Choosing Writing As Profession in Kashmir

Every girl dreams of walking down the aisle someday in that bridal outfit, I also dreamt about one thing, holding a bestseller in my hand-authored by me! As a kid, I remember myself scribbling some words on paper and then creating short stories from those words, it was a passion that instilled in me one everlasting love-love for words! When in my teens, I got inspired by a movie directed by Brian Klugman called “The words”. I have to admit that this movie kindled my love for writing. A struggling writer who finds a masterfully written manuscript and publishes it by his own name only to be caught by the original writer! A must watch for all aspiring writers! My passion for writing intensified when my father told me that words have more power than weapons, do they? 

I was always an average student, my grades never impressed me, mathematics was a lethal drug for me, and the only formula in chemistry that I could remember was that of benzene, I just had one refuge-writing! But how can a dimwit like me weave magic out of words? How can a procrastinator like me learn this knack of churning out beautiful stories in the form of books? 

After writing a few lines, I give these restrained gasps of satisfaction. “Why not a doctor”? society asked. Doctors have this magic of healing their patients with medicines, but writers also are doctors who heal others with their words. I remember reading Khaled Hossaini whose words demanded excessive praise. His words compelled me to think about society and its distorted ways. I chose Khaled Hossaini over Dr Khaled Abbed, the great neurologist. “Why not an engineer? The society asked. Engineers are artists; they create beautiful structures and designs. Isn’t a writer an artist who weaves magic and creates beautiful plots and stories, so writer’s are engineers also but with fewer bucks of course!

Few days back, I was invited as a chief guest on an inaugural ceremony of some event, I got a chance to interact with some young girls there, I asked them the same clichéd question, “what do you want to become?” bulk of them said doctor, few of them said engineers and rest of them suffered from “ I don’t know syndrome”. On being asked how many of them wanted to be writers, they flashed those ignorant smiles as if I asked them a silly question. I have seen very few students in Kashmir who want to be a writer by choice rather than by chance. Lately, we have seen a tide of young talented people who have given birth to beautiful stories. I got impressed by work of Mirza Waheed, Shahnaz Bashir, Basharat Peer, Feroze Rather, Sehar Lone and Iqra Hameed. These are few people like me who chose to write for a purpose. I am glad to see many more young people breaking the stereotype of traditional thinking and opted to be a writer instead.

I have been part of various events, book reading sessions, talk shows, open mic sessions, conferences, workshops, interviews and writing events, all I could gather is that a writer is someone when everybody praises but when it comes to their career they hardly want to go with this option. Writers are people who make something out of nothing, they make society listen to them, they give intellectual food to readers. It is surprising to see that our government is doing very little to promote and encourage young writers from the state. The subject of creative writing should be introduced in schools and colleges to harness the skills of aspiring writers. various schemes and programs should be introduced to help the budding writers pay that huge self-publishing fees. I hope that a time comes when our youngsters seriously think of taking writing as a career goal.

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