Describing my journey as a writer is difficult and easy. Difficult because I do not know where to start and easy because I simply love talking about it! But seriously, I have actually tried hard to ask myself that question. I guess I always had a creative skew as far as writing was concerned, since my schooling days. As introverted and aloof as I was, I loved participating in Elocutions and Creative Writing Contests. I remember one of my essays in school exam got selected to be published straight into the school magazine and it was one of my proudest moments. That was probably where the seed of the dream to write was implanted.
But as they say, life intervened. I got involved in trying to shape up a conventional career for myself. I did my Graduation in Commerce and went on to do Chartered Accountancy. I also acquired a degree in Law. Somewhere along the line, writing fell by the wayside. But I used to write sporadically. It started off as poems and four liners in Hindi and English. I loved the idea of conveying a thought or an emotion in just four lines. But as I said it was intermittent and unstructured. But at the same time I also realised I was completely myself when words flowed out of my pen (or as the case is now – from mobile phone touchscreen or keyboard :-). The idea of a book and stories had started to germinate but somehow I couldn’t ensure that it was given an opportunity to perpetuate.
As I started to realise the occurrences in and around me, awareness dawned. Writing was a release. It allowed me a platform. It allowed me to present my emotions which I otherwise found hard to exhibit. I am usually critical and honest of myself whenever I do a task or engage in an activity, but when it came to writing I thought I probably did a decent job. If only I could hone it and structure it better!
My stories will always resonate the social fabric and human persona and character, just the way I see it. Ironically fiction and reality intermingle at times and I loved that idea. Gradually I started looking for public writing platforms and took to reading extensively.
I read a lot during my spare time. That’s not only a passion it is also education in itself. And I always do well to remember that writing is a constant process where you learn as you keep at it. Reading and writing are subsets of each other. I don’t think we can look at them in isolation. An endeavour to always improve is a must as is the case with most aspects in life. I am happy with the way my first book ‘Different Beads of the Same String’ has shaped up but I am not satisfied. I hope to plug all the holes that I have identified and hopefully my second book gives me a similar satisfaction.
So to conclude, there is no concrete answer to when my journey started but this is what the journey is all about. But I do hope it continues. I guess it will keep me going for everything that comes my way – this intriguing journey of being a writer.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chartered Accountancy, a degree in Law and a degree in Commerce later, Sujay discovered (or rediscovered) the little writing bug entrenched within him. He comes from a family of legal professionals and his extreme passion for writing made him the winner of MyStory Contest of Tata Literature Live, The Mumbai Litfest 2017. A resident of Mumbai, Sujay enjoys reading, playing table-tennis, taking long walks and listening to music.
‘Different Beads of the Same String’ is his first book.
