HOW TO… — Write a horror novel

Become a ghost hunter: If you're going to write a scary story, you might as well experience some scary stuff (this doesn't include the ‘house of horrors' in your local amusement park). So pick up those Geiger counters, ghost traps and night vision cameras and head to the nearest deserted house with an anomalous reputation for being spooky. Yes, you have to go there only at in the night time. No, you can't take anyone along. The key to being a good writer is to experience things in isolation. Even if it's the last thing you will ever experience.

Research: To write a good scary story, you need to know well the ways of an apparition or ghost. Do some research, ask some people who have experienced the paranormal. Put in your own experiences and read some good horror stories. Stephen King is good. “The Exorcist” or “The Omen” is better. “Twilight”? Nah, that isn't really horror.

Good catchline: The best part of any horror novel is a catchline that's really creepy. Don't use clichés such as like ‘be afraid' or ‘it will leave you screaming' since you're can't be sure exactly why the book will leave the reader screaming. Instead, something on the lines of wordplay. Maybe ‘she looked in the mirror one last time' or something just as simple as ‘3 a.m.' will ould do. It just has to get the reader curious — Adding a bit of oozing goo on the cover or a scary face with only the white of the its eyes showing turned up isn't scary. It might just turn out to be hilarious.

The twins in the hallway: If you've ever watched “The Shining” (Stanley Kubrick's version of Stephen King's novel), you'd realise how scary the infamous ‘twins in the hallway' scene is. Try to imbibe some lessons from this scene, and infuse it in your book. They don't have to be twins who seem dead and... well, undead. You can get creative and maybe kill your protagonist, before bringing him back to life again. And, kill him again. And, bring him back. And… Oh, you know the drill!

No good ghosts: Always understand that a ghost in a horror novel has to be a bad ghost. He/she has to be scary, with a violent death and an unfinished business. But under no circumstances, pre- or post-climax must the evil turn good. No Casper-the-friendly-ghost's-long-lost-nauseatingly-happy cousin who is a do-gooder. Your ghost must destroy all good. He must appear in dark hallways, shift shapes into glowing orbs, photograph as glowing mist, stare sullenly from attic windows and scare the creepers out of anyone. Even you.

Light Hearted Music

The Bangalore School Of Music Chamber Orchestra concerts, when conducted by their very own Maestro, Narayanaswamy V. is an experience in itself. The man may look diminutive, but when he takes stage, every deft flick and stroke of his baton coupled with a caustic wit is a performance.

This time it was the Chamber Orchestra in full force presenting “Music of the Great Masters” at the Alliance Francaise, Bangalore. They opened the evening with a rendition of “God of Our Fathers” by the Brass And Chamber Orchestra.

This was followed by a ubiquitous classic of Mozart, “Divertimento No.3 in F”. A light hearted and pleasant piece, this one is split into three parts. First the Allegro that is more light and sprightly, followed by the Andante that is much slower and almost dissolves into your being and third the presto-rondo, which is faster and more energetic.

We were then treated to Two Elegiac Melodies, “Last Spring” and “Hearts Wind”. These were the two most serious pieces in the entire programme and they were dedicated to all the people who had been killed in acts of terror in the recent past. Last Spring had a melancholic feel to it. The violins wept and it was a befitting tribute. This piece was about a man who had a disease and his only wish was that he wanted to see his last spring. So when they plucked the strings in between the performance it signified the icy winter, and that transitions into melodious music again.

This was followed by “Serenade in E for Strings” by Edward Elgar. Divided into an Allegro, Andante and Allegro, this piece went from calm, to something that could totally be the sound track of Roman Holiday and graduated to a more sombre end.

Later, the Chamber Orchestra came together for a “Simple Symphony” by Benjamin Britten. Divided into four parts, this was comprised of a “Boisterous Bourree”, a “Playful Pizzicanto”, a “Sentimental Saraband” and closes with the “Frolicsome Finale”. Although this was primarily written for the piano, it was later adapted to suit a string quartet. The Maestro recommended that we close our eyes and let the music lift us away during “Sentimental Saraband”, he forgot to mention the goose bumps.

The evening closed with the Radetzky March by Johann Strauss who is also known as the Emperor Of Waltzes. The Radetzky March is in fact not a march at all, but instead was written for a dance. The Brass and Chamber Orchestra come back together for this final grand piece.

Our School

Dharpanam

The charm before the storm

Twenty-third of July, the day trouble brewed in the little slice of paradise that is Oslo. The laid-back Norwegian capital and its inhabitants, enjoying their much-awaited blink-and-you-miss-it summer, would have had a general premonition of the weather forecast for the day, but were scarcely prepared for what it had in store for them. Little did they know that shortly after noon a bomb and a gunman would rip through the tranquillity of the city.

