San Serif

OK I am the idiot here. I suppose a footnote saying the story was inspired by the Guardian hoax would have made the difference to us stupid people. I did say it was amusing - and as it was published close to 1st April happened to read a reprint of the Guardian story at the same time. Best of luck with your book on Vedas - even us stupid people will not assume that you wrote the original but then stranger things have happened.

Dear Subrotoda (I assume you are a Bengali and at least above 30 years of age thus elder than me),

Please don`t take it otherwise but have you read the story carefully? Am I losing my mind here or are you losing yours? Of course, The Guardian published the `San Serriffe` article on the First of April 1977, thats what the story is all about. If you have read the story, I am the first one to own up that the hoopla that takes place in the story was all about the article published by The Guardian. Thats what the story is all about (I AM REPEATING AGAIN). Everything originated from that Article or more appropriately, INCIDENT. THEREFORE, do read the story again and again, at least for a couple of times, if you still think it is a rip off, crucify me, write to the Editor of CHOWK to ban me for life from the site, I won`t mind.

By the way, my Twelfth book titled `The Vedas Revisited - A commentary on the Four Vedas` is coming out in the market soon. I surely hope that the readers won`t allege that the book was ripped off from the Vedas. I would not like to explain that the book being a commentary had to do everything with The Vedas.

Gees, some people are really stupid!


Regards,

Roy

This is not original. The Guardian indeed ran a hoax on 1st April 1977 about San Serriff on 1st April 1977. Return to San Serriffe

I really don`t think there were PCs in 1977 at the Ministry of External Affairs in India or any where else for that matter.

I originally wrote San Serriffe for the April 1998 issue of BEACON. It was later incorporated in my first collection of Short Stories - Portraits of Life.

funny stuff... i think subroto just wishes he`d thought of it himself. :)

Amusing. But did they have personal computers in the External Affairs Ministry in 1977?