And ever since...

Six months have elapsed since the last time i posted here (no serious loss to humanity anyway!). it was when i came close to forgetting the password of this blog that i realised it was time I wrote something here. It is not entirely a Mysore-fatigue in the last 6 months that kept me out of this place. The last 6 months have been magical. I almost lose track of the number of people i have met in just these few months, from all walks of life. Ever since the book was launched in Bangalore on 4th March, they have been till date 16 other events centred around the topic and many more still up on my calendar till year-end. Apart from launches at Mysore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi, Pilani, Chicago and London there have been talks at places like the Bangalore International Centre, India International Centre in Delhi, Indian Institute of Science, Oxford, British Library and so on. While setting some of these up myself was such a logistical nightmare that even thinking of doing them again sends shivers down my shine, these events were a wonderful way of getting directly in touch with my readers. Some of their mails, feedback--positive and negative; have been so very helpful.
I am also very happy that to some extent this has brought the story of Mysore in a larger national (and even international) discourse. Sadly Indian history gets restricted to the courts of the Mughals or the exploits of the Rajputs.

But yes, personally, the transformation has been difficult too. For one, i didnt expect the kind of coverage that the book got in almost all the major dailies. The link below bears that point out more strongly!
http://vikramsampath.com/royalmysore_press.html

This in turn had spin offs in terms of invites for more talks and lectures (and of course some bolstering of the sales tally too !) While that has been refreshing and intellectually stimulating, to be able to reinvent yourself and the subject based on the city, the audience and their intrests; it has been physically (and financially!) tiring. Squeezing in travel dates in the midst of a full-time job and a full-time passion for classical music, has been rather demanding. It wouldnt be wrong to say work, music and family bore a brunt of this to quite an extent! But then the interest and the zeal for the subject somehow seems to be propelling me so far. Though people close to me are somewhere seeing the dip in my enthusiasm levels, especially while delivering lectures, and asking me to take a well-deserved break from the topic for a while.

Of course the most interesting part has been a host of wannable writers getting in touch for tips on how to get one's work published. It is interesting because just about a year or so back i was in quite the same quagmire as i stepped into Smt Shashi Deshpande's tastefully done up living room with much trepidation, with the same queries in my mind! How quickly tables turn! Of course she had said then and i would always remember her words of wisdom that nothing and nobody---not even your own mother if she was a publisher--can ensure that your work gets published and does well. It needs to have its own worth and you need to keep your faith and conviction in it and that is what sails you through. In hindsight they seem to be an invaluable advice for all of us who want to see our books on the shelves!

As Tim Cahill says-- "Publishing your work is important. Even if you are giving a piece to some smaller publication for free, you will learn something about your writing. The editor will say something, friends will mention it. You will learn." And O! boy! What a learning experience this has been !!!