Guest Post: How the Seeds Germinate by Arun M Shivakrishna
http://ministryofmagik.blogspot.com/2016/05/guest-post-how-seeds-germinate-by-arun.html
As children of working parents, my
sister Kanni and me were kind of left to ourselves after we reach home from
school. Our favorite pastime was to enact roles out of the Marvel comics and
since Phantom almost always had to jump off Hero the horse, I often end up
sprawling across, attempting those from my cycle. Many such bruises and
scratches later, I found it to be not wise at all.
It was then I gave her the
idea of starting a News Letter, called Home Herald. We kept it running for some time
about till my hand writing was quite readable and if someone asked, at least I
could comprehend what I had scribbled over. She dutifully used to cut the
clippings and paste them in order so it somehow resembled a pale cousin of some
magazine we had by then seen.
I was by then enjoying a cult status at
school for singing the same song for three annual days and as many Children's
days over and again, so to save them further trouble, in one year some few
teachers made me don the role of Madhavan, a writer in a school play.
The only writer I knew of
was my Valyachan, (Paternal Uncle) Dr.S.Velayudhan ( who is now a star in some
stellar constellations) and the first thing I picked from him was the Pipe and
his English ( ash bush, as its known then). I remember coming out of the play
to the roaring, earth splitting laughter of parents and teachers alike with
only the kids looking at me in awe for the pipe and ash bush..
I don’t know, whether that
play has any bearings on me but one day I told my sister in all seriousness an
eight year old could muster " you know Tich, one day you will get my book,
all printed in glossy paper". She was gung-ho about it and was sharing the
big news with her friends as well adding on to the fan base at our local
school. Though nothing much came about apart from a few limerick kind of stuff
about “ My Kitten “ or “ My Home” and like, those days were quite memorable for
the affection and affinity bestowed by certain teachers and the way they had
kindled the spirits towards the magic world of letters and fables.
With the passing years, the
crowd reaction towards my braying talent was going quite harsh and as a
survival tactic had moved over to recitations by learning the poems of
stalwarts like the late ONV Kurup, Madhusoodanan Nair and Kadammanitta to name
a few. I believe, in a way that has laid the foundation for my attempts in
verses as a line of expression. As any other youngster of that time, I too was
enamored by the ideals of leftist line of thoughts and we were a bunch of half
baked artists or souls under such an illusion and have sessions of readings,
discussions and displays of work regularly. Though most of the events were
pretty mundane and pseudo in nature, at times, it opened up chances to interact
with the great luminaries we were looking upon with awe. Lajish, a close friend
and me were quite regulars there and often used to try our hands in skits,
verses and one act plays. Perhaps, such instances may have shaped up our
thinking towards listening to our own creative voices.
But, all said and done, I
guess it is the advent of social networking platforms that has given a lot of
us the exposure. In the days of the print media, getting printed or featured
was next to impossible and the reach was limited to a chosen few only. Blogs
and online journals have helped the budding ones immensely for a far wider
reach, instant feedback and in a way a better constructive criticism too.
Though, many may still scorn the likes of us as Facebook Poets, none really
could turn a blind eye towards the influence the social media has in bringing
up many voices hitherto unheard.
Recently been to a school
as a guest speaker for one of their workshops and it was fascinating to see the
way young minds seek and probe. They were eager to know how it all started,
what they need to do and whether to put any restrictions on the reading list
and most of all what to read.
Looking back, what my
parents had given us then, even if it was to let us stay away from pestering
them, was the best of gifts ever. They brought us books and those heady mix of
Amar Chitra katha and Fables helped us live in a world of myths and legends and
magic. That is what I am giving to my monsters too and despite all the grouses
I have over them, it is so heartening to see them in a quiet corner with a book
in hand, happily weaving a world of magic and realism.
Believe me, the love of
words make people selfless in their pursuits and chase nobler means to spread
sunshine around the world and Eclectic Moods is one such platform by Jonali. It
is indeed nice to know of such beautiful people who thrive to make the world a
better place.
Happy reading to you all.
Arun M Sivakrishna
Author of “ Songs Of A
Solitary Tree”, a collection of poems.
No comments:
Post a Comment