MAKING OF A WRITER!

MAKING OF A WRITER! 

Once a journalist friend of mine was telling a friend of his (a public speaker or a politician, I guess), “We, as writers, are not as lucky as you people are. I can’t ever say - ‘I was misquoted ---- I never said this --- actually what I said was--- ‘, the way you people get away by saying all this. What we write is always in black and white and there is no denying—All that is written is there on the paper for everyone to read--- When someone confronts you with your taped speech you can still say ‘It is doctored tape’ and still go scot-free. It is not simple for us – for writers, I mean.”

 Some people would agree with my friend. But what was the outcome of their debate – does not matter – All that matters is that it gives an opportunity to dwell on the subject – MAKING OF A WRITER.

• NATURAL TURN

What makes a man a good writer? What makes him a good speaker, a good artist, a good painter or for that matter a man good at some skill or the other? Answer is quite simple! He should have a natural turn for it! A Natural Turn – a God given gift you may call. In case you have it in you will make the grade otherwise not. It is the most important ingredient in the magic potion called MAKING OF A WRITER. If you don’t have it in you, then you will simply not make it. You can hone your skill by learning a trick or two  of the trade from experts – enhance your knowledge by reading – improve your language skills – learning the grammatical correctness of the language. But all this will only help if you have the necessary ingredient. You can, as I have said, only sharpen the existing the God given gift. This is probably true in all walks of life. It is not always an inheritable character, handed down by one generation to the next. Of course some times God is very kind. Mangeshkars, as we all know, is one such gifted family. There could many such families endowed with such a gift from above. Here I shall concentrate on an Individual who has or doesn’t have this – the ‘Natural Turn’. I know this chap – S.Nath – His father wanted him to be a classical singer, tabla player, harmonium player and God knows what. He had vigorous training sessions by many a private tutors (some of them being renowned ones, I am told). But it used to be quite a painful experience for all of us when he would sing in the ‘Sarvajanik Navratri  Utsav’ and half the crowd ran home when he would open his mouth to utter even the ‘sa’ of the sa re ga ma . I do not know about his other skills. He was a pain in the neck or rather a pain in a## or a$$$ (a three or four letter word, depending upon whether you like U.K. or U.S. vocabulary). There could be many like him. So you see, one has to have this basic ingredient called Natural Turn. So if you do have it in you the other things will follow. Now we shall proceed with the other skills required. (No, I do not profess to be expert in the field. In fact, I am but a novice. All this is my pure and honest opinion, nothing more nothing less. And it is my own work at that.)

• PLATFORM

It is said that a magician will not be able to hypnotise you unless you want to be hypnotised. Your willingness is a must. The moment you enter the auditorium to watch the magic show, you are consciously or unknowingly accepting subconsciously that you are willing to be hypnotised – believe in everything that is presented before by the hypnotist is actually happening. A good speaker (political or otherwise) is like a hypnotist. But both have distinct advantage over a writer. Both of them have an audience – ready made at that – coming to watch the show or hear what is being said. Now all that they both have to do is just to exhibit their ware. To applaud, clap or boo is the prerogative of the audience. Whereas the writer does not have readers assembled at one point. Who would want to read me and why? This question must perhaps be troubling many a writers – aspiring and established ones as well. Answer – I do not know. (And you thought I had the answer!) Suggestions (come in many ways and from many corners)  Where should I then put up ‘ my ware’? What platform should I opt for it? – Publisher – Face Book – Twitter – Blog-writing. (Hence, I have selected this platform)

• THE WHOLE MAN BEHIND HIS WRITING

They say that there has to be the whole man behind the speech. He is not only supposed to know the language of his listeners but also speak their tongue – tone, mannerism, accent- every thing. Mr. George Fernandez was not only a good orator but also a good audience puller. He could easily modulate the tone of his voice, change the accent to suit the class of the audience that he was addressing and speak in their tongue, be it ‘Queens’ English for the elite or the rough language for his union labourers. His fluency in English language was too good and had a good command over Marathi as well. In the same manner, for a writer too, his whole self, heart, soul and mind, should be behind his writing. He should have full conviction in his writing. He should write what he means and mean what he writes. The correctness of language usage, grammar of the language, spellings, etc. are no doubt very important but the most important thing is making the write – up interesting enough for the readers to read it at least once. And he should have unique style of his own.

•  CATCHY TITLE

 I remember having read A.G.Gardiner's 'On writing An Article', which went this way:

I was putting on my boots just now in what the novelists call "a brown study." There was no urgent reason for putting on my boots. I was not going out, and my slippers were much more comfortable. But something had to be done. I wanted a subject for an article. Now if you are accustomed to writing articles for a living, you will know that sometimes the difficulty is not writing the article, but choosing a subject. It is not that subjects are few: it is that they are so many. It is not poverty you suffer from, but an embarrassment of riches.  

