The process of writing!

To write:

I read a post the other day, which said that one who aspires to be a writer should spend 85% of their creative time in reading and 15% of it in writing. So true it is.

 Unless you engage your 'self' into observing the vast arena of behaviours, analyze the variety of view points and dig deep in the diverse thought processes of your peers and also of course nourish yours with the fertile minds of great legends... ... ... the depth of your writing would not be sufficient for any construction to erect.                                                                            
I have been thinking about somethings that KoKu. wrote regarding the process of 'writing'. It is his belief that literature is like a flower on the tree of life, not a branch of another book. He says that writing should stem from life, not from books. 


I interpreted it like this: one should study the life around him and get inspired to share what he came to know about it. One should not take any book as final and continue to propagate its views without experiencing the truth of it.  In short, books, however great they may be cannot be substitutes for life in instilling passion in you, making you experience the 'Truths of life', which in turn compel 

you to  share with your fellow beings. 


Then I started asking myself, how to study life? It is not that people come to you everyday sharing their inner thoughts, fears, and apprehensions about their lives. Most of the small talk we exchange with people would be of no consequence. What is that I can learn new after conversing with some one that is different from any one else, that is specific to that individual? The difficulty does not end there, how do you make sure that you are seeing what the other person is, and not something which you imagine him to be?

                         
I remembered Chalam, as he was speaking in a radio interview, that the evil which he criticized so passionately was not of the society but of himself. The shallowness, dual values and false prestige that he abhorred was in fact not outside, but inside of him. While he was rubbing and cleaning himself of those malice, some of the splashes took the form of his writings. And it so happened that society saw itself in his books.      

    The 'essence' :

As I ponder upon...these thoughts a new meaning dawned, which can synthesize the outside and inside. Some may have more scope to interact with people and some may have less due to the life style choices. The ability to read from others' words and deeds also can widely vary. It is practically impossible to study entire world with all of its diversity. One can only see as much as his vision permits him. But, that need not limit one who wishes to write as long as he sees the 'REFLECTION' of the world in him, touching the minute details of the delicate contours, sharp angles, soft curves of the reflection that is taking shape in 'his heart' .Using his Intellect, one can further this process of internalization, by finding the 'universal' element in his 'personal' experience.