There was a time when stories like the Iliad and the Odyssey were told in great length, as were our great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Life meandered along at a leisurely pace, and a story could be embellished according to the storyteller’s imagination. Today, due to paucity of time, and the vast reading material accessible to the reader, a story must grab the eyeballs, and do it quickly!