Lockdown Inspires A Book Of Beautiful Words

Lockdown Inspires A Book Of Beautiful Words
on Jun 28, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown have brought the world to a standstill. But it has helped many to hone their skills and unleash creativity. Fourteen-year-old Mumtaz Mariam, a Class X student of Bethany Central School, Nangiarkulangara, used the lockdown to fulfill her dream of becoming an author. She has authored and self-published an ebook titled My Journey. The 34-page book is a collection of six poems in English, one short story and a poem in Malayalam, and a poem in French, which is a translation of one of her English poems. My Journey touches upon contemporary issues, the environment, and scientific imagination. “I have won prizes in poetry and story writing competitions, but never thought of publishing a book until COVID-19 started to sweep the world more than a year ago. After being confined to home, I started reading voraciously to kill boredom during the COVID-19 lockdown. I wrote a few poems and stories after getting inspiration from reading books. All the works in My Journey were written during the period,” says Mumtaz, a resident of Kumarapuram, near Haripad. The story Bhoomiyum Chovvayum is a tale written in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It tells the story of a couple who came to Earth from Mars to enjoy a vacation and faces numerous difficulties such as oxygen shortage and environmental issues. It vividly narrates human-nature relationships, the importance of friendship, and so on. Her poems have catchy titles—Epistemophilia, Floccinaucinihilipilification, Pluviophile, Don’t Know how?, My Father and Gandhian. The French poem Ne sais pas comment? is a translation of the English poem Don’t Know how?. The Malayalam poem is titled Mamaram. “I have worked hard to publish the book. It took me more than one month to complete typing, editing, and publishing. I have learned Malayalam typing for this purpose with the help of Google. Children would like to read books written by children and I hope my book will be read and my many,” Mumtaz says. She is the daughter of Abdul Kamal and Subitha. Her parents were in Nigeria and she started learning the French language at a young age. She continues to study French along with Arabic after returning home. SOURCE - THE HINDU