Category: books

The dog, the birds and the spider in the corner

I find myself in a fascinating new season this year. One that has seen me pack a big blue suitcase and move across the ocean. I surprised myself because I always thought I related to Bilbo Baggins and his reluctance to join a Dwarf mission! But here I am. 5000 miles away from home with a 90 percent chance of running into a spider in the corner of my room!

A part of my heart will always be at home with my beloved Coco, yet a new friend has made this transition a little less heavy. An adorable dog named Hershey.

This sweet little dog – I really mean it when I say little – barked at me for 30 minutes when we met for the first time. After exhausting himself, he realized it was easier to befriend me rather than bark at me. Now, he scolds me for leaving the house, insists I share my food, sleeps on my lap while I work, and has peed on me thrice (out of sheer excitement).

Besides Hershey I met a few other wildlife since moving. The other day, I went out to investigate an unusual rustling sound and met the blue-tongued lizard that lives in the garden. Of course, I did not wait around long enough to see its tongue. I admit I am not that brave. It had legs, the right colours and stripes – that was more than I needed to know. A quick Google search solved the rest of the mystery.

Speaking of wild animals, I saw a fox leaping by the side of the road during a late-night drive. That was exciting since I had only seen them in zoos before (and on my Firefox browser).

A reckless kangaroo took me by surprise one night when it jumped out of the bushes and landed in front of the car! Phew. We did not hit the animal thanks to quick reflexes (on my sister’s part) and a high-pitched scream (apparently mine) that alerted my sister to its presence.

I should mention the rather sizeable group of Corellas that I get to see from my window everyday. These birds own the sidewalk, trees, and power lines. And the screeching noise they make is unbelievable! But I am getting used to it now; their chattering is like white noise.

The spiders are one species I hope to never meet during my stay here. I know I cannot avoid them forever. There will come a day when I will find one nasty looking spider in the corner. So now I always have a broom and a can of insect repellent within arm’s reach. Although, considering my track record with spiders, there is a good chance I might spray my eyes or hit myself on the head with the broom when the moment comes.

Ah, the stories I could tell about spider encounters from my childhood! Stick around. I am working on capturing some of these stories in my upcoming book.

April 16, 2025
With love, to the dog who is slowing me down

Last December, I had an epiphany. I finally understood why I was spending less time on my second book. A certain dog was slowing down my work. I mulled over various reasons and finally concluded that my productivity was going haywire around tea time. The reason – Coco adores tea time.

This is Coco, my two-year-old playful and energetic dog, who insists on shadowing me throughout the day. While I love having her around, it can get pretty overwhelming when she insists I accompany her for meal times, especially when I am on a tight deadline.

Let me give you some context on why Coco loves tea time. My family has a tall snack box that emerges during tea. It did not take long for Coco to associate the box with tea and treats. The clever dog that she is, she also understood that if she put on an I-havent-eaten-in-forever expression, none of us could resist her. And if the snack was crunchy, she learnt that doing all her tricks in quick succession worked wonders.

Soon, she started reminding me if I was late in brewing tea. On the rare occasion when I lost all track of time, she would lead me or my mom straight to the pantry and the shelf where the snack box stood. Slowly, I started relying on her internal clock to know when it was time for tea. Being clingy, she also learnt another trick to get me to leave my desk. She would put on dramatic sighs and whine until I agreed to leave the room. There is, however, an exception to this behaviour, and that is when mom is making something delicious and the aroma reaches her nose. She is a dog, after all, with a weakness for good food!

The challenge is that I cannot return to work after gulping down my tea and sharing my snacks with her. She nudges me with her wet nose to tell me it is time to play. I have only myself to blame for that. When Coco was a puppy, I innocently began playing with her outdoors during my tea break. I did not realize how quickly she would adapt to a routine.

So, after a long game of fetch and staring at the cows and goats on the street with her, I struggle to resume work with the same enthusiasm as before. My energy is spent. Some days, the exercise helps me think better. But mostly, I end up wracking my brains trying to figure out how to spell ‘the’ or ‘definitely’.

In all probability, the dedication page for my next book – whenever I complete it – will look something like this:

To my darling Coco and her tea breaks, without which this book would have been finished a long, long while ago.

Inspired by whoever wrote this dedication page. A true gem!

February 7, 2025
Awooo-ing with Santa at a book launch

Someone once sent me a short clip of a bear coming out of hibernation with its fur scruffed and bunched on its head and back. And as this sleep-dazed bear slowly ambled out, it saw the outside world for the first time in months. It did not seem impressed by what it saw because without missing a beat, the bear turned around and returned to the cave. That’s how I felt when my friends from Cafe 33 in Chennai suggested a book launch event for my debut book!

After months spent hunched over by myself over a laptop, wrangling with the text, images and layout, the last thing I wanted to do was stand in front of people. Yet, I agreed. I was sensible enough to know that my book could benefit from a widened reach. But the doubts lingered in my mind: Would people like my book? Would anyone come to the event? What would I say? What do I sign when someone buys a book?

There was only one way to find out. I had to step forward and do this.

The sweetest flyer created by a talented young friend

The book launch event was to be part of a yearly musical Christmas Night Lights program hosted by my friends in Chennai. The day of the event came around. I gathered with friends and acquaintances in a beautiful garden. There were strings of light strung all over the garden. Captivating music by a talented band added to the charm of the evening. This is the kind of atmosphere that has Christmas stamped all over it.

And where was I? I took my place at a desk under a tree. Throughout the evening, people come over to buy a signed copy and catch up over a cup of hot cocoa. The stack of books went down with each purchase, which was a great feeling. But it was the conversations that night that made it all worth it. People shared about exciting ventures they were embarking on, some found inspiration to start long-forgotten projects, and I could also share a little about my self-publishing journey.

I came away encouraged and can safely say I am inspired to do more for my next book.

January 17, 2025
When writing a book felt like biting more than I could chew

A few years ago, an idea struck. I wanted to write and publish a delightful story about the animals in my backyard. But, I knew nothing about the finer aspects of writing a book. Without wasting time, I enrolled in an online course on the art of writing for different audiences. After sessions with published authors and writing exercises, I was finally ready.

I wrote the first draft of my story.

But the next day, I scrapped it.

Then, I wrote a second draft, followed by a third.

Two days later, I scrapped both versions.

Seven drafts later, I buried the whole story, hiding in folders within folders. The problem was that I felt my poor little story did not measure up to what the course creators claimed a book was supposed to be like. Trying to alter the story to fit a standard only made it worse.

In the months that followed I was drawn to book stores and libraries wherever I traveled. What I saw expanded my insight. There were so many different styles, voices and formats and some of the best ones in fact defied norms. But I still did not return to writing the book.

For the next couple of years, I folded my book-writing desires, shoved it somewhere deep and focused on my job. But it was like trying to keep a lid down on a pot of boiling milk. When my contract finished, I knew what I had to do. The writing kicked off once again, but this time, it was fueled by rage for time wasted trying to meet some invisible standard.

The self-publishing process was not easy and deserves its own post. My goal was simple: publish a good, readable (and enjoyable) book without errors rather than aim for a ‘bestseller’ on my first attempt.

After rounds of revisions and collaborating with my brother from Sculpt Monkey for illustrations, “The dog who let out his awooo” got published to Indian audiences late last year. Then I shut down and went to sleep, relieved and exhausted.

Surprisingly, I want to do it all over again, without the crippling self-doubt, of course. As I work on my second book, I remind myself of one thing alone – I can be me through the words I type.

January 3, 2025