Prasannakumary Raghavan's Blog: Prasanna's Creative Space

The steppingstone to an Author- Write a Page a Day

How important is the writing habit to be an Author?

Photo by Lum3n from Pexels

In his memoir on writing (2010), the great author, Stephen King advises: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There is no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”  This stress the importance of keeping a habit of reading and writing to be a writer, the primary step to be an author.  A habit results from something you practice every day, which is strenuous for a person like me without external motivation.   Blog chatter’s Write A Page A Day is a friendly motivation. In the labyrinth of your daily life, you are prone to lose track and stray away from the plans you make,, however meticulously. Does it mean writing regularly alone makes you an author?Taking the example from King, Jasson Whittaker answers in the negative--we all write daily eg.in our social media about our lives and experiences, reaching eighty thousand words the length of a normal novel doesn't make one an author?  This is because we must follow certain steps in finishing a novel we plan to write.  Daily reading and writing are steps to be an author, but not all. What are those steps to be an author?To be an author you must master novel writing techniques, which is a step ahead of mastering the daily writing habits that has no shortcuts.  Those steps I will concentrate on my next post. In my post, Goals for 2022, I have outlined the completion of the manuscript of a novel, three-quarter completed, as well as a short story compilation.  As usual I was struggling to meet the daily quota of writing to meet my goals and I grab the Write A Page A Day challenge with a truck load of hope.  Was taken from blogchatter's WAPAD
I  went through the WAPAD's daily probe that are appealing and containing story situations that I must be using in my stories.  A page is on average five hundred words times twenty-eight gives 14000, but the WAPAD's concessional target to reach the trophy is 10,000 words, which I am aiming to pass.And I assure, I state the truth and nothing but the truth in the daily twitter report. 

   

What are your goals for 2022?

 2022 an Opportunity

I consider 2022 is an opportunity. The new year is always an opportunity--an era or a season ends for a new one. To choose and shuffle and enchanted by the expectations. The dawn of 2022 is remarkable, marking a transformation in the Covid time. 

It's an era of celebration of progress--science has stood the challenges to effect with noteworthy progress. With a lot of hesitation and resistance, we as humans also progressed. We learned to cover our faces.  

Now, hardly see any person without wearing a mask. The face is an integral part of one's personality. We style delicately to present before others to get the first impression about us, to make a statement before others--straightforward or convoluted. Now all that we see is a cover in that place. The sacrifice is a revolutionary habit change to accept we value life and that of others.    

How do we plan this windfallen opportunity is an important question.

Everybody is busy making plans. Whether we follow them strictly or not is not an issue. If we can't execute the plans we make is not a failure. That is a vital lesson nature taught us. So many who planned to get married, pass the courses registered in the university, earn jobs, and many more are not with us. 

I do not make plans to compete with myself but to guide myself. For that reason, I don't use the term, resolutions, which is heavy--I have only goals or intentions. Except in keeping the official deadlines, I generally take note of the deadlines after the date has passed.  

My 2022 goals.

1. Complete the last part of the first draft of the thriller  Polish and publish it after how many revisions and drafts, I have no idea.  

2. Redo and polish the short stories sleeping somewhere in my laptop to throw it to the open. 

3. I must read as many books as possible. I am even scared to look at the books others have targeted for 2022. The numbers intimidate me to shift my interest to other things like cooking or sleeping, but I cannot fail myself. I should select a number I don't want to show here out of shame. 

It doesn't mean I don't read what I do daily, but the problem is the number.

4. I should market my eBook to reach the world--just copying what others say, having no idea how it works. What marketing brings to my mind is a shop and shelves stacked with commodities, a vendor sitting behind a wooden table with drawers in the place of the current teller machine and a helper to do the measuring and packing. Now, it is all online, using a computer or mobile and technology-- not easy for me.

5. Another goal is to resume my travel schedule to Kerala--fortunately, everybody I had bid farewell to in 2019 is waiting there to welcome me- all have survived the pandemic. When I boarded the Emirates flight from Kochin international on 4 October that year, I had no inkling I wouldn't be able to continue with my annual visits without any hindrance.  

6. The most important, I put last to celebrate the festive company of our children with cooking, setting up the feast, discuss the world that discontinued in 2020 with the advent of the pandemic. I terribly miss their entire company, the small talks, the movie watching. 

Prasanna Raghavan's Author Page

 
How did She become a fiction author?

