Amid the chaos, the narrator of The Scent of Fallen Stars finds himself caught in the peculiar energy of the city, an India both bewildering and intoxicating. This unsettling start to the journey foreshadows the complex web of identity and secrets that Aishwarya Jha, debut novelist and winner of this year's Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman (Best Debut Fiction) by The New Indian Express Group, so skillfully weaves in her first novel.
"Writing has always been my greatest dream," she says, recalling childhood visits to bookstores, inhaling the intoxicating scent of paper and wood. But much like her characters, the path wasn't straightforward. After countless rejections from literary magazines, she persisted, honing her craft through plays and short stories. "Writing plays taught me to craft dialogue and get to the heart of a scene quickly. You only have ten minutes in a one-act play, so every word has to count. It taught me to edit ruthlessly - if it doesn't serve the story, it goes," she says.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 21, 2024-Ausgabe von The New Indian Express.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der November 21, 2024-Ausgabe von The New Indian Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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The Great Bottled Hoax
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Soft Power: The Indian Way
The Lord’s cricket ground, with its manicured green fields and the faint echo of polite applause, is very British.
Gender Fluidity is No Trend, It is a Timeless Truth
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Hamas has Intentionally Sought and Provoked Civilian Harm in Gaza
War is complex, and in our polarising age, an adequate approximation of the truth of any conflict is hard to come by.
To Weaken China, Modi Must Strengthen Manipur
The enduring travesty of colonialism is not the blood that has been spilt of indigenous populations, but the festering wounds of identity politics the invaders left unhealed.
In Order to Get Out of Man-made Hell, Rules Need to be Respected and Enforced
ACUTE ANGLE
The Big Band Theory
Destroyer by Bodhi and the Omega Force mixes Indian classical music with progressive rock
When the Postman Comes Calling
Tucked away in the Nilgiris in Kerala, Chindakki can almost be written off the face of the earth.
Statuesque in Maximum City
Art Mumbai's Sculpture Walk tries to get visitors talking about the city, its nature, its life, its people and its vibe
India's Scamdemic
Blackmail, threats of arrest and fake authority are being used to create an atmosphere of fear by local and global criminal networks using phones and computers to cheat unsuspecting Indians of their life savings amounting to crores
