The Journey of Full Circle

When I look back at the journey of ‘Full Circle’, I am amazed at how things just fell into place. As Paulo Coelho says in The Alchemist, if you really want something to happen, the entire Universe will conspire to make it happen for you. I was then only dreaming of being able to write a novel one day, and alongside, applying for writing opportunities that I could find over the internet. Out of the blue, one day, I spotted Naheed Hassan’s call for writers. I applied, and forgot about it, until I got a call from a lady with a cheerful, sprightly voice one fine evening, telling me she loved what I had scribbled in my blogs, and asking me if I would be interested in writing a novella for her.

Many a time, you sit down with the intention to write a story, but inspiration fails to strike. Plots you create seem lame and you end up with word document upon word document containing half written and abandoned plots, with nothing exciting you. And then, there comes the lightning flash. The stroke of inspiration you had been looking for. For me, it came when I was watching the song ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se Koi’ from the Sanjeev Kapoor, Suchitra Sen movie ‘Aandhi’.

As if by magic, pieces of the plot materialized from thin air and came together to fit nicely into a beautiful puzzle. And there was revealed an elderly woman gazing into the mirror and seeing her reflection from forty years ago, staring dolefully at her. In that aged lady, I saw a woman I know and respect a lot. I remembered what she had related to me about her life when she was a youngster. And that was the beginning of a long chain of thoughts that were strung together to make a fragrant garland called ‘Full Circle’.

Well, it wasn’t a smooth ride—it never is in life, is it? There were days when I just went blank, and then there were days when words just flowed out like the Ganga from the Gangotri. I learned a lot through the whole process; from my editors, from Naheed, from people at home who supported me, and from myself. Full Circle, the end product, is a culmination of all those learnings.

Full Circle is a very gentle romance. The protagonist do not even physically touch each other once, still they become permanently embedded in each other’s hearts. You may wonder if such a romance is truly possible, but believe me, it is. I myself have been a witness to it. And once you experience such a romance, you emerge so much more content, so much more mature, so much more at peace with yourself. I experienced all these while writing Full Circle. I hope you will experience the same, reading it too.

“Jee mein aata hai, tere daman mein
Sar jhuka ke hum rote rahe, rote rahe
Teri bhi aankho mein, aansuo ki nami to nahi”

Yamini Vijendran