Solitude is a way of life.
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To talk of solitude when gregariousness is the current popular rage may seem incongruous if not ridiculous. Yet, there’s no denying the fact that solitude is an essential (nay a vital) everyone needs at some point of time in their lives — for quiet and honest soul-searching, rumination and introspection.Indeed, nothing facilitates clear and level-headed thinking better than a spell of solitude and nothing has a more calming effect on the mind either. Further, those who have had a prolonged surfeit of uncongenial company — something we put up with stoically and tactfully these days — need solitude more than anything else to ease their ennui. As a wit observed, it’s not good for one to be alone, but sometimes it’s an immense relief!It was poet William Wordsworth who waxed eloquent on solitude after chancing upon a field of daffodils dancing enchantingly in the wind: “For oft when on my couch I lie/ In vacant or in pensive mood/ They flash upon that inward eye/ Which is the bliss of solitude.” Few litterateurs have hailed solitude as warmly as Wordsworth has.Society, of course, generally tends to frown upon solitude as being undesirable, judging people more often than not by their sociability. Nevertheless, one does feel the need sometimes to distance oneself well away from others in order to take stock of one’s life dispassionately, tackle a vexatious dilemma or problem, or even to retain one’s sanity. At such times, one prizes solitude as much as one’s personal freedom.Of course, even far from the maddening crowd, one is never really alone since one inevitably has one’s thoughts for company — that’s the beauty and irony of solitude. Further, we tend to forget that solitude has produced some of our best works of literature and art, our most brilliant inventions and innovations besides, on the personal front, some of our best ideas and brain-waves. It undoubtedly nurtures inspiration and creativity like nothing else.To a writer, nothing is perhaps more crucial and indispensable than solitude, especially when he or she is labouring over the plot of a story, struggling to marshal their thoughts coherently or striving to string together a meaningful narrative. And that’s usually when (as many a frustrated writer will tell you) solitude becomes perversely elusive!To the extrovert, of course, solitude is as repugnant as having to spend an entire day closeted with someone they intensely dislike! Often, chronic solitude-seekers or loners are unjustifiably regarded as oddballs. I know some who have even been unfairly termed ‘queer’ or ‘loony’ (with all the negative connotations of these epithets) merely due to their preference for being alone with their thoughts.Personally speaking, living as I do deep in the isolated interior of Munnar, solitude has become a way of life for me — indeed an integral part of my life. Unlike many who are repelled by the very thought of it, I find solitude quite conducive to my avocations of reading, writing and contemplation, enabling focused attention and utmost concentration. It’s an agreeable reality to which I am happily accustomed.gnettomunnar@rediffmail.com Published - June 07, 2026 12:12 am IST
