A Win-Win Situation! - Suryalipsa

"In KV, we have a lot of curricular activities. Once, my name was forcefully put in the poem recitation competition. I was worried because I didn't have the courage to stand in front of a mic and recite a poem. 

I am not a mug up and release kind of person, so I tried writing one of my own. I still remember the first poem that I wrote, which had a lot of mistakes, random rhyme patterns, and a lot more errors. Still then, I stood 2nd, and the appreciations that I got for it made me believe that I can do something in this field. Cuttack introduced to open mics, and now, my life revolves around them.

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I started performing in various open mics, travelled to different colleges to perform, got featured in YourQuote's official poetry page, and worked as a co-author of some anthologies too. In October 2019, I got shortlisted to perform and represent India at the 39th World Congress of Poets.

I can't thank my stars enough, as they took me from a no-one to a newspaper headline. Being 4'11", I also got special attraction for being the tiniest among the representatives.

Though I loved Arts more than Science, I got 10 CGPA in my 10th. I wasn't fond of Science, but my father wanted me to get into it. I didn’t like the fact that I was being pushed where I never wanted to be. Everything felt unfair, and I thought of giving up on everything, even poetry. More than upset, I was angry about my condition. My health deteriorated and I started believing that whatever bad happened to me, it was because of me being in science stream. I got very low scores in academics.

Days passed, nothing changed. Then I started embracing life as it was, and things started to fall into place. I got 78% in 12th, which was beyond my reach, considering my condition in 11th. On one hand, I was fulfilling my father's will by studying science and on the other hand, I was pursuing my own love for poetry. For me, it was a win-win situation indeed. Eventually, my parents accepted my love for poetry and let me do my thing.

Once when I wrote a piece on menstruation, people criticized me for talking about it publicly and said that I should behave more maturely. Because apparently, such things need to be ‘whispered’. Nevertheless, I realized that such judgmental comments are going to come your way, no matter how good you try to be. But, as long as, your parents and you yourself are happy, nothing else matters." - Suryalipsa.