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Stab me, kiss me, kill me, love me: litizen.com

By Rishabh Chaturvedi on 45 Comments / 5774 views

Hello Rodinhoods

Feels great to be a part of this. I’ve been following all the posts here for a very long time and thank rodinhood for accepting my request. There’s tremendous amount of learning from listening to everyone here, especially Alok, who is a terrific writer. Read the post on the Redbus sale, full of insight and humor.   

Talking about writing, it is hardwired in me to notice it, thanks to the company that I run. Litizen.com is a literary platform. Here, all authors/ poets (amateurs or professionals) can upload their stories for free, and a reader can read the same for free too. We have tied up with published authors like Shobhaa De too, and are in the process of getting more on board. Short stories by published authors or even good stories by first time authors are available on pay per download basis. 

Whilst we are seeing an increasing traffic from the author community, the readers are not really warming up to the site. When we discussed this with Alok, he suggested to do a real check if such a thing even has a market in India. He said he was quite sure no one in his office read (though, on an impromptu check, we managed to find 3 closet writers in his team which came as a surprise to him as well).

But we’re betting on discovering talent. We have a community of more than 500 authors and stories, and we’re seeing exceptional talent. If we can derive a way of funneling this talent and presenting it to the reader base, I think we’d be addressing a huge issue in the publishing world of ‘discoverability’. This will also differentiate us from wattpad.com’s of the world as we don’t just remain a platform for content, but for curated/edited content. 

We are obsessed with finding great stories and authors, and making it available for avid readers. There is one little help we would like from all rodinhooders.

  1. What do you think of the idea. Putting short story industry on steroids. Is it even worth it?

  2. How does the website look, is the functionality good?

  3. Should we keep this as a platform and allows all fiction stories to be published (in this case we will have great and bad stories right next to each other), or its better to focus on good quality content i.e. allow only good stories submitted by users on litizen and reject the bad ones (This is what we are doing currently, but then a follow up question to this always is, how do you scale it up? Any ideas, anyone?).

You can be as blunt as you want, in a constructive sort of way. Whether it is the look of the site, the functionality, the content. All of it. If you’ll find something great about it, we’d be happy to hear that too. In a nutshell, we’d be happy to hear anything you’ll have to say on the idea and litizen.

A marketing maven had once given a marketing commandment: “sample to ample”. Which means you HAVE TO give a sample of your product or service (especially if you’re new) in order to get ample of customers. So here is a sample of some good stories. We all like stories, don’t we?

Insurance Imbroglio (humor)

Frozen ; Morbid Art (grotesque, horror)

A Night at the Ritz (humor, relations)

Regards

***********************************************************************************

UPDATE: SEPT. 21, 2013

Hello Rodinhooders,

A little development on Litizen. After we asked on this platform how cool the litizen idea is, we took it to Bloomsberg Pitch. Out of 450 ideas received from across the country, Litizen made it to the final 25. 

The judges liked it. Vishal Gondal thought ‘we’ve understood the game’. To explain the game (where, to use Alok’s Words, that MAMMOTH, GAMMOTH ANACONDA CALLED AMAZON is sucking everything up like a vacuum cleaner), and our part in it in less than a minute, boy its a task. Especially when its on camera.

We didn’t make it, but we’re happy we came back with a nod of approval.

Here’s the whole video:

https://www.yourmoneysite.com/videos/watch/2565/litizen:-your-short-story-submission-platform

 

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45 Comments

  1. I enjoy my stories Rishabh 🙂 Your idea of ‘edited content’ could well be a winner, but I think you will have to match the platform quality and reach of the likes of Wattpad.

    Good Luck!

    Cheers

    Manish

  2. Hi Manish, thanks for your reply. I’m glad to know that you believe in the concept. In very brief, you have answered all three questions, that the idea is good, but the platform needs work. As far as platform is concerned, what put you off? Especially, do you think the reading page (the whole white background) looks good or bad? Thanks for taking time out and giving litizen a look.

