Sunday, February 22, 2009

Part 9 - the life of a writer!

We had breakfast of pooris and started for Kuruva islands. KY and me struck up on a lengthy conversation that continued in the van. We both took the last row in the van.

“Should do something different” he said.
“Like?”
“Something other than just visiting normal tourist spots”
“Yesterday’s trekking was quite different from a typical sightseeing”
“Yes, I should have come for that – missed it”
After a little thought he continued, “We should just mix with the local people and experience their lives”
“It will be fun especially here where language is also a barrier. Just be left alone”
“Right, and it should be alone; not in a group”
“I’ve generally seen that when we are in a group we don’t do certain things; we tend to be more shy and conscious when in a group. But when alone we are more bold”
“Fear of those who know us! And we shouldn’t go through all these travel tours”
“Ya, they will take us where they want to go and hurry through the whole thing. It is good to plan the entire trip on our own”
“Stay at cheap places and mingle with the local people”
“Like farm side houses and lodges”
“The people might not talk with us but still it will be a good feel. Should also have one local contact in the country in case of any emergency”
“It will be awesome, all alone in a foreign country”
“Should not be one or two weeks also. Should be for at least one or two months in which we can travel at our own leisure; see what we want to and maybe even without planning. Just wander around from one place to the next”

I was dreaming about it; it would be great to travel like that, loitering in a foreign land with no worries or cares.
We were travelling for 20 minutes and by now a few of the guys had dozed away while some were just gazing idly outside. Only KY and me were in non stop discussion.

“I wonder how much it will cost” I mused.
“You mean a trip abroad?”
“Hmm – going to a foreign country and staying there for a month. Should work out the cost and see”
“These famous writers can enjoy in the name of researching for their book!”
“Need to get one bestseller. After that whatever they write will sell”
“Have you read that IIT story; Chetan Bhagat?”
“Yes, read that one. But didn’t read the other two by him. Guys said the other two are not great”
“I am yet to read the first one. But after that it is like whatever he writes will sell”
“Same with our Booker prize winner; the White Tiger”
“Hmm”
“That book is all about corruption, poverty and all. Readable but I was curious to read it to see how a Booker prize winning book is”
“He is now very popular”
“And other books written by him are in Landmark bookshop’s top selling books! One clicked and now everything of his will click”
“Write one bestseller and then travel around the world. What a life”
“And if anyone asks what are you doing you say that you are researching for your next book”
“But seriously, books written like that will sell well because you will write in fine detail facts about different places; man, what a life that would be”

And both of us chatted pretty much non stop throughout the ride; travel, books, writing as a career and what not. After a couple of hours we reached out destination – Kuruva islands.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Owesome SS!

You are a dreamer backed with action and we can see your passion in writing.

Keep it up!

Looking forward forward for one best seller from You.

Cheers
Andhavarapu Srinivas