1Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

short fiction essays verse reviews

Reading HourEditorial

I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning. ~ J. B. Priestly

Who hasn’t felt that irrepressible hope at the start of a new year, that this year will be the one, this year I’ll make that milestone, I’ll set my life in order, I will make a difference? January is when, like the two-headed Janus, we look both backward and forward, to bid farewell to the year gone by and to welcome the year ahead. Rather like the little family in their boat on the cover! Here’s wishing all our readers success with their plans for the coming year.

We profile in this issue a pioneering philanthropist couple from Pune – the Awachats – whose de-addiction centre Muktangan was one of the first of its kind when it began; and it began with little more than hope and compassion.

Spain, and its Moorish heritage comes alive for us through the eyes of indefatigable traveller Sreelata Menon. As does the green state of Chhattisgarh in Meena Bhole’s account of a holiday to remember.

Writer Anees Salim who is having four novels published in rapid succession after a two decade wait, chats with Fehmida Zakeer about keeping alive the dream.

Then the story writers spin an engaging set of yarns. We have a young girl fascinated by a pair of ordinary red shoes, and the strange outcome of that fascination. There’s orphan Molly, who strives for order in her troubled world and finds beauty in fractals and hexagons. Prey to a magnificent obsession is Kaushik, whose close confidante turns chronicler as the obsession runs its course. So does the master’s keeper chronicle the saga of a life lived on a stage. At the turn of a new year a mother looks forward to winning over a distanced daughter and a son sends his mother a surprise gift from a far off country. We hope you enjoy the selection of poems too.

Happy reading dear readers, and a very happy New Year.

Editors

Published, owned, and printed by Vaishali Khandekar, and printed at National Printing Press, 580, KR Garden, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095Published at 177-B Classic Orchards, Bannerghatta Rd, Bangalore-560076Editor: Vaishali KhandekarEditing Support: Arun Kumar, Manjushree Hegde

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Disclaimer: Matter published in Reading Hour magazine is the work of individual writers who guarantee it to be entirely their own, and original work. Contributions to Reading Hour are largely creative, while certain articles are the writer’s own experiences or observations. The publishers accept no liability for them. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily represent the policies or positions of the publisher. The publishers intend no factual miscommunication, disrespect to, or incitement of any individual, community or enterprise through this publication.

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Jan-Feb 2013Vol 3 Issue 160 pages

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2 Reading Hour

Fiction

3 The Master’s Keeper manoj kewalramani

12 Waves in the Wind janaki venkataraman

16 Displaced sumati lal saxena, translator abha sah

27 The Geometry of Escape rajani mani

41 Summer Shoes sharada m

54 The Golden Age of Silverfish suraj sharma

Interview

23 Anees Salim fehmida zakeer

Essays

32 Muktangan – Redeeming Lives vandana khandekar

50 The Moor’s Last Bastion sreelata menon

First Person

7 Discovering Bastar meena bhole

Contents

Poetry

15 Making You saheli khastagir

22 New Day snehith kumbla

31 Adventure Calling n g satish

31 Surface Talk usha raman

35 Anatomy of a Miracle jyoti kanetkar

40 Beauty tejaswini kale

47 The Only Cure azra daniel francis

47 Patch of Ground and Native Sky shruti rao

36 Are you reading this?

48 Light Stuff

60 the last page

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Cover Design by Sandhya Prabhat. Sandhya (sandhyaprabhat.com) is a Freelance Animator/Illustrator with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Animation and Digital Arts from NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia.

3Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

He died today. His body is concealed beneath a mound of moist dirt

in the city of his birth. It lies deep, deep down in a cold pit I dug

within the cave that was carved into this rock years ago. I am not good with

irony, but perhaps it lurks here somewhere...

manoj kewalramaniThe Master’s Keeper

Fiction

Manoj is a journalist/author based in Mumbai. His latest book, Fairy Tales: Love, Hate and Hubris, is a poetic retelling of classic fairy tales from the antagonists’ perspective.

He’d part waters and lift

mountains with his little finger. Burn cities and create new ones in the midst of

nowhere.

4Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

In my experience, a love for nature

pays for itself many times over and

in many ways. A fine example of this is

Manik Deshmukh whom I first met some

years ago at a bird-watchers conference,

and who is today one of my dearest

friends...

meena bhole

Discovering Bastar

First Person

Meena is based in Pune. She is a trained nurse, talented seamstress, and marvellous cook who feeds soft chapati every day to a pair of hornbills on her balcony.The photographs have been taken by Manik Deshmukh, a self-taught photographer and keen conservationist working for the survival of the Saras crane.

Tribal woman (Netanar road)

5 Reading Hour

Bhagi’s son, Girish, sent her a wind

chime from Japan. It came as a

complete surprise. For one thing, Bhagi had

not heard from Girish in over a year. He

worked as a photo journalist for the National

Geographic magazine and always seemed

to be in some remote, strange-sounding

place where communication facilities were

probably primitive. He rarely called her...

janaki venkataramanWaves in the Wind

Fiction

Janaki is a freelance writer based in Chennai. She is currently working on a novel but she loves the short story format.

6Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

saheli khastagirMaking You

Poetry

Saheli is pursuing her Masters’ in psychology from Delhi University. She paints and writes to make sense of the strange and the ordinary. Her poems have appeared in Eye on Life Magazine, Haggard and Halloo and Mad Swirl.

New Daysnehith kumbla

Snehith is a writer, poet and lyricist currently based in Pune. Now into table tennis, trekking and photography, he is still a potential jogger.

