Candid Conversation with Shruti Priya

 

Shruti Priya is an engineering student at N.I.T. Jamshedpur who aspires to be an asset to the country in the field of science and engineering. Her passion for writing started when she was just 12. She is a young 19-year-old writer who has been the co-author in around 9 anthologies and has won many writing competitions held by various esteemed publishing houses to promote young writers. She is an inspiration to the youth.

 

Q1) Tell us about what inspired you to start writing ?

 

“Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you grow.”

This beautiful and thought-provoking quote by E.L. Doctorow elucidates my writing journey. During my teen years, my main motivation for writing was my teachers who insisted and gave me many opportunities to write and take part in various elocution and debate competitions. While delivering on stage ,I used to observe and feel the reaction of the audience that I could see in those scintillating eyes, blissful smiles standing ovations and those claps and shouts , all of this triggered me to perform more , to write more. I have delivered many of my self-written poems in various school and state-level poetry competitions and Pakhwada and won various medals and trophies but there were times when I lost too but overall it’s about learning, I remember this quote of mine: “ jeetenge ya seekhenge” and because of this every competition in which I took part in taught me new ways of writing and speaking from my competitors. My mother has also been a major inspiring source throughout my journey.

 

Q2) Why do you feel writing is important for youth ? Do you feel being an author is a good career option ?

 

Writing is a life skill, not only an essential job-related skill, because it is often the basis upon which others judge your learning, your values, your ideas and your contribution to society. Regardless of your career or occupation, everyone has to write to communicate with others, whether it is a friendly email, a formal business memo, a report or in a job.Writing is personal. It represents us when we are absent in space and in time. Writing expresses who we are, even after our life time. It makes our knowledge, our personal aspirations and our work for the future visible to others. Writing is the means to explain our ideas to ourselves and to others while preserving our personal experiences and our memories. No one else can do it for you. In this way, writing connects you with yourself. Writing is not fleeting; it is permanent. It is a record of what you wished to communicate at a point in time and so writing and communicating becomes vital especially for the youth.

Being an author is really a good career option.I can strongly support this statement because of the authors that I have been following since a couple of years. Esteemed Indian authors like Durjoy Dutta and Ashish Bagrecha have been my inspiration in my writing journey. Durjoy Dutta pursued B.tech and then followed his passion for writing and chose this as his career and is now one of the bestsellers in the country. So 'writing' definitely has been an emerging career option. With the use of various freely available sites or apps one can easily publish a book or start blogging.

 

 

Q3) As an youth what are your views on social media addiction ? How is it harmful ?

 

Youth with a social media addiction has become so engrossed in the virtual world that it has impacted the real world, causing harmful effects. While many youth engage in social media through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Vine, Snapchat, and others, who are addicted to social media see a negative impact on their real life relationships and responsibilities. People may feel overwhelmed, lonely, bored, stressed, depressed, anxious ,disconnected or shy.Social media addiction is a never ending spiral. More is always required to satisfy the addiction.

 

Q4)You have participated in several competitions and have kept the spirit of writing alive .Tell the youth how does being an active writer help in promoting confidence ?

                                        

I have co-authored around 8-9 books like When Hiraeth Whispered, Shabdon ka Karwaan, The Shades of Rainbow , Emerald-Vol. 2 by the Wordings , Out of the Common to name a few and got to know about all of these through her networks and pages available on Instagram. I have also been featured by the pages of The Wordings, Urbaneofficial, Namya Foundation, thesharedpenoffiical on Instagram and https://interviewtimes.net/has-the-youth-lost-the-habit-of-reading-and-creative-writing/ and https://asombarta.in/the-freedom-that-flourishes-in-shruti-priyas-writing/This clearly shows how young writers like me can utilize various social media platforms like Facebook , Instagram, LinkedIn to avail competitions and internships and increase their skill set. Over these years of my participation on various platforms and organisations has given me a lot of experience and confidence.Writing has been a habit now from hobby so I write as if I breathe. It calms me down, soothes my soul and make me all the more focused.So being an active writer has so much of advantages both personally and professionally.

 

Q5) Enlighten us about your hobbies .

 

I usually spend my leisure time reading books or learning new skills. I like reading new and trending novels and my favourite genres include suspense, horror and thriller novels. Being a voracious reader, I believe that I have a strong vocabulary and knowledge of grammar. My zeal for writing gets its flair from my passion for reading books. I also like composing music, songwriting and capturing the wonderful moments of beauty.

 

Q6) Finally tell us about one advice you want to give to the youth of today.

 

Each one of is unique. You may not be good at studies but you may be good at designing. Focus on your skills and elevate them up to the level of excellence rather than feeling jealous and competing with the influencers these days, which will end up making you a mediocre. If you are really talented in a field, just go for it. Don't worry about what your friends or relatives might say, follow your passion, excel in it and prove that you are a diamond, worthy enough to be an asset for yourself, your family and the country.