How I know I am not alone in my fetish for books-2

[Though] I read at least a hundred books a year, and often twice that number, I always end up on New Year's Eve feeling I have accomplished nothing.

***

I have never squandered an opportunity to read. There are only twenty-four hours in the day, seven of which are spent sleeping, and in my view at least four of the remaining seventeen must be devoted to reading.

Of course, four hours a day does not provide me with nearly enough time to satisfy my appetites. A friend once told me that the real message Bram Stoker sought to convey in Dracula is that a human being needs to live hundreds and hundreds of years to get all his reading done; that Count Dracula, misunderstood bookworm, was draining blood from the porcelain-like necks of ten thousand hapless virgins not because he was the apotheosis of evil but because it was the only way he could live long enough to polish off his reading list.

If it were possible, I would read books eight to ten hours a day, every day of the year. Perhaps more. There is nothing I would rather do than read books. This is the way I have felt since I started borrowing books from a roving bookmobile at the tender age of seven. In the words of François Rabelais: I was born this way.

***

Until recently, I was not aware of how completely books dominate my physical existence.

Only when I started cataloguing my possessions did I realize that there are books in every room in my house, save for the bathrooms, and books in all three rooms in my office suite. ... Books are in my line of vision at all hours of the day and night.

***

JOE QUEENAN

With few exceptions, I write my name, the date of the purchase, and the city where the book was purchased on the inside flap of my books. If I have not written my name inside, it is because I have already decided that the book is not worth keeping.

***

I do not accept reading tips from strangers, especially from indecisive men whose shirt collars are a dramatically different colour from the main portion of the garment. I am particularly averse to being lent or given books by people I may like personally but whose taste in literature I have reason to suspect, and perhaps even fear.

I dread that awkward moment when a friend hands you the book that changed his or her life, and it is a book that you have despised since you were fourteen. People fixated on a particular book cannot get it through their heads that, no matter how much this book might mean to them, it is impossible to make someone else enjoy A Fan's Notes or The Sot-Weed Factor or The Little Prince or Dune, much less One Thousand and One Places You Must Visit Before You Meet the Six People You Would Least Expect to Bump into Heaven. Impossible. Not without assistance from the Stasi.

— From "Great Expectations", one of eight essays written by American journalist, critic, and essayist Joe Queenan and collected in One for the Books. (By the way, I am also the proud possessor of another of Queenan's marvellous collections, Confessions of a Cineplex Heckler.)

• ALSO READ: "How I know I am not alone in my fetish for books-1".

Gettin' Jiggy with possibly the best music player on the Net

I have tried a variety of music players on the Net, including Neverending Playlist.

But now that I have discovered JiggyApe, there's no turning back. There's only turning up... the volume:

• Want to know how to create your own music video playlist with JiggyApe? Click here.

• Want an official reason to listen to music at work? Click here.

• Want to know what "Gettin' Jiggy..." means? Click here.

Commitscion ASHWIN SHANKER (Class of 2015) commented via e-mail: WOW... Simply Wow... I checked the site out, I am thrilled to see how simple, yet effective it is in making a playlist. This was just what I was looking for. 

What it takes for young people to build successful companies

Last month we received an upbeat e-mail from Kriti Mahajan (Class of 2012), who wrote to inform us that she, along with her fiancé, Vinish Vijay, and fellow Commitscion Hana Iqbal, had started a media company in Bangalore.

Kriti told us that Communique Culture, which is the name of the company, offers "complete communication solutions, be it in the fields of PR, social media, content writing, brand consulting, or media marketing".

That is when it struck us that, over the years, quite a few Commitscions have decided, after gaining a few years' experience working for others, that it was time to work for themselves.

Here we learn about the journey undertaken by not only Kriti and Hana, but also by Barbie Jain (Class of 2012) and Divya Jaising (Class of 2008), as well as Victor Mukherjee (Class of 2007).

