Back at work – reclaiming my writerly self

This has been a year of blogging in fits and starts. In many ways, it has been a year of doing several different things, trying out different roles - loving some of those and tolerating few of the others. The only constant through all of this has been the learning and the mothering, tangoing together through the short days and long months, keeping me grounded all through the way.

A few months ago, at the cusp of the first quarter of the year, I tried on that old role of a freelance journalist once again. That beloved role that languished in a heap, growing dusty with every passing year. So I slipped it on tentatively, like someone would a favorite old dress, wondering if mothering a toddler and whirling through the social commitments that form the maze of my days, would allow me to meet those deadlines, catch up with the work. 

Source

Would I be able to chase those stories while chasing a little hurricane around the house? How much of the old pace of work would I be able to weave back into my already full days? Could crawl out of that comfort zone of familiar publications and reach out to newer markets across the seas?

With questions and thoughts zipping around like shooting starts in a velvety black sky, I set forth on this journey, reclaiming a piece of the old, reshaping the landscape of my ‘career’ (or what’s pieced together in shreds of time).

With encouragement from fellow travelers i.e. my husband, mother and a writer friend, I started my second journey (the first one I began at age 13 and continued till I had my son) as a journalist, eking out an adventure around the curves and bends of motherhood and military life. I queried new markets but also wrote for a few of the old ones; I seeked out stories in different places and wrote them up; I worked on doable deadlines and met them. I’ve started collecting new bylines and have been meeting some of the most remarkable people in the process. But this time around, my writing career and my method of work is quite different from its older avatar.

While I listen and learn from other writers out there, who’re earning plenty and working a lot more, here I am choosing the right publications but working at a slower, flexible pace. I write when my son’s at his playschool and play with him when school’s out for the summer. My deadlines aren’t packed tight like before because in this season of my life with a multitude of parenting and social responsibilities, this is what seems realistic. But best of all, I’m enjoying everything – the story and market hunting, the pitching and the waiting, the assignments and the writing.

I know that there will be a time in the near future when my time will open up, like a sky after a spell of silvery rain. There will be time enough for writing, teaching yoga, talking to my health coaching clients. I have all those plans stacked up. But for now, I pray for patience and take with gratitude what I can – time to craft good stories for equally interesting publications, time to draw and paint, time to learn life skills that are more precious than what we acknowledge them to be.

And this brings me to some of the other things I am doing. I started creating art – quick doodles and collages of things that fill me with magic. I’ve also started learning homeopathy and organic gardening, and children’s yoga. I’m baking more (muffins and cookies), and filling some of the other slivers of snatched leisure with yoga, barre and long walks. I’m waiting for a time when we can spend more time as a family, for this nurtures and fulfills us the best.

But for now, I offer gratitude and end with peace.

What have you filled your days with? What new paths and adventures have you explored?

#freelancewriting #freelancewriter #journalist

6 Types of necklaces that look great with a sari

It’s been ages since I wrote my last sari post (Here's the entire series). 

So, how have you been wearing your sari? In the casual chic way with contrasting blouses and big, round bindis, and funky jholas and the ubiquitous Kolhapuris? Do you feel more at home with your saris now that you’re bringing them out of your wardrobe more often? Has it become your go-to garment for a movie-and-dinner date or a trip to the mall?

Well, as you revel in the comfort of the soft folds of your sari, here’s another way to jazz up your casual chic look – chunky necklaces.

I know, it’s more traditional and conventional to wear a gold chain with a diamond pendant, or better still, a thick gold necklace to show up that zari border on your sari. But personally, I’m not a great believer in the power of gold, especially when it’s teamed up with a sari. I’m more partial to silver - sterling, German or oxidized. And I love beads, the ceramic as well as the wooden kinds. Add craft and a story to the mix, and I’m in jewellery heaven (you guessed it, diamonds are definitely not my best friends, though no offence if they are yours).

I also believe that you don’t need boxes full of jewellery to look good. A few well-chosen pieces can make your look sparkle, but for this you need to be very clear about what you like, what looks good on you and what you feel comfortable wearing.

I personally like to match the tradition and the legend of a sari with the casualness of an accessory. 

So here are the 6 types of necklaces that I personally like to wear with my cotton saris:

Wooden beads: I love necklaces made of wooden beads in camel and chocolate tones i.e. the original color of the wood. The chunkier the better and because of their neutral tone they can be teamed up with almost any kind of cotton or even chiffon sari. I’m known to wear them even with some of my silks.

Source

Multiple strings of seed beads: I love those necklaces that have several strings of seed beads. The more the better. Wear a necklace like this in an earth tone, and deck up with a large bindi, kohl and lip gloss, and you’re done with your casual chick look.

Source

Thread and silver: These kinds of necklaces have both – jewel-toned thread and a chunky silver pendant, an eclectic mix that goes very well with saris, kurtis and even handloom tops. Even if you own one or two such pieces, you can accessorize a whole range of saris, and a major part of your wardrobe, and never feel you need more.

Source

Large beads: Ceramic or lacquer beads, often in vibrant hues like indigo, amber, vermillion and verdant green, are casual, cheerful and yet perfect for a party. I love accessories that are versatile and can be teemed with a variety of saris for as many occasions. I own several of these, most of them purchased at a very reasonable price from a gypsy woman stringing and selling her wares outside a temple in Chennai.

Source

Metal craft: For me, the art and story behind an accessory - whether it’s a bag, footwear or piece of jewellery is just as important as the accessory itself. So of course, a metal craft necklace, like dokra, has to be an important part of my jewellery box. I own a couple of these, bought at handicraft exhibitions, and they go very well with warm-toned and zari-border saris.

