1. You should be a SINGLE MOTHER and your story should be a non-fictional story ONLY, told in first-person.
2. The length of the story should not exceed 5 minutes.
3. The subject of your email or audio note should be ‘Story of my life #MaaHoonNaa’.
4. The story should be in English or Hindi or Marathi language (a bit of Urdu would do too!).
5. Selected entries that meet all the above requirements will get the spotlight.
6. The deadline to submit your stories is April 30th, 2019.
7. Strictly NO plagiarism, please. Only original stories invited!
8. Please DON’T send in submissions that have been published online or performed offline before.

Manasi Scott - Singer, songwriter and actor
Ashima Chibber - Director, Mere Dad ki Maruti
Meenakshi Sethi - Actor, Dekho Magar Pyar se
Ranjana Patil - Mother of Krushnaa Patil - youngest Indian woman to successfully ascent Mount Everest
Rashmi Sawant - Founder, Culture Aangan
Charitra Shetty
Rupa Sampat
Jasleen Kaur

Why is the event happening?
To celebrate single mothers! We believe that there’s a lot that we can learn from all the single mothers out there and we would love to be a part of changing the narrative/rules that are imposed upon the modern woman, which make them believe that they 'must' wait for the right time, for financial stability, for a husband or even for the right person to come along to be able to have a child.
What is YOSO?
YOSO means 'you only start once'. Get the drift? At least we should assume that there's one and only one lifetime to do everything we really want to do.
Festivelle
Festivelle is India’s 1st women-only festival since 2016. Created by Gul Panag & Shruti Seth. It is aimed at setting up a platform of women, for women and by women. We create content, conversations and events around women.
What if I want to tell a story?
You should stop reading this and immediately send us your written or audio story to kahaani@startonce.in or festivelle2016@gmail.com. We believe in the freedom of speech!
Can I record an audio note of my story and send it?
Yes, of course, just send it to the correct email, which is kahaani@startonce.in, and with the correct email subject, that is, “Story of my life #MaaHoonNaa”. Please note that if your story is selected, we will ask you to also submit the transcript of the story because we will need it later.
Will the stories be recorded on video?
Yes! But do let us know if that’s a problem and we will find a way to resolve your problem.
Where may I find the inspiration to send my story now?
- Here
Why is this a women-only event? Why are men not allowed?
Because when women unite, GREAT THINGS happen! :)