Other Commitscions who now manage their own enterprises include the husband-wife team of Kallal Kumar Das and Sanidhi V.J. (both from the Class of 2008), who run a flourishing Bangalore-based event management company, and Nishal Lama (Class of 2009), a well-known wedding photographer. At a later date, we will hear from Gaurav Momaya (Class of 2005), whose private venture is at a nascent stage.

Now it is over to our entrepreneurs:

COMMUNIQUE CULTURE

By Kriti Mahajan

There was a time when, as employees, we used to talk “media planning”, breathe “radio”, and think “advertising”. At that time “entrepreneurship” was the last thing on our minds.

Today, looking back, the only reason why it never dawned on us to strike out on our own was because of the jobs (and job security) our peers and seniors were ensconced in. We too were in a comfort zone and we never felt the need to move out of this zone; after all, we were receiving good appraisals and being offered better positions.

THEY MEAN BUSINESS: HANA IQBAL, KRITI MAHAJAN, AND VINISH VIJAY.

However, since the three of us (Hana Iqbal, Vinish Vijay, and I) were good friends who travelled, ate, hung out, partied, and did practically everything together, I guess it was only a matter of time before we became business partners. 

On a regular working day while we were out meeting the media and pondering over how else we could become better professionals, we realised that the only way we can feel more passionate and be sincere is when we treat this as our own baby — that we do everything in the best possible way but on our own.

Yes! We were thinking “entrepreneurship”. 

When you can reap immediate financial benefits by working extra hard, why should you wait for a year just to get that appraisal?  Who needs it, when you can work for your own appraisal?

Also, this is the right age to take a risk; if we fail we can always rely on our degrees and work experience and go back to our conventional jobs. 

It is with these thoughts at the back of our minds that we decided we were going to take communication to another level. From meeting over 15 clients on a summery day to working on projects like the Farhan Akthar show and the Kapil Sharma show, and managing media functions for a designer in addition to holding on to our regular jobs, we have done it all.

As professionals we have a combined experience of more than five-and-a-half years in PR, internal communications, content management, analyst relations, and social media. We also bring to the table four years of experience in production and in sectors such as information technology, retail, education, art, lifestyle, and hospitality.

So yes, we are entrepreneurs today! All it took was a thought and a little convincing. And now we are raring to go!

*

By Barbie Jain

BARBIE JAIN

When we were scouting around for a name for the marketing solutions company we wanted to launch, we hit upon “Über”, denoting an outstanding or supreme example of a particular kind of person or thing. That was it!

We strive to be “Über” at everything we do — and we knew we wanted our services to be top-notch. So, after a series of brainstorming sessions, we finally agreed upon “Über Marketing Solutions” and here we are now, a fantastic nine months into our energetic start-up!

After I graduated from Commits, I wasn’t too sure about what kind of career I wanted. Which company did I want to join? What kind of growth path did I want to chart out for myself? These were the questions that were uppermost in my mind. And the answers were hard to come by. So, like everyone else, I signed up for a stint in the corporate world.

A 9-to-5 job with big, established companies is not bad at all; for most people it's an easy choice to make, and so it was for me.

However, the zeal to do something I never thought I'd be able to do, and then to finish a complex task in less than an hour — what an adrenaline rush that is! In addition, it is such a confidence-booster and so satisfying that it becomes a source of great happiness.

It was in order to experience that adrenaline rush on a regular basis, and also to fulfil the big dreams we had in terms of marketing, branding, etc., that my friend Nadir Shah and I decided to leave our fancy jobs (at SAP and George P. Johnson, respectively) to start this venture of ours.

And trust me it wasn't easy! Time was of the essence because time is money to the organisations we wanted to work with, and every second counted. Next we had to answer our fair share of difficult questions from prospective clients, mostly focusing on how a start-up like ours could help a large company like theirs. But then again, this was only till we got the opportunity to show our mettle!

ÜBER IN ACTION.

