Book Reading is more than a Hobby - Article that I did for TOI

 

I recently heard someone tell that people should not be told what to read. They should not be looked down upon if they pick up anything which falls under run of the mill genre or anything which doesn’t fall under the roof of classic or profound reads.  After all, it is just a hobby which is carried out for FUN.

This is true because we do have a choice in holding a book. We do have a choice to read what we like. Like we have a choice in music, television shows and food we eat. Moreover, there are so many genres and sub-genres to choose from the vast expanse of bound volumes.

I have myself encountered many people who try to impose their liking or choice in others’ lives. They extend this quality of theirs in the arena of books too. They will not waste any opportunity that comes their way to throw their unsolicited advice. Be it what to wear, what music to listen, or what books should one read. They have their own regimented method or rules and they want everyone to follow the same. They have that smug look when they ask you what you are reading and having heard your answer, they just shrug their shoulders. And dimming your enthusiasm right away, they go on rendering their thoughts on choosing a book. Or choosing the RIGHT books as they put it. For long I have thought about this obtrusion. While I have taken it with a pinch of salt, I have seen people squirm with this unwelcome interference. Some are even hurt. And I feel for them. They draw themselves back from this group of conceited crowds in order to avoid ridicule.

Having said that, I have come a long way to realize a new perspective. And that has been liberating enough. Maybe it can suit to only a smaller niche of readers who take reading very seriously and put their soul into this activity. While I was mulling over it on my usual evening walk, my perspective for this unwelcome intrusion changed a bit. As I am a person who sees only brighter side in every adversity, I chose to wear the positive lens in this issue too. And that’s when I started reading between the lines of such obtrusion. In other words, I widened by horizon and started including the books which had been hitherto out of my comfort zone. Irrespective of the genres and subgenres of course.

The journey of BOOKS starts from the writer and ends with the reader.

The books are definitely written by the pen of a writer but the ink of that pen leaves an indelible mark on reader’s mind. The impact is powerful and everlasting. Writing may be a solitary journey, technically one person’s job or relationship with a pen/computer or any gadget that he/she uses in writing but once it is out in open, published for the public to lay hands on it, the solitary journey ends. Readers get into the world of the writer when they start reading the work. Readers trespass, interfere and usurp the solitary space when the book falls in their hands. They nod, disagree, contemplate, ponder and argue with every written word or a phrase. Unknowingly they all happen in the reader’s head. A strong neurological activity takes place when a new idea in the book comes face to face with the reader. If the thought aligns with the reader’s thought, it does not change much but if there are some unfamiliar thoughts that a reader happens to agree on, not saying just acquiesce, but fully agrees with them, then a new perspective or a narrative gets formed. A new person with new frame of mind is born right there.

Strong NARRATIVES enrich a human mind

We all have been the torch bearers of strong narratives. And historically, literary society has played a pivotal role in building and acting as an anchor to steer the ship of mankind to a right direction. Also, the narratives form a skeletal framework for the values that one aspires to live by. For example: Louisa Alcott’s little women delivers a lecture on compassion, empathy and following one’s dream. Similarly, Nesbitt’s classic Railway Children is all about feeling for others, doing good deeds. They are fun, adventurous and full of strong morals. Railway children is a big hit among children and adults. These books not only get embarked on a journey to reach a reader’s mind but it changes the all round personality of a reader making him/her more compassionate and kind. There are many examples of poets who reigned the different regimes and many of the poems born on those eras are still relevant. The strong narratives are uprooted and placed on a reader’s mind unknowingly getting into their subconscious space. It appears and raises its head in their everyday living. Take an example of social media which brims with requotes and retweets from poets and writers from bygone era. The humanity is layered with the narratives from our historical past.

Different HUMAN NATURE co-exists in the world of books

As I mentioned above that books encompass the world of human nature, let me elaborate more. The detail and classification of human nature is vast. A reader gets familiar with different human nature that’s been ruling our mankind when he/she drowns in that vast expanse. The love and affection of Doctor Dolittle, Peter pan’s innocence, Little women Jo’s passion for writing, Dicken’s Pip, an ambitious character, logical and witty Sherlock Holmes, Railway Children’s Roberta for optimistic quality, The Swiss Family Robinson’s family dwelling on survival skills and togetherness and many others. A reader gets drawn to vivid description of a character and their mental makeup. In life, we encounter many human beings and books act as a compendium to identify the human nature hidden behind the superficial façade of goodness.

