Wednesday 10 April 2019

'A Diary Doesn’t Lie, Does It?'


Last evening, I happened to make a delightful pit stop at my sister’s place in Anna Nagar, Chennai, to say a ‘hi’ to them in general and to my little, vibrant niece Phia in particular, little realising that the delightful stopover would turn into such a memorable inspirational one at that!

Even when I entered their house, Phia was all engrossed with a huge book on her lap!

On closer look, I could surmise it was the memoir of Michelle Obama, titled, Becoming, published in 2018, that details on how she found her own voice! A unique voice of her own!

‘How much on this book are you done Phia?,’ I ask her, quite curious at that!

‘Just about a half-way through, rufus uncle’, she replies.

Wonder-amazed to find a huge cupboard filled with such wonderful reads, neatly stacked, I ask her my next inquisitive question,

‘Is this all yours’?

“Yes rufus uncle!”

So which among these would be your favourite books? Or your favourite authors?

“Nope! I’ve so far not had any favourite authors or books, uncle. Anything goes. I read anything that comes my way!”

And who helps you in choosing these books that come your way?

“Of course Mom! With such a super-mom for an amazing reading company, who else could know your reading habits better?”

I ask her next, ‘Do you keep track of your reading, Phia?’

Phia's creations
“Nope, rufus uncle! But I maintain a diary! I write down the good and the bad that’s happened to me on any given day, every day! And well, I don’t allow anyone to open it! It’s so private you see!”

Wowww! That’s a huge surprise! I’m amazed that you write a manual diary. Who gave you this wonderful little book for a diary?’ I ask, still curious!

“It’s dad’s gift to me, rufus uncle!!!’ and she adds, ‘You know something? He knows my weakness for doodling onto any book that comes my way, and so he made me give him a promise before he gave me this book!”

And what was that promise, Phia?

“He made me promise that I will use the book only for writing, and never for drawing!’”

And so you abide by that?

“Yes rufus uncle! To a great extent! But… you see… how on earth can you communicate your thoughts onto paper without a little bit of emojis at least? Aint it?”

‘Of course, yes, Phia! You’re right!,’ I nod in total agreement!

“And that’s one reason why, I so I indulge myself with a streak of emojis wherever possible! Look at them!” she explains, with an impish smile radiating on her face!

(She’s careful not to show me her writings though! ;-)
Amazing! So why do you write down your thoughts in a diary, Phia. Any particular reason for that?

“So simple, rufus uncle! Sometimes you’ve got some overpowering thoughts and emotions that need your attention. You can’t share it with anyone! And also, sometimes you don’t want to throw up tantrums and your anger onto somebody! So I put them down, all of them, onto this diary! That’s why I don’t allow anyone to read this diary of mine!. Cos it contains all of my good, and all of my bad as well!”

The 'First page' warning on Dotty, her diary ;-)
“Added, diaries also help me keep track of things we do at home! Take this for example! Dad was in North Carolina last year in February and he completely forgot about it when I reminded him of it. Then I had to show him my diary. He was surprised, and he said, it can’t be! I don’t remember being in NC last February. Then I took to him my diary, and showed him it! A diary doesn’t lie, does it?”

So happy for you my little girl! Do you know there was yet another little girl like you, by name Anne Frank who also maintained a diary, much like you do?

[Now she makes her way to her stacked up cupboard and takes down the book and shows it to me!]

“This one, right?”

Wow! Yes! Exactly! You’ve read it?

“Yes rufus uncle! I’m done with it. It’s been so moving a read for me!”

On an impish note I add, ‘Phia, you could also possibly publish your diaries one day, like Anne Frank did!’

“But Anne Frank didn’t publish her diaries, rufus uncle. In fact, her diary was retrieved, only after her death, by a kind person, who later gave it to her father, and only then on, it was published!” she replied with such childish glee on her!

Yes!’ I said, with a sheepish grin on my face!

