Solace in Writing

Hazy clouds encroached upon the sky to render gloomy weather. Vehicles encroached upon the road to render a traffic jam. People flocked to the bus stand frustrated since they couldn't find the bus on time courtesy of a traffic jam. A tall and handsome man, Sudeep, stood at the corner of the bus stand with his mind still lingering about the short story he wrote over the weekend. It's been five years since he joined a software company. He had almost lost interest in the job but was doing it since he had no other option. As he wasn't financially stable, he couldn't afford to quit the job. A bus loaded with passengers arrived at the bus stand, beckoning the people to get into its body. Sudeep weaved through the bustling crowd and somehow managed to get on the bus. It was getting quite suffocating since there was barely a space to stand. He was profusely sweating. After forty-five minutes of exertion, finally, the bus reached IT park. Sudeep climbed out of the bus heaving a sigh of relief. He ambled along the bustling pavement to reach his office desk on time. He pulled out a laptop from his bag and placed it on the desk. Stifling a yawn, he logged into the laptop only to wear out looking at the barrage of emails flying in his inbox. He had to check every email to answer the queries being asked, which mentally drained him. It was pretty clear that he was losing interest in the work. Sometimes, he used to go to the washroom and break down.

Dusk broke over the Hyderabad city. After a busy day at work, Sudeep got back to his home with a groggy face, mentally fatigued. He gobbled up his dinner in no time before he strode to his room. He mentally admitted that he had neither interest nor energy left to continue in the software field but his financial woes did not assuage his feelings. His parents were not in good shape to earn any sort of income as they heavily relied on his earnings to make ends meet. Sudeep tuned into YouTube to watch some podcasts, which could give him some respite from the mental turmoil. One of the podcasters looked ecstatic, and he was fully enjoying his work, which was quite evident on his face. The podcaster considered himself lucky for having to do the work which indeed was his passion. A drop of tear propelled out of his eyes since he couldn't afford to pursue his passion which was writing. Writing has always been an underrated profession. Many did not pursue writing since it barely assisted them to make ends meet. He asked God why he could not make his passion his profession while others got to do it. He was caught up in the grim hold of sadness. Coincidentally, he heard the podcaster speaking his mind on the show.

"Many folks can't make their passion their profession owing to financial woes. Are they supposed to burn their desire, or is it their karma?" the podcaster asked the guest.

"Karma can be changed and it is totally in our hands. I agree many have serious financial troubles that impede them from pursuing their passion. But where there is a will there is way. Do not forget about your passion. Keep channelling your energy into your passion during your free time. Every time you go to bed and every time you get up from bed, just close your eyes for a few minutes and manifest your inner desires to be a reality. If you are honestly passionate about your hobby, one day certainly, you can make it your profession. I am the best example of that."

These words renewed his inner desire which was slowly fading away. The clock was ticking away. He sprawled on the bed, gazing at the ceiling fan, which seemed to have hit slumber. He flicked on the fan switch and saw the blades of the fan getting into motion. Sudeep closed his eyes to get into a trance state.

"I will be an author one day. My passion for writing will help me become an established author one day. This is certainly going to be a reality. I will work hard to manifest this not only in dreams but also in reality," he planted a seed in his subconscious.

Dawn broke over the streets of Hyderabad. The sun God made his full-fledged appearance, defusing the rain situation. Birds piggybacked on the wind to travel to their desired destination. The stream of sun rays broke through the window and scoured Sudeep's face who squinted before waking up. He closed his eyes for some time and manifested his author's dreams in his head. It was quite clear to him that planting the seed in the subconscious will work only when you indeed have the desire to excel within you. Just doing it for the heck would bear no results. He knew he had to now rush to the office to grapple with the overwhelming work waiting at the desk. To add to his woes, his manager asked him to prepare for presentation in two days. His mind cast a reproachful look at him. It was happy to create stories but it hated to prepare for presentation. This further slipped him into a mental state of decay. He was doing what his mind never wanted to do. Despite being in a chaotic mental state, he prepared the slides and delivered the presentation. Even his conscience admonished him for not performing to the best of his abilities. At least the arrival of the weekend made him feel upbeat since his mind could indulge in what it desired the most.

Sudeep decided to pen a novel. He used to write short stories till then. His mind had germinated a brilliant novel idea compelling him to start writing a book. He found solace in writing in the realm of solitude. All the work-related thoughts threatened to corrupt his mind, but his desire to excel in writing superseded the anxious thoughts. He gazed at the glittering sun for a while allowing the creative thoughts to settle down before penning them on a sheet of paper. He had an intuition that his novel would be accepted by people of all ages owing to its powerful message. He kept on writing taking short breaks. After eight months of hard work, finally, his book was ready to be published. Excitement coursed through his body when he read the book. He discussed with t

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he traditional publishers and eventually had his book published. He had to cough up some amount too. After a few days, he waited with bated breath to read the reviews but he couldn't find even a single review for his book. Nobody damn cared about his book. He wasn't an established writer for his books to be picked up in the market; he was just a rookie writer. Sudeep couldn't resist the tears that broke open the floodgates of his eyes and poured out relentlessly. He had put on a lot of hard work to write and edit that book but his efforts seemed to have gone down the drain.