All books are divisible into two classes: the books of the hour and the books of all time – John Ruskin

Books may be divided into two sets. The litmus test of time paves way for some to traverse through many generations and for others, they satiate the thirst of the hour. I would say read both the sets as you get a perspective each time you come across a new text. But remember, the books of all time will enrich your personality like no other. The obtrusion is unwelcome but that should not stop or make you averse to the unlimited volumes strewn all over the ocean of life.

 

Poetic Saturdays - Analysis of Robert Stevenson's Poem and importance of Environment in Child's development

 

Children, you are very little,
And your bones are very brittle;
If you would grow great and stately,
You must try to walk sedately.

You must still be bright and quiet,
And content with simple diet;
And remain, through all bewild’ring,
Innocent and honest children.

Happy hearts and happy faces,
Happy play in grassy places–
That was how in ancient ages,
Children grew to kings and sages.

But the unkind and the unruly,
And the sort who eat unduly,
They must never hope for glory–
Theirs is quite a different story!

Cruel children, crying babies,
All grow up as geese and gabies,
Hated, as their age increases,
By their nephews and their nieces.

The poet is giving a firm instruction to all children. He tells them to cultivate good habits. He adds that they should walk sedately which means slowly in order to reach the heights of greatness. A simple diet works great to be happy and content. Happy faces and happy hearts do make one grow into a kingly state. Not only that but king’s and sage’s courtyard are always filled with greatness and abundant knowledge.

And if they do not listen and continue cultivating the bad habits by being unkind and dishevelled by hearts, not maintaining healthy eating habits, then they can never aim for wisdom and satisfaction in their life. They will lead a miserable life. They will never grow to be a kind individual but rather would be ill-shaped. Their behaviour will only breed hatred in their kin’s mind. Their courtyard will be barren. The love and care will not find a home in their land.

Let me state a case study to elaborate the key role of environment in an individual’s life.

Children are tiny miracles we know.  In a hospital room, there are many bassinets where babies are wrapped warmly with their swaddling blankets. They look heavenly with their shut eye. Sometimes they open their eyes and look around. They do not understand anything of the outside world. Let’s take example of two babies A and B out of those bassinets. Their lay in front of them a whole world. A raw and undefiled world. In that world, there are promises, potential, gains and losses, wisdom and conflicts and many such things.

Few years later, A and B grow and become adults. A is very positive in his life. He thinks he has potential to reach greater heights. His can-do attitude always gets him new opportunities. Mind you, B is a direct opposite to A. He is very cynical about his journey of life. He thinks he can never achieve greatness. His negative mindset attracts more negativity in his life and the people around him.

Now let’s go back to the hospital room where A and B were little babies in their respective bassinets. A and B were two babies who had lot of potential and promise in front of them. They were ready to take on the world.

What happened then!

The genetic expression has always been in the picture which led us to believe that children inherit the qualities of their parents and their kin. That may be true. Science does its part but there is also one more aspect which takes control of the situation and nudge a child to become a stronger and positive individual. It is a backbone to good habits and kindness. Environment! Genes cannot be altered but right environment can be provided for child’s growth. Studies have shown the significant role of environmental stimulations in the trajectory of child’s life.

Yes. Environment that a child lives in, plays a key role in shaping a child and its behaviour. The kind of environment they are exposed to, will be deeply imprinted in the child’s brain. What they see is what they believe and what they believe is what they will follow. It is as simple as that. The environment is one ecosystem in itself. The immensity of benefits that a good environment provides, was very underrated. In the past, it was often slighted and the error of omitting that important element had a lot of negative effects on a child. If we want our child to pick up good habits, then it is dire necessary to implement the habits ourselves. We need to be the best version of ourselves because placing them as a window, the outside world gets a peek at our personality and beliefs. The routine that we live and the choices that we make will rub off in our children’s day to day life. They see us as their role models and want to ape us in every aspect.

For a child, good habits and bad habits do not come with a label. A child cannot make out which one to choose and which one to avoid. He/she can only make out the difference seeing us and our life choices. Watching and observing acts brilliant. The healthy eating habits, the instrument we play, the reading habits, the passion for any art academic excellence and many more such developmental activities we want our kids to adopt and make it as a part of their routine. Definitely, the sentiment is valid. But we as parents should try to make way for those activities in our life too and seeing us enjoy those, our child will fall in love with the same. In the end, those nurturing habits will enter their world.

Family atmosphere is one of the crucial agents in raising healthy children. Let’s give our children a right environment and build a strong base so as to get a result as in the poem ‘ Happy hearts and happy faces’ eventually making them wise and kind.

