The Remix of Orchid

After a Gap

2008-10-15T18:33:00.000-07:00

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The other day I received a letter from a friendly source commenting on my book. It appears he has been way too polite. Maybe he is careful that a new author needs plenty of encouragement. Phew, authors need not be too sensitive about the comments, even though unfair ones sometimes hurt. But in this case my friendly reader, Mr. A. K. Singh has written nice words, more so as he encourages me by sharing his surprise how he discovered my book in the library of his centre. Let me quote some two paragraphs out of the letter.

"It was sheer chance while visiting library, that I discovered this book and happened to read all short stories.

"Though, I feel, I am not competent enough to review or after [offer] my comments on it, but personally I enjoyed reading every page of it. Mundane characters in it, with various shades and twists and turns in the stories, definitely make it an interesting and enjoyable book to read."

The comments reassure me, to say the least.

I'm planning to bring out the second edition of the book but then another book of mine "Virasat" in Hindi has already reached the final stage. I'd like to see it in book form, the sooner the better. "The Remix of Orchid", to go to its second edition, has to wait. Maybe for a year or so.

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By
A. N. Nanda
16-10-2008
Muzaffarpur
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Nice Words from an Empathetic Reader

2008-02-14T22:24:00.000-08:00

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In my previous post I was clearly griping about people writing to me for free copies of my book. Especially, I gave a clear hint that such letters as I received should have contained something about my literary effort. Lo and behold, here is a communication I received from One Dr Dharanidhar Sahu, Professor, Department of English, Berhampur University. It's way too encouraging, I must say. Thank you professor, you made my day.
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Dear Mr. Nanda

I got your book "The Remix of Orchid" from our postmaster. I read Mr Bond's foreword, your preface, "Out of Her Block" and the eponymous story, the last one. I shall read the entire book when I buy one to facilitate, though in a meagre scale, your family trip to Mussorie. You write with a poet's flair and your language matches your enthusiasm. By planting your persona on fictional characters, you have turned happenings into stories of a different kind. That was a fine strategy of distancing. Thank you very much for giving me some aesthetic pleasure and encouraging me to visit Andamans to see the things you have seen.

Yours admiringly,
Dharanidhar Sahu.
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By
A. N. Nanda
15-02-2008
Berhampur
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FRANK but not FREE

2008-02-04T06:29:00.000-08:00

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Something funny happens these days: I get letters concerning my book "The Remix of Orchid" from people I don't know. They don't convey anything, not even a word either encouraging or constructive; rather they request copies of my book by post. And all of them are requests for free supply of the book.

One such letter conveyed me that the library for which they were making the request was for a group of religious ladies. I know people of Andhra Pradesh are very religious, but what I don't know is how my book will foster their religious pursuit. So I did not comply.

Another request was from a person living in the same town where I'm working. It was a postcard. I thought he would come to me one day knowing that the author lives in his town. He didn't come. So he spared me the unpleasant experience of saying 'no'.

There was one more request from an old person of eighty plus. His handwriting was so ugly I couldn't read much out of it. My respect for his age guiding me, I took help from others. They tried to contact the gentleman on my behalf, but the phone number he mentioned in his letter was found to be out of service.

I could have still supplied the book, but on a second thought I refrained from doing this. The gentleman didn't write in one letter; rather to save his money he wrote four postcards, cleverly sequencing them as 1, 2, 3, and 4. Thanks to our postal service, all the four came together helping me to decipher that it was a request for my book from an old man. Finally I decided: a careless miser does not deserve to read this book.

Another gentleman, a journalist from Ranchi, mailed me about supply of a copy of "The Remix…." I got his order reconfirmed. The gentleman asked for a book with my signature. I sent a copy, but through cash-on-delivery channel. The gentleman didn't take delivery. In retrospect, I think sending through cash-on-delivery channel was a good decision: I only lost the money I paid for the postage; not the whole book.
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By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
04=02=2008
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The Picture of Recognition

2007-11-28T07:39:00.000-08:00

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Just a scanned image of the certificate I received from the Rajiv Gandhi Forum, Orissa, affiliated to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi. There're a few printing mistakes; nevertheless an award is an award, and I refrained from quibbling over that.

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By
A. N. Nanda
28-11-2007
Bhubaneswar
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A Review on The Tribune

2007-09-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

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The Tribune, Chandigarh has carried a review of my book "The Remix of Orchid" on September 23, 2007 on its weekly supplement "Spectrum". Today I ran into it while I was searching the net. It's a nice review and as a new author I should celebrate. Now let me post here the text besides giving the link.
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Fantasy islands
Aditi Garg

The Remix of Orchid
by A.N. Nanda. Pages 350. Rs 250.

IT is no easy job to tread the unknown path. And it is that element of unknown that lends it the mystical spark. A story can be made or marred by the very setting or the locales and the surroundings. The Andaman Islands have only recently come to be associated with beautiful scenic landscapes and multi-starred resorts, but for a really long time they have been connected with dungeons so dreaded that only those sentenced to rigorous imprisonment were to go and toil there for the rest of their lives. To set not one but 23 stories in such a place is indeed commendable.

The premise of the book is the author’s belief that in spite of all the semblance of immutability, something is in the making here. The Remix of Orchid is a versatile collection of stories reflecting an array of human (and spectral) attributes. With a foreword by Ruskin Bond that applauds the writer’s ingenuity, it is a book that doesn’t disappoint. The author has an impressive educational background and has worked as an Indian Postal Services officer at the Andaman and Nicobar islands. It echoes in the insight that he has shown in understanding the local subjects, terrain and climate. The whole book is so cozy in its setting that it could not have been written for another place. He has also written another book of short stories, The Roadshow, and a collection of poems, In Harness.

The path least travelled is often the most enigmatic. The book starts with the emotional tale of a family who has lost their son when he was small and depicts their dilemma when faced with the possibility of accepting an imposter as their own. In a totally different tune is The Salvation, which revolves around a ghost being. His unfinished aspirations keep him tied to the world. Each story seems to be bound by an invisible chain of thoughts that leads the reader to the point of culmination seemingly effortlessly. Most of them revolve around everyday situation, making it even easier to relate to them. Like the woman who has little money to go visit her dying mother evokes empathy in The Golden Trip. Then there is one about the village pundit who has to make the most difficult choices to survive, even doing the work of a scavenger but he takes it all in his stride.

The author time and again puts forth situations and the characters seem to take on a life of their own. The heartbreaking story of Manglu resonates in the mind and you can’t help feeling sorry for him. A hockey team’s rise to stardom seems very attainable after the widely-acclaimed movie Chak De! India.

The book is not without irony and wit. The oft-repeated story of post office bungles takes on a different hue, though he could have refrained from stretching it to the point of referring to the department as ‘Postal God.’

The book provides some interesting tidbits as well. There are places named after their distance from the Zero Point, say Forty-Six-Kilometers, which he uses as a setting for one of his stories. After another story he confesses how tempted he was to include something about a tsunami, just to make it sound prophetic. The book fares well though at places the stories tend to get a bit filmy. The author serves a multi-cultural fare that is united by only one common thread, the Andaman and Nicobar islands.

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Collected by
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
30-09-2007
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Melly's Fascinating Feedback

2007-09-13T07:24:00.000-07:00

Melly, as I call her, is a girl of immense talent and profound grasp of things that make life distinct but not drab. Her poems bear testimony to her sensitiveness. Quite often, they have afforded me moments of creative impulse. She is the most beautiful reward that my blogging experience has given me. Her respect for my age made her address me as “Uncle” and I have conveyed my readiness to be addressed as she likes and is comfortable with. “The Remix of Orchid” did not grumble about the distance as I sent a copy to her and her feedback about the book is here.

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It is my first time receiving an autographed book or rather my first autographed item. What is it? Obviously the book entitled "The Remix of Orchid" by A.N. Nanda, a writer from India who is very passionate about his work and gladly shares his work with people around the globe. This explains his generosity by delivering his book all the way from India to me, bearing all the cost of delivery himself. As I call him by the title uncle, it shows my respect for him as a writer and a friend in writing, though I am way far behind from where he stands.

The Remix of Orchid is a collection of short stories closely related to the Andamans. One thing that I really like about his stories is that they are not merely fictional as we can relate the stories with our daily life. It is something that we went, going or have seen others going through.

His stories not only make its reader, in this case - myself, pause and take a moment of thought for my life but it feeds the hunger for a good read.

A book that winds the mind of its reader and drive them to reflection is what I call, 'The Power'. How often do you get something short yet leaves a deep feeling in your heart? Quite few to be frank. Yet in this book, you get many shorts with the compliment of deep impactS. What else could you call this but 'The Golden Power'?

Now, this is why I call him Uncle Nanda.

May your book reach out to more and the blessing of writing continue to be with you. This one is for you Uncle Nanda!
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By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
13/09/2007
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Just A Creative Serendipity

2007-09-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

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Some of my friendly readers have started asking me questions, the recent one being about the remarkable similarity in themes between SRK-enacted "Chak De" (HINDI MOVIE) and my story "Gung-ho Team". This story of mine came earlier than the above film and the so-called similarity could at best be a case of creative serendipity. Yes, they have similarities to the extent that both deal with the theme of revival of the national game hockey and both have happy endings. But, "Gung-ho Team" is about the building of a men's hockey team from a level of utter inexperience to one of winning excellence. Chak De about women's team and its consolidation.

Let me quote here a couple of paragraphs from the story.

"Barla repeated what he did in the first match at pre-quarter stage. In an incredible speed within two minutes of the opening of the match, he took possession of the ball from about the mid-field, swerved himself to the right like a bullfighter in chase, gained a sprinting lead of twenty yards or so, dodged just one challenger near the D and scored a marvellous goal. Munia Pradhan followed the lead. Dribbling the ball beautifully he dissected into opponent's defence and charged deep into its area, just to register his invincible presence in the striking circle. The opponents hiked their pace to a desperate level, reached from all possible sides in their bid to block Munia's advance. He could not finally score a goal, but definitely earned a penalty corner. Now it was the turn of Dharam. He placed himself advantageously just outside the striking circle, unperturbed and ready. As Kujur trapped the ball and shifted away smartly, Dharam swerved by about ten degree to go for it. Thereafter he hit the ball in the desired direction and with measured force. Hurrah! It was an impeccable goal.

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"Hurrah! Hockey is about HUG AND KISS. The winners hugged each other, tossed Munia in the air, and sat on the ground on their knees. They were excited and their eyes were moist. The impossible was achieved. The team that was struggling for just one nutrition-rich diet a day at the inaccessible corner of India did it and did it with élan. It once again proved the heart of India lies in hockey and the flesh in cricket. No match-fixing controversy, no inexplicable glamour to feel suspicious about. Even a tiny island could win laurels. Talents are everywhere; they are presented as they are needed."Long live the Andaman Hockey team under the captainship of Sukra, management of Mr Bisra Kujur! Long live sportsmanship! All the seventeen started to chant their golden chorus:

"Dharam has come back, watch gung-ho

The finishing stroke goes this way, say heave-ho."

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A. N. Nanda

Sambalpur

05-09-2007

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Another Crisp Review

2007-08-30T02:26:00.000-07:00

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Daily News & Analysis, DNA India in short, a Mumbai-based leading news paper has carried this review of my book. It's accessible by this link:

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1117734

Let me copy 'n paste it here.
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The Remix Of Orchid
AN Nanda
350 pages
Rs250

The author, as Ruskin Bond points out in his foreword, is a clever man. In this work of fiction, set in the Andaman Islands, he finds stories in every grain of sand on its lush beaches. There is history and everyday relationships, murder and con games, sightseeing and introspection. There is the tale of Malovika, the established author who suffers from a severe case of writer’s block, Nitish, who battles the Postal God, and many more. All of these stories explore the not-quite-natural and edge-of-rational realm that seems just out of reach of reality. Each story is distinct, but taken together, this collection, by an author who has just been awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Sadhbhavna award for popular writing for 2007, presents a view of the islands that comes only with familiarity, after many years of living and working there.

