What’s a better way to live than by listening and telling stories? What’s a greater blessing than being the seers, narrators, and creators of stories? What’s a better purpose than carrying forward the tradition of ancient storytellers, around whom villages, countries, and civilizations formed and thrived? A day without telling or listening to a story is like a day without looking out the windows. As a reader and a writer, I find immense pleasure in reading, writing, and editing good stories. I have always felt this strong urge to find and nurture stories, much like a child in pursuit of the elusive Manjadikkuru (red lucky seeds).
Two years ago, Ruati and I were discussing our mutual love for stories. We wanted to create a platform that would help us gather stories, irrespective of their genre or style. From this deep desire was born the The Mean Journal by MeanPepperVine, a place where we gather stories, our precious red lucky seeds, which we store safely in our journal’s volumes. Just like a child losing the sense of time out playing, we have completed two years in the blink of an eye. We are as eager and excited as the day we started our first volume in April 2022. The pursuit of collecting precious stories from across the subcontinent and finding new writers has given us a purpose and immense satisfaction. I am so excited that one of our earliest contributors and a superbly talented writer, Amita Basu, has joined our team as a Columnist and the Interviews Editor. Her energy, enthusiasm, and dedication to her craft will be an asset to MPV.
In the past two years, we had the pleasure of reading and publishing excellent stories by versatile, sharp, witty, and talented writers. Here is a sample of the diverse collection of short stories and flash fiction we have published.
- Stories of belongingness and displacement – Domiciled, The Sahib’s Verandah, and Crossroads.
- Stories about familial bonds, siblings, and parents – Parathas and Nans, Hands of God, My Mother’s Trunk, The Sensible One, Layers and Layers, Broken Bridges, Pinkie Swear, Changing Perspectives, The Reluctant Reunion and Marriage, Made in Heaven.
- Stories about victims of political propaganda, war and unrest – Eyes Faraway, An Iron Fist in a Velvet Glove, Sardaron ka sar, Hinduon ka zar and Delhi, 2019.
- Stories about food – Nothing Like Food to Work its Magic
- Stories that sharply observe life and living – One Day, The Why and the How, Jury
- Stories about death and mourning – Tulips and me waiting, Mukhagni, Food of Love, The Final Boarding Call, Birthdays, Pyres, and Two Women and a Boat.
- Stories of loss, trauma, mental health – Chasing An Ignis Fatuus, Yugmita and Her Dreams, The living ghost, I Slipped, Trapped in Infinity, My Hair Smells of Coconut Oil, Monster Leaves and Another Memory.
- Stories of love and friendship – Invisible walls, Mohabbat Mein Twist, and The Unexpected Dish.
- Stories of failing marriages – The Walls of My Home, The Blue Shirt, and The Poet’s Wife.
- Stories about extraordinary women – The Widow, A Woman Like Few, and Dancing Beiji.
- Stories about childhood memories – Of Drama and Dosas, Childhood Summers, The Aspirant, and Colours of a Changanacherry Summer.
We have also published many interesting nonfiction pieces and interviews. We have published photo essays like Chawngte – A Place of Multitudes, An Ode to Plant Shadows, Human Art Forms – A Legacy of Yearnings & Vulnerabilities, The Melodic Rustle of Fallen Dry Leaves, The Fragile Present: A Home in Limbo.
We have also featured travel essays like Kanadukathan – Not Just a Sleeping Hamlet, Tirthan Valley – A Peek Into Paradise, The Calling of Chinar, A ‘Soul’full City, and Tranquility in Tranquebar.
I hope you will dive deep into these stories and enjoy them as much as we do.
With Love,
Salini
Salini Vineeth | Fiction Curator, The Mean Journal