Session 6(A): Beautiful Hauntings
Session 4: Revisiting One’s Roots
In Conversation with Ms Kia Carrington Russell
In Conversation with Mr Amandeep Sadhu
Being an author is not a moment’s job; it is, instead, a long, strenuous journey. A journey riddled by countless ups and downs- If there was one thing that I was to take away from Ms Carrington’s session, it would be this.
An enthusiastic individual with a sheer passion for literature rippling in her every word, Ms Carrington’s bright demeanour had every eye grow wide in anticipation for her next lines. Her electrifying, yet comforting presence, truly was a testament to the “kick-ass heroines” in her books! She was everything we’d ever thought her to be: bold like Esmore and magnetic like Karla Gray.
But what, personally, struck a deep chord was Ms Carrington’s empathy. She understood that being a teenager was not always the most merriest of rides. She understood that through this very tumultuous age, teens often feel neglected and isolated. She understood these emotions and, in a “hauntingly beautiful” manner, convinced the audience that penning their thoughts on paper was the greatest panacea to all teenage ailments! Her benevolence and eagerness in sharing her own writing, publication and story creation strategies not only gave us the privileged peek into an acclaimed author’s mind, but it also stimulated every muscle in our bodies to get typing, scribbling and etching the next literary masterpiece.
This motivation, this mutual conviction on embracing the daunting future through words, is the spell that Ms Carrington’s session cast upon us. A spell, not likely to break very soon.
-DEVANSH DHABHAI
Mr Amandeep Sndhu began by talking about the importance of writing, how it has been our mode of conversation for centuries and has now been taken over by OTT platforms and cinema. He claimed that “one needs to be madly driven to be a writer.” Over an in-depth discussion on Sepia Leaves, his first book, he talked about how his father played an important role in his 20-year long career (he has even given acknowledgements to his father in his latest book). Like a true author, he painted a vivid image of his early life, his dysfunctional family and how he found home in books like Cha-cha Chaudhary and Tintin.
Mr. Sandhu also emphasized on the importance of doing what you are truly passionate about. Through his wise words, he talked about how in order to write, one must have financial security and at the same time, never depend on someone for money, for that teaches you discipline, giving the example of Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own. At the beginning of each book, he would face issues like writer’s block and would be disheartened quite often, as “he lost his words, his vocabulary” but through the book, he “tried to build it up again”.
His latest book, Punjab: Journey Through Fault Lines, was an attempt to find his true roots, and how living outside his home state had left him curious to know more about his culture.