Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Travels with an Identity Thief - Part One

It's been a while since I've posted but I have a good excuse - traveled to India, where I assumed the identity of Marilyn, a character in a new book I'm co-writing with Arindam Roy. I covered a lot of ground on the Subcontinent and will start with my marvelous experience in Varanasi, where I stayed at Nirman School and met many talented teachers and artists.  On my very first day I was privileged to hear the classical vocalist and Bhajan singer, Ganesth Mishra, accompanied by Nawal Singh on tabla. Since one of the characters in the new book is also a talented singer, this was a good sign that my travels were already bearing fruit.


Marilyn is an artist, so my second day in Varansi I interviewed a remarkable mural painter from Kerala, Suresh Nair. He works with traditional materials, which means it takes him a full month to prepare the surface of a brick wall with layers of lime, sand, and coconut milk before painting. Visit his Facebook page to learn more!

Photo courtesy of
Balakrishnan Kavungal Anat
Stay tuned for more pictures and some discussion of my travels as an Identity Thief.

6 comments:

  1. What a treat for those of us stuck in our armchairs! Thanks, Joyce.

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    1. You're the most "unstuck" person I know Jane - look forward to more postings on your own blog - your letters to your favorite authors are amazing: http://notestomymuses.wordpress.com/

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  2. Look forward to more of this pilgrimage/adventure/journey of yours!

    Samia

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    1. Thanks Samia - I'm just getting started!

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  3. Hi, Joyce,

    Welcome home! Sounds like you've had a fascinating and eventful trip. I'd love to hear more about it too.

    Best,

    Jacqueline Seewald
    THE TRUTH SLEUTH

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  4. Thanks Jacqueline - I am going to post once a week and connect the places I visited with writing ideas, so should be fun.

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