The Journey Till The 100th Post
My 100th post…nearly 3 years, a long time indeed.
Yet here I am, with a 100 posts on my blog. Am no writer & for me this very
small achievement may perhaps be the only great thing I’d ever do to mark my
“literary career”. So get ready to hear a lot of self-praise & anecdotes.
I remember I began
reading when I was in Std 2 –Champak was my first ‘book’ not related to
academia. As I read each story, I marked the contents page & was so worried
when within the night I’d finished them all. I’ve always been a fast reader
& craved for more & more. As I received new books for the school year,
I’d first finish the English literature books(Gulmohar anyone?) The first time I penned a so-called poem was
after reading one of my cousin’s. She’s been my very first inspiration, at 8,
am not sure what inspiration meant but I sure did know I wanted to write like
her to get praised!
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| It was Rs5 then! |
Unlike other parents, mine were very encouraging & never
criticised me spending time reading books or writing something. My school St.
Joseph’s Girls’ High School too gave me a platform that made me write more. I
remember receiving a Mango-Bite chocolate from the fiercest teacher in school
for reciting my first published (in Telegraph) poem in class! And one comment from
one of my teachers had brought about the turning point of the genre of my
write-ups. Having read a short story written by me in class as an assignment,
she’d said-“She has a knack of creating humour in her writing”. I didn’t know
what ‘knack’ meant, I went home & looked it up and well, devoted myself to
retain the validity of that comment till date. When I shifted to Goa, Saraswat Vidyalaya in
Mapusa treated me as an alien-a good one. I was perhaps the only one from an
English medium background in Std 5, the school had Marathi medium until then.
The odds were in my favour & I lost no time in utilizing it. Morning school
assemblies & speech became my forte, for the first time letting me venture
into public speaking.
In +2, i.e. my first college days, I thought well no one
would care less about what I wrote. But thankfully there’s always this one
teacher who would spot you! He was our English professor-rather eccentric &
having a controversial career. We were supposed to write about celebrating our
birthdays. Mine was a rather subdued one, about a girl having to spend hers all
alone in her hostel. He liked it & the fact that I’d never spent a day in a
hostel made him love it more.
Blogging appeared rather late in my life & when it did
there was no looking back. I’d found a heaven for myself! I could write &
be read by millions(though my blog doesn’t get that many hits..yes, sad). I met
others that inspired me & made me humble. Met many who influenced my style
of writing & made it look less amateurish. I grew as a reader & blogger
and as a human being too, for I understood the reach of my blog when my old
friend managed to find me because of it & when I visited my grad college my
juniors went gaga about it! I can say that I too played my part in inspiring
many like me, from my own sister to friends I know just through Facebook.
And
though my parents now think I should be only devoted to my career-read getting
a job & my grandpa seriously doubts I write erotica, I am happy blogging! I
love both my blogs & hopefully I shall reach the 200th mark
soon.
But for now I shall take a short vacation & do my part in securing my
rozi-roti i.e. campus placement season. Wish me luck friends!
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