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English poet and novelist Charlotte Bronte questioned the customs of her time with her passionate writing. Her work, regarded now as classics, continues to inspire.
English poet and novelist Charlotte Bronte questioned the customs of her time with her passionate writing. Her work, which went on to be seen as classics of literature, continues to inspire.
Each month, we ask our readers to get inspired by an iconic woman writer and get their own thinking caps on. We hope that this inspires you to read more of these writers, and also get your own writing hat on. The 5 best entries on the writing cue get published here.
Step 1. Read the writing cue (mentioned 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 even choose not to use it anywhere in your story – 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 – Sept’ 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.
Please note: 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.
Here are the 5 shortlisted entries, added as we publish them, one each day, starting Sept 26th.
One Scoop Of Chocolate Mouse, by Sujata Rajpal: What you love can hold you captive, but it can also free you. Here’s a story about being free to love yourself, warts and all.
Writer’s Dilemma, by Kalpanaa: Today, more than ever, needs writers who let their ideas run free, to inspire the world. Here is an ode to the writer’s dilemma – to be or not to be free?
The Match, by Sangeeta: Love and marriage are bound by no rules, contrary to public perception. Here is a warm story about choosing love.
The Cover-Up, by Krshka Afonso: How long will it take before a woman realises that she is not a bird under a net? And once she does, is there any stopping her?
The Reunion, by Smita Vyas Kumar: Making choices is difficult – to pursue a career, or be a stay-at-home mom? What makes it worse is people’s judgement. Here’s a story about being who your choices make you, with pride.
Please send in your stories by September 25th 2014, Thursday, 3 p.m IST. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web the next day on, i.e. one each from September 26th to 30th.
Keep it between 250 and 800 words. (Please keep this in mind; in past editions, we have had to disqualify some good entries purely due to word count issues).
Please avoid typing the story as inline text. Send it as an attachment only.
The 5 best entries will each win a Flipkart voucher worth Rs. 250.
Virginia Woolf wrote that Charlotte Bronte was one of those writers whose “overpowering personality” means that “they have only to open the door to make themselves felt. There is in them some untamed ferocity perpetually at war with the accepted order of things.”
Charlotte Bronte’s work, especially Jane Eyre, revolutionised the art of fiction. Ahead of its time, her work was controversial and deeply personal. Reading Bronte’s social criticism, her approach to morality and adulthood, and her remarkably intense prose leaves the reader in awe of the woman who wrote courageously, albeit under the pseudonym of Currer bell.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me“ – the writing cue for September, from Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. Make sure to get your entry in on or before September 25th 2014, Thursday, 3 p.m IST
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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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