My rendezvous with Oslo had taken place a few weeks earlier, much before this serene paradise was still safe to potter about on the cobblestones, lost in thought, without having to cast suspicious glances at every second stranger. My day had begun with a delicious Norwegian breakfast — open-faced ham sandwich, smoked salmon, eggs, bacon, pickled beet and cucumber and a variety of cheese. With my stomach full and a promising schedule to look forward to, I slipped on my coat and boots and set out to explore this city of fjords.

As we drove on, the imposing Akershus Castle loomed ahead with its fortress running along like a faithful aide watching over its master. There was something hauntingly beautiful about this structure from the 13th Century. Maybe it's because it has withstood numerous sieges: several members of the Norwegian royal family now lie buried within the mausoleum, perhaps even now guarding the precinct with their shadowy auras.

We made our way uphill to The Hollmenkollen Ski Jump. The meandering roads offered a panoramic view of the city. If you get lucky you might even see elks languidly helping themselves to plants in people's gardens. It was misty and as a result the starting point of the skiing area was shrouded in a haze, looking like what I thought a stairway to heaven would, if at all it existed. Inside the ski museum were displayed of various types of sleighs, skis and even a reindeer and polar bear. By now it was pouring outside. Given the city’s erratic weather it is considered advisable to keep an umbrella handy. My mother gave me the “I told you so look,” and I sheepishly looked away. To squeeze in an extra pair of footwear in my bag, I had left my umbrella back in Chennai. I regretted it, deeply, when I shelled out 70 Norwegian Krone for a Plain Jane brolly at the museum. But just as we stepped out, the rain stopped.

When the overcast sky cleared up, we thought it was a good time to visit the open-air Vigeland Sculpture Park. I remembered the travel brochure had some fantastic photographs of this place. Even before getting here I had already imagined myself trying out wacky poses with the sculptures. Sprawled across 80 acres, the park, named after sculptor Gustav Vigeland, has around 212 statutes in bronze and granite, all created by him. Each captures a different emotion that depicts the journey

from childbirth to death. A 60-ft monolith structure on a citadel enjoys prime importance. Carved on it are 121 figures of infants, men and women. Another striking feature is the fountain surrounded by 20 structures that represent the tree of life around it. Each in the shape of a tree but beneath the leafy crown stands a man in various stages of his life. The last one shows the man giving in to death. Little children, ironically, were choosing this particular installation to pose in front of.

All the walking around had now made me ravenous. So it was only right that we headed to Karl Johan street, the main avenue of Oslo. It looks nothing like Edvard Munch’s “An evening on Karl Johan Street”, which paints a nearly deserted road, dotted by a few houses and a handful of men in dark coats and tall hats. But that was in 1892, much before the now stylish capital had heard of Gucci’s, Zara’s and McDonalds. Today, the streets are flanked by shops and cafes. The good thing is that no vehicles are allowed here.

It started drizzling, despite which people continued to saunter about on the rain soaked street, some with umbrellas and some oblivious to the rapidly increasing pitter-patter of rain drops. A busker was playing at the crossroads. Children in coloured boots scampered gleefully trying to catch droplets in their mouths, while their mothers herded them to the safety of umbrellas.

It soon got colder and we rushed into a cafe, wrapping our frozen fingers around a steaming cup of coffee, sitting by the glass window and watching the world go by. Cheerful faces in bright outfits lit up the grey backdrop of rain, clouds and thunder — blissfully unaware of the grim tragedy that was lurking around.

a lonely woman

There is a lonely woman in her who cries remembering her long-dead amma and appa, a child who loves chasing aeroplanes and a mom who rushes back home to attend to her children despite a hectic schedule. Meet Rajshree Pathy, who is more than a celebrated businesswoman from Coimbatore.

A sugar baron; the first woman President of Indian Sugar Mills Association; recipient of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow from the World Economic Forum, Switzerland; former Chairperson of CII National Committee on textiles; an avid pursuer of food and agro business; energy; real estate, travel; health; hospitality and arts... Rajshree Pathy dons multiple hats with ease.

Early days

This 54-year-old Managing Director of Rajshree Group of Companies, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, is as chirpy as a 16-year-old even in the midst of a demanding timetable. But, as a child, Rajshree was quiet, nervous and cocooned; awestruck by the happenings at home. Father G. Vardaraj — industrialist, Parliamentarian, educationist and philanthropist — met stalwarts from various fields and young Rajshree was present at these meetings. She recalls, “It made me strong from within and curious about everything.” I also read a lot. My friend named me ‘ encyclopaedia'.”

Rajshree didn't want to go into the family business but wanted to do a degree in architecture from the U.S. but her parents didn't want to send her so far. When 17, she married industrialist S. Pathy. As time went by, Rajshree worked in her father's retail business (selling cars, jeeps and vans, as she defines it) and then moved to textiles. Interestingly, when she got the license for the sugar business, her father wasn't interested, as he wanted to establish a medical college for philanthropic reasons.

