36th Edition of Shadow Dancing With Mind

It feels great that my book “Songs of the Mist” is finally published and this month it reached the bestseller rank of 29 at Amazon, in Self help section. This blog has been a great source of inspiration and kept me going when things seemed to stall in my writing effort. I am grateful for the support my friends, followers and readers gave me over the years. Today, after a long time, I am collating the 36^th Edition of Shadow Dancing with Mind. Hope you like it and please do check out these pages as I am working on Chennai Colors posts on IndiBlogger’s Renie Ravin, How to publish your book, The similarities between The Big Bang and the primordial sound ‘Om’ etc. in coming weeks. Please don’t forget to check out my ’10 Tips on the Art of Writing’, which is collation of my learnings while writing my first book.

1) READER: A DebutCollection of new Authors

For last few months, I have been collecting some Debut Novels by some of the new Authors, I have across through my social media interactions. Finally I have been able to read them and this post shares my thoughts on their beautiful work of passion. This is my tribute to their undying devotion towards writing and creativity. Hope you will enjoy reading my thoughts about them and their work. Please do leave a comment and if you like what I have written about their books, check them out too... Click here to read more...

2) Chennai Colors: Aseries about amazing and creative people of Chennai

Dr. Chithra Madhavan: 9 tips on writing about Temple Architecture and Heritage buildings - A Leading heritage historian and Authority on Temple Architecture & Heritage from Chennai adds to the colors of Chennai by revealing ancient sculptures and uncovering amazing stories found hidden in the sanctum sanatoriums of popular as well as lost Indian heritage sites. Click here to read more...

Dr. Anita Ratnam: Inculcate passionate-curiosity to write about art - Colour of Chennai is somewhere between red and orange - a highly respected performer, writer, speaker and arts entrepreneur and culture mentor, set the tone of this edition of Chennai Colors, as she picked the color ‘Arakk-Munjal’ – a hue somewhere between ‘Vermillion and Mango Orange’ as the color of Chennai. Click here to read more...

3) ABOUT BOOKS

10 Tips on the Art of Writing for New Authors

Writing a book is an exhaustive and lonely struggle, which becomes painful in itself if you are not passionate about words and enjoy the stories it brings forth from the depths of your heart. As I finish writing book-2 in “The Monk Key” series, I have realised that my perspectives about writing, life and living has completely changed. These upcoming three posts “About Book” is my attempt to share those learning with my friends, readers and aspiring authors in order to save their valuable time in reinventing the wheel. Click here to read more...

INTERNATIONALKOLKATA BOOK FAIR

The beauty of the languidly moving vehicles - zigzagging through numerous city jams, but also zipping across the under ground the first metro rail and an IT hub that’s humming to take over the world, from the outskirts of the city. That’s Kolkata for you in nut shell but for me it’s more than all that. And visiting the city on 30th and 31st January, 2016 for the International Kolkata Book Fair on the invitation of my first book "Songs of the Mist" publishers Notion Press, is an amazing opportunity to recharge my soul... Click here to read more...

Hindu Lit ForLife: And the winner is Easterine Keri

As usual, I could pick out the winner of the Hindu Literary Prize this year too and it was a pleasure to show the tweet to the winner Dr. Easterine Keri, (Since she does not have a twitter account) I had sent an hour earlier than the announcement. She is a very soft-spoken and highly sensitive person and interacting with her was such a pleasure. Click here to read more...

Songs of the Mist Dedication

It gave me immense pleasure that after almost two decades I could go back to the Deva Bhoomi and offer my   gratitude for the blessings and the strength to bring the book "Songs of the Mist" out and unveil at the most pious place among the vedic chant at Parmaarth Ashram, with the blessings of H H Swami Chidanand Muni ji. Click here to read more...

4) CURTAIN RAISER:Blog Now Live Forever BNLF

An international conference on Blogging, conceptualized and hosted by IndiBlogger on 31st Oct - 1st Nov, Mumbai - Influential bloggers from the global online community are gathering this weekend at The Lalit Hotel, Mumbai to interact with the thought leaders and powerful speakers from the world’s emerging change agent- Blogging. Click here to read more... 

5) STILL LIFE

Bhagwat Gita inall it's splendour

There can not be as better day than the auspicious day of Krishna's Birth - Janamashtami, to talk about the universally renowned jewel of India's Spiritual wisdom in all its splendour as an Art Edition brought out by Nightingale. As my friend T Suresh has been singing praises of this edition, displayed at Odyssey, at Chennai; I planned a visit to see, hold and feel this beautiful edition... Click here to read more... 

The OtherSide...

Whenever I am in Delhi, its become a kind of ritual to a take time out from work and visit the bird sanctuary across the Noida Highway from my house in Mayur Vihar and try to spot kingfishers, Duck bills, pond herons and Nilgais etc. On the way back from one such visit, I happen to pass along a small construction labourers settlement on the banks of Yamuna River, as the beautiful Sun prepared to 'set' on the high-rise modern Delhi. Click here to read more... 

6) HAIKU MASTER:Yamaguchi Sodō (1642 -1716)

A series on discussing Haiku Masters and their poetry….

A friend of Bashō, Sodō wrote one of the most famous Haiku of all time. Click here to read more...

Hope you have enjoyed this edition, look forward to your comments. Please do share...

__

Shashi 

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

PREV                                HOME                              NEXT

35th Edition                                                                  37th Edition                      

Hindu Lit For Life: And the winner is Easterine Keri

As usual, I could pick out the winner of the Hindu Literary Prize this year too and it was a pleasure to show the tweet to the winner Dr. Easterine Keri, (Since she does not have a twitter account) I had sent an hour earlier than the announcement. She is a very soft-spoken and highly sensitive person and interacting with her was such a pleasure. Her award winning book "When the River Sleeps" has got me thinking about the spirits, dreams and journeys that has been entangled within the landscape of my own book, "Songs of the Mist".

