The objective as it seemed to me was to pen down some of the most random thoughts / ideas that could be the result of a wandering mind much akin to the idling engine of a car - not revving purposefully toward the redline, not retarding the revolutions to a decisive stop - just idling...... and the results seem to be most abstractly stunning.
Thought #1 : The way we write.
One of the most influential and powerful pieces of writing I have ever read is "Great Expectations" - Charles Dickens. If you've ever heard of a gentleman called 'Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay' - you will know why I am attempting to draw an analogy. These two gentleman had signature styles of writing, videlicet :
1) Characterised by potent, dry wit, driving a message home on a pertinent social issue - fine satire.
2) Long drawn sentences sprinkled generously with similes - hardly any metaphors - but lots of similes.
The only other person / author that I have come across in recent times, who's been able to pick up the threads from M/s Chatterjee and Dickens is a quaint little Bengali lady from Boston called Jhumpa Lahiri.
Similarly, if one had to trace out, using common sense sans literary incisiveness, the path taken by writing styles down to present day, one would see fantastic mysticism giving way to fantastic cynicism.
The mysticism is clearly evident in lyric written by Yeats, Wordsworth and our very own Michael Dutta. This was followed by the likes of Dickens, Chatterjee and Shaw.
If one had to pick up essays composed by some of my mates - Viren, Tanmay etc, one would surely be able to see the stark yet subtle shift in paradigm.
From wonderment and a general awe of the unknown to the cynical unravelling of life's secrets. Life has no secrets left, because, and, admittedly so, our generation is discovering answers everyday.
What then do we write about? Everything Morbid. Viren wants to describe the dying moments of a car thief; Tanmay has some other shadowed interests.
Don't get me wrong - they're all very commendable pieces of writing - but, they are also reflective of the fact that, as a generation, we are increasingly beginning to stop asking questions and starting to condemn the truth.
Read the subject line of this site once more and think for a moment -
If your head explodes with dark forebodings too............More later
3 comments:
Hmmm, I hate it when other people make sense!
Point driven home exceptionally well, and I love the fact that you've punctuated everything correctly.
There is no dark side of the moon. Its all Dark.
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