Category: Writing

Day 2. Oct 2017.

So, after a mammoth post yesterday (that took me a few days to write), its time to write one that is tad light-hearted. And while I was thinking of ideas to write on, I thought, why not write some words for #book2? Incidentally, #tnks started like a blogpost. Here goes. 

If Purav wasnt howling his lungs out at the dead body of Birju, the cops could’ve never ended the 30-year long run of the fearsome Danveer Karna Sevak Gang. Unlike their name, that meant servants to the mythological figure of Karna, they weren’t really servants per se. They were merely a group of 5 thugs, notorious for stealing precious artifacts from museums, temples and palaces and selling them off to collectors. Amongst known list of robberies to their credit, the big ones included the Royal Crown of The Nizam of Golconda, original paintings from the time of Akbar from Itimad-ud-Daulah’s tomb near Agra, Sword of Ibrahim Lodhi from a museum in Delhi, statue of Shiva from the little known Rameswara Siva Temple at Kolkata and more.

The modus operandi was very simple. 5 of them will shortlist a target, often handed over to them by their contact. They would do an extensive research to understand the security arrangements and strike when no one would expect them to. And once they had stolen what they wanted to, they would part ways and lay low for months. Once the heat on the case was gone, they would regroup, often at Sehore, about 40 KMs from Bhopal. Partly because it was bang in the middle of the country and partly because Birju, the leader of the gang was a priest at the one of the hundreds temples in the district. Plus, it was nondescript enough to not warrant any additional attention to the gang when they did meet. Of course there was the curious case of these strangers walking into the temples once every few months and Birju Dada, as he was fondly called, disappearing for a few days. But back in small town India, such occurrences could be easily explained by dismissing these travels as side effect of having a large family.

After stealing this 14th century Bible from a church in Goa, they had decided to again part ways, with Birju taking the loot with him and regroup at Sehore after 4 months. If there was a change in plan, Birju would publish a specific obituary in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkatta editions of the largest newspaper, Nai Duniya and mention date and time for the prayer meeting. You just had to apply a small cipher to know of the exact date on which you were expected in Sehore. Thing with obituaries is that while people read it with interest and take a note of the long list of apparently grieving family members no one really pays any attention to who had died.

When the last obit carried the photograph of Birju himself, the gang had a hearty laugh when they were together. Birju had said that he was out of his collection of stock images and was too lazy to get more photos from the local photographer. Little did he know that he was going to be this accurate!

***

Thats about it. For some reason I cant get more than 500 words but at least I’ve put something up. Like Seth said yesterday,

Thank you, Seth. For this. pic.twitter.com/tdm58pgtDF

— SG (@saurabh) October 2, 2017

Your first book!

In short, here’s an offer (that hopefully you can’t refuse). Hire me as your writing coach and I will ensure that your book is done in less than 6 months. Email me at saurabh.garg@gmail.com and we’d take it from there.

The longform.
Writing The Nidhi Kapoor Story was probably the toughest thing that I’ve ever done in life (may be except enduring 10 days at a Vipassana camp). And though it was not a sell-out per se, the fruits were as satisfying as any other. When I held the preview copies in my hand, I was literally in tears. And as luck would have it, Vivek had come over for some reason and helped me give the first copies to #sgMS and him. I am digressing. But thing is, writing a book is up there in terms of opening restaurants, traveling the world et al on the bucket lists.


And the experience is / was so superlative that I want to help others get to it. Its not that difficult. 

So here is an opportunity to work with me while you work on your book.

What can you expect?
I am not the best when it comes to grammar or literature. I am not even half good when it comes to plotting. But I know what I am great at – getting things done. Reliability. Ensuring that I meet the deadlines. Getting the thing out of the door.

I will use some of the tools that I use to manage two very small businesses. And trust me, the tools work. May be someday I will write a book about how to use project management tools to work on a creative project – like writing a book. May be not. The point is, I know how to get a book done and I want to help.

