An Aspiring Writers Journey
By Indy Samra
Image: Indy Samra - taken during the Mixtape Memories Project launch event. Photograph: @kulsii
In 2020, covid restrictions and lockdowns dramatically changed my situation. My meditation and children’s yoga and mindfulness therapy classes were no longer being carried out in person, and my children were at home and so my time was taken up with both homeschooling and the day-to-day running of the house. While as a family, we made some wonderful memories, particularly spending lots of time outdoors in our garden, I recognised that I was neglecting my self-care and was not making enough time for myself.
I saw an advert on a WhatsApp group chat about a creative writing course titled, ‘Create Together’ with the social enterprise, Inspiring You C.I.C. This course was specifically targeted toward women within the African Caribbean and Asian communities in Leicester. I joined with the optimism of enhancing the writing of my meditation scripts, which I have been doing for a few years. However, I never predicted I would be writing poetry, short stories, children's stories and memoirs.
As a British Asian female, I was able to express freely the ongoing balance in my life of both my heritage and being British. When it came to writing my life experiences, thoughts and use of my mother tongue it was all effortless, it was all within me. This creative writing process was life-changing as it unlocked my voice, and the fact that others wanted to hear it too encouraged me to keep on writing about my life and my culture.
From the course, not only did I gain the knowledge on how to structure my writing, but, equally, it gave me the freedom to be myself in a flair that came naturally.
I used to look forward to our weekly Wednesday meetups. Going for long periods without seeing my loved ones, these ladies became like family. Sounds like a cliché, I know, but at times we laughed, cried and, importantly, gained priceless writing knowledge. I still keep in regular contact with mostly all of the ladies. They are a special part of not just my writing journey, but my covid journey too, which I treasure so profoundly in my heart. I will always be truly grateful to Sonia Thompson and Sandra Pollock OBE for introducing this wonderful course and for continuing to support and encourage our writing. Some of our work is published in an anthology called ‘Create Together’ which is available to purchase on amazon and high street bookshops.
The ongoing support for the publication from family and friends has been phenomenal. The feeling of being a published author is quite surreal. Whenever I see my writing and name printed in a book it makes me feel very honoured and fortunate. It has certainly highlighted that the British Asian female voice wants to be heard.
I continue to write and submit my work in optimism for my work to potentially be selected for future publications. In 2021, I entered the Leicester Women’s Poetry Competition and won a prize for Poem of Merit called Maa Boli (Mother Tongue). I also seized the chance to have some of my mindfulness exercises published in an anthology called ‘Finding Happiness with a Broken Mind’ by Jack Griffin, where the proceeds of this book support both MIND and Books4life.
Lastly, ‘Moments’ was published in time for Christmas 2021. This voluntary, seva (selfless effort) project is a collaboration of uplifting poems, short stories and mindfulness exercises on themes including nature and happiness. With the support of funding, this has been printed and distributed in care / residential homes, hospices and community hospitals for free. In all honesty, ‘Moments’ was not a smooth journey, however, now that it is published, it is rewarding to see care home residents smile and wave through the window with a copy of the book in their other hand.
In 2021 I embarked on this wonderful creative writing journey, which I am truly grateful for and I am excited and hopeful about the opportunities that will come my way in the following year.
In the meantime, Indy has some ongoing writing projects where some of her work is currently in the editing stages, and additional writing drafts, have been selected for publication in further anthologies in 2022.
Indy’s writing was published in the following anthologies in 2021:
Thompson, S. and Pollock, S. (2021) Create Together Our Voices, Our Hands, Our Lives
Griffin, J. (2021) Finding Happiness With A Broken Mind
Dattani-Patel, N.; Samra, I. and Jethwa, H. (2021) Moments
About Author: Indy Samra is a female author, radio presenter and holistic therapist. She is inspired by the balance of her Punjabi heritage and being second generation British Asian. To find out more follow her social media platforms at Indy Essence.