Once upon a time-by Seema

Pavan Kapoor ,  Contributor ,  Jakarta   |  Sun, 06/28/2009 11:34 AM  |  Bookmark

The bright yellow backdrop complete with swarming, plump bumblebees, feels like the sun dropped in to say hello and listen as Seema Chatterjee read her collection of stories to the kids at Aksara Bookstore, Kemang.

There is laughter and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Her friend, Vivek Bammi, introduced the author and recounted Seema's personal journey as an author. Then children and adults walked up one by one to read excerpts.

Historically, stories were told to entertain and inform. Whether they were narrated, mimed or enacted, they helped to pass on values and beliefs to the next generation. Today, visual media, such as films, often overwhelm the storyline; the impact that computer-generated effects have on audiences is unimaginable.

But short stories form an intrinsic part of any child's formative years. Long novels hold the attention of the reader on a thin rope as the writer digs deeper - but short stories are highly combustible, intense burst of creative energy that explode through the mind and leave readers ecstatic and wanting more.

It is these feathers of fantastic imagination that Seema attempts to pull from thin air and gather in her head - dripping them out one by one until The Bumblebees and Other Stories became a reality.

Seema has lived her life in multiple cultures and a kaleidoscope of different worlds. From the wonders of Egypt to the crisp smartness of London; from working with children for the CRY (Child Relief and You) organization to being the pampered "expat wife" as she followed her husband on assignments to Sri Lanka, China and now Indonesia, Seema is living yet another life through the staccato bursts of fantasy in her stories.

The book was published in Mumbai, India by Frog Books. It's a labor of love that came spontaneously to Seema, as she lay huddled under thick duvets on a cold, damp winter day in New Delhi. "When creativity is not forced, not planned and bursts forth as the torrential rain in the monsoon it is the true labor of love," says Seema, who for years had a secret dream of holding peter Pan's hand and flying through the skies with carefree abandon.

A third-person omniscient narrator tells the story in a matter-of-fact, consistently upbeat manner. While Harry Potter tells of mystical happenings in this world, Seema seems to nudge her young readers to go beyond and actually live in a totally made-up world of utter fantasy of live playing cards, jam and sauce bottles.

Everyday mundane objects are pumped with the gift of life, reason and emotion as they live and act like humans. Emotions - love, anger, jealousy, pride, loyalty - run unbridled and are the highlight of the characters and their human-like lives.

Seema seems have simple, unfettered fun offering us her rampant imagination studded with layered, complex characters with tongue twisting names.

In Topsy Turvey Goes Straight you have Topsy Turvey, Tipsy, then the buddies - Cocky, Snotty and Rocky. The reader's heart goes out, naturally, to this weird upside down character, whose life is in total disarray.

Born with a magical angular chin, Topsy tries to make it in the real World. The story is a parade to most of us normal humans who try to forge ahead despite of sprinkle of drawbacks life serves us. The friends taste success in a business venture and the camaraderie between them is worth winding through the maze of tongue twisters that Seema seems to have planted out in a naughty mood.

Then, there is the juvenile, riotous moon that bumps into the Sun and all the heavenly bodies, landing them up in the "Hospital of Heavenly Head-Ons" for a thousand years.

"The Face" tells us about Pale face, Fresh face and Pink face - simply woven characters in a touching story about finding our place under the sun. "I write from a part, deeply embedded in me, my soul. the core of my being," says Seema. Perhaps the stories are just about Seema finding the release of her creative energy, like Pale Face.

Most Of Seema's stories begin with a cacophony and busy rush of activity as characters so unique that dialogue and action seems to take a back seat to understanding the protagonists, cats and dogs literally rain from the skies in "The Day it Rained Cats and Dogs."

In "The Queen of Hears" the Queen is seething with anger, indignant over being placed between subordinates in the pack of cards as the medley of characters punch and their way through the opening paragraph. But there are those that are methodical and slow, building to a point of tension, such as "The Face" and "The Bumblebees" or "Rescue at Jeopardy Farm." However they all end with an unconditional positive note. Seema tells the world; "it all works out in the end."

The plots that Seema writes around are intrinsically simple. "I describe the protagonist or the main character in my story. He or she is like all of us in our everyday lives where we daily battle some demons and hurdles. Sometimes these demons are within us," she says. "The ending is always a happy one with good emerging triumphant over bad."

Excerpt from "The Bumblebees:"

This way the Bumblebees would continue to see her.. Yes God had answered their prayers indeed! Naomi realized that Jake was doing this for her own good. She felt happy and flung herself at Jake and then her new-found parents, hugging each of then in delight. She had found her home after her own heart.

With a heart full of laughter and a head full of feathers dipped in the ink of surrealist imagery, her effort to create from the experiences of her personal life is truly applaudable. Seema quite successfully captures this objective as she wafts on her feathers, at the whim of the breeze, in search of new stories that she promises soon; "a new book of stories, collections of thoughts and reflections of life."

We await Seema, and so do the kids.

 

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