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Where is a murder in my book? Oh yes, there is a murder of an emaciated dog. Oh my poor thing.

The review should have mentioned where the book is available. This would have helped my marketing. However let me supply the omission here:

http://remixoforchid.blogspot.com/2007/05/your-book-but-where.html
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By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
30-08-2007
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Thank U Blogger

2007-08-28T02:41:00.000-07:00

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For a copy of "The Remix of Orchid" with the author's signature mail directly to nanda_lit@hotmail.com and if you are in the US go to the portal here for viewing SNEAK-A-PEAK and online buying.
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Your spam-prevention robot crawled over to my blog and warned you about the spam activities at my blog. You blocked my blog for the last three days and inspected it. Finally you cleared it for blogging activities. Thank u.

I must reiterate here that my blog "The Remix of Orchid" is not for any spamming activity. Like all other rule-abiding bloggers, I post a topic here, invite comments, read others' contents and leave my comments over there. This cannot be spamming in any sense of the term. You have rightly unblocked it for further posting. Thanks.

This blog has been created with a purpose: When nobody comes forward to help a new writer, he looks towards his confidence, gathers his guts. "The Remix of Orchid" started with this confidence. Since May 2007, altogether 870 copies have been distributed, some for sale and some as complimentary copies. Some netizens have directly ordered for this book. A friendly website has carried a review of my book and others are going to do that. People have come here and encouraged me with their valuable comments. Everything encouraging has happened to this book. And this blog has carried a running account of my trials and tribulations and my joy and satisfaction as a self-published author. Thank you blogger for giving this wonderful platform free of cost.

There is no commercial activities here. No ad, no nothing. So where is the need for spamming. You have realised this actually examining my blog. Thank U blogger.
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By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
28-08-2007
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Another Review

2007-08-17T19:25:00.000-07:00

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"The Remix..." has been reviewed by Mr. Vijendra Mohanty and it is available at his blog. This is a fair review that brings out its strength and the quibbles in the style. I'll copy that into this blog with his permission. Until I'm able to do that, one can get to read that through the link given above.

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By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
18-08-2007
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Ah! An Accolade

2007-08-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

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Rajiv Gandhi Forum, Orissa State, affiliated to Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, New Delhi has selected me as the popular & Eminent Writer of the year - 2007. They will be felicitating me with the RAJIV GANDHI SADBHABANA AWARD at 6 PM on 20-08-2007 at Idcol Auditorium Coference Hall, Bhubaneswar.

I don't know much about the organisation, but from their letterhead I came to know that a Union minister, three ex-CMs, three ex-Union Ministers, the former Chief Justice of India, Editor of the prominent daily of Orissa, The Samaja, a few other ex-ministers of the state, a few sitting MsLA, an ex-speaker of the State Legislative Assembly, an educationist etc are behind the forum.

I have asked my Directorate to allow me to accept the honour and they should decide it by tomorrow if I should attend that function.

It makes me happy that my book "The Remix of Orchid" could bring this accolade for me.

And I just wish to share my happiness here.

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By
A. N. Nanda
16-08-2007
Berhampur
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Dr. Nair's Review

2007-08-09T20:13:00.000-07:00

The first review of “The Remix…” has come from Dr K. C. V. Nair, MA (English), MA (Socio), MA (American Literature). I thought I could reproduce this in my blog.

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THE REMIX OF ORCHID. A. N. Nanda, Published by A. N. Nanda, 238 / A, Sahidnagar, Bhubaneswar – 751007, Price: INR 250.00

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In this collection of twenty-one short stories, the author has created a panorama of Andamanese life, selecting characters and situations from different walks of life. The characters mostly have a middleclass or lower middleclass background, and lead a life of mundane, humdrum existence. The situations are those that any one of us would find ourselves in. But, using these ordinary people and situations, the author plumbs the depth of human existence with élan and aplomb.

Bhandarkar is not able to fulfil his promise of returning to Port Blair to reclaim his pet dog Snow, and the Naga servant Aloto disposes of the dog selecting the easy course in The Apt Disposal. Manglu, the tribal from Jharkhand in The Emancipated, after many years of toil and moil in the Andamans, get the shock of his life when he learns from his friend that his wife, whom he had left behind on the mainland, has betrayed him, but at the same time has a great feeling of emancipation at the thought of not having to care for anyone and anything in the world. The world is too much with us; this is what the author tells us in The Confluence. It tells the story of two brothers and their sister who have no time or desire to care for the last wishes of their father that his ashes be immersed in the Ganges. In everyday life, we all get shortchanged by hustlers and dishonest persons, and Sushila’s experience in The Golden Trip is no different. Her mother is seriously ill on the mainland, and she is at the mercy of unscrupulous pawnbroker for the money and the travel agent for the ticket. In Once Lucky the author has explored a common human situation, namely, that of the love triangle, and the denouement in the form of a dream happening to Nitish, the protagonist of the story, exposes his folly of having swapped the letters meant for his wife and the lover. Deprivation can have dehumanizing effect on individuals; this is what At The Crossroads tells us through the story of Damodar Pathak. How the land mafia swindles hapless people who are vulnerable when faced with the problem of their daughter’s marriage is the theme of Homecoming. Dannaya has to dispose of his ancestral house and land for a pittance to marry off his daughter, and becomes rootless in his hometown. In Still in India, an old woman who is in a predicament whether to stay with her younger son in the USA or the elder one in the Andamans, finally decides in favour of the latter, though he is less sound financially.

In The Millennium Blog the writer explores the theme of adventure. Instead of enjoying the New Year eve at the dawn of the Millennium at a holiday resort, a man and a woman spend the midnight under the deep ocean and encounter dangerous barracudas. In The Salvation and The Remix of Orchid, the author seamlessly blends the real with the unreal. In the former, a ghost that was trapped in a cave is released, and gets a chance to act in a play on a patriotic theme and thus gets salvation. In the latter, an orchid plant grows tentacles and goes after its owner to suck him to death. That a cataclysmic storm can rise to the level of an apocalypse is vividly brought out in A Clip in Slow Motion, while Out of Her Block tells the story of a woman writer whose creative powers are temporarily eclipsed. The Gung-ho Team celebrates the victory of the Andaman hockey team in a national tournament in Bombay. The Green Baggage burlesques the members of a Committee from the mainland, who have come to the Andamans to make a study of the environmental damage caused by building contractors. Not only that the building mafia looks after the comforts of the Committee members, but, as demanded by the members, they also arrange for them wild-life delicacies like venison. The author handles an uncommon theme in The Two Visitors, where some trickster tries to thrust a boy on a couple who had lost their first son many years ago.

There are two stories in this collection in which the author handles the theme of love with effortlessness of a mature artist. In Over the Seas, Dr. Sridhar, who is a doctor in Kuwait, falls in love with Rehna, a Muslim maidservant undergoing excruciating experiences in a Kuwaiti household, and decides to marry her and settle down in the Andamans, away from the watchful eyes of an unsympathetic society. In Flying Colours, it is the innocent love of a Nicobari girl for a person of her own tribe that the author handles. In both the stories, the author has shunned the routine path and idealistic vision of love in favour of one that is pragmatic and realistic.

The stories differ in themes, but what gives them an underlying unity is the locale that is almost always the Andamans. Mr. Nanda writes a kind of prose that has all the distinctive tang of the language we are all familiar with. In his maiden attempt as a short story writer, he has come out with flying colours.

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Dr. K. C. V. Nair, MA (Eng), MA (Socio), MA (History), Ph. D. (American Literature)
Chief Postmaster General
Himachal Pradesh Circle
Shimla - 171 009
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To Refresh -In Pic

2007-07-26T06:53:00.001-07:00

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III

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Drinking From the Cup of Harassment

2007-07-08T08:05:00.000-07:00

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Now I'm rapidly exhausting the stock of "The Remix of Orchid" by sale, by submission of perusal copies to the distributors, booksellers, by dispatching review copies…and by presenting complimentary copies. There is nothing sacrosanct about the policy of distribution and it is liable to change if the publisher is the author himself. As for me, I have no patience to wait till my investment is back so that I can dispatch complimentary copies. Nevertheless, I'm sure now, my money will be back: occasional free distribution of the book has not done any harm to its bottom line. Everything is in control now. "The Remix of Orchid" is not going to leave me broke.

This, in brief, is the mid-course assessment. I've plan of coming up with another print/edition of the book during this year. That's almost sure. My well-wishers advise me that the book should be left to perform the best it can. In the process if it brings a few bucks to me, why should I be so touchy about it? After all, business is no bad word.

That said, I'm now jumping to a misery story.

A new author has to be harassed by everyone, say the agents, the publishers, the critic…. The list is long, and the bookshops are also included.

My internet search gave me the information that there is a reputed bookshop in Cannaught Place in New Delhi in the name of "The Bookworm". So, "The Remix of Orchid" should be displayed there-that was my resolve. Why not genuine book lovers get a chance to browse my book there?

So, I tried to talk to them by phone. That was in the month of January, on 31st January to be precise. One Mr Anil Arora is the owner, but I could not talk to him as he was not there. In his absence, One Ms Kim received the call and informed me that I should talk to him the next day after 12 o' clock.

The next day I tried, then on another day, then on a third day and it continued. I must marvel at my own patience. All the time I was told by Ms Kim that Mr Arora was not there. But I did not lose patience. Finally, on 21st February I succeeded. Mr Arora--even if I have not seen him-sounded soft and receptive. He heard my proposal to display and sell my book at his outlet and said that I should send a copy for perusal.

I was happy for the time being over whatever success I could get. Then when my book was ready in the month of May, I sent a copy, carefully packed and flawlessly addressed. I did not send it as an ordinary post; I sent it as a registered parcel. It was more expensive a service than the other affordable ones offered by post office, yet I didn't mind spending a little extra. Purpose: the book should reach Mr Arora in tact, fresh and presentable.

Then I waited. After a while, say in 10 days' time or so, I ascertained over phone from Ms Kim (Mr Arora was not available, as usual, to talk to me as Ms Kim reported) that my book had reached there. Her tone was sweet and satisfying, as usual.

Now the old story. Dial Bookworm, talk to Ms Kim, 'Mr Anil Arora is not available-try tomorrow after 12 o' clock'… I did not allow it to prolong and this continued only for a couple of times.

Come 26th May, 2007, the day of decision. It was not from Mr Arora, the proprietor of Bookworm; it was from her mouth, Ms Kim's mouth:

'We don't take books from authors directly; we buy books from the distributors.'

'Then why did you ask me, in the first place, to send a perusal copy?' I challenged.

'Well, I'll return your book.' Ms Kim replied.

I knew she did not mean what she said. The book won't come back. However, I have earned what I should have: a month-long harassment.

Government offices are not the only places one should go to, to get harassed. Even a private bookshop can harass, if a self-published author willingly goes there to shop that.
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By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
08-07-2007
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Dreamspeak

2007-06-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

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Not always muse-driven I am. I've my share of superstition too. Say about a dream I had a week back. It was something like this…if I recollect the contents well.

