Adieu 2008

2008 on a closing note…. In fact I was trying to do a rewind of the ‘eventful year’ that I had. It is almost messy... Uh! ya, I began my copy writing journey, actually that’s the most important one from 2008, the transformation of mine to a full time writer & my scuffle with keywords to make every website Google friendly ….. A handful of good works that I wrote for my company (a few boring ones too that I purposefully forget, ha ha ha!!!) & of course my musings that brought me some valuable comments about my writing.

Life in the city… a real make over; even my food habits have changed … samosa chats & pav bhajis infiltrated in to my menu… hmm!!! they are yummy (thanks to 'S').

....but still not successful in acquiring the vanity of the metro, may be next year !

….hostels and the stinking back biting stories …god! really bad time that was, but got some lessons for a safer metro life....

My joyful days in the previous office… sudden transfer to an entirely new ambiance…

‘J’ quarreled again, really serious this time, has been on a silent mode since then…

My reading habit getting corroded day by day. Actually I have a new hobby now, to find out how to sleep late & sleep more, which has produced instantaneous results in the form of small under eye bags.

The tumultuous year has given me a lot more, but as I said, it’s too much messy to recollect every bright and dark ones....A routine tour, but a bit cheerless towards the end...

But me signing off in hope, Wishing all of happy and prosperous 2009.

Will come back soon with more musings.

Agonies Unsaid

We had been to the temple yesterday to give our annual offerings and took a handful of jaggery with us, as we knew very well that our Balakrishnan (Hey! It’s the elephant in our temple) likes jaggery. After the ceremony, as I was about to take the jaggery to give him, a lady (guess she is the sweeper of the temple) came hurriedly and took it away. I told her that it was for the elephant, but she skipped, giving a lame excuse .The jaggery might have been sold for a lesser price than what I indented.

Tears rolled down my eyes as I saw him leaving the temple, in to the hot sun, with his aching legs, and those stout pot bellied priests on his top. His legs were cross chained…

Guys, are gods really adamant that they need an elephant safari, to bless the devotees? Or are the priests enjoying an elephant ride in the name of gods or is it a version of sadism? This is really a perplexing subject that I have been thinking right from my childhood. If gods are not obstinate about the need of an elephant, why should that poor animal be kept chained in temples, to endure all the pains? I write this with much anguish, as I always see the torture that has been inflicted upon the elephant in our temple. He is a true symbol of the endless agonies that the elephants in the temples of Kerala face.

Actually why do these elephants of Kerala go berserk often? Has anyone thought about this? The answer is quite simple. Long & exhausting walks along hot tarred roads or a standstill in the blazing sun for hours, irritating ornamental loads on the trunks along with the idols & priests on top, chains piercing fresh wounds on their feet, no proper food & water & the mahout's long spike ever set to pierce their raw flesh. Had a human being been put in chains like this, what would have happened? I am sure; he would go berserk killing others. Then why blame an elephant!

Even during the rest period many of them are denied good food, water & medicinal therapy, left to get mutilated in the enclosure of the mad crowd.

… yet they adorn our galas without any protest...

It's Christmas Time

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful - Norman Vincent Peale

Merry Christmas to all of you.

Enjoy and have fun with cakes, carols and a lot of booze.

Me brooding on my new project to make it SEO-friendly.

Christmas party - I need to go home today and plan something with my dear sis:

Girls Only

Taking me to a girl’s school was my dad’s decision. May b coz he wanted his daughter to be meticulous in studies & acquire all the so called traits needed for a perfect mallu girl. Poor dad! coz I couldn’t rise according to his expectations, as I got molded the other way round. I learned all the naughtiness that I can, that too from a girls only school, remaining as a very average student in all the classes. My school days were really fantastic, as I never missed a moment to have pleasurable times. Classes, cultural programs, strikes by political parties (later the government banned politics in schools, Sad!), whatever it be, we the girls gang had absolute fun every moment.

