July Jewels: Monthly Missives from The Dream Pedlar
A journey, and a story of a journey
It's only early July as I type these words. But if all has gone as planned, as you read this, I'm basking in warmth and love at my parents' home on the outskirts of Chennai in southern India.
Yes! I'm back in the land of my birth after 11 long years.
Which is why this month's missive won't contain my usual ramblings as I'm in the midst of travelling and meeting family and friends, many of whom I haven't seen or perhaps even spoken to in all this time.
Instead of the usual reflections, Tales for Dreamers, and book recommendations, I'll share with you a short story I wrote a couple of summers ago after my second visit to Vancouver.
This tale, titled 'Underwater Treasures for a Pretty Penny' is inspired by a sculpture I was mesmerized by in Vancouver. Located on a rock in the water beside Stanley Park, from the shore it looked like a sculpture of a mermaid. Turns out it isn't.
It's a 'Girl in a Wetsuit', a life-sized figure representing a scuba diver. It was created by an artist of Hungarian origin, Elek Imredy. Here's an interesting article on how the Girl in a Wetsuit was inspired by Copenhagen's statue of The Little Mermaid but became its own icon without getting embroiled in copyright issues.
On a quick aside, if you're looking for book recommendations, let me point you to this wonderful website, Armed With A Book. Created by Kriti Khare, a voracious reader and book lover I've been lucky to connect with and get to know over the past few months, it is full of book discussions and reviews as well as author interviews.
If Armed With A Book were a real, tangible place in the physical world, I'd simply pack my bags (maybe just a change of clothes and endless coffee supplies), and go live there without further ado.
It's unlike any book blog/review website you may have seen so far. Kriti's love for books and stories shines through every single post. While I can tell you how much I love a particular book, Kriti has this awesome ability to show you why!
Remember how much I was raving about Herman Hesse's Siddhartha a couple of months ago? Kriti's review of Siddhartha shone light on why I felt that reading the book was like a homecoming in more ways than one! There's so much to relate to in her book discussions.
Check out her website! I'm sure you'll find many books there to pique your interest! 📚
Kriti K
So, dear Dreamer, I shall leave you now with my story Underwater Treasures for a Pretty Penny below.
Hope you're having a grand summer. I'll write to you in August with tales from India.
~ Anitha