The Sky and the Earth - my entry to the GetPublished contest


The story is about college love. But the boy and the girl are not at the same college. They are miles away – the boy at a premium engineering college in Chennai and the girl at a medical college in Kerala. Still a most unlikely romance blooms between the two young hearts, separated by miles in a world where internet is yet to make an impact. It was probably the last decade when romance still expressed itself on paper by the scratch of a pen and was carried to its destination faithfully by the postman .If things had just worked out fine between them, there would have been no love story to tell. After all what is a romance with no resistance or a story with no conflict! A serious resistance the romance does face. The story focuses on this bone of contention between them and how they resolve it finally with the tale of romance itself more in the background makings its appearance through recollections by the protagonists. The title is a metaphor to represent the magnitude of the differences between them. It is based on the myth of the unrequited love between the sky and the earth.

Well, there are real things and then there are manufactured things. Real things are real because they are real. Manufactured things are the ones that need to prove that they are ‘real like’. Paradoxically a popular juice in the market brands itself as 100% real, when it evident to everyone that is anything but real. My story like all real things is real because it is based entirely on real life incidents. I have used my imagination however to construct appropriate scenes to bring out the story and the ending has been dramatized for greater impact.

Below are a couple of extracts from the story.

Reba: I did not get along too well with my hostel mates at that time. It was the first time I was away from my home and I was feeling very lonely. Even you were busy with your own college, Susan. There was no one to listen to my problems. I found in him a willing pair of ears. He would patiently read my long letters and offer me his counsel as well as try to keep my spirits up. I can’t imagine how I would have survived my first year at medical college without him.

Phani: I can’t imagine how I can live without her. I have spent most part of the last one year entirely in her thoughts. You know how much effort I used to put in writing every one of those letters to her. If I had put that much efforts into my studies, I would have easily been the branch topper rather than wallowing close to the bottom of the class. Sure this is going to hurt a lot and in all probability the scars in my mind will remain for life.

This is my entry for the HarperCollins–IndiBlogger Get Published contest, which is run with inputs from Yashodhara Lal and HarperCollins India.

27 comments:

umashankar said...

God knows TF, you are a giant among the dwarfs. All the best!

T F Carthick said...

Thanks for the kind words, umashankar. After my initial reluctance, finally decided to throw my hat into the ring as well.

Bikram said...

All the best with the contest , going over to give it a read

Bikram's

asteria's canvass said...

I guess I know this one...:)

T F Carthick said...

You definitely do. As you advised, I am not wasting it away on my blog and trying my luck with HC.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks Bikram.

Zephyr said...

It sounds like a wonderful theme and knowing how well you spin your tales, it should be a strong contender for inclusion. All the best!

Rachna said...

All the best! Wish you luck. I am sure it will be a wonderful story to read.

asteria's canvass said...

best wishes.....:) honest ones...

Arti said...

Sound very exciting! Please excuse my ignorance, but is there some place where I can read the story in full? Also, can I vote for it somewhere?

Wish you best, TF :)

DS said...

Best Wishes TF!!
I have read the whole story and its quite good.
Voted already for you.

debajyoti said...

sounds like an interesting story. yes, romance or even general thoughts expressed on papers had a lot of emotions. voted for your entry. is this your second post for the contest?

pranjay mittal said...

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RioZee said...

best wishes dude. creativity at it's best. thumbs up.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks DS. This is hardly sufficient to vote for. But you having read the whole story should be able to vote.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks a lot, Zephyr.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks, Rachna. I hope it is too.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks Arti. The story is not supposed to be published. People are supposed to vote on contestant's ideas and then top 500 or so will get selected to submit full story from which they selected few stories to be published. You can vote for me.

http://www.indiblogger.in/getpublished/idea/308/

In case they do not select my story, I will put up the story on the blog.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks a lot, PL.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks, Deb. Yes. This is in fact probably my only entry. I have lost enthusiasm to write the other one. This one I already have written and ready. So all I need to do is to get the votes and send it across to them. So does not need much motivation.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm that's the good part.

BTW did you also put up your penguins love story entry ?

T F Carthick said...

You always have a knack of asking tricky questions,eh, Yatin? Well, this is the same one I submitted for Penguin. It did not touch Ravinder Singh't heart. I am hoping at least Yashodara Lal will find it real.If not my blog is always willing to host stories even if no one is finding it real or touching their hearts.

Uma Anandane said...

Good concept...all the best :)

Bhavana said...

LOL! Gender communication troubles! The way we perceive the same set of incidents--a Rashomon story. Interesting!

T F Carthick said...

Nice comparison you draw.Gives me ideas to shape my story better. Thanks Bhavana.

T F Carthick said...

Thanks uma.

Ravikumar Kandalla said...

Excellent theme and circumstances to make a very interesting story with real life touch.

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