The first spark of creative imagination connected the dots in her brain at 7.  She remembers sitting at the cosy corner of an open shed behind her home, scribbling her first story in her school notebook using a blunt lead pencil.  Her guard dog misbehaved with a homegrown hen pounced upon her--a neighbour intervened in time saved her --the previous day's incident was her story theme. 

What Inspired Her?

 The previous day, she read a book from her father's library--nothing fancy, an arrangement of books and his medical references on a shelf in a small room.  Vischinnakankanam--broken bangles--was the book's title.  Read it in a single sitting, no author's memory.  It planted the seed of a story in her.  Storytelling wasn't alien to the culture she grew.  For everything, there was a story in the form of an anecdote to pass on a moral lesson--a nasty action begets nasty reaction.  

Her father was a practitioner in the indigenous branch of medicine--Ayurveda.  He was the only medical man in their village before English medicines, and the hospitals made their appearance.  They lived in a rural area, a fertile part where landscapes rose and fell softly, refreshed by the chirpy brooks wounding around before dashing off to the distant water bodies in the lowlands.   

Her mother was delighted with her story, but she encouraged her to graduate in science.  In a society, formal education is considered more significant than life --she was right.  None famed as a writer or an artist had earned a decent living in the entire area. 

 She graduated in physics and education earned a teaching career.  After getting married, she joined her teacher husband employed in Africa.  They served a string of African nations—Tanzania, Nigeria, Lesotho, before South Africa.

Her Research in Maths Education

 In South Africa, she taught maths at a high school in Alice, a town in Ciskei, a homeland, a setup of apartheid at that time.  The learners in the classroom exhibited extreme poor conceptualisation in the subject--a global issue but particularly in the area.  The problem bugged her, and she decided to research it as part of her master's degree at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa and published her thesis.  

SEALS Digital Commons published her thesis

Not a Super Woman!

She wasn't a superwoman.  Juggling a full-time job, family responsibilities, children, and troubles from hostile in-laws living in India reached her near breakdowns at instances.  However, the fire kindled by the first book wasn't willing to accept defeat, chasing her.  And she got the minimum publishing opportunities at which she rejoiced a story here, essays there.  The advent of the internet and blogging gave her immense hope to hang on with her creativity.
How has she fulfilled her childhood passion?

She took early retirement with plans to prioritise the left-out passions—writing a definite, as per suggestions from her daughters, she registered with All About Writing, an online creative writing course, which took her ambition to a different level.  She received everything about the story structuring, however, to practice them into livening up a story in her imagination needed more time and patience. 

She observed a vast difference between academic writing and creative writing-- creative writing is a different ball game where you flow your creative juice.  In the mathematical and scientific milieu, you seek prescriptiveness.  For example, the displacement between two points is a straight directional line vector.  Creative writing is an expansive narrative, never linear.  You make it colourful, exploding with emotion, and blasted with situations.

How Does she Divide her Time?She divides her time between reading, writing, cooking alone or in the company of her husband.  Preparing sumptuous dishes to entertain their daughters and their husbands, and in-laws during visits is a matter of extreme joy and pleasure for them, which the Covid has cut short.  They live in Cape Town visit their home in Kerala last time in 2019. Her Debut eBook.Being a non-native writer, she needed long hours to master her chosen language's semantic and syntax aspects, making her author journey challenging but rewarding.  She got fulfilled when she typed the last line of her eBook-Under the Bakula Tree in August 2021.  Then she had no notion of the struggle ahead to get it published.    

 Two months and days after she completed the last line, she published, Under the Bakula Tree on 18 December.  2021.

The story blurb:

Three women's paths cross at the Skyward Residential Complex in Richwood, Kochi, Kerala.  They find support in a sisterhood they form.  Their commitment to one another gets stronger as the social norms of the gendered society restrict them and keep them under surveillance.

 Sara is at a crossroads.  All paths remain closed in front of her.  Will the sisterhood help her get the big break in life and reach Krishna?

 Genre: Fiction. 

The story sheds light on the contemporary women's family life in Kerala, the State in India she was born and raised. 

It is an eBook published in Amazon Kindle, Unlimited.

 Where can you buy a copy of Under the Bakula Tree?

It is available on multiple sites including,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NFSM2P9

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09NFSM2P9

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09NFSM2P9

Her Next Book

She is about to complete her next book, a crime thriller.  Some short stories collecting dust in her laptop need shinning up to bring to the outside world.

How did I become a fiction author?