  3. It’s probably not the number one thing to address, but I think the usability in general could get a face lift.

  4. Confirmed reports from Penguin India states that they are soon going to launch a pay-per-story model wherein Rs 25 would be charged for every e-story. So, going by the trends, Letizen’s idea seems good. I guess the fight to connect readers with writers is age-old, and going through an interesting phase with digital medium making it easier than ever to discover and read quality stuff for free. I guess a strong editorial team (the story abt Insurance which I just read is not a story! Its a personal rant..), some top class marketing/branding and focus on creating a vibrant community of readers can help you more.. Strangely, no link of facebook/twitter accounts!

  5. Hi Mohul, do you write too? (I read a comment about you wanting to write on a rock at Baga, Goa). The Insurace Story was part of a competition, a 500 word competition that we ran once. I take your points about editorial, marketing and branding. Thanks for your reply.  

  6. Hi Rishabh,

    Everybody is trying to connect writers with readers – I mean all blogging sites and there are hundreds and thousands of that. You could have a niche following of short story readers if the stories are very well written and are linked to from various platforms. In fact so many individuals have their own blogs and they publish their written work there. So discoverability will always be an issue till you get a huge user-base. I too write short stories and post on my blog and on TRHS. 

    Curated content is always better than allowing just any content. This shows that you want each bit of word that comes on your website to pass through a funnel that allows the good ones to pass swiftly and reject the bad ones.

    The look and feel of your website isn’t that pleasing. That matters a lot when people are basically there to READ. The colour combination, placement of things, links to various social networking platforms, etc.

    However having said that, the concept is still powerful and can work well. All the best 🙂

    P.S.: You can read my short stories here:
    1) One Last Day of Life

    2) One Last Wish

    3) Valentine’s Day Love Story

    4) A Winner

    5) The Killer who became a Healer

  7. Hi Rishabh,

    I only write!

    You can know more about me here: https://mohulghosh.com/my-elevator-pitch/ and my debut (and only) short story on RodinHood: https://www.therodinhoods.com/profiles/blogs/the-meeting-which-changed-my-life

    Great observation indeed.. That Baga Rock fantasy, is something I am looking forward to in coming months 🙂

    Wishing you all the best..

  8. Tell me how the Rock Fantasy goes. I know so many writers who’d give an arm for it (ironically, but not their jobs). I’ll read your story for sure. Thanks. 

  9. Thanks Ashish, that’s quite a few stories you’ve written. I’ll read them. What you said makes sense, and we’re thinking on the same lines.

  10. guys – just out of interest – can you also provide a background of your family’s CA legacy and how you are breaking out of that mould?

    also, personally (on alok@rodinhood.com), can you send me details of that temple and deity in Mathura? I mentioned the meeting to my Nana (who has a house on Swami Ghat) and he was very intrigued!

  11. Surely, can do both. I could write another post of how litizen came into existence. It can make for an interesting read. Will mail the details of the temple too. It is very close to Dwarkadhish temple (a little lane that goes up from chatta bajar), and so not far from swami ghat either. Thanks for replying Alok.

  12. Hi Rishabh,

    I really liked the problem statements you’ve put across, and trying to see if I can help (you may have already
    thought of some of these things)

    Marketplace / Platform vs. Curated Content:
    In addition to what you pointed out about scalability, I think curated content can also have the following
    drawbacks:

    1. Curating is very subjective and may be impacted by a reviewers bias. You may not always align with the sensibilities of the author, and may think it’s not what you want to publish. Whereas, there may be a dormant readership somewhere out there who might be just looking for that type of content

    2. If your objective is to discover writing talent, then by curating, you’re just adding friction to that process. From a new author’s perspective, one of the biggest entry barriers in my mind is the “need to be accepted” “Will someone like my writing”. If I’ve never written before, and you want to encourage me, then maybe you should just let me publish. Give me some feedback…but let me publish. Cos if you dont, I’ll either take my content somewhere else, where they dont curate, or worse…I’ll never write again for public consumption.

    3. Take the analogy of a movie. There have been so many actors that you may not like, but there’s always some type of audience that can relate to them. In your case, let the readers decide who’s good or who’s not.

