Gratitude diaries 28

When I was in my third year of college, I got involved with a youth tabloid called Channel Y through my acquaintance with a girl called Meghna Damani. I started attending the weekly meetings of a bunch of youngsters like me, who were interesting in writing, at the office of Indian Express on Sunday evenings. These wannabe writers were a diverse group- studying arts, or engineering or pharmacy- united by a passion for writing. Initially Meghna provided the leadership and then Indian Express for an editor dedicated for Channel Y- Ruchi Verma. In the weekly meetings we would brainstorm on ideas for articles. The first time I ever got published was in Channel Y. I still have a copy of that article- it was on chivalry- that I co-wrote with Ruchi's sister, Purvi. I remember people's reactions to my byline- Kashmira's 'I feel so proud seeing your name in print' to my dad's skeptical, 'what value was added to anyone by that article?'. For me, it was sheer delight and bliss. I got to do a lot of fun things through Channel Y- eat at restaurants, watch movies, write about them and get paid for it. It was a win-win situation. I loved it. Ruchi made us come in once a week to help with the editing work. Ruchi was encouraging about my writing and said I wrote well. Thanks to Channel Y, I got to attend the one and only male strip-tease of my life! Not a full monty- but still! In the 90s! and in India! My association with Channel Y lasted for about 6-8 months before I got busy with other things like management entrance exams. But I think it was the job that i enjoyed the most in my life. I liked the other writers and enjoyed interacting with them. I loved the fact that I was making money doing something I liked. I regret often that I did not pursue a career in writing but at least I had my Channel Y stint. That is something. Thank you Meghna for introducing me to Channel Y and thank you Channel Y for all the fun times.