Oxford story

Hello again

Slowly I have overcome my boredom because the reading has now begun. Unlike in Nepal, we do not need to study in class 10 to 5 or whatever and we can choose to go to the lectures and seminars of our own choice. Self-judgement counts alot, as I found out, although the faculty advisor would always be ready to offer any help. Although I am a student of anthropology, I could choose to attend a lecture on completely different topics, such as the hard science. It would be extremely foolish if I did that, though.

Besides, I have joined a student club called the Failed Novelists. This is essentially a club for those interested in poetry, drama, essay, novel or any kind of literary work. There were more students than the organisers had anticipated and so the group had to be split into two. A lady from the US was so good at poetry, she read out her fairly long and excellent poem out of her head! We also had a theology student from America who has apparently finished writing a novel based on spirituality and some thrillers (the latter bit, he said, deliberately added for commercial reasons). He said that he actually visited parts of India that are mentioned in his novel, mainly Agra, Varanasi and some other places. Although some authors can describe a place out of reading from travel books or whatever, but it will not be the same as the first hand experience of the place. He said that he was now working with the editors and publishers in the US and he hopes to bring it out within a couple of years.

Isn't that amazing? When will I be able to state a similar story? When will have a manuscript at hand and start negotiating with the editors of the top publishing houses?

A number of students read out their sonnets and poems. My God, they knew alot about the current trends of the literature in the US and Europe and they cited many contemporary and great authors and poets of the past. I felt, in a way, slightly awkard. And while presenting my piece Homesick, I warned them that I was relatively novice in the area and came here mainly to learn. I hope to carry on with my passion for reading and writing stories and novels and hope to publish books through world-reknowned publishing houses. I am not a student of English literature or language but it will be my hobby and I will pursue it as far as possible. And this platform proves to be very useful, at least from the experience of the first gathering at Teddy Hall College.

Perhaps this much for now. I have just completed reading a award-winning novel The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai (Indian-American author) and I have embarked on another popular book which has been already presented as a leading movie - The Devil Wears Prada. The former mainly dealt with the life in Kalimpong area of India in the last twentieth century and the latter deals with a high-profile life in the heart of America.