So after choosing the subject the next important step is find an appropriate title for your article and opening line will kindle the flame of interest and keeping the flame burning will depend upon the substance in the body of the article. The best opening of any novel that I have ever read is perhaps from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and I quote:

‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.’

Then there was this obituary article on Mr. Pralhad Keshav Atre, written by Mr.Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (Mr.K.A.Abbas), went this way, ‘On this day of 13^th June, 1969 died a prominent Marathi writer, a poet, an educationist, a humourist, a newspaper founder–editor of Maratha, a political leader, a movie producer–director–script writer, a noted orator and along with them died Mr.P.K.Atre, multi-faceted figure.’ (I am sure this article was written by Mr.K.A.Abbas.But could not verify its authenticity. Google was of no help) Humour and Acharya Atre were inseparable. This was so firmly established in my young mind that I tried to search for some humourous episode in a story (may be a true story) –'पुरात बुडालेला विष्णू' (‘Poorat Budalela Vishnu’, Vishnu who was drowned in a flooded river). I read the first paragraph, then another, I went on and on, thinking all the time there would be some thing funny instance or humorous episode at some stage, may be in the next paragraph or the one after that. I read paragraph after paragraph. But wasn’t to be. It was all through  a serious stuff.

It was a total tragedy – a heart wrenching story – a tale of a village kid, some 13 or 14 years of age. Vishnu enters in the shallow waters of the river. He stands on a rock, away from the bank of the river. He is enjoying. Suddenly the water starts rising. The cold water tickles his toes. He is still enjoying.Up it goes from his knees to his hips. He is now frightened. Now it has risen up to his neck. He is trapped in a flood, he realises and so does the whole village. People, who have come there after his friends had raised the alarm, helplessly watch and watch and witness his drowning and his ultimate death.

 Crowds may have stood mesmerised by his oratorical skills weaving its magic over the audience. The audiences and readers everywhere may have been enthralled by his singular literary style, humour and his accomplishments in various fields but it was this tragic story of Vishnu that had some how created a lasting impression on my tender mind.

•  CHOSEN LANGUAGE 

 It's important that you choose the language your comfortable in and having chosen the language you should start thinking that language. Your very thought process should be in that language. When I am writing in, say in Marathi, my very thought process in Marathi. While writing in Marathi I start thinking in English or any other language then all the words that I want to write come to mind in English and with the result I try to find the appropriate word from various sources - dictionary, Google Search, friends, and my efforts may not yield  the right word and my write up may end up in a 'bad translation' work. This reminds of some funny instances. 

The first happened in this manner. But I prefer to write it in Marathi. 

त्याचे असे झाले.  मी समोरच्या सोनू मावशींकडे होतो (तसे त्या आमच्या आईच्या मावशी, पण आम्ही सारेच त्यांना मावशी म्हणत). दुपारची वेळ होती. बाहेरून  कोणीतरी दार ठोठावले. मी दार उघडले.

 " अहो मावशी, दुध वाला आलाय," मी ओरडून सांगितले खरे पण मावशी दुधासाठी टोप घेनुच येत होत्या. 

" बाय, आज कितना दुध डालूं ?"

 "नेहमी इतना, १ लिटर। उद्याके लिए जादा। पर तू पक्का आयेगा न रे?"

" हाँ माँजी!"

" आज आया वैसा लवकर आयेगा? पक्का?"

"हाँ,हाँ, बिल्कुल २ बजे!"

"२ बजे आना हँ  जरुर, नही तो क्या होगा मै तेरेपर बैठूंगी और तू आयेगा नहीं।"

भैयाचा चेहरा बघण्या सारखा झाला होता. 

माझ्या मावस  भावानी तर कहरच केली. असेल तो ९वीत त्या वेळी. हिंदीच्या एका निबंधात असे काही लिहिले, '--- मैने झुरलको देखा और डरसे पलंग परसे खाली उदी मारी --"  बिचाऱ्याला हिंदी मध्ये झुरळाला काय म्हणतात हे माहित नसावे. तसेच  'नीचे' आणि 'कुदना' ह्या शब्दांची जाण नसावी. असो!

