Give It a Name!

This week we discussed in our class that how important it is to name what you fear.Because when you name something and know its mechanics,you know what to expect.It gives you certainty that we crave as human beings.You can even fight that fear and destroy it because you know what it is.

If we extend that,we can easily argue that what we are afraid of is what brings us pain on emotional,physical or spiritual levels.If someone is afraid of public speaking for example,it's because he has linked immense pain to the idea of standing up in the crowd and speak.We are fearful of what we think can bring us pain.Then by the same logic,it is also important to give a name to your suffering/pain too.Because when you give that name,you recognize it and that is the first step towards acceptance and ultimately transcendence of that pain.Most of the time,we reject the notion that we are afraid of something just because it makes us sound weak and vulnerable,as if we are less worthy and cowards as a human beings if we are afraid of something.But 'What you resist,persists' so that fear of pain that you are trying to ignore keeps on building until it's so big that it literally paralyzes your life and you become a two-faced person.In short,'you can't escape a prison unless you know that you are in one'

Most of the time,your fears are 'False Evidence Appearing Real'. They may tell you that avoiding something might save you from pain, however that very thing you are avoiding can become your key to a better life and to a better you. But it's important first to accept that you are afraid of something and that does not make you less worthy in any regard. Having fears is very natural and overcoming them is what makes you grow.

 'Run towards your fears.On the other side of your greatest fears,lives your greatest lives'
                                                                                                                       Robin Sharma

I love this poem of Faiz Ahmad Faiz and I think that it makes a great link with what I wrote above.

                                     Mera Dard Naghma e Be sada
                                  (My sorrow is a voiceless song)

 Mera dard naghma-e-be sada
Meri zaat zarra-e-benishaN
Meray dard ko jo zabaN milay
Mujhe apna nam-o-nishaN mile
Mujhe raz-e-nazm-o-jahan mile
Jo mujhe ye raz-e-nihaN mile
Meri khamoshi ko bayaN mile
Mujhe kainat ki sarwarii
Mujhe dolat-e-do jahaN mile


My sorrow is a voiceless song
My self is a mass less particle
If my sorrow finds a tongue
I find my place and identity
I find the connections of the cosmos
If I find that open secret
My silence finds a voice
I get the kingship of the Universe
And the wealth of both worlds!

'The third resource being the lemons

So I was at  All Pakistan Intercollegiate Convention for Story Writers held at KEMU Lahore. There was a panel discussion comprising of popular Pakistani writers such as Musharruf Ali Farouqi and Tanzeela Shah.Scribed a few notes and thought I had share them with all the aspiring writers out there.

'There are two resources you need to write a story. These are your hands and your mind that is your imagination. Luckily, I had a third resource too. LEMONS! So what do you do when life hands you over with lemons? You make lemonades! And I created stories. So with my hands,my imagination and the third resource being the lemons, I became a short story writer!' were the words of Tanzila Khan, when asked how did she become a writer.

When asked for advice for the short story writers,another panel member Musharuf Ali Farouqi said that reading is an absolute essential for that process.The more you read,the more confident you become in your expression because you have the exposure to say what you want.He also advised to read twice a book you admire because you are likely to find new grounds.He shared his experience of writing a novel in which he sketched out all the characters of his novel and then found out that there existed connections between them.His strong advice was to study classics of multiple languages and to try translating them.Become aware of the major themes and try connecting them with what you already know of your own language.

And his last message was that write what's near to your heart and what completes you as a person.Write for the sake of writing!