Actually it’s no rocket science. It all boils down to merely showing up. And on persistence. And writing the next word laying the next brick. That’s about it. More when we sit together to work on your book.

Please be warned that I can’t help you with the art (the story, storytelling etc) and I obviously can’t help you with craft (the language etc). But I can help you by nudging you in the direction. Think of me as a writing coach. If this is any assurance, three different authors have included my name in acknowledgements pages of their book(s). Of course they are being generous – I did not help them write their books per se. But I figure I must have done something to deserve the honour. How about you put my name in yours?

Is my time free? 
No it is not. You have to pay a one-time “donation” of Rs. 5000 for it. No, not to me. You need to give the money to your favorite charity. And share the receipt with me. If you can’t afford 5K, email me and let’s talk about it.

Why am I doing this? 
I want to giveback. Simple.

Deadline? 
No deadline. I am going to accept 5 authors / books. As soon as I get 5, I will close this. And then I shall see how it goes.

So that’s it! Help me help you. Help me grow as an author. And like Steve said,

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

So ladies and gents, the time we have is limited. Life is a wonderful gift and you never know when it’s going to get taken away from us. And thus we ought to live it up. We ought to do things. We ought to do them now.

The book can not wait. Let’s work on it. Now. 

Long time…

So the last post on this blog was on Mar 25. And today its Apr 17. Been some 20 days since I’ve written something. Wow. This has to be amongst the longest dry stretches of inactivity as a writer.

Universe has funny ways of sending signals. I haven’t written anything in a while (almost 20 days I think – last post was on Mar 25 and today is Apr 17) and just when I was getting comfortable about the idea of NOT writing, someone sent a great review of #tnks. And another mini-crush asked me to write – apparently she loves how I write.

So maybe, I ought to write. While book2 is a longer plan, today is as good an opportunity I would get to write as any other day, so here I am. On one of my freewriting things.

P.S.: Freewriting is where I just pour out whatever is in my head, without worrying about the output or quality. And anyhow I have always been about quantity and not quality – I assume that if I continue to write for years (been 12 already), someday I will become a good writer. Remember the infinite monkey theorem – just that my time is very very limited.

Let me think about a few reasons why I couldn’t write the last few days weeks months.

I can think of two things only. A, work. B, sgMS.

Let me take up work bit in a bit and tackle the issue of sgMS. If you know me, you’d know about her. And trust me she is the most beautiful thing to have happened to me. This ladies and gents is the last time I am talking about her on a public platform (apart from tweets on @altSG, book2 and the secret book I am writing for her – as and when I get time to work on it). I know this love obsession(?) is not healthy. I know that even though she’s been sent for me, she doesn’t want me around. So thinking about her, even in my head is not being on the right side of karma. It tilts the balance. And as I grow older, everything IS about tilting balance. So I have to stop doing that. I have to let go of her (as if I had her in the first place – wishful thinking Mr. Garg). I have to move on. Let me attempt to do so umpteenth time.

Dear sgMS, I love you and will hopefully continue to do so for the rest of my life. If you want me back, I will be waiting. Of course if you need something, I am a phone call away!

Moving on. To work.

Life has been REALLY kind and I can’t emphasize more on “really.” Compared year-on-year I’ve done 3x better. This year was the first time in my life when I made 7 figures in a year by myself. So, hopefully, the first million is not far.

Of course I have been extremely lucky with things. I know for a fact that I am not the best at what I do but I know that I am willing to work harder than anyone else. And that I think has paid. Coupled with luck of course.

However, while the money has happened, impact hasn’t. And more I think, more I realize that I want to be able to impact things. Not at a small level but at the world-changing level. Am I wired for that? I dont know. But I want to do it. I dont know the how but I will.  More on this in a bit.

On the work front, I created a new business (I consult clients on digital marketing and brand planning) and I got lucky with a few clients to help me get it off the ground. And I got support from few people who put their faith in me. More about it is at sowhatif.in. The website is still under development. I ought to thank them there. Apart from the regular people angels that have helped me over life (ghar ki murgi daal barabar) thank you Rishi, Shail Sir and team, Mahesh Sir, Sonam, Anju, Simit, Stylior team.

