From the first time I read ‘Little Women’, I was convinced that I was Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Jo’ in some past life. And when I found out that Miss Alcott’s birthday was on the same day as mine, the 29th of November, I was utterly convinced we were part of the same great soul. And so there was no choice; I was destined to be a writer. It was my “maqsad” in life, my raison d’etre. I had to write. And I loved it! Right from the age of 12, writing is what kept me going. It kept me sane, through all the rough patches in life. It held me together. It made me live.
Just as every writer has other writers who inspire her, so did I. For a long time, I lived in my fairy tale tower where the writers that inspired me were people I had never met or interacted with. I only read their books and wished, “Wow! I wish I could write like them!”
And then I discovered blogs! And real writers! In flesh and blood! And they became my heroes.
I would like you to meet some of them. Just ordinary people, living ordinary lives, yet so very extraordinary. People you can interact with; comment about their work; exchange emails and become friends with.
There’s Corinne Rodrigues. I met her through a post of a friend on Facebook. I followed the link to her blog Everyday Gyaan and liked what I read. Corinne gives me my dose of sensible. She gives me caring and love and that warm cup of chai feeling. She appeals to that part of the writer in me that is the mother, the nurturer, the friend, the light.
Then there is The Idea- smithy or Ramya Pandyan. My friend, Steve Yi, suggested that I read her blog and sent me the link. Needless to say, I was hooked. She is completely different from Corinne. She writes about pain, she writes about anger, she writes about growth. Ramya’s writing is hard hitting. She minces no words. She tells it as it is. Raw and no band-aids. And you say, “Yes, I know. I have been there. I wish I had the guts to write about it as she does”
Tejas Harad is a soft spoken 24 year old, whom I have had the privilege of working with. Though he is soft spoken, his writing is not. His writings in Getting Loquacious reflect his passion against the ills in society, be it in the educational field or the socio-political. He is not afraid to air his views. His writings give me hope that the youth still have the fire to fight for the ideals they believe in.
Aamil Syed is another writer I follow. His post on “The meat of a cow and the blood of an innocent”, actually made me get out of my fear induced silence and write my post, “Am I worrying unnecessarily?”
Gerald D’cunha is the husband of my friend, Anima. Yet, I started reading his blog when one of his students, who was also my student, suggested it to me. Gerry Sir, as he is fondly called, writes about everyday life. He can take the simplest thing, like an egg for breakfast, and turn it into a lesson for life. His posts are easy to read and most of them put a smile on my face. (Sometimes he writes about sad things as well).
And so everyday when I wonder about whether I can write, or what I should write about, I just read these blogs and a couple more and then a voice inside me says, “Yes, you can write, about happiness, about sadness, about what you believe in, about everyday things, about things that matter.”
And another post gets done.
Thank you, all of you, for inspiring me, and keep making me want to write more!