The Stats section has been an eye-opener. It is more about the distribution, than the format or quality. Lessons learnt for 2018….

The most viewed posts are reproduced below.

1. THANE CREEK BRIDGE

Neha Kulkarni was a regular commuter in the ladies’ compartment, on the 9.17 pm Ambarnath local  from Dadar to Kalyan. She worked in the afternoon shift, which ended late evening. The slow train would stop at every station, and unsavory elements entered the train at some notorious places. The late evening ride made her nervous, and she had spoken to her boss, about changing the shift. He said it would take a couple of months to accommodate her request.

The tabloids were going berserk on a woman’s murder that took place on the same train, a couple of weeks ago. The alleged miscreants were reported to be a gang of four from Badlapur, including one Russian guy who had come here in search of work. The police had not succeeded in nabbing them, yet. Neha was relieved to see a lady in a navy blue sari and a mangalsutra, seated in the compartment, that evening. She could converse with her in Marathi.

“I am so relieved to see you here. I hate travelling alone in this coach, and the Manda Patankar murder case has only exacerbated the situation.”

“We have our journeys and our jobs defined. Can’t do much to escape fate….”

There was something strange about the lady. Her voice appeared to come from afar, and the crystals on the saree appeared to dance like stars on the night sky, even under the bright lights.

“Do you travel often at this time? Haven’t seen you before…..”, Neha probed further.

“I take either this or the 9.27 pm Karjat local. Have you seen any guys board the ladies’ compartment?”

“They do, sometimes, at Ghatkopar. And it terrifies me.”

“Don’t worry. Save this number, and call for help, if needed.”

The two women chatted away about their occupational hazards, till a group of three guys entered the compartment at Mulund. They were whistling and making obscene gestures at the women. Neha saw the other woman’s eyes acquire a strange red color, and her lips were quivering.

The train was on the Thane Creek bridge, where Manda Patankar was murdered and thrown out a few weeks ago. Neha was struck with terror, as the woman in the blue saree moved swiftly, and jumped out with one of the guys in tow. He was white-skinned, and could not speak the local language. Neha and the other two guys heard a Splash sound, and the guy’s scream. They had lost their voice in shock. Somehow, Neha managed to dial the helpline number, which the lady had given her.

The screen on the cell phone flashed a name in blue,

“MANDA PATANKAR”.

The other two guys had fainted. They had lost two of their friends on the same spot, on Thane Creek bridge.

In,
search of skin,
color no matter,
brighter or darker,
tell no one,
I will take someone,
Ssssshhhhh!
–  ghost, me!

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2. THE VOICE

Lightning struck the night sky, and a voice thundered

“Your sins have crossed all boundaries. Be prepared to face the consequences…..”

Another small voice from below

“Why did you set boundaries and permit sin, God? There should have been no space.”

“It is the Will of the Lord. Do not challenge the Father, child.”

“My Dad is a poet, and he wrote the lines

One can make a hole in the sky

Use all your power to throw a stone”

“Your end is near …..”

 

A crowd had gathered to watch the street play, with flashlights beaming towards the sky.

Credits:

The two poem lines are translated from Dushyant Kumar’s Hindi poem

“Kaise aakash mein soorakh nahin ho sakta

Ek patthar to tabiyat se ucchalo yaaro”

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3. REENA’S EXPLORATION CHALLENGE #WEEK 1

I am struggling with a suitable name for instituting this challenge. Should I call it The Thinking Challenge? But when is it, that writers are not thinking? It becomes a pretty hum-drum, routine place.

Tomorrow, I am attending an event called Living Books, as a Reader. The job will be to listen to the stories of courageous people who have offered themselves as Living Books to be read and interpreted. My whole being is buzzing with anticipation. What new worlds will I get to explore?

Back to the challenge… the name really does not matter, and can be changed if good suggestions come up. The challenge is fairly simple.

