Monday, January 16, 2012

Pongal Diary: Eleven Years In Chennai And A Book

For nearly two months I slept with them — books, notebooks, various pens, newspapers and the laptop, which formed a heap on wife's side of the bed. No matter how often I changed the sheets, the books and the notebooks would grab their place sooner than later, leaving very little space for me. At nights when I turned to the side while sleeping, I would often find my knee placed on the cold, glossy cover of a book.

On Sunday morning, the morning of Pongal — the date is relevant here too: 15 January 2012 — I decided to clear up the mess. It took a couple of hours to make the bed look like a bed, after which I prepared myself a decent meal: rice, bitter-gourd sambar and raddish-carrot-tomato salad. In between, I also mopped the entire house (someone in the maid's family always happens to fall sick when wife is not in town).

Finally, at two in the afternoon, I poured myself a glass of pre-lunch wine and lit up a cigarette and lay down on a fresh sheet. The bed smelt good. I felt good. For once, my laptop was not on. From the bed I looked outside the window. I could see the sky and a coconut tree, its leaves a sparkling golden in the gentle sunshine. A beautiful day for Chennai! — you have the sun out, and yet cold enough for you to keep the fan on low speed. An ideal day to be outdoors — maybe in Mahabalipuram or on the Marina. But I was happy to be indoors, resting my back on the same bed on which I had just finished writing my book on Chennai.

It is one thing to be working on a book, quite another to actually finish it and mail the manuscript to the publisher. I had been working on the book for two years now — chunks of it were written in Chennai, in Kanpur, in Gurgaon and in Kolkata, but it was on this bed that I finally wrapped it up and clicked on the 'send' button.

Wrapping up can be as painful as writing a fresh book, especially if you happen to be the kind who is deeply embarrassed rereading the chapters that were completed long time ago and wants to rewrite them all over again. And so, for those two months, the bed served as a torture chamber as I wrote the unwritten chapters, rewrote the already-written chapters and at the same time went to work to justify my salary.

On Sunday afternoon I was a peaceful man. I had finally managed to dispatch nearly one lakh words. The unwritten book no longer tormented me: I had finally written it. And so I looked out at the gentle sunshine and told myself what a beautiful day it is. That's when another thought struck me: have I not just completed eleven years in Chennai!

It was on 15 January 2001 that I first set foot in Chennai, little knowing that I would end up staying this long. The book — called Tamarind City, to hit the stands in April — intends to be evidence, hopefully lasting, that I spent the best years of my life in the city.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wishing you - and Tamarind City - much success!
:-)

Anonymous said...

okay,now YOU fussing over writing,rewriting is a bit far fetched and incredible.your best work,i believe,is like effortlessly playing a flute.
has it something about sex and spirituality,or is a travelogue like chai chai again?
but man--happy pongal.have a happy harvest.

Eswara said...

Tamarind City - eager to grab a hand. all the best

Sepiamniac said...

:)

What a stay it has been!

Anonymous said...

give us a hint about Tamarind City.

Desi Babu said...

Dear Ghosh babu,

I will be eagerly looking forward to Tamarind City . Wish you all the best with the release!

Also, I am extremely curious to see what the cover is going to look like. Chai Chai had an amazing cover -- simple, but extremely elegant. I hope you have something similar for us this time...

Peace!

margee said...

yet another food for mind and thoughts book coming up...'The Tamarind City '
waiting eagerly....
all the best

JeeCee said...

Would love to read Tamarind City....currently reading Mr. Ghosh's first one, got a friend to get me a copy of Chai Chai to Kuala Lumpur on his visit from India...All the best!

Anonymous said...

Bishi,best of luck.
hope you're exploiting a different theme with tamarind city.waiting for April.

eN said...

Used to read your columns in Indian express, they were always such a delight. Loved your previous travelogue. Looking forward to Tamarind City. Good luck :-)

Krishnan said...

Looking forward to Tamarind City..best of luck. Relished your columns in The Indian Express and now in The Hindu..

பத்மா said...

all the best

Anonymous said...

Good Luck! When wil the book hit the stands?

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Dr. Ravindra S. Mann said...

Nice Post. Like it.

Anonymous said...

I truly enjoyed reading your column in "The Hindu" and was very sad when you bid farewell all of a sudden.Your love for the city was very much evident in your writing and i used to love reading about it every Saturday...anyway, getting to the point...wishing you all the best for the success of your new ook,"Tamarind City".

channai laptops said...

thanks for sharing your personnel experience