Venue of occurrence: not known. Time: possibly the morning hours. There was a high-rise building and I had gone up to its top floor. It might be a godown…or possibly a post office, or something as cluttered as that. Nobody was with me but I was aware that some people were just around. I had not taken the lift to reach there and had climbed all the way taking the stairs. Having gone there I looked down and my goggles fell off-yes, I was wearing a pair of black goggles. The object went away from my sight quite rapidly, bobbing up and down the stairs; and for a moment I could not decide what to do. Then suddenly I came to the ground. I cannot recollect precisely if I had taken the lift route. Reaching the ground floor I could retrieve my lost pair of goggles. Wow! It was intact!!

I don't know if interpreting a dream of this nature could be always correct, yet I feel I should try it now.

For sometime in the past, I've been considering if I should go for a reprint of "The Remix of Orchid". The stock is rapidly getting exhausted and I've not yet got any big orders. I'm expecting a few such orders from the libraries and the distributors. If I get them, I might need to reprint. Or else how do I supply them?

This means again some investment, some risk and some chase of the difficult people responsible to give me BIG orders. Is it possible? I feel shaky. Business is not my cup of tea. Whatever small leisure I get, I invest in reading, browsing, and creative writing. And if I go into book business so much, I'll not be able to write much. Then, how do I write my next book "The Roadshow" I've promised my readers?

Confused mind is dream's workshop-what more can I interpret for the present?

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A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
23/06/2007
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Just a Memorabilia

2007-06-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

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I’m now rapidly distributing my book and the principle is ‘First come first serve’. This means people nearer to me get the first chance to have the book. And it has exactly happened so, so far.

My curiosity had led me to enquire who exactly buy my book, for it is possible to track down the buyers in some cases. What I found really surprised me…and to some extent, saddened me too. All those who are in possession of the copies of my book in exchange of a paltry sum of Rs 250.00 are not likely to read them. They have bought them as the objects of memorabilia!

Didn’t I write the stories for taking long six years’ time, correct and refine them during the course of last three years, spend hours with the pagesetter and photoshop professionals, fight with them for a perfect design, borrow money to self-publish? Were all these done just for the sake of creating a thousand pieces of memorabilia? Why all my readers not able to compete with these collectors of memorabilia?

It’s a difficult job to reach the booksellers for they do not want to source their books from an individual author--a poor self-published author. One has to go through the established channel of book distributors, spend on them and jack up the printed price to accommodate these middlemen in the trade. Despite all these, I have arranged with some bookshops in cities like New Delhi, Mumbai, Vashi, Trivandrun, Hyderabad, Banglore, Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, Ranchi, Raipur, Shimla, Chandigarh, Indore, Jaipur, Port Blair, Vadodara, Rajkot. Full list is available at the link . I’ve even arranged online sale of my book in US with a portal linked to this . Still my readers are miles away.

Yet there is a silver lining.

Of late I’ve got a few e-mails ordering for the copies of the book and a few other comments at my blog expressing desires to buy my book. They are from the respectable people like the principals of an engineering college, a high level functionary in a voluntary organization, a publisher who once rejected my submission, a diplomat from a prominent European country, a fellow netizen and the like. This is gratifying. An author probably needs that, to start with. And the rest are just incidental.

===================================================
By
A. N. Nanda
10/06/2007
Bhubaneswar
====================================================

Hot Cakes---An Exchange of Love

2007-06-02T00:59:00.000-07:00

=====================================================

The area I live in has a baker's outlet known as "The Cake Shop". It's a shop frequented by people who don't mind spending money on cold drinks, ice-creams, fast food. For birthday cakes, one can visit the shop, for it charges reasonably, delivers in time with a guarantee of full satisfaction.

Only yesterday I gave the shopkeeper an idea:

"Would you mind displaying my books and selling them?"

"Oh yes," I was surprised to get the response. Of all places, my book should be displayed in a baker's corner!

And today I took only two books, quite hesitatingly, repenting for the impromptu request I made yesterday. But as I entered his shop, there was a shopper who saw the book in my hand. He looked at it wistfully--believe me for honesty's sake--he did that wistfully at the attractive cover page of my book! Curious as he was, he asked--or rather the shopkeeper indicated and the shopper responded almost simultaneously--and I said that the book was on sale.

Then promptly he paid Rs. 250.00 and bought a copy of it. I asked if he was an avid reader and he replied in negative. He said that his wife loves to read and he wanted to present the book to his wife.

I didn't return empty-handed. My customer bought the book for the sake of love and I must emulate him. I spent the entire amount on a few packs of cookies, Amul cheese and Top Raman noodles that my sons would love to munch at this afternoon.
___________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
02-06-2007
___________________________________________________

Buzz

2007-05-26T10:09:00.000-07:00

====================================================
With the release of the book, things are poised to look up. So far promotion had been a job singlehanded, but now press has started giving some help. I'm now going to mention a few such text or a link to help me memorizing.

The Telegraph, Calcutta carried a news story on its May 24 issue. Its caption was rather funny--"Snail mail boss pens fiction". Visit that following the link.

Click here.

Here is the text of "The Statesman" Orissa Plus news story captioned "Andaman Coming Alive":

Bhubaneswar, May 23: Governor Rameshwar Thakur appreciated the creative endeavour of Mr A. N. Nanda, an Indian Postal Services officer and presently the postmaster general Berhampur, when he was presented with the author's latest book "The Remix of Orchid". Mr Nanda suggested to the Governor that frontline authors like Ruskin Bond be invited to Orissa so that they write about the state. He also stated that the characters in his collection of short stories "The Remix of Orchid" were taken from different parts of the country and all the twenty-one stories have been set in the Andamans.

The book of short stories is a mainlander's view of the Andamans and it draws the contrasts. For a goverment servant, the islands may even mean a punishment posting, attractive only for his leave travel air trip.

There are people on the mainland who still ask question "does my letter to Port Blair need any extra postage--like the ones we affix to letters abroad"? The book also depicts the author's indepth knowledge of the island, the wildlife poaching, the tranquility and the socio-religious tolerance of the place. It has romance, histrionics, suspense, ghost, longings, dreams, underwater flora and fauna.

I'm also expecting some review of my work in print media. They may take time and I should wait with my fingers crossed. Now is the time to concentrate on the distribution side. With my investment blocked in the shape of unsold copies of my book all these kudos will perhaps take time to sink in.
________________________________________________________________

With Your Blessings, Sir

2007-05-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

======================================================

Today I visited Shri Rameshwar Thakur, His Excellency Governor of the sate of Orissa and presented my book. It was a kind of formal presentation that gave me a photo opportunity. I don't know how it will shape in the print media, but before that I'll post a photo here to share this with my blog readers. So, let me recapitulate what all he said in praise of the book.

Accepting the book, His Excellency appreciated the creative endeavour of the author, and his sustained effort in bringing out a book despite his busy schedule as a government servant. He also appreciated the overall get-up of the book, its selection of the theme, the quality of printing, and above all, the selection of the picture for the cover page. When the author volunteered that the picture belongs to one Ms Dorothy Gantenbein of US and he would convey her the appreciation of His Excellency, the latter permitted the author to do so.

Further, appreciating the book, His Excellency expressed his satisfaction that Orissa has a developed and competitive printing infrastructure, and good workmanship. At the end, His Excellency wished all the best to the author and encouraged him to come up with more works of literature in the days to come.

Picture quality could have been improved. I'm waiting for a copy of photograph clicked by a professional photographer and I'll post it as soon as received. Until then let me manage with this.

_______________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
22-08-2007
________________________________________________________

Overview

2007-05-19T02:26:00.000-07:00

_______________________________________________________
Yesterday I received a suggestion from a fellow netizn that I should post an overview of my book. My visitors must have at least some idea of my book before they decide to read it in detail. I don't know if brief of each story as blurbs would suffice. Some would advise me not to do that, for nobody would like to be told about the story he or she is going to read soon. So there should be a via media: the brief should be really brief, as implicit as possible. Let me try then.

1-The Remix of Orchid:
My storywriter has nothing to worry, for he has not plagiarised the work of the great Mr H. G. Wells. It has only been a one-in-a-million coincidence in creativity. Nobody sensible needs to fuss about it.

2-Two Visitors:
I pick up a boy, helpless and weeping, at Howrah Station and try to restore him to his parents after fifteen long years. But it is too late by then. So whither goes the teen-ager, the luckless fellow in search of his real parents?

3-The Salvation:
It is a sheer pleasure to watch a patriotic ghost in action. He kills a historical tyrant dramatically but who kills him thereafter?

4-A Clip in Slow Motion:
I happen to get into a typhoon, but was lucky to get out of it. After living through the peril, I feel life is but an accident averted.

5-Out of Her Block:
A battle between a human and a crustacean could be so fierce and its result could be so momentous! I consider myself lucky to witness one. Like innumerable battles of yester year, this particular one has also a woman at its centre—I still consider I have seen something that none would ever have.

6-The Confluence:
Death is not the end of everything; it is the beginning of a long celestial journey for the soul. A son can help the dead father in this perilous course, provided he thinks it important. Will he really think the way our scriptures want him to do?

7-The Golden Trip:
Living in the Andamans teaches her the need for detachment, and when occasion arises, she does not hesitate to sell her ornaments. But for what? Definitely not for her daily expenses!

8-At the Crossroads:
He changes himself from a tradition-bound priest to a non-vegetarian liberal and starts redefining the concepts once he lived for. Love makes him bold. Having discovered the purpose of living, he could not have done any different.

9-Once Lucky:
A letterbox gets animated suddenly. It chooses a soft target to prove its newly acquired status of demigod. It arrogates to itself the right to punish a lonesome fellow, but why? The dream gets over, but the fear lingers on.

10-And Then a Fine Morning:
Is a doctor’s certificate enough to free a person from ailments? No, obviously not! One has to walk his way to health. The way to health passes through a dream, father’s blessings and the cool sea breeze of Corbyn’s Cove.

11-The Gung-ho Team:
Where there is a will there is a gold cup—it is true if the team is Andaman Hockey Team and the tournament is Bombay Gold Cup and the captain is Sukra Oram. Will it happen i real life?

12-Liberated:
Manglu keeps his family in comfort by accepting an employment in a distant island as a labourer. Will one money order a month be sufficient? Will that lead to a bond that is enduring?

13-Over the Seas:
Love makes them happen—an Indian doctor in Kuwait rescues a sex slave. Is that the only thing he does to come to the Andamans?

14-The Apt Disposal:
A lovely pet is not as lucky as its master to cross the Bay of Bengal. Will his master come back? Will he shower his love as unstintingly as he used to do before?

15-The Bovine Justice:
A wonderful person recounts the innovative steps that he adopted to settle score with his adversary—a tit for tat. But who is the ultimate beneficiary?

16-The Flight:
Their love-hate relationship helps them remain as friends. But then there is a new person, a lady between them? She is wife of one but the friend of the other. Who really benefits from the relationship? In any case the friendship continues.

17-The Green Baggage:
Everyone that goes to the Andamans does not return with the memory of that scenic place alone; some even fetch deadly souvenirs from there. So what could be the souvenir?

18-Flying Colours:
A Nicobari girl, finding her husband’s wavering loyalty, solves her problem with plenty of love and spontaneous tears. An age-old approach for an Indian woman, isn't it?

19-Homecoming:
Dannaya does his best to achieve his life’s dream, a small house at his native village in Srikakulam, but he is destined to return to Port Blair. Why?

20-Still in India:
It is a poignant feeling to cherish a death for oneself in the village of one’s birth or, in the least, in one’s own country. Godavari chooses that way. But what does she lose in the process?