The presence of a boy’s school, a stone throw away from ours, was the wittiest of all. During lunch break they used to climb the tree near by to see the all girls gang roaming around the ground. Some of my friends had silly crushes (serious romances they say) too. But I was keener on giving befitting replies to the wayward comments that the guys made. Boyish me, said my friends, but I never cared that.

Studies went on as normal and average as it used to be and some how managed to complete my school days, without shocking my dad.

May be as a last attempt, he asked me to join the nearby women's college. Again girls only! I was on an attempt to make a war there, but my clever mind said, “Dude, it is better to enjoy in a women’s college than struggling yourself in between the guys of a mixed college”. Half – heartedly I agreed with my dad’s option. Joined for my PUC in the leading women’s college and there began another wonderful time of my life. I spent almost 7+ years in that college, as a student and teacher.I remained the very same all throughout these years and never acquired any of those characters that my dad had expected.

Creativity and Silence

As I get glued to my dwellings very easily, I never find it much difficult to move from one place to another, officially or personally. The sour and indigestible days in the two hostels where I had been, has fine-tuned my mind and body, to get accustomed to the changing situations. But this new official abode and me, gosh! We are poles apart. I have never seen such a place, truly lonesome. Actually on hearing about this shift, the first thing that came to my mind was this scary & noiseless office and the speechless faces that I had seen once, on my visit.

I reached there on time, the next day and was allotted a seat in the corner, along with three others who were not even bothered about the presence of a stranger (The chemistry of their silence and concentration is yet to be revealed) .Expecting at least a formal “Hai” would be impractical here, said my mind; but one among them said. "Thank god!” A feeling flashed through me, at least one is alive .Others fixed their drooping eyes on the monitors; true techies.

I began my work, but couldn’t move at least one step ahead for some time. I felt that I have landed in an alien planet. Even my breath was getting chocked, in between the odd machine like humans.

Somehow I managed doing the work, and left the place. The next day too was no better than the first day, but slowly I started getting attuned to my new dwelling.

May be coz my creativity has now started working out in .NET or PHP codes.

De-sensitized...

Where has that anger and fury gone?

After those heartbreaking moments in Mumbai, public was really furious at the government and demanded accountability from the key positions. At every interview that I saw in the leading channels, they were raising countless questions at the government and the various reasons for not providing enough security to their life. I really felt that some strong action from the government might happen this time.

But where has all that gone. The blaze that arose swiftly in them came down in no time. Mumbai turned normal and so did the people, except for those who’s dear and near ones are no more. Life started moving in the same pace as it used to be, CST is again jam-packed with passengers and so is the other streets, where terror danced days back.

May be a rewind of that tear-jerking night would happen in the mind of mumbaikars , when they see the Taj or Trident, clad in black shade ,due to the fire and bombings.

Friends, we have again proved ourselves, that we are least bothered about whatever is happening around us, unless that disaster happens to one from our family.

To conclude,

M.S Dhoni will get Z category security from the government.

“Be happy Dhoni, at least you can walk gladly through places were we fear to even step in these days”

Well, what more to say?

When terror is marketed in Mumbai

A big catch for the Indian media & the politicians. Really sarcastic too see the vicious reporting hungamas, and the sadistic rhetoric sensations telecasted in the various channels ! To tell you more; why should I fill this page with those cliched statements that have lost its identity, but it seemed really heartbreaking to see how media and politicians were trying to publicize it for their own gains.

The sad demises of about 180 people, the terror filled hours that the hostages have underwent, the pain of the people who have lost their dear and near ones, children like Moshe who are orphaned, people who are struggling for their lives, in the hospitals, the losses are uncountable. But no one seems really bothered about these.

It was really pitiable to see the footage that showed the chief minister on a holiday tour to the Taj Hotel, with sons and a noted film maker, a deputy chief minister who portrayed the traumatic incident as an insignificant one. And finally a few media people, who were keen on taking advantage of the terror and anguish of the common man so as to raise the viewership of the respective channels.