See the picture which has a question or pointer or guideline inscribed on it. Interpret either one or the two together, and see which mental territories it takes you into. Going forward, we may add a twist or two, in the conditions.

The piece you write can be prose, fiction, a form of poetry that you are comfortable with, or any other experimental format that you devise. There is no restriction on the length either, except that the whole piece should appear in one part. Chain posts disturb the flow.

This will appear every Friday.

The next picture is the prompt.

Happy Writing ……

Create a post on your blog. Create a pingback, or leave the link to your post in the Comments section. You have time till 1^st September, 2017.

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4. THE LIBERATION OF SITA

– A Book Review

 

It takes a strong feminist bent of mind, to revisit the thought process of a goddess, beyond its Maa image. There is no recorded attempt by Luv and Kush (Sita’s sons) to present their mother’s side of the story. Maithili Sharan Gupt, a renowned feminist Hindi poet, has presented the stories of Yashodhara (deserted wife of Gautam Buddha) and Urmila (wife of Laxman), but not Sita.

I had written a poem ‘What happened to Shupnakha?’ in 2016, which was not accepted by most publications, perhaps, due to a fear of repercussions. Hence, seeing the book “The Liberation of Sita”, by Volga (Popuri Lalitha Kumari) kind of vindicated my stand. It is a translation of the Telugu version by T.Vijaykumar and C.Vijayasree, published in 2016.

The book narrates the meetings of Sita with the other female cult figures of her time, and the messages from them depict the mental process of a woman discovering her own identity – beyond that of a wife, mother, sister or daughter.

1. Ahalya

The wife of Rishi Gautam was turned to stone, as punishment for her dalliance with Lord Indra. Indra had approached her in the guise of her husband, Gautam, and she was unaware of his real identity.

Her message to Sita is perhaps the strongest in the book –

“Never agree to a trial, and do not bow down to authority”.

And these words are uttered, long before the controversial AgniPareeksha (trial by fire) happened. She raises the most powerful question – Did it really matter, whether she knew Indra’s real identity? And can anybody claim to have proprietory rights over her, including her husband? She has spent her life as a stone, in analysing the social structure, and forming her own philosophy.

2. Surpanakha

Laxman had cut off her nose and ears, perhaps, to instigate Raavan to initiate war.

She is found living alone in a forest, away from her brother’s kingdom. She has created a garden more beautiful than the fabled Ashokvan (where Sita was held in captivity), and has found a man, Sudheera, to love her disfigured identity. As Sita describes, it is a relationship that has never existed between any man and woman before. The internal strength of both the man and woman comes to fore here.

3. Renuka Devi, mother of Parshuram

Her son had almost killed her on his father’s orders. She was being punished for looking at another man.

Here, Renuka Devi has evolved into a renowned sculptor, who alone knows the art of creating pots from sand. The process of creating a durable pot from sand, is symbolic of the solidification of an amorphous identity. Her message is that a woman’s existence is irrelevant in society, beyond her role of a dutiful wife and mother. The husband she has devoted her life to, and the sons she has borne, turned against her, in their quest to follow Dharma (any cult they believe in). They study scriptures and become renowned scholars, but continue to treat the women in their lives, as a mere object in their possession.

4. Urmila, her sister-in-law

She was deserted for 14 years, as her husband valued loyalty to his brother, more than his conjugal duties.

Urmila has been in self-exile mode for 14 years. She is bitter about not being consulted before her husband’s epoch decision. She says that she is a stronger and changed person now, and her husband will have to decide what kind of relationship he seeks with her.

Reviewer’s Note

The incidents in the book  do not appear in chronological order, but are a part of Sita’s thought process. What evolves as a strong binding factor between the women, is their ability to speak to their husbands as an individual in the end, and negotiate their terms and conditions.

