Former Journalist Shares Glimpse and Tips of Living in The City of Pearls

Former Fiji Sun journalist, Mere Satakala, has launched her book titled “Leaving to Live a Dream” sharing her journey of studying in Hyderabad, India. The book is a glimpse of what life was like living and studying in The City of Pearls.

The first-person narration book takes the reader on a journey to various experiences and lessons learnt while pursuing her studies in a foreign country that she called home for three years.

She was awarded a scholarship by the Government of India under its General Scholarship scheme from 2013 to 2016 and studied at Osmania University College for Women.

She studied Journalism and Politics.

“The book was a three-year long project that began at the end of 2020 and with the first sample print out earlier this year,” Ms Satakala said. “The global pandemic of 2020 made me realise how everything in an instant can be taken away from you and all you can do is face these challenges and keep moving.

“The idea of writing this book was triggered from the pandemic. I thought to myself ‘I think it’s time to write a book and just maybe about my experience in India.’ That began my first draft at the end of 2020, I kept journaling what was the most significant events of my time in Hyderabad.

“I mentioned it to my friends and they all supported me from the start and eventually came onboard to be part of the project.”

Challenges

Ms Satakala said there were challenges while writing the book, but she had a lot of people who were always encouraging her.

“One of the main challenges was sitting on the draft for so long and just procrastinating and thinking to myself that this might not be a good idea after all, that if the book did come out that it would be trash and who would read it anyway,” she said.

“The doubt of publishing a book as this was my first time as well stepping outside of my comfort zone. To be honest my friends, especially the four content editors who worked on the book, kept me in check and kept me motivated throughout this project.

“They constantly reminded me that I owed everyone mentioned in the book to have it published.” Ms Satakala currently works as a communications support officer for a women’s rights advocate organisation.

Those interested in buying the book can directly message her on her Facebook page, Mere Satakala.

Photo: Wati Talebula-Nuku From left: Assistant Minister for Education Iliesa Vanawalu, High Commissioner of India to Fiji P.S. Karthigeyan, Mere Satakala and the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Strategic Planning, National Development and Statistics Biman Prasad during the book launch on April 25, 2023.