Sharing a pot of water

SINGAPORE - Known for her short stories and poetry, Indian author and freelance journalist Fehmida Zakeer is visiting Singapore from March 25 to 30 and meeting her readers at a number of events organised by the National Library Board.

She is sharing and discussing her short story, Pot Of Water, which was selected as part of Read! Singapore's 2013 anthology Under One Sky, with readers here, during her five-day visit to Singapore.

Pot Of Water is a tale of a poor Indian woman's search for water and the social and gender divides that become apparent through her plight.

"Things I observed around me, slices of life that left an impression came back to me when I started writing the story," she said, when asked if personal experiences had inspired her to write Pot Of Water.

"There is the underlying thread about water scarcity in the story but my focus was the girl's attitude towards life. Though she faces many hardships, she does not resort to unethical ways to solve her problems. Water scarcity is a problem prevalent worldwide. While the privileged few get water easily by just turning on a tap, there are those who have to walk miles to get potable water. I think Pot Of Water shows that water scarcity is prevalent even in urban areas," she added.

Ms Zakeer was born in Kerala and is currently based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, with her husband Zakeer Hussain, a government employee, son studying architecture and daughter, a higher secondary student.

She first started writing fiction as a way of bringing attention to social issues she encountered as a journalist and her literary works have been published in various online magazines.

Her articles on health and nutrition, lifestyle, travel, environment and gender issues have been featured in various Indian and International publications as well.

"Mostly I write health articles and social issues, but of late, I've been doing author interviews. I like to write about social issues because it is only by talking about it constantly that change can happen. I really admire people who actually go down and make that change happen by working passionately towards the causes they believe in," she said about her work as a freelance journalist.

Ms Zakeer is also noted for her works in flash fiction, a style of writing very short stories.

When asked how she was introduced to writing flash fiction, she said: "When I initially started writing I joined an online writers community Write words, which has sub-groups devoted to different genres. Flash fiction was one group I joined, which gave us writing prompts every week. It was fun both to write something within the time available as well as read entries by different writers from various parts of the world."

"I've written quite a few flash fiction pieces, and they have been published in the Linnet's Wings, Rose and Thorn journal, Ink, Sweat and Tears, The Bangalore Review, Bewildering Stories and Short Humour. Two of my very short pieces made it to the honourable mention list of the Binnacle Ultra Short competition," she added.

So is it easy to write a very short story?

Ms Zakeer said: "Though it would seem easy to write up something short, actually it takes more time to perfect. It is a challenge to write a good piece of flash and I enjoy the process of perfecting it once I manage to get it down. Getting it down perfectly is a challenge, as many times what starts as flash asks for more space and I realise it is not flash at all."

But producing so many stories has not been without the occasional writer's block, she says. "I read about how other writers got over their block, or just go off writing for a couple of days to overcome writer's block," said Ms Zakeer.

She also mentioned that early in the morning or late at night is the best time for her to write. "I need to be alone when I'm putting down the first draft. After that, I can do the revisions even if the room is full of people," she said.

The acclaimed author who has had stories in print anthologies is yet to publish a novel. Saying that she does not think about genres when planning a story, she added: "I think most of my writing would be mainstream. I have written a couple of horror and crime stories and am at present doing a fantasy novel for young adults."

pgaya@sph.com.sg

Fehmida Zakeer will be having a Meet-the-Author session at the Bukit Batok Public Library from 5-6.30pm on March 28, and a reading and discussion of Pot Of Water at the NEWater Centre from 10am-1.30pm as well as a Meet-the-Author session with Vaasagar Vattam (Tamil Reading Club) at the Ang Mo Kio Public Library from 5-6.30pm on March 29.

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