Testimonial 2 in pandemic times from a member of the ITBP

Mrs Abha Iyengar is a professional and dedicated editor. Her dedication and efforts are quite praiseworthy especially because the quality of the manuscript is enhanced after her editing. She is soft spoken and handles the work assigned in a very sincere and professional manner. She is one of the best editors one can find online. Her evaluation is thorough and comprehensive. I wish her all the best.

~Ankush Kumar, young author of a forthcoming self-help book.

Testimonial for editing during the pandemic 2020

During this pandemic lockdown I found myself staring at a heap of papers (short stories) stowed away over last so many years in various dark corners. The challenge was - ‘where from here’. Then appears Abha Iyengar – like a light in the darkness. Soon those scribbles start to look like distinct characters forming a tellable story. Result- ten stories and a  collection (Stories- that remained untold).  Thanks Abha!

Gajinder Oberoi

Flash Bites-reviewewed by Fel Jaramillo Rosario

FLASH BITES 

Abha Iyengar entices you with the remarkable brevity and lyrical tug of her prose and before you know it, you are already drawn into the nooks and crannies of an unfamiliar world--living 61 lives. 

The stories come in hors d'oeuvre sizes but Flash Bites is no fleeting repast because it leaves you with a lot to digest and feel. It moves you to tears (A Father's Blessing) and shakes you to your core (Albatross). You oscillate between sadness and joy, between love and hatred. You grit your teeth in anger and half-wail in sorrow. You smile, You laugh. By the time you metamorphose into a zebra, you shall have hyperventilated with a myriad of emotions. And you need time to emerge from deep empathy. 

Thank you, Abha Iyengar. You have proven once again that you are a superb storyteller. Flash Bites calls for another award.

Available for purchase here:

https://www.flipkart.com/flash-bites-a-collection-short-stories/p/9788172738020?pid=9788172738020&otracker=from-search&srno=t_3&query=abha+iyengar&ref=378c987f-5085-4d0d-84bc-f0d976be73db

Review by Charanjeet Kaur, Chief Editor, MUSE INDIA in Issue 64, of The Gourd seller and Other Stories

http://www.museindia.com/regularcontent.asp?issid=64&id=6201

Charanjeet Kaur: ‘The Gourd Seller & Other Stories’

Abha Iyengar
The Gourd Seller & Other StoriesKitaab International Pte Ltd, Singapore. 2015
ISBN-10: 9810934017
ISBN-13: 978-9810934019
Pages 52 | Rs 295 @ amazon.in (PB)

Haunting stories with raw honesty

The versatile and much-awarded poet and writer, Abha Iyengar comes up with another winning collection of short stories, following on the success of her earlier works: Yearnings, Shrayan, Flash Bites and Many Fish to Fry. The Gourd Seller & Other Stories, a slim volume of eight moving stories which have been critically acclaimed in their earlier publications in reputed journals, gains a great deal in depth by being presented as one cohesive text, with multiple themes and layers of consciousness emerging individually, as well as in an interplay of the various characters in situations, which border sometimes on the surreal.

There is an innate sense of the tragic that runs through the collection. Woman-centric to a major extent, seven of the stories recount, with understanding and empathy, the longings and conflicts which plague the women trying to come to terms with destinies that range from the unfortunate to the disastrous. A sense of betrayal and deception marks these destinies: A woman who has lost her husband in a tragic accident in Delhi, relocates to Kanpur and tries to rebuild her life with her daughter in the title story. Without her being aware of it, and despite their religious backgrounds, her initial disgust with the loud gourd seller, gives way to a feeling for him that she can barely understand. The bond between them is subtle, but magical. As the gourd diet purifies her in mind and body, its regenerative power also saves her daughter; but the price has to be paid. Rising over the personal emotional entanglements, Abha Iyengar depicts the mindless communal violence that claims the life of the gourd seller.

