Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Diwali Thoughts

Just when I was beginning to blog with some regularity, it's time to travel again. Technically, I am going home for Diwali. But practically, I am going to collect raw material for my future blogs, future columns, and future books. That's the most enervating part of being a writer: you never travel or go on a holiday for the fun of it. The most active part of your mind is always busy taking notes. Even when you are sitting at home and doing nothing, you find a story knocking at your door. Even when you eat food cooked by your mom and go out meeting your old friends, you find nostalgia nudging at you to take notes.

I am not really complaining, because I believe that one way of extracting the meaning of life is to write about the small, little day-to-day things that constitute it. When you write, you impart permanence to even the smallest of events that would otherwise had gone out of the radar of your memory. When you write, you justify your existence. Not writing is like going on honeymoon without a camera: there would be no evidence of those special moments.

On that note, I would excuse myself for a short break. Do miss me. And yes, a very happy Diwali.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very true. Once you take to writing you are never free. There is always some preoccupation. But then that is the whole fun of it.
Enjoy ur diwali break and gather enough to write up something exclusive.

Zeppelin said...

Happy Diwali!

The Ugly One said...

always wondered about your inspiration to writing.

i just got to read about the culture of lucknow before the british arrived. courtesy: william darlymple - kingdom of avadh.

hope you are relishing diwali in that near-forgotten culture amidst ruins of all sorts.

i still think what you wrote about the place a few years ago at the time of elections to be one of your bestest :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Diwali to you.

Anonymous said...

Come back soon useless

Anonymous said...

Hey anon, how dare you call my darling useless!

Anonymous said...

Not related to this but to your earlier post on a bengali song, I thought you will love this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9Rd3BHSsrY