I write what I want to because it makes me feel like I’m free to speak my mind. Speaking my mind isn’t always about standing on a stage and giving a speech. Sometimes, it is just those tiny wonderful moments where you speak to your consciousness. I do just the same.
When I realised that I could write with ease about things I cared about and didn’t, I continued to write with more zeal and enthusiasm. About five years ago, it was just a word but now it’s crossed boundaries and borders that I never even dreamed about. I tested my limits on writing, not just for others but more for myself. In time, this became powerful, as I started seeing the power of sentences and paragraphs when they ceased to be mere words and instead transformed into mighty mountains and hills to be climbed and conquered.
I wrote on Youth Ki Awaaz when I felt the need to speak to myself more than the others. I wrote about issues that had affected me at one point and were close to me, including sexual harassment, violence against women, sex education, sexism etc. Here, I am not saying that changes happened in a day or a month after I – or anybody else, for that matter – had written their pieces. The important thing to realise is that changes happened when it was time.
When the youth of today speaks up, it is not just about the maximum volume of their voices coming out of the loudspeakers. It is the concern that they show for a particular issue. Only when we speak up, share and discuss can a common understanding be reached. However, here I specifically refer to genuine, honest, mature and right-based discussions, for the time has long gone for prejudices like sexism and casteism.
I have decided to continue my beautiful journey of writing, not just about social issues but also about the wonders and mysteries of this world. A writing bond cannot be broken once it is made.
In the end, it is just a matter of finding the right platform.