Anthologies
Outside In: An anthology of fiction and non-fiction by Goa Writers, a group of writers based in and/or writing about Goa
Released in 2021. Available at the Dogears Bookshop in Margao, Goa, and online at https://www.thedogearsbookshop.com/
My contribution, the first chapter from my yet-to-be-published novel, is titled ‘Date at Miramar Beach’.
Bomoicar: Stories of Bombay Goans 1930-1980
Released in 2014, this anthology is edited by Reena Martins and published by Goa1556. Available via mail order from: goa1556@gmail.com
The book has two famous Bomoicars (Bombay Goans) on the cover – Lata Mangeshkar, and the great and talented arranger for many a Bollywood film, Anthony Gonsalves.
Need to check out a review? Click here.
And here’s an excerpt from my story: A Grand Trunk View.
Inside Out: An anthology of New Writing from Goa
Released in 2011. A limited stock is available via mail order: goa1556@gmail.com
Need to read a review first? Then click here.
You could also read an excerpt from my story Granny’s Goa in “Inside Out” here.
Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul: Celebrating Brothers & Sisters
Released in 2012. Available at http://www.flipkart.com and major book stores.
You could read an excerpt from my story Full house… Full of love here.
A book in Marathi!
No, you didn’t read that wrong. I actually have a book in Marathi to my name. But there was a time when, like many non-Maharashtrians in Mumbai, I too spoke broken Marathi.
Then I got married and took a gutsy plunge into the Marathi-speaking world, deciding henceforward I would speak in Marathi to all my Maharashtrian relatives and friends. As I surfaced, gasping for breath, I realised it was now a matter of sink or swim for me. I now had to keep going undeterred by the embarrassment of making a fool of myself, or the fear of my mistakes attracting ridicule.
As my interactions with Maharashtrians increased, I found myself floundering when it came to making intelligent, meaningful conversation in Marathi and it was irritating to have to lapse into English each time I wanted to express myself more lucidly. So I decided to pull out all the stops to hone my Marathi-speaking skills. Luckily, the substantial exposure to Marathi after marriage made my task a whole lot easier.
Reading Marathi newspapers, Marathi recipe books, and Marathi magazines, and following Marathi programs on TV added a further impetus to my efforts. Soon, what began as a painful, intimidating venture, ultimately turned out to be an enjoyable, enriching journey.
Along the way, I became aware of the need for a good book on spoken English to help those Marathi-speaking people, specially the youth, who wanted to improve their English. Being able to speak Marathi more fluently inspired me with enough confidence to write such a book myself. In 2001, the Mumbai-based publishing house Manorama Prakashan, published my book on common errors in spoken English, in which I covered errors in pronunciation and grammar.
Unique features
- Common grammatical errors in spoken English have been elucidated with adequate examples.
- There are a few English phonemes or sounds that don’t exist in Marathi and which cannot be properly represented using Devanagari letters alone. Therefore, I have introduced a novel, more scientific method of using special, non-alphabetic symbols along with Devanagari letters to explain the correct pronunciation of commonly mispronounced English words.
- I have also made use of the stress symbol and explained its significance in getting the pronunciation of an English word right.
Now in its second edition, the book is available at all leading bookstores across Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra. You could also obtain a copy from me directly if you live in Mumbai. Just send me an email: veenawrites16@gmail.com