Dr. Satish is a librarian and researcher on scientometrics. He aspires to be a better painter.

Adventure Callingn g satish

Usha is head, Dept. of Communication, Univ. of Hyderabad, editor of Teacher Plus and author of “All the spaces in between” (poetry, Writers Workshop, 2010)usha raman

Surface Talk

jyoti kanetkarAnatomy of a Miracle Jyoti is a counsellor and writer in Pune. She has

won the 2001 CBA short fiction award, and the 2005 Vyankatesh Madgulkar award (Marathi).

tejaswini kaleBeauty Tejaswini works with government schools

in Rajasthan. She has studied Literature in Mumbai, from SNDT University. She writes poetry.

Azra is a poet based in Toronto and dabbles in various poetic forms. This is one from his ‘perfect iambic’ collection.

The Only Cureazra daniel francis

Patch of Sky and Native Groundshruti rao

A 24-year-old literature postgraduate from JNU Delhi, Shruti works as a copy-editor. A published poet and reviewer, she is also Books Editor at the online magazine, Helter Skelter.

7 Reading Hour

Aditya had called. He is

ecstatic about being posted

to Delhi. He has been allotted a well

maintained house and wants the

entire family to gather for Diwali at

his new place; I find this suitable.

My own body is slowing down now,

and I am ashamed that sometimes

I feel the children’s coming a

burden...

Sumati began writing in 1967. From 1969-72 she was published in all the top literary Hindi magazines. A long break followed; she resumed writing in 2005 and has since been writing prolifically to make up for lost time.This story is translated by Abha Sah from the Hindi original Visthapit. Abha is a retired teacher of English and a freelance translator.

sumati lal saxenaDisplaced

Fiction

8Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

Anees Salim, author of The Vicks

Mango Tree (Harper Collins, 2012)

has three other books in the publishing

pipeline. For a writer who claims

that his ultimate goal in life was to

have a few short stories published, it

is an impressive tally. Apparently, a

rejection letter put paid to his short

story writing but thankfully it did not

kill his itch to write.

fehmida zakeer

Chatting with Anees Salim

Interview

Fehmida is a writer based in Chennai. She has been published in several online and print magazines.

9Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

Molly walks into the

apartment and sets

the pale yellow plastic bag

on the dining table. From the

bag she pulls out the precious

Chinese Gobi her subziwaala1

had saved for her. Chinese

Gobi, that’s what he had

called it. She wanted to tell

him, dear friend, few things

are more mesmerising than a

Romanesco cauliflower...

rajani maniGeometry of Escape

Fiction

Filmmaker, illustrator and lazy mum with more than a passing interest in all things food, when not in the kitchen Rajani spends her time spinning yarn in her tiny sun fed home in Dubai.

10 Reading Hour

Muktangan in Pune

is a centre for the

rehabilitation of addicts, one of the

first of its kind at the time it was

founded. Muktangan is also the

story of its founders the Awachat

couple, Anil and Sunanda, and

their selfless efforts to help addicts

and their families make a new

beginning in their lives. Muktangan is a symbol too, of true conviction,

dedication and integrity.

vandana khandekar

Muktangan –Redeeming Lives

Essay

Vandana lives in Pune, where she keeps herself busy with her family (including one very bad dog) and the cultural scene.

Sunanda and Anil Awachat

11 Reading Hour

reviewed by Shikha Tandon

Shikha is a scrabble enthusiast and freelance writer.

Reviews

Are you reading this?

reviewed by Chandrashekhar Sastry

Sastry enjoys writing with a contemporary context. His stories have won competitions and been published by Unisun.

12Jan-Feb 2013 Vol 3 Issue 1

The shoes. There was something about the red shoes... something

irresistible, almost sinister. They drew her closer and closer, till the

tip of her nose was pressed up against the glass of the display. They were

ordinary enough, just a pair of red canvas shoes. Pretty, casual, barely worth

a second look...

sharada mSummer Shoes

Fiction

Sharada is a veterinary graduate working out of Mumbai who indulges a creative streak in her free time.

... she restrained herself from breaking into a run, at least until she got to the edge of the woods. And then

there was nothing to stop her.

13 Reading Hour

Thou dost weep like a

woman for what thou

couldst not defend as a man

– said his mother to a tearful

Emir Muhammad XIIth of

Granada, as he, from a spot

known today as the ‘Moor’s

last sigh’ looked down at his

Kingdom for the last time, before going on exile to Morocco. Her words,

cutting as they were, effectively described how 700 years of Moorish rule

was brought to an abject end...

sreelata menonThe Moor’s Last Bastion

Essay

A much travelled freelance writer who writes on anything and everything, Sreelata has published with Pengin/Puffin, among others.Photos: Courtesy Sreelata Menon

14 Reading Hour

They say our whole life flashes before our eyes as we are dying. They

must be wrong because human memory isn’t that flawless and the

dying person is usually pressed for time. Apart from a few important

moments, the greater part of our mundane lives is not significant enough to

be recalled in its entirety even at events as ominous and final as death...

suraj sharma

The Golden Age of Silverfish

Fiction

Born in Simla, Suraj is presently a civil-servant working for Employee’s State Insurance Corporation. Published in Chowk and The Silent Ballet, he blogs at surajsharma.blogspot.com.

When we have eliminated all kinds of intra-species discrimination, then the only

natural goal for us will be to eliminate inter-species discrimination.