Never a write-off

Ever since I started writing three decades ago, I have meticulously squirrelled away all my published pieces and related correspondence 15...

Ever since I started writing three decades ago, I have meticulously squirrelled away all my published pieces and related correspondence 8212; a habit that has filled a steel trunk with a mouldy collection of newspapers, files and magazines. Browsing through them can be quite evocative of the past.

Interestingly, in the seventies and eighties, editors used to personally acknowledge each contribution accepted for publication. Indeed, I still have letters of acceptance from such veterans of the Indian Express as B.G. Verghese, Sumer Kaul and Hiranmay Karlekar. However, today8217;s overworked editors have little time for such niceties. At the same time, the dreaded rejection slip remains much the same as it was 30 years ago 8212; an impersonal slip of paper that sends one8217;s spirits plummeting to abysmal depths.

Given the difficulty of breaking into print, it8217;s not surprising that writers tend to prize their published pieces. I am no exception. Once in a well-intentioned effort to bolster my dwindling finances, my servant sold off a stack of newspapers and magazines to the paperwala 8211; among them my only copy of several published middles and articles.

Thoroughly dismayed, I somehow tracked down the buyer and retrieved the entire lot 8211; paying an additional three rupees per kilogram as the man8217;s profit margin!

Nothing, however, can be more frustrating than to find one8217;s contribution 8212; the result of days of hard work 8212; published without one8217;s byline. It8217;s like marketing a product unlabelled. Mercifully, it has not happened to me often. But, when it does, it makes me tear my hair out in despair. Much as one would like to, one cannot possibly vent one8217;s ire on the careless sub-editor without antagonising him!

Sometimes my contributions come winging back to me like homing pigeons with the familiar rejection slip. Sometimes, despite enclosing a stamped and self-addressed envelope, I hear nothing about the contribution for months. Once, when this happened, I made a series of long-distance telephone calls to the publication8217;s office, had my article traced and eventually published 8212; only to find that the cost of the calls far exceeded the fee that I ultimately received for the piece a year later! Presumably, such irritants are experienced by most writers. But, having been bitten deeply by the writing bug, I suppose they manfully soldier on, hopeful of turning out someday a bestseller that will bring them fame and fortune. Patience and optimism are two strengths every writer learns to cultivate assiduously in his pursuit of success. And, of course, perseverance does pay.

So, despite the mounting pile of rejection slips, nothing can really match the sheer thrill of eventually seeing one8217;s name in print. It8217;s a tremendous morale-booster as any budding writer will vouch. And it certainly does motivate one to keep on writing. I do. For I am, quite literally, pursuing a career in writing 8212; though I am yet to catch up with it!