2021 - February
Dear Reader,
If you’re new here then - Hello! If you decided to stick around after reading my last newsletter then – Welcome back! Whichever category you belong to, thank you for being here.
I am equally flattered and frightened now, that I’ve set up some kind of expectation (here’s a poem by yours truly on that – Expectation). Though I am also excited to see where this journey leads us.
Now, coming to February- remember how I said that I was entering this month with hope & positivity? Yeah, that sentiment didn’t last very long. I experienced delays on some of my projects, and applications for various things didn’t seem to be going anywhere either. I was pretty much stuck in limbo for a bit and also felt slightly under the weather. (Thankfully, it was not the virus that must not be named.)
Funnily enough, I gave an interview for something where I was told that I was “overqualified”. Almost reminded me of when you have a crush on someone; you shoot your shot and they say – “It’s not you. It’s me.” (Though I am guilty of having said this too.)
But, fate seemed to have smiled on me by the end of the month. My projects are now back on track; some of which I hope to share with you next time.
And….
*Drumroll*
I got an internship!
Why is this a big deal? It’s a content writing stint. So, obviously I’m excited! I think I’m also giving myself some credit for this; considering I don’t come from a creative background nor have I formally studied anything creative. Overall, I think I’m quite chuffed.
February was also fairly eventful. I attended two creative community festivals (virtually of course) and quite enjoyed them –
AF Weekender by Art Fervour: A weekend of webinars on art law, street art, auctioning and workshops; this was a pretty interesting festival. As someone who has a love for the arts, I found these sessions educational and interesting. The session that fascinated me the most was Data & Technology – The Future of Art by Harshit Agarwal, an artist who uses AI tools to create artwork. He spoke about some of his pieces, the increasing use of AI by artists and the onset of blockchain for art sales. You can find the entire festival schedule on Art Fervour’s YouTube channel.
Jaipur Literature Festival 2021: Commencing in 2009, this annual lit fest is touted as ‘the greatest literary show on earth’. And honestly, I don’t think I can completely disagree. To be clear though, I’m a complete newbie and this was the first literature festival I’ve attended. Though it was virtual, the execution of the entire event was smooth and on point. From website design, curation of speakers and content to featuring different books and panels on topics outside of literature; I was pretty blown away. I discovered so many new books, different forms of content, writers, stories and learnt so much about creative processes and the industry. The festival ran for 10 days and also had the Jaipur BookMark run parallel to the main festival. JBM focuses on the ‘business of books’ and what publishing looks like in India and globally today. I attended about 7 out of the 10 days of JLF & JBM, covered it on my social media and also did a Twitter takeover for Bound! I can go on and on about this but I believe all sessions from the festivals will be uploaded on their YouTube channel. If so, I highly recommend checking it out whether you’re a reader, writer, publisher or just someone who’s curious.
Speaking of books, here are some of the things I read this month -
Piranesi is written by Susanna Clarke and published by Bloomsbury Publications. Clarke is best known for her novel Johnathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an international bestseller and longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Piranesi follows the story of a man named so, who lives in a house that emulates another dimension. From crustaceans on the lower levels and cloudy upper halls, to a nesting albatross, statues of Minotaurs and occasional flooding in the stony hallways, Clarke creates an unusually eerie yet comforting atmosphere. Piranesi pretty much lives on his own, aside from some skeletons that he treats as companions. There is one more person like Piranesi, called - ‘The Other’, an older and seemingly wiser man. What starts out as a chronicle of Piranesi’s days in ‘The House’ turns into a mystery when a new person storms into his world (quite literally). But what fascinated me the most was the writing style Clarke employed in this book. She’s written the whole story as a series of journal entries. So when you read the book, it feels like a diary. I knew I wanted to read this from the moment I heard about it! And I won’t say I was fully satisfied as a reader but the writer in me was most definitely intrigued! A good read if you like fantasy. (Not sure if dystopian or sci-fi can be used to describe this but it has those undertones.)
