It was during my semester exams when I got the news that Mahaveer publishers are conducting a short-story competition. Love was the genre, a genre on which I had never written any story before. But it so happens that when you read a theme, the story it forms by itself in your tiny grey cells. It did for me when I learned that the participants had to write a love story. But who had the time to pen down the story when every alternate day you have those giant exams that gobble you up in your sleep. Days went by and I forgot the story I had in my mind. My exams, they got over too. Only a few days were left for the submission period of the competition to be over when I realized I had to submit something, not because I simply wanted to, but because I had decided to and I actually had a story in my mind. 10th January 2013 was the last date of submission and I submitted my entry just before sunset crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.
5 long days of waiting; and that’s when I thought I may not be selected as entries were pouring in like anything, almost 1000, from published authors and famous bloggers. On 15th Jan’13 a tear trickled down my cheek as I realized I might have been hoping for something which will give me nothing but failure and a disappointment. I shoved away all thoughts of the contest and carried on with my own life- a juggle of playing my guitar, reading a novel, studying for the impending exams, facebooking, going out with friends, et cetera.
Sanhita Baruah