Storizen Magazine June 2019 | Madhulika Ra Chauhan Storizen Magazine June 2019 | Madhulika Ra Chauhan | Page 10

COVER STORY
Growing up on a healthy dose of
“A-story-per-meal” from both my
grandmothers,
short-stories
became an integral part of my
everyday routine. I grew up reading
Ruskin
Bond,
Hemmingway,
O’Henry, Anton Chekov. Manto’s
work still intrigues me with his
honest representation of gory facts
without glorification or judgement.
It’s beautiful. But what is more
interesting is that each one of them
brought their own style to the short-
story format. Hemmigway was a
brutal editor who would prune his
prose like a gardener shapes an
over-grown hedge. How each one
of them has brought distinct
characters
we
would
always
remember, is surely fascinating.
Stories like the
Christmas Carol, Ghost have
taken generations in their
grasp and would perhaps
continue to do so.
Despite the bulging evidence,
the commercial aspect hits the
short-story format. There are
loads of people, publishers
included, who think that short-
story market has no takers and
they are quick to quell the idea
of a short-story collection by
saying there are no readers.
However, I feel this is the
perfect time for short-stories as
readers face waning attention
spans and paucity of time.
While reading as a habit, is
constantly vying for attention
sharing a prospective readers
time with either a quick-chat, a
tick-tock video or an addictive
game a short-story is just the
thing
Despite the bulging evidence, the commercial aspect hits the
short-story format.
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STORIZEN MAGAZINE
JUNE 2019