Guest Post: How the Seeds Germinate by Arun M Shivakrishna

Author Bio

Arun M Sivakrishna is a management professional who works for an Automobile company.He writes in Malayalam and English and lives in Mangalore, Karnataka with wife Chitra, their son Aaditya and daughter Aamy. He can be approached at arun.m.sivakrishna@gmail.com 

His book Songs Of A Solitary Tree is available at Flipkart, Amazon and Scribid.

How the seeds germinate

As children of working parents, my sister Kanni and me were kind of left to ourselves after we reach home from school. Our favorite pastime was to enact roles out of the Marvel comics and since Phantom almost always had to jump off Hero the horse, I often end up sprawling across, attempting those from my cycle. Many such bruises and scratches later, I found it to be not wise at all.

It was then I gave her the idea of starting a News Letter, called Home Herald. We kept it running for some time about till my hand writing was quite readable and if someone asked; at least I could comprehend what I had scribbled over. She dutifully used to cut the clippings and paste them in order so it somehow resembled a pale cousin of some magazine we had by then seen.

I was by then enjoying a cult status at school for singing the same song for three annual days and as many Children's days over and again, so to save them further trouble, in one year some few teachers made me don the role of Madhavan, a writer in a school play.

The only writer I knew of was my Valyachan, (Paternal Uncle) Dr.S.Velayudhan( who is now a star in some stellar constellations) and the first thing I picked from him was the Pipe and his English ( ash bush, as it was known then). I remember coming out of the play to the roaring, earth splitting laughter of parents and teachers alike with only the kids looking at me in awe for the pipe and ash bush.

I don’t know, whether that play has any bearings on me but one day I told my sister in all seriousness an eight year old could muster “you know Tich, one day you will get my book, all printed in glossy paper". She was gung-ho about it and was sharing the big news with her friends as well adding on to the fan base at our local school. Though nothing much came about apart from a few limerick kind of stuff about “ My Kitten “ or “ My Home” and like, those days were quite memorable for the affection and affinity bestowed by certain teachers and the way they had kindled the spirits towards the magic world of letters and fables.

With the passing years, the crowd reaction towards my braying talent was going quite harsh and as a survival tactic had moved over to recitations by learning the poems of stalwarts like the late ONV Kurup, Madhusoodanan Nair and Kadammanitta to name a few. I believe, in a way that has laid the foundation for my attempts in verses as a line of expression. As any other youngster of that time, I too was enamored by the ideals of leftist line of thoughts and we were a bunch of half baked artists or souls under such an illusion and have sessions of readings, discussions and displays of work regularly. Though most of the events were pretty mundane and pseudo in nature, at times, it opened up chances to interact with the great luminaries we were looking upon with awe. Lajish, a close friend and me were quite regulars there and often used to try our hands in skits, verses and one act plays. Perhaps, such instances may have shaped up our thinking towards listening to our own creative voices.

But, all said and done, I guess it is the advent of social networking platforms that has given a lot of us the exposure. In the days of the print media, getting printed or featured was next to impossible and the reach was limited to a chosen few only. Blogs and online journals have helped the budding ones immensely for a far wider reach, instant feedback and in a way a better constructive criticism too. Though, many may still scorn the likes of us as Facebook Poets, none really could turn a blind eye towards the influence the social media has in bringing up many voices hitherto unheard.

Recently been to a school as a guest speaker for one of their workshops and it was fascinating to see the way young minds seek and probe. They were eager to know how it all started, what they need to do and whether to put any restrictions on the reading list and most of all what to read.

Looking back, what my parents had given us then, even if it was to let us stay away from pestering them, was the best of gifts ever. They brought us books and those heady mixes of Amar Chitrakatha and Fables helped us live in a world of myths and legends and magic. That is what I am giving to my monsters too and despite all the grouses I have over them; it is so heartening to see them in a quiet corner with a book in hand, happily weaving a world of magic and realism.

Believe me, the love of words make people selfless in their pursuits and chase nobler means to spread sunshine around the world and Eclectic Moods is one such platform by Jonali. It is indeed nice to know of such beautiful people who thrive to make the world a better place.

Happy reading to you all.