    Competitior Analysis / USP / Product Positioning:
    You face a catch 22 situation where, only if there are good authors will I come to your site to read, and vice versa. As Ashish has mentioned above, your competition is just not the likes of Wattpad, but the numerous blogs out there. If you were to do an apples to apples comparison, what is the key differentiator you’re offering from both a reader and writer perspective, that your competitors are not?

    • Maybe you want to focus on very niche segments (initially scale maybe an issue, but you’ll get loyal readership)

    • Think of in one sentence how would you want me to describe Litizen to a friend who’s not heard about you? For e.g. “Dude, Litizen is the best place to get short stories on how Indian Mythology applies to Business contezt…they even have Devdutt Pattanaik writing for them..Go check it out”

    UI/UX:
    Overall, I think the UI/UX needs an overhaul.

    1. If I’m a first time user, without me scrolling, looking here and there, can you communicate and connect with me, by answering my question What’s In It For Me (WIIFM)? Me in this case is one of your target audience:

      • People who want to write

      • People who want to read

    2. One of the key aspects in online book/story publishing is cover design. Can you attract user to click on the cover? There’s a lot of material online you can find on this topic.

    Hope this helps.

  13. I see that you have lots of writers already signed up.  So, your challenge is in the reading.  

    I want to believe people still enjoy reading.  From the crowds at bookstores, I believe so.

    My thinking is something like this will work for thematic short stories ( books on humour, horror) or non-fiction.  

    So, what can you do to get better reader involvement ? :

    1) Even as a person who is reviewing this site, I am clueless of where to go to.  You need to show-case the stories, not only those by Shobha De.  Make better use of the first scroll of your page – there’s only 6 stories that I can click on. 

    2) Make a mobile friendly interface.  This is important, especially given the nature of the content, and the direction consumers are heading.

    3) Your sharing tools are only to email.  If I want to share on Facebook, rather than sharing an excerpt or summary, you’re promoting litizen.com ??  How is that going to build interest in the stories?

    4) Give me X credits as a user – let me read X stories for free, rather than forcing me to buy immediately.

    5)  Layout the stories better – with the present scroller, it looks very primitive.

    6) Whenever you ask me to Login, please include a Login button.

    7) Tie up with Amazon and Google – Under Rs.100 stories.

    Have you approached a CrossWords to promote your site ?  Maybe free bookmarks they can distribute with your branding ?

  14. You should also talk to fellow rodinhooder Manish Nasa, who set-up https://www.movienation.in/# 

  15. I would be happy to be of any assistance you might need with technology. Please feel free to call me at 9818353336.

  16. Hi Vikram, that’s an amazing reply. I am floored by the fact that you have taken so much time to see this from all angles, and have written a comprehensive reply. Before I try to address your concerns, I thank you for your time.

    The market place model is good, and that is how Litizen is created. However, the biggest issue that remains in such platforms, ie wordpress, blogs, wattpad, even amazon, is the question of discoverability. If you see it from the point of view of the final consumer, do they want to sift through all the material till they find that one good story, or they want someone to find it, curate it and present it to them? This is probably the reason why youtube is also working on partnership deals with channels that can rationalise/curate content. Aside form the readers who find going through so much content tiresome, it is also possible that a market place model is disillusioning to a talented writer (not a published, star author; just a talented writer), as he might find his writing getting lost in the crowd. 

    Infact, you have addressed this concern in your second point, (“Dude, Litizen is the best place to get short stories on how Indian Mythology applies to Business contezt…they even have Devdutt Pattanaik writing for them..Go check it out”), and this is the model we are working on. This is our USP. This is what will make us stand out from the blogs, wattpad, etc. The question that begs to be answered, what is our locus standi to make such a claim?

    Last year we published a book of short stories called Labyrinth. It has gone in its fourth print run (so there is a market for what we created), and it still selling. All the authors in Labyrinth are first time published authors (so we are giving new voices a chance). Also, Labyrinth is very well received (check the rating and comments here on flipkart: https://www.flipkart.com/labyrinth-short-stories-1st/p/itmdepnjx3zgdsng?q=Labyrinth%3A+Short+Stories+1st++Edition&sid=search.flipkart.com&autosuggest%5Bas%5D=on&autosuggest%5Bas-shown%5D=on&otracker=start&ref=7a36e4c1-f81e-48b5-9498-a2cca15bd3e0&as-pos=p_1). We got information from flipkart that it is one of the highest selling short story books of last year. Surely, we have done something right :).