The other big thing with work is that I am setting up an events agency with a partner. I’ve been working for him for close to an year and he has shown faith in me and given me confidence to start something with him as a partner. And I am very excited. Details are sketchy to be honest right now and I will talk about it as I go along. But its events (something I love), backed with experience (of the new partner) and the general feel good about how things are going with me. Hope it does well. I aim to do 10 cr in the next three years. Wish me luck. Please.

So, apart from work, I have been thinking a lot about other things. I dont really have any clear ideas or directions but I think I know where I want to go. I love it when I can help someone (what did Freud say about people who like to help others? anyone?). And when I create impact (though my “impact” has been pretty limited but I would want it to grow). So may be, my life goal, my purpose is to do that. I dont know the why but I know the what for sure. More on this as I go along. And yes, this is like the 1232324th purpose that I have identified for myself. And no, this is not about creating a NGO.

I’ve also been getting some health scares. The hernia has started to hurt back. I get palpitations around my chest multiple times a day. At my age, heart is the single most important organ and I have to go see a doc but I dont have the time. Or may be I am too scared? I anyway dont like hospitals – I dont have a single happy memory of hospitals. May be this week? Lets see.

Let me sum the other insignificant things in one para. I restarted yoga. And then stopped again after one class. Hope to be regular from Tuesday onwards. I practise with Shameem and she is amazing! I stopped being a teetotaler. On insistence of friends, I started experimenting with beer. And no, I dont like the feeling. I dont want to. So I am going to go back to being a teetotaler again. I remain committed to climbing the Everest by 2025 and run a marathon before that. Here is a list of my life goals. Its good to revisit the list once in a while. It tells you that you are not cool enough and you ought to push yourself.

Another thing that has happened in the past 20 days is that I’ve got hooked onto Netflix. I have been netflix and chilling with self lately and it’s not that bad to be with self. Of course I enjoy company and I love people and all that. However I suck at meeting new people and hence I dont really have an opportunity to break the netflix addiction. I am going to work on it as I go along, here on.

So, yeah this is about it. When I look back at this post, 20 days seem to mean little. Life is like that. I just passed by. Ought to live it up. Enrich every minute, moment and live it to the fullest. I am glad that I have had the opportunity to attempt that. And I am trying to.

Lets see what the next post is about. And more importantly, when that happens!

On the clock

Here is a new experiment. I will write for the next 24 or so minutes. I will not think about what I write. I will not edit what I write. I will not proof read. I will not do a grammar check. I will not do any “post production.” I will post.

Screencap of an http://e.ggtimer.com/25minutes screen.

I will use http://e.ggtimer.com/25minutes to track 25 minutes. Starting now…!

So why this experiment? Because I havent written anything in a long time. I mean I have written but that’s been work related writing. Next to negligible (if there is a word like that) for recreation. And come to think of it, I really really love writing. I may not be great at it but I love it. It allows me to express what I cant often speak out loud. It makes me research things. It makes me put things in perspective. It gives my thoughts a structure and a flow. And I get in the other flow – the one that you get in when you are totally immersed in a task. When I write, my writers block, my pseudo depression goes away. I am in the moment. I am in the zone. I feel alive. I am not lethargic. I am not lazy. I dont think of anyone else. May be I do think about #sgMS but not anymore.

As I write, to accompany is some music by RD Burman in the background. Streaming on youtube. The phone is one the night mode. So apart from people in the favorites list I will not get any phone calls. And anyhow who is going to call me? I spoke to my sis already during the day. I am meeting Neo for dinner. My parents have now adjusted to my bouts of absence. And I just finished whatever little work I had on my plate. Of course I have to make some phone calls to get people to do their bit of work. Which they may or may not have done. But I will still have to remind them.

Wait. The track got over. I need to click on a new track. Back in a second.