The title story is one of two stories that offer redemption and hope along with the tragedy. A similar regenerative power is evident in the Urdu poetry which the narrator discovers in 'A Matter of Time.' In most of the others, the baser instincts of human nature come to the forefront. The three stories set in the US are particularly harsh and unredeemed. Sundari, in 'A Family of Beauties,' the plain looking girl, molested by her grandfather and responsible for his death, faces further rejection from her beautiful mother and sister, and is exploited sexually by Tom, her sister's beau. The recurring presence of the rocking horse comes to symbolise the meaninglessness of both her life and death. Heidi's and Stan's relationship in 'Jagged Ends' is equally sterile, exploitative and violent and Stan's near accidental death mocks Heidi with its suddenness and what appears as her brush with good fortune – the winning of a large sum of money. The mismatch and futility of this relationship is mirrored in the coldness that grows between Rishi and the narrator in their first meeting in 'Marked Territories.' Isolated individuals, turning in upon themselves in their shells, without even the possibility of communication between them; and the explosion of violence, that snuffs all such possibility.

The intersection of the classes in both 'The Gourd Seller' and 'The High Stool' reflect different dimensions in the lives of the characters. As Reena understands herself and comes to accept the growing bond with the gourd seller, Altaf, and emerges from her dual tragedy with a strong determined will to live; the young mother Tara, in 'The High Stool' realises the hollowness of her Madam's world when she pushes the maid to get into a relationship with her husband to satiate his lust; the cynicism of the story is evident from the fact that Tara, Madam, and Tara's husband accept this situation without protest: the material benefits to all concerned are no match for questions of honour or conscience –

'Now I stay back at Madam's house quite often. My husband and children don't ask any questions. We have moved to a two room apartment in a better area. There is an attached bath with running water. My children are well-dressed and go to proper schools. Many sarees hang in my cupboard, presented to me by Madam. I have bought my family's acceptance, and Madam has bought my silence.'

The one story with a lightness of touch and an attempt at humour is the cryptic 'Haircut Sunday.' The bald protagonist, his unending experiments with new hair styles for his little son, the boy's discomfiture, his own hirsute compensations, the birth of a daughter who inherits his countable 'hairs' makes for the comic relief in this otherwise grim collection.

Abha's strength is her visualisation. The poet-cinematographer in her helps in construction of moving images that continue to haunt. Thus, the opening sentence of the title story – 

'The gourd seller's voice could be heard above the morning din. Over the pots and pans that Shantabai clanged in the kitchen. Over the swish of the sweeper's broom in the alley. Over the ratatttattttadddddhhhhh of the machine guns from the game playing of Reena's ten year old Anoushka in her room.' 

The introduction of the sights and sounds crucial to the development of the plot, the introduction of all the major characters, the ambience in which the story will unfold, a microcosm of the world into which we are to enter, - the master story teller has taken care to establish the facts as well as arouse the interest of the reader in this sweeping opening. Again, her use of visual motifs is striking: the dramatic call of the gourd seller, the rocking horse in 'A Family of Beauties,' the large bindi and the tattoo in 'Marked Territories,' the deep blue bedspread in 'Jagged Edges,' the peacock feathers in 'Drought Country' and the baldness of the protagonist in 'Haircut Sunday' take on a life of their own and define the parameters of the concerned narratives. The central motifs also help to lift the story from the reality plane to the planes of near-fantasy and the surreal and to give it the poetic and metaphorical edge.

The Gourd Seller & Other Stories is haunting in its raw honesty. Haunting also because the stories move beyond themselves, embedding themselves in the memory and revealing layers that manifest themselves progressively on reflection and contemplation.

Interview with Kitaab's Author: Abha Iyengar

Recommendation on my EDITING SKILLS of a fiction MS.

Hi,

I worked with Abha to edit the MS of the debut novel. It was a really tough decision to hire an editor in the first place as one has lot of doubts and worries. But I am glad that I looked past all that and hired Abha to work on the book. Under her careful guidance and critical eye, the MS transformed from a vague 50 K word draft (with lots of loose strings) to a tight-gripping, emotional and well paced fantasy thriller. 

She helped add texture to key characters, clarity to location settings and lots of spice to the sub-plots. The best thing about her is her candidness and honesty. She communicates her thoughts and ideas very clearly, leaving hardly any scope for ambiguity and confusion. She also has this amazing knack for picking up minor glitches in continuity, naming and settings of the story - which is very impressive! Her punctuality, dedication and overall enthusiasm about the project, made working with her a very enjoyable experience. 

