaper with their morning cup of tea, the next day. For people of my generation, content on the web is influencing us majorly - right from buying books on Amazon to buying high-end electronics after reading reviews. Word-of-mouth has now become Word-on-Facebook or Word-on-Twitter and everything we write is going to have "The Butterfly Effect" somewhere down the line. Besides finding it as an effective medium to express myself, I really find it the best way to get things out of my system after a long day. Trust me when I say, it's way better than shouting. And the best part? The paper or the laptop you're writing on doesn't judge you.


Above all, there's one more reason - I simply love the elaborate long form of written content like everyone else. In our fast-paced lives, we often don't have the patience to listen to what a sales person has to say. But we'd willingly peruse a product specification brochure, that is 3 pages long, on the internet. Although, we claim we're leaping into the future - from written to audio-visual, I think we've already made the leap from written to audio-visual and back to written content supplemented with visuals.


Like I said, I could be biased because I haven't been much of a spontaneous talker as a child. What are your reasons for writing? I would love to hear some of your views.

Till next time,

Divya

Rooting for India!

Staying true to one’s roots is a phrase that has been done to death by every brand that ever was. With international brands capsizing the local markets, the tagline has assumed relevance in marketing more than ever. It got me wondering whether we, as consumers/individuals were even attracted to the actual concept rather than the mere show of words.

As a Gen Y kid I, like many others in my generation, have been witness to the Internet boom. The repercussions of the same were felt differently across the various parts of the world. America became the technical hub and the dream locale to provide just that push to any fledgling career. Every middle-class Indian, who had only heard about the country till then, started nurturing hopes of living the Great Dream abroad. The same trend continued into the new millennium and changed the dynamics of not only the market but also pseudo-westernized our country.

Don’t get me wrong here. This is not a hate rant on how Big Bad America capsized Culturally Rich India and brought us all to the wrong side of morality. I love my shows on the tube and everything else that western culture has ushered in. It would have been great if our country was truly following the new age ideals while sticking to our roots. While we busy slog away at perfecting our English grammar and the American accent, here’s a thought – How about we learn to read, write and speak in our mother tongue? I would be a hypocrite, if I’d say that we should learn all the Indian languages with their different dialects. But it is not a matter of pride that we cannot communicate in our own mother tongue, in the age of free web tutorials and Ebooks. As a matter of fact, it is pretty shameful that we’re drawn towards learning foreign languages like Chinese, French and Italian because of the sheer monetary profit associated.

The scenario gets worse when it boils down to the historical and civilian details of our country. History is taught so blandly, that it is hard to feel an inkling of liking for the subject. Pre and post-struggle details are breezed through concisely in a chapter or two. Beyond Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and a few others, we don’t even remember the names of other patriots who participated in the freedom struggle. On the other hand, civics is hardly taught. It’s more of a rushed primer for everything else we need to expect later on, as citizens of this country. In this age of technology, it is truly sad to realize that as citizens we know more about American and Egyptian history than our own. And why? Because they’re more mystical and interesting, according to our textbooks.

By all of this, I don’t mean to say that all Indians should go back to primitive living and start adhering to Panchayat rules.  Saving our culture doesn’t entail bidding goodbye to luxury or your pair of jeans. You could very well be all you want and still in tune with our heritage. It is, as simple as, getting to know your own country a little better. Because if we don’t respect and treasure our own legacy, chances are that nobody else will.

Till next time,

Divya

Woes of an internet writer

Recently, when talking to a friend I realized how easily people took content on the internet for granted. As I was describing my job profile to her, she interjected with an "Oh! So you basically write. How hard can that get? Use some flowery words, put in some posh grammar... Lo and Behold, there you have an article." I was tempted to retort back with "If it seems that easy let's see you do it, Shakespeare",but settled for, "Yeah. Pretty much", instead.


That does summarize what people, in general, think of  writers - Hobo chicks with pencils in their bun wearing flowing skirts writing flowery poetry. If it were only that simple!Even worse is when you tell people you work on Facebook or Twitter the whole day. Just the other day, my mother thought I was wasting time on Twitter on a weekend. When I told her this was a part of the job, all she replied was "What possibly could you work with on a social networking site that just allows 140 characters?" She, like many other people, is blissfully unaware of the efforts at the backend of every site- social networking or otherwise. To them, it's all just a random unknown person sitting on a computer somewhere far away posting content and images.

What many people don't understand is that words are way more powerful than swords could ever be. Especially with the Internet disseminating information so effortlessly, words are more than just the building blocks of a language. They're ticking time bombs if used wrongly. The wrong words at the right time could trend and result in something awful or moronic.Take the recent case of a teen committing suicide because #CutForBieber was trending on Twitter. Agreed that it was the most drastic case of a prank gone bad, but that's the kind of impact words have on people.


So the next time you see a writer, tip your hat off to that guy/girl. They're probably the reason why you have your Facebook, Twitter and Google timelines flooded with information. Whether the said information is relevant or irrelevant is another story altogether!

Of new years, resolutions and wishlists...

2013 has finally set in... at least in most parts of the world. It's time for resolutions, wishes and a lot of merriment! For most of us, it will be just another year with the same old resolutions that we hope to fulfill. (We've got to keep the faith, don't we, that someday we'll be able to live up to all of our resolutions?) For me, it's all about the excitement of the unknown... And all I can really wish for is a year that's as eventful, if not more, as the year gone by.


The previous year, saw some very big changes worldwide - some awesome, some not-so-pleasant and some downright ugly! We sunk to a newer low with gruesome rapes, mass-murders, shoot-outs while making brilliant discoveries in Science... And this post isn't about how we need to change ourselves or our mindsets(Too much of those already on the internet!),  but all I'd really like to say is that there's always a little hope when the world's at its darkest. So instead of harping about it if, as an individual, we'd strive to focus on the glass half full rather than empty AND work upon our issues, it'd be a much better 2013!

On a personal front, it has been one hell of a rollercoaster ride - graduation, friends moving away (Priyanka, Ananyaa, Shammi - I miss you guys!), a dream job, my sister's wedding... Phew! Sometimes, I wonder how I survived it all... (not to mention the end-of-the-world!) But then, I don't think I'd have it any other way... because if everything was predictable, it wouldn't really be as fun.

My visiting card :)

Predictability comes with planning and what better way to describe plans than resolutions at the start of the year. Most people make resolutions and by the second week(if you're faster, then the second day) forget about it! To me resolutions sound a lot like learning - learning not to give up, learning from failure and sometimes just learning along the way... Something I achieve without making them at all! I love to draw up wishlists instead.. Unlike resolutions, they're so much more simpler and for a slacker like me, they're easier -  'cause they really don't involve forming any new habits(something I really hate!). My wishlist for this year - a tad bit more reading, more work, and more time with people whose company I enjoy. As simple as that and unlike resolutions, they aren't even that hard to fulfill.


On a parting note, a very Happy New Year to everyone! I *hope* to continue blogging and reviewing books as regularly as I can, this year :) Here's to an awesome year ahead *cheers*