21-The Millennium Blog:
At a depth of eighty feet in a diving site off Havelock coast when one chooses to spend his midnight hour with crustaceans and corals, he is said to be doing a prodigious profile in diving. If he does that just to wait for the clock to strike twelve midnight on the eve of the Millennium New Year, then it promises to be a well-imagined novelty in outdoor divertissement. So, could he achieve that distinction in the final analysis?

____________________________________________________________________

THANK U MR BOND

2007-05-18T11:17:00.000-07:00

At this moment I just remember Mr Ruskin Bond who uttered the first word of encore for the book. I'm so happy to have 'ur blessings, sir. "The Remix of Orchid" couldn't have asked for more.
____________________________________________________________________

Your Book But Where?

2007-05-16T08:19:00.000-07:00

__________________________________________________________

If you want a signed copy, you may mail me in my e-mail id nanda_lit@hotmail.com (nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com). Please let me know the name for which the book is being ordered. I shall send the book by VPP if the addressee is in India. If he or she is from US, then let him/her visit http://authorsbookshop.com/ and order the book online.

If you are a type that wants to visit a shop and browse before buying, I've this arrangement for you: I've so far despatched my books to a few shops in the selected cities. More are in the process of being added.

Shops? Where are the shops? Oh yes, here you are.

1. Book Centre, Dwarka Nagar, Visakhapaptnam-16

2. Jyoti Book Depot, Dabagardens, Visakhapatnam - 530 020

3. Books World, Opposite Mahavir Mandir, Main Road, Ranchi-1

4. M/s Andaman Book Centre, Janata Building, Gol Ghar, Junglighat, Port Blair-3

5. Book World, University of Rajasthan Campus, Jaypur-4

6. Minerva Book House, Mall Road, Shimla

7. Capital Book Depot, S.C.O—3, Sector 17 E, Chandigarh-7

8. Gangaram’s Book Bureau, 72 M. G. Road, Bangalore-1

9. Corner Book Store, Shop No 12, Jeevan Apartment, Shankar Nagar, Raipur

10. Rathi Media Centre, Rathi Bhawan, Overbridge, Mohapur Pulia, Sojati Gate, Jodhpur

11. Pravin Prakashan Pvt. Ltd., Opp. Municipal Corporation, Labh Chamber,
Thevar Road, Rajkot-360 001

12. Himalaya Bookshop, M-6, Ground Floor, Manoranjan Complex, Opp. Ajanta Gate, Mukkaram Jahi Road, Hyderabad-1

13. Walden, 6-3-871, Greenland Road, Begumpet, Hyderabad-16

14- Jyoti Book Depot, 3-5-121/A-8, Shalimar Theatre Road, Opp. Christ Church School, Ramkote, Hyderabad - 1

15. Modern Book House, Gandhari Ammancoil Road, Pulimoodu Junction Trivandrum

16. Nalanda Bookshop, Tajmahal Hotel, Mumbai 400 001

17- V. S. Mani Bookstall, Center One: Ground Floor, Shop No. - GK - 2, Sector - 30, Vashi, Navi Mumbai - 400 703.

18. Midland, G-8 Basement, South Extension Part I, New Delhi

19. Crossword, B/H Circuit House, Alkapuri, Vadodara - 390 005

20. Rupayana Booksellers, Rampurwall Building, 27 M. G. Road, Indore - 452 007

21. Modern Book Depot, Master Canteen, Bhubaneswar,

22. Granthalay, Market Building, Ashok Nagar, Bhubneswar-9

23. A. K. Mishra Agencies, 209 Bapujee Nagar, Bhubaneswar - 9

24. Santosh Book House, Big Bazar, Satya Nagar, Bhubaneswar - 751 007

Watch out. More will be added to this list very soon.......

_____________________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
16-05-2007
_____________________________________________________________

Price Perfect

2007-05-13T09:41:00.000-07:00

_____________________________________________________
Interested in a signed copy of "The Remix of Orchid"? Mail to nanda_lit@hotmail.com (nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com)
_____________________________________________________

'Today I had been to buy a pair of Rebok shoes. The shoe-seller charged me some 1499 rupees. (Thank god, he didn't price it 1499 rupees 95 paise as Bata shoe fellows would have done it!)'

'Beg a pardon-how much did you actually pay?'

' Well, it was less than 1500 rupees, say 1400 and something'.

Pricing just short of the round figure is an old gimmick from the shoe sellers. No wonder Rebok did that way.

Yesterday I went to a reputed bookseller in my town Bhubaneswar to approach him for showcasing my book "The Remix of Orchid". It was 9 o' clock in the evening and he was about to leave his shop closing its shutters. Still he saw the book, rather with interest, and got instantly impressed. I need not have to do any canvassing.

'What's the price of your book,' the shop fellow asked me as he couldn't readily locate his specs and see the price for himself.

'It's 250 rupees,' I replied coolly.

'Oh, I thought it should have been at least 300 or 350 rupees,' he quipped.

A shopkeeper's opinion about price of an article is always meaningful. And it was an honest opinion from his side. I know the bookseller for last thirty years. He has been there in the town at the same spot selling fictions all these days. His next door cabin sells liquors. The good old bookseller has not changed over to selling textbooks where the money lies these days. His other competitors in the town have left and gone to sell textbooks, even CDs and other stationeries. But he has been continuing in his old niche.

I reflected. I'm sure profit is not my aim; circulation of the book is. If anything comes, it maybe incidental, or it will make self-publication of my next book easier. I kept the book affordable. Despite all the quality ingredients in it! It has 80-gsm papers of natural shade, jacket laminated, hardbound, ISBN barcoded, bookmarked-each piece is a pleasure to look at. Book lovers will understand what I say. At least that was what the shopkeeper said. It's a different thing that he couldn't sale even a copy of my first book of poems, "In Harness".

So, I shouldn't feel bad why I didn't make the price 295 rupees. Increasing the price and then slashing it in the name of giving rebates may be a good selling proposition, but it is an unmixed cheating of readers. I'm happy I have not followed that.

After all, a self-published author should always be different from a shoe-seller!
____________________________________________________
By
A.N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
13-05-2007
____________________________________________________

Cheers!!!

2007-05-10T07:55:00.000-07:00

__________________________________________________________
H U R R A H ! A T L A S T M Y B O O K G O T R E L E A S E D
__________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
10-05-2007
______________________________________________________________

Poetic Promotions

2007-05-04T21:17:00.000-07:00

=================================================
Interested buying my book? Mail me at nanda_lit@hotmail.com nanda underscore at hotmail dot com.
=================================================

These days I really try hard to build up a friendship base in the on-line community myspace.com. Purpose: I've my books to sell. One day when I've gained enough credibility as a decent netizen, and when I've really impressed others by my literary credentials, I'll ask all my friends to buy my books.

Sounds like dream? An incredible plan?

Myspace, or for that matter any on-line community, is a crowded marketplace now. "Buy this cell phone", "Buy that i-pod"-the whole community is congested to the capacity. Our bandwidth is exhausted. So, where is the patience? And how to get that credibility?

I've chosen an equally weird plan. Give them poems, they'll get attracted.

Is that workable? Is that easy? Let me suspend the questions for the time being. Let me post poems that I've scribbled during the last couple of weeks going right up to the profile space of my friends.

So is Our Telly
===========

Once we used to creep
Loudly, begging for choice
And that's the test of freedom
So do people say.

Now choice kills ruthlessly
Not the time alone, it's channel zapping,
There's a competition in every home
For the wonder instrument called REMOTE!

So is our telly
Has brought quarrel to our homes
Let the scene pass in a minute
I've other things to do.
____________

Soliciting
=======

I'm in a lovely mood now
Let my friends know that
I'd stop bothering them
with that trash called my poems!
_____________

Lost Birds
========

The birds that bothered me in my childhood
Crapping on my books or chirping close
They are now nowhere to be seen
And they're lost from my view.

They are gone with the green to recur in my dreams
And longings take me there when everybody is asleep!

Cool breeze is still there
to swish those sibilant whispers
I don't loose hopes, no, never
And the birds will be back there and right there.
_____________

Growing Out
==========

Somehow I feel like
not growing more than a child
It's risky, it's lousy
to grow up and grow out.

Growing up has only one advantage:
difficult maths of primary days
appear easy and workoutable
And one feels like revolting against
all the words of the unkind teachers.

Growing up has nothing more to give
for all it takes thrashing out.

______________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda

Bhubaneswar

05-05-2007
_______________________________________________________

On-line Sale

2007-05-03T09:27:00.000-07:00

======================================================
For a signed copy of "Remix of Orchid" one may mail to me at nanda_lit@hotmail.com
======================================================

Now for the readers of US, "The Remix of Orchid" will be available on-line for purchase. I've made an arrangement with the portal http://authorsbookshop.com to display and sale this. It proved a little expensive for me to set up my account there, and as I estimate, with a sale of 10 books I'll recoup my initial set-up cost. This is not a big risk in my reckoning.

The point of emphasis is that the book is going to travel to a place where the author has not. For an author this means a lot!

________________________________________________________

A. N. Nanda

03-05-2007

Berhampur

_________________________________________________________

In Search of Kudos

2007-04-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

=================================================
For a copy of "The Remix of Orchid" order-mail to nanda_lit@hotmail.com (nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com)
=================================================

Even before “The Remix of Orchid” is formally launched, I’ve to think about its review. Or that’s what everybody says. But if I’m to recall what all happened to my earlier book “In Harness”, I don’t think I’m experienced enough. “In Harness” was my book of poetry, published in 2004 by a reputed publisher, the Writers Workshop, Kolkata. Even that publishing house could not do anything material to secure a review for the book. When I asked its proprietor Mr P. Lal about this a few months after its publication, he had practically nothing encouraging to share. On the other hand, he gave me to understand that the editors of newspapers of repute do not usually like to be contacted for review. So I kept quiet.

But that was a book of poems, my first attempt at creativity. Now I should act like an experienced fellow, more so when I’ve decided to self-publish my book. So the first thing I’ve to do now is to forget what I was told about the review business: editors do not like to be influenced. It’s a different matter that I’ve no reach for the cherished world of review. In fact nothing workable has come my way so far in this respect excepting the offer from a website to carry a review.

Everything about this will look up if I decide to help myself, and I’ve already decided to do that precisely. For the present I should concentrate on who should review my book rather than where it should get published. That’s where I have something to share today.

Yes, I’m talking about Professor Jatindra Kumar Nayak. He teaches English at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. He won the Katha Translation Award, 1971 and Hutch Crossword Indian Fiction Translation Award, 2004. He is associated with an organization named RUPANTAR that publishes quality books of translation from Oriya to English. The institution has a website too, with a link http://www.rupantar.net/ where we can find the books published by it. A few books edited by Professor Nayak are: “From Bondage to Freedom”, ISBN 81-901759-4-7; “Meeting the Mahatma”, ISBN 81-901759-7-1.

And Professor Nayak has agreed to review my book “The Remix of Orchid”. What a nice thing to share in this blog!

With his review in my hand, I should be able to convince a newspaper fellow to publish it. So, can kudos for the book be far behind?

====================================================
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
26/04/2007
____________________________________________________

Just a Few Days More

2007-04-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

____________________________________________________
Want to have a copy of "The Remix of Orchid"? Mail to me at nanda_lit@hotmail.com nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com
____________________________________________________________________

Yesterday I had been to meet Shri Rameshwar Thakur, His Excellency the Governor of Orissa. I showed him a copy of "The Remix of Orchid" and it was a moment of pride for me when he appreciated my effort. It was encouraging and rewarding. I now propose to formally present the book to His Excellency and attract some media notice of it. But before that I've to get it formally released and I'm working towards that. It is expected to yield some result by a week or ten days. That's OK for me. My readers and I can wait that much of delay after having waited so much for one reason or the other.

