Mindset of bestselling authors

I often try to imagine how bestselling/famous authors mindset when they set out to write their famous books. Imagine Jane Austen, who wrote the famous novels which practically set the trend and benchmark for romantic novels, setting out to write her famous novel, say Persuasion. Do they have the skeleton of their entire plot and characters, sketched out in advance, how do they plan their chapters, insert the dialogue's and plan the situations. Because as is very evident in a great authors books everything comes together so beautifully in space and time as to make the book everlasting in the minds of most readers. I rather think it is a kind of instinctive talent, not only for words and turn of phrase, but to actually mesh the plot, to give the story a rythym and tempo, to actually be able to visualise the characters in the mind's eye which truly makes some of the books so great.

Facebook Effect

I was wondering on the effect facebook posts have on our lives. Of course it is a wonderful technology which allows us to connect with long past, long forgotton acquaintances/ friends and classmates, but also, I sometimes wonder at the jealousy and envy the posts of these long forgotten people have on our psyche. Here I was quite happy of my mundane existance, average looks and drab clothes, when I see my classmate, the same age as I am, post a totally gorgeous photograph where she looks about thirty, in a five star resort, surrounded by family too. It's enough to make me turn green with envy and take a loong doleful look at my paunchline. Did I really need this, or was I happy enough in my 'ignorance is bliss' world. I catch up with the class dunce and find out that they are far richer than I am and at higher posts. Talk of tables being turned. A thing which I find most amusing is that there is a perspective I have now of life, which was absent back then. When I was giving my class ten or twelfth exams, it was dinned in my head by my parents and by peer pressure that I had to perform well in studies, get good ranks, get into an engineering college, almost as if my life depended on it. I did have to put in 7-8 hours of study every day. I did get into engg, got a job, but hey, those that didn't did as well or more, as is evident by their facebook posts. I thought at that time that those that didn't get good grades would probably have to beg on the streets, such was our fear psychosis. But it's all cool now. Like the famous film 3 Idiots message - the importance should not be given on marks, but on real knowledge, and on self knowledge. That should be what is important.

Someone controls everything

I saw mishti , from our building, with her mother near the school van. I was coming home at lunchtime and i hoped that i would go up to my flat , in the lift, alone. It was not to be, as when i came near the lift i saw that someone was just going up in it. Third floor, fourth floor and on and on went the lift right up to eleventh. By now i could hear the voices of the children talking to each other, coming nearer as i waited patiently by the lift. Soon they appeared, two little girls in school uniforms, shepharded by their mother and the other by her maid. I smiled and spoke to them. The lift arrived at last and all of us trooped in. I wondered at coincidences what if the man had gone only to the second floor. The lift would have arrived and i could have escaped into it without meeting my neighbours , enclosed , insulated in my own cocooned , comfortable existance, but someone had decreed otherwise, someone had decided that i would have to meet my neighbours and appraise them about my existance.