Back. A quick glance at Eggtimer tells me that I have 20 odd minutes left. Another thing that I would want to do at the end of this excercise is that I would like to know my speed. I would copy paste this post into word and see how many words I typed. Why? I dont know. I have this thing for random data. Like for example, do you know of the Golden Ratio (I shall resist the urge to insert the hyperlink to the Wikipedia article on Golden Ratio, since I am on the clock)? The ratio of 1:1.6? Its insane. And then do you know of the numbers of playing cards? There are 52 cards. There are 52 weeks. There are 4 suits. There are 4 seasons. The total of the face value of all cards is 364. Etc. I love numbers. Just that I am not cool enough to chase my love for mathematics and dive deep in to it. For that matter I dont think I can deep dive into anything. I love being the jack of all trades. And I want to continue to be that. I recently read somewhere that its easy to learn about 70% of any discipline. And from there on, the journey gets tough. So most people would get easily to about 70% of any discipline that they choose. But only a few go beyond that 70%. And that’s why we see a few people rise to top while most struggle in mediocrity. I think I have been blessesd that I “get” upto 70% of most things without putting too much effort. This ability allows me to straddle across disciplines. But the lack of expertise in any one stops me from making that impact.

Impact. Damn the word. And damn this guys called Hugh (runs the popular GapingVoid blog – he has been posting things about doing “things that matter” for last few days – again resisting the urge to post link). Wait the song got over. Lemme switch the next one.

I have 13 minutes left. So I wrote for some 7 minutes. More than my ability to concentrate, it was the track that was in the background. The track that I put on now is about 5 minutes long. So the next break will happen when I have 8 minutes left. Ok.

So I was talking about impact. Blame on the universe conspiring (I tweeted about it yesterday, or may be day before). I sincerely believe now that universe does conspire. There are a million examples in front of me. When you want something really bad, you actually get it. Not that I have got what I want (what do I want? simple – money, freedom, opportunity, love, travel). But I am seeing signs of things coming to me. I mean who would have thunk that I would be making my ends meet without having to hold a regular job? Of course I am working harder than a regular employee but I am happy. I can control my time. I can choose what to work on. I can get away from dirty work (P.S.: I think no work is dirty. More on this in some other post).

Ok I am now scratching my head. I think I am stuck. But I shall continue to write. So apart from impact the other thing I chase is making a difference in the lives of people who make me a part of their lives. I love it when I can help people learn things. I may not be the teacher per se. I could merely be someone that triggers something in their head that makes them chase some knowledge. I could be the conduit. I could be the catalyst. I could be that bottom most step on a ladder that helps people rise. And shine.

Wait. Time to change the track. 7 mins, 50 seconds to go. And 19% battery on the laptop. Brb.

Back. I put a 5 minute lone song. Main Koi Aisa Geet from the movie Yes Boss. I shall not post a link. I love the song. So so much. For a ton of reasons. Its SRK. Its a cute love story. Its about making someone you love happy. Its about you being that jester that exists only to make other people laugh, smile and be happy. In an alternate universe I could be a jester, if I could choose. I mean I want to be one in this life as well. But I lack the balls that it takes to try and make other people smile. No wonder I like being part of the entertainment industry. Well, not a part. But at least the fringes. May be, just may be, the meaning of my life is to be that jester? And use my [questionable] understanding of various disciplines to create something that makes people happy? Even if that happiness is for a fleeting moment? May be that’s what the universe is trying to tell me all along? May be thats my purpose?

Oh purpose! I have had long discussions with two of my gurus over the last few days. Again, I shall not post links but the gurus are RG and KG. Both are a part of the communication industry and whatever little financial security I have now is because of these two. And because of HG and VK. Wait I am digressing. But thats ok. I am not getting any points for staying on track. The points are to be awarded for continuing to write. Which I am thankfully doing.

Another thing that I could talk is the ongoing shit on my head about my advancing age. It actually happens around this time of the year, every year. And I dont know what to do about it. Wait. Time to change track. Probably the last track. I have a minute and 40 seconds left to go. 