Currently we are a team of six people working across Bangalore, Mumbai, and New Delhi, handling clients such as Mindtree, Evangelsoft, and many more.

I believe that what I have learnt over the years has made me what I am today. And with Über Marketing Solutions, I will progress and grow not only personally but also professionally, which I reckon will shape what I will be tomorrow.

As I finish writing this article, it occurs to me that I would not be completely honest if I said this was a one-person effort. None of what I have achieved would have been possible if I had not had the support of the many brilliant teachers at Commits, who have been no less than great leaders and who helped me in crafting my career. I also owe a great deal to my beloved parents who have always guided me. It is from them that I acquired my watchword: Fearlessness.

Wasn’t it Helen Keller who said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all”? What an apt quote that is for the story of Über!

*

DIVYA JAISING

By Divya Jaising

I’d like to believe I was always cut out to be an entrepreneur; the truth, however, is that I never really had the courage to take the plunge. A safe job with a fixed salary at the end of each month was too comfortable to pass up.

Ultimately, it was a call from a long-time friend who had a business idea that persuaded me to change my mindset. After a lot of thought and contemplation, and quite a few convince-me sessions later, well, here I am: an entrepreneur!

Having been part of the corporate events industry for close to seven years, I had gotten to a point where work could be said to have become akin to “plug-and-play”; it was difficult to get excited about what I was doing. So when Kirti Samant, who is now my business partner, came to me with a plan to start a wedding and party planning company, I was thrilled.

I was a bit hesitant at first but the more we discussed it, and the more I thought things through, I realised this was the first time in a long while that I had become genuinely enthusiastic about something. After some serious discussions with various people on how to go about starting and sustaining a business, we decided to go ahead.

A TRADITIONAL STAGE FOR A WEDDING RECEPTION IN COIMBATORE.

A MEHENDI STAGE WITH A PINK, PURPLE AND ORANGE THEME.

A PHOTOBOOTH WITH A PINK BICYCLE AND OTHER PROPS SUCH AS TURBANS, POTS, FAKE MUSTACHES, SUNGLASSES, ETC. THESE INSTANT PHOTOS MADE FOR A FUN GIVEAWAY.

The journey so far has been great! The day we finalised our company name “Marigold Diaries”, we got our first wedding planning assignment. Because each is a special occasion and involves personal relationships, weddings and private celebrations are very different from corporate events. We have been woken up in the middle of the night for the most inane things, had some crazy client requests, but we have had a blast getting it done. After all, what’s life without a little craziness?
 
After starting Marigold Diaries, we have gone back to the basics: we are now part-time strategists, designers, executers, drivers, office boys, and anything else the company needs, and PROUD OF IT!

Every step in setting up a business becomes an accomplishment, whether it is getting the registration done, setting up the website, bagging a new project, or even creating a Facebook page; everything is a little celebration. We are still novices, stumbling along the way to get our bearings, but with a hunger to learn.

Setting up and sustaining a business is no easy task; it takes a lot of conviction, hard work, and determination to keep the business going. But when our hard work pays off and we have a happy client at the end of the day, we realise it’s all worth it.

• ALSO READ: DIVYA JAISING ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE AN EVENT-MANAGEMENT PROFESSIONAL.

*

By Victor Mukherjee

The name “Mango People” came to us in July 2009. That was when the film Love Aaj Kal was released and we heard the term for the first time. Actually Neha Anand, the other half of Mango People, insisted that we use this name for whatever entrepreneurial ventures we started. And that is how, three years later, once again in July, Mango People Media Network Pvt. Ltd. came into being.

Why did we launch Mango People? That is a question I have been asked by many people (including, especially, my mother, and other relatives). They were wondering why someone would quit a big brand like Red Chillies, where I was in a position of authority and power, with a paycheck to match, and start again from scratch.

My answer was simple.

I was putting a lot of effort into what I was doing at Red Chillies. I thought it was time to put that same effort into a company of my own creation and concentrate on building it and securing my future.