Source

Tibetan necklaces: Made of turquoise, semi-precious stones and metal, these are hand-strung by Tibetan women in the quirky little markets that you find in Tibetan colonies. They are chunky, heavy and magnificent. Wear one with a plain sari in a muted tone and you’re sure to get complements come pouring in.

These are my favorite kinds of necklaces and you’re sure to find me in any one of these when I’m in a sari.

What kind of necklaces do you like to wear? How do you accessorize your sari?

Hope over to our Facebook Page to join the discussion.

#saristyle #100sareepact

A chat with Shruthi Rao on writing for children

A while ago, I posted an interview with Debasmita Dasgupta about her illustration projects and her adventures illustrating children’s story books. Debasmita’s latest illustration project was the gorgeous little book called ‘Avani and the Pea Plant’. My son loves this books with its simple story and lively illustrations. Since we plant vegetables in our garden and just finished gobbling the last crop of the sweetest peas, this book about how a little girl discovers a pea plant in her garden felt so familiar and endearing.

Today, I’m chatting with Shruthi Rao, the author of this story book. If I could, I’d have loved to talk with her about writing, a mom-writer’s life and children’s books over cups of steaming coffee. But since that’s not possible at this moment, I did the next best thing – invited her over to my blog for a bit of writerly gupshup.

 Please tell us a bit about yourself.

I've lived most of my life in Bangalore, and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area less than a year ago. I live with my husband and a story-monster (our 8-year-old daughter). I have a post-graduate degree in Energy Engineering, and worked in the software industry for a few years. And then I changed tracks and started writing. I love books and long walks. You can find out more about me and my published work on http://www.shruthi-rao.com or on my blog http://nychthemeron.blogspot.com

What kind of things do you enjoy writing?

I've experimented with different kinds of writing, but what I love most is to write fiction. To create worlds and to populate them with characters who sometimes take on a life of their own -- it is a beautiful feeling. I also enjoy editing -- to play around with a piece of text, spruce it up and make it all shiny and impressive!

You’ve been writing for children for sometime now, right? Will you please tell us about your other books?

I haven't written for children as much as I have for adults. But yes, I've published a few children's stories here and there, and have written children's content for several NGOs. One of my stories, The Story Lady, won the Unisun-Reliance TimeOut contest in 2011, and it was converted into a picture book by Unisun Publishers.

image credit: Debasmita Dasgupta

Please tell us about your journey from thinking up the idea of Avani and the Pea Plant to getting it published.

Avani and the Pea Plant grew out of one of the stories I told my daughter when she was a toddler. She loved stories, and she was full of questions. Once she asked me how plants and trees grow without anybody planting the seed and watering them. To (partially) answer that question, I made up this story, which she loved, and asked me to narrate to her again and again. A couple of years later, for some reason, I remembered the story again, and thought it might make a good picture book. So I wrote it down and sent it to Pratham. I'm delighted with how it has turned out -- the illustrations by Debasmita Dasgupta are gorgeous.

Are you writing another story book?

A book for children, "The Secret Garden", is about to go into print. I wrote this for Nature Science Initiative. The book has been beautifully laid out, full of the most wonderful illustrations and cartoons and photographs, and I'm looking forward to its release.

What would you say to those who want to write and publish a children’s story book?

I'm a novice myself, so I can't really afford to give advice to others! But I've gathered from the picture books I've liked that it probably helps to retain a child's sense of wonder about the world around you.

Thank you Shruthi!

#storybooks #wednesdayinterview #writing

Re-starting the reading habit with my son

Even before my son was born, I knew I wanted to read to my child. One of the most appealing images of parenthood for me was of a parent and a child snuggled up under a quilt with a dreamy expression on their faces and a brightly illustrated storybook propped up against their knees.

So, of course, I had stock piled a collection of picture books and was determined to read to my son from the day he tumbled out of the womb, all ripe and wrinkly. I finally did start reading to him when he was three weeks old, and he seemed to enjoy listening and looking at stories in the way a newborn could. Solemnly with eyes as round as marbles.

As I made my way across this foreign terrain of motherhood, with its cracked ice ground and egg-shell thin emotions, I clutched to stories. As I fumbled and stumbled in those initial long months, it was stories and books, pictures and a legacy of reading that I held on to. Always hoping that my son would one day love books and that one day, I’d be more of the mother I wanted to be.

Fast forward a year, and my son was loading books onto his pillow, asking for more stories to be read before he was finally ready to go to bed. We’d read anywhere from eight to 10 books in a day. And while, I would get bored of reading his favorites again and again and again, I was secretly happy that he had dived into the land of books with such enthusiasm.

Fast forward another year-and-a-half, right to the present. The box of children’s books beckons us brightly from the corner of the room. The regular pile of children’s books, tucked under the pillow, begs to be shuffled and exchanged for new ones. My son still loves stories just as much, but I lie beside him, tired of reading one book after another. Laziness. That’s what it is on my part. And a need for shaking up the old routine.

So here I am today, renewing my vows to read more to my son, to offer him stories before his afternoon nap and before he nods off at night. I’m crafting this reading goal with a healthy dollop of realism, which means that he not only enjoys listening to the stories, but that I equally enjoy reading/telling them as well. And for this, I’ll choose books and the number of books, depending on how much time and energy we have to offer to this ritual on that particular day. So, rather than choosing between 10 books a day and no books at all, we do books to suit the day. The middle path that makes story reading doable.

And this time, since he is older and very interested in the nuances of language, I want to also introduce him to the world of audio stories. I love the free story apps and I am also considering trying out a subscription to Sparkle Stories with their treasure chest of beautifully told stories about children and animals and gnomes.

So, here’s to reading to children. And here’s to a new promise to sustain and thrive on this journey into the land of stories!

What kind of books do you enjoy reading to your children?

#storybooks #reading