Writers Block: SPF 365

When I woke up this morning I seemed to have a lot of "writing" ideas. You know what they say about free flowing creative thoughts when in a state of semi-consciousness, well I don't know exactly but it is true.Now, it seems like I am having the writer’s block again, no it's not sold in an environment friendly recyclable container; but seems like I have adequate supply, any takers?
I wonder if writers can insure themselves against this henious, comes-and-goes-as-it-likes disease.
What if my next meal depended upon it."Hey girl, you've lost an awful lot of weight." "Yeah, I'm having the writer's block."
Oh well, you can't say it does not have any advantages after all.I wonder how these newspaper columnists churn out piece after piece every week. Well, they're not all good all the time, but even then, it is a commitment and they have to keep up to it, else they will all be joining the skinny brigade.What about authors who have editors and publishers breathing down their necks to meet deadlines? Is the "block" a valid excuse for missing a deadline? "I would've made a best selling author but I just got hit by the block."Have you ever had those brief triumphant moments when you've written this extremely brilliant line and that's that. For hours after, you keep staring at it and no more brilliance is oozing from nowhere. And the harder you stare the brilliance of the brilliant line also keeps diminishing till frustration prompts you to do the inevitable, ctrl+a and shift+del.
Oh the number of times I have been on that trip.And then my friends ask me, "Hey, you haven't written in a long time." "What happened to your blog, is it still there." Of course, it is still there. You think the blog people would dare delete my blog, which is waiting to overflow with brilliant writing.Err, maybe it has been a while, you know writer’s block and all, but that's just a passing phase. I think writer’s block can hit you at any time. After one line, one paragraph, one page and in my case sometimes even after one word."Preposterous", I thought I was getting somewhere with that word and thought I had a great piece outlined when it hit me. So after the staring and crinkling of the nose and sheer disbelief that I couldn't write further I just hit backspace; ctrl+a and shift+del would've taken longer.

There it is again, I know it, I can feel it. And people ask me why I end my writing abruptly.

Unaccustomed Earth

Well this is the first time i am writing a book review...read this book couple of days back and all i can say is....AMAZING!!!!

“Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures,” with her immigrant characters and their Americanised sons and daughters, Jhumpa Lahiri tries to reveal the truth of immigrant life in her latest offering “Unaccustomed Earth”.
After her debut short story collection “Interpreter of Maladies” and novel turned motion picture “The Namesake”, expectations were surely high and she had lived up to them. All the stories in Unaccustomed Earth are based on the Bengali immigrant experiences in America while chasing their dreams and lives.
In the title story, a widower’s new found independence surprises her daughter Ruma and proves her all vexations about inviting him to move in her house wrong, he declines her proposal in the pursuit of enjoy his rest of life with his new companion “a girlfriend”.
As the synopsis reads “Everyone has their secrets”, Lahiri is her wittingly simple presentation goes on to carefully reveal all the secrets that engulf the readers in a compelling emotional landscape.
Book is divided in two sections; first section has four stories “Unaccustomed Earth”, “Hell-Heaven”, “Only Goodness” and "A Choice of Accommodations", while the other section titled “Hema & Kaushik” takes the readers to a journey as 16-year-old Kaushik and his family, having returned from India, move in with 14-year-old Hema and her parents. His parents are searching for a house, and the month long sojourn marks both teenagers in profound ways. Kaushik's revelation of the true reason for their return shocks Hema out of her childhood innocence. Her crush on Kaushik could not find a suitable way out until after 25 years, when they meet again after bearing so much of turmoil in their lives. But destiny had something else written for them.
Travelling through their lives, Lahiri emerges a true storyteller, in the course of three stories; she subtly acquaints us through the load of expectations that Bengali immigrant parents push on their children, who some times fail and some times rise to the expectations.

I highly recommend this book for everyone...and yes post a comment after u read this book.....

cheers

pheonix

Celebrity Musings

Next thing we might read about Bachan family's trips to the water closet or toilet. The bahu rani goes around flaunting her body in France and the moment they return to India she acts like this sati-savitri head to toe covered bahu. What people wouldn't do for publicity and limelight after aging????????????????? Aishwarya bounced from one boyfriend to another and finally tied the knot to someone who's got a famous last name. That's one way to ensure fame and popularity after she stops working. (She is not a good actress) Amir Khan wants to be in the news because he's been out of the acting circuit for a while. I am sick and tired of watching remakes of Hollywood movies, Hindi remakes of South Indian films. Priyadarshan thinks casting Akshay Kumar or Paresh Rawal in a comic role in a South Indian remake would make a hit film. Just because some things sound funny in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam or Kannada doesn't mean it would have the same effect in Hindi. Filmmakers argue they chose exotic locations to entice the slum dwellers in India. How many Hindi movies were filmed in Switzerland or Canada in the sixties or seventies? Those movies with their melodious, ear-pleasing songs were entertaining to Indians. So why this shift to women in scanty clothing, flaunting their bodies, singing ridiculous songs running around in navel-displaying sarees in snowy locales while the males are bundled up head to toe in the Hindi movies? How many folks in India walk around in their houses dressed in expensive clothes, lots of jewelry and lots of make-up and drive a new car every day of the week? How many people live in palatial homes in India? There are people in India who were poor in 1947 and are still living in poverty without access to electricity, clean water, medical care. The affluent people have a servant to clean their unmentionables in India but there are people who still live not knowing where their next meal is coming from or where they will sleep for the night. There is palm greasing going on at each and every level of government and non-government agencies. Every so often an actor or actress will try to publicise the plight of so called disadvantaged people but after that day no one pays any attention to the disadvantaged folks. Everyone from stewards in Jet Airways to desk crew at airports, office employees to people riding overcrowded buses and trains have nothing to offer but RUDENESS. Those who can afford to send their kids to expensive schools in hopes of making them doctors and engineers even though they might be employing child laborers in their houses to do jobs they are too lazy to do. Try looking at India beyond the sarees and vehicles and opulent houses. Try getting an LPG connection, phone lines repaired, electricity restored to your house, getting a street lamp installed near the house, navigating through knee deep rain water through the muddy roads near big houses. There are people still burning wood and charcoal to cook and clean and pollute the environment. There are still people who think boys are better than girls. There might be boys and girls dating but caste, skin color, status, money rule Indian society today as much as it did several years ago. Indians go abroad, live in shanties and save and send money to family in India. We are a nation full of intelligent doctors and engineers and yet our very own democractic nation does nothing for its down-trodden population. Everyone sets out to make money and politics and acting become their means of livelihood. How many actors and politicians do you think actually help Indians? They might make donations here and there to get tax breaks or for publicity when their movies are about to be released. How many Aishwaryas, Jayas, Amitabhs, Shabanas, Prietys, Ambanis, Mittals, Julias, Pitts or Katrinas do you see going around wiping snot off kids living in slums, getting them a proper place to live, providing education for however long the kids want to. Should we teach our kids to be bullies just so they can get ahead in life under the pretense of competition? Should we teach our kids to be generous when it befits them? Should we teach our kids to put themselves first before thinking about others. All of us are selfish one way or another. We all have lunches and dinners to network, use ourselves. Should we teach our kids to be narrow minded geeks who get used by their own parents? We are always trying to please someone. Who is that..................................