What more can a common man get from them?

I think its better not to think about this question any more.

Guns reply

Does a gun give a satisfactory reply to the problems that you have? Does that really end your troubles and tribulations? If a big No is your answer, then what is the point in trying to sort out your issues with a gun?

I really wanted to ask this question to every American, as the fire arm culture is mounting day by day in US. Even today I saw the newspaper report of a guy who killed his wife and her cousin for a family issue that could have easily been solved inside the four walls of the house.

Why do people end up in such wretched situations where they respond with gunshots?

It seems too easy to get a gun there, that people have started giving reply to every issue, in gun shots. I feel that the right to own a fire arm has been firmly rooted in every American psyche that it has now become immovable. The government should really curb the buying of guns coz handguns and semi- automatic pistols that have now become a part and parcel of their lives. If it is not done , this gun culture is going to ruin them , I bet.

Reports show that hand guns have even started dominating the homicide status in US, the recent example of an Indian who killed his family and committed suicide coz of the financial loss that he faced, due to recession in US economy.

More mayhems have occurred in US classrooms, the deadliest too was faced by US, in the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University. Still people walk around with guns, in ease, killing whoever they want to.

Do guns really protect people from criminality?

This widespread belief may be one of the reasons of increased gun ownership in US. But this reason turns out to be a motive for the misuse of arms. A gun slowly turns out to be the solution for every haunting problem of man. A financial turmoil, an office issue, a quarrel with the wife; people try to solve out everything with guns.

Can’t there be another way of solving things? There is not even a single issue in the world that cannot be solved. But a reply with guns makes things worse, leading to a total disaster and ruin, bring agony for many.

Listen to them

If I am asked to make a person listen to me, even at least for five minutes, I would be really in trouble. I know that is not as simple as my copy writing works or jotting down my random thoughts. As a teacher, I had experienced the very same dilemma when I used to handle certain dreary topics in my class. I always kept wondering about how to offer my students, an attention- grabbing start, so that they listen to me. May be my imperfect lexicon, I had to work really hard for that. It made think about the secret behind the gripping words of certain people , that always unleash their magical power and reverberate beyond barriers.

I rarely had the chances of meeting or listening to such renowned figures in my life. Among the very few I have met and listened to , I always try to remember the people who have instigated my curiosity and interest.

One among them is Mr: Sudhakar Jayaram, CEO of Amritha TV, one of the leading entertainment channels in South India. After a long journey through a few global organizations that include Bank of America, his return in 2004 marked a new epoch in the sector of entertainment channels, as he took up the post of CEO in Amritha TV.

I remember the first time that I saw him on screen, at the grand finale of a leading reality show conducted by the channel. I expected a very snobbish and high-funda speech as he holds one of the key positions of the channel, but it happened the other way round. I heard the true voice of a down to earth person, with immense visions and a perfect mission in his life.

His vibrant words and smile reflected the overflowing positive attitude in him and I saw that an interest had started mounting up among the listeners, who hardly noticed the words of the other so called celebrity figures.

An ardent devotee of Mata Amritanandamayi, Mr: Jayaram’s words had many motivating messages that he had received from her. May be a man of few words, he stopped soon!

I really wanted to listen to him, hear more from him, but couldn’t.

After the program I searched in for his write ups & interviews with him, but was disappointed as I couldn’t get much.

Bravo! Makers of ‘Hello’

The weekend went as usual, with long sleepy mornings and boring evenings. The only thing cheering was the film, “Hello”, that I saw on Sunday afternoon. Well, I won’t call that a great film, but it has a good story, as it reflects certain hard core issues that the youngsters face these days.

I had heard a lot about the book and wanted to own a copy of it, but couldn’t get one. As I had already read many reviews of the book there was an overall sketch of the story and the characters, in my mind.

The movie is quite interesting as it has a diverse set of characters who work in a call centre. The makers of the movie have been successful in depicting the life style, turbulent relationships and issues of the call center employees.

