What happens when something that you always desired, but never seriously attempted falls on your lap? All our lives, we keep chasing things that we think are priority, but there are a few things closer to our heart and the sheer distance of them makes it more and more special.
My date with luck was like that. I happened to meet my most favorite writer. He according to me is arguably the best Tamizh writer, when it comes to simple language and the honesty to write for readers, than establishing his own mastery over language and what he knows. And he is singularly responsible for making my Tamizh reading a habit. As a youngster who did not study Tamizh at school, my initiation into big books in the language was just because of his style, content and the grip he had over readers.
And what a journey it has been for all his readers and himself, as he made good use of his captive audience to introduce science, religion, IT and many other things that normally is beyond the realm of them. And at the end, you feel like having learnt as much you enjoyed what he wrote.
So, when I went in, I did not know what exactly to speak with him. First few minutes was spent like a kid in a sweet shop, wanting to hog everything that’s available. And then we started talking. Again, it was just unbelievable that I could sit across him and blabber about his writing, other books, cinema, God, religion. And my most recent favorite subject ‘Sivaji’ which he wrote! ( dialogue ). About his reading habits, his idea about how the movie has shaped up, and my verbatim repeating of a few of his old articles! At the end he appeared to be shocked to see such a fanatic. He just coolly said that I would recruit anyone in the place I work, if I knew they read his books. Such was his acknowledgement and again when we talking about buying one old books of his, he made 3 calls to publishers and realized only then that it is out of print for 13 years. And then he said very nonchalantly to Krithi, that if I could not find the book, maybe no one else could. And I had the special privilege of reading his translation of reading a small poem that may appear in print sometime.
I keep recounting those minutes for the past 3 days and still am in a state of awe. And suddenly I recall one sentence that I spoke but forgot to tell and so on. The man is 70 plus, and pretty energetic and youthful in thoughts and his article on aging and waiting to die created such furore in the fan community. But when I met him, I knew he would live forever. As much in his works, as physically!
My date with luck was like that. I happened to meet my most favorite writer. He according to me is arguably the best Tamizh writer, when it comes to simple language and the honesty to write for readers, than establishing his own mastery over language and what he knows. And he is singularly responsible for making my Tamizh reading a habit. As a youngster who did not study Tamizh at school, my initiation into big books in the language was just because of his style, content and the grip he had over readers.
And what a journey it has been for all his readers and himself, as he made good use of his captive audience to introduce science, religion, IT and many other things that normally is beyond the realm of them. And at the end, you feel like having learnt as much you enjoyed what he wrote.
So, when I went in, I did not know what exactly to speak with him. First few minutes was spent like a kid in a sweet shop, wanting to hog everything that’s available. And then we started talking. Again, it was just unbelievable that I could sit across him and blabber about his writing, other books, cinema, God, religion. And my most recent favorite subject ‘Sivaji’ which he wrote! ( dialogue ). About his reading habits, his idea about how the movie has shaped up, and my verbatim repeating of a few of his old articles! At the end he appeared to be shocked to see such a fanatic. He just coolly said that I would recruit anyone in the place I work, if I knew they read his books. Such was his acknowledgement and again when we talking about buying one old books of his, he made 3 calls to publishers and realized only then that it is out of print for 13 years. And then he said very nonchalantly to Krithi, that if I could not find the book, maybe no one else could. And I had the special privilege of reading his translation of reading a small poem that may appear in print sometime.
I keep recounting those minutes for the past 3 days and still am in a state of awe. And suddenly I recall one sentence that I spoke but forgot to tell and so on. The man is 70 plus, and pretty energetic and youthful in thoughts and his article on aging and waiting to die created such furore in the fan community. But when I met him, I knew he would live forever. As much in his works, as physically!
No comments:
Post a Comment