Thursday, April 21, 2005

Lab #1 : "Me' : Sudarshan

[Twisting the assignment to fit into the sort of stuff I'm writing currently. This is going to be an excerpt from a bigger story. The plot so far :

Malviya is a rich zamindar, who I meet in the city at his bungalow. He also owns a more traditional haveli in the old city.]

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...," I said.
It is only possible to delude a man who wants to believe. Malviya lived with the belief that the world wanted to hear his amazing story.

"You are right," he said. "It is nothing more than manifest destiny that I am, today, in such a position. Those villagers delude themselves into thinking that I rule over them through birthright. Arrey, if I'd been born a bhangi in the village, I would still have risen to rule them.

"Look at Amma. She's an astrologer and knows these things. She took one look at my face and realized what I could be. And so she's supported me all these years, given me helpful hints about the right time to do everything. Why, even that haveli she lives in is a proof of my destiny.

"A few days after we met, Amma had a dream about buried treasure. She told me that this treasure was probably me - that I was a treasure waiting to be found. But the description of the dream made me sit up. For such an old person, she's really stupid sometimes. The spot where the treasure was buried (as she described it) was a haveli I was considering buying. Even she's seen the place. But she didn't realize it. I laughed at her. Finally I had to explain the meaning of her own dream to her, can you believe it? It meant that I was to find treasure in that haveli, that I was buy the place at any cost!

"I was able to convince the buyer to sell it to me. I hunted a bit for the treasure, but didn't find it then. I finally figured out a way to search for it. Again, it was Amma who gave me the idea, and again she didn't even realize what she was saying. What I did was, I asked her to stay in the haveli! I fooled her - I told her I didn't like the small rented place she lived in, and she should be more comfortable. And I kept dropping hints that she could search for the treasure. But fool that she is, she didn't.

"Of course, I finally found the treasure." A crafty look came into his eyes at this point. "Just not inside that haveli. But I found it because I'd purchased the place and gotten Amma there. I knew I'd get it someday.

"Anyway, that is why I keep Amma around now. I know that she can't even use her skills and magic properly. She admitted it to me the other day. Said that I was the only person who was really able to understand the meaning of her visions, and that I could get even more from her if she had a servant to take care of her at the haveli and a baggi so that she could reach me quickly when she has a vision or insight. See, that's what I told you. When people are around me, they start thinking in such a way that I am the one benefited. It's just my destiny.

She has even offered to make sure I never fall under any vashikaran. She herself checks all the food that the cook makes at my home - she tests each and every item herself! Last week she caught something suspicious in the kheer - she told me someone had put in a pinch of ashes from a pyre in it. It must have been one of my enemies..."

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Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Lab #1 - "Me" : George

Isn't this what you've been waiting for? The chance to wax eloquent about the big Y. This is when the microphone is amplifying the sounds of microbial coitus waiting for you to begin the flood of erudite praise, of euphonious self-aggrandizing magniloquent verbiage. This is when all the lights in the house have colluded to produce the correct hues of anticipation, the spotlights of importance, the shadows of contrast. This is when no voice will cut you off, no margin will force a detour, no hand will rise in question, no clock will strike the time to end … This is it. The moment you've desired in secret, prepared for in your mind, devoted a maddening sense of dedication to. From the deepest recesses of your mind, this is you at your most narcissistic.

Wait till the last ripple dies away so that you can have an uninterrupted clear unblemished view of yourself as only you can see. Wait for the silence, as the forest of your milieu approaches its equilibrium of venerating quietude. Gather your thoughts, get your lines straight, recall the pauses, practise the twitches and the grimaces, the smiles and the frowns, and remember all those subconscious gestures you have to suppress. Quickly, briskly, but without haste.

And we have run out of time. Next ego please.

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Monday, April 11, 2005

Lab #1 - "Me"

The topic is: write about yourselves without attempting to be inhibited or modest. Be egoistic/egotistic & let the "I's" flow.



Deadline: 20th April [?] (I need the time!)

[Update - 21 Jan 2005]
* Deadline extended to 24th April, Sunday

[Submissions]
# "Me" : George
# "Me" : Sudarshan

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Wednesday, April 06, 2005

The Rules

1. We take it in turns to set a writing topic. This is done (for now) every two weeks.

2. Sample topics:
- A Haunted house
- Memories of a love story
- A paragraph from a Noir story
- Cyberpunk description of a road accident

3. The word limit is, roughly 150 words. This is a MINIMUM word limit. The story does not have to be complete or anything; it is a sample of writing style alone.

4. Complete entries are posted onto the blog, everyone then talks about them in the comments. Hopefully we all get to learn from this.

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Hello

This blog is intended to be a private writing club. We intend to hone our writins skills by working on assignments and critiquing each others' work.

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