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In April, our muse of the month is the poet-writer Kamala Das (later known as Kamala Surayya). Get started with the writing cue: The 5 best entries get published here.
Kamala Das/Kamala Suraiyya
In April, our muse of the month is the poet-writer Kamala Das (later known as Kamala Surayya), who challenged notions of female sexuality as passive and submissive. Get started with the writing cue: The 5 best entries get published here.
Each month, we ask our readers to get inspired by an iconic woman writer and get their own thinking caps on. The idea is to explore the works of these writers, and get some good writing done yourself!
Step 1. Read the writing cue (scroll down below) and get inspired.
Step 2. Write your own story/narrative/piece based on the cue. You could use it as the opening line, the closing sentence, or somewhere in between! You could choose not to use it anywhere in your story too – just write a story using the cue as a prompt. (And ‘story’ can be fictional – or not – as you wish).
Step 3. Send your work to us. Please email it to [email protected] with ‘Muse of the month – April’ in the subject line, and your story as a word/txt attachment. Please avoid typing the story as inline text. Do include the name we should use if we publish it, and a brief introduction to yourself (2-3 lines) in the mail.
Given the number of entries received, we won’t be able to respond to each, but every single entry is being read through very carefully and is much appreciated.
Please send in your stories by April 25th 2014, Friday, 5 p.m IST. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web the next day, i.e. April 26th onwards.
– The material should be previously unpublished elsewhere.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 800 words.
The 5 best entries will each win a Flipkart voucher worth Rs. 250.
Kamala Das, best known in Malayalam for her short stories and autobiography, and in English for her poetry, was an iconic author, fearless in her life and work. At a time when women’s sexuality was seen as both submissive, and potentially dangerous (some would say those times are still around!), Kamala Das’ poetry was path-breaking for the ‘hunger’ and agency it revealed in its female protagonists. Her short stories were much appreciated for the fine craft with which she drew in just a few strokes, the emotions and lives of ordinary people.
Her autobiography, over which she deliberately left doubts of what fictional elements it contained, created a sensation at the time for its frankness on female sexuality, and continues to inspire readers and other writers.
“Today the world is a little more my own.”
This is the month’s writing cue, the striking first line of Kamala Das’ well-known poem, Punishment in Kindergarten. Now go make it yours!
[Don’t forget to send in your work before April 25th, 5 p.m]
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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