Why a media company? That’s what both Neha and I specialise in. But, somewhere in the near future, given my interest in cooking and given the fact that I am a foodie, I will obviously open a restaurant to showcase my culinary skills. (I may name it “Mango Pickle”, for all you know.)

MANGO PEOPLE MEDIA HAS MANY HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS TO ITS CREDIT.

The journey so far has been a mixed bag.

Starting something from the ground up is never easy. The competition is ferocious sometimes, but our strengths are our efficiency and effectiveness, our people skills, our familiarity with the music and showbiz industry, our insider knowledge, and also the hardworking nature of the people in our team. That’s why the big names have come to us and continue to stay with us; big names such as the Marriott Group, Bacardi, Coca-Cola, Hard Rock Café, Forevermark Diamonds, Durex, and Group M.

Our motto is “Entertainment for all”. And we are here to keep people entertained in every way possible.

• TO KNOW MORE ABOUT VICTOR MUKHERJEE, CLICK HERE: "FOUR thought-provoking short films. THREE brilliant music videos. ONE magical week."

• TO VISIT MANGO PEOPLE MEDIA'S FACEBOOK PAGE, CLICK HERE.

When the first female executive editor of one of the world's greatest newspapers recommends a book...

...it's a no-brainer. You have to pick it up. And that's what I have done (in a manner of speaking).

Now, while I am waiting for Flipkart to deliver Journalistas, an anthology of "the best writing by women journalists over the past 100 years", I am savouring (again) some of the masterly writing in Jill Abramson's book review, which also gives us a peek into the personality of the woman who made history at The New York Times in September 2011:

I worked for many years as an investigative reporter in Washington, digging into all manner of government grubbiness for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. ... By long tradition, this was men's turf. It was telling that one of my colleagues once anonymously described me in a published profile as having "balls like cast-iron cantaloupes."

***

I first picked up the volume with annoyance — I hated the title and still do. It sounds silly and is redolent of all sorts of dopey words for female journalists, including one of my least favourites, editrix. And I'm not a fan of anthologies. Reading them is often like feasting on a meal of hors d'oeuvres. ...

But most of the pieces collected by Eleanor Mills (an editor at The Sunday Times of London) and Kira Cochrane (a novelist and former journalist) are so marvellous that I quickly cast aside my doubts.

***
The brightest jewel is Martha Gellhorn's utterly chilling account of Dachau in the earliest days of the liberation in 1945. Gellhorn's writing is emblematic of many of the fine articles in this volume — striking in its spare style, full of moral authority, but utterly lacking any surplus emotion or distracting detail. Perhaps the British roots of the anthologists led them to a preference for journalistic crispness in the English style. It serves their readers extremely well.

***
Most of the writers in Journalistas do have a special eye for intricacies, but they are also full of brave judgments and passion for political life in all its dimensions. Mills gets it right when she puts forward a simple justification for this book: "This is not just a women's collection; it reflects the great dilemmas and struggles of humanity in the last century from an often new point of view."

• Jill Abramson wrote this review in January 2006, when she was the managing editor, or No. 2, at The New York Times. Five years later, she became the executive editor, the first in the newspaper's 160-year history. Who better to recommend Journalistas?

• ALSO READ: "Outstanding Indian women journalists who are also excellent role models" and "Woman on top. About Time, I say"

12 questions media students must ask themselves when they are working as interns

1. Have I been able to get rid of the student mindset and develop a professional mindset? Will I be able to continue to think like a professional even after the internship ends and I return to college?

2. How important is it for me to read newspapers? Magazines? Books?

3. How important is it to have good speaking and writing skills?

4. How important is it to have people skills?

5. How important is it to be able to make intelligent conversation and develop genuine friendships with co-workers? How easy is it?

6. How important is it to be curious and ask interesting questions?

7. How important is it to take the initiative?

8. How important is it to be able to work under pressure?

9. How important is it to be able to meet deadlines?

10. How important is it to have breakfast every day (because I have no idea when my next meal will be)?

11. Has this internship helped me to discover my true calling? Or has this internship helped me realise that this particular field is not for me?