===================================================
By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
18-04-2007
===================================================

To Showcase

2007-04-13T23:45:00.000-07:00

===============================================
For a copy of "The Remix of Orchid" please mail to me at nanda_lit@hotmail.com [nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com]
===============================================

Finally, the printer could deliver the first consignment of five copies of "The Remix Of Orchid". It took the establishment a 70-day long processing time to come up with something good and presentable. When I had enquired about the delivery schedule at the time of handing over the material, I was given a cryptic reply: 'It should take only four days to print a book of 350 pages and whatever time it should take at the page layout and cover design stage is extra. Plus a week's time for binding.'

So, it took time, substantially more than I had imagined. But the result is stunning. I'm going to post here a couple of images to showcase the result. Let the pictures speak a thousand words!

One more pic to upload, please.

_______________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
14/04/2007
________________________________________________________

Newsworthy?

2007-04-08T06:57:00.000-07:00

===================================================
To order a copy of "The Remix Of Orchid", mail to nanda_lit@hotmail.com [nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com]
===================================================

The other day a friendly fellow from a newspaper gave me to understand that a new book must have something of news value to get a coverage on the pages of his newspaper. In other words, it should earn its publicity through newsworthy means.

I was then reminded of a book I read years ago. It was one "The Almighty" by Irving Wallace and it underscored one point again and again throughout the book: "News is not to be collected; it should be created".

So there is a lot of truth in what the newspaper fellow told me, rather expected of me. I reflected. A book in order to be regarded a newsworthy object must have a few things at the minimum. Let me try to enumerate.

1- A catchy title catches. I've not given any catchy title to my book, like "Seven Ways to Hit the Jackpot", or "Who Moved My Kebab" or 'The Secrets of a Long Life". But then I've given it a name "The Remix of Orchid", and doesn't it sound a bit weird? So, if everything weird could be a style, won't it apply to my book?

2- The book must stand for something widely believed, or even go against it, say vegetarianism or Zionism, to get (appropriate) a stage already established. People have made names by writing on Indian poverty, animal rights, Yoga, or if I go back a century, on white men's burden. The literary fad these days, I'm told, is feminism, Dalit literature and Marixism. Then what does "The Remix of Orchid" stand for? Reading pleasure-does it subscribe to any belief or "ism"? Patriotism-does it make any substantial sense at present when thinking global is the fad? The struggle for existence-does it convey sense in an age when excellence, not existence, is the motto?

3- Sometimes what is written is not as important as who is publishing it or what he is publishing it for. Books are made to order. If it is to be marketed among women, make it a tear-jerker, say a mother-in-law troubling her daughter-in-law; a hubby hobnobbing with another "bad" woman. That's not all; I've read stories in the net involving father and daughters, not the step-daughter but the real ones, and they are such as would shock the sensibilities of one and all. There are gay themes, violence, drug abuse-to name just a few. All these have been written to write something fresh, to tread a path untrodden. As for "The Remix of Orchid", the book is not something that is made to order; it's just an expression of the writer's love for writing, expressing himself through text craft. So, should I expect a great success with such a traditional treatment of creativity?

I've taken some time from my newspaper friend to come back to him and explain him why he should give coverage to my book. Still I'm looking for an appropriate way to articulate. Possibly, I can't say that the book has a foreword by Mr Ruskin Bond and that's why he should write a feature about my book on his newspaper. Even before I could have thought of saying so, he has made it clear.
____________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
08-04-2007
___________________________________________________

Peek-a-Boo

2007-03-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

_____________________________________________________
For a copy of "The Remix of Orchid", mail to nanda_lit@hotmail.com now.
_____________________________________________________
It's high time I pasted a sample of what I've written in my book, and this will give my blog a tone of authenticity. But, at the same time, it's not easy to select something that would represent the style, theme and context of the book reasonably accurately. What is more, a writer is no reader and what he can best do is just a reasonable guesswork.

That said, I'll now go ahead with my cut n' paste business. Here you are. This is my sample; and this is my guesswork.
======================================================

I retreated to my cabin reflecting everything I witnessed. A night of beauty sleep was waiting for me in my cabin. The anchored ship was stable and cool. The sky had patchy clouds, but the Great Bear constellation was clearly visible through the window of my beautiful cabin. I switched off the lights and allowed darkness to inundate the interior. The cabin haunted me no longer. Solitude could be so delightful! Given choice, I would no longer welcome sleep; I would rather like dream to defer her soporific spell on me. But the nocturnal bliss made her duty-bound. I was soon to snuggle up to her loving care.

‘Which story would you relish tonight,’ she asked me for my choice.

‘Anything sweet’ was my answer. I had completely surrendered myself to her and it was a marvellous feeling to surrender.

‘Then listen to a story of a Nicobari girl. I know you will like it,’ her eyes gleamed with cherubic smile.

I blushed and felt a little curious and asked her how she could come to know that. She smiled again and said she had been watching me for the entire day. She was amused at my timidity, for she had marked me going up to the vivacious Nicobari beauties and retracting so often. She chided me lovingly for my gutlessness and unmanly gestures.

Then she started her story. She was slow and she was sweet. She was rhythmic, and she was poignant. She was warm, exciting, and lively; she was everything that I wanted. Oh, she was life in herself. I was the protagonist and she assumed herself the role of that Nicobari girl. She took me along the farthest she could venture. She showed me everything she had—her glowing buttery skin, her hourglass perfect body, all her hidden beauty spots, all those special spots of must-visit where her skin was the thinnest of thin, where I could feel her warm blood flowing like sylvan rivulets...

_________________________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
25-03-2007
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A Suitable Boy

2007-03-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

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Need a copy of "The Remix of Orchid"? Contact the blogger at nanda_lit@hotmail.com
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I promote myself writing a book; I promote the book writing a blog; I promote the blog writing SPAMs—is there an end to such promotion spree? Honestly, there could be no end to this when means of promotion itself needs to be promoted so doggedly!

I’ve a joke to share here. It’s a joke intended to blend writing with selling, something I should need now badly. The joke goes like this:

A writer is at his wits’ end, not knowing how to sell the unsold books. (Obviously he is one like me who has chosen the self-publication route.)

But one day he did something and all his books were sold out.

How?

He gave an ad in the matrimonial column. Yes, of all places he chose a matrimonial column to sell his book:

"Match needed for a successful software professional in a Fortune 500 company earning 10k plus and settled in the States with a permanent visa. The girl need not be an extraordinarily beautiful one; she may not be even highly educated; but she should have all the qualities of an Indian women, qualities that are beautifully portrayed in Shalini, the leading lady of the novel ‘I’m For U, Darling’ by Sam Sunder.”

No wonder “I’m For U, Darling” became a blockbuster overnight.

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By
A. N. Nanda

Bhubaneswar

23-03-2007
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Revisiting my Place via Wikimapia

2007-03-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

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Ad line:
Want to order a copy of "The Remix of Orchid"? Mail the blogger at nanda_lit@hotmail.com (nanda underscore lit hotmail dot com)
_________________________________________________________

Mr Bond's reading of "The Remix of Orchid" makes him feel that the work is the expression of the author's love of the place. Thank you, sir for your nice words of appreciation. This generated a kind of nostalgia in me. So I tried to visit that place, not physically but along the virtual course: the wikimapia and marked the place "ABERDEEN BAZAAR POST OFFICE". That's the place I stayed in Port Blair between 1995 1nd 1998 and witnessed the real sunrise every day; the holidaying mood of travellers converging at Marina Park, the serious sprinters along the beach road, the bikers coming out of the velodrome and racing towards Corbyn's Cove....

Here you are the map taken from http://wikimapia.org

I've not visited the town after tsunami and hope the damage to my old place is not much.
__________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda

Bhubaneswar

19-03-2007
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The Blessed One

2007-03-15T12:13:00.000-07:00

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For your copy of "The Remix of Orchid" please contact the blogger at nanda_lit@hotmail.com (nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com)

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I've been telling, nay bragging, about the nice words of foreword written for my book "The Remix of Orchid" by the master storyteller of India, Mr RUSKIN BOND. So, shouldn't I be posting what he has written about the book? Yes, it's in the interest of my book. Again, it will give a twist to the flow of my blog from a sulking posture to an encouraging stance.

So let me reproduce.

#############################################

FOREWORD

A. N. Nanda loves the place he writes about and it is this love that brings an extraordinary sense of purpose into otherwise ignoble characters and entities. His letterbox gains power to punish a debauchee; a crustacean helps the lovers to understand each other; a cow helps in dispensing justice; a patriotic ghost returns to earth to gain his salvation; and so on.

Nanda portrays the Andamans as a place where everything important and interesting happens—here players win the gold cup for hockey, writers slip into and come out of their blocks, where megabuck films are shot, a sex slave is rehabilitated and rescued from far Kuwait. Life is something to be loved here.

Nanda has his characters drawn from various parts of the mainland, all of them converging on the islands to make stories happen. It is yet another attempt to realize the meaning of the adage: there is unity in diversity. Nothing very political about it!

Nanda goes beyond the familiar, as he goes underwater to make a story happen. He does not just write stories; he makes them happen too! He goes beyond the narrowly rational.

Society changes, even in a place like Port Blair. The archetypical gives way to the possible. Even living is an art of the possibles. When a son fails to consign the ashes of his father to the Ganges, what alternative does he adopt? He just dumps them into the Bay of Bengal.

‘The Remix of Orchid’ is the maiden work of prose of Nanda. He has chosen, very intelligently, a theme that few attempt. The Andamans is a place that everybody wants to visit, at least once in a lifetime. It’s a lovely place and people would definitely like to read about it. And I can say this to those who love books: your choice of reading a book on the Andamans should start right here. With ‘The Remix of Orchid’ you will not be disappointed.

Ruskin Bond
Landour, Mussorie-248 179 11/1/07

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By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
16-03-2007
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Blaming Oneself--It's the Easy Way

2007-03-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

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Ad line:

Interested in A. N. Nanda's "The Remix of Orchid?" For a copy e-mail at nanda_lit@hotmail.com
_____________________________________________________

Sometimes blaming oneself happens to be one’s only recourse. It’s an attitude I’ve adopted in this case, for the slip was mine and, as time has proved it, it is irreparable.

In my query spree I once reached a site called http://www.manuslit.com and quickly sent a small e-mail. That was on January 17, 2005. I was lucky to get a response. Let me quote them here to set the mood of the day’s blogpost.

Dear Jandy,

I've twenty-two short stories that can make a book of short story collections. In MS-WORD with 12-pt. font of Times New Roman, the manuscript comes to slightly over 236 pages with A4 page setup. They are set in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India,(now ravaged by killer tsunami) and the themes are dominantly Indian depicting everything that Indian culture and value system stands for. They capture the contemporary struggle of changing Indian society and their impact as echoed in its extension at the distant territory midsea. No book of short stories has been written so exclusively based on the pristine archipelago and if this books comes out, it will claim that pride of place in its own right.

Does it sound interesting? If so, please tell me how to go further from here.

Thanking you.

Sincerely

Nanda

Jandy’s aforesaid reply on 17 January 2005 was:

Please send a few stories w/SASE to me in our California office.

Thanks, and I'll look forward to reading your work.

