2023: A Creatively Rich Year
In 2023, I tapped into a rich vein of creativity in two different fields — theatre and writing. I spent most of the year preparing. I researched opportunities, wrote chapters for writing samples, put together applications for fellowships and grants, collaborated with fellow creators, and experimented with creative styles. These efforts bore fruit in the last quarter. I premiered a hit children’s play (critical and commercial), won a prestigious writing fellowship, and sold two short stories. And yet, it was a financially poor year.
Theatre:
I wrote, directed and produced (and performed in) my first full-length children’s play — Brachio: The Story of a Lighthouse. Its journey began as a short play in Jan, when I entered it as an idea in a short theatre festival — KISS (Keep It Slightly Short) in Chennai. After writing, casting and rehearsing through Feb and Mar, we performed it in Apr to a rousing reception. The play was nominated for Excellence in Writing and Excellence in Direction.
When BIC (Bangalore International Centre) put out a grant call for plays for children in Apr, I had the confidence to write and pitch Brachio as a full-length script. And we were selected! We were also selected by Manch, an initiative by Bhasha Centre and Paytm Insider to support theatre makers (this association has ended, though).
After finalising my casting, I shifted base to Bangalore in July to rehearse and devise the play. Brachio: The Story of a Lighthouse premiered at the Young BIC Theatre Festival in Sept to hundreds of enthusiastic kids and adults, and ran five shows through Oct. In Dec, Brachio played at Medai as part of the city-wide Unboxing Bengaluru Habba. We also performed at Ranga Shankara.
Brachio was even shortlisted at ScreenLit at the Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), and I had the chance to pitch the film version to a panel of industry stalwarts. And finally, my experiments with height and tallness during the creation of the play earned me a shortlist for an Explorations Grant by the India Foundation for the Arts (IFA).
What I’m especially proud of in Brachio is:
a. The play was co-created with my actors and music director. Everybody has a creative stake in it.
b. The story is about friendship and is based on principles of social justice and equity. This makes it accessible to kids and adults of all ages. I like to think of Brachio as the play version of a Pixar movie.
c. I built a payment structure that is profit-sharing and royalties rather than fixed salaries and one-time payments. So, if the play earns well, all the people involved in its creation and presentation earn well.
d. It brings immense joy to everyone, to the actors and the audience, to kids and adults.
My hope for 2024 is that we can perform this play at more venues and festivals in more cities.
Writing:
The biggest accomplishment came at the end of the year, when I was selected as the sole recipient of the inaugural NLF Fellowship for Children’s Book Creators. It is an annual initiative by the Neev Literature Festival to support the creation of Indian children’s literature that meets a global benchmark. I pitched a novel for children set in Madras (and the Madras Zoo) during the Second World War. I will spend all of 2024 crafting and readying this book for publication. Incredibly, I had done most of its research work in the first half of 2022 when I was exploring its potential as a non-fiction book.
I also sold two short stories this year.
My speculative climate-fiction short story Cloud Tailor was published in The Bombay Literary Magazine (Issue 55, Aug 2023).
Read Cloud Tailor here.
Another speculative climate-fiction short story was accepted by Root.ax/Earthbound to feature in their South Asian anthology due in 2024.
Financials:
2023 was as financially poor as it was creatively rich. My passive income (house rent + book royalties + acting royalties) was enough last year to take care of our regular lifestyle. However, this year, my acting royalties (which account for nearly 3/4th of my passive income) vanished since my client went through a torrid financial year themselves and paused all payments. My active income (monthly salary, project fees, shoot day payments, etc.) has been next to nothing for two years.
Operating on only about a quarter of my expected income meant a lot of belt tightening. I cut out most of my leisure travel this year, postponed some purchases, and made no additional investments. I also hunkered down on my creative work to try and generate a replacement income in 2024. The stipend from the Fellowship and the profits from future shows of the play will replace a portion of the lost income.
Sustainable work ethic practices for 2024:
I learned a few work ethic lessons this year through practice. I didn’t overwork myself, and yet I had some big ideas and got some big things done. I hope to carry this practice in a sustainable manner through 2024.
a. Show up everyday … but don’t overstay.
b. Do the work today … and leave some for tomorrow.
c. Things develop over time … if you give things the time.