12. How has my college helped prepare me for this internship?

And perhaps the most important question of all (so let's make it a baker's dozen): AM I DOING ENOUGH TO ENSURE I GET A CALL-BACK WHEN I AM READY TO BEGIN WORKING FULL-TIME?

• ALSO READ: "How to have a successful AVC-related internship" and "How to have a successful MMC-related internship" 

***

UPDATE (April 29, 2014)

Commitscion ATREYI DASGUPTA (Class of 2015),
who is in the midst of her internship
with Shree Venkatesh Films in Kolkata,
answers 12 questions media students must ask
themselves when they are working as interns 

1. Have I been able to get rid of the student mindset and develop a professional mindset? Will I be able to continue to think like a professional even after the internship ends and I return to college?
This internship has enabled me to shake off my student mindset and develop a professional mindset. Now I am sure I can work with a professional mindset even after the internship ends.

2. How important is it for me to read newspapers? Magazines? Books?
Reading on a regular basis is very important; it helps us to stay updated. Reading a newspaper every day is of paramount importance. It is reading that helps us to communicate with people intelligently, which, in turn, will help create a good impression about us.

3. How important is it to have good speaking and writing skills?
In the professional world, good speaking skills, I think, are much more important than writing skills. At every stage we have to communicate with our superiors as well as with those who are our subordinates. We have to learn to keep calm whatever the situation may be and sort out things using our communication skills. 

4. How important is it to have people skills?
We have to know how to talk to people and, when required, “manage” them and get them to do what we want, so people skills are essential.

ATREYI DASGUPTA STRIKES A POSE AS A "COMMITS TV" REPORTER.

5. How important is it to be able to make intelligent conversation and develop genuine friendships with co-workers? How easy is it?
If we are able to understand what will make our co-workers interested in talking or what topics they like to discuss and if we have a sound knowledge of the subject, then it becomes very easy to strike up an intelligent conversation. I would like to add here that if you can talk from your heart, making genuine friendships is not that difficult. 

6. How important is it to be curious and ask interesting questions?
It is imperative to be curious. Unless we ask questions and show our interest in relevant topics, no one will take us seriously. This is what I have learned during this internship. 

7. How important is it to take the initiative?
Taking the initiative is very crucial. We should always ask for work and complete the task assigned to us properly and in time. We should never lose hope and remain enthusiastic about all kinds of jobs given to us.

8. How important is it to be able to work under pressure?
Working under pressure can be fraught with peril. We not only have to complete our projects in time but we also have to ensure work quality. This is something that we can learn to do with experience. 

9. How important is it to be able to meet deadlines?
We should never miss a deadline. “Missing a deadline is like a crime” — this is what my boss told me in the very first week here. 

10. How important is it to have breakfast every day (because I have no idea when my next meal will be)?
It is very important to have breakfast every day because the work schedule keeps changing from time to time.

11. Has this internship helped me to discover my true calling? Or has this internship helped me realise that this particular field is not for me?
This internship has made me more determined to reach my goal. It has taught me that the path to success is not easy. I know now that I have to learn many more professional skills. And I also know I have a long way to go to achieve my ambition.

12. How has my college helped prepare me for this internship?
Commits has taught me to take the initiative, communicate clearly, treat work seriously but at the same time enjoy my work and not grumble about it. Commits has also taught me the importance of professionalism and the value of time (we should never be late at work). In addition, it has taught me to keep my cool at all times and deal with every situation calmly and with patience. Without Commits I could never have been what I am today. Commits has taught me not only how to survive in a professional environment but also how to thrive in it.