Back. The next is Chaand Taare Tod Laaon. Again, a track that I love. It is all about ambition and all that. Something that I can totally relate to. Anyhow. A thought struck me. Do I want to write for 25 more minutes? I thought as I wrote and the answer is… No!

Why not? If I like writing so much?

Damn the buzzer just rang. Time’s up!

More later! 

So I am done. 

I am not editing anything. I am not adding links. I am not correcting grammar. I am not formatting it any different. I am not touching the bit I wrote. If you are a psychologist, may be you want to do an analysis? 


And as I was adding labels (read tags) to this post, I realized that I just did a session of free writing. Sounds interesting. Will explore. Until next time, over and out. And a random number fyi, I wrote about 1300 words, excluding this and the note on the top. Which is not bad, if you ask me!

Talk to Do ratio

If the numbers are to go by, this is the worst year of my life so far, in terms of number of posts I’ve made on this blog.

I mean look at the screenshot. This is the twelfth year of writing a blog and apart from the first two, the only other year when I wrote so less was 2010. And in the last four year, I have averaged more than 100 posts per year. Why do I care about how much I write? Because I am a writer. And I want to be better one at that. And unless I practice my craft, I will not become what I want to become.

Like all other lapses when I haven’t been able to write for long duration, I have multiple excuses. The first one among those is that work has kept me busy. The other is that I just havent felt like writing.

Now, is that a good thing? Of course not. And what am I doing about it? Nothing as yet.

So here’s the deal. I will post something on the blog everyday, starting today. Till the end of the year. We should thus end the year with 150 odd posts – making this year the second best year of my blogging life. Now that’s a great goal to chase!

I know. I know. I have made this promise umpteen times in the past. But then in the past I was not touching 33. And I am not getting any younger anytime. The time to do shit is now.

Oh, one more thing. A dear friend (RN09Dec) recently told me that I start a million projects and then never work on those. And when I do work, I dont finish. When I discussed this with kAgE and Agony Aunt, kAgE told me not bother as the projects left unfinished are left abandoned for a reason. And AA told me that my “talk to do” ratio tends to zero and in long run, people who have a high talk to do ratio do well. And I want to do well. And I shall work on improving this. Any tips anyone?

Book 2 – Update – Apologies

After the phenomenal success of #tnks, I get a million emails everyday – each asking me about the status of my next book.




When I published #tnks, I promised myself that I will publish one book every year. 2015 was to see my second book. But 6 months in the year, I am not sure if the book is coming out. So, if you are disappointed, I am sorry.

And I promise I will continue to write. I will continue to work on my craft. I will continue to improve my storytelling. And in 2016, I will deliver something that will make you happy. And proud. For sure. I promise.

So the delay is for multiple reasons. Like other things, if you follow this blog, here is a list.


A. My laziness. Writing a book is about discipline. Its about writing 1000 words everyday. At least. And more if you want the book to be interesting. For #tnks I wrote that many words. Every day. For few months. And then there was time I spent on editing. This time around, thanks to my laziness I haven’t written anything per se.

B. Roti, Kapda aur Makaan. You’d know that I refuse to hold a steady job. And I depleted all my savings while I worked on #tnks. So this time around, I have had to put in a lot of time to make enough money to afford the fancy lifestyle I was used to. I know I know. There are people who work three jobs and yet get time to write. Salute to them. I dont have what it takes to do that. I cant live below a certain standard and still write. I am not crazy enough. Yet. May be when I am older.

C. Lack of focus. I have made a gazillion starts and I am not happy with any of those. I even wrote some 20K words for one of the plots but I am not sure I want to tell that story (the one based in Goa). However I now think I have something that I want to write about. Of course I will write crime but not that pop-culture kinds. I want to write serious, western crime. The kinds that gets converted into movies. Lets see if I have it in me. Lets see how it unfolds. Lets see if the story intrigues me enough to make me finish it by end of this year. If you really want to read the next thing, please pray that story keeps me hooked enough. 

