Poetry is not a learned language yet it’s a language that fills you up and breathes your experiences onto paper in rhymes and imagery. 21 year old Runshito Lims never imagined being a poet but has already published his first book, ‘Allegories of Life’ on 26th June! We caught up with him to delve into what guided him towards this milestone.
We had a chat with Runshito Lims to talk about his recently published book, “Allegories of life”, his inspirations and more!
Runshito Lims, author of the book, “Allegories of Life”
- The man and the book.
Recently finishing my Bachelor of Arts from St. Joseph’s College Autonomous Jakhama, Kohima, it was an enriching journey to be able to publish my book.
Life is not all about the air that we breathe. Life is an allegory – it has lots of stories to share. Life is about love and pain and everyone has a different story to tell. All of us live life but are all on different paths. Similarly, everyone interprets the meaning of life in various ways. Like this, love is also defined in its various ways.
I believe that life is a book where love and pain are two important chapters and no one but you know these chapters by heart. This book is close to me because I have poured my perspective and bared it to the world. It’s about love, life, and personal stories interpreted in the form of poetry.
The book cover of “Allegories of life” by Runshito Lims
- What led you to poetry and writing?
To be honest, poetry was never my thing, I couldn’t imagine composing them. But life is a quest for happiness and in my pursuit, I went through hard times as well. This was when I started penning down my thoughts and experiences in the form of poetry. I slowly found my voice among the modern styles of poetry and started writing in Haikus too.
I remember one of my earliest writings was in university. My department, the Dept of English, annually hosts a Theatre Day. I started writing dramas for my class and that’s when my love for poetry began.
“Allegories of Life” book launch day
“Allegories of life” book signing by Runshito Lims
- As you belong to Nagaland, do you feel that your roots have influenced your writing and how you approach it?
My roots also played an important role. It really helped me understand the beauty in pain and the glory in hardships. I have learnt to be able to convert complicated experiences to something simple and wholehearted.
- Inspiration can come from anywhere, they say. But if you were to point to a constant source of inspiration and creativity, what would it be?
My inspiration comes from the Nagaland writers especially Easterine Kire, Rita Krocha, Monalisa Changkija. Another great poet who inspired me was Rupi Kaur with all her honesty. But throughout my writing process, my northern stars were my mother and Keneisanuo Sorhie.
- What do you hope people take away from your poems?
If there is one thing that people can take from my writing, it would be the art of living simply. I have preferred to not use a dictionary or a thesaurus while reading a poem, and this manner also helped me set the tone for my voice.
Runshito’s Instagram is dedicated to his work and poetry. Here’s one of our favorite Instagram captions from his musings:
“As we grew, we had dreams planted in our hearts and minds. We all dreamt big and continued to grow alongside the dream in us. Reality hits hard. Dreams sometimes remain a dream when reality hits. Turning those dreams into reality is what accomplishment means. ‘Giving up’ and ‘Continue working’ are two options in the path towards those dreams. Failures are just sprinkles of rain in a desert. You give up; You never dreamt real.”
To know more about Runshito Lims, follow him on Instagram!
Runshito Lims, author of the book, “Allegories of Life”
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