I have never seen much of fascination in the life of call center employees, but for the fat perks and the hyped glamour. I had the chance to attend the interviews conducted by a few established call centers, a few years back, but had to give up the offer as I could learn from the employees, that call centers are not as easy and enjoyable, as per the popular perception.

Even in the midst of the appalling conditions that prevail in call centers, people stick to them mainly coz of the fine payment. But I am sure that there can be many individuals in the call centers, who sacrifice their creativity and talent, coz of the need for money.

The film has simple, clear and realistic characters, may be a bit of fab for the sake of movie making, but I am sure that the characters can be identified in real life. The threats and uncertainties that Shyam and his colleagues Varun, Esha, Radhika, Priyanka & Military uncle face have been presented in a very simple and interesting way.

The phone call from God

This is the most interesting part of the film.

I have my own way of communicating with God. I speak, tell my woes & share my happiness with him, just like I do with ‘J’. Before doing an important work or taking an important step in my life, I do the same with my conscience so as to get the wisest answer.

The same thought has been portrayed in a very exciting way here, when the call from God saves everyone from their troubles.

No jobs are easy and it’s a true reality. But ‘Hello’ (One Night @ The Call Center) is a peep into the puffed up life of new generation, their jobs, attitudes, values and their dreams.

But the film made me wonder on certain things that I found very much illogical, hard to believe. Are Americans really dumb to seek help from us over the phone, to operate an oven or a dishwasher or to defrost a refrigerator? Do they really get doubts, as they started using these stuffs long before Indians knew about it?

A Musical Euphoria

Nusrath Fateh Ali Khan, I hardly remember the moment that I saw this name first, on my TV screen. But since then, this boisterous and passionate lover of Qawwali has always created ripples of immense bliss in my mind, through his magnificent musical expertise.

I began learning more about Sufi music after that TV programme , started hearing more songs of Nusrath and found each of his works, incredible and exceptional.

In his short life Nusrath redefined Qawwali in a remarkable way of his own. On a fruitful merge of traditional music with the west, he performed several tracks that fetched the attention of music lovers from far and wide. This Shahenshah of Qawwali reached the zenith of fame in a short span of time, as the creator of a successful revolution in Qawwali singing. The magnificent blend of khayal singing and techniques with Qawwali, made his singing deeply appealing to many listeners. Even without much knowledge of many of the Urdu words that he used, I always feel a true and undeniable radiance of his singing, whenever I listen to him. The passion and fervor of his voice is undoubtedly terrific, that we too move in close communion with music, with God.

I would never conclude this by mentioning about his death, as he still lives in our hearts through his musical ecstasies.

The loveliest dream that I would always cherish would be receiving a gift that contains the entire collection of the works of Nusrath Fateh Ali Khan.

Piya rey, piya rey, piya rey, piya rey
Tharey bina lageynahee mara jiya rey…

Oh! I would love to hear that again & again!!!

A fractured friendship

A friendship for me is to treat people with a true & loving heart.

But being misunderstood by those, whom you consider close to heart, would be the saddest part of a true companionship. The worse part of is when the receiver perceives a wrong picture of what you say. Your feelings get hurt to the core, no matter the number of times you explain your situation. When it comes about a relationship which you preserve close to your heart, the depth of the injury widens.

I never have the habit of blurting out things, but become badly irritated when a person comes up with a wrong accusation about me. I blurt out spontaneously when I get terribly irritated by getting accused for what I have never dreamt about. It so happed with me these days and that was enough for a fracture in the relation that I had cherished the most.

Even when I know that I have not been the causative factor of the break up, and had tried my best to cope up with it, the pain of being misunderstood still remains, pricking my heart.

I had an Interview

My job interviews would always have always something hilarious in it. Well, the same happened this time too, in the form of an HR who doesn’t know the responsibilities of the position he holds & a team leader who can’t even say the full form of SEO. I never knew that big companies (I was told it’s too big one for me!) may have such clownish employees in it.

Wanna hear my sad story in detail. Here is it.