 

 

 

After Eight Years Of Marriage - Poem Analysis

 

After eight years of marriage

The first time I visited my parents,

They asked, “Are you happy, tell us”.

It was an absurd question

And I should have laughed at it

Instead, I cried,

And in between sobs, nodded yes.

I wanted to tell them

That I was happy on Tuesday

I was unhappy on Wednesday.

I was happy one day at 8 o'clock

I was most unhappy by 8.15.

I wanted to tell them how one day

We all ate a watermelon and laughed.

I wanted to tell them how I wept in bed all night once

And struggled hard from hurting myself.

That it wasn't easy to be happy in a family of twelve,

But they were looking at my two sons,

Hopping around like young goats.

Their wrinkled hands, beaten faces and grey eyelashes

Were all too much too real.

SO I swallowed everything,

And smiled a smile of great content.

 

Confessional poems are straight from the heart and talks mainly about the issues that encircles the poet’s life or state of mind. Here the poet wilfully speaks out his/her conflicts and demons with or without the help of a figment of fiction.

Mamta Kalia is a poet from Mathura and writes in both English and Hindi. Her poems revolve around relationship, complexities of her own life, and personal experiences. Her poems portray her life and gives a context to her relationship with other people in her life.

This poem vividly essays the discontent state of a married woman. The married woman acts like the poet’s prop in enlightening the details of poet’s life to the reader.

“After eight years of marriage, the first time I visited my parents” – says how that woman is caged and cultured to be in her marital home. The wings are clipped and the movement is restricted. Nevertheless, she visits and the first question crops up is very emotional. The woman is certainly not happy with this question and tries to bring humour by saying “And I should have laughed at it”. But again, the question doesn’t sit comfortably in her mind leading her to breakdown with tears. The tears only stay in the corner of her soulful eyes. Like her, they have grown a steely spine over the years, not to stream down her cheeks, but only standing and watching the world from distance. The thoughts, however, gathered and she wanted to tell her parents, share her life stories with them.

She skilfully atomizes her state of mind one day at a time. The following lines in the poem will tell you that.

“I was happy one day at 8 o clock.

I was most unhappy by 8.15”

The truth about human mind and its tendency to change according to the environment and external aspects is made clear.

And sometimes, the sorrows were so deep and so damaging that she wept all night. Now this shows how lofty hearted woman are. However unhappy they are, they will not breakdown in front of their loved ones. Only the pillows stand as witness. “I wanted to tell them how I wept in bed all night once”

The married woman is in a joint family where there are cultural distinctions, disparity in world views and values. They are overwhelming for her but she is expected to adapt to this situation and move on with this kind of life. The first time in her parent’s house makes her want to pour down her  feelings, the bottled up emotions,  but she purses her lips, swallows them like a bitter medicine and smiles to avoid springing distress at her parents.

The parents look at the woman’s children who were full of life and rhythm. Like two young goats. The reality dawns on her. She swallows the clouds and pictures a bright, clear sky in front of parents. Seeing her contented smile and her two cherubs, they heave a sigh of relief. The poem pictures a balance of grief and joy, felt in the depth of the woman’s heart. The fluctuating feelings of anxiety, pain, happiness and satisfaction, is what human feels be it in a joint family or a nuclear family. We can hardly say a person is bereft of happiness completely or he/she is bereft of sorrows in life. Extreme happiness is utopian world and, in a way, extreme distress or pain can mean a dystopian view. They both are a state of mind and cannot always, make a home in a person’s mind. So, this married woman in the poem also feels the same thing in her marital life, with spouse, children and her extended family.

However, if we see those last few mines in different light, the poem can mean a disillusioned sense of a society. A poem can also determine a stereotypical frame of mind which existed in distant past and is still in existence, maybe in not a better-ordered world around you, but in hinterlands or a conservative family setup. Taking that cue ahead, let’s delve further. The last few lines give us a picture of parents of the woman smiling in satisfaction after looking at her sons. The parents endorse the stereotype which is the science between happy marriage and children. The bun in the oven signals a happy marriage. And a balm to withering marriage is always a child. Child will rescue two souls and bring life to the dead equation. Somehow society buys this concept and the generations inherited this thought blindly.

