DR.SANTOSH BAKAYA
I hope you have been dreaming a lot—dreaming of a world where there is love, forgiveness, selfless friendship, peace, and nonviolence. Dreaming of a world where there are no ecological imbalances; dreaming of a world where there are no economic disparities, and everyone moves around wreathed in smiles.
You know, all of us have been fascinated by fairy tales. From the stories I read in childhood, I recall, they were sprinkled with a lot of nature- lush and verdant landscapes, wilderness throbbing with sounds of exotic birds, and a variety of flowers and trees, insects and worms.
If one in interested in nature, coupled with a fertile imagination, and a powerful vocabulary, one can write on anything. You have your dreams to prod you on. Cajole and coerce you. So listen to what your dreams are whispering to you
Feel like writing about the flamboyant Kingfisher you saw in your dream last night?
The nightmare where you found yourself caught in a hurricane?
When you were involved in a shipwreck?
If yes, you can go ahead and write about them. Put everything on paper.
I often tell my students in my creative writing classes:
Keep giving yourself prompts to write on.
Keep giving yourself deadlines.
Keep scolding yourself for not sticking to the deadlines.
The students have often told me, that this has worked wonders.
So, dear friends, let your imagination, emotions, and dreams fly —let your thoughts fly untethered. Free. But, remember, there is no magic wand that can magically turn your dreams into reality. You have to have grit, gumption, and a never-say-die attitude to bring your dreams to fruition.
Write about whatever dreams are buried in your hearts. Bring them out in the open, and then work towards fulfilling them.
Don’t allow your dreams to wither away. Write about them.
As Langston Hughes says,
“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken- winged bird that cannot fly.”
Why reduce your life to a broken- winged bird- Just give wings to your dreams and put them on paper.
Gloria Steinman, says, “Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.”
So dream on, plan on, write on.
I wrote Flights from my Terrace, in 2017 [AuthorsPress]
This collection of 58 essays garnered a lot of praise. It was mostly about the mundane happenings in my life. In the last chapter p 353, Why I write, I mention that flitting like a magpie, from topic to topic, I have written about the ‘blinding lustre of indomitable spirits, shining from shrunken bodies’, women collecting firewood, old wrinkled faces, dark, sweaty faces, about folks I have met in buses, trains, flights, while crossing the road, labourers, flying kites, clouds, flowers and birds.
What I am trying to say, is that there is a story everywhere and mental fodder for a lot of writing. Whatever interesting and intriguing you see around you, save that in memory, and later, when you feel like doing so, you can write about that, embellishing it with something new.
Just dream and put those dreams in writing. Dreams are very important.
You know what Vincent Van Gogh said, long time back:
“ I dream of painting, and then I paint my dream.”
You can modify it and say, “I dream of writing, and then I write my dream.”
So, dear friends, next time when we meet, I will ask you whether you have written your dreams on paper. You will soon realise that you have started enjoying every moment of your writing exercise.
All the best and keep writing.
The author is an academician, poet, essayist, novelist, and TEDx speaker, with more than twenty published books to her credit.
