Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Each month this year, we host a writing theme – the Muse Of The Month, with a ‘writing cue’ from a contemporary female author of Indian origin. The 5 best e
Each month this year, we host a writing theme – the Muse Of The Month, with a ‘writing cue’ from a contemporary female author of Indian origin. The 5 best entries get published here!
Step 1. Read the writing cue (which is either a direct quote from the featured author, or a quote from one of their works, mentioned down below) and get inspired.
Step 2. Write your own story/poem/narrative/essay/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 the ‘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 – May 2016’ 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.
Please send in your stories by May 17th 2016, Tuesday, 3 p.m. IST. The 5 best stories will be published on Women’s Web between the 23rd to 27th May, one on each day.
The material should be previously unpublished elsewhere.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 2000 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 (in the body of the mail) – these will not be considered. Send it as an attachment only.
The 5 best entries will each win a Flipkart voucher worth Rs 250. Plus, there will be 10 overall winners at the end of 2016 from among these winners!
Kavita Kane was born in Mumbai, but grew up mostly in Patna and Delhi. She has been an Assistant Editor at the Times of India, which she quit to become a full time author. With a postgraduate degree in English Literature and Mass Communication, and her past career in journalism, she is a keen observer of human nature, and uses that to great effect in her books.
Her debut novel (2013) Karna’s Wife (review on Women’s Web here) was a bestseller, and is about Uruvi, who is said to be Karna’s third wife. Her second novel (2014) – Sita’s Sister (review on Women’s Web here) deals with another enigmatic mythological personality – Urmila, probably the most overlooked character in the Ramayan. Menaka’s Choice (2015) is about the vulnerability and ‘human’ quality in the famous apsara sent to destroy Vishwamitra’s quest for power.
This is what she says of her characters, and the way she explores them: “most of the characters in the epics are either white or black. Bringing out the greys in them was made it so interesting. Yet they had to be believable and consistent with their character, personality and argument. The facade was there: the underlying layers were deep. And unfathomable.”
Kavita Kane currently lives in Pune with her husband and two teen daughters.
“Doubling that peaceful sense of contentment was the beaming pride she saw shining in her parents’ eyes.” — Kavita Kane, Sita’s Sister
Do not forget to send in your entries by May 17th 2016, Tuesday, 3 p.m. IST
Who’s Afraid Of The Big, Bad Wolf? Winning Entry By Vijayalakshmi Harish
Dreaming Big With Mridul. Winning Entry By Deepa Arun
A Change Of Heart. Winning Entry By Kasturi Patra
Parental Support. Winning Entry By Hip Grandma
Returning Home. Winning Entry by Anindita Roy
Congratulations to all the winners from the Women’s Web team!
Image source: Outlook India.
Women's Web is a vibrant community for Indian women, an authentic space for us to be ourselves and talk about all things that matter to us. Follow us via the read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
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.
Please enter your email address