On Vikram Seth :)

Hmmm....so, my post of the week. That's what job does to blogging-reduces it to just a weekend amusement!

Last night, I started 'The Golden Gate' by Vikram Seth. And, he had the same effect on me again- he made me smile. Reading him is always so rewarding. The joy he must have felt while writing comes through! I had once copied a quote of RK Narayan about him, "Here was a genuine writer with the right values, gift and outlook, not writing in order to blow ff steam or to reform society but a genuine artist who takes pleasure in writing. Here I found rhyme, reason and humor, and above all sensed a rhythm which “vibrates in the memory” even after the book is shut and put away. Vikram Seth shows absolute mastery of the English Language and has created a unique literary alchemy. Yes, this is a book fit to be kept beside Palgrave’s Golden Treasury for frequent literary refreshment."

Really, I think that if I ever do write a book, I am going to write a 'Thank You' note in it to Seth, for giving me a model for my writing.

I had first come across him two years back, when I picked up 'A Suitable Boy' off the shelves of British Library, attracted enough by the title (hehe :P). I still remember how, that evening, I started reading it, and just could not put it down! The writing had a glowing, sunny feeling about it, a warmth that I had not felt in any book since long. The only book that I remember with similar affection is 'David Copperfield', and that is partly due to the nostalgia it evokes. It was the first novel I ever read, in my class fourth.

I am sure there would be many favourite books that I'll be able to list, but they would all be afterthoughts. The book and the author that immediately comes to my mind is 'A suitable boy' and Vikram Seth.

It was such a simple story! It made me want to write myself! To write a book as 'A Suitable Boy' became the dream for me.

The next book that I picked of him was 'All You Who Sleep Tonight.'

Again, I went "Wow!!!"

It is perhaps the only book of English poetry that I've read from end to end, and got photocopied, and remembered by heart, and loved to quote. I have been an avid collector of Punjabi poems, and have loved their rhythm and usage of beautiful, melodious and sweet words. I love reciting them aloud, even if only to myself. Somehow, not many English poems had had the same effect on me. Some poets had, randomly, but apart from Shelley's imagination, nothing made me go "Wow!"

Vikram Seth did.

His poems were so simple! Very easy to understand, and so enjoyable! He plays with words and that playfulness makes his poems a joy. I could perfectly relate with what he wrote, I could understand him, because I had had similar experiences myself. That made me think, "Here is he, who has turned his experiences into such beautiful poetry. And, you've just let them go by!"

My writing style is usually similar to Paulo Coelho-ish philosophical ramblings. But, that also makes me glum and an introvert. My friends already say I think a lot, and such heavy writing makes me go even deeper. Also, the chief element of my writing then becomes cynicism, and irony, whereas I am generally quite optimistic and cheerful. In short, it almost creates an alter-ego of mine, someone who is cynical and depressed about everything. Such writing always leaves me unsatisfied. It's not the kind of a person I want to be. It's not the kind of writing I want to do.

Last night, reading 'The Golden Gate' lit me up again. That is the writing that makes me smile. That's how I want to write.