• JUST AS TRANSLATIONS ARE USUALLY BAD, COPY- PASTES ARE DISASTROUS

These two lessons I have learnt very, very early in my life.  I must have been in 8th or 9th then. Mr.S.V. Burde was our English language teacher. In one of my essays I had written, '--- Where do I want go? What do I want be in life? Will I be satisfied in doing just one thing? Or try my hand at different things? Jack of all trades? Master of none, you would say. But in our life we hardly know where we want to go and where we shall ultimately reach; and this is beauty of life. In the life's journey we do not know our destination. Some people easily get tired and get down at any in between station. And then settle down there. Such people are highly praised. But there are others whose journey never ends and are labelled as fools. Those who stay put at one place, doing just one job and have just one profession to boast of, are the worldly smart fellows. They are the clever, efficient, capable, accomplished and what not. But there is bit of confusion in my simple mind, whether stability and firmness are virtues or weaknesses. I do not know. May be these people stick around one place because they are too weak to move about, they simply do not have the strength and desire in their hearts to do anything else in life. So what is my aim in life? A teacher? A writer? ----'

Mr. Burde, my teacher called me and asked," Vinay, what you have written is good. But is it your own work? Have you copied it from somewhere?"

"No, Sir! It's all my own work," I replied quite confidently. 

"Vinay, I know for certain that it is not your own work. Do you what is meant by plagiarize, it means to take and pass off someone's thoughts or writings as one's own. That's exactly what you have done. It is not word to word copy, I must say. But these are not entirely your thoughts. If at all you wanted to use it, you should have put it in this way, ' so and so has said or someone has said--'. But what you have done here, is translating a good Marathi literature, written by Acharya Pralhad Keshav Atre, am I right? Remember don't ever be a plagiarist and avoid translations because they could spell disaster."

This was that piece:

'एवढे उद्योग तुम्हीं केलेत त्याची काही जरुरी होती का? तुम्ही निघालांत कुठून? जाणार होतां कुठें? अन् गेलांत कुणीकडे? कशाला काही पत्ता?  आणि अजून तरी आहांत तिथेच राहणार आहांत का आणखी कुठें भराऱ्या मारून येणार?आयुष्यांत कुठें जायचें हें कळत नाही, हीच तर त्याची गंमत आहे. आयुष्याच्या आगगाडींत बसलेल्या माणसांना कुठें उतरायचें हें शेवट पर्यंत समजत नाही. 

काहीं माणसें प्रवासाला कंटाळून अधल्यामधल्या स्टेशनावरच उतरतात. अन् जन्मभर तेथेंच मुक्काम कुरून बसतात. त्यांची जगांत फार वाहवा होते. पण ज्यांचा प्रवास शेवट पर्यंत संपत नाही ती माझ्या सारखीं माणसे वेडी ठरतात. आयुष्यभर जीं एकच काम करतात, ती माणसें अधिक हुशार अन् कर्तबगार असतात काय हो? कोणास ठाऊक? खंबीरपणा किंवा स्थिरता हे सद्गुण आहे का दुर्गुण आहेत हेंच मला कळत नाही. त्यांच्या संबंधीं माझ्या डोक्यांत जरा घोटाळा आहे. एकाच ठिकाणीं एकाच कार्यांत चिकटून राहणें, हें कांही मला सामर्थ्याचें लक्षण वाटत नाही. मला तर तो दुबळे पणाच वाटतो. पुष्कळशीं मणसें एकाच ठिकाणीं जीं पडून राहतात, त्यांना दुसरीकडे हलण्याची मुळीं शक्तिच नसते. 

So the two lessons learnt - No translations and no plagiarism (copy - paste jobs)

However, despite learning this in my early school days, I simply can’t resist the temptation (may be only at times) of doing some copy - paste work especially on my Face Book wall (but I make it a point to quote my source).

The other day a friend of mine, Neville Mistry, sent me this email and I just copied and pasted it on  my Face Book wall:

[THIS EXPLAINS WHY I FORWARD E-MAILS

A man and his dog were walking along a road. The man was enjoying the scenery, when it suddenly occurred to him that he was dead.

He remembered dying, and that the dog walking beside him had been dead for years. He wondered where the road was leading them.

After a while, they came to a high, white stone wall along one side of the road. It looked like fine marble. At the top of a long hill, it was broken by a tall arch that glowed in the sunlight.

When he was standing before it, he saw a magnificent gate in the arch that looked like mother-of-pearl, and the street that led to the gate looked like pure gold.

He and the dog walked toward the gate, and as he got closer, he saw a man at a desk to one side.

When he was close enough, he called out, 'Excuse me, where are we?'

'This is Heaven, sir,' the man answered.

'Wow! Would you happen to have some water?' the man asked.

'Of course, sir. Come right in, and I'll have some ice water brought right up.'