I am grateful to her for giving her time, attention and care to this project and would love to work with her again. 

Regards,

PM , Author of YA novel, on 13th May 2105

FREE courses here

FREE Courses here

Hi Folks:
Okay, so this link is for a free course on DNA. some of you may like it. Then join.

https://iversity.org/courses/dna-from-structure-to-therapy?r=d5cad

if you are a writer like me, another FREE course right up your lane:

https://iversity.org/courses/the-future-of-storytelling?r=d5cad

and I have joined another too, this is on design. It's FREE too.

https://iversity.org/courses/design-101-or-design-basics?r=d5cad


And many more courses on architecture, social entrepreneurship....Go check all this out.

https://iversity.org/courses/the-future-of-storytelling?r=d5cad

Learning. Sharing. Having Fun.

See you there.
Abha

Neelima Vinod interviews me for her blog and I get a new title, Flash Poet... do read!

http://neelthemuse.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/abha-iyengar-the-flash-poet/


http://neelthemuse.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/abha-iyengar-the-flash-poet/

I talk on poetry, film, flash, and opportunities for today's writers.

“Shrayan by Abha Iyengar is a mesmerizing read that leaves you smitten by the poise, vulnerability and intensity of its deftly woven tale. I felt floating with the river of imagination and insights. Loved the imagery created by Abha. Wondering if there is any sequesl of Shrayan coming. Would love to read more."
~Rachana Kulshrestha, Jaipur, India, August22, 2012.



Buy SHRAYAN here:


http://www.amazon.com/SHRAYAN-ebook/dp/B0084TIWZO

Recent Review of 'Flash Bites' e book

"Relationships seem to be the basic theme that weaves into most all of yor stories. Poignant are stories of broken relationships. But the most beautiful part of your stories are the IMAGERY. It is rich, graphic and all pervasive. It makes the reading not only powerful but also pretty and oh, so touching."

~Vasudha Gupta (Ph.D.),
Licensed Psychologist,
USA

My film Parwaaz can be viewed on youtube

My film, Parwaaz, which showed successfully at several international film festivals, now available for your viewing pleasure , online here. With subtitles in English.

Here

My Presentation on The Story teller and Imaginative Spaces

A talk I had given earlier this year at CeC 2011, the Carnival of e-Creativity.I was one of the Primary Participants here.

I spoke on the Storyteller and his contribution to society. How, as a writer I consider myself a storyteller and my awakening as a writer to the various aspects of existence through the path of writing.

I speak also of Imaginative Spaces, what they mean to me as writer, and how collaboration is so important for synergy to take place.

It is an introduction to the process of writing, story telling, and through it, realization.


It is available on you tube and you can watch it and comment upon it here.

On my story ,'The Gourd Seller'

"While all the short stories in this anthology are viable narratives, the two
that stand out from the lot, to my mind, are “Seiji” by George Polley and “The
Gourd Seller” by Abha Iyengar. Polley’s story is about an artist who grew up
and spent his life in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, Japan. With his intimate and
persistent grasp of the devastating violence in the aftermath of the Second
World War, the artist responds creatively to the given reality and looks beyond
the ravaged remains around him for light and life. Along another track of
violence, Iyengar’s story, set in the Indian city of Kanpur, depicts a Hindu
widow, Reena’s strange fascination for Altaf, the gourd seller, who falls victim
to communal violence. The story exudes the local aroma and ambience and the
literal translation of Reena’s outbursts has unmistakable Indian flavour."

~ Murari Prasad
B.N. Mandal University, India
on my story in this collection: A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short
Stories.Mohammad A. Quayum, ed. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International, 2010. 328 pp.
ISBN 978-981-4302-71-5.

The link here:

http://asiatic.iium.edu.my/asiatic/article/Asiatic%204.2%20pdf%20files/Murari.review.pdf

'Yearnings' , my book of poems...a review by Chryselle

"Finally, I was able to give much-deserved time to Yearnings, a collection of poems by Abha Iyengar. Abha is a very versatile and talented writer. This is the first time I’ve read her verse and it is lovely. This book is sensuous, sultry, full of “strange stirrings”. I rather liked ‘Where love has gone’ which reminded me of regrets, of things said and done, of words leaving the mouth irretrievably. “That’s not what I meant at all” is always a whisper at the end of an argument. I also really liked ‘Raktjaba (Hibiscus)’, ‘Arch’, ‘As the Light Dies’ (which could be fodder for a short story…). ‘Everything Natural’ brought a chuckle (“Early morning smells / of cottage cheese underarms /and smoked tongues..), as did ‘Wait’ (“Don’t grope for the easy things”). Abha has a new flash-fiction collection out called ‘Flash Bites’. Read more about it here."

