"VOF Week 4: (WAY TO CONQUER)."

I always wanted to write. I wanted to tell my story and of those around me. As a kid I used to write down whatever I felt or thought. Being hypersensitive I wrote a lot. After pouring my heart out I would then shred the paper fearing someone might read it. Looking back I think I was afraid of exposing my thoughts and vulnerabilities to others. I didn’t have the confidence to speak out.

I really loved writing as I found it cathartic (I still do). Being a very good student I was expected by the family to join the medical profession (it was and still is a norm here) but my heart was somewhere else. After graduating in science (I scored really well) my parents were stumped when I applied for the Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism in Kashmir University. They had no idea what I was upto even after I cleared the entrance test. What really drove me to it was the prospect of writing, expressing ideas, reporting, telling stories. I found a world that I felt comfortable in. My parents as always were supportive.

This was the first decision that was only mine (apart from my decision to remain a plain Jane just to break the stereotype). The others taken so far were mine as well, as my parents were always cooperative, but they were influenced by my conditioning, society, culture, family and much more. This was the first decision I had taken just for myself.

As I was about to leave the university and join the world of journalism I got a job opportunity in a local organization. It was not related to my field. At home I cried myself hoarse saying that I didn’t want to join. My family left the decision to me. That really put me in a fix. I had to choose between a secure job with a decent salary and the world of unknown (trainee journalist). I knew a lot of people who were getting exploited in the name of internship/traineeship and was sure to enjoy the same fate atleast for a few years. I choose the former as I needed financial independence.

I don’t regret my decision but the thing that bothered me was that I have failed to follow my dream. I recently met a batch mate who started telling me that I was lucky that I had got such a job and how she was getting exploited at every corner.

‘If you want something badly enough, the whole world is going to conspire, to give it to you’ this quote from Alchemist used to haunt me. I started to do a bit of freelancing and my organization also shifted me to a relevant department; Corporate Communication.

Being a Correspondent for World Pulse will connect me back to my dreams left unfulfilled. It is never too late remember. As I gauge from the activity in PulseWire it will help me grow, present my views, tell my stories, problems and that of my people. I can learn a lot as well. I belong to a conflict region and there are so many untold stories.

I want to be a Correspondent because I see it helping me to fulfill my dreams. It will help me in bringing forth the stories of my people, my region especially women who have suffered so much. Their problems are not considered all important because mere survival tops the priority list in a conflict region. The best part of being a Correspondent for World Pulse, that sets it apart; is of finding Solutions.