THE SHORT STORY WRITER

 

Satish shut down the operating system, closed the notebook, and went for lunch.

“Why do you take so much time to come when you are called? After the food is arranged on the table, it gets cold by the time you start eating. What is the use of serving hot food?” mother complained.

“Aai, I wanted to complete writing one paragraph of my new story. If I break in between, the link is lost. And then it is very difficult to continue with the flow of the story.”

"Oh! Great story writer. So many stories you have written so far! Just writing stories is not enough. It must be meaningful. It must be accepted by the literary world. Anyway. Now I have warmed the food again. So please finish your lunch first.

What time did you sleep last night? I saw lights in your room when I got up for water at around two o’clock. What were you doing? Writing only?" mother put question to Satish.

“Yes, Aai. I got a brilliant idea last night and I wanted to put it down immediately.”

“Satish, you have given up Engineering studies to pursue your hobby of writing short stories. You want to make a career in writing. Fine. But what have you achieved during the last year? So many stories you have written. Each friend of yours whenever they visit, you force upon them your new story. Sometimes they genuinely give you their feedback. But many times they do not find them interesting. Satish, tell me. How many stories have you submitted to different publication houses so far? None of them ever got accepted. Every time you submit your story, you are in high spirits. You are always sure that the new story would get published. Your mood is sustained till you receive a message from the publishing house ‘this time your story is unsuccessful.’” Mother kept a glass of water near Satish.

“No. I don't want to discourage you. But I am putting facts in front of you. You take so much effort to write a story. So many times you rewrite them. You make your friends read them. Discuss with them. Make some changes if you find them necessary. And when you send them to publishing houses, they send you a message of rejection. I feel you are wasting your energy. It will be better if you take up a job.”

Satish was disappointed that his mother who supported him with his ideas for so long and appreciated his creativity always, had lost her patience.                                 

“But this time I have a very brilliant idea. I am sure nobody has written such a marvelous story so far. Aai, this will be a story appreciated by young and old, poor and rich. Everybody. It will draw the attention of one and all. You will see the result very soon."

“Satish, I hope so. You must get recognition soon.”

Satish finished his lunch quickly. Rushed to his study room. Opened the laptop and started typing his ideas.

In the evening, Vidya, his good friend came to his house. She was close to him since their school days. She was working in a multinational firm as an executive. She appreciated Satish’s efforts and had faith in his imaginative ability. She was usually the first person to whom Satish would show his work.

As expected, Vidya was given the story to read. “This is going to topple the literary world. Vidya, I want you to read this story carefully and give me your feedback honestly.” Satish pulled one chair near the laptop and opened the file to enable her to read his new creation.

“Satish, Vidya has just entered the house. Let her have some water. I will make tea for her. Do not just embarrass her by making her read your new story.” The mother looked at Vidya and tried to drag her into the kitchen. But Vidya ignored his mother and started reading the story. Satish was watching her face for the reaction. As she went on reading, Satish was getting more anxious about her feedback. Slowly Vidya’s face started brightening up. Satish could not hold his patience. He started looking out of the window to hide eager expressions on his face. After a few minutes of reading, Vidya turned toward Satish. "Wonderful, Satish. This is too good. Just a few suggestions. Otherwise, the story is absolutely fascinating. It smoothly glides the reader till the end and finally a superb climax. Very nice. I would rate this as your finest work so far. Make the changes and send them to the publisher. They can not reject this one.”

Mother came with the tea for the three of them.

“Aai, Have you read this story?” Vidya asked his mother while picking up her cup of tea.

“No. He does not believe us. He needs some friends like you to give feedback.” Mother remarked smilingly.

“But Aai, this is an extraordinary piece of work. Just superb. Satish says this is going to create waves in the literary world." Vidya said while sipping tea.

“Satish always feels that everything he writes is outstanding. But what he thinks and what the experts think do not coincide. Whatever he has written so far was disapproved by the publishers. Why do you think this time it is going to be different?” mother posed a question to Vidya. Of course, she did not have any answer to this.

“You will come to know very soon. I really feel this is great work."

Satish was a little embarrassed to hear both good and bad about his literary skills.

After making the changes, Satish sent his story to one of the publishers. As the days passed by Satish was getting impatient waiting for the mail for the selection of his story for publication. Two weeks passed. Satish was losing his nerves. No communication was received.

And after three weeks a mail came. That was an intimation of disapproval. Satish was shattered. His mother was literally in tears. When Vidya came to know about the denial of this story, she rushed immediately to Satish and tried to console him. Vidya said, “There must be some mistake on part of the publisher. This certainly deserves selection. Maybe the number of stories to be selected was already over. Unfortunately, our story only had to go out. "

“Vidya, I told you, however good we might find this story, it does not match with the publisher's thinking. So inevitable was to happen-the non-acceptance.” Mother said in a dejected tone. “I feel, Satish should stop writing stories. That does not seem to be his cup of tea.” And tears flowed down mother’s eyes.

Vidya said “Satish, Don’t feel bad. Anyway, we will send this story to yet another publisher. Let us try our luck there.”

Vidya selected another publisher and made Satish send his story there. Again, the waiting for the communication from the publisher was making Satish, Vidya and the mother very uneasy. As the days were passing, the hopes were dying rapidly.

And the mail came to Satish’s inbox. That was a congratulatory letter for the selection of his story for publication. Satish was on cloud nine. Mother and Vidya were extremely happy.

Mother thanked God and offered a naivaidyam to him.

 After a week Satish received yet another stunning letter. Another publisher had shown interest in his other short stories stating that his published short story had received raving reviews. It was in great demand. So they wanted to offer him a big amount to have the right to publish all of his short stories in the form of a book. Some news channels gave the news to the world about the phenomenal success of the short story writer. Satish had received the deserved recognition. He was a celebrity then.