Crosswords And All That

It's been a while since I updated this thing. Long overdue and all that. Some of you are thinking.. "Land Of The Loony Crossword Maker" and no crosswords? My dad does anyway. He would. He lives and breathes crosswords and word puzzles. Am only halfway there. But I know this for sure. Am very happy making crosswords and puzzles for newspapers, magazines, etc. And am quite content doing that the rest of my life. Am not saying that's the only thing I want to do but I am happy withy my chosen profession. More so than lot of people around me with their profession.

No, am not going to brag about who my customers are and all that except for this small bit. Our crossword is THE only thing in the afternoon which has appeared every single day. Even the great BusyBee gave Round And About a couple of breaks.

With crosswords I can easily point out to someone and say "I made that or that's my contribution". It's not so easy with other jobs. Very often you don't even know if you are making the slightest difference to anyone's life. It makes me happy when I see people in restaurants, trains, etc solving dad's and my creations. A couple of Saturdays back Farah and I were at Mocha. A college kid on the table next to us was solving the Mid-Day crossword. I whispered to Farah "Do you think he'd believe me if I told him I made that crossword he is solving?" Probably not.. He'll think "go away you look slightly older than me..." Anyway we didn't tell him that but we did find it quite amusing.

Contrary to what a lot of people think it's tougher to make an easy crossword rather than a tough one. The idea behind an easy crossword is that if the solver can finish it he or she is happy and he will try it the next day as well. Make it too difficult and he/she won't bother looking at it ever again. Finishing the crossword gives them a sense of fulfillment which am happy to provide :) Btw, the guy next to us was close to finishing the mid-day crossword.

Tomorrow, I have to go and meet the guys at Shloka Publications. They want to take out a couple of books for children (10 to 12 yr olds). Farah wrote a couple of kiddo books for them and she recommended my name to them. Thanks Fra and hope things work out :)