Why I Write?
I was raised in a middle-class family in New Delhi, India where education was key, fresh pomfret fish for dinner was a treat, and budget-conscious holidays in hill stations defined our summers. As a young girl, I was expected to apply myself at college, get a job that would allow me to be financially self-reliant, get married, and have kids—in that order.
Given this worldview, “writing” was a bourgeois activity, encouraged by my mom, who was an avid fan of Reader’s Digest and Harlequin romances.
If I could I would . . .
She squeezes her eyes tightly shut not to let the tears fall. “That day, that moment, if I could have that time back.”
The morning of September 22 had started out innocuously enough. Yes, Javed was crying at the top of his newborn lungs, wanting his early feeding. But that was normal for a two-month baby. She’d fed him, then walked him up and down the tiny apartment, rubbing his back so he’d burp, all the while practicing aloud the words of the scene for the movie she was auditioning for later in the day. She’d been so excited when her agent had called with the opportunity—so few and far between these days ever since she’d had baby Javed. Ninety seconds was all it took to make him, and it was going to take a lifetime to raise him.
Now Nominated for The Pushcart Prize . . .
I don’t know whether to cry or sing for joy!!
The following short story excerpted from the novel I have been working on for the past three years and, recently published in the annual 2019 issue of Green Hills Literary Lantern, has now been nominated for the Pushcart Prize.
With my mom\’s blessing, there\’s more good news . . . novel excerpt published!
I recently lost my mother (read: https://anoopjudge.com/blog/i-brought-you-into-this-world-and-i-can-take-you-out-an-indian-mother-speaks) and mother-in-law in the space of three months (read: https://anoopjudge.com/blog/mummy-tell-me-one-more-story-). But I know they’re watching over me, because the good news just keeps coming!
A 10,000-word excerpt from my unpublished novel titled ‘The Awakening of Meena Rawat’ has been published in Litbreak magazine. Click on the link below to get a preview of the novel:
http://litbreak.com/the-awakening-of-meena-rawat/
Thank you, Mom and Mummy!
Yay!!!! My short story got published in the annual issue of Truman University\’s Literary Journal!
I don’t know whether to cry or sing for joy! I always wanted to get published in a literary journal and I did!! Truman University’s annual issue of Green Hills Literary Lantern is here!
Click on the link below for the short story “Grace and Mercy\’“:
http://ghll.truman.edu/ghll30/Judge%20Grace%20and%20Mercy.html