Stories

Many had asked me over the last year or so.

I used to recoil at the suggestion.

Me ? Now ? At this stage ?

Nah…of course not.

I have so much to learn. The thought itself is so presumptuous.

No chance.

I really can’t remember when I started giving it a little more thought. But, I did.

I enquired about the costs involved and then dropped the idea.

Then, I read somewhere about having one goal each year which is a little outlandish, something you have never done before.

And, then I again started thinking…Well…why not ?

I sat down with a little more purpose.

And started to write my first coffee table book.

I had to think about the theme. What I wanted to include and what to exclude. How does one write anything more than a blog ?

I don’t know if I figured things out but I fumbled around and wrote. And rewrote. And again.. It has taken the whole year to write about 12,000 words.

Friends chipped in with their feedback.

One friend, sagely gave me a single word feedback – Rewrite. ( the second half ).

( He was right. I did )

Another friend was extremely disappointed with the original title.

( It took time, but I agreed and changed it )

A third friend kindly suggested that I go back to grammar school.

( I would have said the same after seeing my errors )

Another gently dissuaded me from the cover image I had chosen – that image is just not ‘you’

( What could be a better way than appeal to your ego ? )

My sister did the final edit. ( You see what I have smoothly done here ? 🙂 )

Jokes apart…I don’t know where I would have been without all their help and availability.

It definitely has been a very interesting experience to write a book. To figure out the theme and then the structure. To decide on the images to go with it.

Someday, I would share more about the experience. For now, much gratitude to all those who helped me.

It will be around a 150 page book (the design, layout etc are in the final stages of design ), with 100+ carefully selected images, some of which have never been shared so far.

I expect that it would cost around Rs. 1500 to buy. I still need to figure out placement in Amazon or elsewhere etc…

In case you are interested to buy despite the horrifying lack of details, drop me a mail.

It should be ready by the second half of December or in January latest. I was hoping for an earlier finish, but I have learnt that such stuff takes time.

And with that…ladies and gentlemen…presenting…