After a night full of preparations (for which I regretted later) I reached about 30 minutes before the stipulated time, but the security officer took me to a monotonous sightseeing throughout the whole building, as he was not sure about the way to the office. Tired and fed up, I left the security officer half the way, as I was sure that another circle around the building was awaiting me.

After a tiresome walk I managed to reach at the entrance of the so called big company, just 10 minutes before the scheduled time.

The reception counter resembled a posh five star hotel, but had no one there to collect my resume or direct me towards the interview board. I was feeling sorry for myself, that I came all the way, taking a leave (a LOP), leaving my works, for such an unpleasant response. After a long time I saw someone nearing the reception and rushed to complete my preliminary formalities.

I was taken to a Hi-Fi cabin & a pot bellied man with thick glasses, introduced himself as the TL and started the interview. Half of the chat was about the number of degrees that he had and a long chain of boring praises for his writers, gosh! I should stab me for listening to that, as the latter part was really heart breaking.

I was told a test and to my surprise they gave me an 18 page document for rewriting. It had all about the business progresses and matters related to some Middle East countries. I was told that the best writer of the firm had drafted the document. My curiosity doubled!!!

But I started reading the so called best document, I felt like screaming aloud, as the document was a bin of mistakes and plagiarism, with lack of clarity and coordination of ideas. The whole document had just a few high sounding words fixed together, modified with the help of a few pictures, and needed a thorough mending which could be possible only in a day or two.

I cursed my plan for travelling about 220km, wrote about 4 pages of the document, commented the errors and left the place. The next round of torment was from the HR and I was forced to pour out all my sadness at him. To my surprise he blatantly confessed that the document had mistakes, and that he couldn’t see it earlier. What else to say, I left the building murmuring Charlotte Bronte’s quote, “I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.”

Myself

What if I live single? I have asked this question plenty of times to everyone who shows me a sad smiley.Some people are always keen to know whether I am really happy. The more evidence I give them about my happiness, the more they ask me.

These glorified savors blatantly question me wherever I go, as if they are really worried about my single status. What’s wrong in being single? Well, in my case I don’t find grave mistake in it. I love to live so until I get someone really worth marrying.

A single woman doesn’t always mean someone with loose morals, great to party or sleep with, just mistrust that the society carries out purposefully, due to the false notion that single people are failures. There are many noted people from all walks of life, who enjoy their single status, high up enough in their professions to be able to earn enough to live alone. But I have always seen that the society always targets a single woman making her life distressful.

Single or wed, it’s my life, why should the society be worried about it? And I always feel that the best way to have a happy life is not to get into a forceful relationship, but to build one, full of meaning and satisfaction. This can be possible only when you choose to wed someone who is completely of your own choice. If not, I feel, it’s better to remain single.

Marriage should never become a contract, but a gracious bondage between two individuals, that has to be maintained throughout life.

An Hour In A Broadway Cafeteria

A scorching afternoon, the cafeteria almost jam-packed, and my dad wanted me to wait there for an hour! Even a minute would be something impossible, as there was not an inch of space left, but I had to.

My dad said, “Watch the crowd, what if you get a topic to write ". To write about the crowd, what did he mean by that? Only he can answer it.

I just managed to get a coupon for a lime juice and a seat in the corner of the room, looking at the crowd waiting hungrily for their turn to grab plates filed with scrumptious food.

As I was enjoying that never-ending crowd a stout woman, with a plate of chappathi and curry, came hurriedly and almost sat on the bag that I had kept near me. God! my bag! Oh! I need to save it.

I valiantly took it away before the lady could crush my new Nokia 3500 mobile phone.

As I had my lunch from the office I didn’t feel any interest in those flavorsome dishes and hence started enjoying my lime juice, watching the crowd. The head of the lady near me was almost hidden in the plate that I could see only the small hump on her back. A minute or two passed and shocking me she finished her heavy lunch, stood up , her body a little, as if to fill in whatever she had. With a satisfying glee she left, sparing my bag and my mobile.

