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Shashi Deshpande, who writes with great insight and nuance on the changing lives of Indian women and their families, is our muse of the month. Get inspired!
Each month, we ask our readers to get inspired by an iconic woman writer and funnel that into their own writing. The idea is to 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 on Women’s Web.
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 – Dec’ 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.
Here are the 5 shortlisted entries, added as we publish them, one each day, starting December 27th.
Cycle of Change, by Vijayalakshmi N: Our lives are a cycle of change, and this poem chronicles it beautifully.
The phoenix, by Ujwala Shenoy Karmarkar: Constantly being asked to change your ways gets very tiring, very soon. Don’t succumb, rise like the phoenix, says this story.
A Reunion That Did Not Last, by Rajlakshmi Kurup: People and circumstances change, leaving relationships as only a shadow of what they once were. Here’s a story that captures this transition.
Merry Christmas, by Shaheen Ahmed: Relationships aren’t easy, especially when they end. Here’s a moment of moving on, captured beautifully.
Please send in your stories by December 26th 2014, Friday, 3 p.m IST. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web the next day on, i.e. one each from December 27th to the 31st.
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.
Shashi Deshpande is an author whose work is set around people and situations that seem intimately familiar to most readers; she explores the world of close-knit Indian families, comfortable yet often claustrophobic and teeming with hidden dangers. Her characters face situations that could be the lot of everywoman, making them deeply identifiable for many readers.
Winner of the Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi awards, her oeuvre includes nine published novels, besides children’s books, essays and short stories.
“It’s astonishing how we comment on change, as if change is something remarkable. On the contrary, not to change is unnatural, against nature.” – from Shashi Deshpande’s That Long Silence. Make sure to get your entry in on or before December 26th 2014, Friday, 3 p.m IST
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'Dr Saloni will take care of everything,' my MIL said. My cowardly husband refused to go against his mother’s wishes. I was left to fend for myself!
Some time ago, I went to a marriage ceremony with my parents. It was a very high-profile marriage – not the ones we usually were invited to – but in this case it was Ramesh uncle’s son’s marriage. Ramesh uncle was my father’s first cousin. He began his career as a humble elevator operator at the TIC business group. With his sheer hard work, grit, and the knack of sensing the right opportunities, within eighteen years he became the president of the company. My father and he were the best of friends during their school time.
Half an hour before the stipulated time, we left our house, hired an auto and reached the venue. All four of us were in our best outfits. Getting out of the auto and looking at each other, we were highly convinced that we were going to fit in just right. As we crossed the dazzling and beautiful portico, we felt very insignificant compared to the big lawn and building lying ahead.
Mother was wearing all the jewellery she had got, including the big old-fashioned necklace, earrings and shiny bangles. Father was wearing a velvet coat, brother had put on a light orange shirt with a black check coat, I myself was wearing a red salwar kurta with a net dupatta. I had put on a necklace with red beads which at the time of wearing looked very pretty to me. Now looking at the other guests, I felt all four of us must be looking like clowns who had come for a fancy-dress competition. I felt my brother and parents were also feeling self-conscious and uneasy now.
Live-in relationships are legal in the eyes of the law. Read on to know more on the rights of women in live-in relationships.
Live-in relationships may sound exciting. But sometimes they become complicated, especially for women and the children born from a live-in relationship. It’s important to be aware of rights of women in live-in relationships.
Live-in relationships are where a woman and man live under one roof with mutual consent, like husband and wife, but without getting married. This has become very common in metropolitan cities these days, where two independent people simply do not want to get married. This relationship can be terminated without the consent of the other party.
Live-in relation may not be recognized completely at the social level, but Indian law does consider this relationship to be legal.
For the June writing theme, we have inspiration from writer Maya Angelou, who was a shining light to so many. The 5 best entries get published here.
For the June writing theme, we have inspiration from writer and memoirist Maya Angelou, the ‘phenomenal woman’ who was a shining light to so many. 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. We hope that this inspires you to read more of these writers, and also write more yourself!
Step 1. Read the writing cue (scroll down below) and get inspired.
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.
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!