 In contrast, a child in an unhappy marriage will never mend the agony but will put an enormous pressure to already burdened woman’s life. And the thought developing in a woman’s mind to escape out of this unhappy marriage will not be welcomed by the society. The questions and opinions like “How can a mother leave out of her marriage and breakdown the family? She should have at least thought about her child” will always cloud her, obstruct her way, pushing her into an abyss where no hands can reach her and would not want to reach to pull her up. This is only a way of gaslighting a woman. A tale woven by unemployed society who cared two hoots to the relationship and mental sanity of a woman. A relationship that is unsalvageable cannot be salvaged by a child. We need to grow out of this distorted worldview and change the narrative. Resolve and mend the relationship before you even strike a conversation of bringing another human into your marriage. Do not put a burden on a child to do that for you.

 

Richard Cory - Poem Analysis

Richard Cory - Title

We all have been the victims of our own judgements. We wear the green glasses when we peep into other’s fence leading us to dwell on the famous cliché ‘The grass is greener on the other side of the fence’.

We think that the life others are leading is supreme, highly ordered, impeccably designed and to make it worse, we glorify the negatives of our own life. The word ‘Compare’ takes birth along with us. We compare our lives with others. Juxtaposing our life and other’s life, we tend to magnify our negatives. What we don’t have is always glorified, while we underline the positives of others. The grass of my neighbour is always a shade greener than our grass. And we wrap our heads in distress. We suffer. In other words, our judgement makes us suffer.

This poem, adequately rhymed and metered, is all about our judgement. The fallacy of our judgement. The poet includes himself when he states “We people” in the second line. Why? May be because he thinks that he too has judged many in his life. He too has fallen victim to the wrong judgement.

Richard Cory was impeccably dressed man with good cultured disposition. He exuded positivity in his surroundings. He was a man with gentle manners. Edwin Arlington Robinson, an American poet, has augmented the effect of that statement by saying ‘from sole to crown’. What a good use of metonymy here! To enlighten you readers, Metonymy is a figure of speech in which a related term is used in place of the actual word. Example: from cradle to grave. This means from birth to death. It is generally used to give an added flavour to the text.

Richard Cory was very rooted when he talked to others. His air of propriety allured everyone. He never prided on his pomp and glitter. A level headed persona that he was, he did not have any shortage of wealth. The line ‘he was rich – much richer than a king’ vouches for that.

As our shallow thinking pervades us, we start to think that wealth equates happiness, people here too had a similar thought. They thought what does Richard have to worry about as he had everything from good property to rich life. And amid all of these, they cursed their existence. They hated their lifestyle and did not see any worth in slogging from dawn till sundown. They judged a book by its cover literally losing their mind and sanity over it.

And one day Richard Cory after his day’s work, he went to his abode and triggered a bullet. Triggered a bullet and smashed the judgement of each and everyone to pieces. Sadly, people did not realise that Richard too had puffy clouds hanging over his head. The quiet and elusive Cory did change the perspective of the people on that day when the cloudburst happened.

The poem also talks only about his virtues filtering out his vices or maybe Richard Cory was a person who wanted to keep his dark secrets to himself or it also says a lot about a myopic role of our eye. Our eyes always view the glitterati and glam but what lays inside those is overlooked.

Richard Cory suffered deeply from something which was not known to public’s eye. His death dawns on us, signifying mental health is far more important in our life. Everything is secondary. Mental sickness dwells deep.

This poem is so relatable to our circumstances and the world we live in. Especially social media adds fuel to this turmoil. The people who we mindlessly follow, the glitz and glamour of this Instagram society and every whereabouts shared on facebook as well as other platforms, one can easily be trapped like the people in the poem. One can easily make a judgement of a book by its cover. What we do not know is social media is just or even less than 1 percent of one’s reality. A person wearing a red lipstick might have given her unused crib for sale. A person having a picture-perfect Instagram page might be battling with autoimmune condition. A person posting a travel picture might have just served a notice period and is jobless. Social media swallows all of those and gives out an eye candy picture of one’s life as a residue. We should throw out the judgemental lens and be happy with our current life and standing. Every day when we see ourselves in mirror, let’s say it aloud “The grass is green on my side of the fence too”. Because it surely is. Let’s do this and remain stress free in present and the remainder of our life.

Richard Cory is everywhere. Be in corporates, our society where we live, the college corridors or the place where we travel during our vacations. He is everywhere in the form of people we meet. But do not get carried away like the people in the poem. Do not judge their state of mind from the attire they wear and the car they tour on. They might be suffering too. We all do. In different ways.

One more point is let’s not be this Richard Cory who just showcased his positives or glamourous social status to the people around us. Know your circle, build a small community wherein you can share your vulnerabilities and seek help when in the time of need.

I heard yesterday this line “It is time we gather because we are in the verge of losing ourselves”.

Invest in your small circle. Do not fire the bullet.

#PoeticSaturdays