What
next?
Whatever
it is, there is no looking back, there is no turning back.
To
be mentally saddled with a single genre is against my nature and is anathema to
me. Even as I was into my first venture, “Dance of Life”, ideas for many novels
started germinating in my mind. As is my wont, I opened several document files,
either with the first ideas translated into words or with just the titles,
tentative in most cases (read my blog post MY
JOURNEY INTO THE WORLD OF WRITING - IV).
My
experiences with my first book instilled in me huge confidence in my ability,
especially after getting the feedback from my guardian angel. (“Dance of
Life” is her favourite among all my novels, she says). I had it in me.
With the newfound self-belief and self-confidence, I set out towards my second
novel.
I
gained confidence that I, too, could write – effectively, coherently, and
meaningfully – without giving in to the hype that is so prevalent these days
all around us in newspapers, TV, movies, books, society, in every walk of life.
I
also decided that I just could not “stick” to one single genre. This guided me
to a new topic, a new genre for my second novel – a kidnap drama.
I
christened it simply “THE KIDNAP”.
Would
you be surprised if I said that I resumed my “novel” journey based on three
factors, the general topic, the first scene, and the last action scene? Since
criminal investigation in our country is the responsibility of, and only of,
the police departments of various state governments and central government (no Private
Investigators are permitted on the hallowed ground) the hero had necessarily to
be a police officer; in this case, the entire police department of Tamil Nadu.
In
one of my earlier blogs, I unashamedly admitted to the influence of Late
Alistair MacLean and Late Agatha Christie on my writings and me. That came to
the fore in this venture of mine – the descriptive prose, the eye for detail,
and the characterisation. The confidence that grew in me manifested itself in
the number of pages of the whole narrative – about twenty more than my first
venture, “Dance of Life”; not that I willed it and filled it with garbage but
that I went into detail as demanded by the storyline.
The
narration flowed smoothly; the characters and situations came out as planned.
This story proved a wee bit tougher since my knowledge of guns, canine squads,
forensic procedures, etc. was limited to what I read in novels and what I saw
in movies, especially American movies and TV serials. (Indian movies and TV
serials are pathetic even in imitating their Hollywood counterparts and offer nothing
to enhance my knowledge). In particular, American TV serials “CSI” (Crime Scene Investigation – all
three franchises of it) and “PRACTICE”
left an indelible mark on my mind. The knowledge I gained from them helped me
in my small research for my work. To say that a great amount of my forensic
knowledge is due to my writer-icons Agatha Christie and Alistair MacLean would be
no hyperbole.
General
information available on the Internet apart, Tamil Nadu Police website was of
great help in matters concerning canine sleuths. I added my own intuition and
imagination to that in the action scenes.
I
dwelt for a while on Tamil Nadu Forensic laboratory (TNFL) an imaginary forensic laboratory of the Tamil Nadu Police
department. An ardent fan of CSI, I could never understand the fair-like scene that
we witness telecast at every crime scene; not just the investigating police
personnel, but ministers, politicians, media personnel, and all and sundry just
stomp the crime scene. Don’t the police realise that this causes loss or
compromise of evidence? Aren’t there any strict guidelines to be followed by
forensic scientists in maintaining the sanctity of the crime scene? I wonder.
This
prompted me to “create” a forensic laboratory of international standards to
help analyse evidence from crime scenes and apprehend culprits. The narration
flowed smoothly and reached “The End”.
That’s
it, friends. Meet you in my next blog with some eerie stuff.
Namaskaram!
