Klara is not just intelligent and insightful, she is also noble, which gives rise to the thought that perhaps we undermine those we consider robotic; we humans tend to disregard those very folk who display emotions with difficulty.
Perhaps it is an error to deem them less sensitive?
There is a freshness to her writing; a simplicity in it that belies the depth of what the story carries in its womb- the profound pain and the undying will to live on with it, as second skin.
And the most important lesson she gifted Trevor Noah was: “Learn from your past and be better because of your past,” she said, “but don’t cry about your past. Life is full of. pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don’t hold on to it. Don’t be bitter.”
Bachman navigates between the character’s lives and the current circumstances where they find themselves, and this is what makes this book special. Each person’s life’s tapestry could be the next man’s; strangers we meet on the pages, and learn to love, or not. The connections, they engage the mind with a prowess that is unique and make us ponder upon how lives intersect and connect, often without our knowledge.
The power of Lefteri’s lyrical writing, interspersed with wisdom and grief that I resonated with, had me in its hold.
It takes courage to write thus, as much as be provoked into a vulnerable state, allow oneself to feel what one would try and otherwise conceal, even ignore.
The triumph of the human spirit endures.
A script and screenwriting workshop in a haven called Himalayan Writer’s Retreat nestled in the mountains at Satkhol (3 hours from the plains at Kathgodam) en route via Bhimtal. It was an enriching experience with participants from all over India and abroad. Anu Singh Choudhary who has co-scripted many screenplays such as Aryaa, mentored us with great patience and panache. The four-day workshop was a great learning experience. And in such an idyllic environment too.
We aren’t here on earth in order to bend over backward to resemble everybody else. We’re here to be ourselves, in all our gnarly brilliance.