Aayanman's Top Picks

Here is a list of my favorite posts - that doesn't mean the others were or are not good enough. This is merely from a satisfaction index standpoint. These stories or poems are the ones that I enjoyed writing the most. Needless to say, this list is not in any order or preference in terms of the hierarchy.

The Poems.

1. Life Opposites. -  a short limerick about how sometimes in life, we face the opposite of what we expect.
2. Reel life - a philosophical take on life and how we complete the picture.
3. The Waiting Train - a poem about the physical and mental struggles of obesity.
4. 26 mixed feelings - this was unique simply because it was written keeping the predator and the prey in mind
5. Revenir - A poem very close to my heart for the simple reality is reflected.
6. Broken Heart - very close to my heart - written with absolute spontaneity in 20 mins. Flat.
7. Watcher - an attempt to write poetry from the voyeur's perspective.
8. Fireflies - a poem about hope.
9. Sounds of Silence -  in this speaking-talking world, silence gets lost somewhere, where we refuse to listen to ourselves

Special Mention

1. Fait Accompli -  not sure which genre or category to slot this - it is a poem that tells a story and is an attempt to keep it in 55 words in Bengali. Written by the author Shajon , someone who I admire tremendously and with respect for the intensity of emotions he has managed to elicit in so few words - he is a genius, in my opinion. You have to read this poem two or three times to start uncovering the deeper facets of the lines, and then it strikes you really hard. Its composition brilliance takes you through multiple emotions. Must read.

The Mini Series.

1. Aparajita - my first attempt at writing a long story. Particularly fulfilling because of the complexity of the characters and pace of narration, and the dark angle to the story was quite challenging to construct. Again this was a story that could have had multiple endings. That fascinated me since I never thought it would turn out like it did.
2. A Simple Ghost Story -  right from the title till the end of the story, nothing was what it seemed. Writing this was a big challenge as multiple plots and subplots were all laced with reality. Mandeville actually exists, albeit with a different name, and so does Mr. E White.! I have been there, and I can tell you if nothing else - that place is a psychological Pandora's box!
3. Milestones - this was special since every bit of it was fiction - created without precedence. As I increased my pace of churning out stories, there was a nagging feeling in my mind that maybe I depended too much on the factual cases and research on the delivery of the story - I thought nothing wrong with that- I thought of challenging myself to an entirely different genre - A fantasy philosophy.

The Short Stories.

1. The Accident Incident - I enjoyed this more because it is quite close to a real-life incident. This post also was like a turning point in my thought process for telling a story. Fusing fact with fiction and crafting a story out of it appealed to me tremendously.
2. Paa - Not just a heart-wrenching story of a father and son - but also a sign of our times.A poignant story of a lifelong sacrifice, pain and the subsequent gift from the child. The story came out just right in terms of length since there was an overwhelming desire to write more. But this needed a short hard, hitting construct, and the final outcome was very satisfying.
3. Dangle Veils is my first attempt into the dark, supernatural, regular, and normal thriller genre. Quite some time went into the pre-production, as it were, in research, in character sketching and editing. Overall I liked the possibilities it kept throwing up right through the story.
4. Personalities -  A short, crisp thriller about a practicing psychologist and her patient. I liked writing this because there were multiple ways the story could have ended, but the way it finally did, surprised me too.!
5. Just Beautiful - A story about a little girl and her tryst with saving a burning tree - it is a short philosophical story that explores the innocent mind.
6. My 50th Birthday -  no, it s not about my 50th birthday - a tragi-comic take on the life of a 49-year-old man stepping onto his 50th birthday.

The 55 words micro fiction.

1. Et Tu ? -  a classic twist in the tail. I was surprised at the overwhelming response. The story was written with a thought around assumptions. How often do we take things for granted just because that's what usually happens? Personally, this piece triggered my interest to write more 55ers.
2. Beautiful Forest -  This one has got to be the most painful one since it involves an actual incident, and the challenge was to restrict it to just 55 words... whereas more than content, emotions were fighting to write another 500 words!
3. Lights Camera Action -  it was pretty fascinating to write this story because it turned out that at least 3 versions could be implied out of those 55 words.I thought of this story as if with a camera revolving 360 degrees around the characters, signifying the change of mindset, objective and outcome.