Book Launchitis and some trivia about Ink Dries

Since I had been through the whole process of a Book Launch / Release
earlier (with Moving On), I was a lot less expectant and (looking at
something relatively low-key). Since I am still kinda cussed about
not forcing my poetry on anyone, I also did not go around personally
inviting those close (or at least those I think are close) as if the event in question was my marriage.

And all in all, it was a good event; a book of poetry came out / was launched /
got released and since U was there as my interpreter (typing up questions
-- asked by the audience -- for me to read on GTalk and respond to) there was
a fairly good interaction too. I guess this is a template I can use down the
line too.

I don't know if it shows me in a better or a worse light, but any
interaction with readers / prospective readers is good for the book. And,
considering that I did almost nothing for Moving On, its a sea change
for Ink Dries, something that this book does deserve.

Umm...what exactly is Launchitis, you may ask?

I cannot exactly explain it, lets say I have just coined another word and it
refers to a peculiar sense of ennui / estrangement / withdrawal (?) or a
peculiar trepidation resulting out of "what next" now? But then, its there,
or was there...for the first 2-3 days following the launch / release.

Maybe I won't feel this next time around, or maybe it will be even acuter
as I write poetry that "says" more, who knows...

Now for some trivia and a bit of this and that about Ink Dries.

The book has some 75 odd (need I count and be exact?) poems with two of
them long poems. It also presents some poems that I had written some 10
years or so back and lost; but were safe with U...

The book also has some poems that deal with the logophile part of me;
my innate love for words immaterial of their meaning and context and
how I keep making them do what I want them to do. And the worship of
pith -- as poet and copywriter.

The editing was done at the seventh floor flat of my editor, G, over
two sessions, and the second time we had sat down to it, I could see a
black kite at eye level through the balcony :-) That was one surreal
experience and I really envy G for getting to see black kites in
the eye on a fairly common basis.

Quite a few of the poems in Ink Dries deal with nature; in fact while
describing myself for the only writer workshop that I had applied to
in 2011 (the application was late by an hour), I said "I am primarily
a poet of nature" and it shows in these poems too; poems that weren't
easy to write or pin down and perfect, but poems that I am happy
and thrilled, came to me.

As I write this, I am all set to visit Bharatpur Wildlife Sanctuary
tomorrow, for a day long session of birding. And I know there will
be much more than photos on offer tomorrow, I know more poems will
come too. I just hope I can write them all down!

Oh, here's the last bit -- I am utterly cured of Launchitis now
and its been one full week of hectic travel and the thrills of
being out on the road. What fun, in fact!

Ink Dries -- Book Launch at Akshara

As book launches and releases go, it wasn't much, with around 25
people making up the numbers, counting the little man and my family :-)

But it was an amazing evening all the same, in terms of quality,
interest, involvement etc. and because I was able to interact with
those present thanks to the "interpreting" of U, I did not feel
the usual fears either.

In retrospect, maybe Sunday was a wrong day; in retrospect, maybe I
should have personally invited everyone I know. In retrospect...

Anyway, that's me with Professor Subbarayudu



And here are some photos of the audience






And here is one of the reading by Priti :-)



All in all, it was a good event and thus now Ink Dries is officially released (as of 22nd January). Thanks a lot to all who came a fair distance on a Sunday to attend the event. And special thanks to Akshara Bookstores!

Pre-order your signed copy of Ink Dries at Flipkart

Yes, Ink Dries is now available on Flipkart.

On a pre-order basis, at a cool discount of 25%.

And these are signed copies :-)

Get your own copy here.

Ink Dries -- Book Launch at Akshara Books on 22nd January

Do come on over :-)

As another year begins...

For the last couple of years (since Moving On) in which I have continued
my flirtations with the poetic, and kept working at the whole process of
letting a poem take form, penning (or noting) it down and then kept at it
further, through various re-visitations and revisions -- intent on giving
it the time and effort it calls for, the days have more or less moved on.

Largely because that is the nature of time, it moves along implacably
and we cannot do much about it; but then again we do have a lot of choice
about what we do with it -- be it the apparently aimless pursuit of the
poetic, or this and that -- and a very clearly ingrained acknowledgement
of it.

Or rather -- in a peculiarly dystopic way of looking at it -- time's
like an invisible puppeteer's hand that's making us dance to its tunes,
with the years comprising acts and the months scenes and though we
may not be aware of what is happening in the play by and large, we do
seem to acknowledge the intervals.

Or maybe that again is the nature of time or how we who follow it
have been conditioned to relate to it. Yes, conditioned -- to think
about and give a lot of meaning to the "New Year".

Which, to me (blame it on my affinity for the dystopic or blame it
on the implacability with which I have peered at an empty page, at
a blinking cursor, or at the implacable face of time) seems worthy
of no more relevance than the other important acts / scenes of time,
the beginning and endings of days.

I mean -- and no, I don't say this as a poet or a photographer -- there
is a lot, lot more meaning in every sunrise and sunset, every day
of the year as compared to the one day that we call the New Year.

I will of course readily acknowledge that I wasn't always this wise
(or half-assed) and there have been other new years when I have made
resolutions, to do lists and so on and so forth...

I will also acknowledge that I gladly participated in the bacchanal
of a New Year eve party this time around too, gazed at (and liberally
partook from) the amber contents of a glass, thrilled in the sparking
warmth and delectable fare from a BBQ and more or less again stared
implacably at time...

But I will again say this, as far as inherent meaning goes, there's
nothing much in the New Year, the days that mark the beginnings or
endings of seasons have much more meaning(though, how many
seasons do exist any more in this age of wide-ranging climate change
is anybody's guess).

And I will say this too, for a year that started with my fall on the
road and the broken collar bone and ended with my father recovering
from his bypass surgery, this was certainly not an easy one.

Or then again, that is the essential nature of time -- it is always
easier and better in the past (?).

Or is it that I have changed in these last two years due to the
constant proximity to the poetic and the aimless (like the photography
of birds and butterflies and ramble out in the wilds).

Anyway, so one year ends and another begins. I do hope (there, there)
that I will be bringing out Ink Dries and more books of poetry this
year. And I also do hope that things ease out a bit all around, because
the year past was bloody tough.

And since I do believe in positivity and spreading the cheer, let me end
this post with some.

Here's wishing you and yours a very prosperous and plentiful New Year.
May you find a year's meaning, purpose, poetry and fulfillment in
each of 2012's days :-)










Its not that I have written only poetry, or shut out myself