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?’
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| 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!”
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| 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!
[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.
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| 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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