Thank you, Chryselle.

Check out her very interesting blog at : http://thefrangipanijournals.wordpress.com/author/chryselle/

My Flash Fiction collection available online

FLASH BITES by Abha Iyengar is a collection of flash and micro fiction, telling stories in a few words,letting the reader in into a world and allowing her to fill in the gaps to arrive at her own iinterpretations. The stories are sometimes down- to -earth and sometimes surreal. They open a different door to let the light in on what may seem to be the mundane and ordinary. They give an insight into what lies beneath the surface of things, people and places. They are short, pithy, and sharp in their impact.
You can read more about Flash Bites, sample a few excerpts, or buy the book online by visitng this link

To know more about Abha Iyengar and her writing, visit here.
Happy reading...
Abha

Review of Yearnings by Hasmita Chander

thursday, february 17, 2011

Book Review: Yearnings by Abha Iyengar


I'm not a great reader of poems, but as a lover of literary expression in any form, I was drawn in by Abha Iyengar's sample poems from her book Yearnings. Drawn in enough to immediately order a copy of her book.

As the title makes clear, this collection is about longing, love, loss, passion and related emotions and situations. What I admire about Abha's poetry is its impressionist style of communication--it paints a quick, terse picture whose aim is to capture the moment and the emotion, and it does that effectively. In art, too, I have a deeper admiration of Impressionism than Realism. Realism merely portrays what the eye sees, albeit in careful, loving detail but Impressionism carries the heart of the artist as well--it is his choice to capture the subject in that particular moment, angle and light, and this choice and his quick strokes show intense focus and urgency to record and love that person, place or action at that moment.

Yearnings is a collection of 67 short poems that are a pleasure to read and re-read. In these poems, there's none of the embellishment that a lot of poetry falls prey to: the frills and lace that really point to nothing. Instead there's solid content, honesty and truth. For example, here's Travel:

If you give me a look
vistas open up

If you blow me a kiss
winds gather up a storm

If you hold my hand
my fingers touch smooth pillars

In unseen corridors
I travel blind
but belong.

Another one I like is Aroma:

Sometimes it takes just the aroma
Of freshly ground coffee beans
To make me fall into your brown arms.
I am vacuuming
The carpet,
Wiping the sweat off my
Hot brow,
And the whiff comes from across the hall
Of somebody casting the magic spell
With the help of a potent witches' brew.
I switch off the vacuum and
Remove my shirt.

Some of the other poems I enjoyed in this collection are Ice cream, Strange Lands, A Table, Two Poems, Echo, Grief, Shadows, Everything Natural and I Conserve.

Yearnings is available from Serene Woods and Flipkart.

Hash: Frankly Speaking: Book Review: Yearnings by Abha Iyengar

Hash: Frankly Speaking: Book Review: Yearnings by Abha Iyengar

Urban Shots-Short Stories includes My Story 'Slow Rain' - Book Launch

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/11/25/stories/2010112550970300.htm mention in the Hindu about the Delhi launch of Urban Shots. Thanks, Poulami!

Short shots

A collection of short stories looks at lives entangled in the hustle and bustle of the big cities


Authors Ahmed Faiyaz, Malathi Jaikumar and Abha Iyengar at the book launch
Life in urban areas is characterised by money, comfort, glamour, complexities and pace of work. These different facets of urban life find meaningful expression in the book “Urban Shots”. Published by Grey Oak, the book, an anthology of 29 urban tales, has been contributed by 13 writers like Abha Iyengar, Malathi Jaikumar, Hasmita Chander and Vrinda Baliga, Ahmed Faiyaz, Rikin Khamar, Biswanath Ghosh, Kainaz Motivala, Naman Saraiya, Sahil Khan, Kunal Dhabalia and Prateek Gupta. Interestingly, Motivala has also been seen in films like “Pathshaala” and “Wake Up Sid”.

