According to you which are the 5 books, everyone should read and also who are your top 3 Authors and what impact they had in your journey as a writer?

Now that’s one question I might never be able to answer, because I really can’t look down upon any book. Once I have picked up a book, I make sure I finish it. It is a self imposed compulsion. I ought to have a few life lessons from every work of any author. That’s how I have functioned since I started reading. So picking up favorites is not my thing at all. I know that every book is someone’s labor of love and commitment.

Yet, there are these two books I will never be able to forget and keep going back to. These are We The Living by Ayn Rand and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Though I like to read all genres except horror, I love Drama fiction in all shapes and sizes. As a young adult I fed on a very heavy and unhealthy doze of works by Jeffrey Archer, Daniel Steel, Eric Segal. And lately I have enjoyed Indian Authors such as Anuja Chauhan, Ravi Subramanian etc.

Amongst the Indian indie authors I dope on romances by Aarti V Raman, Preethi Venugopala, M.V.Kasi, Shilpa Suraj and Ruchi Singh.

About anyone impacting my journey as an author – I am quite disillusioned about one thing. That when an Ayn Rand set out to write ‘The Fountainhead’, Or Elizabeth Gilbert wrote her memoire ‘Eat Pray Love’, they really weren’t telling themselves, “Hey, I got to write a best seller.” Or, “I must write something that will sell.”

Infact, they were surely desolate from what other’s would think about their work, and wrote what their convictions told them to write. The art and craft of writing played their role, yes. But it was mostly hardwork and patience that got them through. I have promised myself that I will focus on these three keywords as a writer – conviction, hardwork and patience. I am sure someday I will be able to check all three of these with some work of mine.

Tell us a bit about your family, likes and dislikes as a person. 

I belong to a regular North Indian middle class family. My father was the single earning member of the family. My parents have waged a lifelong battle to bring up two strong headed girls who are fiercely independent. Paradoxically, I got married into a family where I didn’t need to be all too independent. It called for a lot of adjustments in my temperament. No! Not in any negative sense, but yes for somebody who lived her life with the blinds on her eyes, listening and following only her parents, I had to now live in a full house with a huge extended family. And that worked in my favor for sure. I think, it was after my marriage that I came to understand the nuances of relationships with much more sensitivity and learnt to figure out the gamut of shades that are human equations. I am still a work in progress that way. In last one decade I have grown up by leaps and bounds as a person.

What I like? I like honesty, sincerity and purity of intent. Not everyone is born with the same talents, abilities or skills, but if one is honest and sincere enough, they will find their way to their dreams. I really do keep away from pretentiousness. Despite all the maturing that has happened in my life, I haven’t yet developed the tactic to deal with that.

On a more materialistic level, I love stationary in all shapes, sizes and colors. I am a hoarder of journals and color pens. I really care nothing about brands though, but when it comes to my diaries and daily planners, I want to explore what anyone has to offer to me.

Could you share a few tips for Young Authors?If you had to do something differently as a child or teenager to become a better writer as an adult, what would you do?

When we were young, I know of hardly anyone who wanted to write. Yes, there were some who loved to write, but still it was only a hidden passion or a hobby per se.

But these days, kids are really smart and have a bird’s eye view of what they want to do. So for those who want to write, the right thing to do is to read. Read everything and anything that they can lay their hands on. I always believe, what doesn’t interest you or is not what you generally like to read about, is general knowledge. And you never know when this general knowledge might come in handy.

I would like to quote Twinkle Khanna here. She claims to be a compulsive reader and reads even the back of her toothpaste tube while brushing. That’s the kind of appetite you need to develop for reading, if you really do want become a good writer.

Another famous advice for writers is that for every 100 words you write, you ought to have read atleast a 1000 words. Only then will you be able to bring in some pattern to the madness that are your thoughts.

And the next thing is to WRITE. Do not wait for the perfect idea or the perfect vocabulary to strike you. Just write with all your heart and let the thoughts and emotions flow. As they say any art form must be practiced to express yourself and not impress others. If you are able to express yourself sincerely, you will eventually find the niche where you will be noticed and appreciated.

 At Sharing Stories, we have an ongoing campaign ‘World Harmony through Writing’ where we encourage writers to pen down their deepest internal thoughts, daily for at least fifteen minutes. Their new ideas and profound thinking shall help to bring out some positive changes in the world we live. We would love to hear you thoughts about this initiative.Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice?

When I started blogging in 2016, I wasn’t looking at bringing about any change in the world. I only meant to bring some sense of calm to my mind that was all over the place because I was struggling as a young mother and preparing to welcome my second child into the world. As I churned one blog post after another, it helped me spiritually by making me connect to my deepest thoughts and fears not only as a mother, but as a woman who played a multitude of roles. Initially, I was damn scared. But gradually, writing about my fears, my frustrations and my desires helped me deal with my anxiety. The result was that I got addicted to writing. Almost a years after I started blogging, I penned the first draft of ‘Because I Promised’. So yes I really appreciate this initiative by Sharing Stories. I hope that this practice will help the writers get in touch with their inner most emotions and may be eventually come up with beautiful stories that have the potential to change the world.