‘Journeying My Articulacy’ By : MIR HADIA ASHIQ
Student at: SRM Welkin Sopore Kashmir.

“You must stay drunk on writing, so reality can’t destroy you”
– Ray Bradbury.

I was a shy girl who did not talk too much. I can recall that as I entered into my teenage years I started to read more. Writing has really boosted my confidence and helped me with my self esteem because when you feel good inside, it always resurfaces outside.

The more I wrote, the more my imaginations grew such that everything around me started becoming an inspiration for my thought’s. At first I thought it was just my curiosity and desperation for new pitches and writing ideas, but soon it became so wild and demanding that I could literally look at a pencil and come up with my writings. Writing helped me to build a good relationship with the English language. Before, I had to check and recheck every word I wanted to use in an essay, article or even just texting to be sure that i am using it correctly so that I wouldn’t embarrass myself.

Writing made me more creative and practical, but writing on teen life gave me so much more! Whenever I wrote poems , I barely sat down to carefully reread and edit my work and if I did, i did not did that with the intensity as i used to do before. Every day the thought of giving up crosses my mind. I think whether the end of this journey is worth the stress and the obstacles down the road.

Everyone around me complain about how hard English Journey is I can still remember the first time I ever picked up a pencil, I found nothing but mistakes and points left out. I then went back and read the first draft of that poem and found out that I was inserting facts into stanza. Looking back on workshops and feedback I saw how much my paper had changed.

I never dreamed that i would compose a poetry book but God apparently had other ideas. My first booklet was published out, THE TRAVELLING PAGES EVERYWHERE ECHOES and that time i was in class 9. The response to that quirky little book has both overwhelmed and humbled me, and I am thankful to Almighty. Since then, I’ve had the inexplicable bliss of writing stories , quotes and articles and in april i got my first article published out as THE STORY OF WONDERLAND KASHMIR. The appreciation I got was adventurous for me.Trusting myself in the process that what i am writing will come together in the end, I never stopped writing. I was very passionate about what I read or write and would always discuss it with people. And today i am also co author, compiler and kashmiri speaker.

My english teacher in school and my uncle at my home make me enjoy reading and I plan to build on the skills I learn in this field and develop a clear picture of where I see myself professionally in future. I was lucky enough to be guided well by my parents, teachers ,friends and the school management that really boosted my Confidence .My parents have make me understand what life is about and how to find that little ray of happiness in difficult situations.What I am today and what I will become in future involves the support and affection of my parents, mentors and teachers.

It was difficult to create or choose a title for a poem or story .But even before I start writing usually an image forms in my mind. Writing is more difficult then it is for other people. I believed that the courage always reborns when I pen down my emotions, ideas and views on the paper. In every word i get twists and turns but I always remember that facing towards sun shine will fade away the darkness. Each poem or story is a world to itself and titles seem to come up at different moments.

Once I start expressing my emotions and views in words the advancement of writing leaves me wondering. Writing does not only expands my vocabulary but it also helps me to write articulately and coherently. Writing a poem is not about bringing some words together to create some charming sentences. It’s so much deeper than that.

Writing is a bridge which I hope that it will make me understand the every walk of life. It’s not only the pen paper relationship but it’s a way to share opinions because sometimes conversing is not way enough to express my opinions but the writing provided me a way to share my complex thoughts with the world.