B. Book.

This is the second post in the A to Z Challenge. My theme is my Bucket List. Read more about the project here. 

B is for Book. A published book. Under my name.

Its no secret that I aspire to be a writer. A professional writer. Even with my limited grasp on the language and tiny vocabulary, I want to be a professional writer. I want to write articles (for newspapers), opinions (for magazines), prose (for lovers separated by the world around them), books (for people bored out of their wits) and speeches (that moves the damn mountains).

I haven’t read a lot but from whatever I have, I want to be talked about alongside greats like Charles Bukowski, Stephan King and Murakami. Maybe Hemingway from the previous era. Coming back to contemporaries, Sue Grafton, Jeffery Archer, John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon and Lee Child. And Surendra Mohan Pathak, RK Narayan, Uapamanyu Chatterjee, Satyajeet Rey, Khushwant Singh, Javed Akhtar Saab if I talk about people from India. I even dare to dream that I want to be as influential as Harivansh Rai Bachchan Saab and Gulzar Saab are. They often say about Gulzar Saab, “In the beginning, there were words. And then there was Gulzar.”

Anyhow, I am sure I am missing out on some names but that’s ok. I am sure this gives you a drift. I really really want to write.

The funniest bit is that writing happened to me by accident. About ten years back. With this blog. And about a year back when I took a break to work on The Nidhi Kapoor Story. Its funny that you spend 30 years of your life (more than half the useful time you have here) and you suddenly realize what you want to do. What makes you happy. And it turns out to be something as simple as writing. Or may be as tough as writing. Take your pick. Either way, its exciting. And its exhilarating. Its orgasmic.

The thing with is writing is that you could be holed up in a dark corner in a smelly basement and yet you can move a mountain in a different part of the world. Of course moving a mountain is at one extreme. Its a figure of speech. But other common place examples are as abundant. For example, I reckon, most freedom struggles have been won by the undying grit of the fanatic fighters and the mighty pens of writers. Most products are sold by advertising created by smart marketeers and smarter lines by the writers. Most things that pour molten chocolate down our heart and make us feel special (music, films, cards et al) are imagined by dreamers and crafted by writers. So on and so forth. You think of something amazing and I would point at the contribution made by writers.

These writers, some are lucky that they are gifted and they realize it early on. Most, like me, stumble on it and work hard to hone the craft. And the thing with writing is that with ample practice, you can really get better at it. I’d not go there. Enough people have said it enough times in enough ways.

Since I didnt really get it as a gift, I am working on it. I am working on it as we talk. I work on it when I sleep, eat, crap, travel, think or read. In terms of tangibles, every time I post a blogpost, every word I write is work. It takes me a step closer to being a better thinker. A better writer.

I know that writing is going to be an important part of me. And I am going to work hard for it.

I’d need to because I believe that writing a book is probably the biggest challenge of them all. To start with, it takes a lot of time to finish one. An average fiction book is about 80K words and if I was to write 1000 words everyday, it would take me 80 straight days to write it. At least 3 months. For someone as lazy as I, three months would mean nine. Then the book has this finality about it. There is a story and there is a plot and there are characters. There is an emotional investment that people ought to make when they pick your book. There is a lot riding on it. For a writer.

Its like the endurance test. Everyone can run 100 meters but very few can go and finish a damn marathon. I want to finish a marathon. A book is a marathon. Like a marathon, a book is not about the time you take to finish it. Its about the damn finish line. And nothing else.

A book, published book, under my name, is thus a thing on my bucket list. A very important thing that I ought to do in life.

And you know what, I have a book on its way. I have put in almost 9 months working on it. And its near completion. The book hopefully would come out by July this year if all goes well. Do see the website at www.tnks.in.

For me, #tnks would be the first step towards becoming a writer. Not that I need a gratification from the world but its like coming of age. Its like a personal milestone. That I can write. That I am a writer. It may not be accepted by the world, it may be laughed at but it will be out in print. Soon.

Inshallah.

Oh, by the way, a writer is nothing more than an egomaniacal delusional bastard in absence of an audience. And a few patrons. I am in dire need of some. You want to help? Its easy. All you need to do is pray for me and send some good karma my way. Thats all I ask.

You want to do more? Help me when The Nidhi Kapoor Story comes out. Help me with spreading word about it. Help me by liking the FB page. Help me by pointing things that I could do to make it better. Help me by connecting to other people who may help me further.

And, thats about it. About writing. About #tnks. About book.