In a flash: celebrating tiny tales

A book is the medium to another world. But while a lot of people are ardent readers with volumes stocked on their bookshelves, in their offices and even bags, others don’t quite like the weight of both the book and the long form — giving rise to micro-fiction.

These stories contain the elements of a fiction story — start, end, conflict, and resolution — all in just 180 characters. And if you follow the hundreds of accounts of social media that share micro-fiction, you can’t miss Officialtmfff’s festival for micro-fiction lovers.

“Books appeal to only those who have interest in them, but micro-fiction is for masses. Anyone and everyone who hasn’t picked a book ever will know about digital micro-fiction,” says Khushboo Rawal, co-owner of Officialtmfff.

But what is it that makes micro-fiction different from other forms of literature, especially the longer ones? “There are only six types of plots you can explore around fiction, historically,” Khushboo explains. “That makes it even more challenging for micro-fiction, because it’s more challenging to do so within the tiny word count. You not only need to hold the attention span of the consumer, you also can’t afford to lose the creativity. You need to have a beginning, a middle, an end, conflict and resolution — all in 180 characters.”

A common criticism micro-fiction has received over time is that it’s not always thought of actual form of literature by purists — at least not yet. But Khushboo argues that if you don’t consider Ernest Hemingway’s six-word story — For sale: Baby shoes, never worn — literature, than nothing else can pass as it.

And this is something countless micro-tale pages, everything from Terribly Tiny Tales to Scribbled Tales and more, stick to.

Khushboo reveals that The Micro-Fiction meet up was something that was conceived last year, with the aim to introduce the format to as many people as possible. “Let’s face it,” says Khushboo, “The youth are stuck to phones. You can’t get them to come to a place and then generate an interest in them and keep them occupied. But via the digital medium, we can inculcate the interest for literature in them.”

This year, a panel comprising Sharanya Rajagopal from Terribly Tiny Tales Talkies, Anuya Jakatdar from Books on Toast, poet Hussain Haidry and RJ Rohini will be part of the festival, to talk about micro-tales. An activity, which will have participants writing stories on the spot, is planned too. Poet Harneet Kaur will be judging the open mic event.

“We believe that everyone has a story to tell, and they’re waiting to be heard,” asserts Khushboo. “There’s no hard and fast rule that everyone has to go up on the stage. Only those who are willing can go up.”

The event will also include writing classes, which will help you form micro-fiction tales of your own, she explains, adding that the idea is to take this festival around the country.

Since this year’s theme revolves around emotional well-being and mental health, the organisers have added another dimension to the event — Curators of Happiness. With this initiative, attendees are free to drop their names, email ID and even postal address. “If you feel low on a certain day, drop us a mail, and we’ll send you something that gets a smile to your face. It could simply be a chocolate, a pizza, a poetry, a video or a book, but it will be something,” smiles Khushboo, adding that the exercise will go on all throughout the year.

On February 24, At The Cuckoo Club, Bandra (W)