The Enlightenment of The Greengage Tree, written by Shokoofeh Azar and published by Europa Editions was February’s book club pick. This book was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize. The story of a family fleeing from Tehran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution and narrated by Bahar, the ghost of a thirteen-year-old girl; this book paints a picture of the socio-political conditions in Iran at the time through fiction and magic realism. The book was originally published in Persian and later translated to English. The translator chose to remain anonymous due to security reasons, which in itself speaks volumes. Azar faced a lot of backlash for this story and was forced to flee Iran; now seeking asylum in Australia. She herself went through harsh conditions such as solitary confinement and the like; elements, which she has vividly spoken about in her story, through the characters. To be honest, this was a tough book to read. Not just because of the discomfort of scenes of torture, harassment and helplessness; but also the erratic storyline which brings in ghosts, mermaids and myriads of characters & sub-plots. Yet, it all makes sense when you finish reading it.
Twenty Love Poems & A Song Of Despair - I mean, can this newsletter be about the month of love without talking about poetry? This book is written by the one and only Pablo Neruda, translated by American poet, W. S. Merwin and published by Penguin Classics. Originally published in Spanish in 1924 as Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada, this collection put Neruda on the global map of poetry and the explosion of surrealism. It was also heavily scrutinized for being too vivid and sensual in nature at the time. After all, it was a dedication to the poet’s one (or two?) of many lovers. Interestingly, Neruda’s 16th poem in the book – In My Sky at Twilight is said to be a paraphrase of Rabindranath Tagore’s 30th poem in The Gardener, which was published in 1913. Of course, there’s been conjecture of plagiarism but it’s been stated as a paraphrased version. Personally, I found Neruda’s writing style bold, intuitive and unapologetically honest. (Not to mention his beautiful use of imagery and metaphors) My favourite pieces – VI: I Remember You As You Were, VII: Leaning into the Afternoons, XI: Almost out of the Sky, XV: I Like for You to Be Still, XVII: Thinking, Tangling Shadows, XIX: Girl Lithe and Tawny.
Coming to Neruda himself, the man led a rather fascinating life. Originally born as Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto, he took up the pseudonym of Pablo Neruda when he started writing (partly to avoid his father’s disapproval) but only legally adopted the name in 1946. He left southern Chile in 1921 to go study French literature. He published his first collection Crepusculario in 1923 followed by Veinte poemas in 1924, which was towards the end of World War I (He was just about 20 years old!). Neruda was later appointed as a Chilean diplomat and served in Rangoon/Yangon, Colombo, Batavia/Jakarta, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Mexico City. He wasn’t qualified for the position as such, but it was common practice for Chile to appoint well-recognized individuals as ambassadors. He also battled with depression at the time, since his only reason for serving as consul, was the steady income. After World War II, he joined Chile’s Communist Party but went on to be prosecuted for subversion (He published an open letter criticizing Gabriel González Videla, President of Chile at the time). He fled Chile to escape arrest and returned in 1952 once the political climate had cooled down. In the midst of all these life events, Neruda continued writing and publishing collections such as Residencia en la tierra (Residence on Earth), Canto General (General Song) and many others. This led him to winning the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971 after which he was bedridden and terminally ill. Thus, passing away in 1973.
Neruda is considered to be one of the stalwarts of romance poetry. Fun fact – he married thrice and had a number of love affairs. I’m not entirely sure if that’s ironic or if it made him understand love any better. Whichever the case, his writing still stands the test of time.
And with that, we now come to the end of this month’s newsletter. I hope you enjoyed reading it. As always, I am open to feedback and constructive criticism.
March begins now, and I am excited and nervous for things to come. And I truly hope to be finally able to share some news on my projects next time.
Till then, take care, stay healthy and have a wonderful March!
Love & Light,
Sangeetha
a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow
P.S. – Signing off with music by Dot. this month: Everybody Dances to Techno and Asymmetrical.