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April 25, 2005

Its say-what’s-on-your-mind-day!

For reasons I am still trying to place my finger on, I have changed since I started writing. For that matter, I see the same subtle change in people around me who have begun to write. Maybe it’s just my imagination, maybe not. I mean, I do notice the blue shade of my mood reflected in the blue of the otherwise bright skies and when I am merry, I see merriness reflected even in the most ominous clouds. Anyway, I think people become more, for lack of a better word, open about their feelings, about themselves once they start writing. Maybe it’s easier to put into words what one cannot or does not feel comfortable verbalizing.

Anyway, me thinks it’s a change for the better. While I run the risk of becoming more vulnerable by opening a window to a part of me that normally remains in the dark except in the company of close friends, I kind of enjoy the cathartic effect it has on me. To put it more clearly, it helps me connect. Sometimes, reading in black and white turns out to be much stronger than hearing the same things. Maybe the time to ponder over and react is longer and maybe external elements that can alter the effect of such words is less…I think I can understand a person better based on what they write, maybe see a side to them that I knew not existed.

Anyway, let me stop digressing and say what’s on my mind; for the past few weeks, I have been doing exactly that, saying exactly what is on my mind to people, leading to a series of (amusing) compliments from yours truly with equally amusing reactions from others :) And somehow, as I further indulged this propensity of mine, I realized I had nice things to say to people since I thought nicer thoughts. Why? Probably because, I understood people better as they wrote and as I wrote and the understanding brought to light a lot of positive traits that I had failed to notice earlier, in others and in me. It was all like an inter-connected cycle of connectedness! You are allowed, at this point, to roll your eyes upward exaggeratedly and exclaim "Whatever!"

Anyway, for me, it is say-what’s-on-your-mind-day today and hopefully every other day!

18 comments:

kamal said...

I find it very difficult to discuss "feelings" :) on the internet. I still prefer my confidant's.

I also agree with you that sometimes reading it in black and white is much stronger than saying it in words.

Also, since so many of us have started writing about feelings, it does give me a better insight into the other person.

Anonymous said...


Ink on paper, bits and bytes...
Window to my soul. Will you look?
Darkness deep or joy and glee...
Pray tell me, what do YOU see?

Prabhu said...

couldnt agree with u more on "people tend to become open about their feelings" after they have started to write.
and since u asked for it, "Whatever!"

RS said...

Posting for P:

I'm glad it turned out to be a pretty good evening after the "everybody is depressed" mood.

I had a good time too!

Venky Gopalan said...

Whatever!! (Rolling my eyes upward!!)

Hey I think you write well..leaving alone what you write about...I remember I started blogging in June 2004 in an attempt to improve my writing. Nothing much has happened since then...may be reading blogs like yours would help...but then again I would if you wrote about things I could relate to like food, sports, women, cars and even places!!

P.S: I just said what was on my mind!!

RS said...

venky - point noted, will keep it in mind!

RS said...

To anon: nice...what do I see? just a shadow, maybe will see beyond the shadow as you write more?

Anonymous said...

I just meant to say that what's written by a writer will always be tainted by the reader's own perception. Sorry if I made it sound like a dumb riddle :) The emphasis probably belonged on a different word.. but then, like I said, I'm not much of a writer. That said,

If I were to paint a picture of me,
With words for color and verse for tint,
Not a Hamlet by a Rembrandt, but,
A silhouette of a limerick is all you'd see.


So... there isn't really a 'beyond' to see. :)

Anonymous said...

s/perception/preconception

RS said...

To anon: and you are not a writer?! Expect to see your blog site next time, with more such limericks, as you call them :)

RS said...

I couldn't resist trying my own wannabe limerick, just as an exercise to see how bad I could be at it!

long lashes and beautiful eyes,
cast a glance and I all but die,
wonder shines bright,
in your every sight,
if only, you were mine!

Anonymous said...

Ur amazing Ramya...the best way to praise you
is to make u write ur own panegyric. I can't
praise u well enough...

I think u should seriously consider writing as
ur part-time profession (at least)...You can write
great novels, short stories, biographies, poems,
what not...

-KP.

Anonymous said...

Your piece got me thinking about some of my not-so-happy past. About hopes and regrets... about affections that weren't... about love that wasn't meant to be... about pain and yearning... about bitter partings... about fond memories.......

Your moods are dark storm clouds.
Your temper, lightning.
Yet I yearn for your touch,
gentle rain on parched summer earth.


कमलनयनी नागवेणी गजगामिनी सुंदरी ।
हृदय तृष्णा कारिणी मम हृदय तृष्णा वारिणी ।।
Lotus-eyed, snake-braid'd, elephant-gait'd, beautiful.
O cause of heart-thirst, thou art the destoryer of the thirst in my heart.


And about the link to my blog - I assure you, you'll be among the first few to know when I do start one.

RS said...

To KP: a few more like you and I might actually start believing in myself, thanks :)

Anonymous said...

Hey, I am not kidding...show me one person
who doesn't like ur writing...

All the bloggers here will definitely be ur
proof-readers once u start writing books, etc. :).
Wouldn't that be great...just a thought.

-KP.

dinesh said...

Ramya,

You are right. It does change how people view people. And for somebody like you, who's seen as a "Tamil Event" Organizer (to others, not to me :) ), it opens the doors for them to get a better look at the person in you. I saw some things pleasantly different in you since you started writing as well.

As for starting to write on a more serious level, I believe you should start thinking about it. For the other bloggers like me, blogging is just a small vent, for our emotions, because we don't have the ability to take words and make art with it like you do. I know your ability to take dreams and make it happen. Now, make this your dream.

RS said...

Dinesh, thanks more for the reassuring confidence in me more than the compliments :)

expertdabbler said...

"For reasons I am still trying to place my finger on, I have changed since I started writing"

You bet.

It might be odd that i am posting this comment on a post written 2 months. But its worth commenting. Its been 9 months of active blogging for me. and for a major portion it was just personal ranting. blogging for the most part was more like a cathartic experience.i wud even say it was a self-defense mechanism to keep me sane:)

i had been mailing my friends all these interesting tidbits and observations and i never got any feedbacks. Exactly around april end, i decided enough and enough,
blogging will be principal mode of communication and what a grand 2 months its been.

it has changed my attitude and perception abt a lot of things.
and its been a happy change.

A boring introvert can write for an audience, an ability which i never thought i had.

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