Every reader at some point of time in his/her journey of reading, dream to write; some of such dreamers envision to bloom in to writers. Aspiring writers strive hard to thrive the passion to ink thoughts, but few are seldom scared as they are hit by a thought- “amazing writing skills mandatorily have to be developed within ourselves to grow as a nascent writer.” Yes! It is mandatory, but at the same time, giving it a try to put out our feelings and emotions in the form of words, which create wonders when they reach people, is equally important. Standard of the language, vocabulary and technicalities involved in writing, come into play only when the basic skeleton of words is created. How do you do it? The answer is that letting out your perspectives of what you comprehend to the world is what forms the draft of your masterpiece- write up. Now is the time for editing to act, in order to make over your write up and groom your words to add a tinge of calibre to it. Thus, the foundation for a write up to arise is the way you project your thoughts, feel when you write your emotions and introduce an idea into the minds of the readers. The art of penning down is not something that can be taught, but it is something to be learnt.

An avid reader can surely turn into a eloquent writer. Read as a reader; reading as a writer may make you imitate the style of writing whereas reading as a reader helps you create the style of your own. Dream big but start small! Your aspiration for writing may be given a kick start by beginning with short stories. Before you start, remember that reading more would contribute to your process of preparation to glow as an artist- writer. There is no book which is good or bad. Book is a writer’s treasure which is shared with every reader. A reader can take back millions of thoughts and learnings, gain the ability to accept different things in different ways, reshape views and channelize your mannerisms into the path leading to wisdom and that’s the power of a writer! However the fact that experience adds onto to perfection cannot be denied. Reviews, comments and feedbacks play majorly in improvising a write up in a writer’s point of view but it essential to ensure that endorsements and responses are all from faithful readers - readers who are open to the subject in the write up, who curiously look forward to learn and elongate their string of knowledge, who would want to relate the topic to their life which enables them to introspect themselves and sometimes may also let them arrive at solutions. One of the secret behind establishing oneself as an inspirational writer could be that, ink in situations and incidents which can easily connect to the readers so that the impact that is brought into the heart every reader is provocative and helps derive a lesson for life.

For all such budding writers, Times Lit fest, Bengaluru, 2017 served as a befitting platform which acted as a learner’s treat. It was like a full-fledged meal which satisfied the hunger of a lot of young inkers, craving to bag a ton of knowledge which helps to glitter their career. The lighting of the lamp showered a blissful start to the festival which was graced by Shri Priyank Kharge, honorable minister for Tourism, IT and BT, Govt. of Karnataka. This was followed by the panel discussion, INTO THE WILD: Discussions on our Earth for which the panelists were Ranjit Lal, Nikkhil Advani and The minister. As mentioned earlier, it was certainly a blissful start as nothing other than conservative talks about our mother earth can activate the spirit in all. The honorable minister and the other panelists had an interactive discussion with the audiences where a lot of suggestions were exchanged and reviews were brought out.  Parallely, SOLILOQUY: Democratizing Karnatik Music from Caste and Class by T M Krishna and VOICES FROM WITHIN: Kannada, Kodava and Hindi poetry took place at the other 2 vennues at the fest.

 Aishwarya Dhanush and Naman Ramachandran stared a talk show which described the book authored by her. Presence of Rishi Kapoor in the session, KHULLAM KHULLA: A Life in Cinema, added more luster to the fest; the moment was made more special when he launched his autobiography on stage. The siblings,Vir Das and Trisha Das added a flavor of humor to the crowd, in the session, DAS CAPITAL: Siblings on discovering their Funny Bone while growing up in a quiet family. Vir and Trisha shared a couple of instances which they had experienced in life, which helped us to discover the definition of comedy and laughter. KEEPING IT SHORT was a session in which short story writers, Krys Lee, Tracey Ann Morton and Sharanya Manivannan, from 3 different countries- Korea, Denmark and India, came together on a single platform to educate the upcoming star writers about shaping the skills needed for writing better. Sukanya Venkatraghavan and Krishna Udayasankar decorated the dais in the session, DARK IMMORTALS (Dark things and Immortal are authored by Sukanya and Krishna respectively) which was a discussion on modern fantasy writing which allowed us to learn a lot about mythology and its relation with writing. Many wonderful authors and speakers such as Ila Arun, Ramya, Arshia Sattar, Revant Himatsingka, Prathibha Nandakumar, Boverianda Nanjamma and Chinnappa, Sonal Dabral and more, contributed to the accomplishment of the purpose of the fest. Malavika Jayaram shared a lot of knowledge about technology and privacy in the session, LIGHTENING MOMENT: Discovering privacy in an open world. In addition, there was a bookstore which had got the books of all the authors who were a part of the fest and others as well. ENTERTAINMENT: Mysuru Se Aaye, the overwhelming music performance by The Raghu Dixit Project, formed a gracious conclusion to the never ending stream of ecstasy sheltered in the literary enclave. One of the highlight of the fest was that, every book lover was given an exclusive chance to get the book autographed by its respective author.  There were numerous mouth watering food stalls which delighted all the foodies to taste some really delicious edibles.