It’s a truth, universally acknowledged,
that any liberated literary being (young and old) must sure be a class apart in
everything there is to life and living!
Be it in their perspectives, their
sentiments, their approach to people, their attitude to life, and towards
society in general – They are simply amazing in every way, you see!
Phenomenal in every
way! A literary being, we literati call them!
‘What’s that particular something, I pray thee, which makes them
a class apart, sir?’ you seem to ask!
Well, then, if you would take some time
off your busy schedule to observe those special
qualities that makes a literary being stand out, you’d sure end up saying a ‘hi
five’ to any literary being who happens to come your way!
After you read through these salients,
maybe!
Because, you’d find it out all for yourself
these lovely salients enshrined in the hearts and minds of any literary being!
And yes! The literati is all over the place, to paint the town
red! And the fact is, there’s no stopping them!
So here goes –
First and foremost, a liberated literary
being has got an amazing ‘defamilarised’ perspective to everything under the sun,
as Viktor Shklovsky would call it!
They don’t look up things the way pavapetta
mortals do! Their souls are of a different mould! A different class! A different
temperament!
Secondly, a literary being believes in the
power of their pen!
To them, their pen is mightier than the sword at any given
point of time! So they tend to be working on their muse as often as they
possibly could!
They don’t necessarily write for a particular reader or an
audience, but they write their hearts out, chiefly because if they don’t, their
muse will sure twitch and tweak their ears to a scream if they ain’t! One
reason why they strive to create such amazing worlds through words!
Thirdly, they don’t revel or relish in
whiling away their time watching crass videos, nosey memes or stale jokes by
the number, ones that don’t have any literary merit to them! In short, they don’t
have time on them to waste on trivialities by the dozen that come knocking at
their doors!
Fourthly, they’d always be on the watch
for the latest reads in town, the latest additions to the libraries, the latest
winners of those prestigious literary prizes, the latest journals in town etc.
Without
them, they feel, they’re sure missing out on something! Some literary spice! Some
action! To them, as with Emily Dickinson, ‘The pedigree of honey does not
concern the bee; A clover, any time, to him is aristocracy’!
Fifthly, they’d never associate even in their
wildest dreams, with those miserable gossipy
gangs in town, at any point of time ever in their precious lives, because they
know and they are convinced beyond measure that these gossip gangs are always part of those
deprived, god-forsaken souls who’ve always felt that, their hearts will stop
beating and they’d have to be admitted in Apollo hospitals and that too on ventilator mode, if
they don’t do their daily quota of trivial, mean, damaging gossip.
Sixthly, a true blue literary being will
never pass value judgements on ANYONE! Neither will they arrive at conclusions that easily on their fellow human beings!
That’s because they believe in the dictum that, ‘To each their aura and their glow!’
As J. Krishnamurti says,
‘A living mind is a free mind, learning, never concluding!’
With this lovely thought that guides and binds them, they do NOT indulge in that moral policing and ethical conditioning on any human being,
because they know and they are convinced for sure that, the other person (whom they’re
trying to criticize, to attack or to browbeat) is just the same as themselves,
in flesh and blood, with the same two eyes, two ears, one nose, one mouth, two
hands, two legs and one head!
They too call themselves ‘I’! Hence, they will never
attack the personal values and beliefs of others because they feel that, each is a product
of their individual, cultural, social and economic specifics that seek to
define their identity to a tee!
That again makes them quite convinced
that, nobody has claims to a divine right, whatsoever, to criticize or to judge
another human being by their own upright, ‘holy, holier, holiest’ standards!
In short, a liberated literary being ain’t
ever believe in stereotyping their fellow human beings! Neither are they extremely cynical or overtly critical of people!
They’d have learnt
from the wonderful, delightful books that they’ve read that, reality, like
truth, is always relative! And so every human being, every species of flora and every species of fauna deserves to be celebrated and venerated!
So with Wordsworth they say,
To me the meanest flower that blows can give Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.
One reason why they’d take the utmost care to relish
and to cherish, to nourish and to make flourish other voices, other eyes, other
opinions, other thoughts, other ideas and other views from everyone in, around
and outside their fold!
Seventhly, their hearts will leap up, with
Wordsworth, when they see a rainbow in the sky! Their muse will work overtime
when they see a flower, a bird, kitten, a calf or a puppy in such mirth and jollity!
That’s hence they believe in the credo that,
the time to be happy is
now! the place to be happy is here! And the way to be happy is to make others
happy! And to have a little heaven right here!
With this motto in mind,
they always make it a point to make everyone around them happy all of the time!
Eighthly, they would have a beautiful literary stack of books - all of their own - their own sweet collection of books - that’s so unique to them, which they value so very highly, and relish and cherish with such happiness on them!
Neighbour’s envy, owner’s pride!
Ninthly, they will always be on the watch
out for ways and means to encourage others, and be of help to others in their own little ways and
means possible! ‘Unto good works’ would be their philosophy for life!
Let me cite an example -
Just this morning,
in class, some five undergraduate students of literature, with such joy and satisfaction
on them, came up to me glad and said that, they’d started a Joint account with
our Campus branch of IOB. It was a long cherished dream for these fab five to
help the deprived in some little way possible! Now when their dream was on realization
mode, it’s only meet that they are so overjoyed. [A separate post on them
soon!]
Tenthly and lastly, a
true blue literary being is known by their grace, their demeanour and their humility!
A gentle smile always hangs on to their lips like pendant drops of ice on those
frosty refrigerators of yore!
As the age-old proverb goes,
The branch that bears the most fruit bends itself thankfully towards
the ground.
Hence it is that, they don’t have any airs on them when they
walk! No airs when they talk! No haughtiness when they converse! No bandha or
uppishness on them when they interact!
A very good example to this proverb
would be a practitioner to this credo, Dr. S. Balusami, or Bharathi puthiran, as he is known in literary circles! [Retd Head,
Dept of Tamil, MCC]
Such is their calm! Such their cool!
If you happen to find anyone else who
says I’m a part of the royal, regal, elite band of literati, sans these qualities, please
join in on the chorus and tell them neat and polite, ‘I don’t know the likes of you!’ and quick look out
for the nearest escape route or emergency exit around you, then do a quick hop a little, jump a little, and with
the fastest kudu kudu kudu steps
possible, run away, far far away from their presence! ;-)
This decision would help much-o-much in saving and redeeming a precious
soul! An amazing soul! A dynamic soul! An imperishable soul! A lovely soul! A
chirpy, positive soul! A vibrant soul!
In short, a literary soul!
‘Whose soul, sir?’ You seem to ask! 😎
Yours, silly! ;-) 😍
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