Hello, Dear Readers,
It seems cheesy to title a post as Happy New Year. (There! I even added it to the body of the post.)
However, what better way to start the year? Decades ago, our family would send greeting cards to others in the extended clan. When I say our family, it was mostly my mother. She would pick the cards on her way back from work at Fort, Mumbai. Then, we would address them to all our loved ones. When I was old enough to write, I would add a personal message in the cursive style I learnt at school. I knew it made my mother proud.
A few sent postcards with their family photographs. It was a way to let the clan know how we changed over the past year. (I am being polite; it was usually to show off the kids growing taller and the grown-ups looking more prosperous.)
Today, when we update our lives nearly every minute of the day on social media, do such cards make any sense? Personal messages still make me happy, especially those with photos attached. They indicate that the sender trusts you because, in the digital age, how safe is it to share your family photographs with the kids included?
The new year also brings the usual flurry of resolutions, to-do lists, plans, etc.
I, too, have plans for 2024. Many for writing, some for myself, and several for the family. I have started one of them with Ursula K. Le Guin’s book, Steering the Craft. I began the year with the writing exercises by Le Guin and I am enjoying the creative exhilaration every morning. I’ll share more on the books I pick for the year, and my writing objectives in later posts.
Meanwhile, here is the first part of my first short story of the year. The theme is gratitude. An excellent way to begin the year.
Sudeepa
(Please note that my short stories will now be available only for paid readers. Thus, executing my first plan for the year. I hope you will support me. You can always read other posts for free.)