    Litizen.com has been working at the grass root level with many new authors (and we have been doing this for more than 2 years now, even before litizen.com came into being). We are cultivating and nurturing them, encouraging them to write more and better stuff. Many of these authors are extremely talented, and can produce amazing stories (if you read Labyrinth, you’ll get some idea). If we bridge this gap between readers and writers, that should work in our favour.

    I would like to hear your thoughts on this.

    Thanks for the observation on UI/UX. Much appreciate the feedback.

  17. Hi Manish, thanks for the lowdown on the UI/UX of the site! You’ve taken us to the cleaners, and we like it. We are working on upgrading the site with better design. Some of these points, we had in mind; some are new and I thank you for raising them. 

  18. Hey Rishabh,

    Thanks for the response.

    Based on your last para, I feel you to need to do a better job at making it very apparent to the first time visitor on your site, on the kind of good work that you might be doing at the grass root level.  I’m thinking your entire theme of the website should revolve around focusing and highlighting these efforts, testimonials from talented writers on how they found your platform useful etc.  And then by the side, talk about how visitors could read these short stories.

    The question is how do you connect to the visitor? Can you portray litizen.com as the online window for all the good stuff you guys are doing and the value add you’re bringing to the larger community? Maybe this might help induce some loyalty for your readers, and also show them that you’re not just “one other online book-store”.

    Good luck.

  19. Hi Vikarm,

    You’ve hit the nail on the head when you talk about portraying litizen as the window that brings good literature to people. I also find your observation, “one another online book-store” very telling of the look of the site. We are not a book store, and if you think the first impression a person gets is of a book store, then it is a good feedback.

    I like the idea of testimonials. Thanks for all the suggestions. Appreciate your time and effort a lot. 

  20. hey rishabh,

    how are things moving at litizen?

  21. Hi Asha,

    Thanks for asking!

    Things are good. They’re moving slow and steady. There are a couple of things we are trying, experiments are on. For eg. we’ve created a page on amazon for litizen. Since buyers of e-books are already coming there, we think it makes sense to have a presence on it. We’re putting the good stories under Litizen Shorts. You can see it here: http://www.amazon.com/litizen . 

    Writers are registering everyday, and we’re getting many new stories. We are actually short of people who can sift through all this content and highlight the diamonds. I think we’d benefit immensely to have an editor like you :). (@ Alok: No, not poaching; I wouldn’t dare to :))  

  22. LOL! dude i’d clone myself for trhs if i could, so we’d have two editors!!! 

    (i barely come up for air!)

    jokes apart, pls feel free to post this in jobs. i’ll sound this out to someone i know who might be interested. (yes fellow rodinhooder!). but only if you are keen…

    let me know – you can also write to me at asha@rodinhood.com

  23. Sure Asha, I’ll inbox you with a little more details. You could help me frame it better then. Thanks a lot.

    PS: You must love trhs work considerably to want to clone yourself (hog all the fun :)). Else, you’d just have hoped for another editor.  

  24. rishabh… is apurva your brother?!

    https://btvin.com/videos/watch/2565/litizen:-your-short-story-submission-platform

    feel free to update your post and embed this vid here!

  25. Hi Asha,

    He is. You’ve got eyes everywhere. I’m glad that the judges liked the idea, though we didn’t make the final cut.

    Terrific idea, I’ll embed the link – the video – in this post!

    Thanks Asha.

  26. Done! Is it good, or should I make it better?

  27. hey rishabh – i’ve updated it at the end of your post. i need you to search for the youtube link that you can embed on the post itself.

    here are some of the vids on youtube – can you pls look for yours?! thanks!

    https://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=cr&ei=AnQ-UoyuEsmArgeL5YHoCg#q=the+pitch+bloomberg+tv+videos+on+youtube

    write to me asha@rodinhood.com if you aren’t able to source it….

  28. Nice Concept Rishabh..

    i am not a writer nor a reader basically ;)…..but liked the approach….Good Luck

  29. Thanks Yunus :).

    Soon we’re going to put flash fiction on litizen. It’ll be brief and with a wicked twist. Like Muhammad Ali’s upper-cut, quick and leave you with a daze. Maybe you’ll like it and become a reader, and then a writer too :).

  30. https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/distribution-of-a-publishing-house-1

    may be you would like to comment:

  31. I like the concept but its more like chicken and egg problem. On just a cursory look, I see not very many reads on most of the stories which might be discouraging to an author (including me as I look for a publisher for my first book). But yes, I would be interested in trying it out…lets see. 

    From design perspective, I feel there’s a lot of room for improvement. The look feels outdated (e.g. those blue login, signup buttons). 

    Good luck, may you succeed in creating a good platform that we all can use 🙂

  32. We would be changing the design of our site as right now it is only there for web presence .

    As far as blog is considered I think we have decent hits in just 6 months..

    The issue I was discussing here was of how can we change distribution system which is very dis-organized in India but since you have brought up entirely different thing I would just like to say that every writer wants to be at Penguin but when it started out it wasnt the “Penguin” we know now.

  33. Hi Rishabh,

    Since you asked for ‘blunt’ feedback, here is some 🙂

    People do love to read. Infact long form writing is making a comeback in a big way online with Medium (http://www.medium) and it happens to be one of my favourite websites…Apart from the great content, it also has a great UI.

    The design for citizen.com could do with a LOT of improvement….and not just graphically but from a UX perspective.

    Let me give you an example.
    When i go to the homepage, I am given a few options with the featured story excerpt on the top. I click on the ‘Read More’ which takes me to a page where I again have to click ‘Read Full Story” to read it. (Some of them are behind a paywall)

    Then, it opens in a pop up box.

    After I finish the story, there is NO way for me to share it instantly on my social networks.

    Also, your fb page is a bit of a mess.. It has everything on it except direct links to your stories.

    Like you mentioned “Sample to Ample”, build a community first by offering free access to all the stories and then you can think of monetization after you have reached a particular scale.

    All the best.

    Cheers

  34. Hi Nisha,

    Right above your rely, is a comment from Half Baked Beans. Maybe your quest for a publisher is over :)?

    I agree about the look of the site. We are currently overhauling it. Improving the UX. I agree with the chicken and egg thing too. But that happens on crowd sourcing platforms. As litizen matures, and as we curate and present the content better, I think we’ll be able to address the question.

    Thanks for your reply though. Its objective and helpful.

  35. Hi Abhik,

    Thanks for your feedback. We are changing the UX and UI of litizen. Your point is relevant; too many clicks before one reaches the story. That will change. Also it will become more socially share able and navigate able.

    I know what you mean about reaching a scale before thinking of monetizing it. We’re doing some experiments, and seeing how things go. I think currently there is ample of sample on litizen :). Maybe 100 free stories for every one chargeable story. Yet, I take your point.

    Thanks for your reply.

     

  36. hey rishabh,

    long time no word.

    what’s happening in litizenland??!!

  37. Hi Asha,

    Sorry for the delayed reply as I was travelling. Like the name Litizenland, it will be downright amazing if there is an amusement park by that name in the future! We have published our second book called Carnival Short Stories which is being launched tomorrow (20th March, 2014) at Crossword, Kemps Corner by Milind Deora (MP). If you’re in Mumbai, you really should try to come for it. The writer network is burgeoning, and we’re now finding ways to make it more relevant to readers. Also, we are planning to open litizen for non-fiction. Lot of interesting experiences that people have, which can be helpful to others while they are entertaining. We’re also working on redoing the site. That’s whats keeping us busy. I do read on Rodinhood regularly. I love the stories that people post here. Can relate to so many of them.  

  38. 1. Good Concept .
    2. Need to work more on the interface .
    3. I have not checked your web completely but you should introduce upvote and updown features on your web . So that if someone puts a good story they get rewarded for that and can be featured . ( Sorry if you already have this working on your web ) .

  39. Thanks Syed! Don’t have the upvote/downvote button. But that’s a nice idea. We have the like button, so something can be worked on those lines. We are working on the interface. Thanks for liking the concept.

  40. How is it going  ? I can help you in some free advertising . Let me know if you are interested 🙂

  41. Hows this going guys?

    How about this story ?

    The Immortal Mountain Laugh

    Two brothers went to meet Sensei. One of them was sad, while the other was aggressive.

    The aggressive brother went into the meditation hall and said, “Sensei, I want to make my brother happy”. Just as Sensei began to say something, the aggressive brother added, “Sensei, I will give you anything you want, if you can do this”. The sad brother tried to stop him from saying anything further, but it was too late. No one had ever offered Sensei a bribe.

    Sensei gently looked at both of the brothers and began to laugh. His laughter got louder and stronger until the Monastery starting trembling. This was Sensei’s famous Mountain Laugh. He laughed like this ever so seldom.

    After quieting down, Sensei looked at the aggressive brother and said, “So be it. Outside the Monastery you will notice three mountain peaks. My laugh is now an immortal echo there. Go there, capture my laughter and bring it back to me. Only then your wish will be fulfilled”.

    The twin brothers set out on this seemingly impossible journey.

    It took them one long year to reach the three peaks. The mountains looked much farther than they seemed, and climbing them was something the brothers had never done. Once they reached the top, just as Sensei had said, they heard his Laugh resonating as an echo amidst the three mountain peaks.

    The brothers had no idea how to capture echoes, and quietly settled in a mountain cave, waiting for some inspiration. The sad brother began to quietly meditate and prayed to the mountains for help. Winter began to set in and this became a trying period for the two. All they could do was to wait and hope.

    After four months of intense prayers, the sad brother heard a mountain wind that whistled at him. The wind explained that the laughing echo could be collected as dewdrops from the fir trees that surrounded the mountains. The wind also cautioned that no more than one dewdrop could be collected from each tree; else the echo would not be heard.

    For the next few months the brothers waited for summer to fully set in and for the dewdrops to start falling. When the time was right and as the dew just began to fall, they suddenly realized they did not know how to collect dewdrops at all!

    The sad brother meditated again and just as summer was beginning to end, a bird sang a song to him explaining that the cones which fell at the bottom of the fir trees could be made to ‘drink’ one dewdrop at a time. Once full, the cone would be a vessel for the collected dewdrops.

    It took a lot of patience, effort and perseverance to carry a single fir cone from tree to tree; then stand under each one and perfectly catch that single dewdrop into the cone. Summer was nearly over, but their cone was only half full.

    The sad brother had become less gloomy by now and implored his brother to abandon this exercise and return home, but the aggressive brother decided to wait another year in the mountains to complete what they had started. The mountains and the waiting had subdued his aggression; but he was still quite stubborn.

    The next summer, the brothers started early and patiently filled up a fir cone with dewdrops, one drop at a time. It was a long and punishing process. But the brothers persisted. Just as the last dewdrop fell into the cone, it magically closed and sealed itself. The cone changed colors and began to look delicious. A few minutes later it developed a kind of warmth. It now looked like a fruit meant for the Gods.

    The brothers were excited and anxiously put their ear to the cone to hear Sensei’s laughter. Instead they heard the sound of a bee.

    The sad brother had by now become perceptive of how things worked in the mountains. He sat quietly in the cave and prayed for a bee.

    Three months later, a bee came into the cave and whispered in his ear that the mountain stream would lead them to a saint who had the power to unlock the laughter in the cone. But by now, winter had set in again and the mountain stream had stopped flowing. The brothers would have to wait a few months more for spring to set in.

    They waited. Counting their days and being patient.

    Finally, the next year, in the bloom of spring, the twin brothers thanked the mountains, the trees, the bees, the wind; bid goodbye to their cave and set out to follow the stream as it slowly meandered its way down from the mountain towards the plains.

