Happy Birthday, P.V. Ariel - My First International Writing Colleague

Happy Birthday to Associated Content Writer P.V. Arielon Monday, June 22nd! P.V. was the first international friend I made while writing online. Although I've been abroad three times, he has given me further insight through his writing into the thoughts of people outside America; how they live and how they feel about my own country.

Philip Verghese Ariel (called Phil by many) is a journalist and freelance writer from Secunderabad, India, and editor of a Christian monthly. P.V. started writing in his native language, Malayalam, and later stepped into English. Facing opposition from some family members to his writing aspirations, he stealthily nurtured this desire in his actions and thoughts.

Since P.V. is in India, this isn't just a personal interview but also contains some interesting information about India from his journalist perspective. So read on!

How did you start writing? I first jotted down some thoughts in a poem in my school notebook. My maternal grandmother found it and applauded me. I started writing about incidents in my life and stories of other people. I sent one to a Christian publication called "Suviseshakan" (Evangelist), published in Tamil Nadu. I received a reply from the editor, a well known Christian poet in the Malayalam language:
"Your story is very good," he wrote, "and will be published in one of the coming issues after a few corrections. Do continue to write and send."
This encouraging note increased my confidence and that was the beginning of my public writings.

Did you ever want to be something beside a writer? No. My circumstances made me have different types of jobs for a livelihood, but I continued to cherish writing and jotted down all my thoughts and feelings.

You've mentioned being a "voracious" reader from a very young age. How did you start hungering to read books, and what kind? My father and mother were good readers and had a collection of books available. Some were my grandmother's; most were religious. So here too, my grandmother's influence was a great impact on my life. Everyday we had family prayer at our home and read the Bible. Then I went on to enjoy newspapers, text books and other books.

I later started reading collections of poems, novels and short stories of well known Malayalam writers from the library, and translations of famous writers from other languages. I liked to read Shakespeare's books and his writings influenced me a lot.

After the publication of my first article, I began sending regularly to both Christian and general publications. I had everything from letters to the editor to articles published, and became a regular contributor at two Christian weeklies, 'Brethren Voice' and 'Suviseshadhwani,' including reporting the messages of various preachers and events in the city. I completed a post graduate diploma in Journalism in Hyderabad. After that, I started contributing to different English publications.

Tell us the most memorable experience in your writing life. Several come to mind; the first was meeting with Chief Editor "M E Cherian Sir'- that editor who published my first article. Giving me a copy of the issue, he patted my shoulder and said, "Here, your article is published in this." And my association with a national daily in India played a vital role (read more on those subjects at P.V.'s page hereand here).

What was your first experience writing online? I was not much aware about online publishing until 2007, when one of my colleagues - a computer wizard - suggested I write online. He told me to start a blog. I searched some web pages, found Associated Content and some other sites, and started right here at AC! In two days, they accepted my content. That was really a refreshing experience.

What's your opinion about AssociatedContent.com? I found many like minded people here and started communicating with them. What a wonderful and new experience in my life! The comments and suggestions I received were overwhelming and it gave me a boost.

This is a lovely place to express your inner feelings through words that will catch a good audience and good traffic, even for beginners. There are many contributors who post well-written pieces for the benefit of searchers and readers. The AC Community and its Forum answers helpful questions. Although AC keeps a different policy towards its Asian contributors, and I hope they soon re-consider, here is a Note of Thanks I published after the completion of my 100^th article.

What advice would you give your fellow writers? Although Bible verses are my own favorite source, I remember a quote from Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of America. My fellow source producers should make note of this and try to practice it:
"If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing."
America has never forgotten Benjamin Franklin because he contributed so much as a scientist, inventor, statesman, printer/publisher, philosopher, musician, and economist. May God help you all to keep up an iota of these words from Benjamin Franklin.

What a great quote! Now about India. Does everyone automatically learn to speak English? Is it taught in school? No. India is divided into different states and each state has their own local languages. In some, especially the north, they emphasize education mostly in Hindi medium-India's national language. Recently, some ministers and political parties raised an issue of banning English from the school curriculum but there was a big opposition to it.

In India's southern, central and east, with some exceptions, they insist on English from kindergarten level even in some government run schools. This is because English is universally accepted as an international language and most information in science, technology, art and literature are mainly available in English. Countries like China, Japan and Soviet Union give importance to English and are making rapid headway in science and technology. So our people are showing much interest in learning this unique language.

Do the newspapers in India cover what's going on in America and the Middle East? Yes, of course, it's major news in Indian daily newspapers, especially in the English dailies. U S and Middle Eastern countries are major news everyday. India's people are keenly watching new developments in the U.S. since the Bush administration transitioned to Obama.

Is there any religious persecution in India? Yes. India and its peoples (majority Hindu) have been famous for tolerance; but recently, some persecution has been happening in some states. I have written on this for Associated Content. For example, my article Atrocities Against Christians Are Increasing Alarmingly- tells of the harassment Christians are facing in India, in some places even with the support of the administration. But in other cases the government is a mute spectator. An unofficial report says that around 50,000 persecuted tribal Christians are staying in different refugee camps. (More links to P.V.'s articles are given below).

Thanks for letting me pick your brain, P.V....Happy Birthday, and carry on!

(For more personal tidbits about P.V., see AC Source Donald Pennington's first interview with him.)

More of P.V.'s (Phil's) writing links:
My Dilemma With My First Master Piece - http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/767889/my_dilemma_with_my_first_master_piece.html.
Atrocities Against Christians Are Increasing Alarmingly -http://www..associatedcontent.com/article/569857/atrocities_against_christians_are_increasing.html.
Pray for Our Nation, 1 & 2 -
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/542057/_pray_for_our_nation_the_need_of_the.html and http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/654703/pray_for_our_nation_a_rejoinder.html.
Christians Are Under Attack Again in India by the Extremists -
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1126602/christians_are_under_attack_again_in.html.
Other places P.V. writes:
www.indiatoday.com;
www.thesundayindian.com;
www.outlookindia.com;
www.rediffmail.com;
www.the-week.com.