Opinion | Chitra Soundar

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Posted on June 7, 2015February 28, 2018 By csoundar

It’s noisy – no I am not in the middle of a market right now.

Inside my head characters are talking, ideas are jumping up and down like over-excited dogs and characters are talking, arguing, laughing and making jokes inside my head.

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Am I going crazy? Hold your horses, chief. I’m not going crazy.

This happens frequently.

What? Frequently? That means it is symptom of crazy!

Hmm, not really! At least not clinically insane. I’m bit crazy by many definitions anyway.

My head gets noisy when I don’t get sufficient time to spend on my writing. It could be because my day job is busier than normal or when I have too many external engagements or when I’m busy with family commitments and often watch TV instead of having a quiet evening.

It always happens when I don’t get 3-4 hours in the morning just for myself.

Usually I don’t write much in the afternoon – the afternoon hours are dead for my writing. My mind is too lazy and sluggish and sleepy. Evenings are too distracting – for one, I get very hungry by 6 pm and I am focussed on cooking dinner and eating.

I’m a morning person in all sense of the word. I prefer doing most of my important tasks in the morning. Whether it is going to the gym, writing a letter, preparing for my workshops, packing a suitcase. That means the time before 11 am is very expensive – too many things compete with my writing.

I prefer to write in the mornings – when I worked full-time I had to get up at 4 am and wrote until 7 am. Even now, on the days when I don’t go into work or the days when I don’t have school visits, I prefer to be up before 6 am to get the maximum out of my mornings.

But I digress from my critical condition – the noise in my head. The noise comes from cramming up a lot – like reading, little ideas into my phone app, scribbling notes, reading my plotting cards – but not having the time to ponder, thing, mulch and mince the words.

Sometimes I get an idea and would scratch it up in a notebook or type it into my favourite app into my phone – Evernote. That idea would start running around inside my head like a little dog chasing a squirrel. The only way the idea would quieten down is to try and write down some thoughts – not the story itself – but usually a storyboard or some plot diagrams or some scribbles.

When I don’t get the time to sit down and think through the idea, then of course the dog starts whining and then barking and like any dog that is cooped up inside for long, wants to be let out.

Sometimes when dogs are barking inside my head, and I am stuck in work meetings, this is what I do to quieten them – they calm down for a bit – but not for long.

Then as the days go by, more dogs join and then it turn into a hullaballoo. Then I start singing this song.

https://youtu.be/Qkuu0Lwb5EM

Another big reason for the noise in the head is reading other books. Reading is so important for every writer – I read all sorts of fiction and non-fiction and of course my friends’ books and books on the award list and so on.

When I read something that touches me or when I read a wonderful page of prose or characterisation or a poem that strikes a chord, I’m inspired to write a piece in response. So the more I read, the more my desire to try a new piece of writing. That adds more barking dogs to the mayhem in my head.

So what do I do now? Well I need to find a few mornings soon and start as early as I can (that normally means I am not sociable after 8 pm at night – I need to hit the bed by 9:30 pm) and during summer – getting up in the morning is a joy. But going to bed at night while the sunlight is still fighting the dark forces of the night is not so easy.

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I’ll be at the Shoutsouth Creative Writing Festival with other CWISL authors this coming week (Find out more at http://www.shoutsouth.org.uk/) and my first day of uninterrupted writing is at least 10 days away.

Let’s hope I can quieten the dogs and dabble in some ideas, play with stories and rearrange words before being carted off to a loony bin.

Antiques and Me

Posted on January 11, 2015February 28, 2018 By csoundar

I’m not an antique – at least not yet. But then you go into schools and the kids do think you are one because your birth year has a 19 in front and not a 20.

I discovered the value of antiques only after coming to the UK. I realised how I complained to my mother after watching Flog It and Bargain Hunt that she gave away some of my grandfather’s antique homeopathy medical equipment.

When I was 11 or 12, I pulled out an illustrated dictionary of natural science from my grandfather’s old trunk – it was beautiful with full-colour illustrations, in glossy paper with lots of fruits, plants and animals illustrated. I used to walk around with it all the time. I carried it everywhere and it was published at least in the early 20th century. The mistake I made – I took it into school and looked at it during the break. Two days later it was stolen. It was gone. I have the habit of still looking for a similar one on the Internet or in antique bookshops – I felt so silly having flaunted it and lost it to some greedy child but someone who must have liked illustrated dictionaries just like me.

antiques I love going to antique shops and I still have this one wish that hasn’t come true yet- go to a live auction and bid for something.

christie_s_1813102c The old man who makes the photo frames near my house says I should go to Christies – they do auctions of watercolours for everyone – and things sell from 50 to 100. My mum loves to watch these auctions on TV and one of these days I would go to an auction.

