published work update

Amma's been reminding me for a while now that I haven't been blogging regularly. Since she asked again today evening, I sat down to write something but wasn't in any mood to do and so what I did instead was post some of my published ( a big word considering that many of the journals I wrote for are defunct now ) work. The idea was to congregate my various posts floating across the web and make this blog double up as an archive in case someone wants to read this stuff years later ( yes, like Sravani points out, I'm Reality Challenged). Most of the pieces are reviews because there was a time not too long ago when I dreamt of being a film critic ( Roger Ebert, Baradwaj Rangan and Raja Sen are some of my favourite writers. It's a pleasure reading their work for their mastery over form, the experience they bring to criticism and their sophisticated worldview ). So, that's about the proliferation of blogposts in your aggregator.

That apart, I've relocated to Hyderabad. I'm listening to Wes Anderson's movies soundtracks. In love with Hardest Geometry Problem in the World, This Time Tomorrow, Mr. Fox in the Fields and Le Temps de l'Amour among others. Also been watching Matt Zoller Seitz's amazing Video Essays on Wes Anderson. Entertaining and Enlightening. In one of my recent posts, I mentioned about two happenings that I was excited about. One was the NYC Midnight SSC Story I wrote, The Incessant Storm, and the other was a Telugu short story I wrote that got published in Kinige Patrika, Astitvam. It's been an exciting time, especially with my conversations in Chennai with Abhishek, Patel and Yash, spanning late into night, where we talked politics, philosophy, ethics, ambitions and a little bit of SAP. I also finished reading UR Ananthamurthy's Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man, the AK Ramanujan translation, and though I was underwhelmed by the ending, it triggered some interesting ideas.

I've also started meddling with Magix Music Maker and I put up a simple composition I made with soundloops on SoundCloud. The track is called Night Lights and though all I've done is mix-and-match various pre-recorded soundbits, I had an incredible time doing it. In regards to this, I am working on something more ambitious, which also happens to be a collaboration, and I hope to finish it in the stipulated timeline. By the way, I came across this awesome track by Akira Kosemura which is called Precious, and it's been playing in a loop ever since.

But beyond all this, one of the best things that's happened in recent times is my acquaintance with Meher Sir, who's name I first came across while reading this brilliant Kasibhatla gari interview but got to know a little better after Kinige published my story. I am still going through his work, which is of very high calibre, but if there's one thing I've realised from our conversations, his insights, criticisms, translations and stories, it's that he's one of those originals. A true artist.

That's all for now.