“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.”
Charles Dickens could
have been speaking of 2020 when he began ‘The Tale of Two Cities’, a book that
remains one of his masterpieces.
It was, no doubt, the
worst of times! The world watched, helpless and horrified, as a tiny virus sneaked
into its timeline, and wreaked havoc globally. No country was spared, as the
whole of humanity went through a series of emotions – bewilderment, disbelief, understanding
and finally, the realization that this was the mother of all challenges.
Lockdowns creaked into place, masks came into being, sanitizers sold like hot
cakes and social distancing became the new mot juste of the times.
Countries closed
their doors, flights were stopped, travel became a rarity. The moment a glimmer
of hope was seen, it was quickly scotched by the eager beavers who believed
that nothing could go wrong, behaving disgracefully till things actually went
wrong under their very noses. Often, it was innocent bystanders, who were standing
nowhere in the vicinity, who were dragged in, unwittingly. All in all, it was a
glum scenario with no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. For the virus,
which mutated and rose in potency, could have been hiding in the very same
tunnel.
Yet, in many ways,
it could also be termed the best of times, or at least the best in these trying
times. Education turned completely online, and students, teachers and parents scrambled
on to the band wagon, trying to tune their systems to keep up with the times.
While teething problems were galore, slowly new skills were learnt and across
the globe, people started coping. The resilience of the human spirit came to
the fore, as it adapted to a brand-new world of computers, online meetings, and
a tech savvy scenario.
Life had turned turtle
for us personally as well. We were all set to go abroad to meet our precious
grandchildren when suddenly, all flights were cancelled, and a lockdown imprisoned
us within the country. That was heartbreaking, and yet, there was nothing we
could do about it. Millions were in the same position.
As a writer, however,
this was a particularly fruitful period for me, and for several of my writer
friends. Our creative juices bubbled in a cauldron of literary activity, and
our publisher, Dipankar Mukherjee, and his talented editor, Indrani Ganguly,
made sure that they added on their own potent elements to spur us on. Hence,
Readomania brought out seven anthologies on myriad themes, and all of us, literary
comrades-on-arms made sure that we burnt the midnight oil and wrote for most of
them. I was thrilled to find my stories nestling within five.
2020 will always be
the COVID year for all of us. However, it will also remain the landmark year
for me personally when I was able to bring out two solo books as well. The
first whetted my appetite for thrillers stories and was an anthology titled ‘Where
Shadows Follow – Tales that Twist and Turn’. (Readomania)
The next series,
again from Readomania, was an absolute turnabout and a book for children – 'Classic Tales from the Panchatantra’. These initially came out as four volumes of five
stories each, and then as a compilation of twenty stories in one volume. I
loved working on them and what was especially heartwarming was that my
publisher gave me a chance to draw the illustrations for each of the stories,
along with my daughter, Priyanka. There we were, going back in time, when we
used to doodle on bits of paper and both of us enjoyed the experience thoroughly.
My granddaughter, Zoya, inspired by her mother’s sketches, sat down and drew
the cutest little lion ever, which went into the dedication of the books.
It was then that a
dear friend, Sangeetha Shinde, called me up and asked me if I would be part of
an anthology of gritty women’s stories, many of whom were survivors of abuse in
one form or the other. God having been kind to me, I have never faced such a
scenario, and instead, I wrote about my life as an Army wife, along with its
joys and tribulations, all in verse form, for that was the format of the whole
book. It was a powerfully moving book and celebrities like Kabir Bedi,
Shreekumar Varma, Suhasini Maniratnam and many others were part of its
nationwide launch.
A fitting finale for
the year was working on ten stories adapted from Shakespeare’s plays for
children. The stories were done by November and were sent out to various young
beta-readers, who perused them and let me know what appealed to them, and what
didn’t. A few more readings and hopefully, that will be another piece of my
heart out there for public viewing.
As December, my birthday month came around, and Christmas after, it was time to make a gesture of gratitude. As a giveaway, I decided that I would gift copies of my earlier book, 'Shadow in the Mirror' to reader friends and acquaintances.
As the New Year begins in earnest, it is only fit that I offer gratitude to all those who made the year that
has gone by bearable.
So, thank you, to my incredible
husband, my amazing daughter and son-in love, and my adorable grandchildren for
fostering joy within me,
My two wonderful mothers,
sisters, brothers-in-love and numerous nephews and nieces for having made me
smile through the difficult times,
My intrepid publisher
and his team who encouraged me and my never-tiring literary companions and
writer friends who wrote and read along with me,
My colleagues at
school and my students who constantly wrought magic by doing impossible things,
And, of course, all
my friends, online and offline, who have always held my hand, encouraged me
whenever I have posted anything, and helped me climb mountains…
Finally, to the
Universe for having conspired to make things happen!
You know who you are, and you are all wonderful…
thank you!
