Mayankita’s Diary is about Mayankita, the lead character in all the stories narrated here. Mayankita represents all the women whose struggles in the ‘journey of being a woman’ have inspired me to write about them. Each story is like a narration of a page (or a few pages) from her diary (or a narration of a significant part of her life as understood by me). This person can be any woman- you, me, or any other woman from our neighbourhood or our lives. The only thing that qualifies her presence here is “Her struggles in the journey of being a Woman”. I have tried to narrate the stories with the emotions felt by Mayankita in her journey, and I hope my readers are able to experience these from Mayankita’s perspective without being judgemental about the choices she made.
Derived from Sanskrit origin words “Mayank” meaning “Moon” and “Ankita” meaning “one that is inscribed or marked for prominence”, “Mayankita” means “Moonlight”. She exists because there is a Moon out there. However, looking at Mayankita’s journey from a woman’s perspective, I take Mayankita to be much more than ‘just moonlight’. I also see her as the reason behind “Mayank’s” brightness that the world sees. Her presence makes him beautiful and complete. While there can be no “Mayankita” without “Mayank”, “Mayank” will also cease to be visible without “Mayankita”.
I selected this name “Mayankita” for my lead character because all my stories here are about the struggles of being a woman, with or without the “Mayanks” of their lives. Their journeys may not have got them name, fame, awards, or achievements that the world could see but their struggles to claim their own little skies in their own different ways are worth learning from. Some of these women had to break free, and some, like the moonlight, stood behind their men, complementing their lives, supporting them in their journey, to make them what they could become in this lifetime. Whichever role they played, and whatever the result of their struggle was, to me their experiences are worth reflecting and discussing, if we look forward to a better world for women around us.
These are all real-life stories, a version narrated on behalf of these Mayankitas, from my perspective.