Best,
Jandy

So far so good. But then during February, the following month, I received another e-mail from the same agency rejecting the query. It was at best a form letter with the following words:

“Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided that we might not be the right agents for your work. However, we hope that you are not disheartened. This industry is incredibly subjective, and there are many agencies out there with many different tastes. We strongly encourage you to keep submitting elsewhere, as you might already have a bestseller in your hands.

“We apologize for the form letter reply, but the volume of submissions we receive has finally made it impossible for us to hand-write responses as we have for so many years. We hope you will understand and forgive us this necessary efficiency. In addition, we do not feel it is proper for us to provide editorial feedback on projects we have decided not to represent".

I was not willing to accept this since I was preparing for a proper submission. I wrote back. The exact reproduction of my email would look like this:

Dear Jandy,

As advised, I am ready to send a few of my stories for your editorial evaluation. But in reply to my other query, your agency conveyed me by a form letter its unwillingness to handle my work. The following is the extract:

“Unfortunately, after careful review, we have decided that we might not be the right agents for your work. However, we hope that you are not disheartened. This industry is incredibly subjective, and there are many agencies out there with many different tastes. We strongly encourage you to keep submitting elsewhere, as you might already have a bestseller in your hands.

Please reconfirm your advice. I’m ready to send them by post with SASE on receipt of your decision.

Thanks

Sincerely
Nanda

Lo and behold, there was a reply—and an encouraging one at that! Jandy happened to be a sympathetic lady, and with her reply I had now no hesitation in dreaming about an international break. So, what did she actually say? Her reply was:

That was a mistake, our assistant goes over my email too because I get so many, I forgot to put yours in a responded folder, yes please send your work. Thanks.
Jandy

Now I took my job seriously and sent my submission by post on 27 October 2005. In order to be very sure about its transmission I chose EMS channel spending a whooping postage of Rs 425.00. Not only that, I also tracked its movement. As per the tracking information, the packet had reached its destination on November 3 at 12:00 pm and one A LEWIS had signed that in token of having received it.

Months passed. There was no reply. I could not take it as a case of rejection; for I abhor pessimism in any form, and no wonder I’m a chronic patient of optimism.

Then one day I rummaged through the files in my cabinet and the e-mail archive in my PC. Tut-tut, there was a mistake! It was my discovery that I had sent the submission to Jandy in her New York address whereas she wanted that in her Californian address. Secondly, I had not sent a self-addressed stamped envelope with the submission.

Now I wrote a few e-mails to her and, finding no response(There was an auto responder--out-of-office message!), sent a snail mail too on 18 July 2006. This time I did not fail to attach one self-addressed stamped envelope!

Still there is no reply, at least not till today. The dream that I had half-way through had fizzled out.

Now I'm ready to help myself: "The Remix of Orchid" will be a self-published volume!

Sometimes I wonder: Is there no system of redirecting mails in US; or is it a system only prevalent in India? But then what’s the big point in blaming others when the mistake is mine. Jandy must be as good as she looks in her photograph and a lady of her stature should not be held responsible for the mistake of me, the wooden-headed me!

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A. N. Nanda

Berhampur

14-03-2007

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They Came to Praise My Books.

2007-03-12T08:30:00.000-07:00

_Technorati Profile
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It happened with me, exactly four years ago, and to find it happening with me once again drives me superstitious.

The event I’m reminded of had to do with the publication of my book of poetry, “In Harness”. At that time I had with me a bagful of poems and I did not know what to do about them. There was no publisher willing and it was a tall order to think of publishing my first book all alone, with no experience on my side.

It was at that juncture that I came across the gentle man, Mr X. He was a person of wide-ranging interests. Himself a published poet in Sanskrit, he knew what it takes to bring out a book. He was only too willing to share that.

The day when we met, it was a query from his side.

‘Sir, I heard you also write poems,’ Mr X was abrupt in his introduction of a topic, but he was confident that a question like this, if addressed to a poor unpublished author, would not ordinarily evoke anything wrong as a response.

‘Yes, I do, but I don’t know what to do with the poems,’ I had responded, rather lugubriously.

Thereafter everything happened as was destined to. Mr X disclosed that he had access to great publishers(If there are any in this part of the world!) and I believed it. He assured that I should not worry too much about it, as my poems are excellent and heart-rending ones! And finally before he left me, he assured that my book would be in the market in a month’s time.

A month passed, then the second, and then the third…. All the time Mr X had some reason or the other to explain the previous slip and was ready to give a fresh date. The reasons were varied: once it was the month, for the month of May is well beyond the publishing season; then it was the local election time and his hectic engagements; on a third occasion he was to go for a lecture tour; then once his phone went out of order for a month, and so on. Once even his sister-in-law’s illness was to interfere.

More funny was the kind of new dates he used to give, always off his sleeve, but quite interesting ones. ‘Yes, your book will be released on the Independence Day’, ‘Dushera is the right time to bring out a book…with the blessings of the Mother Goddess!’

And finally after seven months of chasing I gave up. Yes, better things were waiting to happen only after I gave up chasing Mr X.

* * * * * * * * *

And now, after four years, I have another book to publish. So, there has to be a Mr Y.

I met Mr Y on that day at the printing press while I was correcting the proof of “The Remix of Orchid”. He introduced himself as a budding publisher presently into translation in a big way. He has a range of connections, pan-Indian and effective, with all kinds of book business fellows beginning from a page-setter to the distributors. He is also known among the political circle.

And he liked my book, “The Remix of Orchid”. Particularly he liked the excellent cover design and the foreword from a big timer.

‘I’ll help you giving a proper publicity to your book. I know quite a few big sorts and one of them will come to release your book—maybe the chief minister or His Excellency Governor,’ Mr Y said this pompously.

‘Or if you want I can bring Mrs. Z, Mrs. M, N, O, P, Q…,’ Mr Y added.

His assertions took me by awe and reverence. The young man is really something, not the one I surmised from his unassuming appearance and soft-spoken words.

‘Look, I’m not thinking of the book’s release now. I’m more concerned about the paper—some twenty-five quires of 80 gsm maplitho of natural shed,’ I responded.

‘This I’ll give you, in a week’s time,’ Mr Y responded.

Then I paid Mr Y eleven thousand rupees that constituted fifty percent of the value. And I waited till the next week.

The next week did not come—it is so very elusive that it has not come so far. ‘Your paper has come’, ‘Your paper has reached the press’, ‘Your paper is with the transporter, and it will take a day’s time to clear the tax liability’…. I had no clue how to get out of this. And I felt as though I were inside a big ballooon of lie!

Only the day before yesterday I decided: ‘Even if it entails a loss of my eleven thousand rupees, I’ll give Mr Y a piece of my mind’.

I had to stand outside his premises for five hours on Saturday and for four hours on Sunday to get him and get my money back—not in full, but nearly so, say ten thousand out of eleven.

To end the note happily: now ‘The Remix of Orchid” is out of danger.
_____________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
12-03-2007
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Now, Not Me

2007-03-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

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Elusive, that is what I decided to call it at last.

And it all began with an e-mail response from agency on 11-05-2006. I was late by a day to open my Inbox. The exact reproduction of the mail is the following:

Dear Mr. Nanda,

BD Barker has given me your submission for review. Are you available for a phone conversation with us Thursday May 12th 11:30 am est? Please reply with the appropriate telephone number.

Thank You,

Tony Frothingham
VP Acquisitions
Wilson Devereux Company

It took me around a couple of years to find out an agency that, after reading my submission, could come forward and offer to talk to me. Yes, the story I submitted was "The Remix of Orchid", one of the twenty-one short stories I'm going to include in the forthcoming volume. I was then naturally happy, finding the stature of the agency that finally found some worth in my submission.

But what to do? I was late by a day. I wrote e-mails, not one nor two, but a few of them in a series, requesting the Mr Frothingham to give another appointment. There was no reply.

Honestly speaking, it took me time to convert the timing (11:30 est) to its Indian Standard Time equivalent and I could come to know that the place is 9 hrs 30 mts behind India's time. So, for Tony's 11:30 AM, my time should have bee (11:30 + 9hrs 30mts) 9:00 PM.

Nine in the evening could not be said a late hour; and I was ready to talk to somebody so important to my business and me at that time. Even I downloaded both the messenger services software from Yahoo and Windows and made my computer ready to talk to Tony and chat with him, but where was the reply from him?

Tut-tut, my carelessness in not opening my email inbox for a day cost me my chance to international publishing. Could anybody have been a worse student than me in Geography? I still wonder this, even to this day.
__________________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
08-03-2007
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Beg but Poetically

2007-03-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

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Getting published is such an attraction that everything is permitted to achieve that…literally everything, say beg, borrow or steal. And once I had to beg, in the process. But be warned: it was not an ordinary begging; it was just poetic, evocative and had the power of making its addressee say ‘yes’. Let me quote.
# # # # #

Dear Publisher

I have the following proposal for your scrutiny and comment. Hope you respond favourably.

To Describe:

Having finished the draft and its polishing, now I undertake the most daunting task of describing my project. I consider it so, because:
1) My project consists of twenty-two short stories—a genre that suffers from persecution even harsher than the ones meted to Indian untouchables of yester centuries;
2) I am a fresher in the field who deserve the highest courtesy of a preformatted auto-reply in electronic format;
3) I have to articulate in unfamiliar jargons that can sound more than they speak.

Despite all these, I’ve to move on, reach out to the far-flung corners where talent hunters wait for their day’s kill. I know they are a strange lot who thrive on others discards, who create wealth from waste, and who tackle things that intimidate others. Suddenly they find short stories cannot be the substance of hatred; they are the objects of intellectual adoration. My intuitional optimism so goading me, I’m sure I shall find one before it is too late; and that is why I’m here with my ware. I beg to quote from my own poem:

I am a dream merchant
In search of a customer affluent
For affording a fair bargain.
So Soon? Yes before late.
(‘The Ultimate Chance’—In Harness, March-2004)
# # # # # # # #

And blah…blah…and blah.

Then what was the result? Oh, it was interesting. Read on.

Dear Nada (name misspelt!),
We have received your submission. Currently you should receive word on your submission in no more than 120 days.
Thank you very much for your submission.
Sincerely,

Bob Sanders
CEO, Mundania Press

And 120 days came and passed just like that. Precisely, it is two years since that Sanders gentleman had sent this encouraging mail. But where is his response? Nothing till date. No reminder from my end could make anybody there move to the keyboard.

So I concluded: my impassioned e-missive deserved only that much—a 120-day wait for something hopeful that was not to come.

________________________________________________________

A. N. Nanda

Berhampur

06-03-2007

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Rejection-rich Remix

2007-03-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

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Rejection-rich Remix--or what do I call it? On the one hand Ruskin Bond, the master storyteller of India evaluates it so enthusiastically and on the other it has a dismal streak of rejections behind it. So what else I call it.

Rejections are always painful for an author. It's very much like the feeling a jilted lover undergoes-searching for reasons to justify oneself, mustering courage to stay on and retry, and taking recourse to negative expressions like hate or sulk. Yet, in time one just forgets. One success is enough to assuage all the trauma of the tens and scores of failures in the past. Resilience, thy name is writing!

I've put my rejection missives in my e-mail archive and love to read them sometimes. And I do marvel at their expertise in saying no's. Some of them are advisory, none too morale boosting, but most are with words that would sound like praise for your writing style, or choice of theme, or freshness: 'you write evocatively'; 'your ideas are interesting' and so on. They are just form letters!

Now I'll try to recapitulate a few such replies here.

1- 'Thanks for this query. As interesting as this does sound I'm afraid it is too difficult to take on story collections from a unknown writer, esp. from overseas. I would recommend that you try and get some stories published in lit magazines, in India or in UK. or perhaps anthologized. This would help give you a name and a leg up in this tough game.'

