A Do It Yourself Author

That is me. I had an idea. Actually I had a multitude of ideas threatening to topple me if I didn’t surrender. For five years I wrote , sliced, diced, chopped and changed. DIY or Do it yourself is the western phrase. In India we have been doing this for centuries. I did just that. I had a story to tell. And so overwhelming was the urge to put it down on paper, that is what I did. I did the rounds of the publishing houses, reworked my manuscript, even got myself an agent but at the end the voice in my head harmonised with the wish in my heart. I self-published.

There were many reasons that compelled me to write : I wanted to preserve my memories of Kerala, harness the guilt that as Indians whilst we had pushed the frontiers of science and technology, we had snubbed our magnificent history. The Indus Valley Civilisation is a great civilisation but its ‘great’ descendants haven’t deciphered its script as yet. Isn’t that embarrassing? Earnestly and naively being convinced that I could teach myself to write and not just write a story, paint it vividly with the blessings of the authors I have worshipped and devoured I put together River, Laughter, Moon & C. It is historical fantasy which at its core seeks to give hope- that the key to unlocking the great mystery of our ancient people is waiting to be discovered. Like every Indian, I have the sacred epics embedded in my psyche and in this book I explore a reason why the Ramayan may have been written and find the message concealed in its many metaphors.

The above image is of the Zamorin , a pivotal character from my book -River, Laughter,Moon and C. Some of you may recognise the familiar images of the ten headed demon Raavan and the heroic vulture Jatayu.