When I recently went to India, I went to a memorabilia shop and it was run by the government. When I went inside, it had lots of antique stuff. But nothing was authenticated. So I think these are antiques – but quite possibly are not.

The men who flogged these didn’t know much more than the material. Some were from old houses that were pulled down before these apartment blocks are being built (which is the current trend in India).

I found three pieces and I have no idea the value of these items.

One is a Chinese mandarin which has the feel of a really old material. If Flog It comes to London, I would take this piece with me, I think.

falgu_bronze The other is a bronze sculpture of a bullock cart and a farmer which was perfect because my books are based around a farmer called Farmer Falgu who rides a bullock cart. image description

The third one is Tara the Buddhist goddess also called Jetsun Dolma in Tibet. She is the female embodiment of Avalokiteśvara – the Buddha quite famous in Tibet, Sri Lanka and many other places. What a coincidence because when I went to Sri Lanka I bought a wooden statue of Avalokiteśvara. It is believed that a teardrop from Avalokiteśvara fell on the plains in Lhasa and became Tara.

I’m not too interested in silver jewellery, cutlery and stuff. I love furniture, little boxes, binoculars, globes and compasses – because there are stories behind these pieces. I love imagining these stories – even I don’t know them. It is strange that I am not a big fan of historical fiction – I do read them but I am very selective. But I love objects that signify a past, a story, a history that could be fascinating and wonderful.

That’s one of the reasons I love folktales and stories from Indian epics – these are stories set in a period, a recording of the culture and minds of people who lived a long time ago and portrays our ancestors and their fears, likes and dislikes.

I live in a modern flat now – not really a place for antiques as such – but I have these little pieces I collect – a pair of red Chinese carved shoes, small silver carvings and a bookcase that perhaps held stories from long time ago.

Old things have potential for stories – unlike factory-made stuff produced in an assembly line. The old bookcase might have the ghost of the librarian whereas the bookcase that I assemble from a flatpack set would only have the assembly instructions and recycling packaging.

Looking back at 2014

Posted on December 31, 2014February 28, 2018 By csoundar

What a year it has been. A year filled with joy, hope, love, adventure and more.

When the year started, there was no sign of it being anything out of the ordinary. Then with the launch of my first Falgu book, I discovered my love for performing in front of an audience.

I did more storytelling events this year than ever before. I pushed through doubts, believed in what I knew and kept going.

Of course the year was filled with rejections from agents and publishers, but there was no time to dwell on those. I took a big decision to go part-time in my very successful and high-paying banking job.

The reaction from my colleagues was not what I imagined it would be – of course they want me back full-time – but most people wished they too could have done it. I know two people who were so inspired that they decided to focus on their passion in their free time with more conviction.

I registered to go into schools now that I had days off during school week. I did school visits, I wrote more. I experimented with my writing more. I paid my own way to be at Bookaroo. I wanted to be in that atmosphere and what an experience it was – launching Falgu Book 2 and meeting so many wonderful people.

bookaroo-launchday-12 bookaroo-luanchday-13 ideablaster

I joined Golden Egg to find my way through this publishing landscape. I wanted to get better – I have now committed the time and I wanted a mentor, a guide to help me find the way.

I almost stalked my storytelling mentor Jan Blake and did coaching with her. I learnt the rudimentary of storytelling – but also discovered my love for my own stories, my inner-knowledge, photo-4 the joy of telling stories that you grew up with.

My school visits, my storytelling and my interaction with the children I met changed my writing. I had better grasp of what would make them laugh and enjoy. My writing changed as I approached it as an aural storyteller. The process changed for the better and I am enjoying it more.
And the best part of 2014, with my extra off days, I spent more time with my favourite nephew Isaac. I had a day every week with him most weeks and we are good friends. He knows I can cook for him and carry him around and give him big hugs. But he also thinks I’m his buddy. We discuss trains and planes and we setup bridges and traffic scenes. We tumble on the sofa together and sing our own version of Row-Row-Row a boat.

