Meet The Early Orange Flower Nominees Who Are Inspiring Other Women To Speak Up Through Their Words

Somewhere in 1996, the Irish boy band, Boyzone sang “It’s only words, and words are all I have/ to take your heart away.” and this line alone explains the power of words, for me. If you have the ability to express yourself through words, grammar, and concrete ideas, you’re next to invincible! 

Into the seventh year since its inception, The Orange Flower Awards has now become a space for women to get their work recognized. And while working for the event, I came across nominations that were not just inspiring, but also heart-warming and powerful. Here are a few amongst the early nominations:

Daisy Bala had a tough time dealing with loss and grief, and that is when she discovered the power of poetry. Expressing herself through lines and verses helped her to get a grip on herself and move ahead in life.

Gowri Bhargav is a true nature lover, and she wants to inspire her reader to appreciate the changes in their lives. She cites the example of seasons, and how nature has its own beauty at different seasons. It is upon us to change our perspective, and appreciate what we have.

Megha Patni clubbed the power of fiction writing with her real life experiences to bring out the truth about marriages. She relays the message that a balance can be struck between your dreams and your relationship with your spouse.

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Alpna Das Sharma pens a powerful fictional narrative of a young girl of Afghanistan and the psychological effects of the practise of Baccha Posh. For the uninitiated, Baccha Posh is a practise in Afghanistan and parts of Pakistan wherein a family without a male heir can pick a girl to live with them as their son. The tale comes out as a feminist story since the protagonist is given a voice, an emotional exploration, and agency to take her own decisions.

Malati Niranjan pens down this heartfelt poetry as an ode to motherhood on Mother’s Day. In her verses, she explores the feeling of being a mother through the Supreme Mother Nature.

Kasturi Patra has a different perspective to offer for us. She raises the question of gender roles in a marriage and household, and extends that to even the generation of our grandmothers. Her protagonist finds her shot at freedom at the age of 60. What does she do with it?

Lakshmi Ajoy is a Past Life Regression Therapist, and she uses her experience as a professional to weave this fictional story about a girl who was cured of her present life ailments using PLR therapy. As intriguing the plot is, it also conveys the existence of such a concept, and the importance it sometimes holds in our mental well-being.

Akhila Mohan CG vents out her exasperation at the constant judgements and expectations that the society throws at women. She feels hurt at the constant subtle sexism at different festivals under the garb of duty and beauty, and such practises being imposed upon her. Her poem also reveals how double standard society is when to women’s rights and their behaviour.

Chirashree Behura is a positive person, by nature. And through the power of her poetry, she hopes to spread the positivity within her reading community. 2022 was a difficult year for the whole world with nations at war, and economies tanking, but with her short poetry, she believes she could bring a little difference to someone experiencing a bad day.

Alka Balain believes that a late bloom is still a bloom, given that she found her expression through poetry only in her middle-age. Her poems find their voice in Hindi, and her words surely do have a way. One of her poems was selected as 2nd best in the category of ALS wordsmith Hindi Awards by the Asiatic Literary Society, India.

Mahima Dhupar uses the medium of poetry to expose the prejudice that still prevails in our society surrounding skin tone, caste, community, etc. Through her poems, she hopes to lend her support to those who have been the victims of such prejudices, and make their struggles a little less lonely.

Manasi Diwakar quit her job at the peak of her career to pursue her life-long dream of being a writer. With the help of her family, she is now a proud published author of a book. Her verse encourages her readers to overcome their challenges, and to never give up on their dreams. 

Gunjan Kapoor is not only a mother to 2 sons, but she also considers herself as their students. She believes in inculcating true values in kids, and especially that of kindness. Kindness to others as well as one’s own self. Her piece explores her parenting technique to teach kindness to her sons.

Narinder Kaur is an author, life-coach and trainer. She supports gender equality, but most importantly, she feels that more stringent rules regarding Workplace Sexual Harassment is the need of the hour. As we encourage more individuals to go out into the working field, it is essential that we make sure that they are safe as well.

Riddhi Doshi Patel’s experiences as a Child Psychologist gives her insight into the mistakes that parents commit without their knowledge. She uses direct, hard-hitting messages in her writing in the form of fictional conversations with her kid without having to confront the parents. Such a brilliant idea!

Ramesh Rajini has had her own struggles as a young mother. But she emerged victorious, and wrote a book to inspire the new parents. Every chapter had a relevant story linked to a technique or mistake that every parent takes for granted. Her book is the winner of Golden Book Award in the category of Practical Parenting Guide category.

Shunmathi Selvaraj is an Ayurvedic Fertility Nutritionist, and a Life Coach. But she mostly advises her clients to let go of crash diets or counting calories. She encourages people to eat healthy, including the diet that our ancestors used to follow. Fads are not the way to healthy living, but rigorously followed healthy diet.

Swarnali Nath writes to spread awareness about remote work burnout. Through her writings, she has explored the signs and the symptoms, the causes, and the preventive measures of this kind of burnout. She provides statistics along with her research o consolidate her claims, and at last provides her innovation-the ARC method- to get rid of remote work burnout.

Kashmira Lad doesn’t shy away from penning down her bold thoughts, and instead hopes that it inspires women around her. She feels that if we continue being a people pleaser, we can never utilize our true potential and achieve the success that we truly deserve. How true!

Through her article, Payal Ghosh remembers her joyous journey through her pregnancy, and then the post-partum phase. It is a truth now known that new mothers suffering from post-partum mental health conditions still does not receive the amount of importance that it should. 

With this year’s Orange Flower drawing to an end, I can’t wait to go through the nominations that come in the next year!

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