NavDharmyug

I dabbled into literature almost since, well, forever. I would read thick books and doodle on the last pages of my engineering notebooks as a college boy and in the last pages math notebooks with neat blocks printed over the pages. Some felt it was poetry, but to my young mind which I always refer to a troubled soul which knew little and felt much, it was the only relief which my troubled soul could find. When I dig deeper into my soul and look at myself twenty year younger, searching for answers in written words, my own and of the greats whom I read with great sense of admiration and hope, I tend to believe my early reading could have sowed the seeds of my own discomfort with the world around me. Literature made me believe in the possibility of ideals. I guess that is a danger that every serious reader carries. That, and the possibility of eventually turning into a writer himself. I went through both, belief in the possibility of a life which we read that it has a possibility of...

Marta is a prolific writer and a noble soul whose acquaintance has blessed the writing of many a writers, including the yours truly. I, a moonlighting, conspiratorial writer, have often been inspired out of the non-creative phases by work of Ms. Moran. I know, people like Marta have some inherent catalytic features which can induce mere mortals to turn into creative intellectual powerhouses, if only they have a rare spark in them. I requested Marta to share her writing life which I am certain will induce many to write and also forewarn with the hard work which such a choice will impose on those who want to write believing it to be an easy profession. Writing is an art of hard work. It needs you to want to speak truth with such intensity and urgency that it far outbalances the chilling nights of loneliness. It isn't a fancy occupation, and not everyone gets multi-million dollar contracts, but still people go on writing. People, who...

“ Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of dictionary ” Said Khalil Gibran. It is true not only about writing poetry but also about reading poetry.  Ms. Marta Moran Bishop’s –  A Poet’s Journey: Sunlight and Shadows  is amply blessed with all the three ingredients. I got this book some time back, and it stayed unread for quite some time. The times were cruel as I struggled to write in between whatever time I could get from my day job and mostly failed. The sad grayness hung over my days and a profound sense of despair wrapped around me. All failures bring with them inherent lonelinesreal and imagined. So did mine. Then one day on the drive back to Delhi from a work related travel, I opened this book. The mild Sun of a dying winter day suddenly smiled with such love that could only be attributed to the magical poetry of Marta. This is a thin 68-page collection of Marta’s Poetry. I had earlier read Ayn Rand-ish I n Between Times , a wo...