My association with YKA dates back to the year 2010 when I was looking for a writing internship during my college vacations. At that time, YKA was in its nascent stage and I, on the other hand, was looking to flourish my love for writing. I had by then explored various fortes of writing including fiction, non-fiction and factual content. YKA introduced me to a new aspect of writing, which in my words is called writing for a difference!
There are a large number of issues in our society which need a lot more importance than we give them. Issues like periods and sex are considered taboos in our society and are the least talked about in public. Then there are topics catering to the basics which are generally sidelined by the media- these include water crisis, waste management and several others. Stories which affect us the most are personal stories- be they happy or sad. The story of an auto driver escorting a girl safely to her place at night makes all of us beam with pride whereas the story of a son brutally assaulting his parents makes all of us cringe. But until a few years back, we had no platform to vent out our frustration or even share a happy story. YKA then took us into its arms where we can share stories and learn from each other.
The aim of all the stories at YKA is to bring about a change. Bringing a change does not mean changing the whole world. It could also mean impacting merely two or three lives. It could also mean that somebody reads your story and silently sheds a tear because he/she can connect with it.
After being an active reader and writer at YKA, I started writing fictional stories too with an intention to create an impact with the magic of words. I started realizing that words are powerful enough to move mountains. Taking inspiration from this and writing one story after another, I finally launched my first short story collection titled ‘Something called Life’.
The stories of Something called Life talk about falling relationships, broken trust, narrow mindsets; but they also talk about the much-needed change, about those extreme steps which are sometimes needed to be taken in order to bring everything back to place and also to set things right.
The mother who has to choose between her to-be-born daughter and her husband, the father who is yearning for his son to return to his homeland, the wife who feels her husband does not love her anymore; all the characters are struggling to put together their fallen pieces of life. Whether they will succumb to their hardships or will they rise and fight back to change things around them, is what unfolds in the various stories.
We spend a major part of our lives in decoding life and in many situations, we are caught in choosing between the right and the wrong. To fight for our problems and to raise our voice against issues that affect us is our responsibility as human beings and let us all pledge to take the first step towards change!