Remember I said Mahabir gave his blessing to write the book. What I didn’t include was the next few lines of that email, which read: “However, I don’t like to be called a wireless man or wireless prophet because this is not my actual field of interest. I have much bigger goals and I don’t want to limit myself in wireless field. It is just a tool and I worked on it at a time when there was no communication means.”
The title I chose, “Wireless Prophet”, was the first one that came to mind when I started to give serious thought to the book. Yes, here I go with the cart before the horse, but having a name gave the book believability in my mind…never mind that 300 blank pages trailed after the title. I wrote about this in the first blog entry, that the wireless does not define him…it is his means to an end. But if he doesn’t like the name of the book, that leaves me with an ethical dilemma…honor his request because he is, after all, the subject or exercise a writer’s creative prerogative.
So what else to call the book? “The Village in the Clouds”…but Nangi is only part of the story. “The Man Who Echoed Across Mountains”…sounds more like a retitled version of the Sound of Music. “Himanchal Education Foundation-the Story”…just too prosaic. “Dancing with Wi-Fi”…hey, it worked for Kevin Costner. I’d like to hear from my readers…you are out there, aren’t you? What do you think about the title? What would you name the book?
The answer: very little at this point; actual title to be negotiated with the eventual publisher. Joyce called “Ulysses” just Work in Progress (WIP, for short) all through writing it … for years.
Pressure is off…thanks Lynn.
I know I’m a little biased, but “Eye on the Goal” does capture his long term mission and leads the reader to question with interest, well, what is his goal, then the book unfolds his goal, with all the incidental and spectacular achievements along that journey …. I think the determination and vision itself is the most remarkable thing about Mahabir. So many people don’t dare to dream of change, especially in such a politically complex country.
Keep the comments coming…I love how people are thinking out loud and lending their insider knowledge…thanks Janita. For those of you not familiar with the book “Eye on the Goal”…it is a pictorial essay written by Janita, a long time supporter and friend of Mahabir Pun. It is available to view at:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/2467378/e335adf8e6f50a427fac47df2c79dd455894162a?ce=blurb_ew&utm_source=widget
Love your posts! How about…”The Journey of a Dream”
Scratch that I just Googled it and it’s the title of someone else’s book already!
It’s interesting this one topic gets the most comments here and in emails. Last week my friend Alain suggested “High Steps”.
pete just suggested: net across Nepal or casting a net across Nepal??
It’ll go on the list…keep those title ideas coming!