Writing Begins at Home

Dear Writers,

I believe writing begins at home.

'Every famous writer does  have an answer to the question .

'Who or what inspired you to write?' 

Some started to write at a very young age, some needed money, some had the natural flair, many were inspired by a variety of reasons;

As Shakespeare wrote or did he? that  

'Some are born great, some acquire greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them'

Shakespeare will live forever as a great writer, but we still wonder at how he developed his talent of expression dont we? recently I read a revealing article 'Shakespeare was not the writer of the great dramatic poetry" well .....

as I became aware of life, the world and existence, the physical and the metaphysical , I found that the written word was the outstanding factor and  the most stressed upon element of learning.

'Anju, why dont you start a diary?' my mother , the only person knowing me and my interests best, quietly but confidently caught my attention, I must be definitely fidgeting with my two stringed banjo trying to make some tuned tunes on it.

'Well' ? I can try,  mom' , I never would say NO to mother. She bent forward a little and looking straight at the side cupboard  found what she was seeking and with her eyes pointed out

' Look on the top shelf , you will find a small black book, take it and begin..' It was almost an army command, perhaps my father being in the army had caused  my mother to pick up the methods of asserting authority in the house...my father was a gentle and humble doctor but a very firm commander.; and he loved Nature ....he loved the mountains, the valleys, the fresh water springs, all the possible outdoor picnic spots would be marked as soon as life began in a new city or town and every Sunday was a picnic day.

My love of Nature was nurtured by my parents and there began my inspiration which began its flow through my favourite pencils. As I learnt words , formed sentences , turned them into paragraphs , my ideas took shape on the thin fabric called paper.

Nature inspired me the most.   

My first most memorable poem was 'Daffodils"

'I wandered lonely as a cloud' so wrote William Wordsworth that was what he saw during the day, but I remember even during the warm summer nights I spent long hours gazing at the twinkling sky, looking for the Constellations, The Great Bear, The Belt of Orion and so many others  from a Book 'The Stars and The Universe' my Uncle had gifted me as my seventh birthday present..... I dont recall the name of the writer, but someone had worked real hard at home--

No wonder then that what I wrote years later was.......

'Into the starful sky I gaze

And feel a glow of Faith and Companionship

Forever the stars will light

And keep bright my nights

when darkness descends and sleep covers all;

and I titled these lines as 'Eternal Lights"

My inspiration from Nature continued and I found many subjects ......

Then came the most touching season 'Autumn' and John Keats famous lines

'Season of mist and mellow fruitfulness' his was an image of density ripeness and fullness to the core, where as my picture at the time was of dejection.... 

''Sadness and sorrow fill my heart

when I see the leaves

silently leave the tree,

Without a cry without a sound

One by one they come to the ground

Over and over they go

round and round;

My Creative Writng Class became easy for me....

I found writing the Descriptive Essay  was not such a heavy task

So my young writers learning this language skill looked forward to the lessons of taking

Inspiration from Nature

This is how I prepared:

First I carefully selected a colorful picture  (size 14x24")

After showing that to the class for a few minutes I asked the students to write down whatever words came to their mind

I would add instrumental music (By Yanni, Classical Chekovsky , Piano by Richard Clayderman) for further generation of language and ideas ideas

Then taking each word we would try to form sentences and finally arrange them in order to form a paragraph or turn an idea into a story.

And as I write this I remember that our Gardener 'Maali Baba' we called him gave me lessons on planting flowers...

writing surely begins at home.......