My Story in Deccan Herald!

Most Gracious ILites,
The Articulations Section of Deccan Herald today carries my story, "The Teddy Bear".
I am always sentimentally attached to my stories in DH as one such story, The Promise, got me the Visa to enter this wonderful site.
Here's the link for the story.

http://deccanherald.com/deccanherald/may72006/artic10497200655.asp

please read it at your convenience and post your comments here

regards,
Varalotti

Dear Sridhar,
I read your story in the morning itself, as soon as the paper came, and my eyes fell upon your name;
I wanted to congratulate you after morn-chores; Nice of you to remember me. 'Teddy bear'-what a fascinting title, with the engaging ilustration to go with it! An unusual story,
narrated in a heart-rending way, with the totally unexpected climax leaving t he readerspeechless! You really are a master-short story teller, Sridhar! Can you divulge the secret- How you got the idea?
The present episode of 'Beauty and brain' is also breath-taking. I will be surprised, if producers don't come running for it.
By the way, a middle of mine titled as 'Memories of Thata' had appeared in D.H on May second. I will try to put it in IL, along with a short poem which also appeared some time back. You will be glad to know that I have been selected to be introduced (IN Humour series-to the students)They interviewed me over phone,
after having gone through my achievements before, and it was like a bolt from the blue! You must have heard of 'Indira Gandhi open university", well ,this is a part of it known as 'Jnanavani', and very good lectures are broadcast by eminent scholars in the field, both in English and Kannada. Maybe they will print them al l into textbooks; Anyway, I call this as 'Devi's grace',and the best wishes of you of - my sincere friends.
Looking forward to more stories like this
Nuggehalli Pankaja

Dear Pankaja,
Thanks for those kind words. I sent this story way back in October/November 2005 and I had lost all hopes on the story when it suddenly popped up. The tamil version of this story was published in Anandhavikatan in 2000.
Nice to know your achievements.
No wonder you are selected by IGNOU for their Gnanavani series. In Tamil Vani refers to Goddess Sarawathi and when you say Gnana Vani there is a double emphasis on wisdom. What better way to describe a person without an equal, Anupama?
sridhar

Dear Sridharji,

The story was just soooooooo cute that I couldnt stop but smile and reminisce days of yore! I am sure many women here have had similar experiences with parents, but what makes this story so different is the fact that Sindhu keeps her father's creation and chooses to part with the teddy bear:)

Not that I was a bad girl(or such a nice girl either!!), but my dad never drew anything!! But mom and dad always made sure that all my wishes were granted, even though I would be silly! As a child, I had this bad habit of getting interested in new things, but lost interest if it dint seem challenging after a while- embroidery kit, coloring kit, skating-swimming-tennis classes....just so many of those things mom-dad got me enrolled into upon my urge and I would lose interest in a very short while!!!

Nice lovely story that shows how children can be stubborn yet forgiving and how pleased they could be from things you never expected would delight them so much:)

Love
Shal

Dear Sridhar,

Cute story....a very matured daughter i must say and a loving and understanding one too....... ..well , only daughters can be like that i guess!

as usual well written , with a simple but profound theme , narrated too in a simple manner, with the right twist at the end! Great job....

Dear sridhar,

As ever, you have written another touching story. It was too cute. The first part of story reminded me of my little daughter. She always counts down for all important events, like her birthday, sports' day and our trip to india... Her excitement and enthusiasm is infectious. I just loved the story and that little sweet sindhu.

I am moved to tears while reading most of you stories. They are always very touching. Thanks for another such story, Sridhar.

Dear Shalji,
(I always do tit for tat. I am sridhar and you are shal or, I am sridharji and you're shalji. have your choice)
thanks for the nice words. When you use such cute expressions like sooooooooo cute I feel that the heroine of the story, Sindhu herself is praising me. Thanks again.
Shalji, one sad thing about our lives is, that as children we don't understand our parents and as parents we don't understand our children. I have a feeling that at least in Indian/Asian families, the children are grossly underrated. I wrote this story to bring out the internal beauty of our children. As they grow up we as parents slowly spoil that beauty with our ideas.

I don't think you are a bad girl or even a spoilt girl, Shalji. As children all of us get interested in many things and discard them soon as soon as the excitement wanes - be it our new toys, new courses or new school. Only as we grow older we shed off this flippant nature and mature into adults. In a way it is better to have tried and abandoned so many things pretty early in life. That will help you in identifying your life's mission pretty fast.

Thanks again for your nice words,
sridharji

Dear Sudha,
thanks for the nice words.
I agree with you 2000% that only daughters can be like that.
Usually our children are far more matured than we think they are. This I can say from my personal experience as the father of a wonderful girl. Many times we don't understand them. Every now and then I read Gibran's words 'Your children are not your children.'
Thanks for the comments on the simple style. I didn't choose that. With the limited vocabulary of an accountant I can't just write in a complex style.
thanks once again for your time.
sridhar

Dear Prathi,
It may take some time for the newspaper to send me my reward for the story. But I have got it already from you.
If you had got my first books I have just mentioned this.
"More than anything else if some one who has read my stories calls me to tell in a choking voice that she is moved by the story, then that is equivalent to winning the Sakithya Academy Award."
I am very happy that some of Sindhu's traits reminded you of Mamtha.
I was also like that when I was a child. But as I was a born accountant I used to convert the days into hours and minutes and keep on telling people "we have just 1440 hours for our train to start" and so on.
Thanks for the nice words. Words like these make the lonely nights spent in burning the midnight oil worth their while.
thanks once again, Prathi.
sridhar

Dear Sridhar

It has become a habit for me to read your stories and have lunch at work. 1 devoted hour for your short stories has become a habit for me these days. The teddy bear was just ineffable that tears dropped out of my eyes. Such a wonderful message so well written. None other than your writing could bring out this feeling.

Me and my husband just love your stories and we have been keeping up with it up to date. I am so sorry that i could not write my comments and feelings on the others since i used to print them and read them through as i find time at home and at work and will think of writing my comments the next day and miss it.

I have a 2 year old boy who is very interested in listening to stories and will surely narrate this to him today.

Thanks again for such a lovely well written piece.

Wishes
Vidya