I have been reading a lot. (Reading maketh a man said Bacon). In so many languages. I am a polyglot. Somebody called me like that a month ago. It is after more than twenty two years I am hearing the word. I told him so. Mostly everybody calls me a linguist. Too pedestrian. The gentleman must have been well read to use the word. So special for me.
I find only sentences in whatever I read. Presenting the ideas cogently. Some had a story line. Some others were literary works. Few were highly commercial trash or pulp, as some may call it.
But I started writing like this. I like this style. The ideas come with varying flow rates. Direct from the mind. I put them on paper. Brain does not send the idea in sentences. Ideas are sent. Some as jumble of words. Some as visuals. Some related anecdotes are thrown in. Coming from a different segment of the brain possibly. Mind is like a hopping monkey. It does not know where it will hop next.
People need not be told in sentences. A string of ideas is sufficient. A collection of words is enough for some. Like the ink blot test. (How many remember the name Rorshah associated with this test?) Brain does not send the ideas garnished with rhyme and rhetoric. Those who speak eloquently garnish their speech with rhyme and rhetoric, by habit. These should have been stored as ideas or more correctly saying, neurons. Generally it is an after thought. You embellish while putting these ideas on paper.
By presenting the ideas in raw form- I call it raw for it is direct- the way the thoughts popped up- the " writing " achieves flexibility. You are not bounded by the grammar. The writing becomes a series of visuals. Like the photographs from rolls of film. Haven't you heard that a picture is worth thousand words. It is much easier to understand. It is succinct . Precise. Most of the verbs, adjectives and adverbs - such other chaff or husk is removed. Only the whole grain is presented. As far as possible. It is short. Sweet and racy to read.
I have not read such a style of work. I would like to know. If any one knows. May be my way of presentation is unique. Like the pegasus. That's why I chose the pseudonym. Readers digest cover is embellished with pegasus. For the last so many decades. Or was it from inception?
Pegasus flies through the sky. The whole world is its. Provides endless scope. It is unique. The only association any one can remember of pegasus is that between Readers Digest and the creature. Other than the arena of races for horses, where there may have been one or more pegasus(es?) ?, you can hear unusual names - like kalanisi ( meaning dark night in Hindi) belonging to the Aga Khans, racing in the Breeder's cup.
I remember reading " Addressat Unbekannt " (address unknown) in the sixties. A short story that appeared in the early 1940's. In Readers Digest. Such a crisp story. A different treatment. I read from the original issue of the magazine. From the antique collection. It belonged to my dad. That was his real time collection. For he was a subscriber.(Do I hear that a man is known by the books he keeps?)
This story inspired me very much. May be the first germs were sown in the early 1960's. (But the flood gates were opened the early 1980's). I was later inspired by the Sermon on the mount (Lord hear my prayers). The speech of Augustus Caesar, after Julius Caesar was killed, addressing the Romans captivated me next. Full stop. The only thing that is closer to me now is a copy of New Testament. The only ever green work that inspires me endlessly- the way a series of visuals have been presented through out.
I am always proud of my English vocabulary. For I have tried to get by heart, words in a small pocket size dictionary about 25 years ago, but even to this day, this has provided me with a strong foundation. I started loving the language so much, that with my knowledge of other languages, I am only a step away from translating the literary works in these Indian languages to English and vice versa. I heard somebody suggesting this to me quite few years ago. My apprehension is that I will not be able to do justice, like the native of the language, in that, the idioms and other literary highlights should not be translated verbatim but commensurate with the local usage.
Everybody has his own style of writing. I have my own style. It is like a signature. Distinct and unique. An external manifestation of the internal thoughts, prides and prejudices, phobias and attitudes. It is said that a full signature, spelling your name fully, is difficult to replicate. Conversely a shorter signature must be easy to replicate, dupicate or forge or fake. But for writing style, this concept is not applicable. Long sentences have their own attraction and so are the short sentences. While everybody likes the smooth lines of Michelangelo or Renoir, short and powerful strokes of Van Gogh - as evident in his self portrait without an ear or the flower garden painting - are equally enchanting.
I hope I will be able to keep my writing this way. Let God be with me. (And also be with you). This is the Gospel about writing I wish to convey.(Praise the Lord).
11/01/00