The man gestured, and the gate began to open. 'Can my friend,' gesturing toward his dog, 'come in, too?' the traveler asked.

'I am sorry, sir, but we don't accept pets.'

The man thought a moment and then turned back toward the road and continued the way he had been going with his dog.

After another long walk, and at the top of another long hill, he came to a dirt road leading through a farm gate that looked as if it had never been closed. There was no fence. As he approached the gate, he saw a man inside, leaning against a tree and reading a book.

'Excuse me!' he called to the man. 'Do you have any water?'

'Yeah, sure, there's a pump over there, come on in.'

'How about my friend here?' the traveler gestured to the dog.

'There should be a bowl by the pump,' said the man.

They went through the gate, and sure enough, there was an old-fashioned hand pump with a bowl beside it. The traveler filled the water bowl and took a long drink himself, then he gave some to the dog.

When they were full, he and the dog walked back toward the man who was standing by the tree. 'What do you call this place?' the traveler asked.

'This is Heaven,' he answered.

'Well, that's confusing,' the traveler said.

'The man down the road said that was Heaven, too.'

'Oh, you mean the place with the gold street and pearly gates? Nope. That's Hell.'

'Doesn't it make you mad for them to use your name like that?'

'No, we're just happy that they screen out the folks who would leave their best friends behind.'

Soooo... Now you see, sometimes we wonder why friends keep forwarding stuff to us without writing a word. Maybe this will explain it.

When you are very busy, but still want to keep in touch, guess what you do? You forward emails.

When you have nothing to say, but still want to keep contact, you forward jokes.

When you have something to say, but don't know how - you forward stuff.

A 'forward' lets you know that
you are still remembered,
you are still important,
you are still cared for.

So, next time if you get a 'forward', don't think that you've been sent just another forwarded joke, but that you've been thought of today and your friend on the other end of your computer wanted to send you a smile.

You are welcome at my water bowl anytime!!]

And then I these responses:

·         Sandeep , Swapnalee, Sanjoo and 2 others like this.

·         Sandeep commented:You should welcome folks like me to your scotch bowl & then experience the 'forward' we will be sending you.

Sandeep, my cousin’s son, certainly has good sense of humour.

Humour or humor (as the Americans will spell) is, you know, the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoura medicines of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, "body fluid"), control human health and emotion.

People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. The majority of people are able to experience humour, i.e., to be amused, to laugh or smile at something funny, and thus they are considered to have a sense of humour. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour induced by humour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person will find something humorous depends upon a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence and context. We know that most of the young children may favour slapsticks (boisterous comedies) like, say cartoons (such as Tom and Jerry) or funny puppet shows. Satire may rely more on understanding the target of the humour and thus tends to appeal to more mature audiences.

One should be very particular of the grammar of the language in which one is writing. Otherwise he or she can easily become butt of everybody’s jokes and ridicule. Here are some of the comments passed on some FB posts by my Face Book - friends or friend of my FB friends:

I.] There was this FB post:

There was a video posted on FB. It was captioned 'अमेरिकन हिंदुनी म्हणालेली बाप्पांची आरती...!!
प्रत्येकाने बघून शेअर केला पाहिजे असा व्हिडियो..!!
चुकवू नका ..!!

The video captured a group of some foreign musicians and singers singing devotional song in praise of Lord Ganesh.

There were several 'Likes' and many 'Comments',but the comment of one Mr. Sopan was like this, and I quote:
  Don't pay attention to their pronouncement. They are singing a Marathi devotional song and that deserves kudos, No matter whether these youths are from Ukrane (Ukraine )or Russia or from Brazil, it hardly matters
[I believe that pronouncement means

1. an official or authoritative statement or announcement
2. the act of pronouncing, declaring, or uttering formally

Though the use of the word pronouncement is not wrong I do feel that 'their pronunciation' would be more appropriate.]

II.] Then there was this one post shared from 'f / grammarly' by one of friends:

                I & ME

THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE!

f / Grammarly

I gave her flowers.
She gave me a compliment.

Someone commented like this:

One is subject (I) and one [it should be 'the other'] is an object (me). Subjects do and objects receive.

[And can anyone tell me what is meant by 'grammarly'. Do they want to say 'Grammatically speaking'?]

III.] [People often get confused between ‘compliment’ and ‘complement’. No wonder then a dancer wrote on her timeline, “Thanks for your complement”, when someone praised her dance video. And can anyone tell me what is meant by 'grammarly'. Do they want to say 'Grammatically speaking'?]

And here I am. I have got to the end of my article without actually concluding it, so that I could have sequels, just as they have movie remakes. 

                                                                                      Vinay Trilokekar