The Writer in me, thee are my identity

  

 “By writing, you affirm your identity.”  A statement truly and well said. Writing is not merely a hobby but rather extends beyond that as a process. It is a process that affirms our identity and perspective. Writing goes hand in hand with development of objectivity and empathy. In this journey embarked upon, one grows not only as a writer but as an individual. In the process of sowing umpteen thoughts in the mind, one grows as a sapling towards the azure sky of prudence and conviction. One becomes a ladder while embodying the curiosity of a child who never ceases to climb up ardently towards anything that can be perceived as food for thought. A writer not only steps into the shoes of another homo sapien but also is able get into the skin of another character, whatever that character may be. As the writer tries to put together the pieces of a puzzle together, one kindles a new world of thought, a world where one can grasp one’s essence by being oneself as well as a stranger or an acquaintance at the same time. A creative writer needs to switch one’s body with another tangible character, in his own mind

 

    Writers never follow the path of monotony and are thus open to life, experience and thoughts. A static state of mind is the biggest foe of someone who is a kin of words and a creative thinker. Rather than running aimlessly with blinkers on, a writer devotes quality time to his own self, contemplating and doing nothing. In this way, a writer develops a way to channelize and streamline his thoughts by letting them run free on the fertile field of his mind.

  

   As a writer, one is able to stretch himself emotionally. Emotional stretching refers to opening ourselves to a variety of emotional and poignant experiences and expands our threshold for coping up with formidable circumstances. Writing aids in a better understanding of the ideology behind aspirations. All life is relative. Everything and everyone exists with aspirations or are aspired for at one point of time or the other. The writers have the propensity to understand the lives of people around us and are able to infer that the drama of life lies in the perennial struggle between aspirations, achievable and unachievable; and intimidating situations. This equips the writers with a strong sense of right and wrong along with the knowledge regarding the achievable and the unachievable. Consequently, they are able to face the consequences of their actions and the challenges that life has in store, with aplomb and contentment.

    

    Randhir Khare has allowed himself to crawl into the skin of a lizard that has been   written about in his poem titled “The lizard”. This way, the readers have been able to judge the oeuvre as a whole rather than judging merely the characters.  The poem is a concise and apt representation of the empathetic aspect of a writer’s intellect. 

Someone sits and watches me

As I move on padded feet,

I stop and feel his breath reach me

Smelling of human heat.

Once we are able to look at life as it is, we would be driven to put life into words.

  Writers spun the yarns of poetry and weave the fabric of life with a new approach every time words are penned down on scrolls. This approach does not make them retreat into a secluded life but aids in being the push that makes them soar up above the melancholy world below where we toil day and night as machines rather than gifted individuals who prefer to celebrate the process of living and not merely follow the steps for survival. 

   It is undoubtedly writing as it is not merely a hobby but a process that has affirmed my identity and point of view along with the development of empathy and objectivity, making me a better person.

   It has been aptly said by Vita Sackville-West “It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip emptily by.  How else, indeed, to clap the net over the butterfly of the moment?  For the moment passes, it is forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone.  That is where the writer scores over his fellows:  he catches the changes of his mind on the hop.”