On 26th January every year, the patriotism in people of India is stirred. It is the Republic Day in India, the day the constitution of India came into effect. On this particular day in every year, India’s victory over the British rule and the subsequent building of her own constitution is celebrated in high spirits. Parades are marched, flags are hoisted, songs are sung, poetry is read, and all of this to commemorate the win over the British rulers. Yet if you sit back and think, you will realize that Republic Day is not all about celebration and happiness. It is one day when you can take up the occasion to learn from history. Yes, as writers, you too have lessons to learn from this historical day.
You Cannot Win it All
History has shown us, repeatedly, that win-win is a concept that does not exist. In reality, you need to negotiate in order to reach a peaceful ending. And whenever there is negotiation, some will gain something at the cost of someone else losing something. You cannot help that, it is the natural order of things. As a writer, you should also take a lesson from this and accept the fact that all writings cannot turn out to be exactly the way you planned initially. Through the course of writing, things will change and sometimes, that one interesting episode you thought you will add, you need to let go of it for the sake of the plot. Negotiating fairly with his/her own work is a quality of a good writer.
Patience
The struggle for independence in India was a long, slow and sometimes even ineffective movement. It was more than a 200 year long struggle where failure was the most obvious result as the fight was against the rulers. Yet people fought. Leaders never gave up hope and they inspired others. The fight went on and ultimately the British decided to leave the country in peace and go back. Patience in the face of failure is a quality that you should learn as a writer. Writing is no easy task. Things do not turn out the way they were planned at the inception. You need to write and revise and rewrite and revise again in a repeating cyclical manner to reach perfection. And hence like those great leaders of the independence movement, you too need to learn to be patient with your work and its outcomes at every stage.
Change is Crucial
Now here is a very important lesson that writers can pick up from the Indian constitution itself. The initial constitution has been repeatedly amended, around 96 times, which proves that it is important to change according to the favoring scenario. Same goes for you. Maybe before you started you had a certain plot line in mind, but as you started writing you realized that the story was not going in the direction in which you planned it to go. In that case, go with the flow and make the changes in your plot line. Change is often for the betterment.
Responsibility
If there is one thing you can learn from the Republic Day, it is to be responsible for your cause. As a writer, your main cause is your book. And hence whatever fate it might meet, you need to stand up and accept it, instead of fleeing from it. It is your work and you need to take up the responsibility for it.
Fighting
And yes. Fighting for your cause is a complimentary lesson along with responsibility that Republic Day can teach you. These two lessons go hand in hand. Be responsible for your work and fight for its rightful completion. Giving up for you, just like for a freedom fighter, is never an option.
Image credit: Yogesh Mhatre on flickr and reproduced under Creative Commons 2.0[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://writingtipsoasis.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/215888_10150217537488939_1231540_n.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Abhinanda Banerjee is a full-time freelance writer and stage actor. She’s an avid reader, culinary enthusiast, and lover of everything about the sixties.
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