Abhirupa Purkayastha – Simplifying Life

Sorry for not updating the blog regularly! Today thought of sharing my first toastmasters speech with all of you. So, here it goes

Hello Everyone! Today I will be talking about myself. But I don’t want it to be boring by saying I was born in Kolkata, I am a KVite, I did my BA in English etc etc. You can get all this information on my resume or on my Linkedin profile. Today I will be talking about Me and how this real ME is at work.

I have been working as an editor for the last 4 years which is 1460 days. So, basically for the last 1460 days I have been sitting with a pair of scissors and cutting out the fluff and telling my writing team that punctuation saves lives. For example, let’s eat grandma and let’s eat, grandma! Courtesy to this job, I now think I am becoming a grammar Nazi. But Nazi isn’t something that I would like to associate myself with. So, I believe I am someone whom god has parceled from heaven- packed in a beautiful cardboard box, taped it well and labeled as ‘ Open Only If you Know the difference Between Who’s And Whose Or Else It Might Be Dangerous To Open’.

Jokes apart, today I am about to tell you a secret that’s related to all the writing I need to do at work.  It’s a dark secret and no one knows about it. I trust you guys so I am sharing this secret with you hoping that you won’t update it on your facebook.

My job involves writing, editing, rewriting, re-editing but in between these I try my best to inspire my creativity. But inspiring creativity is not an easy job. It’s like someone is piling heavy weight on you…like big concrete blocks one on top of the other and you have to keep  holding them no matter how tired or strained you are.

Some of the greatest poets, painters, novelists are known to rely on drugs and alcohol to get inspiration. So, why should I be left behind? I am also addicted to drugs…they are bright colored pills known as –

 

1)      Zany Pills – sometimes when I am writing I get stuck in the middle due to lack of new ideas. The first thing I do is I stop writing. Then I try to touch my nose with my tongue, move one eye in clock-wise movement and the other one in an anti-clock wise movement, tap my fingers on table and make them move like a wave. I know these are all weird ideas but when the going gets tough the weird get pro.

2)      Tom Cruise Pills – Day dreaming is the best source of inspiration. Unfortunately or fortunately my day dreams start and end at Tom Cruise. I often think about bumping into him in street. The thought itself is rejuvenating. Seriously, if you ask me I don’t know what I will do if I really meet Tom Cruise one day. Probably my eyes will turn googly, my heart will  leap from my chest and may be I will have a mini heart attack! And Mr Cruise won’t even be bothered.

Ok enough of Tom Cruise now! On a serious note, you never know where a super idea will come from. Inspiration is everywhere you just need to sharpen your antennas to detect them.

A quote to sum up what according to me creativity is –

“Creativity is working tirelessly to conceive a great idea then courageously smashing it to bits later reassembling it  using fewer pieces with each attempt until genius emerges.”