How I know I am not alone in my fetish for books-1

I plan to go as I have lived: with a book in my hands. And not just any book by anybody. No, if there's one writer who can ease aeronautical timor mortis [the author is flying from Washington, D.C., to Chicago], it's Dr Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, Plum to his friends, and the creator of Jeeves, Psmith, Madeline Bassett, Uncle Fred and a body of fiction that has brought more joy to readers than even the Kama Sutra of Vatsayana. When angels in heaven want a book to read, they buy a paperback of The Code of the Woosters, then lean back into a cloudbank and sigh with pleasure over sentences like these:

"He, too, seemed disinclined for chit-chat. We stood for some moments like a couple of Trappist monks who have run into each other by chance at the dog races."

"Into the face of the young man who sat on the terrace of the Hotel Magnifique at Cannes there had crept a look of furtive shame, the shifty hangdog look which announces that an Englishman is about to talk French."

"Years before, and romantic as most boys are, his lordship had sometimes regretted that the Emsworths, though an ancient clan, did not possess a Family Curse. How little he had suspected that he was shortly to become the father of it."

— From "Weekend with Wodehouse", one of 46 essays written by Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Michael Dirda for The Washington Post Book World and collected in Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments. Dirda was flying to Chicago to attend a convention of the P.G. Wodehouse Society. (By the way, I am also the proud possessor of another of Dirda's fine collections, Classics for Pleasure.)

• Also read: "Why you must read".

• ADDITIONAL READING: "P.G. WODEHOUSE'S ART OF THE COMMA".

I don't think I knew that poetry could be so... raw (and I was reading this over breakfast)

And Lord did I push, for three more hours
I pushed, I pushed so hard I shat,
Pushed so hard blood vessels burst
in my neck and in my chest, pushed so hard
my asshole turned inside out like a rosebud...

That is American poet Beth Ann Fennelly describing her daughter's birth in "Bite Me", the first poem in her collection, Tender Hooks.

And how did I happen to read this passage? I came across it this morning in Stuff I've Been Reading, by Nick Hornby, the celebrated author of About a Boy (which became a movie starring Hugh Grant), High Fidelity, and other works of fiction and non-fiction.

Hornby writes, by way of explanation, that he had met both mother and daughter briefly during a visit to Oxford, Mississippi, and "both of them seemed like the kind of people that one would like to know better". And then, a few days later, he read "Bite Me".

Hornby continues:

So I ended up feeling as though I knew them both better anyway — indeed, I can think of one or two of my stuffier compatriots who'd argue that I now know more than I need to know. (Is now the appropriate time, incidentally, to point out the main advantage of adoption?) If I had never met mother or daughter, then these lines would have made me wince, of course, but I doubt if they would have made me blush in quite the same way; maybe one should know poets either extremely well or not at all.

Stuff I've Been Reading is full of such unexpected insights and witty observations concerning books and authors, and, yes, poetry collections and poets. The writing is so smart that even the digressions into Nick Hornby's other obsession, football (and his favourite team Arsenal), are a delight to read.

• Stuff I've Been Reading had been lying on my corner table along with other books that had been delivered recently by Amazon. Since I'm already reading a few other novels and non-fiction books, I put off opening Stuff I've Been Reading with great reluctance, but today seemed like a good day to delve into it. And the rewards were immediate. I call it instant gratification.

• Nick Hornby writes a monthly column, in The Believer magazine, called "Stuff I've Been Reading". The book of the same name is a collection of those columns over the years. You can read an excerpt from the most recent column here.

• ALSO READ: "A serious attempt to give poetry the space it deserves"

How to write an e-mail that will get you your dream internship (Hint: You need the three I's: interest, initiative, imagination)

Commitscion Tia Raina (Class of 2015) got a call back from India's top digital agency, Webchutney, three hours after she sent this e-mail:

From: Tia Raina
Date: 1 March 2014 8:34:25 IST
To: contact@webchutney.net, careers@webchutney.net
Subject: Do you need an awesome intern?

Good morning!

My name is Tia Raina and I'm a master's student at Commits, a media college located in HSR Layout. 

