Aruna, the writer!

By: Nishat Paiker

What could be more pathetic for a writer or learner than when he has nothing to write or very often no suitable words to jot down his ideas or expressions?

A learner in the field is most infected by this deficiency of either words or perfect ideas. His or her mind becomes like a tee of golf.

Well, there is no compulsion to write but thanks to the tag of writer who should write whatsoever it may be, that was what Aruna, a nascent writer believed.

During the library sessions at school she was always in the awe of books and their composers. How can a single person write such big and fat novels? Fat like an elephant and not ending easily like a princess plait in fairy tales.

One of her friend was very keen on reading, with thick glasses on his face and fattest book in hand, was always acknowledged by the teachers. Aruna was taken away by this and the next best thing she could think was, “he just reads to impress but one day I will write to make him read my work.”

The thought was literally taken as a challenge and search began on what to write. But this search continued too long or better to say till date with a dilemma around.

Even a modest subject to write would leave her in bewilderment for few hours. Nights were often spent in dreaming of Man Booker or Pulitzer awards in her hands and days in applauding Naipaul, Dickens, Chetan Bhagat, Brookner and many more!

She was impressed with their clarity in perception, endless inventiveness, word intelligence, minor complexities, emotional depths, and well-mended plots and would think how and when would she become such a strong-headed writer and gain a truest mark of distinction like them.

Somebody advised, keep a diary and it helped. Now, Aruna had a friend that became the quintessence of her writing attempts and her thought imbalances over her ever-growing dilemmas.

Horrible dreams, the first “challenge”, and helplessness felt while writing, which she compared with her bicycle learning sessions! All she confided with this new found friend.

Seeing her obsession and obscurity too, well-wishers started suggesting all sorts of subjects to write ranging from women empowerment, corruption, politics, infamous politicians to never-ageing Bachchan and some even had the uncanny ideas like ‘my neighbours pet dog’, ‘Mrs Dhingra’s secret of heavy weight loss!’, ‘a new love affair in society’ and even to personal grievances of “katiya” power supply in the neighbourhood!

Her ten year old sister was all up to support her, suggesting Arabians wrote ‘Arabian Nights’, why can’t you write on ‘Indian Nights’. On Aruna’s grin, she came up with the next one, Arundhati Roy wrote on ‘God of small things’, you write on ‘God of big things’, and we have so many Gods in India to refer to! Aruna was convinced, could be a good subject but now “which God…?” A mammoth’s task indeed!