Skip to main content

The Opinionated Writer..is there other kind?

Non-fiction and fiction make different demands on the writer. One takes spine, the other -heart. There is no character to hide behind in non-fiction. It is the writer speaking in active voice and risks being wrong, and that is an eternal danger. 

The words you write are etched in time for eternal ridicule, hatred or rarely- adulation. You cannot and must not deny having written them. Even if wrong, you hold on to them like a wayward child of a loving father who is blinded by paternal love. It is worse, you cannot disown them. When you find yourself wrong, you have to bring to life another child of yours as a counter-point. 

You can't disown and simply walk away. You can't claim never having  written it , you can't claim mis-interpretation. You have to pay for your words with sadness and shame. You are a writer, not a politician. You are a step away from sainthood. You have chosen for hard life and hard punishments in exchange of a right to speak out truth as you see it. In fiction, a writer can put forth opposing views as character's voice. But then, to be honest, one of them will be proven wrong and writer will be blamed for the wrong one. Ah, the difficult life of a writer..

"No comment" isn't an option for you. You always have an opinion, and the pen you hold proclaims you inability to hold that opinion within. You are setting yourself up for publicly being wrong, when you decide to write. That is the downside. The upside is that sometimes you will be right. Not immediately, not right after you have written. Maybe, in a while, maybe, after you are dead, but you don't write to be proven to be right, you write for you think it's right. You write your truth, and incite others to state their.  You set yourself for a debate, you trust your words, but you want them to be challenged. This play of thought, this acrobat of words keep you amused. 

You smile as you are stoned, for that proves you are read. Isn't that why you write? To be read, by the world at large, or sometimes by yourself through a non-writer's eyes. You argue with yourself on paper, for you aren't convinced on either side of the argument. Your opinion isn't clear to yourself, and you can't bear it, not to have an opinion. You must discover it, polish it and present it to the world to be mocked, spit at, and at times , at very rare occasions to be idolized.   
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Teaching Kids Read Early Makes Sense?

Picture Courtesy- GettyImages I am an only child, though not a child anymore. My childhood went in search of friendships outside the home, and waiting for the evening to come by to immerse into those rare moments of camaraderie. Our days, the Pre-Appu childhood, was largely supervised by our parents. I do not much remember visiting my friend’s place in childhood. Much unlike my daughter and her friends who keep meeting up in their homes. My friends were kids of my father’s colleagues and we met when they met. Friendships were formed and finished in the children park.  The interspersed period of loneliness was filled up by books. It was from Comics to pocket-books to Geeta Press to even, Indian Classics like Ramayana and Mahabharata . They filled up my days of solitude with rare happiness. I was called introvert and adults left me alone. It was an arrangement which we both liked. There was no other arrangement in the view. For some reasons, parents those days did not appr...
2 comments
Read more

पुस्तक समीक्षा - मैं मुन्ना हूँ - लेखक - मनीष श्रीवास्तव

  जिस प्रकार वनस्पति घी डालडा होता है , जैसे प्रतिलिपि ज़ेरॉक्स होती है , मनीष श्रीवास्तव जी श्रीमान जी होते हैं। कम लोगों को पाठकों का इतना स्नेह प्राप्त होता है , जो उनके कृतित्व एवं लेखन से आगे निकल जाता है। इसका कारण उनके लेखन में   सत्य का प्रतिबिम्ब परिलक्षित होना होता है जो पाठक ने उनके व्यक्तित्व में देखा सुना हो। लेखन मेरी दृष्टि में वह माध्यम होता है जिसके द्वारा अपने सत्य को वह कपोल कल्पना का आवरण पहना कर सार्वजनिक कर देता है और आत्मा को एक पिशाच के बोझ से मुक्त कर पाता है। कलम के माध्यम से लेखक वह कहने का साहस जुटा पाता है जिसे अन्यथा वह संभवतः न कह पाए।जब कोई कृति यह कर पाती है तो वह न केवल लेखक की आत्मा के पिशाच हटाती है वरन पाठक की आत्मा के धागों पर लगी गिरहें भी खोल देती है और उसके मानस को मुक्त कर देती है।   इस दृष्टि से मनीष की यह पुस्तक " मैं मुन्ना हूँ " अपने दायित्व का पूर्णता से निर्वाह करती ...
Post a Comment
Read more

On the Eve of Formation of New Government

The long dance-duel of democracy has finally ended. The rulers and wanting-to-be-rulers have now decided to rest after a no-holds-barred battle is over. The unapologetic political parties and apologetic, righteous neutral commentators, jumping in and out of the discourse. In fact, the case for the commentators was the most curious, under the thinly wrapped veneer of neutrality and forward-thinking lurked the opportunity to shoot and scoot.   This was a campaign which made people see through the charade of intellectual bourgeoisie, who pretended to be neutral but treaded the thin line between the public and private. Thankfully, the campaign ended and hopefully we are left with few things still left to believe in.   Narendra Modi has a task cut out for him. Swearing-in happens tomorrow evening. My view he has things to do, new paths to tread.   He has invited the SAARC countries, all of them to attend. That to me is a good be...
Post a Comment
Read more