How much care should be yours when addressing such a prodigious kid! No slips of any sort allowed!
[Now it was her turn to quiz me!]

‘Do you like Harry Potter, rufus uncle?’

‘Nope. Not my cuppa coffee though!’ I reply.

‘What about you’, I ask. ‘Do you like the Harry Potter series, Phia’?

“I love them lots. In fact I’ve got loads and loads of love for Harry Potter.”

So which is your favourite book of Harry’s?

“The Goblet of Fire!”

‘Have you watched the film version to the book, Phia?’ I ask as inquisitive I could be.

“Yes, I did. But I didn’t like it at all. I prefer reading the book to watching the movie.”

Super surprised, I ask her, ‘But why?’

“Because the movie versions, in general, take away the shine and the sheen from the realities portrayed in the books!”

Like?

“Well, in the movies, for instance, Ginny's eyes are brown, but in the movies they're green. So absurd isn’t it? Ron too has green eyes in the movies, but the books say, that it’s blue! Again, Lily and Harry too have green eyes in the books, but in the movies, Lily's eyes are brown and Harry's are blue. So weird it looked to me, Rufus uncle. It almost took away the essence of the books for me, at one go! That’s the same these movie creators did with his hair too!”

‘So you’ve always loved books more?’

‘Yes, rufus uncle!’ In fact, I’ve even written a novel’

‘Novel?’

‘Yes. A kinda novel. Or should I call it a novella!?

Amazing, Phia. Can I get to hear you read from the opening chapter of your novel?

“Yes rufus uncle. (and she brings out the manuscript to her novel, and starts reading it out to me, in such a sonorous voice!)”

Lovely Phia. Looks like you’ve introduced all the major characters in the very opening chapter itself. That’s great!

“Yes rufus uncle. That’s because when I read through some of the novels from my collections, these past years, I’ve been so irritated by the fact that, characters suddenly pop up from nowhere and intrigue, confuse and confound us all of a sudden! Especially when I read through Nancy Drew! So I decided to make amends in my novel!”

Three hours flit us by, talking literature to Phia.

From Phia's collection
Then I showed her a blogpost from three years back, in which we’d all gone on a wild trek with Phia and team, where we had described Phia’s love for stones, pebbles, and rocks of all hues! You may want to read that post HERE.

Later, she played for us all, a lovely song on the keys, a song that she had composed all by herself.

Yesss! Three solid hours had flit us by! I was engrossed and engaged in the literary entertainment that was provided to me in abundance by my little niece Phia! [Happily unmindful of the fact that I had another rendezvous with some friends coming up, that evening!]

What an amazing love for reading at this young an age! She’s just eleven years now, and she’s done reading all the classics of the past, and she’s got her own take on each of her collection of books too!

Added, Phia also has a lot of extra-curiculars lined up on her cupboard! She makes dolls from scratch! From anything that comes her way! It could be a stick doll, or a doll made with the faded-socks on Barbie! And she has a name for each of those fifty-odd dolls that are arrayed in such beautiful stacks on their wooden cupboard! Yesss! I forgot to add this: In fact, she’s named her diary as dotty! ;-)

In an age when our kids have been lethally addicted to the mobile phone, enslaved by its wily charms, and to all such related techno-gadgets, completely unmindful of the delightful world of books, the world of reading and the world of writing, I was so overjoyed to the core, and literally, tears of joy welled up within my heart when I bid a farewell for the night to Phia and her beloved parents!

Indeed, I was muttering a silent prayer within me, that, put in a nutshell, would translate to,

Let the world have more of Phias! More and more of them!

And when she came down to bid me bye, she said, ‘Rufus uncle, as always, you are my favourite uncle, foreverrr’!

God bless you my sweet little niece! May your tribe richly increase! Love you and admire you so much.

Indeed! Phia made my day, in every way, this past yesterday!

[PS: with her permission, I’ve clicked away the first page to her cute little diary, and just one cupboard of her amazing array of astounding books!]

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