The reason I’ve been late with blog posts these past weeks is that I’m in Bangalore. And whenever I’m in Bangalore, meeting up with various people is always high on the agenda, including some of my writerly friends. A few day back, some of us managed to catch up. Tea and sandwiches were consumed, publishing gossip exchanged, grievances aired and in-jokes laughed at. Overall, very satisfying. Here are the people I met:
Radha H.S.
Is a writer, illustrator and puzzle maker, Radha and I met at the first Jumpstart writers’ workshop. Even though we met in Delhi, we were, oddly enough, both living in Bangalore, and among the very few out-of-towners at the workshop. Radha writes and illustrates for young children, including rebus stories (before I met her, I thought “rebus” was the name of on my favourite fictional police detective). She also makes puzzles, for kids and adults, and dabbles in some non-fiction at times.
Harini Gopalswami Srinivasan
Is the author of Gind and the The Smile of Vanuvati. She’s also working on a multi-volume Ramanaya for ACK Media (better known by its earlier name, Amar Chitra Katha) of which one is currently out. You can usually find Harini poring over thick, dusty volumes of ‘research’ or chasing after her dogs. She also knows a great deal about mythology and history, and, it turns out, geology.
Roopa Pai
Target readers will (should) find this name familiar. I was much excited to meet Roopa many years back because of the Target connection. She’s always writing about (and doing) interesting things, such as the eight-volume Taranauts and Bangalore Walks. Her new book What if the Earth Stopped Spinning? And 24 Other Mysteries of Science seems like a fun read.
~PD
Thanks, Payal! Enjoyed the outing too, very much, and wish we could get together more often!