This is probably the third year of me writing about #WhyIWrite on Youth Ki Awaaz, and trust me, I cannot be more grateful than I am for this platform.
I first started writing for YKA when I came across the campaign #BigdiHuiLadki – where every girl wrote about the instances where she was labelled with that terminology, something used very commonly and very wildly in our society. It was relatable to me because I was in a habit of listening to it every now and then, because that’s how the framework goes around, any gender except the male with a voice is an outcast in our patriarchal mindset, and I was just looked upon on like that black spot who had a voice when it wasn’t needed – in short, I was never allowed to put out an opinion because I was of the supposed inferior gender. That is why I started writing on Youth Ki Awaaz.
Over the years, I’ve grown with this platform. I’ve written about everything and anything which has mattered to me or has affected me deeply. Be it the growing Islamophobia, the repression of women, the liberated idea of the LGBTQ+ community, or anything which hit right at my conscience over the past years.
I write because this platform makes me feel liberated, it makes me feel that every voice matters, it makes me feel that no matter what, if I write there’ll be someone on the other side of this screen listening to me.
It makes me feel like having a family away from family who hold a similar or contradicting opinion which only makes me grow as a person because this platform has also taught me how I cannot always be right and hence, Youth Ki Awaaz will always be that go-to place when something grows beyond tolerance. Because no matter what be the case, YKA has taught me to write, always.