Maverick Finds a Spot on the Top Gun Squad — An Introduction
A brief introduction as a writer on Medium & Editor on Illumination
In a couple of days, I will complete two months of being on Medium as a writer and I’ve just had the honor of joining the Illumination team as an editor! You’ll see my work on Medium under the name of “The Maverick Files” but feel free to call me Pranshu — my real name.
The work-from-home affair that this pandemic has brought with itself, gave me a chance to pick a new hobby or rekindle a love affair. So while my wife started to try her hand at baking and has given me the most subtle message via this positive reinforcement to resume working out (which I haven’t yet), I thought of at least waking up the writer in me.
So I started out with getting on Wordpress, buying my own domain name and The Maverick Files was born. I wrote a piece a day for a few days until I figured Medium and what started out with importing pieces first published on my blog, the “true” engagement with fellow writers and readers the platform provides meant I am now primarily on Medium, with some links cross-posted on my blog.
A Bit of Background
Well, I am an Indian who was born, almost 32 yrs ago, in the beautiful city of Chandigarh, in India. I’ve been living in Hong Kong for the past 3 yrs, where my job in the finance industry brought me, with my wife and now my almost 2-yr old son, the two central pillars of my life.
I am a computer engineer and an MBA, a combination of educational degrees you’re highly likely to hit if you threw a rock in a crowd of Indian professionals.
What Do I write?
Well, a little bit of everything — just like life! That’s the tagline I chose for my blog and holds quite true for my areas of interest. I’ve now written over 60 stories in less than 2 months, including a few poems/haikus which makes the number sound a bit exaggerated. I’ve had the privilege to write for over 10 publications, had 8 stories curated over 13 topics — each of them unique.
I usually have an opinion about everything and am not shy to express it. So don’t be surprised if you see me writing about topics you’d probably never associate with me.
I am a loving husband, a doting dad, an ambitious professional, a fitness enthusiast, a thinker and citizen of the world, an aspiring philanthropist, a true family guy, a movie buff, and many more things.
What’s With the Pseudonym?
Well, I’ve always been a fan of the movie Top Gun, and the Tom Cruise character has just the coolest name. Growing up, most of my names on multiplayer games / the internet, when I am not using my real name, have either been “Silent Assassin” or “Maverick” — the latter just seemed more suited to a writing pseudonym.
Why Illumination?
As a new writer, I found Illumination as the most accepting and awesome publication on Medium that was truly providing a platform to new writers, without having an air of superiority or entitlement. Truly an example of a publication that understands that the writers make a publication and not the other way around. A big thank you to Dr Mehmet Yildiz for the opportunity — to me he is the “Viper” equivalent of Illumination, in Top Gun language, a guide, a mentor, and visionary. I look forward to working with some of the folks who’ve supported and become writing mentors friends over this period — B. A. Cumberlidge. Julene Cole Britni Pepper Tree Langdon Hope Coalesce.
As far as being an editor, this is only my 2nd day, and I will hope to be a friend and a guide in helping new writers write better, and will continue to learn from every single person. In my mind, editors are or should be simply gatekeepers helping ensure the basic rules and guidelines are followed and allow everyone to express their views and opinions in their own unique ways!
Happy writing and look forward to this great journey!
A few pieces that say a lot about who I am, if you’re interested: