Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Indian Science Fiction

I came across an site for Indian science fiction submissions on the web. They had some pretty interesting stories. Check them out -- they have about a few pages' worth. Some of them are witty and humourous, while others are intended to be chilling or thought-provoking. It's nice to see what Indian minds can come up with in the way of creative fiction, especially when it's painted on the very flexible canvas of sci-fi. Fortunately, with many Indians being strong in english-language expression as well as technically inclined, I would imagine that sci-fi would be an area of pop fiction in which Indians could distinguish themselves.

If anybody knows of any similar such sites, I'd appreciate hearing about them.

6 comments:

san said...

Hmm, fair enough, I wasn't aware of that. Perhaps there are other sites where you can publish your fiction. How about this one affiliated with Ashok Banker, the author of the recent Ramayana series:

http://www.epicindia.com/

I believe he does also run some kind of related Indian science fiction site, although the exact link at the moment escapes me.

Another up-and-coming Indian sci-fi writer is Samit Basu at

http://samitbasu.blogspot.com/

He's published The Manticore's Secret through Penguin Books.

I also know of Animestan as a forum where a lot of young desi sci-fi, comics and anime fans from all over India hang out. They put out reviews of anime, comics, sci-fi, and asian martial arts movies from a desi perspective. Some of them are even do dubbing projects, or showcase their own illustrated artwork, and other types of fan art. It's for a younger crowd, but an example of a growing phenomenon.

Sameer said...

Hope our filmmakers exploit this talent and make some real good and animated/non animated films instead of the usual crappy bollywood movies. (A Paki will be shown as good and a Hindu, mostly a Brahmin will be shown as a joker or a villian)
I am sure people are watching them just like how people are reading the crappy news papers, because there is no alternative.
Once the alternatves are available, then its freemarket and people choose what they want instead of from the limited choices.
Im off topic, but I hope the talent doesnt just remain limited to the websites.

bly243001 said...

I sure hope that in Sci-fi written by Indians, everybody speaks English with Indian accent or

in a galaxy far-far away, long long time ago (or in future) everybody still speaks English with Anglo-American accent :)

nizhal yoddha said...

didnt satyajit ray write some rather engaging science fiction? or was it only the inspector feluda stuff?

i haven't seen a good sci-fi movie in years. the last one i liked was 'vanilla sky' (that was before tom cruise had his tom-cruise-moment). my favorites of all time are 'solaris', '2001', 'blade runner', all, alas, pretty old but classics. i liked '12 monkeys' too.

Arvind Mishra said...

An interesting debate on various facets oF Indian scifi is currantly underway on indiansciencefiction@YAHOOGROUPS.CO.IN
Your kind attention is invited to it to take the stock of contemporary issues of indian scence fiction.
thanks
arvind mishra

A said...

@nizhal : Satyajit Ray did write a lot of science fiction stories in Bengali which feature his Professor Shonku.
Um...it's not 'inspector' Feluda - just Feluda.
Speaking of movies, have you seen The Fountain?