I've been looking to intern for 4-6 weeks this summer at an awesome digital agency (preferably in Bangalore, but Mumbai is great, too!). I DO have about 5 years of work experience as a writer (Journalism, Advertising, Marketing, you name it!) and my latest crush is digital. I've also recently volunteered for Social Media Week and was part of the top 20 tweeters, while juggling being a hub owner (emcee+organiser) at one of the locations.

I was wondering if you'd have any openings for interns anytime between 23rd March and June 15th?

I'm attaching my résumé, but just in case you need a quick link: here's my LinkedIn Profile.

Also, my Twitter handle and Blog link.

I'd love to intern at Webchutney, so do let me know as soon as you can! I'll be watching the phone (No. Really.).

Thanks for reading this email!

(Mobile number and other contact details)

TIA RAINA

Tia, who is the editor of the college newspaper, says, in all modesty, that the quick response "may have partly been because I followed all the guidelines they mentioned on the website. :)"

Yes, but I happen to think that other, perhaps more important, factors were at play here. Her e-mail indicates that she is media- and tech-savvy, she has good writing skills, and she is someone who likes to take the initiative.

Tia also comes across as a smart young woman, a fun person, a self-motivated worker. In short, every company's dream employee.

Who would not want such a lively, intelligent personality on board?

• It will be worth every job-seeker's while to also check out the Webchutney guidelines that Tia is referring to. Here are the important points from the "HowTo" page on the agency's website (What a sassy come-on: "Work for us. Join the debauchery."):

Covering notes are cool

The art of the résumé

Social, woshal and all that!

We are like those attention seeking whores

Subject Lines can make or break you

Apply for a position that's (at least) related to what we do

Read the complete document here: "HOWTO: Careers".

And here you can read Tia Raina's blog post on her favourite city: "My Love-Letter to Mumbai".

• ALSO READ: "How's this for INITIATIVE?" 

• PS: Elaborate résumés and job applications are all the rage. Read this instructive and inspiring feature in AdWeek: "Designer Creates Delicious Résumé With the Winning Ingredient Baked Right In — How she scored an instant interview and the job".

An inspiration to writers everywhere

A tribute — in the form of a "puzzler" — to the writer of one of my favourite books by one of my favourite authors, whose weekly e-newsletter I receive every Sunday:

HOPE BEGINS IN THE DARK

By Dr Mardy Grothe

On April 10, 1954, this writer was born in San Francisco (she turns 60 this week). Her father was a full-time writer and an avid reader, and she acquired both passions at an early age. As a second-grader, she was thrilled when one of her poems won an award in a statewide poetry competition and was later published in a mimeographed anthology.

She struggled with a host of problems during adolescence, but continued to dream of a literary career.  She dropped out of college at age nineteen, hoping to write the great American novel, but ending up instead in a variety of low-level jobs.

She continued to force herself to write almost every night for the next few years.

And then, at age twenty-three, her father was diagnosed with brain cancer. He told her to pay attention during his illness, and also to take notes, adding, "You tell your version, and I am going to tell mine." He ultimately became too sick to write his own story, but three years later, she published Hard Laughter (1980), a novel based in part on his illness. Her father died a year before the book was published.

In 1986, she became a highly unconventional born-again Christian (liberal, feminist, and pro-choice), got clean and sober, and began to take her life and career more seriously.

OUR MYSTERY AUTHOR WITH OPRAH WINFREY.

In 1993, she achieved her first commercial success with Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year. A fiercely honest and occasionally very funny memoir about life as a single mother, the book had a modest initial press run of 7,000 copies, but became a surprise bestseller.

In 1994, she wrote another bestseller, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. I received it as a gift many years ago, and it continues to be one of my favourite books.

Like her earlier Operating Instructions book (and her many later ones), Bird by Bird is filled with disarming self-revelations and charming self-deprecating humour.

It is also a deeply personal work, containing many insights and lessons learned. In the book's Introduction, she reflected on her early years as a struggling writer, and especially about the many times she would force herself to write at night after working all day at an exhausting and unfulfilling job. She wrote:

   Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just
    show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.

