Valentine’s Day is around the corner. With ‘Love’ as your muse, get featured on our readers’ writing space this month!

February being Cupid’s month, we’ve picked an interesting theme for this month’s As You Write It. From building the Taj Mahal to giving up the throne, people have done various things in the name of love. But we are curious to know, what would you NOT do?

With that in mind, send us your write-up on “I would do anything for love…but I won’t do THAT!” (and of course, you don’t need to take us literally – feel free to take the topic as a starting point and let your imagination run wild).

Where to send: Send in your story to feedback@womensweb.in with ‘Love Story’ in the subject line, and your story as a word/txt attachment. Do include the name we should use if we publish it, and a brief introduction to yourself (2-3 lines) in the mail.

By when: Please send in your stories by Feb 12th, i.e. this Sunday. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web the following week, i.e. Feb 13th onwards.

Rules:

- The material should be previously unpublished elsewhere. (Copyright stays with you and you’re free to subsequently publish it elsewhere).

- Keep it between 250 and 600 words.

GOODIES!

An update, folks – we have a incentive for you from Zaarga! Zaarga, a new online shopping portal – brings to you exclusive home and lifestyle accessories from the best of contemporary Indian Designers. The products you find here are likely to be very different from any you find in regular stores. You can follow Zaarga on Facebook too.

Every published writer on this theme gets a Rs.300 gift voucher from Zaarga.

*Photo credit: photo javi

Last but not the least in January’s writing theme, we have Sangeeta Mall’s interesting account of how she resolved to keep fit. Did she keep it up? Let’s find out!

Sangeeta, in her own words: Sangeeta Mall is a novelist. Her first book, ‘Cloud 9 Minus One’, was published by HarperCollins in 2009. She expects to launch her second novel, another story on women’s issues, late in 2012.

The gym is open on 1 January. They make it a point to keep it open on the first day of the year, to enable all the members to start the new year with a healthy bout of exercise. There are notices all through the gym exhorting the slackers to ‘Get Ready For 2012’, to ‘Beat Laziness And Win Fitness’. There are many creative banners, and I feel the copywriter is a good one, though I’m not sure if he, or she, is fit and slim. But the pictures and words plastered all across the wall speak to me in my own language. They depict a fat person of indeterminate gender sitting and doing nothing. The copywriter doesn’t believe in hints. The message is very loud. Get off your backside and lose that adipose!

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Next up on our January writing theme’s Resolution Story shortlist, is Vinaya’s short story highlighting the dark side of resolutions.

Vinaya Bhagat, in a her own words: I am an IT professional with a passion for writing. In 2008 I completed a creative writing course from United States. In my teenage years I contributed to the English daily “The Hitvada”. I am currently preparing my first novel for submission.

The smell is driving her crazy. Her stride slows in an attempt to prolong the olfactory flirtation. Her stomach rumbles unused to the emptiness. By the third round her mind gives in to the demands of her body and she flops on the stone bench farthest from the tempting smell. But every moment the smell beckons, tempts her with the promise of mouthwatering heaven. Before she knows she is back on her feet walking briskly towards the next bench a little nearer.

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The next article on our shortlist for this month’s writing theme, is Aparna Sanjay’s thoughtful and reflective write-up of her views on the Resolution Story. 

Aparna, in her own words: I am a corporate worker bee turned development professional who works with a non-profit in Delhi. I’m a travel enthusiast, a foodie, craft junkie and mom of 2 young kids. I blog about parenting, travel and kidisms.

The way I see it, there are two kinds of resolutions. The Doing kind and the Being kind. To elaborate – the doers, who (mostly) make the doing kind of resolutions, are (again, mostly, let’s not over-generalize here!) externally-focused people. They make resolutions about places to see, skills to learn, money to earn and things to do. They make bucket lists of all the stuff they need to do and the lucky (or should I say resolute) ones manage to slowly but surely tick items off their list. To exercise and lose 10 kgs, to see all the Seven Wonders of the world, to get a great appraisal, to hit 150% of their sales target and make it to Hawaii, to buy a house, to bungee-jump and skydive…….to squeeze the most out of life……to maximize their potential and experiences.

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The second entry that made it to our shortlist for this month’s writing theme is a spunky and bold Resolution Story by Roopa. 

Roopa Prabhakar, in her own words: I’m a new mother, a working woman who believes her face is plastered on the glass ceiling, a closet feminist and writer.

I thought long and hard on what my New Year resolution should be. Amidst the usual weight loss, career goals, hobby-hunting, ideal mother/wife/daughter soap-opera stuff there was one idea silently screaming out in my head – be a real BAD ASS BITCH this year……

At first I ignored it and put it down to hormones as it was that time of the month (my husband jokes that I am either PMS’ing or CRYing) but then, as I turned the thought over in my head it didn’t seem so bad. In fact, I warmed up to it so much that I decided to write this article.

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For this month’s writing theme, Resolution Story, the first entry we publish is by Meera, who has an interesting story on the quest for a ‘hero type’ man.

Meera, in her own words: I write short stories, some of which have been published in magazines. I mainly write about things I have seen, heard, experienced; things from real life, based on which I weave my own stories. I lived in the US and now have moved to India where I feel the writing is much more enriched because of all the things we see happening around us.

2010 had been an ‘annus horribilis’ for me; an utterly disastrous and flop year of meeting only timid, zero confident, non-courageous and boring men!

Absolutely fed up of these weaklings to whom I was the gallant knight(ess) in shining armor, my 2011 New year resolution was crystal clear as I made the spanking new decision that I would date only an adventurous, strong, fearless, interesting male (Bollywood hero types) or not at all! I was done with all chickens except in a dish accompanied by yummy Garlic Parathas! Continue reading →

As You Write It, is Women’s Web’s new space for us to feature interesting writing by our readers every month.

For some time now, we’ve been receiving mails from enthusiastic readers, asking for a space to share their writing on Women’s Web. There is the Women’s Web blog of course, where we’re open to newer writers, but with this new space, ‘As You Write It‘, we’ll be putting out a new theme every month, and inviting writing from readers on that theme.

So, at the start of 2012, January’s theme is “Resolution Story”.

Tell us a Resolution Story – your story or that of someone you know or just a good one you heard. Of a resolution you made and kept – or didn’t. Of what resolutions mean to you – or don’t. Anything at all about Resolutions – funny, poignant, irreverent, sad, charming, thoughtful – all kinds of stories welcome.

Where to send: Send in your story to feedback@womensweb.in with ‘Resolution Story’ in the subject line, and your story as a word/txt attachment. Do include the name we should use if we publish it, and a brief introduction to yourself (2-3 lines) in the mail.

By when: Please send in your stories by Jan 15th, i.e. this Sunday. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web the following week, i.e. Jan 16th onwards.

Rules:

- The material should be previously unpublished elsewhere. (Copyright stays with you and you’re free to subsequently publish it elsewhere).

- Keep it between 250 and 600 words.

Pic credit: I love Memphis, used under a Creative Commons license