2014 has been good to me. I had some scares about my mum’s health, had guilty pangs about living far from aged parents. I still wonder if I would ever be taken on by an agent, I still wonder if I would find someone special in my life. (It would be absolutely faritytalish if I did a meet a man who was an agent… hey a girl can dream).

But I’ve also been blessed – I had so many good things happening. The balance in my life is perfect in many ways – I’ve become happier, nicer and much more of a risk-taker with myself. All my life I’ve been careful, took the sensible decisions, worried about not making a fool of myself.

2014 has taught me it is okay to make a fool of myself. 2014 has shown me that it is okay to let go of control and go with the flow. I’m giving more so I am getting more.

2015 is starting with a first date. Is it a good omen or is it just funny? Either way I’m okay. I have learnt not to count my chickens, lay out plans for my life and I have learnt to welcome the unexpected with joy and curiosity.

2015 will bring another book into the world hopefully. Farmer Falgu would be wiser and funnier. 2015 will bring another nephew into my life. The joy could only double. Love is like that – there is always more of it as you start giving it.

Bring it on 2015 – I’m ready for you with an open heart and the curiosity of a 4 year-old.

Here’s to 2015. A new year, unwrapped with hope and joy.

HNY

What does Christmas mean to me?

Posted on December 24, 2014February 28, 2018 By csoundar

Growing up as a Hindu in a predominantly Hindu neighbourhood, I shouldn’t have been exposed to Christmas as much – especially in the 80s.

But I had a friend who was Christian (a few friends who are still good friends). I used to visit his place often –practically lived there – and I learnt about Good Friday, Easter, Palm Sunday, Christmas Eve, Midnight mass and nativity scenes (which is called Christmas Crib in India) . I went to midnight mass as a teenager much to the grief of my religious orthodox Hindu parents. I liked the bustle of organized religion. They all sang songs together – they knew these songs – and Hinduism except in a small way is not organized.

India is organized chaos and so is Hinduism in many ways. We all go to temples whenever we like, there are some specific exceptions. And we all prayed to a myriad of gods and goddesses, we had many festivals throughout the year, many anniversaries of special full-moons and new-moons to celebrate, it was difficult to be organized so often in a week. It is more of the personal relationship with their own God. My Dad was quite religious and ritualistic and he did all his prayers at home.

I knew about Santa Claus and the reindeer – but not in a big way – not like the Indian kids of today. We didn’t have too much fanfare during Christmas. Every street would have one or two Christian residents, and they would have a star hanging outside their house lit up with lights. Some had trees and some didn’t. We have those Christmas trees in abundance in the coast. People sang carols and came to the various Christian homes. They knew where the parishioners lived and they went from one home to another singing songs. I would sit by the window and watch.

I don’t think Enid Blyton wrote a lot of Christmas stories. Did she? I can’t recall reading any that explained Santa Claus or using him as a character. Maybe it was Father Christmas in the UK and Raymond Briggs’s books didn’t come to India.

And then when I moved to Singapore, I saw the decorations in the shopping district. singaporechristmastree The enormous Christmas Tree in their biggest mall and it was fun to watch. Chinese New Year was bigger than Christmas and hence although Singapore celebrated Christmas, it was only second to CNY which was also a 3-day holiday. I did attend midnight-mass once there, my first Christmas there. (Don’t ask me why). christmas1999 When I worked there, I had Japanese clients – and they didn’t do Christmas holiday – so we too had to take turns to work. That’s when I discovered that not all countries gave it the same importance and then I realized the effect of being a British colony vs not being one.

I also had the most traumatic experience of being in Singapore during the Tsunami 10 years ago and waking up my parents to ask about it – and they were like we felt tremors, we went back to sleep and then found out it had wiped out the coast in our city and miles beyond. We had reservations at another coast in Malaysia and we had to triple check everything before we went on that holiday – everything was great except we weren’t allowed on the beach and we snuck in anyway. 778671703_4bdd996c8d_z

When I moved to the UK, Christmas was not really a great time because everything shuts down. From where I come, holidays don’t keep shops closed. Even the big ones like Diwali – because we consider the festivals to be auspicious – the shops remain open on auspicious days. Only Christian shops used to be closed in Chennai on Christmas and that was a handful of grocery stores run by a specific community of people who were Christians.