Ram is depicted as a loving, but conservative husband, who treats her with kid gloves. Finally, his role as a Kshatriya ruler overpowers his love. The sacrifices were hailed as his exemplary conformity to Dharma. Sita believes that he will only have her best interests at heart, till circumstances prove otherwise.

It reminds one of movies like ‘Arth’ by Mahesh Bhatt, and ‘Astitva’ by Mahesh Manjrekar, filmed on contemporary women. The gist of the stories remains the same.

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5. DOLLY’S TEA PARTY

The bread has turned mouldy. But I do not have the heart to throw away the remaining slice.

Dolly had hosted a tea party. The toasted hearts were used as canapés. The open heart shapes were then stuffed with strawberry jam, and a McCain Smiley placed above it. The toasted wonders were then garnished with piped mayonnaise and glace cherries. We wore pink floppy hats, and a cup of tea was placed in front of all the guests – Teddy, Barbie, Bunny and Henry.

It is heart-breaking to think that I will never hear that voice again, “Gramma, tea party ….”

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6. HOLDING TOGETHER

The young birds had flown off the nest. A few memories in the shape of scattered stationery and toys remained.

A few months later, Joan could boast of seeing half a decade of life, and spending more than half of it, in cleaning up. Her job in the Fraud Prevention Cell of a bank, did not do much to boost a sagging spirit. The wonders of technology posed new challenges every day.

What could a paper clip do, in a paperless world? The brilliant invention is now a piece of junk. For how long could she hold it all together?

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7. ISOLATION

“A skeleton has been found inside the house. It is surprising that the neighbors did not smell trouble for a year.”

My super sleuth boss was just thinking aloud.

“Old Joseph was deserted by his children, and lived alone.”

“Could that be murder? The house shows no signs of a scuffle or robbery.”

“I don’t think he had anything to part with. The sons had taken control of all assets, and he lived in absolute penury. He was just …. well, isolated. Maybe, nobody heard his cries for help, or his last words.”

“The shoes live to tell that tale.”

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8. REINVENTION

He saw the ugly rock on his morning walk every day, and turned away in disgust.

Today was different. The rock looked clean, with a red piece of cloth full of coins and flowers, kept in front of it. He noticed with interest, that parts of the rock resembled a face, and had vermilion painted over it. A piece of card paper was pasted on top, narrating a story of warriors who were turned to stone by the enemies, while they were protecting the nation.

It was the invention of a smart beggar. People will always be suckers for stories…….

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9. REENA’S EXPLORATION CHALLENGE #WEEK 2

Well, the Living Stories event I planned to attend was postponed, due to political unrest in the state. I wonder if the stories will change in two weeks. The human mind is so productive, perceptive and fickle at the same time. It keeps adding new dimensions to facts, to make life palatable and interesting. We live because we have an imagination, and a capability to project into the future.

The question last week was meant to make you take a pause. We become perfectionists in executing our daily routine, and put our imagination on hold. We need to watch the direction in which we are going.

What is your dream?

Here is the prompt for this week.

 

What would you do, if you knew that you could not fail?

The piece you write can be prose, fiction, a form of poetry that you are comfortable with, or any other experimental format that you devise. There is no restriction on the length either, except that the whole piece should appear in one part. Chain posts disturb the flow.

Create a post on your blog. Create a pingback, or leave the link to your post in the Comments section. You have time till 8^th September, 2017.

This will appear every Friday.

Happy Writing ……

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10. THE RARE NEW MOON

Helena thought her eye-protection glasses were not right. The cloud of smoke was assuming a human form.

She was terrified to hear a vaguely familiar voice in close proximity,

“Help me. It has been eight years.”

“Eight years since what?”

“He said that New Moons signify hope, not darkness. But, ninety-six New Moons have been just darkness.”

“He, who?” Helena was trembling.

“My tormentor. He converted me to smoke, and said only a rare New Moon can bring me back.”

Helena saw a figure resembling her sister, who had disappeared on a tour to the Saharan deserts in July, 2009.

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