Amrita Tripathi

Hello again,

It's been months since I've been around -- another burst of inactivity online, which I'm sure to pay for at some point. 

How have you all been? Apart from the lovely folk who do send in comments hoping I can help hook them up with jobs, that is..  (I *really* wish I could!)  Keep your feedback coming in! 

As for me, I expect to tell you more soon about the lovely Mussoorie Writers Mountain Festival and the incredible people I had the privilege to meet and chat with, not least of all some bright high school kids from St George and Woodstock, as well as truly inspirational climbers and writers... The splendour of Landour also left me utterly recharged. More on that soon, but for the moment here's a delightful article by Shikha Tripathi featured in The Hindu. She does a great job describing the cosy vibe and all-round great atmosphere.

I'm also linking below to my session from the LitFestX Google Hangout over the weekend, where I was talking to Kumaar Bagrodia of LeapVault Media, about Writing a Darker Reality. It sounds solemn I know, but this covers some of our conversation on Delhi, the darker side of urban reality, as well as on depression, feeling isolated and alienated, the Darkness, the difficulty of adolescence, why banning sex education is a terrible idea, and more! 

Of course, I do use the opportunity to talk about my latest novel, The Sibius Knot -- most of these topics form the foundation of the book, which I do hope you'll take the time to read. Since this is the Kindle Festival we're talking about, here's the Kindle edition of The Knot. 

At the very least, watch, and send me your comments right here... Have a good one!

Elle India for some reason included me on a list of stylish women, talking about an item of clothing that means something to them. The issue is on stands now, and I promise everyone else on said list is super-glam!

I'm uploading a photo from the shoot below, (with a photo credit and courtesy: Nishanth Radhakrishnan for Elle India) but here's the unedited text I sent them... (Of course, they had to chop this due to space constraints, but did keep the reference to my book, phew!) 

I almost got deeper into the whole body image issue, but I will leave that for another time, perhaps something more in-depth?

As always, let me know what you think! 

For Elle India (Unedited Version): 

It took me forever to learn that the world does – as my mother first told me – create its initial impressions of you, based on how you dress. As a young anchor in my early 20s, I wanted to be seen as serious, not frivolous, stern, not giggly, and definitely non-flouncy or bouncy-haired or whatever it was the hair and make-up team preferred.

I wanted my own identity intact, so no removing the nose ring, or my Buddhist beads, or my hoops, at least not for years! Only proper, “serious” outfits would do. It took about six years for me venture into a dress here or there, for “entertainment” interviews, and that was thanks in no small part to the channel stylist, my friend Priyanka Singh, who along with my sister gave me the confidence to dress up once in a while, instead of always dressing down.

Fast forward to last year, when I found myself checking out and buying this dress online from the UK – it’s something called Paper Dolls, which I haven’t actually heard of, but I liked the look of it, and just hoped the size was right. As I launched my second novel The Sibius Knot earlier this year, I wore this very same non-fussy dress, very little make-up and didn’t bother to get my “hair done”. 

That's A for Author, not Anchor, after all! It’s a gesture my younger self would undoubtedly approve of.

 (As a writer, I think you’re only really dressing up at book launches or literary festivals, and then too you’re trying not to distract from your work.)  As far as me and dresses go – at the grand old age of 34 – while I may not have repeated this dress (yet), I have added to my collection and look forward to experimenting a little more, every once in a while.

PHOTO COURTESY: Nishanth Radhakrishnan For Elle India

(PS: Now that I've discovered shoes, I also want to say I love these Anne Kleins I bought earlier this year! Sigh, materialism!)

I just got around to reading Akhil Sharma's Family Life -- what a phenomenal book. Gut-wrenching and yet so unassuming to start with. 

I think that's what the distinction between 'good' writing and whatever else there is out there -- trashy writing, flashy writing, pulp fiction, and everything in between -- really comes in. Good writing leaves an indelible imprint on your soul. It enriches you, somehow. Mind you, I have Murakami and Gaiman on this list too, so feel free to argue about literary fiction at any point in time. Good writing changes your soul or expands your mind, it makes you nobler sometimes, I find.

There's something about losing yourself, immersing yourself in an experience triggered by someone's talent and your own imagination. 

On the flip side, there's something about everyday life that forces you to lose yourself, every so often. Not sure how I feel about that. It's certainly not been an uneventful week or two...there's more travel coming up (potentially) and I just got back from a whirlwind trip to Bangkok, on a literary junket. While it was an incredible experience and quite surreal in bits, it was also a reminder of how you can get lost, or at the very least majorly distracted from what you want to be doing. Maybe if I spent as much time writing as I do now thinking about writing or talking about writing (the worst of the lot!), I'd be more fulfilled. 

Instead, here I am, staring at you. 

Long story short: I basically got on here to update a couple of the audio excerpts from my Mumbai launch, et voila! With huge thanks to Suresh Venkat and Denzil Smith, who agreed to read for us. 

(PS Drop me a line if you're also rambling, or wandering down similar lanes and bylanes.)

Soon.

Nerves? Check. Fingers? Crossed. Looking forward to seeing some of you at the event on Friday.

'Upstairs Studio' and HarperCollins are hosting -- so if you're looking for an invite, hit us up.

Before that, though, here's one of my favourite photos of all time. Incredible people, incredible vibe:

The Sibius Knot, Amrita Tripathi's second novel resides at a store near you! 

And online:
 

For Your Kindle : http://bit.ly/1v0dxoz 
Amazon: http://bit.ly/1EmUutM
Flipkart: http://bit.ly/1JoOSG9

URead: http://bit.ly/1DQVKaf

I was absolutely delighted to be able to launch my second novel The Sibius Knot on Friday the 13th, in Delhi. Lady Kishwar Desai was a wonderful interlocutor, and the presence of family and friends made it an overall warm, cosy, fuzzy experience. And looks like we sold us some books, too!

The discussion was about cults, the Devil/ Darkness, how fragile relationships are and much more!

Here's hoping The Sibius Knot finds its readers! 

You'll have to read the book to find out (Find it on Flipkart, Amazon, or a bookstore near you!)...But here's a synopsis! 

Some of you have been tweeting your reactions - a couple of the first tweets to come in for The Sibius Knot:

The Sibius Knot, by @amritat. What a book! The voices--they sound so alive. Brilliantly done. Recommended read. @TSBookClub

— Akshay G (@Axhayy) January 26, 2015

@amritat @aratidevasher @PoonamSaxena_ @HTBrunch Just finished. you have a very different (& wonderful) writing style..highly recommended.

— Ravi Subramanian (@subramanianravi) January 20, 2015