COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns had a silver lining as people got to spend more time with their families and then some picked up new hobbies or just rejuvenated old ones. Book worms, who hadn't flipped the pages in months, found time to finish their favourite book during the lockdown. Now, life is back to its former pace and if you find it hard to catch up on your next book, there's a perfect solution to give your mind its daily dose of literature.
When three generations put their minds together, the world gets a precious gift in the form of a novel book with tens of short-form stories. Bishan Sahai, Ruchi Ranjan and Ishika Ranjan published a book titled "Our world — A Symphony of Drabbles — By Three Generations", which is written in drabble format.
For the unversed, drabble is a fictional work written exactly in hundred words - not a word more or less. Bishan Sahai, Ruchi Ranjan and Ishika Ranjan attempted this relatively new form of writing to put together 86 drabbles in a 108-page book.
"Our world — A Symphony of Drabbles" was launched in August to mark the 86th birthday of Ruskin Bond, the favourite author of all the three writers of the book. In fact, the "Symphony of Drabbles" also has a blurb from none other than Bond, which reads: "This is an entertaining collection of tiny tales for tired COVID-19 survivors. A drabble a day should keep the doctors away."
The back cover of the book also has some words of appreciation from Sachin Tendulkar and Sashi Tharoor and a foreword by Harinder Sikka, author of Calling Sehmat and Vichhoda.
Highly-recommended book for all
This book is a fascinating potpourri of fiction, covering a plethora of interesting stories, spanning across several genres. Some stories are funny and entertaining, some are quixotic, others skirt around tales of soft sci-fi and adventure, while others evoke feelings of nostalgia and empathy. Each drabble brings out an interesting facet of the human predicament, sometimes ending with a twist, which is bound to leave the reader bemused.
Any person who loves reading will find the drabbles interesting. It will particularly be a good way to encourage children to develop the habit of reading. In an era of instant communication where technology has taken over the habit of book reading, this book may be an answer to the frustrated parents trying hard to pull away their children from getting hooked to computers and digital games. As this is a collection of 100-word stories, each story can be read in less than a minute.
In the words of Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, "this book has stories from three generations and something on offer for readers across ages."
Story behind the book, from its writers
The drabbles presented in the book might be short, but the story behind them is anything but. It all started in a book club and went straight to the publishing house after good amount of practice, interest and support.
"Unlike regular writing you cannot ramble, so it's a challenge to express your thoughts in 100 words and I enjoyed doing it. It's normally an idea that takes time. Once the idea is finalised, I just take ten to 15 minutes to complete a drabble," Ishika, XI grader, said of her experience.
But drabbles won't replace long form writing. "The beauty is in its short length. This format can attract more readers. When there is a growing concern about the decline in reading habits among children, this format can draw them back to reading as it takes less than a minute to read one drabble. Everyone who has lost the habit of reading can get back with this format," Ruchi said.