Deceptively simple

These fresh, vivid and deceptively simple stories are set against the backdrop of urban metros with their bright lights, sky rises, glitzy malls, tenements, crowds and the chaos that comes with it. Divided into different sections titled ‘Relationships', ‘Love', ‘Friendship', ‘Angst' and ‘Longing', the book contains stories by experienced as well as young authors. Edited by Paritosh Uttam, author of “Dreams in Prussian Blue”, “Urban Shots” was launched recently at the Oxford Bookstore in the presence of some of the contributing authors.

Explaining the title of the book, author Faiyaz who is also the Managing Director, Grey Oak Publishers, and author of “Love, Life & All that Jazz...” and “Another Chance”, said, “Most of the stories are set in the urban background. We have in fact tried to play with the word ‘shot' to indicate snapshots of urban life.”

Reflecting life

Malathi's tale called “Liberation” revolves around a group of slum dwellers.“Each story that I write is embroidered around a core of truth. ‘Liberation' is the story of a group of slum dwellers who move to the city from the village and their experiences that follow. It is based on a combination of two real life experiences.”

Akin to Malathi's narrative, Abha's story too stems from real life. “Slow Rain” depicts a married woman who is a dreamer. The limitations she faces in her married life are realised through her dreams. The formal launch of the book was followed by a panel discussion on issues such as urban life, the varied connotations of emotions, difficulties of marketing an anthology of short stories and other complexities of working in the genre.

POULAMI MUKHERJEE

'Yearnings'- my poetry collection reviewed at Pirene's Fountain

http://www.pirenesfountain.com/reviews-etc/reviews.html#n1

Yearnings
By Abha Iyengar
Serene Woods, New Delhi, 2010
Number of pages: 112
Available at: http://serenewoods.com/book_details.php?id=419
Reviewed by Nabina Das
Yearn for the Body and Beyond

This could have been a collection of usual love poems, love that is intense and physical, but Abha Iyengar‘s shamanic voice take us beyond just the deep sense of longing that her poems transmit. Flipping through “Yearnings” (Serene Woods, Delhi, 2010) one notices the tenor of her poems to range vividly from the soft, muted plea to a coy dalliance, to a voice of aplomb. In the very first blush, a poem that reached out to me was “She” – the ‘she’ with her delicate blue throat, an intrinsically empowered woman who “could have any lover”.

Iyengar’s style is playful as well as pithy, her diction conversational, the kind you’d imagine in an intimate tête-à-tête. Besides the love poems, the other compositions are melodic and philosophical. She, like her poetic personas in this collection, is at once hyperbolic and restrained.

In “Denial” the voice is passionate and defiant. Although the image of a zipper as a “metal snake” is invariably masculine in its evocation, it is not difficult to imagine the feminine voice, confident and aroused. The same voice easily glides along the speaker’s daily humdrum routine:


I wait for you to leave
And sigh with relief.
Do my yoga,
Drink my orange juice
Eat my fresh fruit
And marvel at how I like
Everything natural
Except you. (Everything Natural)

The poet’s oeuvre quite often is that of a soothsayer, made wiser in love:


And as you feel yourself
Split wide open
Your eyes will fail to hide
The memories, the thoughts, the dreams
Within.
One by one they will shine through.
And you thought
I never knew. (Split Wide Open)

Iyengar’s allusion to physicality is bold and wholesome:


At the base of your throat
where your pulse quickens
At the sight of me
This moment. (This Moment Etched)

And at times unabashed:


His tongue under my skin,
His hurt under my bone,
His touch under my collar,
I feel him everywhere.
I will live this life like this. (Wanting)

The ephemeral quality of love presents itself through a stunning stanza such as:


Then bends down to take the picture
Of a green grass hopper,
Waiting for time to pass but
Hoping he will catch her before
The light dies for the day. (As the Light Dies)

Iyengar is comfortable with using mythology as a prop (The Banks of the Brahmaputra) as well as venturing out for metaphors from hitherto unexplored ideas involving even race, color, skin, quite unexpected in Indian poetry:


Cracking like an eggshell
I let out all that I hold
Sticky and yellow the desire
for this man
Of another land, another skin,
Light of an unknown dark,
His sunlight on my bleached shore. (The Dark of Another Land)

The anaphora as a poetic device Iyengar employs well in (A Strange Stirring) with the phrase :


There is a strange stirring
Here.

