It's almost 12 a.m. on the 31st, and I'm here, quite late as I almost forgot to wriकोte the month-end blog. Actually, I did start writing a day ago or two, but was unsure and struggling to write. Well, in fact, I currently do not know on what subject matter I'll write today, since I'm talking about writing, why shouldn't we deal with the writing itself?

How I began writing

So basically, a few years ago, there was something inside me, some keeda (bug) inside me to make money and do content creation, so I started with podcasting as I saw a few podcasts at that time. It seemed interesting to me, such a low-key content creation without having some good gear or, for that matter, even a good phone with a good camera. You just need a voice, and I was very interested in becoming a radio jockey, as I used to listen to the radio and would mimic their commentary. In fact, people used to compliment my voice when I did that. That's another thing: I myself did not, and still do not, love hearing my recorded voice, but I definitely like my voice when I hear it directly. I used to do voice modulation a little bit (earlier, even more)

So basically, in conclusion, I used to like my voice, and podcasting was growing, and there was this rumour that Spotify would soon bring monetisation for Indian podcasters (like Adsense on YouTube), but it has not happened to date. So I was like, if I start today, by the time monetisation comes, I'll grow and start earning, but that didn't happen, that's another story. So I started podcasting, joined the very first podcasting bootcamp in India by Anchor (now Spotify for podcasters) and got some goodies, some of which are still there with me, the coffee tumbler.

I started it with a very, very budget phone; it cost less than a good pair of wireless earphones (TWS), so I started stealing scripts from my political gurus and voicing them. When I joined bootcamp, I levelled up a bit and tried a different format like interview sort, and guess what, the interview was a call recording (literally), so I took two interviews, very bad interviews 🥲 but still. Then I tried a story format and made an episode discussing Custodial deaths, with sound effects to make the story more intuitive. (That was perhaps the best of mine at that time)

So when I was posting podcasts, I used to share them on Instagram, and one day I saw an ad or something about scrollstack.com (now stck.me). Yeah, hell lot of names have changed since then 🥲 (samjh rhe ho kitna purana khiladi hoon?) You getting how old a player I am? So I started sharing my podcast here as well, where one can embed a podcast with a link. If you scroll to the bottom, you might find it there. So I started writing alongside the blog as a building upon the podcast (I guess), and since I used to be a very serious social media commentator at that time, I used to post stories and posts with my political thoughts, quotes and much more (the account is now private 🥲)

So alongside my podcast, I started writing from political stuff to some movie series reviews, and I wrote everything that came to my mind. And to my amazement, there came a 500₹ support from Ritesh Mehta (co-founder of scrollstack). Thank you, sir, for it; it was my first earned money, and that's still a special feeling and still holds special value. I can't forget it. It motivated me and fueled me to write even more, dreaming of more appreciation and to earn something.

I continued it, kept doing it, but time passed, and no more support came, no new readers, very few people actually clicked the link and read. The story is the same today as well: very few people read it, but the number has increased. Another thing has changed: now I write for myself, for my own pleasure, for my streak, to improve, and to write something raw, unfiltered, and written from the heart.

So I kept writing for a good time, but then schools opened after COVID, 11th and 12th came. I started preparing for CLAT, and since then, everything has changed. I stopped posting on social media frequently, stopped podcasting even long before Instagram posts and stories, and then I took admission in college. Now I'm officially a rat, running the job hunt before graduation, since everyone is. It was never a part of the plan, never. I don't know exactly what was the plan, it was somewhere around these content creation only, but now I have lost that zeal for content that I used to have, but the zeal for writing is still there.

Podcasting stopped, social media posts and stories stopped, but writing small statuses never stopped. After deleting Instagram, I started posting things on status because it was much easier and more accessible, with no constant urge to check how many likes, comments, and all. Ahh, for a few times there was an urge to check how many views, but after a time, that too stopped mattering. Now it does not affect me. I rarely open the view tab to see how many views there are or who viewed; now I simply don't care. (Doesn't mean I don't get happy seeing a like here, so if you enjoy it, tap it)

Well although writing never stopped technically but structurally it did as I stopped writing blogs but then I joined a writing community started by Professor Ritika (no not a law professor, but a fellow writer on scrollstack) the community started with aim to improve writing of each other and write constantly but slowly it also lost its direction became inactive but there I met Gaurav ji, another fellow writer, poet and more. He pushed me to write once again, and there began a monthly posting ritual. Since December 2024, I've been giving one post a month at month-end, sometimes a day late (just like this one), but there's always something to read every month. Thank you, Gaurav ji, for your constant push; the writer is now on autopilot mode.

So this is how my writing journey started: from podcasting and social media posts to blogs, and miles to go. This has now become part and parcel of my life, even if exams are going on, I make sure there's something I'm delivering every month, to maintain the discipline, to maintain the streak and to improve, because I know the day I started caring about it, this beautiful hobby of writing will get carried away. I might not be the best writer you will come across, but surely I'll be one of the most disciplined writers you will come across. And also the one who writes raw and simple (some complimented me for it, so now I take pride in it lol). Well, on this note, I take a leave; see you in the next one.

(P.S. Last semester, I recorded a podcast episode as a part of my internals assignment )

Thank you for reading.