War « S. S. David

Thich Quang Duc (Photo credit: HopeTom)

I saw this caption, ‘I hate fire’ embedded in a picture on a blog I visited recently and I thought, why not quickly pen this down before returning to my Nanowrimo novel.

Yes, I hate fire and it was actually strange and saddening that some people could light themselves up in protest against oppression! Don’t get me wrong guys, I am not against people demonstrating, albeit, peacefully, but burning yourself? That is a bit in the extreme.

A few months ago, I saw the picture of a Tibetan monk literally lighting himself up! He was protesting against oppression and when I did a little research, I found out the story of Thich Quang Duc, a very popular Buddhist monk revered to this day.

Early in the morning on June 11,1963 at a popular intersection in Saigon, Thich Quang Duc had made his intention known to his superiors that he was going to burn himself to draw attention to the plight of the monks who were being severely oppressed by the US-backed Catholic regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in South Vietnam.

Now I won’t bore you with the graphic details but this Duc guy died for a cause he believed in, and I can’t begin to imagine the excruciating pain he must have felt when he was being burned alive! And so… he died!

The war finally came to an end and many people attested to the fact that his sacrifice was instrumental in drawing the attention of the world to the plight of the monks, and also in a way ending the war.

I don’t encourage anyone emulating that in any way, but that is just my opinion!

Life is a mystery and we can’t understand it all…

English: Monument of Henryk Sienkiewicz, Polish Nobel Prize-winning novelist and journalist, Okrzeja, Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Village seen on the left side is Wola Okrzejska — writer’s place of birth. Polski: Pomnik Henryka Sienkiewicza na szczycie kopca jego imienia w Okrzei. Po lewej stronie widoczna jest rodzinna wieś pisarza — Wola Okrzejska. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have declared a war of words on the State of Noveliar (that is a new word I just coined right now!) I am going into battle from the first of November. The melee actually began last week when an email was sent to me about the National Novel Writing Month, (NaNoWrimo)

I decided to join and write a fifty thousand word novel in November even though my hand is full with projects. It’s strange but I find out I write more when I am under duress or let me rephrase… When I’ve set a deadline or a target for a particular project, it doesn’t have to be about writing alone.

Because I am currently reviewing a novel, and I have a lot of writing projects slated for the end of November, I wondered if I have bitten more than I could chew? After thinking for a couple of minutes, I looked at myself in the mirror and said out loud,

”Seyi, (I love talking some sense to myself sometimes, it does keep me sane ) who on earth are you kidding? Can you actually pull this off?”

After some deliberation with my muse (inner self) I decided to proceed with the challenge of Kill A Word Month! (my own interpretation of the literary month) I am sure I can nail it!

I don’t know if any other human being is like me but I would really love to find out because I seem to enjoy working under tight deadlines, and I also set too high a standard sometimes. All the same, I am in this for the long haul and I am going to enjoy myself thoroughly.

I have got three strategy which I believe if properly applied, I should be able to pull this off brilliantly, and here it goes;

* Tell everyone who cares to listen that I am writing a 50,000,00 word novel in November (so they can wish me well and won’t be mad when I don’t their pick calls)

* Talk less on the phone.

* Plan every infinitesimal details of my life starting from November 1st so there won’t be any distractions.

(I would still be blogging by the way, it’s like my way of life!)

If anyone has other ideas do drop a line but I am really, really excited!