I first started writing stories when I was in school. Of course, then, I never dreamt of being an author � it was just something I did when I was in the mood. All I was interested in at the time was physics, and all my dreams were of publishing some wonderful scientific articles in the leading journals. All those dreams came to an end when I decided to dump my Ph.D, but then my old pastimes came to my aid and I started writing again � both, travelogues as well as stories. But now the dream raised its head again � of being published, not just on the net, but in print! One part of this dream came true when my travelogue was published in the Sunday Herald (you can see the article here). But the larger dream came true this week when a collection of my stories were published in a book!
I was approached a few months back by an organisation named JK Yog. They had read some of my stories for children, and wanted me to re-tell some stories from Indian mythology and folk tales for their book aimed at the children of their NRI devotees. I hadn�t even heard of the organisation then, but liked the idea they put forth, and began writing. I anticipated writing between 10 � 15 stories for them, but by the time we had finished, I had contributed more than 30 stories! All stories were those I knew well, but I liked the way they wanted them presented � teaching a particular value relevant to today�s way of life, and in excellent English! I enjoyed re-telling these stories in my own style, and it helped me remember a lot more stories to tell Samhith!
At last, the books arrived at my doorstep this week � two volumes among the four in the complete set. Volume 3 has 21 stories, of which 14 are mine, and Volume 4 has 19, of which 17 are mine. The books have turned out be far better than what I expected� the illustrations are superb, especially the ones in Volume 4!
We have spent the last week showing my family members the books, and finally I have time to put up some pics of the books here!
It feels so wonderful to see my name in print!!!!
A few illustrations from the books to give you a glimpse......
The books have been published for free distribution among the devotees of the organisation during the Satsangs of their Guru. However, the books are available on their online store too, but as of now, this facility is available only in the US India
This is the complete list of books available. I have contributed to Volumes 3 and 4 and the festival collection.
Meanwhile, about the stories themselves, I don�t have permission to put up the illustrations, but I am posting the stories on my other blog. Take a look here. I have already posted a few stories, and shall post all of them one by one, so please keep coming back�� and please leave your comments to let me know what you think of them!
