Painter’s Soul in a Writer
Manjari Shukla

With a pen in hand, as if compared to a painter’s brush, I decided to write something, compared as an art piece of a painter…this is something too close to my soul, just like a painting close to an artist’s soul…something which defines myself, my attributes, my concerns, and my choices… . The canvas was the paper on which I decided to write…I think scribbling will be  a better word… just like a painter, I picked up the pen, which in an artist’s case will be a painting brush…I saw the white sheet in front of me…thought what to write, compose, indite … then waited for a while… rose from the chair on which I was sitting… decided to go near the window, and felt the monsoon like weather all over me… it was raining outside…. I came back to my writing space, and once again thought to continue with my scribbling, hoping this time a new concept might emerge… as an artist, I once again dipped the brush of my writing into the tub of a conscious colour, decided to add some water… that is something fluid, or more adaptable to my thought process… . To enhance the painting I decided to add bright colours… (please follow that this is something which I am writing, not something which a painter might paint)…one can interpret this as… a photograph of writing, taken from a painter’s camera… the colours here will be the conscious and unconscious thoughts, the brush will be the pen with which I am scribbling, waiting to make an art piece… in this case it will be a write-up, probably a poem, or a prose… once again I joined hands with my writing companion(i.e. pen)… and the scribbling finally came out to be a prose piece, which you are reading now… I truly enjoyed this small journey, realised myself to be in a painter’s shoe as well as a writer’s garb… truly liked it… how about you…?

2 comments | | edit post
Mother…
Manjari Shukla

Mother… is in my opinion, more than a human being, she is truly a face, or extension of God…As it is said, since God cannot be everywhere with his children, he made mothers… they are beyond definition, explanation, anything… an epitome of love, care, understanding, hope, joy, advice…etc…etc… They are a shelter, a place of solace, a tree’s shade, a feeling without explanation, a gesture, so pristine… since the day we are here in this world, we are because of our parents, and our mother has truly been a companion all the while… though many a time, differences of opinion lead to a break in any human relation, but a relation with a our mother, is beyond all these dimensions… even though many a time, we hurt her by our behavior, still she is the only one by our side, no matter whatever happens… A friend, a guide, a teacher… and the list is ad infintum… Our mother is one such being, for whom, whatever is said, is always less… She is a Giver, throughout, no matter whether we care or not. She is always with us, in presence or in absentia, she traces our emotions very nicely, even if we do not say anything to her… She knows us best… and no one can ever know us more than Her…

She is a blessing to be cherished forever…

Happy Mother’s Day to All Mothers

1 comments | | edit post
Standing by the mirror...
Manjari Shukla

Standing by the mirror, I came across a flood of memories, which engulfed me for a while in such a way, that I was not able to believe, that what I actually am now, is someone, who has undergone a sea change in the last many, many years… the one standing in front of the mirror, is a collection of many individual selves, which has been transformed in the course of time… and the transformation has been so very gradual, and slow, that my individual self was not able to interpret the change, but yes… the change today, in a sudden flash of moment, came to be visible to me, when I was combing my hair, to go to a party… the way I used to comb my hair in childhood, the way I dressed and got ready for school, my college days, my marriage, and after the kids… all came alive to me, in a sudden chain of events, and finally when I draped in a blue chiffon sari, looked at myself, dressed in the mirror, I realised, truly time’s winged chariot has taken me, from a land of childhood, to the present place, and everything in the journey had been worthwhile, ups and downs are very much a part of every existence, but what I am today is someone, I really adore and revere, and this journey is only made worthwhile, because of the people, who have been my constant companions, and those who left in the journey, taught me lessons, I should never ever forget… altogether, it was a worthy voyage… I was still appreciating and enjoying, each strand of those memories, which suddenly took me to a long lost land, but… was interrupted by a voice… it was my husband, calling me to come downstairs for the party. Just like a dream, dissolving itself into unconscious, once we are suddenly awake, I too, was brought to the present time, the memories, vanished somewhere near the corner of mirror… I hope, someday again they will meet me… and I would love to remember every small moment, which life has given me.
1 comments | | edit post
Glimpse of Love in Indian Cinema
Manjari Shukla
Love as reiterated in movies, specially Indian movies, almost every time takes the viewers to a fantastical, make believe world… a world, so full of love, that every dimension of it is overflowing with nothing, but love. Love is the guiding principle, love is the air, love… love… love is everywhere…. And nothing else… the boy is in love, the girl is in love, and the environment too is supporting by putting forward the love. No doubt, the Indian cinema shows, obstacles, problems, and unwanted situations in the life of both the protagonists, but the power of love is beyond any measures… it acts as a healing principle, acts as a powerful weapon, removing all the obstacles coming in its way. The songs too are full of the lovey-dovey kind, and all of them present love with a different edge...The final reconciliation happens, and the viewers are happy to leave the theatre, with an ephemeral happiness, which seems to be eternal for a while. The new cinema trends are changing and many a time, the reconciliation is not with the hero and heroine getting married, and marching forth to a land of Happily Ever After… but these days a number of movies show, how love as a power is conquering every dimension of not only body but soul of the lover. Even death is involved in the narrative, so as to make the impact of love as an emotion more powerful, rather than, just getting married, and being in the family way. The trends have changed, the dimensions modified, but still the charm of presenting love in Indian Cinema, is as good as new.
2 comments | | edit post
Literature
Manjari Shukla
Literature in itself is like a sea, so full of choicest and best gifts. The pearls are scattered throughout the vastness of this great sea. The pearls, of different shapes, sizes, volumes, and what not. Reading literature leaves a great impact on the readers, and if not read, they are capable of influencing or motivating people, even if they are narrated, and heard from someone. It appears to be of great worth, that whether one is, or one is not a student of literature, literature is very much the “breath and finer spirit” of all existence. In one or the other way, literature appears in front of us, and we are more or less, either affected by it, or guided by it. Its strands are various, and each strand is so complete in itself, that at times, it appears, each means in literature, leads to its own ends. Whether it is the Charm of Classics, epistolary novels, Fiction, Pulp Fiction, Comics, fan fiction, Poetry, Drama etc…etc… All are so complete in their forms, that it really makes one believe in the existence of another world through literature. It is even said, what is once lost, can be relived through literature. The world of literature is truly like a vast sea, with enormous waves of appealing aspects. It is so very soothing to travel through this sea, which always lands us in an unknown, unexplored land. The impact of it is so very powerful, that no matter what phase of life we are going through, it is always going to leave on us, such an impression, that for a while, we surely feel relaxed, and motivated. The literary world has magical charms, and each time our visit into this scintillating area, very much like a vast sea, makes us spellbound, probably because a fairy with her literary wand, each time touches us, and makes us, know of ourselves more, and that too in a better light.
2 comments | | edit post