India, March 16 -- Dear Reader,

I discovered London Writers Salon (LWS) a few years ago. I'd been struggling with writing, with getting away from the distractions of the day - the meetings, teaching assignments, social media and such like. London Writers Community with its free, daily virtual writing sessions felt like the nudge I needed.

"Writers Hour starts in 15 minutes" would arrive every weekday at noon in my inbox, summoning me to write. There were quotations too, like this writerly advice from Adam Grant "What if I'm so nervous my breathing sounds like Darth Vader? I ended up going forward when I realised the only way to overcome my fear was to walk straight through it. I started writing and speaking."

One afternoon I logged on ...