An , ice-cream, that would me the next turn in my list, as I had to wait my watch to tick 2700 times more. I went to the counter hurriedly to take a coupon for an ice cream, as my dad would not allow me to have one. Tonsillitis was something that restricted me from having ice creams.

But I couldn’t control the temptation.

The bearer gave me a long list, vanilla, butter scotch…., for my preference. I was in a dilemma. I hardly knew about the different flavors and brand names. The first is the best, I said “Vanilla Please”, but didn’t even know how it would look like.

Victoriously, I started enjoying my ice-cream, with the scary thoughts of tonsillitis and my dad who would reach there any moment.

The flow of crowd was still going on in full swing.

I managed to have it completely and gave my cup back on time before my dad reached the table. Tired of his journey and the pain on his knees he sat near me and had his lunch

As we were about to leave, I turned back to look at the cafeteria and the crowded food counter again. Adieu ! I loved that one hour.

Friendship

Well, to introduce her, still uncertain about how to do that. How can I say, a friend, a colleague, or someone who taught me that it is dicey and foolish to help someone whom you don't know. I think I need a lot more words to depict her in fullest. For the sake of convenience let’s call her X; the alphabet that always denotes the unknown, coz even after being with her for quite sometime she is still an X for me.I met her months back, accidentally. May be pre- destined, yet the memories of that burning thoughts still hurt me.

Being first to the city she was badly in need of a help. As the request came from a colleague of mine, I couldn’t deny it.I managed to do that well. Everything could have ended then there, but some how that friendship grew, may be to give me a deep wound later.

A friendship draped in sisterly care; that was what I felt for her. But I was wrong...

I can’t exactly stay how I started moving away from her, may be the indifference in her attitude, which was a bit painful for me at the beginning, but later got used to it. She became close to others, and our relation ship shrunk to “Hai”s and “Bye”s. But I was glad that she managed to get some good friends in the city where she was totally new.

My silly thoughts never found the threat that hided behind that indifference. I didn’t even know that a treachery was getting cooked up behind me. How could I be so childish? Why did I become so caring and protective about her? Even now I wonder, may be coz I believed her blindly. I liked her.

Everything turned upside down no time. The likes turned to dislikes overnight, when the stinking sack of arguments was opened before me. Something that I told her once, as a protective shield, was ridiculously misinterpreted. But Why?A truly, bogus statement that I couldn’t even dream about such things. I was totally trapped in the web that she had made.

Backbiting, that is the most dreadful experience that a person can get, as you get cornered by others, whom you considered as your dear companions. So I didn’t even try to defend me coz one against a crowd would never work out.

She couldn’t grab a victory, as the sharp stiletto of backbiting made ready for me couldn’t pierce my heart, but left a visible mark on it, may be to remind me about the care that I had for her!

To help others again, now I need think twice about that…

Should I be systematic?

No, I shouldn’t be.

That’s what I feel when I get some unenthusiastic responses for my official queries.

The more I try to be systematic and time bound, the more I get tensed and worried .

Seems even my aging process is getting quicker these days , sad but true.

I have always been made fun of, for being too much involved in my works that I always get easily irritated with people who are not time consistent. I always lack the quality of taking official negligence lightly and gets worried for things that occur due to laxity of others involved with me.

At times perfectionism too is injurious to health says my mom, who always gets worried about these ever anxious office hours of mine. But sorry mom, I can’t help it.

Too much of promptness in my work has never earned anything worthy in my professional life. It has always landed me in troubles, either in the form of loads of works or in the form of blames for those issues that I am not involved with.

Yet, I remain meticulous, awaiting more worries...

A few SEO thoughts

SEO Copy writing...This can be one of the most sought keywords by the web solution seekers all over the world.

As a beginner even I had tried to Google this, to get a few worthy links that can give me a few tips for good SEO writing.

Many of the SEO copy writing that I found were not at all user friendly. The pages are built up just for the higher ranking in SEO and seemed to me like a bundle of keywords stuffed together.

