I come from a lineage of medicos, so following in the footsteps of my parents was my natural choice. I pursued science in school, but I soon figured out that working on cadavers wasn’t my cup of tea. Dropping the idea of medicine, I decided to make my mark in the field of research, hoping to find the ‘Elixir of Youth’. I started my B.Sc. in 1985 and completed my masters in zoology in 1987. Then, I started my PhD in and was awarded a UGC fellowship to pursue research associateship in 1992. I completed my tenure and got married shortly afterwards.
My husband’s job entailed a lot of touring and I didn’t have active support from my family, which was why I had to put my career on the back-burner. A few years later, motherhood followed and family commitments got an upper-hand once again. My primary responsibility was to look after my kids; raising two kids single-handedly wasn’t a joke after all. The idea of putting them in a creche or employing a nanny to take care of them didn’t appeal to me either. So, two decades were spent on household chores. My toddlers had grown into teens now, and I was going into a chasm of despair more than ever before. Luckily, my husband and kids gave me full support. They motivated me to join a creative writing course as I had been passionate about writing since my school days.
Soon, I familiarised myself with the nuances of technology which were unheard of in the eighties. Armed with a writer’s diploma and relevant technical knowledge, I began my search for work opportunities. However, to my dismay, my career gap made it difficult for suitable opportunities to come my way.
It was in 2014 that I came across Internshala. I registered on it and got introduced to this new feature called ‘work from home’. I applied to various internships and soon got hired by a publishing house as a proofreader. It was a new but fulfilling experience as I could work from the comfort of my home. I balanced work and my household quite efficiently, and my employers were happy with my job too. Meanwhile, my passion to write rekindled, and I started sending out my articles to various sites for publishing. Currently, my work is well published in print and digital media on both national and international platforms.
Things turned even better when I received an email from Internshala regarding their initiative ‘Internships for Women’, and I started applying to content writing internships. Initially, I felt dejected as I wouldn’t get any response from the employers; however, my patience paid off, and I got shortlisted for an internship at India Go Social. They asked for a sample write-up on the Padmavat controversy and hired me thereafter. Next, I got hired for Storio, Oddsnspaces, and Plantwriter. Throughout these content writing internships, not only did I learn about different writing styles and fonts, citations, plagiarism, and SEO but also revived my dormant aspirations to become an author.
Next, I applied to a content writing internship at Urban Campus. They conducted a telephonic interview and my qualifications and experience in the field made them reconsider the application, and they offered me the position of their education head instead. And, I, of course, said yes! At Urban Campus, I review the written and video content and have the final say in what goes live. We have a high-spirited team, and we do weekly conferences to share the work updates. I have also been hired for another internship at Story Mirror recently. Thank you, Internshala, for giving wings to my dreams. Just when this caterpillar thought her life was over, you helped her turn into a butterfly, and she flew away to chase her dreams.
About the Author: Dr Preeti Talwar is a homemaker who restarted her career after a long break of two decades. She talks about her journey of getting back on her feet and discovering a new identity through virtual internships. Are you also waiting to spread your wings and (re)start your career? Well, the wait is over! Apply to these internships for women and give a new direction to your career.