D. Lack of motivation. While the response to #tnks to has generally been very encouraging, it hasnt made me a literary star. And I am the kinds who needs external motivation to get things done. I know I like writing and all that but I really needed people to praise me for what I had cooked with tnks. And it hasnt happened. I mean I get fanmail and all that. But the numbers are dismal. The number is far from 1000 true fans that KK talks about. May be it takes time to get to that number of fans. May be not. I will never know. Unless I write the next book. No?

I am sure there are more reasons but I can come up with just these for the time being.

I think what I really need is someone to give me a big fat wad of money so that I may just sit there and write. May be once I get that money, I will become lazier and fatter and not write at all. May be its not about money at all. May be its about that zabardat toofan that I think Faiz talked about? May be. May be not.

Any how, hope you guys dont abandon me after reading this. Like I said before, it’s people like you who support people like me to go forth and chase hard-to-get dreams like writing a book.

Thank you for supporting me.

Regards,
Saurabh Garg
July 2015

Oh, one more thing. The page for Book 2 is up already on FB. To be honest it doesn’t really help but its something that everyone does. And I am not cool enough to not do things that the world does. So, in case you want to “like” it already without seeing the book, please, be my guest!

Thanks!

Will you?

I spot a recurring pattern in life. As readers of this blog, you must have noticed it as well. No?

That I play this game of hide and seek on the blog.

And if it’s any consolation, I do it in real life as well.

There are phases when I have this spurt of activity where I get hyper active. I write almost everyday, think of ideas, get some exercise, do a lot of reading, talking, connecting and dreaming. I am in the zone. For days at stretch. I am in this Zen-like mode where nothing seems impossible and I want it all. And I work towards it. I am in the YOLO and FOMO mode and I say yes to everything. I overwork myself. To a point when I start cribbing about how overworked I am and how I don’t have time to sleep. I do so till the time I start enjoying the pain. I am on this trip where pain becomes pleasure and I want more and more of it.

Till something happens and I snap out of it.

The “something” could be as large as the AC not working or as small as wrong signs from Universe. AC is large because I am the kinds that want everything in perfect order to keep me happy. So things like AC, relatives, visitors at home, Internet etc. bug me so much that I want to kill someone. Of course Universe-conspiring-to-give-me-gifts is important as well but I sincerely believe that I amongst the luckiest people. So I tide over that.

So till I snap out of the euphoria, I am getting things done. I am the king of the universe. But when I am out, I have this desperate urge need to crawl in a hole and wait for the winters to end. I sort of want to disappear. I cease all contact with the outside world (except my inner circle) and I don’t want to be touched. I don’t write, I don’t tweet, I don’t post updates on Facebook. I merely become a vegetable and try to exist. Of course if there’s work, I have to live per shenanigans of clients. But I try to not accept work in such phases.

I know it sucks but this is probably that aspect of life that I cant change.

I know it sucks but that’s how I am.

Of course I can blame it on my bipolarity. Or may be on the fact that I really really miss having sgMS around me. Or may be at the lack of direction that my life is flowing in. I can externalize the reasons but there’s no one to blame but me and I will have to live with it.

The thing is, despite all that, as a friend, a reader, a patron, I will have to ask you, request you, implore you to allow me to live with it. Give me my space when I need. And hope that I come back stronger and higher.

Will you?

Know Goa? Help me!

Hi,

If you are from Goa, if you’ve lived in Goa, know of stories of Goa, understand the quirks that moves people there, I want to talk to you.

Why do I want to talk to you? 
I am an author and I am working on my next book. My first one, The Nidhi Kapoor Story, is here.

And since I am the author, I can play God and decide how, where, when do things happen in the book. On a whim, I have decided that I want an important part of the book to happen in Goa.

And since I am an outsider at best, I want to know about the place from people who know it. The ideal way to do it would be to live in Goa for a few weeks, talk to the locals, capture their stories et al. But since I dont have the luxury of an unlimited bank balance, I can do the next best thing – talk over the phone, email, Skype, etc.

