Spotlight On Writers
Megha Sood
- Where, do you hail from?
I was born in a quaint little hilly city called Nangal, Himachal Pradesh, India. I have spent most of my life in India and traveled a lot around the northern states as my father was transferred often. So I have lived in six/seven different states in Northern India. I finally lived in New Delhi for the most part of my life. After marriage, I shifted my base to the East Coast and now I live with my son and husband in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- What is the greatest thing about the place you call home?
I have lived here in Jersey City, New Jersey for almost 10 years now and the best thing about this place is the perfect balance it holds between the city life and suburban life. Being next to the waterfront with the gorgeous NY skyline and changing colors of the sky has given me a lot of inspiration for my poems. Also, it’s just a few minutes away from Manhattan so we visit and enjoy the city to our hearts’ desire. This place is crawling with high-rises too, giving this place the diversity which is the essence of living in a country like this. Being a city girl all my life I love the vibrancy this place offers throughout the year.
- What turns you on creatively?
Inspiration comes to me in myriad ways. It could be anything from a change in weather to a long-lost song playing on the radio, a paragraph from the book I’m reading or anything else. Sometimes the innocent conversation with my eight-year-old son becomes the underlying emotion for my poem. A fleeting change of scenery or observing people during my walks on the waterfront have been the source of inspiration in more ways I can count.
- What is your favorite word, and can you use it in a poetic sentence?
Oh, there are many to mention but at the top of my head the words “Tourniquet” and “ Evanescence” have been my favorite. I have always liked the songs of Amy Lee while growing up and her debut album has introduced me to this word.
“That precise moment of the noon turning into dusk,
when the crimson sky bleeds into the ocean
nature loosens its tourniquet”
- What is your pet peeve?
What really annoys me is the dishonesty and absence of compassion in people these days.
A very small gesture of offering a seat to an elderly or helping someone on the street is being considered a waste of time. It drives me really nuts to see that people these days are so consumed with their desire to be accepted by the social media that they portray a fake life. Their affinity to the materialistic pleasures has made them completely forget the essence of humanity. I strongly believe that kindness goes a long way and compassion is one thing we strongly need in our society.
- What defines Megha Sood?
A passionate, humorous and hardworking soul which never lets the trial and tribulation of life get the best of her. I have always believed in this saying “Don’t take life too seriously. You will never get out of it alive”. I have always taken life challenges as learnings and have tried to mold myself accordingly. I have been through a lot of challenges in my personal life and I have been extremely lucky to have overcome those. Losing my father at a very young age, traveling the world as part of my job and then moving to another country, far away from my friends and family, after the marriage has given me a different perspective towards life.
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