Alaxander McCall Smith and Dr. Easterine Keri

"When the River Sleeps" is just like meandering through the forest, running eddies around the pauses in living and then breaking free to run with demons and dreams. It is a lovely book, enjoyed it throughly.

Had an interesting conversation with Dr. Easterine Keri and posed for the
book... 

The beauty of Hindu Lit Festival is the relaxed atmosphere, where you are free to chose what you would like to do, or hear or interact with. The stalwarts of literature, Music and creative fields, spend their time in unassuming way and willing to share their thoughts with any one around. After 6 sessions, since Hindu Lit Festival's inception, it feels like home. 

T M Krishna with Balkrishna Gandhi...

Day 2 - day 3 had an impressive array of discussion and interaction lined up. I am giving below some of the images and thoughts from the day for those, who have had missed being there.

Burkha Dutt: The passionate firebrand journalist

Anita Ratnam takes on Barkha Dutt, on her own game...

It was interesting play on the role reversal as Anita Ratnam asked not to speak until she has heard the question... The interview was engrossing, where Barkha Dutt opened her heart and exposed her passion to which she is married to. Unlike the Wikipedia report which mentioned her being married to a Kashmiri Muslim. Some of her thoughts from the interaction...

So I'm told, "oh you're married to a Muslim that's why you're secular." Since when has secular become such a bad word?"

"Rahul Gandhi is the most incompetent in media, I think Arnab Goswami was soft on him in the interview"

"Social media is double edged sword. Twitter is the new PTI"  - Barkha Dutt

Amish: The Rock Star 

Amish - The Rock Star Author

and some of his thoughts...

"The ending has to be such that it keeps gnawing at you for the rest of your life!"

"As long as you don't force your faith on others and your belief gives you peace, then what's the harm?"

"Faith when it becomes blind, it becomes a problem"

"There is no word in Sanskrit called blasphemy. Why? Because it didn't exist."  - Amish

Shashi Tharoor: The Eloquent Politician

A great 9 point presentation on the networked world, where Shashi Throor proved beyond a doubt that India has come of technical age, discarding the ancient Rope trick and snake charmer skin....

Some of his thoughts from two session he interacted with...

"A student who's not good enough to get into an IIT maybe qualified to get into a Harvard"

"We have a Prime Minister who is a doctor who can diagnose the problem, but can't deliver the medicine, " 

"I strongly believe that the politics of performance will defeat the politics of identity," - Shashi Tharoor

Dr. Chithra Madhwan: The Soul Keeper

I have had attended Dr. Chithra Madhwan's many lectures and her passion for safeguarding the ancient temple architecture comes out so clearly in every one of her presentations. Sharan Apparao's moderation was beautiful and brought out the right sense of desperation among the audience for the defacing our cultural heritage and ancient architecture.

Dr. Chithra Madhwan voiced her worry that the insensitivity of people will soon lead to complete disintegration of temples and we need to know where we came from to take it forward. Temples were not only about religion and education. It also functioned as banks, panchayats, library and filled the major social gap in terms of local administration and safeguarding the people living around.

The Forbidden Fruit : The best and the frank session of the Festival

The fearless and frank opinions of the panelist in the session made it one of the best session. I would leave you with some interesting thoughts on the Eroticism and some of the author's who have taken the genre to the new heights...

Amrita Narayan

"When you have layers of shame on collective culture, it's difficult to write," says Amrita Naryanan about her erotic novel.

"One of the criticisms of my book is that sensuality of everyday lives isn't Indian,"

"Sex in India is outsourced to Goa or the United States!" - Amrita Narayanan 

Lionel Shriver

"I need to have strong feelings about what I write, and for the person who read it to feel it too"

"In the west we have moved to a set of new taboos that I call the tyranny of virtue."

"Happiness is a state of motion, a trajectory The idea that happiness is a place you get to is destructive" - Lionel Shriver

Margaret Mascarenhas

"It is my theory that romantic love is a terminal illness. It is not normal"

"Sex, love and violence are part of each other. To have an effective story, something has to happen,"

"The kind of love I would like to cultivate is one where your partner becomes your best friend. It's more soothing" - Margaret Mascarenhas 

With Manil Suri

"I don't think sex is no longer a taboo. I mean, look at Section 377," - Manil Suri 

With Alaxander McCall Smith

"As writer you have to make an imaginative leap of other people's experiences." says Alaxander McCall Smith, who is known to write 1000 words per hour and has written 80 novels and sold more copies than Michael Jackson's Thriller. When I asked him about his writing style being close to P G Wodehouse, to which he smilingly admitted that he had heard that before. When I asked him about why his villains are not actual villians in the gory sense of the words, he said "If you just focus on the bleakness and suffering, every novel would be a tragedy."

Now I will leave you with some images starting with Mr. N Ram of Hindu, who for the first time in 6 years, was actively engaged with the going on of the festival, moderating few session and probably the most frequent questioner from the audience.

N Ram from Hindu

Shortlisted Book for the Hindu Literary Award

Songs of the Mist Quote on Opinion Tree

Leaving you with a quote from my book "Songs of the Mist" fluttering on the Opinion Tree at the Hindu Lit Fest Venue.... 

"Man has always tried to rewrite history, but the mind is unforgiving, more so is the time"

Hope you have enjoyed the journey, see you all next year at Hindu Lit Fest, meanwhile enjoy reading good books and if possible write the book, that is lurking within your heart. I will...

__

Shashi

ॐ नमः शिवाय

Om Namah Shivaya

PREV                                HOME                              NEXT

  Hindu Lit Fest 2016 - Day 1