Was it proposed by destiny or willed by hard work? Perhaps both.

I wrote my first story at 7. I remember sitting at the back of an old shed behind our home, scribbling inside a notebook with a blunt lead pencil. It was about our guard dog misbehaved with a home-grown chicken, pounced upon it, a neighbour intervened and saved the chicken.

The idea of writing a story bugged me after reading a storybook from my father's library—a shelf in a small room where he stalked his medical books and fiction collections. My father was a practitioner in Ayurvedic medicine, the only medical personnel in our village, then, a rural, backward area. I was born in Kerala, a small state in South India.

I remember the book name—Vischinna Kankanam—broken bangles in English.

My mother was delighted by the story but encouraged me to graduate in science. In a society, formal education was considered more significant than life --it was just right. No one famed as a writer or an artist had earned a decent living in the entire area.

I graduated in physics and education, earned a teaching career, and joined my husband in Africa after I got married. Job, family, children slowly grabbed my entire life. My husband was also a teacher— we worked in different African nations—Tanzania, Nigeria, Lesotho, before South Africa.

In South Africa, I started at a high school in Alice, part of a homeland, an apartheid set-up. The learners had extremely poor conceptualization in maths--a global issue but particularly in the area. I decided to research the topic as part of my master's degree from Rhodes University, Grahamstown.

I wasn't a superwoman. I struggled to fulfil the responsibilities, prioritized some and deprived others. However, the fire kindled by the first book wasn't willing to leave me. I rejoiced greatly at the minimum publishing opportunities, a story here, essays there. The advent of the internet and blogging gave me better hopes.

I took early retirement with some plans to prioritize the left out passions—writing a definite. My daughters, pure blessings in my life, gave me suggestions to join a creative writing course. All about wiring was an online course, and once completed, I felt I chose it right. I got the theory, practice needed time.

I was an academic author who did my master's thesis, but creative writing wasn't anything like academic writing, where you flow your creative juice. In the mathematical and scientific milieu, you seek prescriptiveness—displacement between two points is a vector—a straight directional line. Creative writing is an expansive narrative, never linear-colourful, scenting, exploding emotionally, not precise.

Being a non-native writer, I needed long hours to master the semantic and syntax aspects. The taxing steps only made my author journey challenging but rewarding. The last line of my eBook-Under the Bakula Tree- gave me immense satisfaction and fulfilment. At that time, I did not incline about what hurdles lay ahead in the remaining journey to publishing my book. In another post, I shall explain them.

Two months and days after I completed the last line, I published, Under the Bakula Tree on 18 December. 2021.
The story blurb:
Three women’s paths cross at the Skyward Residential Complex in Richwood, Kochi, Kerala. They find support in a sisterhood they form. Their commitment to one another gets stronger as the social norms of the gendered society restrict them and keep them under surveillance.

Sara is at a crossroads. All paths remain closed in front of her. Will the sisterhood help her get the big break in life and reach her Krishna?

The story is an attempt to light the contemporary lives of women in Kerala, where I was born and raised.

The eBook is published in Amazon Kindle, Unlimited

Would you please buy a copy of my eBook, read, and rate it on Amazon and Goodreads on your device. You see it at the end of your read. Also, write a review on Amazon and Goodreads.

My eBook is available on global kindle stores, including,

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NFSM2P9

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09NFSM2P9

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09NFSM2P9

https://www.amazon.in/dp/B09NFSM2P9

How Do You Aid your PC, Mobile or Tablet Using the Free Kindle App

Do you prefer a digital or a print version of a book to read?

I guess the answer from what I read is the print.  

Old habits are not easy to drop, while new practices get cautious approaches.  That is human nature. I didn't pay much attention to this choice until I published my eBook on a digital platform. That was a choice I made based on my research on publishing.  So many people asked me whether I would get it in print.  My answer is, I am not sure about that now.  

My inability to make that decision is a money matter.  Going for print brings a whole different cost equation to the forge.  You, as a customer, would pay more for reading it in print than digital.  

I am not promoting reading it digitally, but if you want to read it digitally, there are easy ways to do that, even if you don't own a kindle.  Most of you are aware of these steps.  I will explain them below if you aren't familiar. 

You have a PC, a Mobile, or a Tablet, good.    

