seven months later, or, what do i write about?

A blog post after 8 weeks. When my book had just come out i would post with some regularity. There seemed to be many things happening around the book. Now the blog seems to have fallen quiet. What do i write about? The book has made its way into the world and found a life of its own. I really don't have much to do with it now.

There were two reviews of Jet City Woman "back home" in April. One was in a column called "Delhi Dialogue" that Arunabh Borgohain does for the monthly Assamese magazine Jibon, published from Guwahati. The other was the already mentioned review by Patricia Mukhim in The Shillong Times. Both had nice things to say about the book. I hope it leads to more sales. Speaking of which, my publishers say the book should go into its second print run soon. However its June, and i'm still waiting for my royalty cheque from them. So much for being a debut author. This month should see reviews in The Pioneer and Biblio.

Apart from the reviews, random comments about Jet City Woman from unknown people on orkut and facebook, in my mail, and on my blog always come as a pleasant surprise. Its almost as if, seven months down the line, the book has grown up and walked away and can do without me now. Some of these comments come from people who have blogs too, like this one, and this one.

What do i write about? When it comes to writing, in general, i find that what works is waiting till there's something you want to say. If there's nothing you have to say, keep quiet. I will post again later this month though. So keep visiting.

A random photo. Fish market, Market No.1, C.R. Park, New Delhi. When people come to know where i stay (not in the fish market, but in Block A of C.R. Park), they almost always ask, "You must be eating a lot of fish?" The answer is, i don't.

in which i become a reviewer

If you can't beat them, join them. After reviewing my reviewers, i've gone and become a reviewer myself (link unavailable temporarily). The book in question is Kunal Basu's The Japanese Wife, which The Pioneer asked me to review.

I've also done another piece for the southern edition of the Indian Express (the New Indian Express), after the Maiden in Mumbai piece in February. This one was about a short trip to Arunachal while i was home a few weeks ago.

However, it would have been nice to see some editorial discretion at these two national papers. In the review, for instance, my "Of the Japanese wife herself we cannot figure anything out; she remains a faraway and invisible presence whose actions we cannot account for. Whatever potential there was in the story, Basu has failed to bring it out." has been changed to, "Of the Japanese wife, she has an invisible presence whose actions we cannot account for. Whatever potential there was in the story, Kunal Basu has failed to bring it out."

Then in the Arunachal piece, the original "The Alto’s wheels were now skidding all over the ice and snow covered road." has been changed to, "The Alto’s wheels were skidding over snow covered road." Very, very clumsy, and unnecessary. There are a few more such instances in both articles.

The Shillong Times carried a review of Jet City Woman by the well-known writer/activist Patricia Mukhim this Sunday, the 6th. It seems the book has been described as an entertaining read, and the author praised for his insight into the "northeastern psyche"! The review doesn't seem to be available online; will try and put it up if i can get my hands on the paper itself.

Jet City Woman has been out for about six months now, which is not really that long for a book. Somehow it all seems to have happened a long time ago. Sometimes i find it hard to believe that i've actually written a book. Maybe the long wait before i got published has something to do with it.