A Collection of Short Stories

to the ‘writer’s block’ myth.
After a while, I shook it off and my first book; For Days and A Night was born of that experience.
But I never forgot. No.
I learnt not to take this gift of mine for granted; I learnt to make every single word count – else
cut it out of the narrative. I learnt to appreciate the fact that I can make or mar things with the
strength of my words – someone did say the pen is mightier than the sword.
So – when is a writer’s work done?
Is it when the last stroke has been delivered, when the editor has done the last re-conning?
Is it when the manuscript is bound and printed, when the books are chilling on the shelf? Is it
when a book launch is successful – and the book has gone through several reprints?
No.
For a writer be well and truly done; a reader is necessary. Writing cannot be a solo act – maybe
it starts alone; but for the process to be complete there has to be a reader. Else the ‘writer’
is just scribbling in a journal – and that’s nothing extraordinary.
There has to be a reader for a writer to exist. It’s very much like the Argentine Tango or the
Salsa – you either have a partner or you’re just shadow boxing. The writer takes the lead; but
then, asks the reader to trust him. The reader gives the writer her hand (I like to think a man
leads the dance), and she bravely follows him step for step; every climb, hill, valley – every
dip, twist and turn – she has to be with him all the way. Sometimes the writer loses his way
and in effect, loses the reader.
That; is a failed experiment.
But every now and then, the writer lands a reader patient enough to wait till the music stops
before leaving the room. Simply because although the dance may be familiar; the steps are
always new.