Spotlight On Writers
Viji Narayan
- Where do you originate from?
I am a writer of Indian origin, a land of diversity and multiculturalism. I presently live in Coimbatore, a city in Tamil Nadu state in southern India. This city is unique for its geographical abundance, surrounded by mountains and forests on all sides. I hail from a coastal town called Kollam in the state of Kerala, which is called God’s own land due to its rich flora, fauna, and water bodies surrounding it, and the beauty that is reflected in every inch of that state. For the first two decades of my life, I lived here. Having been born in an era when there were no mobile phones or digital gadgets, books were my close companions. Libraries became my second home, which in turn helped me get a master’s degree in English language and literature. Though I do not live there anymore, I seem to carry those beautiful beaches and azure backwaters always in my psyche. My earliest memories are of my playing in the beach sand with my younger sibling, with my mother looking on. Now I have settled for the beauty of the Western Ghats and the hills around me.
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
I think the word home changes its meaning from time to time. As a child, my mother’s lap was my home. Now I am in my sixties, and for me, the place where I live in peace and where I am loved and cherished by my family is home. I don’t think any tangible thing goes into the making of a home for me. That includes my liberty to sit and write at any odd hours and do only what I really want to do. Never letting anyone take me for granted. Above all, if I can put my head down and sleep peacefully with a smile on my face, well, that is home for me.
- What ignites your creativity?
I firmly believe that everything around me and everything that I deeply feel can ignite my creativity. A poem seems to be hiding in every nook and corner of this universe. For example, if I happen to be making a dosa in my kitchen, a very mundane thing no doubt, and during the process of making it, I happen to forget a poetic thought that I had wanted to pen down sometime back, then that is sure to make me write an elegy to a poetic thought! Though I always had a penchant for writing from a very young age, I took to serious writing and publishing it only after I was diagnosed with cancer some years back. Maybe that life-changing disease propelled me to write as much as I can before bidding adieu.
- Do you have a favorite word, and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
I think ‘love’ would be my all-time favorite word, though these days, peace is the word that seems to haunt me to no end. In these hard times when wars are fought without any ethics, when humanity seems to be dying a slow death, peace seems to be an elusive apple for which we all yearn in our hearts. My lines on when to write a poem:
When the chill wind gushes in
At three in the morning
Dancing to the tune of
A peacock’s call
To fill my aching body and soul with
A fresh aroma of peace
Then I write a poem.
- What is your pet peeve?
There are so many things that get under my skin, like violence and abuse in any form, dishonesty, taking one for granted, etc. The yardsticks that seem to be hanging above our heads at all point of time really put me off. We seem to focus more on these yardsticks than on our life’s purpose. The sooner we learn to disregard these yard sticks better our evolution as sensible human beings.
- How would you describe the essence of Viji Narayan?
I think she is a happy grandmother, mother, life partner, and bilingual writer who loves to live every moment of her life. As a cancer survivor, I have learned to relish life. Love seems to be my flag word these days. Love for my life, grand kids, children, life partner, books, writing, plants that I grow, food that I cook and eat, traveling to new places, everything brings joy to me. I have learned to live in small doses. Taught myself to live in the present. This, in turn, has helped me to live consciously. I am aware of so many things, which I would have overlooked when I lived mechanically – always looking at those ominous yardsticks! I think I have evolved a lot, but I also know that I have miles to go before I sleep.
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