Dexterous in crafting the complexity of human emotions into a weave of rhymes in his book “Letter to the womb,” aspiring yet proficient author, Mithun Murali is set to make his mark in the writer’s world.
Team Storyiaan caught a glimpse of the inner thoughts of the writer.
Rhyming Thoughts with Mithun Murali!
Interview
Questions and answers
You publish most of your poetry under the pen name 'Myth.' Could you state the reason behind it?
It’s a shortened form of my name ‘Mithun.’ I thought using the pen name ‘Myth’ would be the right stylistic choice. I’ve been fascinated with mythology since my late grandfather introduced it to me. Yuval Noah Harari, in his Sapiens, talked about how common myths helped instill a sense of brotherhood in human tribes. I believe myths represent the rich legacy of our glorious past.
Writing needs an emotion, a thought, and some observations. What factors made you enter the field of writing?
It was my grandfather who introduced me to reading and writing. I have had a flair for writing since childhood. I’m incredibly passionate about it. I believe anyone can be a writer. The key is to stop emulating others and develop a unique style of your own.
The poetry pieces that you have written have various themes, the earliest of them emerging from vivid imagery of ordinary stuff. So, how do you think your poetry pieces should be defined as?
I subscribe to the philosophy of aestheticism, which stresses on beauty and the dictum – “art for art’s sake.” Hence I believe poetry should be defined as a beautiful verse designed to invoke an intense or visceral reaction. I hope my poems fit this definition as well.
Letter to the Womb offers a collection of stories that engage with complex emotions in a simple yet imaginative way. Would you like to share with us the origin of it?
My book is a short story collection that includes six short stories and a letter. The letter is written by a man to his unborn child and features his advice regarding his imminent fatherhood. My friends told me it was a lovely letter and hence I decided to include it and base the title of the book on it.
Do you think the use of presently popular slang in poems might corrupt its purity, or you have a different take on the same?
Not at all! First of all, it’s incredibly hard to define ‘slang.’ The so-called ‘Queen’s English’ is not the only definitive version of English. English is highly diverse and is full of a wide variety. Language is in a constant state of flux; it’s ever-changing. Usage dictates the laws of language and not outdated notions of purity.
You have participated in many popular Tv quiz shows and won prizes, so what gets you to stay updated?
I’m genuinely curious and inquisitive about the world around me because it helps provide the raw material for my writings. I believe a good writer must be like a sponge, absorbing everything around him.
In addition to your poetry, you have been published in numerous literary journals as well. Is there any form you enjoy writing more than others?
I’ve written poems, short stories, and plays. I’m about to start working on a novel. If I had to choose one form, I’d select poetry. Because I daresay writing good poetry is much harder than writing good fiction. In poetry, one has to be economical in his/her choice and use of words. It takes a lot of skill to use the right word at the right place