EDITORIAL : Shweta Ganesh Kumar on 'Hear Her Roar'

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the second quarterly issue of Inkspire. Thank you for all the love and support you have shown our first batch of writers and I hope that you will extend the same warmth and love to the writers in this edition as well.

This issue’s theme is ‘Hear Her Roar’ - a theme I chose based on the nature of submissions that came in, the first time around. A lot of the writers who sent me their pieces wrote about their experiences as women or drew from it to create moving pieces of fiction or verse. It was this outpouring of strident voices and the blending of the lines that divided the real world and that of prose and poetry that led to this theme.

Since announcing the theme, I had the singular fortune of going through multiple incredibly unique interpretations of the theme. From a fierce and piercing tone to a quiet yet persistent one, each writer had their own subtle way of looking at it. I loved how the theme meant many things to many people yet it brought them all together in solidarity of giving space to the female voice and identity. 

We start this issue with Fiona Kezia Winston’s powerful piece that will resonate with most urban Indian women. We have all been her protagonist and we have all had those thoughts. And it is my absolute joy to open this edition of Inkspire with her powerful piece, ‘My 7 commandments to not get raped: Feat – Autorickshawhttps://www.inkspiremag.com/2019/07/poetry-my-7-commandments-to-not-get.html’.

‘The New You’ is a deceptively simple poem by Dhivia Vinodkumar that cleverly shows us how we condition little girls to conform to traditional stereotypes. ‘My Tigress’ by Mohammed Yasin is a short ode to his fiancée who he likens to a great cat in all her glory and ferocity. ‘But First,Hear her Roar’ by Shweta Bhavana is a simple poem that challenges the stereotypes and preconceived notions women are subject to.

‘It wasn’t my fault’ by Rupam Sabharwal explores the support of a male ally for a woman who is attempting wrench herself free of her traumatic past. Featured Writer Sween Garg’s ‘Sing’ follows the journey of a mother who has been shackled by patriarchal norms. Sowmya Ravichandran’s ‘Wedding Dress’ deconstructs the clichés of the place of domestic help in the Indian familial set-up and the notion that one woman can never help another. 'My journey as a feminist' by Akanksha Singh traces how her notions of feminism transform from strict theory to accommodate the real world situations around her.

Featured Writer Sharanya Ganesh Kumar writes about owning her power as a woman who is suddenly thrust into a relocation. We tend to think about empowerment as a dramatic process that catapults a woman into hitherto unseen heights, yet this essay quietly but purposefully talks about how empowerment is also when a stay-at-home mother decides to take control of her life with the options she has at hand.

‘Closet Woes’ by Sandhya Selvam is the classic Indian love story where there are parents to be defied and conventions to be overthrown, but with an added significant detail. Featured Writer Ragini Ravichandran’s ‘Colours in my dream’ paints a snapshot of a woman who learns to work with her disability to bring colour to her life. 

Arthika Saseendranath’s ‘Lost Lioness’ captures the portrait of a stay-at-home mother who laments the loss of her career, trapped under the everyday responsibilities of parenting. ‘Somewhere on a beautiful Coast’ by Samanvitha. B explores the theme from an environmental perspective.

Featured Writer Smrithi Krishnprasad's 'The Treasure Chest' is about a woman examining the relics of her past, on a quest to find the path that would bring her a true sense of achievement.

Most of the writers in this issue are showing their ruminations, ramblings and writing to outside readers for the first time. But despite their misgivings and nervousness, they have shown the courage to put their voice out there.

A courage that many of us can stand to be inspired from.

I hope that you enjoy this issue and that you will take the time to appreciate the work in the form of a comment or by sharing it on your social network.

Happy Reading!

Shweta Ganesh Kumar 

Editor-in-chief

Inkspire