ARE DIARIES THE ‘SECRET ANNEX’, WAITING TO BE REVEALED?

“This diary writing does not really count as writing”
Virginia Woolf.

The issue here is not about how diary writing is, but the essence of diary writing as a whole. A feature predominantly seen among women. It is strange that how women from ancient days have maintained their own diaries, while the arena of professional writing was handled by men. Why did not women step into the public world of writing? Why only diaries?
It is generally seen that, these diaries are records of thoughts unspoken, deeds which are not narrated. They are the space which is otherwise not provided. The diary comes as a storehouse of stories untold and hidden from the world. The diaries are a revelation of their emotional, psychological and social aspect. The diary lends them the space and the individual identity, they have been craving for.
The art of diary writing is an age long practice of unburdening the deepest thoughts. From the diary of Murasaki Shikibu of the Heian period, where she recounts her proficiency in Chinese classics to her fathers regrets in she being born a woman….that all her intellectual fervour has gone a waste. Even, Carolyn Heilbrun, an American literary critic considers,” In the old myths, weaving was women’s speech”. Old stories seem to be a confirmation to the fact that women wove to reveal, to counter their enforced silence, their own mutilation. Exactly, why women took to diary writing. Whether it is the weaving of Penelope, waiting for Odysseus (Homer’s Oddyssey) or the weaving mostly found in black literature. Alice walker’s The Color Purple (1982), is also the unbosoming of a fourteen year old Celie. The novel, written in the form of a diary is also the space Celie gets to reveal her torturous life. It is her space to revolt.
A study by James Pennebaker, Professor of psychology at the University of Texas, showed how this simple art of diary writing can actually lead to the improvement in physical health. It’s the platform, where one can be vocal about their feelings and thoughts.
It is the diary of Anne Frank, we are all familiar with, a true example of how her diary lived and grew with her and became her closest pal- Kitty. It is her personal account of her life, emotions and times of crisis and fear in the ‘secret annex” of an old office building. For Anne, a thirteen year old, her diary was her solace, comfort and inspiration-
“I want to write, but more than that, I want to bring out
all kinds of things that lie buried deep in my heart.”
Yet, her touching tale touches our inner cords. It is more than diary writing! It is the narration of human growth.

The content of women’s diary is focused and particular; the issues which are not otherwise shared or talked about. Their own dreams and frustrations. The meticulous details of their life and how, they dream for their own space at the end of the day. What, actually happens, when you don’t have a ‘room of your own’?
These diaries are basically, therefore the search into oneself, and the hope to liberate their existence through their private writings. The diary is the account of their life’s journey, their small accomplishments and the desire to be heard and recognized.
It is an escape from the fear of being labeled as the ‘madwoman’. To be heard is nothing wrong, to harbour and nurture dreams at par with men is normal. It is the age to voice opinions, not only within the hidden covers of the diary but publicly and openly. Is it on the way to create series of Bridget Jones? To trash what ‘men want’ and stack what ‘we want?’