Sudeep sat on his desk tapping away at the keyboard still unable to recover from the failure of his first book. His mind, now subjected to misery, refrained from doing office work for which he endured an earful from his boss. This was going nowhere. He seemed to be stuck in a dilemma. One side of his mind asked him to forsake writing since it was only exacerbating his misery while the other side of his mind persuaded him to pursue his passion. With a cluttered mind, he reached back his home. He tuned into a podcast.

"Your first book might fail. Your second book might fail. Your tenth book also might fail. But never give up. The experience you have accumulated by writing those books will certainly help you to weave magic in your next book. Never turn back on a road when you have decided to reach your destination. Thorns, vehicles, stones, attackers might creep in but you got to face them to reach your destination."

These words seemed to have applied soothing medicine to his lacerated heart. Failure is a stepping stone for success after all. He made up his mind to start a new book using all the experiences of his past work. It took him eight months to provide the finishing touches. This time, he had understood the drawbacks of traditional publications, which had burnt a hole in his pocket. So, he decided to self-publish his book. After much effort, his book went live. Weeks passed by but nothing worked. His second book also was doomed to fail. This further aggravated the wound in his heart. Is it all over? Am I supposed to renounce writing? Am I not good enough to stamp my authority as an author? Am I simply wasting my time on writing when I could pursue a career in IT? Again, nasty thoughts sneaked into his mind, making him look perplexed and perturbed.

Sudeep penned a few more books, but they all ended up not doing well in the market. Despite the failures cajoling him to give up, the inner spark within him refused to subside. Consequently, he kept his writing intact. He was also penning short stories in one of the writing platforms which earned him an award. His writing skills improved by leaps and bounds, whereas his IT skills were gradually but surely diminishing, which made his survival difficult in the software field. He meticulously crafted a fiction novel titled "Bust Social Stereotypes", which was his eighth book after seven failures. This time, he marketed this book in the writing platforms that had bestowed upon him an award. His books slowly started to gain traction owing to it's brilliant social message. The readers of the platform purchases the book and left good reviewed. Thanks to good reviews, even others felt the urge to purchase books. This stirred up a chain reaction, and eventually, his book turned out to be a best-selling novel, even taking him by surprise. He had not anticipated any good outcome from the book owing to the previous failures. Also, he had just penned this book not with an intention of success but to his own satisfaction. This novel brought him incredible appreciation from all quarters. His book had indeed hit the Bull's eye. Even the moviemakers happened to read the book which coaxed them to make a movie on it. Sudeep's luck had, in fact, changed. He had now become a sought-after novelist not only in Hyderabad but also in the country. The ripe time unfolded his colossal hard work. His readers were curious to read his next book. Financially, he picked up the momentum, which in turn assisted him to quit his IT profession. Years of hard work had bore fruit. He published his next book, titled "Modern Bharatha", which sold out in no time.

Sudeep visited a Krishna temple along with his mother to send a gratitude message to his favourite God. There were times when he desperately wanted to quit. Had he given up to the pressure, perhaps he wouldn't have become what he is today. Everybody started recognising him which gave him stardom as well. The movies born out of his novels went on to become blockbusters, which further fuelled his star power as an author. Writing indeed became his source of income. He also thanked his favourite podcaster and his guests who never allowed his inner spark to snub out. He successfully managed to make his passion his profession thanks to his relentless hard work, even in the face of adversities. He managed to surpass his own expectations, which catapulted him to stardom, thereby proving that you can indeed succeed if you keep on trying with the right intent. Sudeep stood alone on the peek of a mountain shielded by the castle of solitude. His countenance blossomed into a smile the moment he saw the flock of birds adorning the sky with its beauty. His mind gleefully chewed the moment and spitted out a poem.

I became besotted with my writing

Solace in writing is what kept me going

I did not lean onto the stroke of serendipity

I weaved a magic through my eccentricity

Failures played an instrumental role in my life,

To make me understand how to use the writing knife

I programmed my subconscious to materialize my dreams

My right intent is now allowing me to taste its creams

Never renounce your passion

Only you can make it your profession

The bed of pain might prick you

But will also transform you

The roots I deftly sowed in my subconscious

Has now become a giant tree which is precious