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I Thought Awards Didn’t Matter, Until I Won
It brought me neither money nor glory, just a simple reminder
I write because it makes me think, it makes me happy, it gives me satisfaction.
To say I was surprised is a gross understatement. When the publisher of India Currents magazine emailed to inform me that I had won an award, I was shocked. Pleasantly, of course.
In 2001, when I first began writing essays and sending it to local magazines in the San Francisco Bay Area where I lived, I existed in a state of alternating excitement and dread, unsure if my writing was good enough for local print publications such as the San Jose Mercury News and digital ones like Pacific News. I wrote about current events, locally and in the world, things that affected me and stimulated me to write. Personal opinions, ruminations, essays about life, very different from the objective data-driven report writing that I did at work.
With rock-solid educational qualifications and years of training, I was proud to call myself a scientist. But when it came to creative writing, I had no such credentials. Rejections were the norm. Whenever I received an acceptance, I felt a thrill of pleasure, but I still hesitated to call myself a writer. Over time I learnt to push aside…
