Reader’s Digest India – July 2019

Reader’s Digest

78 july 2019

Never Too

Late

By Shukla Lal

I

am still getting us e d t o

the attention.

Imagine my disbelief when

I was invited as chief guest by

Air India for their International Wom-

en’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 gather-

ing, 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?

I had never written poetry or prose

before. My children, family and friends

had often told me that I had a way with

“To do anything bold or face a challenge

in life, you have to take the first step into

the unknown. Each step shows you the

way for the next one,” says Shukla Lal.

Pictured here in her south-Delhi home

She started writing

books at the age of 80.

Where did she find

the inspiration?

Photograph by Vikram Sharma