Writing isn't something that comes naturally to me. A single piece requires a lot of attention, time, effort, ideation, motivation and much more. Even when you are writing about something close to your understanding and heart, that doesn't mean ideas will flow, One has to reflect a lot.

Since writing has been my vocation for the past four decades , I do feel the urge to write more. I have a couple of book projects in mind. One of them is on a celebrated Indian cricketer of yesteryear, someone whom I respect and admire. I know recreating a life is never easy as you need to understand the intention, motivation and the chance factor in-depth that gives substance and character to a person. I will still try.

I am also planning to write short stories. I believe human beings reveal their complex emotions in trivial, seemingly insignificant events. What shapes a human response, their likes, dislikes, why a person reacts or behaves in a certain way and what it means to them can be decoded, if that is possible, in stories that are not longer than a few pages.

My introduction to Buddhism and it's teachings have opened up a new world for me. Buddhism is all about understanding the mind and Shakyamuni Buddha must be the greatest therapist in human history. His exposition of how causes and conditions decide the course of an action and there being no inherent existence from the side of the object is the best tool you can have to understand human existence.

My recording of past events in my book "Not Just Cricket" were greatly influenced by this philosophy which made me take a more unprejudiced view of the world I have lived in. Hopefully, my future writings will continue to look at people with greater understanding and empathy.

(As told to Sanya Tyagi)

Concluded…

To get the book:

(NOT JUST CRICKET: A Reporter's Journey through Modern India https://amzn.eu/d/3yp6NXc)