But she went ahead coping with both a growing family and the sugar factory. At 25, it wasn't easy. “During the setting up of the factory, I didn't see my children wake up. When Aishwarya grew up, I sent her to a boarding school in the U.S. as Coimbatore didn't have good schools. She didn't want to go but I had to push her. Whenever my children came home on holiday, I would take them to the villages I was working in and my offices. When they needed me urgently, I cancelled my meetings abroad; took the first flight back and rushed to attend to them. They slowly understood how and why their mother worked so hard.”

Creative bent

After setting up teams to take care of her businesses, Rajshree decided to follow her creative pursuits. She opened the Contemplate Art Museum at Coimbatore recently. “My greatest regret is that I am not a performing artiste. So I promote performing arts through Contemplate and feel good,” she says. Her love for architecture saw her design her office and factory.

Success has its own way of scarring its recipients. Rajshree is no exception. The tragic death of her parents and coping with her family and business often drained her emotionally. “My world came crumbling down when I lost my father in 1992. It shocked my mother so much that she became an invalid for 13 years. I was just 32 and it was tough for me to deal with it. I would pray for her death to relieve her of unbearable pain…” her voice chokes.

Keeping happy

The mood is getting sombre. It seems reasonable to cheer her up. So, how does she pamper the woman in her? And how is she always so chirpy? Rajshree wipes away her tears and smiles, “To pamper myself, I shop, dress well and go to an Ayurveda centre for one month every year and detoxify myself. I don't let the child in me die. Whenever I see an aeroplane flying, I go running out of my house to chase it! Like any child, I want to love people, trust them and be generous to them. I know love comes back. I have promised myself that I will not give anyone a chance to make me unhappy.” Did someone say success is the by product of right values?

Writer's room

Author Anita Nair is testing the waters with her next work – a translation of Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai's magnum opus Chemmeen, which is being published by Harper Collins. It will reach bookshelves in September. After scripting success with her novels, short stories, essays, book of poems, and stories for children, the writer wants to explore new genres in her literary journey.

The idea of a translation took shape in her mind when she was working on her novel Mistress. As its protagonist is a Kathakali actor, her research demanded that she read attakathas (the text of plays in Kathakali) of various plays. “I was struck by the poetry, and sheer beauty of the verses of Nalacharitham. Such a popular play, however, lacked a good translation. I wanted to do that. But, before attempting something so challenging, I wanted to try my hand at translating… something I have never done before,” explains Anita.

The author of passionate, searing and soul-searching novels such as The Better Man, Ladies Coupe, Mistress, and Lessons in Forgetting, wanted to take a break from the intense stories she had been writing for some time and explore new areas.

Need for good translations

“The last translation of Chemmeen was done many years ago. However, we still lack good translations of many of our great works in regional languages of India. If we attempt a literal translation of the native dialect, rustic flavour, and usage, the translation becomes ungrammatical,” she explains. The author points out that leading Latin American and German authors are household names in Kerala and India but we forget that what we read are all adept translations that read so smoothly.

So when the opportunity to work on a translation came her way, she did not think twice before she replied in the affirmative. Before long, she found herself delving into the cadence and rhythm of Thakazhi's characters and their lives.

She made her assistant Mini Kuruvilla read the story aloud to help her get the right tone and feel of the dialogues in the story. But, no, she did not see the movie. “I thought I would see the film as a reward, after the translation was done. In fact, all the while I was doing the translation, ‘Maanasa Maine…,' the iconic song in the movie Chemmeen, kept reverberating in my mind,” she adds, laughing.

As is her habit, in addition to the translation, she has been working on her new novel – a whodunit. It is a psychological crime thriller that has her plotting to set her reader on edge with her new book. “I was commissioned to write a historical novel on the Mammakam of Northern Kerala. That is still on but this thriller just fell into place,” she says. Her book of poems Malabar Mind is likely to be republished later this year, adds Anita who will be in the city for the Hay Literary Festival. Blogs are fine when a writer is talking about personal experiences. But I have reservations when bloggers begin to put on the mantle of reviewers without the experience to do that…

Author’s Notes

E-books of my works are available. But I still prefer the comfort of a book. You can't take your laptop to bed and read!

I am a voracious reader. One of the authors I enjoy reading again and again is Brazilian writer Amado Jorge.

My son, Maithreya, a voracious reader, is the one who gives me the titles of my books. If he feels the title does not sound right, then it usually does not. He has that feel for words and their meaning.

Lessons in management

Anita was in the city for a function organised by UST Global on management education. She is a disciplined writer and seems to be an adept multi-tasker, as she worked simultaneously on the translation and her previous novel Lessons in Forgetting. “I would work on my novel in the morning and on the translation in the afternoon. You can't work on more than three or pages each day,” she says. She had a dictionary by her side, and Mini helped her get the right flavour of a word and its usage in the context of the novel. “Thakazhi's novel uses a dialect that is unique to the coastal region. One has to understand the soul of a writer for a good translation and get a feel of the warp and weft of emotions that Thakazhi weaves in the novel,” she feels