Travails of a Writer

TRAVAILS OF A WRITER

Since time immemorial (well, since the early 80s actually), I have had this itch to write; not notes but an article, a letter to the editor, anything which would enable me to see my name in print.

There it would be; my name, at the top or bottom of the article, in bold letters, spelt correctly. Then the article would be read and re-read a number of times, and shown to everybody who cared to see it and also to those who did not but had no choice like juniors, parents, friends, milkman etc.

In college, my two day effort at one crossword, half a dozen limericks and one poem for the-to-be-revived (for the nth time) college magazine, went unrewarded due to the magazine’s inexplicable stubbornness and refusal to get revived.

A few years hence, an article of mine was published in the Spring Term 88 edition of the Naval Academy magazine, ‘Jyoti’. My name too, I believe, was mentioned - though correctly or not, I still don’t know because, by the time the magazine was printed, I had passed out (literally, waiting to see my name.)

Thus to date, I have still not seen my published effort. Hopefully, some kind soul will, after reading this article (that is, if they have got this far) send me a copy of that magazine, dozens of copies of which, must be lying forgotten in some dusty corner of the Naval Academy library.

It should have been third time lucky but alas! It was not to be. My succinct, imaginative and brilliant account of INS Udaygiri’s picnic to Rushikonda beach in Visakhapatnam did find a niche in the ‘Bay News’ but without acknowledgement of authorship. Obviously editorial wisdom decreed it inappropriate to confer proprietary rights to such a ragged article. (Though I would prefer to put it down plain professional jealousy or ego hassles, which always prevail between writers and editors.)

For a long time after that, I was stuck to writing exams and notes, returns and reports; though in 1990, I did go through that once-in-a-lifetime exhilarating phase of romantic writing (and boy! Was the target completely bowled over!)

Of late, having found time at last, during the third week of April 92 (three extra holidays), I have decided to give it one more try.

- May be I would get lucky.

- May be my article would be accepted.

- May be the magazine would see the light of the day.

- May be my name would appear in print.

- May be it would be correctly spelt.

- May be I could even get hold of a copy, see my name in print and show it to all and sundry.

Yeah! May be! Maybe the Sun would rise in the West!

(For those interested, the author did get lucky. This article did get published in a Naval magazine, the author got a copy of the magazine, saw his name in print and his name was correctly spelled)

Gaurav Agarwal

April 1992