Writing Projects at
Xavier Institute of Communications
Xavier Institute of Communications
Magic In The Mundane
Assignment Brief: To capture a moment from your daily
life and write about it
life and write about it
I need to reduce the flame. For the meat to cook to perfection, Aditi had said to adjust the flame to medium. The diameter of her wrist, medium. I reduce the flame and start checking my timer, 2 minutes to go. While the meat cooks I start stirring the soup in the pot. Ten clockwise rotations - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Ten anticlockwise rotations - 1, 2, 3, wait. Did I turn the flame to medium heat? I should check - yes, just the size of Aditi’s wrist. One and a half minutes go. Where was I? Right - 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. And my soup’s ready. Four ladles-full of soup, just enough to bring her spirits up. Top drawer, to the extreme left lies the ladle. 1, 2, 3 - the timer will go off any second now I must hurry - 4. The spillover I must clean. I think it’s almost time now - 5 seconds now, I must be ready at the knob to turn it off - 4, 3, 2, 1, beeeeee- and it’s off.
Vijay sets the meat on an orderly plate, the soup with its spoon already waiting on the tray. He walks out of the kitchen with his arms waiting to serve his wife. He turns to leave.
Did I turn the flame off? Oh yes, I did.
And walks away, only returning one last time.
I should check just one more time - of course it’s off.
Show, Don't Tell
Assignment Brief: To write a narration for a SFx clip
Homecoming
Aaron walked towards the door with a slump in his shoulder, opening it and shutting it with a thud behind him. He was walking out on her, and this time forever. On spotting his car, he saw the thunder hit the ground at a distance from him. With his briefcase shielding him from the pouring rain, he darted towards his car, remembering how just a few night ago, he wasn’t l alone. She held his hand as they both hurried into the car to save themselves from the torrential rain. As he reached his car, his steps slowed down, and in quick motion, opening the door, he sat inside, started the engine, and smoothly but fast sped off onto the highway.
He realised that enough was enough. It was time to return home to his wife.
The raindrops hitting the cars roof made him mad, he wanted everything to just - stop?
His phone started ringing, she was calling him, pleading him to stay. Just one more time, stay, stay, stay. With every ring, he increased the radios tempo, until it hurt his eardrums. At the second ring he had a realisation - he could not do this without her. As he reached his cell to call her, he lost sight of the road and hit the train tracks in the thick of the night.
Rotating and skidding, his car got thrown off the tracks, as the impact made him fly out, through the windshield. For one last time, Aaron’s phone rang again. It was his wife, calling to tell him she was leaving him for her lover.
Homage To The Square
Assignment Brief: To pen down the thoughts Josef Albers' famous painting, 'Homage To The Square', evokes
Homage to the Square I-Sa, 1968 by Josef Albers [© The Josef and Anni Albers Foundation / Artists Rights Society, New York]
In the walk of life we often find ourselves alone. What we're unaware of is the presence of those inside us. The ones who made us who we are, the little pieces of them whom we carry around with us. They come out when we find ourselves raising our eyebrows just like they did, humming a tune that earlier made our blood boil, or touching the mark on our foreheads where their lips last fell.
And then we're not so alone - they may not be around us, they are within us.
