When I grow up, I want to be a lyricist just like the Mahatma…

Did you know?

Mahatma Gandhi would spend time with his grandchildren and help them make nonsensical rhymes?

Mahatma Gandhi enjoyed playing with children and liked to crack jokes with them. His favourite activity with his grandchildren was to help them make up with nonsensical rhymes like the one given below that he made for his six-year-old grandson Rasiklal:

“Rasiklal Harilal Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Had a goat in his keeping; The goat would not be milked; And Gandhi would not stop weeping.”

Just like Bapu, you can create your own poems or nonsensical rhymes. Pick a topic and let your imagination run wild. Involve your friends and family and work together to create a nonsense rhyme! Here are some made by other kids:

“The charkha has the shape of a zero; And Bapu is my hero!”

“Nobody likes the donkey. And Bapu had three monkeys!”

“The metro stops at the station. And Mahatma Gandhi is the father of our nation.”

Bapu liked to read poems and enjoyed listening to bhajans. Every evening in the ashram, people would gather to sing bhajans and his favourite was, ‘Vaishnav jana to tene kahiye’

How about writing a poem? You could also write an instant poem by following the steps given below: In the first line and consequent lines write an emotion (i.e, happiness, anger, fear, delight, joy etc.) Stick to the same emotion!

1. If (emotion) was a colour,
2. It would be _____
3. As _____as a ______
4. If (emotion) _____was a taste
5. It would be just like _____
6. If (emotion) _____was a feeling
7. It would be as ____ as a _____
8. If (emotion)____ was a smell
9. It would be _____as a ______
10. If (emotion) ____was a sound
11. It would be ____as a ______

Your completed poem should look similar to this:

1. If happiness was a colour,
2. It would be yellow
3. As yellow as chamomile tea
4. If happiness was a taste
5. It would be as sweet as a toffee
6. If happiness was a feeling
7. It would be happy!
8. If happiness was a smell
9. It would be fragrant as a jasmine.
10. If happiness was a sound
11. It would be the chiming of a wind chime

Learning from the Mahatma you can learn to write your own poem or lyrics. You can even grow up to be a lyricist and choose it as a career.

If you like the idea of becoming a lyricist, here are some other related career options you might like:

Poet: Drawing inspiration from personal life, societal issues or nature, a poet uses language creatively to express her emotions, ideas and experiences through the art of poetry. Poetry can be published in literary journals, magazines or as compilations

Creative writer: A writer who uses imagination and language skills to produce original content for novels, poetry, screenplays, and other literary work, distinguishing her work from academic, technical, or business writing. Creative writers generate fiction and non-fiction content.

Composer: The role of a composer is to create original music by writing scores for melodies, harmonies and rhythm often in collaboration with directors and producers for film and TV show, video games or musical theatre projects.   

Songwriter: Songwriters write the lyrics and compose music for a song, They have exceptional sklll in music theory, composing and playing music. Many popular artistes hire songwriters to write lyrics and compose melodies for them.