The Cinderella Of Rewa

Thank You

I just realised I've done this thank you thing, five times over already. But I'm still no expert at it.

Where do we start?

When I planned this book almost two years ago, I knew it wasn't going to be exactly the same story, but the premise was the same. The tale of a young woman who is pushed into forsaken circumstances that are suddenly changed to unbelievable fortune via marriage to her dream guy.

I love Cinderella. I grew up reading and watching it. Cinderella is a timeless gem. There is a reason why Cinderella stands out among so many other stories, travelling through generations, with thousands of variants around the world.

It embodies the themes of good prevailing over evil, of love, of karma and the magic of goodness. It is romance, fantasy, philosophy and poetry all rolled into one.

I don't know if Charles Perrault who wrote the first original draft of Cinderella way back in 1697 knew that he was creating such an eponymous character. That hundreds of adaptations would be made of the story in literature, theatre, animation and live action feature films.

After all this, no big surprise when I found adaptations of Cinderella here in Wattpad too. Creative people had conjured beautiful ways to provide their own twists to the classic. I found versions where Cinderella was a high school student and going to prom with Prince Charming.

As for me, I knew what I wanted to bring to the story was the flavour of the country I belonged to. I wanted to give an Indian taste to my favourite fairytale and see how it worked. My stepmother would show up in a Benaras silk saree, my fairy godmother would wear sindoor and my Cinderella would do Kathak instead of Ballet. It all seemed good to me and I went for the wing. And what a beautiful ride it has been!

I cannot thank every single one of you enough, for your support and love. This story and I cease to exist without you guys.

I fully realise, how much of a lazy kid I was, during the course of this story.

There were many an occasion where I couldn't complete writing the update when I was supposed to due to my health reasons or work at college. All those times, I was so touched and grateful to see all your considerate and understanding responses. I'm so lucky to have such amazing readers ❤️ I think about it every day. I really do.

I don't know if I will write a period drama again. I understood a lot of my shortcomings when I wrote this one. But I will never forget this beautiful experience that you guys have given me.

Thank you so so much, you all once again. For supporting me. For loving me and my stories. For genuinely giving feedback. For being the best audience for all the crap stories I write ❤️

As a last stroke before we leave, I would like to quote my favourite lines from the 2015 live action feature film adaptation of Cinderella. They've been ingrained in my head ever since I heard them and it's something I strongly believe in.

"Where there is kindness, there is goodness. And where there is goodness, there is magic".

Until next time ❤️

All the love and big big hugs!
Nivetha