Creativity and Me (prose version)

Noted Punjabi poet and Sahitya Akademi Award recipient of 1967, Shiv Kumar Batalvi wrote a poem on love, the first line goes like this:

इक कुड़ी जिद्दा नाम मोहब्बत है , गूम है | (Rabbi Shergill did a beautiful rendition of this poem, you can listen here)

I feel that creativity has a similar relationship with me. Some of my best inspirations have come in the times of extreme seclusion. Is creativity the girl who is envious of anybody else in your life! Only when I give my complete attention and love she opens her to me. If I am in the company of other people, television, Facebook, internet and other possible competitor she won’t give me even a glimpse of her magic.

Otherwise fickle on many occasions she is the epitome of faithfulness if I hold onto her. Therein lies the rub, I have to search for her and impress her once I have found her. Oh, she is difficult to find in all the noise that enshrouds me in this tick-tock world. A world where everything is available on a click, I have to search for her continuously hoping she would hear my voice. 

Like any other relationship there are periods of prolonged separation, which writers refer as Writer's Block. Those are times of extreme desperation in need of openness. Once I open myself again with all clutter, including my own sense of existence, she comes back. She is possessive too! She won’t let my mind be anybody else's. Once she is with me she takes care of my. The feelings of hope and joy fill my mind, bringing the entire world in my hand.

I hope she comes back to me, again. I know she will be back. Until that day I can only wait and pray to the skies that the conduits of inspiration can guide her to me. In the beautiful words of Shiv Kumar Batalvi again:

उस कुड़ी नु रब दी सौं है, इक वार आ के मिल जावे |

नहीं तों..गीत कोई लिखिया ना जांदा |

"We don’t do PhDs; other people will do PhDs on us" Shiv Kumar Batalvi