So you've always wanted to see your byline in print but didn't know where to begin. Here is help for you! Perhaps, submitting your piece to Indian Ruminations (www.indianruminations.com) – an online journal of Indian English writing, might show you the way forward.
Indian Ruminations was started by members of a city-based writer's club called New Voices Writers' Circle. Sandhya S.N., J.T. Jaysingh, Annie George, P.A. Noushad, Shyamala Nair, Thara D' Souza and Premji, some of the members of the club among others, began the forum to provide space to budding writers. The e-journal, which has seen a healthy growth in contributions since it went online last January, gets ready to celebrate its first anniversary.
Limited options
“We realised that options for aspiring writers were limited. Even though you can blog, it does not provide constructive criticism and may not be read by those with a literary bent of mind. Anything can be written in blogs. Magazines and journals have their own selection process and it is difficult for aspiring writers to get one's piece published in print,” says Sandhya, managing editor and chief editor of the journal.
Amalgam of literature
In just one year, the e-journal that was inaugurated by writer, critic and historian K.N. Panikkar, has become an interesting amalgam of various forms of writing, where readers can browse through fiction, poetry, articles, book reviews and so on. Designed as a forum to promote wannabe writers, the site accepts submissions from people of all age groups and from different parts of the country. Says Sandhya: “Since the launch, with the exception of some interviews and book reviews, we seldom have had to call for submissions. The site has a growing number of people, including children, who voluntarily send in their work.” Submissions, ideally, are made online through a link on the website, ‘Submissions,' in which one can attach or copy-paste the content. Currently, the writers are not paid for their works but the copyright of published submissions remain with the author.
“Some Indian writers, I feel, write for the Western market. Their portrayal of India sometimes do not reflect our real self. This is painful as the world assesses us through these writings.” Talking about writing by children, Sandhya, who is also the coordinator of Haritha Vidyalayam , on Doordarsan, says: “There is a great influence of cartoon characters and cultural aspects of the West in the writings of children, perhaps as a result of globalisation. Their efforts need to be channelised to focus on Indian themes and culture.”
Indian Ruminations plans to conduct a two-day bilingual Literary Festival in the city in May this year. “We plan to include the works of Malayalam writers in the upcoming festival,” says Sandhya. Awards for budding writers in various categories have also been planned. Indian Ruminations which envisions “bridging India to the world” through a “true projection” also hopes to have a Malayalam version.
Rema Sundar
