Staring at a blank sheet of paper, I scrape my mind for any kind of motivation. I think of anything that would guide me, and after about 20 minutes without luck I decide to take a trip down memory lane. What made me start writing? Who inspired me to venture into these deep lands where one can go from staring at a blank sheet to producing emotions that can make tears roll down your cheeks? Those tears could be out of joy or sadness; it all depends on the writer, holding a pen and waiting to bring about several emotions in one’s heart.
I still remember that particular day as it was yesterday, a slight breeze brushing through my hair, the leaves rustling and the birds chirping. It was almost sunset when we went to visit my role model and inspiration, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, a former President of India, also known as the Missile Man of India for his work on the development of ballistic missile and launch vehicle technology. I was a kid, I did not know what any of it meant; the only reason he was my role model was that everytime I’d visit him, even during his presidency, he would always take some time out of his busy schedule to inspire the youth. He inspired the next generation all over the country and never thought of himself as high or supreme. Which was also why he was known around the world as the People’s President.
The particular day I went to visit him was during his post-presidency period. He had sought to devote himself to educating, motivating and inspiring the nation. And when he had some time to himself, he’d take out a book and start writing. We were taken to his study, so as to meet him. As we crossed each room my head was whirring with excitement. Even if one met him every single day, they would still have shivers running down the spine, not with fear but with the excitement of what they might learn that day.
I entered the room, the room looked royal and antique; everything was made of wood. It had a library of books on one side and sofas on the other, and at the centre was a desk and a chair. I saw him sitting on a sofa, waiting for us. I was filled with pride and respect since I was one of the few lucky people to have met the most loved President. My jaw dropped when I found that he remembered my name. After we spoke for a while, he looked at me and said, “I see potential in you. I’m sure you will do well in life and make our country proud.”
I was an 11-year-old child with hopes and dreams to one day achieve as much as he did, not just in the field of science but even in writing. I told him I had a passion to write and that I’ve always loved writing. He took out a book, a book of poems he had written, took me out to his backyard where there was an old tree, its green leaves full of life, whispering as if it was making conversation with the evening breeze. The tree alone still surviving in this world, still standing upright and firm, like a soldier ready to protect his country from any threat.
He flipped open the pages of his book and pointed to the old tree. He said that one day while he was watching the beauty of nature in his backyard, he realised how much this tree had done for him. He said he wanted to thank the tree for its services and hence wrote a poem about it. He read out the poem to me, word by word, stanza by stanza, and I was mesmerised that something as small as words can bring about a change in someone’s heart and soul.
That day an aerospace engineer taught me that even if our careers are on different paths, we could still follow our passion. On that particular day I decided that I would follow my passion and write what I feel. I decided that though I had planned to follow the path of science, I would not stop myself from taking my passion for writing forward. People say it’s a forked road ahead and we get to pick only one route for our future, contrary to the statement, I believe we could always merge the two paths in front of us and follow both our career and our passion at the same time.
Today, I take a lot of interest in the field I have chosen, which is a part of healthcare, but that does not stop me from my passion of writing. In the past years I have learnt a lot and improved my writing skills. I feel that today I can write poetry well enough to bring a change in the reader’s emotions. Every time ink touches paper, I think about that particular day and it motivates me every time.
ShlokaSuresh.Sahetya@acphs.edu