Step 1. If you don't have an Amazon account, never mind. It's easy.  Click here. You will get a link there. Copy-paste that onto your search bar of your PC or mobile.  Provide the details and follow the prompts. Now you are set for Amazon.com for any purchase, book, or other merchandise. Step-2

Search for the book you want to buy.  Let me use the example of my eBook.  Google search for "Under the Bakula Tree, Prasannakumary Raghavan." You will reach the Amazon page selling my book as shown below or any other eBook you have searched for. 

Step-3. 

In the above image, at the tip of the orange, you see 'Read with our free app'. You click there, you will get a message your free kindle app is on your way.  That will save a kindle icon on your desktop or mobile, as shown below. 

Step 4. 

Now buy the book choosing the 'buy now' option you see on the right side of the Amazon page, as shown below. Below that, you will get a list of your devices to deliver the eBook copy--you chose the right one for you--PC, mobile or Tablet.  (Getting the Kindle icon on one device is enough to Sinc with other devices.)

You should provide your bank card details to complete the purchase process.  

Step 5. 

You click on the kindle icon I explained in step 3 on your PC desktop or any other device. On the left side, you see a library where you click. Voila, your book is on your device to read.  Enjoy the read. 

ConclusionDo you have any suggestions or questions please show them in the comments. 

2021 With the BlogChatter

 How would I remember BlogChatter 2021? The image was customised using Canva.com

I joined BlogChatter in April this year. Sooner than later, I participated in the ebook carnival, a month-long activity that ended on 5 May.  

I was cradling the idea of book publishing having a skeletal understanding of its processes and was excited to read the wads of information on the topic flooding through dedicated posts and WhatsApps.  

The group discussion exposed me to a unique experience that is not an exaggeration.  No question from anyone was left untended by virtual strangers.  Tension was climbing, knots were tightening, sleep was departing, I felt like finding a home on a cosy distant island on a tight expedition. 

On a personal reward point, I felt younger being among the youngsters.  My memories are still green--how would I grade it now other than giving five over five.:)

Unfortunately, I couldn't reach the height of publishing my story with others--still not published.  The reasons I gave in a post, published on BlogChatter.  Keeping hopes that I shall do it in a short while.  

The second undertaking was BlogChatter Half Marathon from first to fifteen August--the theme-About You. Among other things, I enjoyed refreshing my academic research topics in Maths learning--Social Constructivism, a philosophy of classroom pedagogy in Maths. The purpose and joy in processing it and reaching the target line were terrific.  

I have been in the field of blogging since 2006.  The excellent tagline I remember then was--publish without an editor.  Unfortunately, the fanfare and the craving for freedom never gained any results.  Getting a groove into the new stuff wasn't easy--I can't find fault with anyone.  Still, I kept blogging to give a bare survival for a creative push from the inside. 

What I observed in the openings of BlogChatter were the purpose and the method of blogging. However, I couldn't take full advantage of the BlogChatter 2021. Keeping hopes high and looking forward to 2022.    

Photo by Jess Bailey Designs: https://www.pexels.com/

I can't conclude mentioning the Covid-19 pandemic so determined to push us, humans, to all our limits.  Omicron got detected in the South African lab. Scientists scrutinise the clinical data to analyse the extension of its threat--it is transmitting fast but not killing the infected like its predecessors. 

There are rumours --not coming from the scientific community-- it's the sign that intruder is slowly showing the signs of losing the edge.  Praying for the silver line in the sky. 

And I use this time to appreciate the managers steering the BlogChatter wheels and the entire blogging community for all your plannings, direction and companionship.

Wishing you all a progressive 2020.

Warm Regards,

Prasanna from Cape Town.

This is a goodbye 2021 post for Blogchatter Stories  

              

Book Review-Under the Mango Tree

 

Book ReviewUnder the Mango Tree -Fiction Author: Bina Pillai

Format: Kindle Edition 

The image was taken from Amazon.com.

 Under the Mango Tree, Pillai's novel handles a bitter-sweet, woman-centred, family saga theme.  Amazon blurb starts—"Diya Nair is eighteen, a diligent student, hopelessly in love with Aditya. Married against her wishes to Rajagopal, ten years older than her, Diya is exposed to an orthodox family where they follow archaic customs that are alien to her modern upbringing. "

 The story opens with Diya getting ready broken-heartedly in her custom riddled ancestral home for marriage. Litle expectations about her bridegroom brighten her. Her mind invokes candid memory of Aditya—her love.  They together had woven dreams to live to bring fruition to their passion.  But it is not he that she is getting ready to marry.  Rajagopal is her bridegroom, ten years older than her. Her parents chose him in an arranged marriage, forcing her to drop her studies. 