The line break employs a pause like the speaker’s breath, with the enjambment dropping that one word in the next line like a throb.

One sees that device in the negatives as well – “no” and “not” – where the lyric persuasion wins over the curiously italicized portions in the poem.

Something in Iyengar’s voice and imagery is startling, yet it feels familiar to the Subcontinental ear. A song-like (I am tempted to say a geet or a naghma) quality resounds in the following:


I shall put ittar on my pulse
Sing the song that pulls him
To the red of my palms
And the blood within. (Certainty)

Although she writes in mostly free verse, Iyengar’s poetry is marked by abundant internal rhyming, free-flowing rhythm patters and the efficient use of styles like list poems, refrains and even rhymed quatrains. Satire and humor too dot the pages, that of a wily lover or a sage seeker. Published by Serene Woods this year, “Yearnings” is a highly recommended reading for poetry patrons.
Abha Iyengar’s poetry has appeared in Dead Drunk Dublin, Conversation Poetry Quarterly, Long Story Short,Up the Staircase and others. She is a Kota Press Poetry Anthology Contest winner. Her poem-film, "Parwaaz" (flight), has won an international prize at Patras, Greece. She is recipient of the Lavanya Sankaran Writing Fellowship.Website www.abhaiyengar.com
Blog: http://abhaencounter.blogspot.com

Nabina's novel “Footprints in the Bajra” is available from Cedar Books, India, while her work has been published in North America, Asia and Australia. An Associate Fellow for the prestigious Sarai-CSDS "City as Studio" Fellowship 2010 (New Delhi, India), Nabina has won prizes in the poetry contests organized by UNISUN Reliance, 2010; Prakriti Foundation, 2009; and HarperCollins-India and Open Space, 2008. She blogs at http://fleuve-souterrain.blogspot.com/ when not writing. An MFA candidate at Rutgers University, Nabina has been an editor with literary zines and newspapers in the US.

YEARNINGS: A REVIEW

Yearnings- Poetess: Ms Abha Iyengar, Pages: 112
Publisher: Serene Woods,
D-72, Nivedita Kunj, Delhi -110092
Printing: Thomson Press India Ltd., Cover Design: Hami (www.facebook.com/getyourhami)
Her website: www.abhaiyengar.com, Her blog: http://abhaencounter.blogspsot.com/


Internationally renowned poet Abha Iyengar has brought out perhaps her first collection of poems ‘Yearnings’. The most striking feature of her poems is their freshness and simplicity. These are poems of love and romance in which emotions dominate. They bear a stamp of authenticity in that they give expression to felt experience. The mind and heart of the poet shines through these poems. These poems are hers and hers alone. One of the qualities of good poetry is that it is not a part of the heaps; it stands out for its individuality rather than for imitation of a model big or small. Many a poet who writes in English has been undone aping T.S. Eliot and his ilk Abha escapes that snare and writes what springs from the heart and goes straight to the heart. A few examples speak for themselves.

Time
It is morning
The dew hangs on my lips

This is not one dimensional poetry. Pain and anguish is another aspect of their themes.

Social Misdemeanours

From the goody-goody girl image
The serpent sometimes crawls out,
To take a snipe at civilization
And then retreats,
Shamefaced
And contride
At the heinous act committed,
Hiding itself
From accusing eyes.
So with a quick smoothening of skirts,
The smile fixes on once more,
A momentary lapse, ignore it now
We shall continue as before.


Strange Lands

In Berlin I cried,
My body racked with pain,
I nearly died.
In Boston I cried
My sister in law had cancer,
She died.
In Paris I cried,
Of a heart wounded and despaired,
My soul died.
I have cried in strange lands
And strangers have held my hands.

This collection is quite likely to make its mark in the world of poetry.
- Prof. Kuldip Salil (Ex- Reader, Hans Raj College, DU)
1770, Outram Lines, Kingsway Camp, Delhi-9