11.A SPRING THAT KEEPS ON FLOWING

I write in the mornings
I write in the evenings
I write during work - days
I write during weekends
I write during holidays
I write all year round.
Whenever my friends ask me
What is the secret of your prolific writing
I usually smile
I don�t say much.
I know
I can�t satisfy their curiosity in a few words
I want to show them
the flame that has been burning in my heart
the spring that has been flowing in my soul
the workshop that has been operating in my mind
for as long as I can remember
Even as a child
I was fascinated with books
I used to read children�s stories and fairy tales
My dad used to bring home books,
books of religious stories and folk tales
As a teenager
I used to regularly visit the libraries
and read all the books
in the sections of literature, psychology and philosophy
I used to have
lengthy discussions with my uncle
about the art of literature
and philosophy of life
During that period I got so inspired
that I started to create stories myself
but I was too shy
to share them with someone
As I got more confident and outgoing
I sent my short stories and poems
for publication
I was thrilled to see them published
In the college and university magazines
In the medical college
I even became
the editor of the literary magazine
I was pleased
to be acknowledged
for my contributions
I became well known
in the literary circles of the university
After leaving the university
I spent nearly a decade
in Iran, Newfoundland and New Brunswick
in literary isolation
I used to write periodically
but I lost touch with
writers and literary magazines
My main focus was
to become a specialist in psychiatry
to learn about the human mind and personality
hoping
it will help me to be a better writer
and also not struggle financially
After establishing myself professionally
I moved to Toronto
And focused on my writing again
I feel in the last decade
I have blossomed as a writer
And I wrote a lot.
In the last decade
my living alone,
having a lot of free time
to read and think and write
having friends
with whom I can discuss different issues and concepts
going on holidays
to finish my projects,
reading world literature
and translating it into Urdu
getting published in literary magazines
and having feedback from other writers
attending literary get togethers
all over the world
and sharing my poems, stories, essays
with other writers
helped me grow enormously
There was a time
my creative process was like a rain
it poured for a few days
and I wrote a few poems
a couple of stories
and then I experienced a dry period.
In the last few years
The rain has transformed into a spring
a spring
that erupts from the soil of my soul
I can feel a flame burning
in my heart
I can experience a workshop
in my mind
bringing different ideas, images and concepts together
I enjoy the fire, the spring, the workshop
I write passionately and regularly
and when I see my uncle
who at the age of seventy
writes
with the same passion
as I write at the age of forty
I feel optimistic.
He reassures me
that our creative selves
are so intimately connected with life
that
we would create till the last day we live
He says
artists are at work
even when they are not producing
My uncle and I
representatives of
two generations
two schools of thought not only
mirror and complement
but also
feel proud of each other
Both of us
with our prolific writing
are mysteries
even to ourselves
That�s why
when-ever my friends ask me
what is the secret of your prolific writing
I usually smile.
I don�t say much
I know
I can�t satisfy their curiosity
in a few words.