I didn’t fully understand “Nothing is open” until my first Christmas when no shops, no supermarkets, no buses, no trains. I use public transport for everything and I was stranded.

But there is a silver lining – it was my time of quiet – two days of quiet when I could write – no one would bother me on those days whatever happens. The Christmas weeks were quiet at work. Many took time off and I usually covered Christmas. So that meant quieter at work, less workload and more time to get to know the people who did come to work.

Slowly that too has changed – my Christmas graph from childhood to today seems to fluctuate. Now I’m part of my sister’s family celebrating Christmas.

I know Christmas is filled with the stress of buying gifts, cooking food, going somewhere on time with the trains being as they are and all that. I also know where there is family, there would be squabble. We wouldn’t fight with strangers – just family. That’s what love is all about.

And the other best thing for me for Christmas is that Facebook is filled with good wishes, happy videos and the TV news is filled with heart-warming stories of people who are generous and find a way to include others in their celebration.

We have a tree this time, gifts presents (which I always overdo and buy lots), board games, Christmas movies and the works. And I have a nephew (and soon to be two) who loves to read books with me and loves the Big Tree in his house with baubles, surely I’m going to be celebrating as many Christmases I could with them. A great time for mulled wine (which I love), cooking food for a big group, singing songs (out of tune) and enjoying the company of people you love.

I think I get it. It’s not very different from Diwali, except for the absence of presents and tree, and with firecrackers – it is about families and friends coming together, good food and making merry with the people you love and care about. The trimmings are different across the religions and countries and communities, the food on the table is different – but the love and cheer – that crosses all boundaries.

I always think (I think a lot during this time of the year), take away the rituals and the external practices, underneath we want the same things, we enjoy the same things, we love for the same reasons and laugh for the same reasons.

falgucloseup From Falgu and yours truly, Merry Christmas folks! Hope you all have a wonderful time.

Children’s Day in India

Posted on November 14, 2014February 28, 2018 By csoundar

It is children’s Day in India today and I thought I should ponder over it and share my thoughts with you all.

What constitutes Children’s Day – I think many countries celebrate this and perhaps for different reasons and with a different focus. nehru1 Children’s Day in India is celebrated to honour Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime-minister who was born on 14^th November because he liked spending time with children and he always had kids over to his office to talk to them.

The Universal Children’s Day is celebrated quite close to the Indian one – on 20^th November since the mid-50s. Almost every country has a date dedicated for this.

It is not a public holiday obviously – there used to be performances, competitions, more relaxed timetable at school and having events like debates and speech competitions at school. eggshellpainting I think one such event I participated was in the Egg-Shell painting competition. That was adventurous for me because I had never touched an egg before that in my life.

For me though this day was a bit more special– both my mum and sister celebrated their birthdays on 14^th November. P1000199 We always had sweets and special prayers at home and we used to tease my sister saying the whole country was celebrating her birthday.

For me Children’s Day should inspire people to do better for their children. For India, that means – providing education and food to so many children who do not have a childhood. This year India and Pakistan won the Nobel Peace Prize jointly by two people in their own ways has furthered this cause. We should support and help Kailash and Malala to do more – the collective strength is greater than the sum of its parts.

I love the flags, the roses and the sweets that politicians distribute on this day.

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But I want them to stop doing token celebrations and do something in their own circle of influence. Even teach for a day, find out which kids amongst their party followers don’t go to school and provide free schools for the people who work in their parties. I want politicians to stop making gestures and get stuck in, get hands dirty.

Today I am a writer and I write for children. I love spending time in schools and enjoy telling them stories and listening to their stories. As an author of children’s books, as a writer who wants to connect with children and inspire them –what is children’s day to me and what should it be?

I want to be a role-model. I want to teach children to read, write and listen to stories. Every child is creative, imaginative and capable and I want in a small way to be part of that process.

I have been pondering about the charity Room to Read – I want to do a bit more than fund-raising or donating money. They too won accolades this year for bringing books, schools and education to girls across the world. Perhaps it is time to join them and get stuck in myself.

I’m not doing enough yet. Children’s Day has turned into more of a family celebration time given the two birthdays we celebrate. One of my math teachers is also born on this day. But I think it is time I celebrate Children’s Day in a more meaningful way – and I am going to spend the next 12 months until the next Children’s Day putting some ideas into action.

Do you have ideas? What do you think we should do for Children’s Day wherever you live?