Who is this woman?

Now you know!

• A copy of this highly useful book, which is filled with practical advice, has been placed in the Commits library.

• To know more about the good Dr Mardy Grothe, check out this post: "It all depends on the telling, sure. But surely who does the telling matters?"

Why I absolutely loved "Queen" (a Facebook conversation)... and Chetan Bhagat's column in today's ToI

Ramesh Prabhu

March 26

A COMING-OF-RAGE MOVIE LIKE NO OTHER

If more Hindi films are made like "Queen", I'll watch every one of them. I swear. Mummy-daddy ka promise.

• Kasturi Kumar, Nida Merchant, Sherry M Jacob-Phillips and 56 others like this.
• 

  MOnica CHauhan I loved it too .....planning to see it again

  March 26 at 7:30pm · Unlike · 1
• 

  Apar Dham Mummy- daddy ka promise? Lol
  What happened sir?

  March 26 at 7:42pm · Like · 1
• 

  Ramesh Prabhu Rajouri Garden ka bhasha hai, mere dost, Apar Dham.

  March 26 at 7:44pm · Like · 1
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  David DSouza Aai shappath, as they say in your Mumbai Ramesh. Good movie. Alka and I loved it too

  March 26 at 7:45pm · Edited · Unlike · 1
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  Apar Dham Ok so now I'm sure Ramesh Prabhu's account has been hacked! All Commits students, please proceed with caution! LOL

  March 26 at 7:46pm · Unlike · 2
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  Apar Dham Btw, tweak it a little bit if you want perfect Rajouri lingo, sir. It should be Mummy-Daddy swear! Remove the "ka promise".

  March 26 at 7:47pm · Like
• 

  Ramesh Prabhu Oh. But, Aparji, I think I heard "Rani" use "... ka promise" in the movie. Have you watched it?

  March 26 at 8:07pm · Like
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  Apar Dham Ohh, is it? That is strange! I've heard "Mummy-Daddy swear" all my life in Delhi. No, I have not watched it yet! Lot of people have been asking me to. Will do soon.

  March 26 at 8:15pm · Like
• 

  Ramesh Prabhu Okay. Let me know if I got it right.

  March 26 at 8:18pm · Like · 1
• 

  Jessu John That mummy-daddy ka promise was the reason I had my day's giggle coming from Mr. Proper Prabhu, it is too funny yaaaaaar

  March 26 at 9:04pm · Edited · Like
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  Ramesh Prabhu I may not be from Rajouri, Jessu, but at heart I am a Bambaiyya.

  March 26 at 9:08pm · Like · 1
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  Sushmita Chatterjee I loved it too! And u got the "mummy-daddy" ka promise right!

  March 26 at 10:22pm · Like
• 

  Devjani Cox Loved it...

  March 26 at 10:50pm · Like
• 

  Saffana Michael Really? That good? I always think at least a 103 times before spending good money on these Bollywood flicks!

  March 27 at 12:01pm · Like

AND HERE'S CHETAN BHAGAT WRITING ABOUT QUEEN IN TODAY'S TIMES OF INDIA:

There are hidden messages in the movie, perhaps more than the makers even intended. One, we have trapped our women. We think we care for them, but we suffocate them in the name of security, safety, morality, tradition or culture. We are not comfortable with an Indian woman expressing herself. A woman has to be a good daughter, sister or wife. It isn’t enough for her to be just, well, herself. In some ways, they endure disguised slavery. In the civilized, developed world, where women have choices, they do not choose to live like this. Every girl in India deserves a journey of self-discovery like Rani. 

Well said, Mr Bhagat! Bravo!

• READ CHETAN BHAGAT'S COLUMN IN ITS ENTIRETY HERE: "Wake up and respect your inner Queen".

• ALSO READ: "Chetan Bhagat on how to take your English to the next level"