Part Of Being Sane Is Being A Little Crazy

We've heard this so often. It is said by English teachers to their hopeful students. Aspiring writers bandy it about to encourage each other. Editors quote it to crush some dreams, while making others come true. I mean, even The Hitch had something to say about it! Everybody does have a story inside them, their own secret little world that they carry around in their head. But whether or not it deserves to be told is a whole other question. Another stumbling block is whether people will bother reading it at all. The toughest hurdle of all - will they like it? Of course I want to write a book someday, preferably a novel. But what should I write about? This question has haunted me for a long time. I have so many stories to tell, so many opinions of my own that it is difficult to pin down just one topic on which I could write. On the other hand, I'm also not sure I have a novel-length story to tell inside me. Then it hit me: my own blog was the answer! When I started blogg

I don't generally review movies that I watch regardless of whether I like them or not. For one thing I'm too lazy and reviewing a bad movie seems like such a waste of time. But I've seen some good Hindi movies lately and one in particular got me excited enough to write this post. I've always wondered why certain films are under-appreciated by Indian audiences. Most of the really good movies I've seen were usually made on a shoestring budget but well made for all that. On the other hand, most big budget films with 'name brand' heroes leave me feeling cold. The story is uninspired and usually misogynistic, ageist, and practically every other kind of -ist there is. The acting itself is usually average or even if it is good, it's fighting a losing battle with the script. Yet for all that, they do well at the box office. *shrugs* Movies like the recently released Queen are the exact opposite. The script is realistic and original. People don't spontan

I know what I'm supposed to do with this post but I don't think it's possible for me to actually narrow down 5 (and only 5) places I'd like to visit. Believe me I've tried but it's just impossible. At least for me. So I've decided to take a different route. Instead of 5 geographical  places to visit, I'm going to name some places in time  that I'd like to see. That's right, this is going to be a post involving time travel ! *trumpets flare up* Ahem, so here goes.. 1. Summer Vacations in Guntur I travel back to that time quite often, whenever I want. Who says time travel isn't possible? It  is only one-way  but it's enough for me. I have some rather wonderful memories of my grandmother's home in Guntur. Two months of glorious summer spent in the biggest mansion a 11 year old could want. As a bonus, I don't need to take time off or save up money to get there! 2. See the Future of Humanity As anyone w

There are many questions that I don't like being asked, whether they're mildly annoying or just a gigantic PITA. Usually, I don't like the person asking them either. Or if I liked them before, I don't anymore... I would have said mythology! 1. What is your name/address/phone number? Practically all Indians are familiar with this routine. Aunty or uncle is meeting me for the first time and thus begins the barrage of questions. Inane ones like what is the name of my school or the spelling of my sister's name. It's always the same list. Enough already! No one ever asked me what books I liked to read or what games I liked to play..as if 5 year olds don't read. Or play. 2. Do you like mummy or daddy? I've heard this one asked innumerable times. Just what do you hope to achieve with it? At most, it might cause a slight embarrassment to the parent who is apparently 'liked less'. So what? I'm just as likely to say I love my mom because dad

This is the fourth in a series of stories, set in the game world of Banished . Read Part I . We've finally built the school I've been waiting for.  It still seems unreal, even though I have been teaching here for a year now. Ferun  has taken over the blacksmith duties, I'm far more interested in educating the children. Most of them have been born here and know nothing of space or advanced technology. Yet, they show so much curiosity and enthusiasm to learn.  It is so different from the schools we had on Mars. We might have had the technology but the thirst for knowledge had long since died out from humanity, save a few hundreds of dedicated individuals.  I just hope that my instructions and knowledge are enough to prevent some of the accidents we've had in the village lately. Some of the children have grown into adults and started working before the school was built. Unfortunately, they are slower than the rest of the original, educated settlers and much less pr

He believes that, when running, "to" is never important, what matters is "from". When it was pointed out that running just lands him in more trouble his response was "Yes, but you can run away from that, too." - Rincewind, nominal wizard on Discworld. As a philosophy it probably wouldn't work here on Earth but serves Rincewind well on the Discworld. But we've all been there haven't we? You hope that your problems will simply disappear sometime, as if by magic. Even if you don't have any trouble - at present anyway, everyone knows something is just lurking around the corner; a fact common to both Earth and Discworld - you may want to just be someone/somewhere else rather than you. Books were my escape. In my case, it wasn't that I was running away from anything as much as running towards something. Sometimes I wished I could climb inside a book and live that life . Hours after finishing a book, I'd still be able to hear thei