    The aggressive brother had become considerably calm by now and the sad brother actually smiled occasionally.

    Over the next four months, the brothers followed this crooked stream. It took them all across the mountains, the plains, the villages, boulders and valleys, as it slowly sloped downwards. Sometimes, it seemed that the stream brought them back to places they had already crossed, but they kept on following it.

    And then when they were just about ready to give up, the brothers saw that the stream magically ended in a well right in front of them!

    A moment later, the brothers realized that the well belonged to the Monastery where they had met Sensei. Sensei was the saint they had been directed to. They had come full circle!

    With apprehension, the brothers climbed the steps of the Monastery and requested to meet Sensei. They crossed a sun calendar and noted that this was the same day and month they had visited the Monastery three years ago.

    The brothers entered Sensei’s meeting room and slightly bowed. The sad brother silently handed the precious, magical and delicious looking cone to Sensei that he had safely kept in a red satin pouch.

    Sensei opened the pouch, giggled and said, “Nice! A fresh fir cone from the mountains! It’s been a while since I’ve eaten one”. And before giving the brothers a chance to say anything, he popped the cone in his mouth and quietly ate it.

    The sad brother looked at his aggressive brother who had a shattered look on his face. Sad brother suddenly smiled at him and his smile started getting bigger and bigger. Then he giggled a bit and finally started laughing uncontrollably. He laughed and laughed! Seeing him laugh for the first time, his brother began to weep. The brothers looked at each other with a happiness they had never experienced before.

    Sensei did not seem surprised. He waited till the brothers regained their composure. Then he blessed them and wished them farewell.

    The brothers bowed and left the Monastery.

    A while later, both brothers noticed that there was an unknown object in the pockets of their coats.

    When they reached within their pockets, they were taken aback to find a red satin pouch with a fir cone for each of them. They instantly understood that this was Sensei’s parting gift to them.

    Quietly, and gently the brothers put their respective cones to their ears and listened.

    The now happy brother heard Sensei’s voice that said, “No one in the world can give you happiness other than yourself. Just look within yourself and be happy”.

    The now calm brother too heard the voice of Sensei that said, “Aggression leads to sadness of people around you. Be peaceful and make people happy”.

    The brothers looked at each other, and set forth as changed men with knowledge that was nothing less than magical.

    ****

    Read more stories of Sensei here

  42. Hi Alok,

    This is a fabulous story. It’s very inventive, which is most important for a magical story. I was kind of stumped when the brothers had to catch the echo, but very imaginative that the echo resonates in the dew, which has to be collected in a cone. This can be developed into a novel. It’s rich with so much happening. There could have been some dialogues between the brothers which would show their relation/chemistry, though I realize there could be very few since it’s a short story and the scope is vast (adventurous three years). I understand that the younger brother becomes a happy man by the end of the exercise (because he meditates, and develops a habit of looking into himself for answers); but does the older brother become more patient because his younger brother is getting happier? Or is it because the of activity which calms him? I would think it is the former because of the message he gets in the cone.

    Things are good at Litizen. We just launched our second book of stories called Carnival – Short Stories. It was done at Crossword, Kepms Corner, and is already on flipkart bestseller. I’ll send a copy to you and would like to know what you think of the stories. I’ve attached the cover of the book, and also a reading which was done on radio mirchi by Jeeturaaj.  

  43. hey rishabh,

    i just saw a sponsored post of litizen on fb and i realised – we haven’t heard from you in the longest time ever!!

    how are things in litizenland? do tell!

  44. Hi Asha,

    Nice to hear from you. I’m more of a silent observer on Rodinhood. But I keen tuning in to read the stuff here, since I find most posts very interesting. You’re doing a fabulous job as a curator and moderator.

    Litizenland is going good. Pivoted from pure fiction and short stories to listicles, as you would have noticed in the sponsored post. Considering how popular they are, I wonder how much time before novels are written in list form with gifs and catchy headlines.

    Hope all’s good with you, and hope Alok is going from strength to strength. Cheers. 

  45. Congratulations for getting shortlisted and for working on such a great idea.

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