Recently, I became an editorial mentor for www.urbookmyreview.com
I have four interns under me. I decided to give them their first task which would help them look within. So, I told them to write about their writing journey, how they started writing, how writing helped them deal with their life.
I was totally amazed to see how they handled the task so well. They honestly penned down their stories. I gave them individual feedback too. But there's this one assignment that I loved the most, so with due permission from my intern Padmaja Phatak. I am sharing it with you all.
The story of a girl who was bullied:
How did I start writing?
I was a shy child in school. As a result, everyone bullied me. I didn’t know how to confront people and retaliate. I used to come home with swollen cheeks and eyes. A certain teacher in my school took a lot of unnecessary advantage of it and used to slap and beat me every day for reasons known only to her. I couldn’t tell any of this to my parents because if they came to my school, the bullying would increase. Therefore, I was so afraid to speak with people that I was confined to myself.
It so happened that my kindergarten teacher gave me a book called “1000 action words” on one of my birthdays, and that book got me into reading. I was glued to the book from the word “go”. My parents were happy that I was reading and they encouraged this habit heartily. Mom subscribed for the children’s magazine, “CHAMPAK” which was very popular in the 90’s. I loved reading Champak because it had a lot of beautiful short stories about children and animals whose authors would mostly be children. I got glued to that as well and then I started thinking, “What if I write a story?” It was the summer vacations, all of my old term’s notebooks were mostly blank. Back in those days (I am talking about 1997), we had no access to computers or mobile phones; I used to scribble something in my old notebooks.
I loved writing! Writing opened new doors for me. I could express myself freely there without worrying about anybody judging me. I used to mostly write about two children named Raju and Pinky who saved children from getting bullied and would teach the bullies a lesson. Pinky was like my alter ego, she was tall, smart and beautiful! Then I started writing about a rabbit named Pillu (which means baby in Marathi) and his adventures. I had a whole series on Pillu!! Writing stories had become my new found happiness then! I used to show my stories to my mom and grandma, who used to put little stars on the stories and I would be like on top of the world! I mean that’s what happiness meant to a 7 year old back then!!!
I continued writing whenever I found time in between studies, and school breaks. I used to write about everything I experienced, whether it was about a short trip or anything I liked! I used to keep a journal whenever I used to go on holidays with my parents. I used to stick tickets and postcards in the journal to preserve a memory of the particular place.
The years passed by. It was soon time for my 10th grade board exams. The pressure of studying engulfed me. My writing took a backseat as I was busy studying for my exams. By the time, I had already decided what I had wanted to do. Study literature. But things don’t turn out the way you want them to. I selected commerce because my dad wanted me to become a CA. But ultimately, I dropped a year after 12th grade and opted for literature.
My writing journey so far:
I had stopped writing for a really long time. I didn’t get time at all to write while studying for graduation and masters. I then had a really bad break up while appearing for my masters and then again found solace in writing. Reading and writing kept me sane then.
Everyone who knew me was confused as to why I had stopped writing, but secretly I used to, it’s just that I used to write sad poems and stories with an unhappy ending. I needed to revive my writing like it was before I didn’t know how! I got married to a wonderful man and he encouraged me to revive my writing again. I thought of doing book reviews. I wrote two book reviews for a website, but was still confused as to what to do next! I mostly write book reviews now for my blog, but I still think of writing short stories like I used to in my childhood. Today, I keep writing about anything which bothers me, which makes me happy.
And that’s my writing journey so far.
Aren't you feeling inspired from her story? So don't sit back. If you have a dream, fulfill it now. No time is as right as NOW to begin what you always wanted to do. All the best for your dreams! Do share your stories, your journeys by commenting below or drop a mail at ilagarg.president@gmail.com
I have four interns under me. I decided to give them their first task which would help them look within. So, I told them to write about their writing journey, how they started writing, how writing helped them deal with their life.
I was totally amazed to see how they handled the task so well. They honestly penned down their stories. I gave them individual feedback too. But there's this one assignment that I loved the most, so with due permission from my intern Padmaja Phatak. I am sharing it with you all.
The story of a girl who was bullied:
How did I start writing?
I was a shy child in school. As a result, everyone bullied me. I didn’t know how to confront people and retaliate. I used to come home with swollen cheeks and eyes. A certain teacher in my school took a lot of unnecessary advantage of it and used to slap and beat me every day for reasons known only to her. I couldn’t tell any of this to my parents because if they came to my school, the bullying would increase. Therefore, I was so afraid to speak with people that I was confined to myself.
It so happened that my kindergarten teacher gave me a book called “1000 action words” on one of my birthdays, and that book got me into reading. I was glued to the book from the word “go”. My parents were happy that I was reading and they encouraged this habit heartily. Mom subscribed for the children’s magazine, “CHAMPAK” which was very popular in the 90’s. I loved reading Champak because it had a lot of beautiful short stories about children and animals whose authors would mostly be children. I got glued to that as well and then I started thinking, “What if I write a story?” It was the summer vacations, all of my old term’s notebooks were mostly blank. Back in those days (I am talking about 1997), we had no access to computers or mobile phones; I used to scribble something in my old notebooks.
I loved writing! Writing opened new doors for me. I could express myself freely there without worrying about anybody judging me. I used to mostly write about two children named Raju and Pinky who saved children from getting bullied and would teach the bullies a lesson. Pinky was like my alter ego, she was tall, smart and beautiful! Then I started writing about a rabbit named Pillu (which means baby in Marathi) and his adventures. I had a whole series on Pillu!! Writing stories had become my new found happiness then! I used to show my stories to my mom and grandma, who used to put little stars on the stories and I would be like on top of the world! I mean that’s what happiness meant to a 7 year old back then!!!
I continued writing whenever I found time in between studies, and school breaks. I used to write about everything I experienced, whether it was about a short trip or anything I liked! I used to keep a journal whenever I used to go on holidays with my parents. I used to stick tickets and postcards in the journal to preserve a memory of the particular place.
The years passed by. It was soon time for my 10th grade board exams. The pressure of studying engulfed me. My writing took a backseat as I was busy studying for my exams. By the time, I had already decided what I had wanted to do. Study literature. But things don’t turn out the way you want them to. I selected commerce because my dad wanted me to become a CA. But ultimately, I dropped a year after 12th grade and opted for literature.
My writing journey so far:
I had stopped writing for a really long time. I didn’t get time at all to write while studying for graduation and masters. I then had a really bad break up while appearing for my masters and then again found solace in writing. Reading and writing kept me sane then.
Everyone who knew me was confused as to why I had stopped writing, but secretly I used to, it’s just that I used to write sad poems and stories with an unhappy ending. I needed to revive my writing like it was before I didn’t know how! I got married to a wonderful man and he encouraged me to revive my writing again. I thought of doing book reviews. I wrote two book reviews for a website, but was still confused as to what to do next! I mostly write book reviews now for my blog, but I still think of writing short stories like I used to in my childhood. Today, I keep writing about anything which bothers me, which makes me happy.
And that’s my writing journey so far.
Aren't you feeling inspired from her story? So don't sit back. If you have a dream, fulfill it now. No time is as right as NOW to begin what you always wanted to do. All the best for your dreams! Do share your stories, your journeys by commenting below or drop a mail at ilagarg.president@gmail.com
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