"Diya, one day we will be sitting under the shade of this tree, relishing its fruits of love… you and I forever," Diya remembers Aditya's words.

Marriage in Diya's culture, a simple ritual—tying the knot—Rajagopal fails to accomplish.  Diya overhears her friend's apprehensive reaction about that— "Did that fiasco with the magalsutra happen because Rajagopal was not the right man for Diya?"

After the wedding, Diya accompanies Rajagopal to his home.  She meets people in rural conveniences and traditional lifestyles compared to her city upbringings and habits.  Women accepted male-dominated customs without batting an eyelid.  Rajagopal saw her as a sex machine, a mechanical device to fulfil his needs, obey his rules, and above all, a dummy of no thinking,  individuality and personal preferences.  It was a relationship devoid of romance, love, care, and happiness.   

"He sat on a chair and looked out of the window.  Diya watched his bored expression, wondering if he had no interest in anything.  He neither wanted to go out and explore nor spend some time trying to know her.  The moment she switched on to music, he ordered her to switch off.  Diya couldn't understand whether it was utter laziness or his general disinterest in life."

 I read the books taking time only because my engagements didn't allow me to go for it in a single stretch.  Whenever I took a break, disturbing anxiety haunted me how Diya would resolve the nagging issue of dealing with the disconnect with her husband. 

Diya wants to lead a life to fulfil her ambition—follow her passion, help people, connect with others. The prolonged and deliberate hit back from Rajagopal forces her to get separated from him.  She reaches there like an asymptote and bounces back, not once, several times. 

 But she needs love, romantic love, and to be loved.  How does she fulfil her needs for a man's love and support? What kind of a mother is she to her children?

Bina's Pillai story shows many shades of Indian woman's life.  How many of them wouldn't stop while reading the book to reflect on what happens in their own life, ponder and sigh?  

To me, the end was predictable.  How else would a bitter-sweet cocktail draw to a conclusion?

Her charming language conveys emotion and connection to keep the readers on her side. 

I find it wanting in the book the scenes here and there are better grounded in the setting.  The dialogue shifts the flow, which sometimes misses connections from the last part.  

Link to my review on Goodreads.  

 

Some Tips on eBook publishing

 How easy is book publishing? 

 Beyond the exaltation and exuberance in bringing your imagination into emotion-evoking words to give readers the best reading experience, book publishing is a matter of money. Or, in the present market sense, a business.   

Image is taken from free Pexel.com

I thought I would have published my debut story, Under the Bakula Tree by September.  

November is passing. Even now, I am not able to set a publishing date for it.  No, I wasn't sick, toiling these months in preparation for my publishing.  In September, I had no clue of what was awaiting me.

I believe many of you have a story idea inside you, itching you to bring it out to publish. Then, this post is also for you to caution you against the pitfalls waiting for you in the process and to best be aware of them to avoid falling into the traps.  

And that beyond the exaltation and exuberance in bringing out your imagination into emotion-evoking words to give the best reading experience to readers, it is a matter of money. Or, in the present market terms, a business.   

Writing is one thing, and getting published is a totally different ball game.  There are many ways to get published. I am not making it sound gloom and doom--there is always a silver line in the open sky.  

There are different ways to publish your work--traditional, self-publishing, vanity publishing, online, e-publishing are some of them. 

I chose e-publishing--Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for my own reasons.  Here you have to manage the product quality at every stage of its progress and meet all the publishing expenses--editing the manuscript, KDP formatting and cover page design, and you should budget for them.  

The whole exercise takes a business deal nature.  The vendor should provide the details of the product or the service they offer honestly and modestly so that you as the customer can make the right choices.

I am happy that I got a professional editor--the editing rate was fixed upfront.  She addressed all my editing queries timeously and got my manuscript ready.  

The Cover Page. 

I assumed the cover page designing for an e-book would be an easy matter. So far, I approached three cover page designers, got the covers designed, but none got through because of the unacceptable business practices I faced. I don't want to pinpoint anyone--my intention is to alert other writers about the pitfalls to caution them.  

The images on your cover page should be original, created by the designer, for which you pay them. Instead, if they lift it from somewhere copyrighted to someone, Amazon would pull down your entire book.  Imagine that happening to you--I reached the brink of it--if not for my timely inquiries and researchers, I would have fallen into that trap.