2- 'Thank you for the proposal.

'Unfortunately at the moment it will not be possible for us to make you any offer on the same keeping in mind the requirements of our publishing programme. '

3- 'Many thanks for your material which we've read with interest but sadly without sufficient confidence in our ability to place the book for you, to offer to take things further. Sorry to be cowardly, and we wish you the best of luck elsewhere.'

4- 'There are many factors that determine whether we accept a book for publication. Is it well written? Is it entertaining? Is there a good story hook? Are the characters fully fleshed out where the reader would care about them? Does the progression of the book make the reader want to keep reading? Does the author have a good plan for helping to market his or her book? Would the book have wide market appeal to be a sales success? Does it fit with our catalog of offerings?

'Our editorial staff has completed the review process for your manuscript. After careful consideration, we regret to inform you that we are not able to offer a publishing contract for "The Remix of Orchid." '

5- 'Thank you for giving us the chance to review material from your short story collection.

Unfortunately, the agency is so inundated with work for our existing clients at the moment that we are currently being forced to limit quite severely the new projects that we can agree to undertake. The need to allocate time effectively forces us to decline participation in many worthy projects, and regretfully that must be the decision in the case of this as well.

'Sorry we can't be of help but we wish you all the best with this'.

6- 'I'm not back to work yet (I have a six month old baby boy - Edgardo - to look after) so I won't be able to read much until September. Do contact me then, though, if you are still looking for an agent.'

7- 'Thank you for the query. To be frank, it is simply too difficult to sell short stories by new writers, so, due to our workload we can't take on a project of that nature. I believe you are better off directly approaching those publishers who take queries and hoping for a stroke of good luck.'

8- 'Dear Mr. A.N. Nanda,

'Please reffer to your e-mail dated 29th April 2006. The production subsidy required by us would be Rupees Forty Thousand for a book of about two hundred printed pages (350 to 375 words per page apprx.). This may sound ridiculous from your point of view.

'With best wishes,

'Sincerely yours,

'Dr Some Big Publisher
'M.A., Ph.D.'

9. 'After going through the pieces, I am a bit disappointed as the stories are far too long and do not have enough fresh material (for an outsider like the reader). However, if you send me a brief sketch of the rest of the stories (about 50 words for each) I can come to a final decision.

So, the list is full of varieties-brief, businesslike and bewildering. It will take me time to rummage through the archive to present the most depressing ones and I'll do that one day. With the words of advice too insincere, they are far from being useful. Still a response is a response, better than a silence. And all rejections are to be understood as such.
________________________________________________________
By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
04-03-2007
________________________________________________________

Old Doubts Die Hard

2007-03-02T19:17:00.000-08:00

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[As my book nears its release and launching, I feel the same old doubt: will it work? Will my plots attract and sustain the attention of my readers? Will the style be readable? I feel very much like a candidate before entering the examination hall: will the chapters I've prepared come in the examination or will it be a rude surprise?

In my earlier blog, now defunct, I had written a few paragraphs to capture such a feeling, say four months ago. I feel I should post it here; it will go with the previous posting seamlessly.]

---------------------------------------------------------------

Now the question still remains: what will make these stories so readable? Its unique style? Its flawless English? Its sing-song flow?

My answer here will be a little evasive, rather a kind of a rhetorical. Is there a thing called Indian English? An English with its original nuances compromised? With inappropriate occurrences of a-an-the’s? With antiquated expressions and overuse of clichés? Even in India do we have something called standard Indian English? The other day I read in a certain blog: a fellow from Chennai has commented that Oriyas speak English in a weird fashion. I contested it giving examples of how ‘link’ is pronounced as ‘ling’ in Kerala, ‘give’ as ‘gee-you’ in Andhra, ‘three’ as ‘tree’ in Tamil Nadu, ‘Property’ as ‘praparty’ in Haryana, ‘school’ as ‘saw-cool’ in the Punjab… Is then the modern English the standard English? Go and visit a few literary sites and see how people write. To follow that I think one has to unlearn the kind of grammar one had learnt in his/her high schools.

So, what am I trying to arrive at? Oh yes, it’s about the style I have adopted in my book. Sure, it is in Indian English, the English I learnt from Wren and Martin grammar book in my secondary school, the flowery expressions in history books by Kettleby or A. L. Basham in my college days, the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the periodicals and newspapers in India, and so forth. Nowadays, I’m into the Internet in a big way, but then my English has not changed greatly. Even today I feel awkward to use ‘IMO’ or ‘IMHO’ in my e-mails, or ‘dat’ or ‘4u’ in my SMS. In that way I am traditional or a slow changer. My book will be more or less like that.

Readable? Oh no, it’s a difficult query then…looks like the question still remains despite my long-winded explanation.
______________________________________________________

By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
3-3-2007
________________________________________________________

Having an Ear for Advice

2007-03-01T20:27:00.000-08:00

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People tender advice, whether being asked or just like that, unsolicited. It’s a common societal phenomenon and it’s not always dysfunctional.

In the friendly evaluation phase of my book “The Remix of Orchid” I had got many such words of advice. There were fellows who opined that the words in the text-mass are a bit unfamiliar ones and I should write the way newspapers do—very simple and very easy. But which one among the newspapers and who are its actual readers? Do people buying their copies of the newspaper really read them? With their becoming more pictorial, glossier, and simultaneously less and less expensive day by day, people read them less and less. Many even think it wastage of time. It is sufficient if they just stroke those glossy pages for a sensuous feeling!

Another piece of advice was to change the title of the book from “The Remix of Orchid” to “Andaman Tales”. The author of this brilliant piece of advice was not anybody who was only inclined to speak non-seriously. He is a professor of English who has predicted a great future for my book. But then I had already made up my mind about the title by then. Besides, “Andaman Tales” sounded over simple and a very ordinary type. Compared to that “The Remix of Orchid” is a zany kind of expression, capable of generating instant curiosity.

So, I am not in favour of making things over simple or what? Am I writing modern poems that need not be fully understood or telling stories people would relish reading?

Definitely, readers are very important for any writer, but the question remains: who exactly are the readers? In the words of the marketing gurus which segment of readers do I have in mind while presenting these stories?

Before I’m able to give any convincing answer to all these rhetoric questions, let me cite the instance of “Harry Potter” series of books. I think I’ve read as many as four of them. Honestly speaking, not all the words were familiar to me. Can I say that those all-time best-sellers are difficult and wordy? The minimum that can be said about the books is that they are well-written ones, if one does not want to broach the religious aspect of the works.

Another instance I can cite is from a book I’m reading: that’s “Beyond Belief” by V. S. Naipual. There are occasions I understand every word of a sentence, but not the sentence as a structure. Let me quote:

“And to beat, too, but only in my own mind, the figure called up from memory: the small, hunched, white-capped and white-clad figure in the sight-baffling gloom of Mr Wahid’s backyard or garden, the eighty-cents-a-month man (at present rates of exchange more like a twenty-five-cents man), called from his very dim verandah and his chanting class in Islamic law to stand before us, and meekly with bowed head to accept my rebuke for knowing only half the Koran at the age of thirty, when he had so little to do, and the village had built his narrow little house for him and kept him in such food as met his modest needs: an unlikely successor, in half-converted Indonesia, of the early Islamic Sufis and, before them, the monks of Buddhist times.”
[V. S. Naipaul, 1998, “Beyond Belief”, Viking, page 30]

There are three reasons why I should tell the above paragraph is perfect:

1) One Elizabeth Hardwick says in the blurb of the jacket, ‘One of the greatest living writers in English language. His themes, his vision of human destiny in our time, are composed with a perfection of language, a flawless structure—and above all a profound knowledge of the world.’
2) Naipaul is a Nobel laureate in literature.
3) MS-Word does not indicate any mistake in the above paragraph except the one below “Mr” and I know the mistake is not a regular one whereas the computer indicates it as such since the same has been set to judge everything on the basis of US English. (In Us English “Mr” should be followed by a dot where as it is not required in British English)

Finally, I decided to write what I was capable of. And with the realization that writing is not a matter of accepting advice, always.
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By
A. N. Nanda
Berhampur
02-03-2007
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Do It Once and Do It Again

2007-02-25T06:31:00.000-08:00

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The other day when I understood how one should calculate the checksum for the ISBN, I took it to be a great success of my self-learning effort. Then I went on to post a long-winded write-up in one of my earlier posts. But today I realize I was rather haste then. As usual I had missed to read a vital line in the text that handled the subject fairly extensively.

So, what was that crucial line I missed so casually?

It was regarding the changed shape of the ISBN from January 2007 onwards. From this crucial date, it should be of 13 digits, and not the 10-digit one as it used to be earlier.

Now the question was what do I do to get the 13-digit equivalent of my allotted ISBN for the book “The Remix of Orchid”? Yes, I had to talk to the ISBN allotting authority in India, the Librarian, Ram Mohun Roy Library. The lady who responded to my telephone gave me the website: http://www.isbn-international.org/. There I would get help from the option ‘converter’. Precisely that helped. My ISBN number was promptly converted and flashed on the screen through the little pop-up window.

Now my new 13-digit ISBN will be as follows:

ISBN 978-81-7525-729-0

My work was not complete with this. The remaining part of the work was how to convert the new ISBN number into the barcode image. So where should I’ve gone if it was not the World Wide Web?

The site I went to locate freely downloadable software was this:

http://www.brothersoft.com/downloads/barcode.html

The software “Label Spirit Professional” has a lot of features, but it was also with a label editor. I got a label prepared. Then took the image to the MS-Paint by hitting the printscrn key. So here you are. The barcode image of the ISBN for “The Remix of Orchid” is ready.

But by now, I have finally done my cover design. It looks there is scope, still…. Now I will have to sit with that Photoshop professional to embed my ISBN barcode image at the back cover.
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By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
25-02-2007
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Picture Speaks Hundred Words?

2007-02-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

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Does a picture speak a hundred words? Not always. At least if I consider the result of what I posted in this blog yesterday.

While I posted the image of the back page of my book under print, I thought it will be clear and clarify the hundred words I spoke before it. But what came out was a very hazy thing, totally ineffective.

So let me post it again, not the repeat of the same image but the text embedded onto it. In fact, the image assembles a couple of paragraphs inside two boxes. They can be as well posted as text here.
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AUTHORSPEAK

The Andamans…everything is so different here! Its ancient desolation, its splendid anonymity, its inscrutable resignation—all make it sweet and invulnerable. Its difference yields stories for itself. One day a peculiar belief sets in: something is in the making here despite all the semblance of immutability. Writing stories for it then becomes an act of clairvoyance, inspiration, spontaneity, and thrill—it becomes an act of abiding faith. Events get inspired to happen. Interesting, isn’t it?

The stories from the Andamans you always wanted to read but had none to tell you, about mid-sea romance and woes, struggle and victory, life and death and thereafter…
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MASTERSPEAK

‘The Remix of Orchid’ is the maiden work of prose of Nanda. He has chosen, very intelligently, a theme that few attempt. The Andamans is a place that everybody wants to visit, at least once in a lifetime. It’s a lovely place and people would definitely like to read about it. And I can say this to those who love books: your choice of reading a book on the Andamans should start right here. With ‘The Remix of Orchid’ you will not be disappointed.
-----Ruskin Bond

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A. N. Nanda

21-02-2007

BERHAMPUR

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The Back Page

2007-02-20T06:31:00.000-08:00

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Designing a proper cover page for a book does not mean chosing a front page only; it means, rather, adding a back page to the jacket which describes the book at a glance. In a way it is a holder of publisher's blurb, a palce to write what all has been told in praise of the book.

