Never Too Late

- Shukla Lal

I AM STILL GETTING used to the attention.

Imagine my disbelief when I was invited as chief guest by Air India for their International Women’s Day celebration in March this year. Their aim was to inspire their female employees aged 50 and above and drive home the point that life need not come to an end once you become a senior citizen. It is possible to make a new beginning at any age.

As I started to address the gathering, with 375 expectant faces looking up at me from the audience, I realized that fate had propelled me here from the humdrum life of a housewife. I was introduced at the function as a poet, novelist and short-story writer, with two published books and a third one in the works. How did I get here?