You have to study the details of the terms and conditions the vendor offers you and, if necessary, bargain and seal them before you give the go-ahead.  Halfway through, if they act contrary to the initial agreement giving you some flimsy reasons like they have skill shortage, you should do the right thing--call off the deal.

And if the person you hire is unwilling to offer you the rate upfront, sweet talk you into paying them what you decide, do not smile, get wind of you are heading to get cornered in the end.  Again do the right thing--call it off. 

I have gone through all three situations. I don't know whether the people who did all those feel bad about it, but they caused immense frustration in me.  It stole away from me all the natural enthusiasm I had in September when I hoped my book would soon get published.  

Now, I have hired the fourth designer and am waiting for the outcome.  

Do you as a published author got some experience like this, please share it here.  

   

The Narrative style of Kamba Ramayana

The Showing Narrative of Kamba Ramayana"Bleached bones lay where animals had perished, including those of monstrous serpents with jaws open deadly thirst; into these enormous jaws had rushed (says the poet) elephants desperately seeking shade, all dead and fossilized, the serpents and the elephants alike." 


Photo by Errin Casano from Pexels

In an earlier post, Showing Versus Telling about “showing versus telling’ a narrative style in creative writing.  I wrote there; I was a practitioner and admirer of telling before taking a creative writing course because that was easy, and I hadn't known about showing.  Also, I concluded that showing is a modern narrative style discovered by contemporary creative writers.

My curiosity took me to research the ancient work of the Indian epic, Ramayana, to learn about its narrative style.  And the outcome was amazing.   I felt rewarded for getting anxious, and I am happy to share my amazement with my readers.

Before I go further, I want to state, I take the epic Ramayana as a magnificent work of Valmiki's creative excellence.  There are many versions of Ramayana, Kamba Ramayana. one among them.  R.K, Narayanan made a retelling of in 1971.  He was a leading author of early Indian literature in English. 

My post is based on what I found in R.K Narayan's retelling of Kamba Ramayana in English. In his introduction to this book, he writes that Kamba Ramayana, written in the 11th century CE, is a retelling of the Valmiki Ramayana in Tamil, a South Indian language.  “Of his task in assimilating Valmiki and re-interpreting him in Tamil verse, Kamban says, “I’m verily like the cat sitting on the edge of an ocean of milk, hoping to lap it all up.” This shows Kamban’s is a true retelling of the Valmiki Ramayana.

My interest here is the narrative style of Kamba.

In the opening scene of Ramayana, Visvamitra goes to king Dasaratha, Rama's father, to solicit Rama’s help to create a cosy atmosphere for the seers to carry out the rituals through eradicating the asura who had been obstructing the rituals. Dasaratha agrees with reluctance.  Raman and Lakshmana follow Visvamitra to the forest.

See how Kamba narrates this part:

“Following the footsteps of their master like his shadows, Rama and Lakshmana went past the limits of the city and reached the Sarayu river, which bounded the capital on the north. When night fell, they rested at a wooded grove and at dawn crossed the river. When the sun came over the mountain peak, they reached a pleasant grove over which hung, like a canopy, fragrant smoke from numerous sacrificial fires………………….”

“……….Visvamitra resumed his journey at dawn and reached a dessert region at midday.  The mere expression ‘desert’ hardly conveys the absolute aridity of this land. Under a relentless sun, all vegetation had dried and turned to dust, stone and rock crumbled into powdery sand, which lay in vast dunes, stretching away to the horizon.  Here every inch was scorched and hot beyond imagination. The ground was cracked and split, exposing enormous fissures everywhere.  The distinction between dawn, noon and evening did not exist here, as the sun seemed to stay overhead and burn the earth without moving.  Bleached bones lay where animals had perished, including those of monstrous serpents with jaws open deadly thirst; into these enormous jaws had rushed (says the poet) elephants desperately seeking shade, all dead and fossilized, the serpents and the elephants alike.  Heat haze rose and sang the very heavens.   While traversing this ground, Visvamitra noticed the bewilderment and the distress on the faces of the young men and transmitted to them mentally two mantras (called “Bala’ and ‘Adi-Bala’).  When they meditated on and recited these incantations, the arid atmosphere was transformed for the rest of their passage, and they felt as if they were wading through a cool stream with a Southern Summer breeze.”

I got goosebumps reading this.  See the details of the story settings, the aridity, and the ferocity of the desert region. 

Read about the medieval poet Kamban here.

Are you amazed at reading this? Please share your thoughts here.

This Post 8 is part of the Blogchatter Half Marathon