Today, the results of the India Currents Katha: Desi Fiction Contest 2015 are out. I'm thrilled to have won the second place for my short story, "Miss, Dolly, and Hulk". The award means much more than the $200 prize that accompanies a publishing of the story in their August issue.
After a career teaching Electronics in three different cities, I was seriously contemplating on a doctorate (on a topic in Medical Electronics I hold dear to my heart), when personal reasons compelled me to quit. And I became a stay-at-home mom.
Not a TV person or one inclined to shopping sprees or chat sessions, it was natural I turned to my old friends, books. The days spooled out endlessly, packed with cooking and housekeeping chores, and I grew possessive about my reading time. I had written from the age of eight and then tapered off at eighteen after I edited the NIE college magazine. I did read sporadically but diverted my energy into bringing up my daughters, studying for my M.Tech and teaching undergraduates. The desire to write just packed up and left.
In November 2013 when my first 'Middle' appeared in the Deccan Herald, it stoked the desire to pour myself in words once again. As I wrote, I continued to read voraciously and realized I had stumbled onto the right track again.
Nothing gives me greater joy than words--the one's I read, and those that I use to shape the lives of my characters.
A niggling self-doubt and despair has been laid to rest with today's win. I've endorsed the writer in me. I can look forward to writing with greater confidence.
But I will continue to jealously guard my writing space and time. So diversions beware!
After a career teaching Electronics in three different cities, I was seriously contemplating on a doctorate (on a topic in Medical Electronics I hold dear to my heart), when personal reasons compelled me to quit. And I became a stay-at-home mom.
Not a TV person or one inclined to shopping sprees or chat sessions, it was natural I turned to my old friends, books. The days spooled out endlessly, packed with cooking and housekeeping chores, and I grew possessive about my reading time. I had written from the age of eight and then tapered off at eighteen after I edited the NIE college magazine. I did read sporadically but diverted my energy into bringing up my daughters, studying for my M.Tech and teaching undergraduates. The desire to write just packed up and left.
In November 2013 when my first 'Middle' appeared in the Deccan Herald, it stoked the desire to pour myself in words once again. As I wrote, I continued to read voraciously and realized I had stumbled onto the right track again.
Nothing gives me greater joy than words--the one's I read, and those that I use to shape the lives of my characters.
A niggling self-doubt and despair has been laid to rest with today's win. I've endorsed the writer in me. I can look forward to writing with greater confidence.
But I will continue to jealously guard my writing space and time. So diversions beware!
No comments:
Post a Comment