1. Tell us a
little about yourself and your background?
I’m a Hatha yoga teacher, who has also been a faculty
handling business presentations for M. Tech students at IIIT, Hyderabad. As of
now, I am a busy mom to a still more busy toddler who being two years old is
more qualified to be a yoga teacher, since the tiny brat spontaneously teaches
everyone the art of deep breathing!
2. Throw some light
on your debut book ‘When the Lawyer Falls in Love’.
My first book ‘When a Lawyer falls in love…’ was written
when I was fresh out of college and hence has that certain light hearted tone
that every college student who has ever bunked class can identify with!
3. What inspired
you to write your second book ‘When a Lawyer walks down the aisle’?
Would you believe it, that there is actually a nine year gap
between the writing for my two books and there was just so much happening in
these nine years that has been reflected in my writing. I went through the
whole comical arranged marriage route, yet I was lucky to fall in love with the
person I was arranged to meet! The story behind every marriage, I believe is
worthy of a book and considering I married a lawyer, this is saying something,
isn’t it?!! :P
4. Give us an
insight into your main character. What does he/she do that is so special?
My previous book had a male character as it’s protagonist,
yet this time, it’s the female lead, Sonali Shah who steals the show. I love
reading and have a personal collection of over 1500 books and the character of
Sonali is also depicted as this erudite yet talkative lawyer, who would have
been fun to hang out with, had she been a real person.
5. How much of the
book is realistic?
Okay, so what I’m about to say is going to sound a bit
freaky, so brace up. When I was 21 , I enrolled in this program called the
‘Eternity Process’ which is organized by the Art of Living Foundation,
Bangalore. This is basically a past life regression therapy where under hypnosis
you can experience flashes of your past life and the in between states after
death. So in that sense, the idea of the novel came from this fascinatingly
unique experience, I had, when I regressed back in time.
6. Who is your
intended audience and why should they read your book?
Anyone who is remotely interested in the paranormal and
wants to lose their fear of ‘ghost’s should read this book. I have to admit,
that growing up, I was someone who could be scared easily, yet after reading
more than two dozen books on the paranormal, I’ve come to have a fair
understanding of this whole phenomena called ‘ghosts’. And as comical as this
sounds, yet at some point of time, all of us have had the experience of casting
away our physical body. We just don’t remember it, that’s all.
7. How did you come
up with the titles of both the books?
I had always thought I would become a lawyer, hence this
wish is somewhere reflected in my books.
8. What is the
hardest and the easiest thing about writing?
I truly believe, that any art form derives it’s inspiration
from something beyond the mind of man. I know, I sound like Sri Aurobindo
here, yet it’s true. J.K. Rowling says that the whole concept of Harry Potter
was downloaded into her mind like a fully formed idea. That’s what is called
inspiration I guess. So getting inspiration to write something can be both the
hardest and the easiest thing about writing. That apart , there is also the
question of discipline.
9. How long, on average does it take you
to write a book?
Like I said, sometimes it’s all about being inspired and
then the ideas simply flow. A book can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few
months depending on how earnest one is.
10. Are your books self-published or traditional?
For every fellow writer out there, here is a humble request.
If you have a great idea and fairly good writing skills, just do yourself a
favour and self publish. I was quite hung up on the idea of having a
traditional publishing house take up my work, only to realize that self
publishing is a far more satisfying option, both creatively and financially.
11. What would you say are the main
advantages and disadvantages of self-publishing against being published the
other way around?
You know, probably in the time of Jane Austen, one had to be
at the mercy of a printer to publish and circulate one’s works, yet today the
same idea is plain foolish. Firstly, from the conception to the writing and
even the marketing everything is left for the author to do, yet when it comes
to the share in profit, now that’s a different story. The lessons I learnt
after having my first book published, will stay with me for a lifetime, so my
earnest appeal to every gullible first time author is to self publish. Very few
publishing houses have the bandwidth to do a whole publicity campaign so when a
publisher hardly does any publicity for your book, trust me you are better off
self publishing. At least whatever amount you make, after all the hard work,
will be yours!
12. Which famous person, living or dead
would you like to meet and why?
Enid Blyton, since it is said that she wrote almost 6000 to
8000 words a day, which is truly remarkable! Also, Sonam Kapoor the
actress is someone whom I envisaged while scripting the character of the feisty
lawyer Sonali. I like bubbly people who have an aura of intelligence and Sonam
Kapoor is one such person, I feel.
13. Tell us something about your future
projects.
My next book is a bit semi autobiographical and for anyone
interested in the concept of past life regression, it will be quite a
treat! I did a google search on some of what I saw of rural Bengal during
my regression and the results threw up some startling facts, I had absolutely
no knowledge of earlier. It was quite eerie actually!
14. Do you have any tips for readers or
advice for other writers trying to get published?
Like I said, self publish, don’t get swayed with the idea of
signing a ‘contract’ and as authors it’s important not to be gullible.
Publishing is a big business after all!
15. What else do you want your readers to
know? Consider here your likes and dislikes, your interests and hobbies, your
favourite ways to unwind - whatever comes to mind.
I’m a professional tarot card reader, who has people coming
for solutions regarding 160 crore property disputes. I had read over a 100
books during my rather rough pregnancy as a result of which my new born would
thoughtfully stare even at the cover of a book as if he were reading it. My mom
was diagnosed with fourth stage cancer when my son was 10 weeks old and she
passed away 20 days before the release of this book. So in that sense, writing
this book has truly been some journey… Yet if you stubbornly hold onto hope
even during the roughest weather, the night will give way to dawn. It does.
And now, before we end this session,
how about a snippet from the book that is meant to intrigue and tantalize us:
This appears as part of the book blurb, so that the reader is tempted to get a copy of the 125 rupee
book...
“There is someone in the car...!!” Ankur said, his voice thick with terror.
Vyas, who would normally scare
easily, seemed surprisingly calm. Perhaps, due to his stint abroad, Vyas was somehow
familiar with car hijackers. “Listen Ank’s... don’t panic, I’ll just check...”
Vyas said. They were standing a few feet from the car and Vyas a bit
hesitantly strode up and peeked into the black Honda city . And sure as day,
there was an elderly lady seated inside. For a few seconds, even Vyas was a bit
confused and even as he turned to confirm to Ankur the possibility of them
being kidnapped by a frail octogenarian, he noticed a rather strange thing. The
elderly being seemed to have left the car.
Even as the doors were securely shut. A chill ran down
Vyas’s spine. Meanwhile a lot worse things, were happening to Ankur’s spine as
the elderly ‘ghost’ made an appearance before him.
“Ankur… Run!!” Vyas almost yelped as he saw the ghostly
figure inching towards his best friend from college. Without further
encouragement, Ankur simply took to his heels and his pudgy frame ran as fast
as his feet could carry him. And even as he ran, Ankur realized that this was
by far the best advice ever given to him.
