Madhavi Mahadevan has been an author, penned stories for children magazines and edited several short story collections. Her latest book, Doppelganger Short Stories is an anthology of short stories. “I have always been fascinated by the short story genre,” says Madhavi. “I was in love with the genre from my childhood and used to read short stories penned by Tolstoy, Anne Morrow and Anton Chekov. I feel that short stories are a more engaging format. It demands more effort.”
“I always felt that short stories were more contemporary and moved with the times than the novel. For example, a series of short stories can better explain the changes a city like Bangalore has undergone in the last 10-15 years. I decided against having a single theme running across them, since I felt that the message would get diluted. It took me almost a year to write the 18 short stories that make up this book. A short story takes up more effort and time than a novel. It is important to ensure that you are able to get your message out within a set number of words. As we are getting more busy with our lives, reading short stories is a good stress buster.”
Most of the stories are set in urban India, with themes such as loneliness, disease and the need to belong.
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“It is a series of takes on different aspects of life in urban India. I have always felt that with our rich story- telling culture, India is the land of short stories and story tellers. We have an inborn talent for narrating good short stories.”
“Though these stories are fiction, there are elements of reality in them. These tales are located on the cusp of reality and fiction. My writing is inspired to a large extent by the people I meet and interact with on a daily basis and their stories.”
She plans to take a break before embarking on writing her first novel. “Writing 18 short stories was a tough job, though it was a lot of fun as well. I am looking forward to starting work on my novel soon.”
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