As a member of Infinity I openly love poetry, so when I read the writings of Puja I knew I had to interview her. I was awestruck by how many contests she had won and how early she had started. I’m only 16 and have yet to win one while Puja was making First Place at age ten. It was inspiring. Chained: Would you mind telling me a little bit more about how you started writing poetry. Puja: As I have in the WDC bio; I wrote my first poetry when I was 10 years old for a competition in school, and won the first prize. This inspired me to write more. The poem was on "Nature." Chained: How did you find WDC? Puja: I was just googling for writing websites and accidentally stumbled upon WDC. I am hooked till now! WDC has become my second home. Chained: You have entered, and won, a lot of WDC contests, do you have any favorites? Puja: For me, each and every creation is unique and takes a lot of quality time and love of words. So, every poem is my favorite. My first poem is close to heart "The Nature" which I wrote in school. I do not have this poem in the port though. Chained: Do you ever get nervous when you enter a contest? Puja: Not really! Here, in WDC every writer is highly talented. You can see this when you go through the ports. I participate in the contests for two reasons; 1. To get reviews and 2. To know where I stand in with a bunch of talented writers. This helps me to improve my writing skills. Only when you compete with people with higher talent than you, can you grow. I can see a lot of positive change in my writing. And I think it is because of a healthy competition. Chained: Even with that, do you still get happy when you win? Puja: Yes, I feel great when I win. I feel satisfied when my work wins. This victory drives me to take part in lots of contests. I feel "I am worth!", this is the ultimate feeling in life. Chained: Is there any type of poetry that you prefer to write? Puja: I love to write poems on "Nature". In fact, only after joining WDC I have written lots of poems on other genres for contests. This is the major growth as a poet. A poet must be able to write on any topic in the world. WDC has molded my skills. Thanks to the giant website. Chained: I see your a member of Paper Doll Gang, could you tell me more about that? Puja: I was in the first batch of Paper Doll Gang. I joined the group immediately after I joined WDC (Maybe in 2 weeks). I was confused as a new member when I accidentally found this wonderful group. I must say, the Paper Doll Gang has given me so much knowledge about the WDC. In just 1 month after joining Paper Doll Gang I had about 50 items in my port. The group is so well organized and friendly that you grow as you enjoy! Thanks to this wonderful group. I would recommend every new member to join this lovely group! Puja: I've an item about Dolls written for the graduation in my port. It is in the Paper Doll folder. You can read that as well. Chained: What is your role in the Paper Doll Gang? Puja: As a new member; We are introduced to site. There are about 20 challenges to complete before graduating (3 months). Poetry contest, story contest, creating guest books, polls, in and outs, crosswords, almost everything on WDC. The major part is about reviewing and using the xml, bitem, linking. It consists of every training to become familiar with WDC. After graduating, I was offered to be Junior leader. Now, I am a junior leader for the second batch; helping in fund raising, judging challenges, and updating review forum. Chained: Sounds like a lot of work. Puja: It involves a lot of learning as well! Most of all you become more and more confident. Chained: Is there any advice you would give to someone who might want to join this group? Puja: I would ask the new members to think before joining this group... This group has a lot of work to be done. So, only if you are ready to love the challenges and work sincerely would I recommend you to join. If you are not ready to complete all the assignments then there is no point in joining. It would be a waste of time for both the newbie and leaders. This group is for those who are open and are willing to work hard. But, I am sure everyone graduating from this group would be proud and confident on WDC. Chained: Well that's all the questions I have right now, is there anything you would like to add? Puja: Thank you very much for offering to interview me. It's an honor. I liked all your questions. Thanks once again and All the Best!!! |