The Walk of Life

This might cause a lot of heart-ache and dismay to you, but I guess this hobby of mine is here to stay. I've always known that I love writing, but I guess my laziness overcame my desire to write. Till I decided to start again. I believe in penning my random thoughts on blog, and this can sometimes cause pain to my friends who have to read through my insufferable writing. Anyways, after reading my previous post, a friend of mine asked me to write about "Why people write". I love taking up challenges, so here goes.

Why do people write? I can think of lots of reasons, the first of which could be simply because they love writing. You see, there are people who love to sing, or cook, or play cricket. Noone raises an eyebrow when they break their neighbours' window panes with their high-pitched snging and cricket balls. So why so much hullabaloo over someone writing in the closed confines of his room? After all, what better way to relax than to write about what's bugging you? If that doesn't do the trick, you could always resort to more violent means like hitting hard your laptop keys or mauling the paper with the tip of your pen :P!!

Then there are those who write for a living. Remember those who write newspaper columns and magazines? These are people who have managed to change a pastime of theirs into a means of living. I've always wondered how it works. I mean, I sing. But that's my refuge in the tough times. It's the shelter I go back to when I need a break from my professional life, when I want to unwind, when I want to have fun. Your professional life is supposed to be stressful; you have to adhere to rules, do your work in a way that doesn't hurt your seniors' egoes. What happens when what you used to do for fun gets limited by these constraints? Do you start doing something else to unwind? Or did you never love it so much in the first place?

Anyways, the third category is of those who write for others. They believe they have something great to share. It could be the fantasies you've had as a child, like Christopher Paolini. It could be a mother who wants to share a story she used to tell her children, like J.K.Rowling. It could be someone who wants to share her experiences as an immigrant. It could be someone who believes that he has achieved a lot in life or has solved an indecipherable puzzle, and should share his thoughts with the rest of the world for the larger good of the society. I mean, isn't that why self-help books, books that give dating tips, etc. sell like hot cakes? This category of writers could also include someone who believes that the names of the top (public!) institutions he has studied at, or the great organizations he has worked for, make it necessary for him to give back to the society. I have no idea what this person wants to give back, but empirical evidence would suggest that it'd be some sleazy, steamy material which gives people the motivation to join an IIT or an IIM, or work in a BPO, or maybe get married!!

And finally, there are people like me, who write for a very selfish motive - to stop themselves from turning into vegetables. People like me believe that thinking is too much work, and hence stop exercising our brains. And then we realise that if we continue to go this way, we might be nothing more than decorative pieces. Hell, I'm not even good-looking enough to be a decorative piece! Anyways, we figure out that to write, you need to think. That's why I decided to write - to give my brain some much-needed exercise. Not really a very romantic reason, but then, I guess like so many other things in our lives, romance has gone out of our writing too.