What would I want to know?
I dont know. I want a freewheeling conversation to start with. In it, you can talk about one of the following (or more, or less, or anything else altogether)…

  1. How was it to grow up in Goa? How was school? What did you do outside of it? What were you most fascinated about? What were you most scared of? What did you want to do after school hours? How did you kill time?
  2. How is it to live there? How has it changed over the years? What are your earliest memories of Goa?
  3. What are a few cliches about Goa? What do most people get wrong about Goa? What myths do you want to dispel about it?
  4. What are a few best kept secrets about Goa? And what are a few open secrets?
  5. If someone were to read a book on Goa, what must it include? What are other books, films etc that do great justice to the story of Goa?
  6. What makes Goa unique? What are a few things that are peculiar to Goa?
  7. What are the famous folklores of Goa that you’ve heard from your grandparents? Who are some notorious characters of Goa?
  8. What is that one story that is quintessentially Goa?
  9. What incidents have made Goa Goa? 
  10. If there’s something that you could change about Goa, what would it be?

I can go on and on with this.

This is just a small list that I put together in about 5 minutes. Once I have had enough discussions with people, done enough desk research, read enough, I will followup with specific questions.

What do you get in return?
Not money for sure.

But I can offer gratitude and send some good karma your way.

Oh, I will also give you credits in the book and send a copy of the book when it comes out (it WILL come out – my first one did and there is no reason why this one will not. Hope you like reading it 🙂

What else?
I dont know. I am very open minded and welcome all suggestions. Please please please help me. I promise I will not waste your time.

Thanks for reading this!
SG

P.S.: The best way to reach me is on twitter (@saurabh) and the second best is to email me.

The three books for 2015

Its the 11th day of 2015 and this is my 5th post. If I continue to go at this rate, I think my goal of 250K words will happen. Of course I know that all the words need to take me close to a destination. Destination being – #trss and two more full-length books. By the end of 2015.

Let me talk about them here.

1. #trss
This will be similar to #tnks. I dont know the shape it will take. But this will be published by Grapevine, assuming the team at Grapevine likes what I write.

2. 12×12
I am attempting to write 12 love stories in 12 months. Short stories. Each a fan-fiction to the greatest love stories I’ve read. It’s an initiative by Radhika, who I met on Wrimo India FB group. I dont know if you can still participate in 12 x 12 but may be check this page for more details. I even know what I am going to call it. Dear #sgMS. What else 🙂

P.S.: Last I heard, sgMS is getting married. That means whatever little hopes I had of reconciliation, they’re all gone. Unless I turn into a murderer and kill the lucky man. But then why plunge her into sadness. More on this at some point in time in future. May be when I am ready to kill myself? 

3. Third
This is slightly tricky. I want to write on travel. And on stories that people encounter when they travel. Like 12×12, this will be a collection of sorts. But of essays rather than stories. Observations rather than lesson in history. Again, I dont have a structure in my mind right now. But once I am free from the rigmarole of a clock that I need to punch in at 10, I shall work on this.

In the meanwhile, please do read #tnks and do let me know how can I improve what I write. I am very happy with the response that I’ve got. I know, I know. It’s far from making me rich. But it does make me happy every time I spot my book amongst a pile of books, at my home. The book is still not available at bookstores. I dont know why. The publisher is assuring me that it’s doing everything that he can to make it available. But it’s not.

Any answers anyone?

Hello 2015.

2015. Via

Every year, around this time, I get into this self-evaluation mode. I think about what went right and what went wrong during the year. I think about the year ahead and things I would do in the coming year. I am after all, big on new year resolutions!

So, #in2015, I would do the following.