Definitely, the purpose should not be to misguide readers. There lies the honesty. Readers are surely more intelligent than a salesman-like author or an unscruplous publisher and they can quickly understand the trick if the back of a book is full of trash.

I understand one thing from the beginnig: readers not only read the books; they read through them.

That said, let me paste here a quick design of the back page of "The Remix of Orchid".

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A. N. Nanda

20/02/2007

Berhampur

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Visiting Old Links

2007-02-19T03:31:00.000-08:00

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A good thing about this blog is that it tries to keep, as far as possible, a running record of the birth of the book "The Remix of Orchid". There were moments along the course of the creation of the book which I should cherish, but I'm afraid I cannot reconstruct. Blogging was not a thing familiar to me way back in 1998 when I first wrote a story for this project. It is just a very recent addition to my repertoire. So why shouldn't I keep chronicling from this moment onwards?

I'm going to post a few old links to the posts that I could gather. They will build up the archive and maintain the momentum of the blog.

The Remix of Orchid—Curtain-raiser II
Link: http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.com/2006/11/remix-of-orchid-curtain-raiser-ii.html

He Remix of Orchid—Curtain-raiser III
Link: http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.com/2006/11/remix-of-orchid-curtain-raiser-iii.html

The Remix of Orchid-I
Link: http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.com/2006/11/remix-of-orchid-i.html

The Old Design for The Remix of Orchid
Link: http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.com/2006/12/cover-design-remix-of-orchid.html

The New Cover Design for the Book
Link: http://remixoforchid.blogspot.com/2007/02/new-cover-design.html

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By
A. N. Nanda
19-02-2007
Berhampur
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Minor Quibbles

2007-02-18T08:07:00.000-08:00

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Who says one’s ability to bring about improvement in one’s own work is limited? It’s verily unlimited, or at least this is what I’m getting to realise these days. Yes, I’m talking about the proof reading of “The Remix of Orchid”. After twelve tedius rounds of revision and refinement spread over two years, I thought the text would go straight to the page setting from the file, which is in MS-WORD format. But now I’m stuck with the second revision of the proof: where to put the page number—at the top or at the bottom; where to use a fancy font and where not to; where to start a new story—at the bottom quarter of the page of at its half leaving the rest of the space in that page blank…. I know the DTP technician would not allow me the luxury of revision more than two.

So, I’ve to do everything in this round. And leave the text for sieving at the hands of readers and critics. I churned as much as I could; now is their turn to sieve!

Sometimes I wonder how much of the success of a book comes from its content and how much from its eye-catching appearance. With the perfection of software for DTP and photo editing, there is practically no end to the possible ways of designing a book. There are mind-boggling varieties of paper for printing. Binding, gumming, lamination—there are many ways of making the book look better. So, it is not the contents alone that can make a difference between a good book and a bad book.

The place where I’m located does not have any trade outlet for offering good quality printing paper. So I’ve to get it from distant towns. Onerous, isn’t it?

Internet cannot come to my help here. Don’t they say Web offers recipe but not breakfast? How easy it was to spot on the web a proper image for the cover page , seek the owners permission through e-mail, and get a quick design made out of it through MS-PAINT, and show it to the friends and get ideas for improvement! Now for paper of good quality, the same ease of the virtual world should not be expected; there has to be a physical movement of the real material along the real channel.

This will also be solved. “The Remix of Orchid” is blessed: here everything is inspirational and good things will happen just like that.
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By
A. N. Nanda
BHUBANESWAR
18-02-2007
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Last But Not The Least

2007-02-16T06:29:00.000-08:00

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The page-setting is nearing completion. The cover page has almost been completed. But then I realised that I've used certain typical Indian words which my overseas readers would find difficult to understand. So why not add a few pages of glossary. Sometimes, appending such glossary makes a fiction look weird, say like a badly designed text book. But it does not matter. I'll place them at the end, without interfering with the main contents of the book. I've space enough in the book to accomodate that.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Finally I created a glossary of around three pages. It's long-winded, yet there is no harm if I cut and paste them here. At least this will remind me later what I understood by those words while I used them.

So here you are, the much laboured Glossary to append to "The Remix of Orchid".

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------------------------GLOSSARY--------------------------
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ammabaru :mother goddess in various names, worshipped in the villages of north-east Andhra.

antakshari :a party game where opposite parties have to sing as per the last letter or syllable of the song just finished by the opponent.

bakhar :a herbal ingredient applied in handi for fermenting it.

ban mohua :mimusops littoralis, a type of tall tree found in the rainforest of the Andamans

bhai :a term used to address an elder brother or an unfamiliar person out of respect and informality

bhojpuri :a dialect of Hindi spoken in the state of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, known for its lyrical quality.

bhumihar :a land-owning upper caste in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

boudi :used to address the wife of an elder brother, essentially a Bengali way of addressing..

chechi :elder sister in Malayalam.

chhath :a festival to worship the sun god, observed in the state of Jharkhand and Bihar.

chullah :a stove for firewood.

clouddom: :a non-standard word coined to mean the celestial domain from where clouds appear.

dargah :a shrine of a Muslim saint where people of all religions visit.

dhoti :a long piece of white cloth worn by men that is tied around the waist.

divinedom :a non-standard word coined to refer to the heavenly domain where divine entities are believed to live.

emundi :‘please hear me’ in Telugu that a traditional wife uses to address her husband because she is not supposed to utter his name.

gola :store-cum-sales outlet.

garjan :dipterocarpus, a type of tall tree found in the rainforest of the Andamans

handi :also known as handia, it is a beverage prepared by fermenting rice.

hath ki safai :jugglery by hand.

hudi :a small dinghy, with or without a mechanical propeller.

kalapani :means “the black waters”, it refers to the penal settlement of the Andamans at the time of the British India.

karama :a tribal festival in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhatisgarh wherein sal trees are worshipped amidst song and dance.

karma :a philosophy that believes that one’s calling is determined from one’s birth and one can reach god or get a better lot in one’s next birth only by sticking to his or her fixed calling and in not interfering with that of the others.

karanvar :in Malayalam it means “the head of the family” in matrilocal tradition.

khaini :tobacco.

kurta :a loose fitting shirt worn by both men and women.

lac :a dark red sticky substance produced by insects and it is used for sealing and manufacturing the bangles.

marwari :a class of traders and industrialists who are originally from Rajasthan but at present available through out India, mostly in towns and cities.

muhurat :the beginning ceremony of a film project, a moment fixed astrologically, when its first shot is taken.

naidu :a village head man.

namaste :a word uttered in welcome while one brings one’s palms together to one’s head as a token of respect.

nanna :father in Telgu.

ossuary festival :also known as kana ha-un, this is a festival of pig-fighting, dedicated to the departed head of the family.

padauk :pterocarpus dalbergioides, a special tree available at the Andamans, strong and valuable.

pahan :village head of the tribals who worships the tribal god on behalf of the village folk.

palash :flame of forest, a tree of medium height that flowers red in spring and where worms of lac live.

punditji :a priest.

ranchiwalla :people who have come to the Andamans from Ranchi, the capital city of the state of Jharkhand or the area surrounding it.

safaiwalla :a cleaning personnel.

samralu :fairs and festivals that takes place around the village goddess in north-east Andhra Pradesh.

signiterate :a word the author has coined to describe a person who is literate enough to put his signature only.

tawanj :a mainlander, in the words of the Nicobaris.

tharavad :a primeval family identity in a matriarchal system.

tola :a unit of measurement roughly comes to 11 grams.

triveni :the confluence of the river Ganges and the Yamuna with another subterranean flow of mythological river the Saraswati. It is situated near the city of Allahabad in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

yavan :a non-Hindu, essentially from abroad (originally the Ionian Islands).
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A. N. Nanda

Bhubaneswar//16-02-2007

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The New Cover Design

2007-02-13T07:35:00.000-08:00

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By now I'm sure I won't have to change the cover design of "The Remix of Orchid" once again. The previous one I fashioned is available at my ealier blog. When I created it I had liked it. Building text patches even for the cover itslf was an idea that had appealed me then. I had made around a dozen of colour combinations, shown them to my family and had almost decided. But as I came closer to the actual completion of the project, I started to feel a little uncertain: will my readers like it? Will they not ask the question: Who's that author who couldn't have patience enough to wait till the page number one to start presenting his text?

That was the time I came across Dorothy's image. I liked it. It was a picture that matched the title of my book. So I decided to use it, of course with the permission of the owner of the image. And here I post the first draft of the design I've made out of it.

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A. N. Nanda

Bhubaneswar//13-02-2007

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Mathematically Yours

2007-02-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

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Publishing a book of short stories also involves doing some mathematics. How?

Look, I've got an ISBN number from the authorities for the book. When I receieved it, it read some thing like this:

ISBN 81-7525-729-X.

I thought "X" is something open to the author to put to identify his/her book, say 1 or 2, or 3.... This means, as I understood, I had the choice of using the number 10 times (from 0 to 9) in place of "X" and can go ahead with the plan of publishing ten books. Yes, beyond 9 I knew I would not be able to use it. And I knew an ISBN number cannot exceed 10-digit limit.

But what I missed was that "X" represents a check digit. This I got clarified reading an article in Wiki.

Its calculation is a bit typical, if not complicated. Say, I had to multiply the position number of each digit from left onwards, add such products and then divide the sum by 11. Then depending on the remainder, I had to determine the extent to which the remainder fell short of 11. That's all. I've reached my check digit.

Easy, isn't it?

Ok, ok, I'll give the exact calculation. It's as follows:

10 x 8 + 9 x 1 + 8 x 7 + 7 x 5 + 6 x 2 + 5 x 5 + 4 x 7 + 3 x 2 + 2 x 9 = 80 + 9 + 56 + 35 + 12 + 25 + 28 + 6 + 18 = 269

269 / 11 = 24 and remainder 5

11 - 5 = 6

So, my check digit is 6.

And my book will bear an ISBN number like this: ISBN 81-7525-729-6.
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By
A. N. Nanda
11/02/2007
Bhubaneswar.
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Thanks, Dorothy

2007-02-08T19:57:00.000-08:00

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The permission I got from Dorothy to use her image, "The Bamboo Orchid" for the jacket of my book "The Remix of Orchid" has really taken my project a little nearer to completion. I just spotted her image at her website "Dorothy Photo" linked at http://www.dorothyphoto.com and liked it. But my respect for other's intellectual property right did not send me right away to design a cover page out of the box. I wrote an e-mail to the owner of that.

Wow! She could be so generous! She just agreed to allow me using her image free of cost. Thanks a lot, Dorothy--I'm favoured.

I've since done a quick designing of the cover page and sent it to her. She also liked it. My children, and all at my work place also liked it. And what about my wife. Oh, she has always some suggestions. Now I'll have to give one more sitting with lap top, clicking the buttons of MS-Paint, just to accomodate her concerned suggestion.

But in any case I'll post an image of that tomorrow. Here in this blog. That will be the first image of the blog.
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By
A. N. Nanda
09/02/2007
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Coming Of Age

2007-02-08T03:28:00.000-08:00

"The Remix of Orchid" is going to be the maiden book of fiction in my literary hatchery. I've been posting about this in my old blog http://ramblingnanda.blogspot.com and now the time has come when "The Remix" should make up its own home.

So, there should be a housewarming, isn't it?

Oh yes, I must. All are invited. Peep at this site to see what is brewing.

Until then, thank you all.
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