The human mind is imaginative. It supplies fiction wherever facts are missing. This allows humans to be creative – poets, ballads, novelist, and artists of all kinds. As we leave childhood and grow into adults, we are taught to stick to facts, adapt the so-called scientific temperament. This deprives us of the ability to spin fascinating tales and rather stick to a rather scientifically appropriate rendition of facts. However, the curiosity to search for the “why and how” of the phenomenon and the urge to won the role of the storyteller remains dormant in most of us. Creating the classic, apparently, is the realm of those that imbibed the fascination for a well-spun story.
Surprisingly, a few of us still retain this ability to tell a story well - as it should be told, kindling the curiosity of the child in the adult. Except for the occasional, lucid Mukherjee, it is a rarity. The best stories are those that you can retell, embellishing them to suit your audience as you recite.
Journals such as this contain a lot of “stories” – albeit tales on a morbid subject. Most are bland, a few are exceptional, making you sit up and take notice. I am sure if the narrative were to be individualized and less systematized, the reading would be rather different.
However, the schema prescribed herein has one singular advantage – it makes a short story of most of our work, not allowing us to ramble into nothingness which, typically, leads us astray.
Why did I take up the editorship? A brief message from Dr. Purvish Parikh, the talent hunter, admiration for Dr. Sudeep Gupta's editorials and a lack of teaching assignment at Visakhapatnam! I was doing over a dozen reviews a month; hence, this could be a good opportunity to read the draft stories!
I still like the stories with a moral at the end – a take home message that is comforting. I did edit several college bulletins, magazines, and congress proceedings in the past – I learned penciling proofreading notations and corrections in the margins. Unfortunately, all of it electronic now and I have much to catch up before I find my way around.
Hopefully, 1 day, I will get to teach those enthusiastic to take up this mantle, peppered with anecdotes and anonymous quotes!
For the time being, you need to settle for the hard work of several authors, referees, and past editor.