  • #writing. Write 250K words. Yeah. 250,000. Translates into about 4 full-length books. Looks tough to do but if I manage to write a 1000 words everyday, for say 5 days a week, for 50 weeks, I’d do it.
  • #writing. Publish book 2. I don’t know what to call it though. I am thinking of calling is #trss. But let’s see what it ends up being. I have a vague idea of the storyline. I was supposed to get the first draft ready by the year end. But havent been able to even start. So, I am looking at a 2015 release, I will have to get the draft out to Sachin and Parul by end of March 15. 
  • #fitness. Will be 30″. This’s been like a perpetual goal. It’s been three years that I’ve been trying but nothing has happened. I did lose some inches but I am back to my former glory, thanks to long work hours and a sedentary lifestyle. 
  • #running. Will run a FULL marathon in the year. Despite my hernia. I am targeting a marathon in August / September. I am following this book (after I saw it on Prof. Bakshi’s blog). Will start training in January. Have started the prelim training already. I am using the C25K app to get me to start running for 30 minutes before I begin the book. 
  • #money. Will have saved 10 lakhs. Right now, my savings account stands at Rs. 5005 700. Also, I will have created an alternate source of income. And I will not have to work for money. This is the number 1 goal on my list. For this, I am willing to be taken for a ride, willing to follow those babas, talk to those self-help gurus, walk the tight rope between ethics and legality. 
  • #music. Learn to play guitar. It’s going to be an expensive hobby. But I will learn it. Not because I want to perform on the stage but I want to challenge myself to learn a new skill. Why guitar? Because I like it’s sound. I love music. I can give an arm and a leg to be good at it. I just need to give it some time! 
  • #poker. Restart poker. I am an average player and have had some limited success with it. As per my poker stats, I have actually lost a total of 30K (not including travel, hotel and other incidentals) on poker. So, yeah I have lost money. I will focus on it and see if I can get any good at it. I will give it a year and see where it goes. If I dont become any good, I will revert to being a recreational player. The dreams of WSOP can take a back seat then.
  • #social. Identify a cause and work with that. Human conditions, diseases, nature, culture, conflict etc do not move me. Rather, education does. Development does. Sustainability (not in terms of nature but in terms of perpetual existence) does. Or may be something else. I will pick something up and work on it. 
  • #sgMS. I will try to get over her. No promises though. Thanks to rr for pointing out that it’s sucking the soul of me and I need to move on from her. 
  • #read. Read more. Learn more. Write more. Talk less ;P
  • #travel. As much as I can. Irrespective of money. Travel. 
So, in terms of a calendar, the milestones look like…
Mar: 5K race with a friend (Akshay)
May: Stop working for money
Sep: Marathon (full, in about 5 hours)
Dec: Book 2 out in market
Dec: 30″
Dec: Money in the bank
Sometime: Poker Tourney
That’s it. Wish me luck! And may be, help me crack these goals may be?

Oh, to get me to actually achieve these, I will have to resort to a few ideas. These sound like deviation from what I have been like. But like most other learning systems, I remain an evolving specimen of the tribe called the homosapiens. So I am learning. And evolving. Here are the ethos for 2015.

  • Do. 
  • Ship. Steve Jobs way.
  • My time is limited. Money is not. I can earn money. I can make money. Not time.
  • No regret principle. Something that Jeff Bezos says. 
  • Idea to project in 90 days. Read on Anaggh‘s twitter stream. 
  • Get aggressive about marketing (without being obnoxious about it)
For the context, here are the links to previous posts. 
2011

What about you? What are your goals #in2015? And, most importantly, can I do something to help you reach your goal #in2015?

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.

Review of a Pencil

The first thoughts, when I saw the pencil as a 3 year old was to investigate if I could eat it, for I was always hungry and even thought it was black but it did had to be opened up, cut like other fruits and vegetables.

Over time I realized that its probably more useful, better, powerful than a mere eating object. For, this tool allowed me to capture something intangible (my thoughts) and give a tangible shape and form. A form that would remain even after the thought has vanished from my consciousness. 

I dont know if a pencil is superior to any other instrument but I know that I cant think of living without one.

I had to submit a review of a cool tool that I have used, to be able to subscribe to KK’s cool tools list. Since I dont really have money to buy these tools, I reviewed something that is as cool as any tool could be.