This might have helped in a good search engine ranking but the pages seemed distorted and unfriendly to me. And I am sure an everyday visitor would give a very poor ranking for those sites. So in spite of a higher search engine ranking the site may go unnoticed.

SEO writing, I feel, is not just to have a higher ranking for your pages but also to make a readable copy of the services that you sell. To be precise make an easier approach so that the visitor’s mouse is tempted to click your site.

That needs a fine balance between your service and the search engine requirements.

Keywords!!! The golden keys

But I would say that you need to be specific in the usage of keywords, focusing on what a person may type in to a search engine. In the rush to get your pages listed top in Google don’t grab everything you find. This may lead to a catastrophe.

A longer SEO copy is matter of sheer boredom. A reader who needs a specific topic will get irritated on seeing an extended definition with repetitions over and over. So it would be wiser to be in the word limit.

I think you need to try writing as if you talk about the matter in a plain yet an average conversational language. Later make a clever usage of your keywords in it so that it doesn’t monopolize the idea of the page.

Try out one using an effective keyword phrases in the headlines, titles and sub titles, but remember that this should be done without spoiling the readability of the content. The ultimate result should not look absurd. Here I would suggest you to get a top ranked keyword that conveys the gist of what your page is all about.

As I started writing SEO works I was advised to write in such a way that the page has at least one keyword in a paragraph. An article about SEO writing that I came across says key words can also be used for the bold, italicized and bulleted lists. I guess this can highlight the facts to the readers as well as search engines, but regarding retaining a smooth pace of your reading, sorry I won’t guarantee you that.

A set of generic key words would make your page look stiff and pretentious. The same would be the result if you sandwich several keywords in a sentence, as well as repeating key words, in despair for a ranking in Google.

SEO writing is far beyond these tips. I can remember my days in Edappally branch, were I used to get worried about my works, for scarcity of keywords. Thanks to Radz and Lunku who used to put me at ease, giving me a handful of good tips that I have shared here.

Am I a good writer?

Am I a good writer?

My dad who reads my scribbles say Yes, I am.

The greatest compliment for me , as he is a creative and eloquent sort of man, who can play with words. And me, scribbling down a page would take me hours. I would brood over it for another hour to know whether it is any good or not.

Actually writing was something I had never dreamt of.

An ardent lover of books, who reads at least a book a week, I never tried writing out anything seriously, for some reason or the other. But scribbling out my silly thoughts, especially, during those boring sessions of literary criticism, was one of my hobbies. I used to scribble out my silly imaginations, something like the ghost of Hamlet’s father coming to our corridor during classes, and talking to me. These scribbles slowly started replacing the lecture notes .

I loved those hours of free thoughts and scribbling, but never dared to show that to anyone, even my friends.

To be frank, I couldn’t think of struggling to expand a thread of imagination to serious writing, I loved scribbling.

As teaching had more to do with my speaking skills than writing , that sounded like a fine career option for me.

But after four years I sank to a level where I couldn’t write even a paragraph without my hands trembling.

So to an attempt to try out a copy writer’s job later was in a way my effort to revive those scribbling skills, to try out some serious writing

It wasn’t really that simple as it took a long for me catch up with the pace of the job.

As I was given my first assignment and the first time I put pen to paper I found my writing so terrible that if now found, it could discredit me forever. I brooded over the matter for a long time, until my TL took it from me for editing.

Writing was not what I expected, but it is what I was born to do and I realize it now.

I’d always thought that I wasn’t very innovative, or at least that what creativity I did have wasn’t really appreciable. But the copy writing job totally changed my attitude. I could transform myself to a competent writer who could pen down any topic given to me.

Writing means sincere effort, and you need to spend a lot of time in editing your writing, if you want your words to portray your thoughts well.

Do you want to become a good writer? Sit down and fuel yourself with ideas, start moving your pen across the paper, I am sure, and the writer in you rises there.