Powers of a Writer

                                            POWERS OF A WRITER



I am not a writer. But I hope to be one someday. I carry this hope because I have heard that writers succeed in getting answers to most of the questions posed by life. I don’t know how much of it is true but I feel exhilarated by the mere idea of it. Like all humans I also carry dreams and emotions and like all humans I also don’t know how to fuse them into my reality. This failure disappoints me. Disappointment confuses me. Confusion that I am wrong to dream or I am incapable to reach the end of the road. Prolonged confusion enervates me and I feel vegetated. Frustration brings a new round of emotions which I have to deal with. I find myself caught up in this vicious web of indecision, the sources of which are my desires and wishes which unfortunately as a human I am unable to control. I wish my daughter to grow up to be kind and caring towards others but also scold her if I find her sharing most of her toys or much of her Tiffin with other children. I promise my wife to be her lifelong partner but wish to die before her. I lend my shoulders for her tears but refuse to cry before her. I consider myself social but my concerns are mainly for my near and dear ones. I expect myself to be informed of everything around me but I deliberately never ever give vent to some of my feelings. I fail to understand why I feel proud at my daughter’s school grades in subjects which I know don’t have any practical reality but I dread her innocent queries regarding her everyday experiences .

I look around myself and find that I am not the only one caught in this vicious web of dual mode of living. Almost every one of us is leading a superficial life. We know what it takes to be happy and content inside but our outer realm governs our actions to feed itself. We try to go by the rules of the society and alter our inner selves in the process. Emotions arise from our inner feelings but shaped and destined by our environment. How many times have we wiped off our tears so as not to be seen by others? Why feel ashamed to cry in front of others? We expect society to support us but hesitate in asking for it. Why cower alone? Tears are there to relieve us as an alternate medium to give vent to our feelings when speech abandons us. So when speech expects a listener then why tears are denied an audience? We block the emotional outlet in us and put up a brave face. But soon a pressure will build up at some other point. This is a chain reaction. Either you put a stop to it or it multiplies. I sometimes wonder whether it is wrong to desire or dream. Why don’t I carry on as I am? Why do I give myself a chance to be unsatisfied? And soon I realise that I cannot stop this. It is beyond my control. As a human I have been cursed for this. Cursed to fail, sometimes blessed to succeed, cursed to cry along with blessings to laugh sometimes. And with these ups and downs I chance upon a writer. I talk to him and feel him. I observe him and try to gain insight into the family of writers. Soon I realise what makes a writer so different from us.

A writer knows the difference between the virtual world we want to perceive and the real world we live in. Virtual world is where our emotions are respected and our ambitions are fulfilled. We are tested in the real world. The results may be positive or negative. When we encounter the negative, we feel disappointed and dejected. But a writer in the same situation draws positive energy from the virtual world which exists in his senses. He realises that he has been put down by some unknown force and thus to balance this he pens down his emotions and creates his own characters who perform as he wants them to. These characters are a medium of his expression. He cries through them and acts through them. He draws inspiration from them, the inspiration which the society failed to provide him. He manages to lampoon the society without breaking the moral code of conduct. A writer accepts that some dreams are there to be shattered, some actions need criticism and some emotions are there to be mocked.

These are the flaws of the real world. They can’t be corrected but at least our perception of such situations can be put before the society. And what better form than words or virtual characters! An outburst of emotions and feelings through this virtual outlet gives a writer the much needed inspiration and strength to carry on. He knows that it is impossible to avoid failures because it is impossible to be perfect. Humans can’t achieve perfection, they can only come as close to it as possible. A writer tries to outdo our creator by creating perfectionists through his imagination. He lives through them, he dreams through them. His dejection in the real world is somewhat lowered in this virtual world. Thus the more I observe this virtual creator, the more I respect him. This is what I have learnt from him: Some situations are beyond our control. You can’t do anything regarding them, except reacting emotionally. Now this is really very difficult, considering the constraints posed by our surroundings and thus you require an outlet. Your thoughts are the best source of relieving you but only if they are directed positively. You behave in dual ways sometimes but that too is unavoidable. This is perhaps the price demanded by the society we live in. We have to pay whether we like it or not. If our moral actions don’t produce the desired results, grumbling about it would only add to our woes. In that case the society needs to be shown a mirror. A mirror of a writer’s creation. This is the only vent which won’t harm you in the process. Give your feelings a shape. A shape which you had wanted to acquire. Empower it with your emotions. Direct it with your desires and retaliate. You will soon find that this soothes you and calms you. Off course, this requires the ability of a writer but as I have been told, everyone has it with varying degrees. This is not cowardice, as some would argue. This is bravery at its best. It is much easier to move tonnes of loads through your physical power but stirring a single mind and a soul is a herculean task. This prowess will relieve you of your worries and problems and this is what I aim to acquire. I am not a writer. But I hope to be someday.



                                                                  Naveen Singh Meerut (UP) India